Jeremy Milligan Quintet
Still Moving
(Tight Records)
Classically trained guitarist Jeremy Milligan likes to find those spaces between the well-travelled paths of genre. His group mixes elements of Latin jazz and classical music with a dreamy sense of song construction that sometimes borrows from the pop world. The result is compelling and jazzy without straying into the cheesiness that waits in the wings of a lot of down-tempo jazz—it's the dissonant strains of accordion and clarinet that often keep that at bay. The group's comfortable sense of a pleasantly lazy ride is clearly the product of deft musicianship. You can see them conjure that sense Dec. 14 at the Sierra Grille in Northampton. —James Heflin
Various Artists
Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-1979
(Soundway Records)
The second volumeof this series focuses on the songs that moved the nightclub capital of Africa during the '70s. You can hear echoes of disco in some of the rubbery rhythms, but the majority of these nine tunes work sparkling variations on James Brown's heavy funk template, offering grooves that range from slow-simmer to full boil. Highlights include the heavily-phased effects and choppy rhythms of "Will of the People," ominously churning synths of "Lagos City," tranced loop grooves of "Take Your Soul," and funky cover of "God Bless the Child." Thoughtful packaging and notes evoke the rich and varied scene these tunes ignited. —Jeff Jackson
Great Big Sea
Fortune's Favour
(Great Big Sea)
Newfoundland's Great Big Sea began life as a neo-Celtic band, but these days it's a salt-flavored power-pop group. On the new record, only "Banks of Newfoundland" is mined from an old shaft. GBS is also the kind of group whose exuberance and energy make you grin, even when the content is melancholy. Most of the arrangements go for pop sheen—steady, danceable percussion framing catchy melodies and tight harmonies. "Walk on the Moon," for example, is a love anthem for the post-space-race crowd, and when Alan Doyle sings, "I'm alive," you can feel your blood course and your spirits lift. Just savor the grungy "Oh Yeah" and the party-till-you-drop "Straight to Hell." Who can argue with being upbeat in an uncertain world? —Rob Weir
Tristan Prettyman
Hello…x
(Virgin Records)
Tristan Prettyman employs all the usual tools of a certain brand of mid-tempo folky Americana pop: quavering organ, drums compressed to within an inch of their lives, finger-picked acoustic guitar, vocals throaty, then little-girl. Somehow this ends up not being duller than a cheap fillet knife. All the emoting gets a touch precious at times, but Prettyman crafts something more interesting than many of her competitors on the flowery and folky end of the pop chart. The result is somewhere in the realm of the aesthetic championed by the Valley's own Signature Sounds, with a lot more made-for-TV pop gloss and a lot less of the plaintive soulfulness of the best of the folk-pop crowd. —James Heflin
