The Sound of Detroit

This NY-based studio collective consists of Matthias Bossi (Skeleton Key, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), Joel Hamilton (Sparklehorse, Elvis Costello), Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu, Frank Black, They Might Be Giants), and Carla Kihlstedt (Tom Waits, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum). With guests Carla Bozulich, Megan Reilly, Jon Langford, David Thomas, Mike Watt, and Tom Waits, their debut bills itself as "a tribute to the American Rust Belt". They paint a haunting modern-day portrait of cities like Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo, and Detroit; places that once were the definition of American motivation, progress, and industry, but now are home to ruined monuments of a bygone era. The sonic landscape is painted with scraping, swirling guitars, soaring string arrangements, rupturing bass, and plate-shattering drums.

Frank Zappa’s ‘Over-Nite Sensation’ Turns 50 With New Super Deluxe Edition. The new five-disc edition of Zappa’s widely-acclaimed 1973 opus includes 57 previously unreleased tracks and mixes.

The debut album of Ryder and the Wheels, fresh from the teenage ballroom circuit in Detroit, where they held court in earlier days as Billy Lee & the Rivieras. One of the defining moments in the history of Motor City music, Take a Ride is the sound of poor White kids claiming the music as theirs, too, while infusing it with the manic energy of the color-blind dreams of anybody who ever wanted to be somebody. Built entirely around their stage act, this album captures a band in full cry at the peak of their powers. This is what they mean when they say the words "high-energy Motor City rock & roll."

The Artwoods were pioneers of British R&B, and thanks to Dick Jordan and his tape recorder you can travel back to the swinging sixties, and the cool vibe of the Klooks Kleek club in west London where jazz, R&B, and the roots of the mod sound were rubbing up against each other. Hear the sound of this band when they were young, hungry and serving up some wonderful R&B!