Before Hollywood, There Was Fort Lee, N.j. (1964) Thomas Hanlon

Originally released in May 1983 on Rough Trade, "Before Hollywood" was The Go-Betweens' second studio album. The record was, though it may be difficult to conjure it now, very much of its time and place in the history of independent pop music. At the time, Rough Trade was home to Aztec Camera, The Fall, and The Smiths (whose debut single, "Hand in Glove" was also released in May). While these other bands were decidedly British in comparison to The Go-Betweens' Australian outlook, they all shared a skeptical attitude to London and the New Wave: hostile to fashion, the media, the top-40.

Hille Perl is widely regarded as one of the leading viola da gambists in the world. Because of the prominence of her instrument in the Baroque era, her repertory is rich in works from that period, with the names, J.S. Bach, Telemann, Marin Marais, Sainte-Colombe, and other 17th and 18th century composers headlining her concert programs and recordings. Perl also plays the treble viol, the seven-string bass viol, Baroque guitar, Lirone, and Xarana.

So, there’s five now. The latest one is Humcrush with Sidsel Endresen – a partnership with one of Norway’s most legendary singers and improvisers, showing specific coordinates because of that circumstance. And if “Ha!” was different from the previous albums, here is the new “Humcrush” introducing some profound changes in relation to “Humcrush”, “Hornswoggle” and “Rest at World’s End”. Between the last refered one and the record now in distribution are six years of interval: that’s too much time, time enough for a transformation of the musical concepts applied by Stale Storløkken and Thomas Strønen to their common project, thanks to the experiences they had with all the other bands with which they’re involved: Supersilent with or without John Paul Jones, Food, Elephant9, Time is a blind guide, Meadow or Motorpsycho.

This progressive session from Joe Henderson is a quintessential mid-'60s Blue Note disc. Although a great deal of attention has been placed on the significance of the work of Miles Davis and John Coltrane at that time, Henderson was one of the leaders in the '60s scene that forged new ground into adventurous areas of jazz. The saxophonist plays sharply with a highly rhythmic style that swings and strides through the modally oriented material of stellar tracks like the blazing title cut, "Punjab," and the funky mambo "Short Story." Joining Henderson on the session are Kenny Dorham, McCoy Tyner, Richard Davis, and Elvin Jones, the last of whom drives the proceedings like a madman in one of his best non-Coltrane performances.