Sight Reading For Drummers

This 5xCD box set from Cherry Red offers a compelling look at shoegaze's prime era. Still in a Dream takes a wide trawl approach to its genre, which has upsides and downsides. As with Rhino’s goth box A Life Less Lived, shoegaze is generously interpreted to include antecedents and formative influences, which bulks up the quality.

If Lonnie Jordan's 2007 long-player War Stories is to believed - that and a couple of thousand other 12" singles and albums by other artists around the globe - the era of nu soul has given way to soul, and acid jazz has given way to genuine jazz-funk once more. It's not so much that he makes a claim for these things, it's that the evidence is in the grooves themselves. Jordan is, of course, a founding member of Bay area legends War. His singing and keyboard playing helped to define that group's brave (and very successful) attempts at combining jazz, funk, soul, Latin groove and polyrhythmic pop. War Stories is Jordan's third album as a leader, and his first since 1982. It is also easily the best of his own recordings. Of course there are elements of War's sound here and the synthesis that was their trademark is, as expected, all over this 14-song set…

Robert Finley's Black Bayou takes listeners on a journey through the haunting, mystical landscapes of Louisiana while sharing deeply personal stories. From the slow-burning funk of "What Goes Around (Comes Around)" to the upbeat and groovy "Sneakin' Around," each track on this album showcases Finley's exceptional tone and vocal versatility. Produced by Dan Auerbach, every note on this album is a testament to Finley's musical prowess and his unwavering commitment to soul, R/B and the blues.