As AMG’s hometown tried to shrug off the clutches of winter, April became a fertile time for Southwestern rock & roll, reissued emo benchmarks, juvenile rap wars, and harmony-driven folk. It was a good month.

Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers — “Summer 39″ (from Turbo Ocho)
The bulk of Turbo Ocho was written in eight days, with the Peacemakers relocating to seaside Mexico and immersing themselves in a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants songwriting process. Recorded during one of the band’s practice sessions, “Summer 39″ takes a literate look at love, age, and passing time, with Steve Larson’s twangy pedal steel repeating the same riff like a gently ticking clock.

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As per usual, lots of music came out in April, some of which was great and some of which was not. Here are four great ones.

Santogold — “I’m a Lady” (from Santogold)
This is not the best track off Santogold’s excellent self-titled debut (that honor would go to “Creator,” nor is it the most representative (”L.E.S. Artistes,” probably). It is, however, the most unexpectedly wonderful, its unabashedly catchy melody nearly impossible to not start humming along with, if not already singing at full volume. (MySpace)

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Kissey Asplund, “Beam Me Up” (from Plethora). Like a number of tracks on this Swedish space cadet’s first album, “Beam Me Up” seems to materialize and evaporate rather than begin and end. Half of the time, Asplund’s either fading in and out of consciousness or singing in her sleep, her multi-tracked voice about as tangible as the aimlessly swarming waves of synths. There’s more punch to the remainder of Plethora, laced in varying combinations by the French production team PapaJazz, who are — like most other exponents of off-center R&B these days — children of Dilla and Premier, but nothing is quite as hypnotizing as this, even if it could use some Vulcan lute.

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This week, a lean and mean Decoder Ring digs a little deeper into the week’s offerings, bypassing most of the big releases — aside from Billy Bragg’s excellent Mr. Love & Justice, whose “I Almost Killed You” would be a standout on almost any playlist — and tuning in songs from new, and newly reissued, albums that deserve your attention. Barry Adamson’s gleefully sinister funk, El Perro del Mar’s pristine pop, the Feelies’ revved-up jangle and Sparks’ mercurial rock all add something special to the Decoder Ring’s mix.

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We ran this week’s new releases through a decoder ring, extracted some of the most interesting songs, made a playlist, and wondered if you, the users, would care. Do you want to hear new tracks from The Brian Jonestown Massacre, M83 or No Use for A Name? A classic from Air? Some really good new jazz by Jacob Young? Do our tireless efforts to bring you the newest and bestest stuff amuse you? Or do they offend you, yeah?

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In honor of legendary jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s 70th birthday, AMG takes a look back at some of his best work on the CTI label in the ’70s. While Hubbard made his name with his now classic Blue Note albums of the ’60s, his soulful, stylistically varied, and often avant-garde jazz-funk/fusion albums of the ’70s are equally compelling. Produced by CTI label owner Creed Taylor before the industry moved toward the more commercially-minded mathematic equation of smooth jazz, these albums showcased Hubbard in his adventurous, musical prime surrounded by such forward-thinking artists as percussionist Airto Moreira, pianist Keith Jarrett, saxophonist Joe Henderson, and drummer Billy Cobham.

An easy nominee for one of the best — if not the best — ’70s jazz funk cut, the title track off Hubbard’s classic 1970 CTI debut, Red Clay, is simply one of the hippest things you’ll ever hear.
 
 
 
 
 

Similary, the title cut off his second CTI album, Straight Life, is a roil of Afro-Latin influences that make for another standout fusion moment.
 
 
 
 
 

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On Wednesdays, the New York Times book blog Paper Cuts features a music playlist from a writer. The lists include paragraphs by the writers on each of their choices as well as links to the artists’ website. Past authors have included, among others, Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña and Richard Fariña author David Hajdu, One Pill Makes You Smaller author Lisa Dierbeck and Maynard & Jennica novelist Rudolph Delson. This week’s list comes from The Mistresses’s Daughter author H.M. Homes.

Ahh, ‘tis Spring, when the fancies of young people all over this groovy earth lightly turn to thoughts of…teenage rebellion!

For the teen garage rockers of the ‘60s, it wasn’t war or politics or environmental cataclysm that made them rebel — it was their parents and (most of all) some mean, mistreating women. (Yes, garage rock was notoriously a male preserve, aside from a few girl garage groups, like the Heartbeats and the Feminine Complex.)

All you need for your own smoking soundtrack to teenage rebellion — or a trip down the highway with the windows rolled down — is the playlist below, brought to you by some of the most sullen, angsty rockers of all time. (Bonus points if you can spot the song that lifts “Hey Joe.”)

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