Nu Shooz Orchestra
Pandora’s Box
(independent)
Nu Shooz was a footnote in ’80s dance-pop music, but more than 20 years later, the husband and wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day have remade themselves as a small-scale jazz orchestra, crossing classical, jazz and pop in the tradition of bands like Pink Martini or De-Phazz. The Nu Shooz Orchestra plays music that can serve as more than pleasant background music for cocktails or a late-night rendezvous. The 10-piece band creates soothing sonic tapestries highlighed by the vibes of Mike Horsfall and the multiple keyboard instruments plaid by Smith. Sometimes, as in the floating “Welcome to My Daydream” or the title track, they move beyond the sound to genuinely interesting vocal jazz, primarily due to Ms. Day’s soft, seductive soprano voice that recalls Astrid Gilberto in its otherworldly effects. The orchestra shows they can swing, too, on tunes like “Skeets Beni.” —Jeffrey Siegel
Liz Phair
Funstyle
(Rocket Science Ventures)
Liz Phair came to fame in the 1990s based on the results of her mucking around in her apartment with a guitar, a four-track tape recorder, and a stack of razor-sharp songs that turned girl-rock on its head. Instead of swooning over boyfriends, she sang about imploding relationships and having sex arranged so that she and her mate could also watch TV. It had been a long time since alternative music was actually alternative. A string of excellent albums followed, and then a self-titled, air-brushed dud. After seven years, she’s returned to her home-grown roots. Instead of a cassette tape, though, she’s been mixing her songs on a computer, and instead of former boyfriends, she’s skewering the music industry. Though the production is slick (at times almost Lady Ga Ga-esque), the wit and satire hit hard, and many tracks are solid reminders of what Phair is good at. —Mark Roessler
St. Mix
Your Table Awaits at the Rapa Nui Lounge
(Birdwaves Media)
St. Mix is the brainchild of ex-Ostrich Farm CEO Tony Jilson, employing alumni like drummer J.J. O’Connell in addition to up-and-coming hilltown folks like Ghost Quartet’s Kevin “Tuba Love” Smith. The music combines Mos Isley Cantina lounge, Blood, Sweat & Tears-esque soul, New Orleans oompah and Get Smart spy music, with some Mexican salsa swing thrown in for good measure. Rhythm is still king in Jilson’s compositional cortex, and the grooves get all sorts of funky in Latino/Afro-Cuban style, mixing loops with live drums, hand percussion, keyboards, guitars, fretless bass and horn stabs. There are crazy space sounds as well, and the whole is more fusion-filtered than truly native; there’s a little Zappa in there and some flanged-out Little Feat-type grooves. Vocals are few on the recording, and are used more as additional instrumentation than lyrical vehicles. Truly eclectic. —Tom Sturm
