Tin Drum

Partially growing out of their success in the country they were named after, as well as growing friendship and affiliation with such bands as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japan, on Tin Drum, made its most unique, challenging, and striking album. It was also the final full studio effort from the group, and what a way to bow out – there was practically no resemblance to the trash glam flailers on Adolescent Sex anymore. Rather than repeat the sheer restraint on Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Tin Drum is an album of energy, Sylvian's singing still the decadently joyful thing it is, but the arrangements and performances tight, full, and active. The fusion of exquisite funk courtesy of Karn and Jansen's joined-at-the-hip rhythm section and a range of Asian music influences, from instrumentation to subject matter, combined with an even wider use of technological approaches to create the dramatic, sly songs on offer.

Partially growing out of their success in the country they were named after, as well as growing friendship and affiliation with such bands as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japan made their most unique, challenging, and striking album in Tin Drum…

Musically, as Rapoon, Robin Storey has been treading dangerously close to the edges of damnation. Tin of Drum is the culmination of years of flirtation and preparation. If, indeed, there is a hell in the afterlife, Storey has created the soundtrack. This CD is as deep and as dark as it gets. Anything that is deeper and darker is no longer music. The atmospheres are bleak and hopeless. There are moments of brief respite when the spirit lifts up to merely evil. This absolute masterpiece is as scary as, well, hell! It will appeal to fans of Jeff Greinke, Laszlo Hortobagyi, and Lustmord.

Buffy Sainte-Marie has always been a good deal more versatile as a musician than most people realize, roaming through folk, blues, country, pop, and even pioneering electronica on her various albums, always using her Cree ancestry as an anchor, and very few singers have dealt with cultural polemics as intelligently as she has. Perhaps because of her restless drive to try new forms, Sainte-Marie's albums are often woefully (but endearingly) erratic and inconsistent, but each contains hidden gems, and while her eerie, vibrato-laden singing style can sound affected at times, her drive to constantly pull her agenda into new musical territories is inspiring. Running for the Drum is her first new album in 17 years, and while it probably won't change anyone's attitudes about her work, it wonderfully spotlights all of the musical themes, forms, and concerns she's pursued in the past four decades. The album opens with a pair of Native American rockers, "No No Keshagesh" and "Cho Cho Fire," that draw on Native American drum rhythms, and both are fiery and invigorating. She revisits one of her finest early songs, the beautiful and haunting "Little Wheel Spin and Spin."

Formed by former Mastersounds members Eddie Roberts and Simon Allen and new members Pete Shand and Bob Birch in Leeds in 1999, the New Mastersounds were an act that became part of the new-funk movement in England in the early part of the 21st century. Their first release, a limited edition run seven inch, was merely the band's first rehearsal. An album soon followed, Keb Darge Presents the New…

three CD set containing a trio of albums from the British band led by David Sylvian: Adolescent Sex, Obscure Alternatives and Quiet Life. Sony.