Raphael's 'school of Athens'

Still disenfranchised about American society and riled up about it, the former Dead Kennedys singer takes issue with Wall Street, Hollywood, consumer nature, fast food, and white people in general on Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School of Medicine's third album, White People & the Damage Done. Backed by a musically fierce band that includes Ween/Butthole Surfers bassist Andrew Weiss, drummer Paul Della Pelle, and guitarists Ralph Spight and Kimo Ball, the 54-year-old frontman sounds as spirited as he did in his early days. In fact, for the fast, furious "Road Rage" and "Mid-East Peace Process," he and his band match the blistering energy of early-'80s American hardcore staples like Black Flag (good to see that Keith Morris' OFF! isn't the only group carrying the torch) and, yes, the Kennedys.

Alfred Desenclos and Jean Langlais were both superlative composers of choral music, yet most of their works are performed far too infrequently. This album offers superb performances of some of the best choral works by these great French masters. Initially called the ‘Madrigal Singers,’ the USC Thornton Chamber Singers were first formed in 1939 under the direction of Max T. Krone — a professor of music education, composition and choral music, as well as the dean of USC’s former Institute of the Arts. In 1942, Krone brought Dr. Charles C. Hirt, then the director of the Glendale High School choirs and a USC alumnus, to the school as both a lecturer and as Director of the Chamber Singers. Hirt later established and became chair of the Choral and Sacred Music department. In 1956, the Chamber Singers adopted its current name in a move designed to better reflect the group’s repertoire.