The Musical Box

fleet foxes: "fleet foxes" (2008)

Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes – I’m a late convert to the engaging new pop and folk mix this young Seattle band creates. Amid all kinds of earthly and fanciful storylines are spacious echoes of early Fairport Convention and Strawbs along with vocals wrapped in the warm reverb that recalls My Morning Jacket. Toss in psychedelic tweaks in the vocal and instrumental arrangements and you have the one of the coolest debut albums of 2008.

david sanborn: "here & gone" (2008)

David Sanborn: Here & Gone – If you still sandwich sax kingpin Sanborn in with such wallpaper music merchants as Kenny G, then open your ears to the organic and keenly orchestral cool of Here & Gone. The Hank Crawford-era R&B of Ray Charles is the main reference point here, a fact highlighted by a richly swinging version of the former’s Stoney Lonesome. Throughout, Sanborn’s efficient alto wail is as distinctive as ever.

humble pie: "performance: rockin' the fillmore" (1971)

Humble Pie: Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore – There was no greater Jekyll and Hyde guitar/vocal tag team than Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton, even though the latter split for a solo career before Performance was released in 1971. Marriott is simply devilish here, a blues/boogie showman of fearsome intensity. Frampton supplies the guitar muscle, transforming I Don’t Need No Doctor into a savage electric groove anthem.

love tractor: "love tractor" and "til the cows come home" (1981, 1984)

Love Tractor: Love Tractor/’Til the Cows Come Home – A 1991 CD issue of music cut by what was then the predominantly instrumental Athens, Ga. band between 1981 and 1984. The grooves are elemental, even static at times. But the pop sensibilities are broad as the band counters the dying New Wave with a pastiche of surf, pop and twang. The version of Kraftwerk’s Neon Lights typlifies this detached but sleek hullabaloo.

pentangle: "cruel sister" (1970)

Pentangle: Cruel Sister – Fleet Foxes’ take on psychedelic folk inspired a new listen to one of England’s most pioneering bands in that field. Cruel Sister was released in 1970 with guitarists John Renbourn and Bert Jansch adding sitar, concertina and electric strings to the fanciful singing of Jacqui McShee and the jazzier bass work of Danny Thompson. An 18-minite revision of the folk gem Jack Orion presented Pentangle at its creative zenith.