The Allmusic Blog

Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs

Andrew Leahey — Fri, 09 May 2008 22:34:45 +0000

After spending the better part of a decade in the musical minor leagues, Death Cab for Cutie went pro with 2005’s Plans, a record whose optimism and Technicolor sound gave the band enough leverage to finally enter the mainstream. “Soul Meets Body” became their biggest rock single to date, but it was Ben Gibbard’s delicate love song, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” that earned the quartet a Grammy nomination and legions of new fans. Some bands might have taken a cue from such success and resigned themselves to a career of acoustic ballads, not unlike the Goo Goo Dolls’ transformation in the mid-’90s. But Narrow Stairs roughs up Plans‘ bright palette with something starker, more harrowing, and altogether darkened by Gibbard’s blues. No longer crooning about immortal love or his desire to embrace all of Manhattan, the frontman lives inside his own troubled head on these eleven tracks — or at least the heads of the characters he conjures up with ease, like some music-minded novelist with a knack for pop melodies and witty observations. There’s “Cath,” an ill-married girl who “holds a smile like someone would hold a crying child,” as well as the creepy stalker in “I Will Possess Your Heart,” who simply demands that his intended lover give him the time of day. Elsewhere, Gibbard examines a friend’s recent heartbreak by referencing her bedroom furniture (”Your New Twin Sized Bed”), offering up his concern — if not quite his help — while the band conjures up a lazy summer’s day with gauzy keyboards and brightly chiming riffs. Such contrast between music and text plays an occasional role on Narrow Stairs, with songs like “No Sunshine” and “Long Division” pairing somber lyrics with upbeat orchestration. But the album largely paints itself as the darker, mysterious cousin to Plans — raw rather than polished, heartbroken rather than optimistic, enigmatic rather than energetic. Gibbard strings his words together with an army of free-flowing ‘and’s and ‘but’s, and the resulting lyrics — long, uncoiling sentences with no clear end — mirror his characters’ desperate attitudes. Narrow Stairs is far from desperate, however, and the album’s willingness to steer Death Cab into unfamiliar territory (or, to reference an earlier lyric, “into the dark”), is by far its strongest asset.

Quiet Village - Silent Movie

Andy Kellman — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:00:25 +0000

Joel Martin and Matt Edwards take their alias from Martin Denny’s exotica landmark, yet their approach can be likened — not just through the title but in its sound as well — to “Quiet Pillage,” the slack but unease-inducing interpretation of “Quiet Village” by experimentalist post-punks 23 Skidoo. Beneath the tracklist of Silent Movie, an album highlighted by material released in small runs on 12″ during 2005 and 2006, the duo thanks “everyone that’s been involved in making this album. You know who you are.” It’s probable that not everyone knows who they are, at least not in this case. The most creative and affecting sample-reliant album since the Avalanches’ Since I Left You, Silent Movie plucks from numerous forms of marginalia, whether obscure, loathed by the stereotypical record store clerk, or loved by legions of geeks who were dealt wedgies in high school by Van Halen-loving jocks: prog rock and yacht rock punchlines, new age pin cushions, unhip singer/songwriters, largely unknown Italian film-music composers, and several others. For the most part, these sources are not so uncool that they are cool. They are so uncool that they are… extremely uncool.

Unlike the giddy nonstop carnival atmosphere of Since I Left You, Silent Movie is, for lack of better categorization, a chillout album, even though it is just as much a creep-out, its most tranquil scenes seemingly on the verge of being washed away by a sudden ecological catastrophe. With the exception of “Circus of Horror” — scuzzy hurtling-through-a-dustbowl psych rock, replete with the howls of a man who sounds like he has been pitched into the Grand Canyon — and “Gold Rush” — a dead ringer for Scenic’s epic, tribal desert scores — everything passes with the force of a light breeze, evoking swaying hammocks, sun-bleached picnics, beached isolation, states of half-awake delirium, and the slowest-moving groups of stoned dancers imaginable. Though the new tracks, including the impossibly lush “Broken Promises” and the sparkling but arid “Singing Sand,” could hardly be accused of weighing down the album, it’s the previously released material that stands out most. Best of all is “Pillow Talk,” a reconfiguration of the Alan Parsons Project’s “Voyager/What Goes Up…” that can be disorienting in the most sterile environments. Bonus: It sounds like it was put together to flow directly into the Passions’ “I’m in Love with a German Film Star.”

In lieu of samples from the album, here are samples from some of the album’s sources:

The Alan Parsons Project - “Voyager”
Captain & Tennille - “Never Make Your Move Too Soon”
Janis Ian - “Fly Too High”
David McWilliams - “The Days of Pearly Spencer”
Gianni Marchetti - “Part-Y-Time”
The Chi-Lites - “The Coldest Days of My Life”

News Roundup: 5/9/2008

AMG Staff — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:15:42 +0000

Joseph Arthur’s fans can download free music from his latest project, Bag is Hot, at the songwriter’s Tumblr site. “Like fresh popcorn for all the kids to grab,” Arthur explains. “Digital hands eating the digital popcorn.” [Billboard.com]

Thom Yorke doesn’t approve of Radiohead’s upcoming Greatest Hits album, which will be issued by the group’s former label, EMI Records. [NME.com]

The recently reunited Gang of Four is now a gang of two, with bassist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham announcing their exit from the group. [CMJ.com]

Stephen King’s annotated list of his Top 20 Favorite Songs includes ZZ Top, Ryan Adams, the Gothic Archies, and Escape Club. How’s that for variety? [EntertainmentWeekly.com]

Dave Grohl has written Metallica a cheeky love letter, urging the band not to release another album “until it’s kick-ass.” [Blabbermouth.net]

Diddy is impressed with the actors portraying himself and the Notorious B.I.G. in the upcoming Biggie biopic. [MTV.com]

AllMusic Loves 1999

AMG Staff — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:15:10 +0000

We love 1999 a whole lot, but maybe not quite as much as we love making lists. Each month (or so), until we have covered every year we can remember (unless we get tired), we will take a look at our favorite albums and singles released during a given year. In the year 1999, Basement Jaxx, Eminem, Mos Def, the Flaming Lips, the Dismemberment Plan, the ageless Tom Jones, the mighty LEN, and dozens of others produced nonperishable goods that would’ve gotten us through a Y2K drought of just about any magnitude.

Marisa Brown
I heard “Where My Girls At?” on the radio a couple of weeks ago and I still remembered every single word. If that’s not a testament to powerful songwriting (or um, limited radio playlists), I don’t know what is.

Blackalicious - A2G
The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
The Roots - Things Fall Apart
Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
Aesop Rock - Float
Beth Orton - Central Reservation
Goldie - INCredible Sound of Drum’n'Bass
Rob Swift - The Ablist
Quannum - Quannum Spectrum

702 - “Where My Girls At?”

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
There was a bunch of great music in 1999 — I can’t think of another year in the past decade with so many great singles from all genres of music — so I decided to whittle my list to the albums and singles I still actively play (although I do admit that the singles are in heavier rotation than the full albums).

Fiona Apple - When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts…
Pavement - Terror Twilight
Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
Paul McCartney - Run Devil Run
XTC - Apple Venus, Pt. 1
Super Furry Animals - Guerrilla
The White Stripes - The White Stripes
Alan Jackson - Under the Influence

LEN - “Steal My Sunshine”
Madonna - “Beautiful Stranger”
Sugar Ray - “Every Morning”
Supergrass - “Pumping on Your Stereo”
Kid Rock - “Cowboy”
Super Furry Animals - “Northern Lights”
Backstreet Boys - “I Want It That Way”
Christina Aguilera - “Genie in a Bottle”
Suede - “Electricity”
Eminem - “Guilty Conscience”

David Jeffries
At the end of the year, Billy Joel promised to never play pop music again. Had he kept this promise, it would have been the best year ever. I also wish I could have fit Eiffel 65 or the Vengaboys on the list but the boss told me to keep it to ten.

Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow - Brainfreeze
Underworld - Beaucoup Fish
Beanie Sigel - The Truth
Tom Jones - Reload
Pharoahe Monch - Internal Affairs
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
The Fall - The Marshall Suite
The Chemical Brothers - Surrender
Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
Basement Jaxx - Remedy

Mr. Vegas - “Heads High (Kill Dem Wid It)”
Ol’ Dirty Bastard - “Got Your Money”
Q-Tip - “Vivrant Thing”
Mr. Oizo - “Flat Beat”
Buccaneer - “Bruk Out”
Armand Van Helden - “U Don’t Know Me”
Groove Armada - “At the River”
Foxy Brown - “Hot Spot”
Capleton - “Jah Jah City”
Terrance & Phillip - “Uncle F**ka”

Andy Kellman
Basement Jaxx - Remedy
Mary J. Blige - Mary
Aril Brikha - Deeparture in Time
Dettinger - Intershop
Drexciya - Neptune’s Lair
Gas - Königsforst
Innerzone Orchestra - Programmed
Kelis - Kaleidoscope
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
Stewart Walker - Stabiles

Basement Jaxx - “Red Alert”
Bows - “Girls Lips Glitter”
Pépé Bradock - “Deep Burnt”
Foxy Brown - “Hot Spot”
Vladislav Delay - “Huone”
Farben - “Live at the Sahara Tahoe, 1973″
Donell Jones - “U Know What’s Up”
Moodymann - “Shades of Jae”
Theo Parrish - “Summertime Is Here”
Slum Village - “Get Dis Money”

Andrew Leahey
Wilco - Summerteeth
The Waking Hours - The Waking Hours
Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers - Honky Tonk Union
Kate Rusby - Sleepless
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
Fountains of Wayne - Utopia Parkway
Drive-By Truckers - Alabama Ass Whuppin’
Beck - Midnite Vultures

Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers - “Green & Dumb”
The Waking Hours - “Dolores”
Jimmy Eat World - “Lucky Denver Mint”
Madonna - “Beautiful Stranger”
Kate Rusby - “The Unquiet Grave”
Fountains of Wayne - “The Valley of Malls”

Jason Lymangrover
Mr. Bungle - California
Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun
Handsome Boy Modeling School - So…How’s Your Girl?
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
The Roots - Things Fall Apart
Beulah - When Your Heartstrings Break
Built to Spill - Keep It Like a Secret
The Dismemberment Plan - Emegency & I
Fantastic Plastic Machine - Luxury
Pavement - Terror Twilight

James Christopher Monger
The Negro Problem - Joys & Concerns
XTC - Apple Venus, Pt. 1
Agalloch - Pale Folklore
The Gourds - Ghosts of Hallelujah
Waterson:Carthy - Broken Ground
Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Nightmares on Wax - Carboot Soul
Dolly Parton - The Grass Is Blue
The Auteurs - How I Learned to Love the Bootboys
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

Heather Phares
Add N to (X) - Avant Hard
Basement Jaxx - Remedy
The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci - Spanish Dance Troupe
Jim O’Rourke - Eureka
Royal Trux - Veterans of Disorder
Smog - Knock Knock
Stereo Total - My Melody
Super Furry Animals - Guerrilla
The White Stripes - The White Stripes

Tim Sendra
These poptastic songs are guaranteed to rub you the right way, get your game on, and be friends forever. These songs are strong enough, as high as Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, and Aphrodite, and if you’re lucky, they might just kiss you beneath the milky twilight. None of these songs are also known as a buster, none will hang out the passenger side of their best friend’s ride, and they will never, not ever, steal your sunshine. And yes, we like butter tarts!

LEN - “Steal My Sunshine”
Cher - “Believe”
Smashmouth - “All Star”
Sugar Ray - “Every Morning”
Tal Bachman - “She’s So High”
Sixpence None the Richer - “Kiss Me”
TLC - “No Scrubs”
Christina Aguilera - “Genie in a Bottle”
Vitamin C - “Graduation (Friends Forever)”

Some of the recordings listed above are technically 1998 releases, but they made more of an impact in 1999.

Sad Video Jams of the Day: The Postmarks and Elephant Parade

Tim Sendra — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:05:15 +0000

Today’s theme is a sad one. Goodbyes are hard but sometimes a sweet melody can help ease the pain. Sometimes, not so much. Still, we have to carry on and for that we turn to the Postmarks. Their self titled album from last year is littered with hushed heartbreak delivered in sugar sweet tones of sadness. The video for “Goodbye” is suitably charming and painfully autumnal. It looks like the most melancholy children’s book ever come to life (Madeline and the Bad Break-Up, perhaps) and also reminds us that it’s just about time for their next album! Hopefully the band can wipe away the tears soon and get it together in time to soundtrack the broken hearts of this autumn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQhEFPs20JU

Next up is Elephant Parade. Really there is nothing much to say about this video except that it is the cutest goodbye song of all time. If only all goodbyes were this sweet….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvVxiOys6PI

Will the Real Wolfgang Please Stand Up?

Blair Sanderson — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:04:59 +0000

In Milos Forman’s 1984 film, Amadeus, court composer Antonio Salieri seeks out Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at Archbishop Colloredo’s salon in Salzburg. Circling a group of musicians, all dressed identically in powdered wigs and blue uniforms, Salieri ponders, “Which one of them could he be?” But as we soon learn, a homely, giggling fellow, wearing the same court dress as the others but looking disheveled from cavorting with his fiancée in the dining room, turns out to be the musical Wunderkind.

How is it that, on the one hand, one of the most sublime composers in history can be portrayed as the grotesque, cackling caricature of Forman’s movie, and on the other, be represented as the smooth-faced matinee idol that graces wrappers of Mozartkugeln? Though both are recognizable to us as Mozart, his true image surely must lie somewhere in between. What did he really look like? For that matter, can we be sure of the portraits of other classical composers? Because we idealize and idolize these artists, we have often felt a strong need to see them as better looking than we are, sometimes even godlike in appearance.

In the time before photography, a person’s likeness was dependent on the skill and accuracy of painters, sculptors, and engravers, who could flatter a sitter by removing any defects, enhance an image to increase the subject’s appeal, or create an honest portrait, warts and all. In the case of Mozart, we have several images that show that he was not as smooth and handsome as he appears in the Romanticized 1808 portrait by Burchard Dubeck (above), or the sentimental modern portraits on candy wrappers, but rather more like the ordinary man in Doris Stock’s 1789 silverpoint drawing (right). Granted, in this ivory miniature and in paintings from life (below), he didn’t exactly look like someone who could write heavenly music. But we can be pretty sure he looked nothing like Liberace.

Johann Sebastian Bach has a few puzzling portraits as well, including the controversial painting by J. E. Rentsch the Elder, the “Erfurt Portrait” (left), which is claimed to show what Bach looked like between 1708 and 1717, when he was court organist and concertmaster in Weimar. This painting was restored in 1907, and some slight differences between a pre-restoration photograph and the repair work suggest that changes to the face may have been made to give it a fleshier, rounder, more Bach-like appearance. This image has been published in many books and on numerous album covers, and has become almost as famous as the 1748 portrait of Bach by Elias Gottlob Haussmann (below left). While we may not know for sure what Bach looked like in his youth, or whether Rentsch’s painting may prove to be a portrait of someone else, a group of forensic scientists at the Center for Forensic and Medical Art, Dundee University, have reconstructed a face (below right) that uncannily resembles the image in the Haussmann portrait. Built up from a bronze cast of Bach’s skull, and shaped with meticulous artistry, it makes a fairly convincing 3-D likeness. But just as in the case of the Erfurt Portrait, could the features have been manipulated ever so slightly to achieve desired results, namely, to look like the Bach we recognize?

The imagery of Ludwig van Beethoven is even more fraught with problems since the process of idealization and myth-making began in the composer’s lifetime, partly at his own instigation. It is known that Beethoven was fond of the first image (below, top left), because it gave him a wild-eyed, leonine appearance. Other versions have developed from this heroic image (below, top right), and it appears that our conventional image of Beethoven comes from these two Romantic portraits, rather than any of the less familiar but more accurate renderings grouped below them. No doubt, this is what Beethoven would have wanted!

Representations of Franz Peter Schubert have especially suffered from sentimental idealization, and trying to pin down the real composer is difficult, since his portraits are often wildly divergent. Despite their obvious differences, we may put some stock in these two sketches by Leopold Kupelwieser, which show Schubert in 1813 (below left) and 1821 (below right). As someone who knew the composer well, Kupelwieser may be presumed to have noticed variations in Schubert’s physiognomy over eight years, and we may suppose he carefully recorded the appearance of the handsome teen as well as the pudgier adult.

But idealization of Schubert after his death appears to have greatly affected his later portraits. Compare the unpretentious anonymous portrait of Schubert, thought to be from 1828 (below left), with the glamorized 1875 image by Wilhelm August Rieder (detail, below right), and note that the two convey different indications of Schubert’s significance. Plainly, the idealized portrait shows a clear-eyed and visionary Schubert, i.e., the immortal genius, rather than the drab, possibly depressed, but quite ordinary mortal in the life study.

Similarly, one can study the famous portraits of Frédéric Chopin (below), and note how the artists’ liberties made the composer appear more poetic or dreamy than the rather morose and unattractive depiction in his 1849 daguerreotype (bottom right), one of the earliest photographs of a major composer. The camera may not always tell the truth, but it seems closer to the mark than the paint brush!

Obviously, this examination of the pitfalls of portraiture should have no effect on the reception of these composers’ works, but it does serve to remind us that whatever they looked like, they were real people with normal human dimensions and physical and personal flaws. Perhaps knowing this will help us appreciate the greatness of their music even more.

American Idol: No Dead Brain, No Cry

AMG Staff — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:30:49 +0000

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Time was, Jason Castro was a refreshing contestant on American Idol as he didn’t fit in with the rest of the competition. As time wore on, his freshness faded, due entirely to the grind of the show and how it broke him down. For the last two weeks of the show he clearly hasn’t wanted to be here, and between the Ford commercials, phone Q&As, and trips to The Beatles: Love, who can blame him? As I said yesterday — the day when I called him Jason Cook, as the show has clearly worn me down, too — he’s done enough to have a career outside of the show and my money is that he will make an album about as good and true to himself (the ultimate Paula criteria) as David C.

To me, the real atrocity of last night was that group sing on “Reelin’ in the Years.” I have no problem with Steely Dan on the show, of course — if anything, the great Walter Becker and Donald Fagen would be my dream judges/mentors, rivaling that legendary episode with Quentin Tarantino as guest judge — but this was an outright embarrassment, with each line getting more ridiculous, culminating in David Archuleta botching lyrics once again. The only thing they can do to make up for this is to have a Becker/Fagen night next year, preferably early in the season when the show has enough contestants to be interesting to watch.

Also, it’s a shame that Bo Bice wasn’t allowed to play an instrument in the season he was on Idol — his very good performance last night showed that he was more comfortable with an axe than anybody this season, and more of a rocker too. But his Southern rock has never seemed more out of step with American Idol than it did last night.

Matt Collar
In answer to the phone in question of what was the biggest challenge each Idol had to overcome this season, the soon-to-be ousted Jason, pointing at his dreadlocks, responded with his usual deft hippy aplomb, “The dead brain.” And while no one would disagree with Jason’s own summation of his time on the show, in truth his actual Achilles’ heel was his voice. Dude just can’t sing very well. But at least he was a hundred times more interesting than the final three. Cook, Archie, and Syesha can sing quite well, but man are they dull. Syesha would be a shoo-in for the final two any other season, especially with the Idol tradition of having a girl/guy finale. But with Cook’s earnest rawk dominance and Archie’s Disney-diva-naïf chops, Syesha comes off as merely competent and that doesn’t grab you votes. Plus, I wonder if her votes are gonna get split by little girls who can’t decide whether they want to be Syesha or date Archie? And by date I mean like pass notes with check boxes in them, put stickers on his locker, see a movie at the mall, and stuff.

News Round-Up: 5/8/2008

AMG Staff — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:30:20 +0000

The rumors are true: the next in what seems to be a trend of sneak release attacks, Beck is putting out a new album sometime soon, and Danger Mouse is producing it. [Billboard.com]

Heralding the inevitable decline of the festival, Vegoose has been canceled this year. [Pitchfork]

That hasn’t stopped the Siren Music Festival from announcing its initial line-up, however. [Village Voice]

Phish took home a Lifetime Achievement award at last night’s Jammys. [AOL Spinner]

Country music legend Eddy Arnold passed away this morning, just one week before his 90th birthday. [Associated Press]

Reissue Desires: The Railway Children

Matt Collar — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:48:58 +0000

Best remembered for their 1990 hit “Every Beat of the Heart,” the Railway Children also produced two somewhat forgotten and hard-to-find gems of late ’80s indie pop that deserve to be reissued.

Starting out as Factory Records wunderkinds, the Railway Children had little in common with the sound of their labelmates New Order and Happy Mondays when they signed to the iconic label soon after forming in 1984. Fronted by singer/songwriter and matinée-idol looker Gary Newby, the band were less Madchester ravers and more Smiths-influenced indie kids with a bit of a New Romantic flair that was often obscured by an inclination toward thoughtful, melancholic anthems.

Combining melodic guitar-based indie-pop with a bit of blue-eyed soul, their 1987 debut Reunion Wilderness and the 1988 Virgin Records sophomore effort Recurrence fit comfortably next to the work of such like-minded contemporaries as the influential Scottish ensemble Orange Juice, as well as more theatrical outfits like Haircut 100 and ABC. However, it was just such comparisons — combined with the misconception that Newby was nothing more than a lightweight teenbeat idol — that dogged the band throughout their career, and they never quite gained the respect they deserved.

In a kind of bittersweet twist, the band’s 1990 effort Native Place brought them not only their biggest hit with the dance-oriented “Every Beat of the Heart,” but also increasing label pressure to go for a more commercial sound. Ironically, a corporate takeover of Virgin by EMI in the early ’90s left the band without a label and, facing the oncoming tsunami of grunge, Newby simply decided it was time to take a break.

Although Newby did release the 1997 album Dream Arcade under the Railway Children moniker, he eventually moved to Japan and began focusing on production work.

Unfortunately, barring several compilations and a 2002 U.K. bonus track edition of Reunion Wilderness, the Railway Children catalog is out-of-print.

Visit Gary Newby’s website.

Check out the Railway Children’s gentle pop sound:

“The First Notebook” (Reunion Wilderness)
“Brighter” (Reunion Wilderness)
“A Gentle Sound” (Reunion Wilderness)
“Somewhere South” (Listen On: The Best of the Railway Children)
“Monica’s Light” (Listen On: The Best of the Railway Children)
“In the Meantime” (Listen On: The Best of the Railway Children)
“Every Beat of the Heart” (Native Place)

Dust-To-Digital Goes Commercial (In a Good Way)

John Bush — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:14:20 +0000

Kudos to The New Yorker for delivering the most deserved (and most surprising) magazine feature of recent years. In its April 28th issue, Burghard Bilger writes about searching for real folk music in an age when no area in America is so remote that it remains untouched by the broad culture. (It stands to reason that the oddest and most interesting folk music is created in a cultural vacuum.) Bilger does so partly by relating the histories of two of folk music’s biggest fans nowadays — Dust-To-Digital label founder Lance Ledbetter and field-recording expert Art Rosenbaum.

In the article, Ledbetter recounts his conversion to pre-war folk music and field recording courtesy of college radio and Folkways’ landmark collection Anthology of American Folk Music. He also talks about the struggles of financing and finding time to run a small record label, and the joys of unearthing old folk music and tapping the springs of new folk music. (One Dust-To-Digital volume, the box set Art of Field Recording, Vol. I, presents some of Rosenbaum’s best discoveries from the ’50s all the way up to 2007.)

Unfortunately, the article isn’t online, but The New Yorker has put up pictures and audio accompaniments (available here). Also, there’s also a good Ledbetter interview here.

Anyone who’s unfamiliar with Dust-To-Digital needs to do themselves a favor and check out at least one of their releases: the best bet is the excellent and exhaustive gospel box set Goodbye, Babylon, a six-disc collection that charts a wealth and wide range of gospel music, from the dawn of the 20th century through the 1950s (taking in everything from blues and close harmony to sacred-harp singing, with a bonus disc packed full of sermons).

For even more intriguing music, check out the rest of their catalogue, which doesn’t just focus on American music — one collection, Black Mirror: Reflections in Global Musics 1918-1955, has early recordings from Laos, Russia, Syria, Greece, Serbia, Northumbria, Turkey, and Vietnam.