Skins Vid

Sigur Ros - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (2008) {XL Recordings XLCD364}
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© 2008 XL Recordings | XLCD364
Rock / Ambient Pop / Post-Rock / Experimental Rock / Alternative / Indie

With their fifth full-length album, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (translated as With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly), Sigur Rós have taken the poppy, sunshiny leanings of their previous album a step further into the light. The band has always been known for otherworldly soundscapes, and while there is enough of that here to keep the faithful happy, the band also writes straightforward, three-minute pop songs like the incredible catchy, sticky-sweet duo ("Gobbldigook," "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur") that kick the album off like the first rays of the morning sun blazing through your bedroom window. That feeling continues on through the album as both the joyously soaring vocals and the buoyant melodies keep things floating happily on air.

The works of Emánuel Moór (1863–1931) ought to be celebrated as among the major achievements of Romantic music, but because of Moór’s peripatetic life – he was born in Hungary, studied in Vienna (with Bruckner), performed in the US and across Europe, became a UK citizen and settled and died in Switzerland – no country has claimed and promoted him to the degree he deserves. Moór’s musical language offers a deeply satisfying blend of contrapuntal mastery and ardent lyricism, as the works on this album – written for or involving the viola – demonstrate. In time he will be recognised as one of the masters of his age.

Mongo Santamaria - Skins (1962-64) {Milestone MCD-47038-2 rel 1989}
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© 1962, 1964, 1989 Riverside / Milestone / Fantasy | MCD-47038-2
Jazz / Latin Jazz / Soul Jazz / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Boogaloo / Bongos / Congas

This single CD has all of the contents of the two Mongo Santamaria Riverside albums originally titled Mongo Explodes and Go, Mongo! The music was last available as a two-LP set also titled Skins. The 1964 session, oddly programmed first, finds Santamaria on conga and bongos at the head of a ten-piece band also including trumpeter Marty Sheller, then-unknown flutist Hubert Laws (also featured on piccolo and tenor), Bobby Capers on alto and baritone, and a seven-piece rhythm section with five percussionists.

This 1958 release, recorded the same year as Art Blakey's canonical album Moanin', bears little resemblance to that more famous release. While the personnel on Holiday for Skins features some of the finest players of the hard bop era (including drummer Philly Joe Jones and trumpeter Donald Byrd), the music on the album draws its inspiration directly from African and Latin folk forms. This is especially evident on tracks like "The Feast" and "Aghano," which feature circular drum patterns and chanting from the bandmembers. Tunes like "Mirage," however, blend these exotic sounds with a more straightforward bop vocabulary, resulting in the set's most engaging moments. As one of the more adventurous dates from Blue Note's '50s period, Holiday for Skins is an intriguing listen.