Music Picks by Staff Editors

This week's staff selections

On this key late-'70s AOR record, Gerry
Rafferty weaves his folk-rock roots into a
colorful, artful, laid-back tapestry that
would dazzle even Pink Floyd, Fleet... More
- Nick Dedina

Survival

The O'Jays

Genre: Soul

Amongst their finest albums, Survival finds
the O'Jays delivering a perfect balance of
seductive slow jams, anthemic message
tracks and soul-drenched instrument... More
- Brolin Winning

127 Rose Avenue

Hank Williams, Jr.

Genre: Outlaw Country

Playing blues-rock as much as country, Hank
Jr.'s first album in six years kicks off with a
loud auctioneer-tempoed farm rap
conceivably inspired by his buddy Ki... More
- Chuck Eddy

Gunz Dont Kill People, Lazers Do

Major Lazer

Genre: Dancehall

Dancehall riddims serve as the album's
backbone, but this is really pastiche, and
there are frequent excursions into surf
rock, one-drop reggae, 8-bit electro,... More
- Sam Chennault

Robbert Bobbert & The Bubble Machine

Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine

Genre: Children's TV/Movies

Robert Schneider, resident genius of Apples
in Stereo, turns his laser beam to the
unexplored regions of children's music and
comes up with -- unsurprisingly -- a c... More
- Sarah Bardeen

The Many Moods Of Benny Golson

Benny Golson

Genre: Bop

Golson may be the most underrated figure of
the hard bop era, perhaps because he's so
good at so many things. This wonderful
collection of recordings that Golson... More
- Nick Dedina

Relaxation Music for You and Your Dog

Llewellyn

Genre: Meditation

The overwhelming majority of meditation
and relaxation albums address the human
condition exclusively. But Llewellyn has
bucked this trend by producing a dis... More
- Justin Farrar

Blues Kingpins

Ike Turner

Genre: Classic R&B

Given his long and sometimes controversial
career, it's easy to forget that Ike Turner
began simply as a bluesman. This collection
pulls together many blues recordings... More
- Nate Cavalieri

Hard Times Hanging At The End Of The World

Children

Genre: Thrash/Speed Metal

NYC-based Children combine new-school
thrash metal with new wave of British heavy
metal guitars (uniformly great twin guitar
runs), hardcore-inflected vocals and... More
- Mike McGuirk

El Dorado

17 Hippies

Genre: French Pop

This seasoned German group seems to be in
the middle of reinvention, and El Dorado is
the golden mirror that captures the band in
motion. They still excel at taut instru... More
- Sarah Bardeen

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