The Louvin Brothers, “Satan Is Real / Handpicked Songs, 1955-1962”(Light in the Attic)
The Louvin Brothers were the greatest country sibling harmony act of them all. This odd duck of a two-disc reissue combines “Satan Is Real,” the 1959 album famous for its cover shot of a 16-foot-tall plywood Beelzebub threatening the brothers from atop a raging fire pit, with a collection of Louvins favorites, including the simply perfect “When I Stop Dreaming” and the classic murder ballad “Knoxville Girl,” songs covered by artists such as Lucinda Williams, Zooey Deschanel and Dolly Parton.
“Satan Is Real” shares a title with a new memoir by Charlie Louvin, who died last year at 83 of pancreatic cancer. The book tells of his life with his brother Ira, the mandolin player and brilliant tenor singer and songwriter who died in a car wreck in 1965. More than 50 years after its release, the album retains its power as a testament of frightening faith and compelling psychodrama, and it contains many of the Louvins’ best songs, including “The Christian Life” (covered by the Byrds, among others) and the Carter Family cover “The Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea.” Handpicked pulls more from the secular hit-making half of the Louvins’ dichotomous career, but beautifully brokenhearted love songs like “My Baby’s Gone” and “Scared of the Blues” are no less chilling than Satan’s tormented cautionary tales. Dan DeLuca, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Mike G, “Award Tour EP” (Mike G)
Odd Future, hip-hop’s quirkiest, most testosteronal ensemble, has more solo shots than it does group efforts, with critics focused on hearty vocalist Frank Ocean and producer/ MC/ provocateur Tyler, the Creator. But now it’s time for other Odd-balls to start showing off.
Before dropping his full-length “Gold,” rapper Mike G (cousin to G-Funk’s Warren G) releases the humbly mumbling “Award Tour” with production from several Odd Future-ists. Unlike his collective, Mike goes for laid-back grooves and moods sketched in few words. “Chanel” makes him into a romantic hero through its Euro-disco ambience. Like his work within Odd Future, Mike sounds too content to blend into the background, with wifty free associations that often miss the mark.
Syd the Kyd (the beat-making girl of the group) and Matt Martians hit the mark and then some. They forge their own jiving, jazzy target and pummel it. A.D. Amorosi, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, “And Friends,”(Listen 2/ Razor and Tie)
Who wouldn’t want to collaborate with Ladysmith Black Mambazo? This South African choir, founded in 1961, perfected a vocal blend as warm and enfolding as a down comforter and as brotherly as a team hug. The choir also offers the potential of perfectly terraced dynamics. And for Western ears, the Zulu traditions that Lady- smith draws on are reminiscent of gospel and doo-wop.
Ever since Paul Simon brought Ladysmith to world attention by writing songs on the 1986 “Graceland” album with its leader, Joseph Shabalala, the group has welcomed other partnerships. “And Friends” collects 30 of them on two CDs, including two tracks from “Graceland.” Ladysmith always stands ready to join a hymn — “Amazing Grace/Nearer, My God, to Thee” with Emmylou Harris. But the resulting anthology spans from sublime to tacky.
The wiser collaborators move toward Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s turf of a cappella vocals and South African rhythms. In “Rain Rain Beautiful Rain,” written by Shabalala, Natalie Merchant joins the a cappella blend like an honored guest. Jon Pareles, The New York Times
