‘Luck in the Valley’
by Jack Rose
label: Thrill Jockey
genre: revivalism
suitable for: ramblin’
online: www.thrilljockey.com
I’d like to think that Rose’s tragic death last December at the age of 33 does not affect how much I love this album. But, truthfully, when listening to this unbelievably warm, beautiful music, which seems so reflective of Rose’s life and personality, it’s impossible to separate the two. So, for me, the tragedy and the art are intertwined. But that doesn’t mean “Luck in the Valley” isn’t a phenomenal album alone. It is. And it’s the perfect culmination of a life’s work, a career that produced 10 albums in a short time. And it’s another tragedy that he won’t be able to hear the plaudits this will bring.

A founding member of psych-drone band Pelt, Rose’s solo material was steeped in American roots music, specifically pre-war blues and ragtime. He was obviously influenced heavily by modern re-interpreters of the genre like John Fahey, but his style was unique, owing to an interest in the droning, hypnotic qualities of folk music from around the world. “Luck in the Valley” was recorded live, with Rose on guitar surrounded by a group of musicians on piano, banjo, a variety of sticks and other ramshackle percussion—anything that appears to have been lying around at the time, it seems. Almost every track exudes the joy of friends engaging in an old-time jubilee. Everything, that is, except opener “Blues for Percy Danforth,” a solemn Rose composition that is strikingly beautiful and melancholy, one of the best guitar instrumentals I’ve ever heard.

The mood picks up as that song winds down, and by the time the album closes with a romping arrangement of Blind Blake’s “West Coast Blues,” all that’s left is joy.

‘Waiting For You’
by King Midas Sound
label: Hyperdub
genre: echo soul
suitable for: couch, headphones, bag of Doritos
online: www.myspace.com/kingmidassound
To call this music atmospheric would be a serious understatement—more like put-your-shoes-in-the-microwave-while-sleepwalking entrancing. A collaboration between U.K. producer Kevin Martin, a.k.a. The Bug, and vocalists Roger Robinson and Hitomi, “Waiting For You” is a perplexing alchemy combining an un-danceable form of dubstep—a fairly new genre drawing upon dub and techno—with the whispered, soulful vocals of spoken word poet Robinson.

It sounds like nothing else, but dub is the foundation. “The Earth will kill you if you try to kill it,” Robinson, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, repeats during “Earth A Killya.” It’s a piece of folk wisdom delivered like a commandment. Aside from first single and album opener “Cool Out,” which is now a bass-heavy classic, “Earth A Killya,” is the album’s best song. “It’s a long time we organic/Dem so-called scientists now catch on,” Robinson says. Yeah, screw those guys.

“Meltdown” and “One Ting” are good examples of what this music is all about: slow and spacey, with Bug’s sound effects and measured drum beats exploding into mind-numbing echoes while Robinson croons forlorn lyrics. It’s dancehall played on 33 rpm when it should be 45.

‘White Lunar’
by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
label: Mute
genre: Music for films
suitable for: Bad Seeds mellowing out
online: www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com
“White Lunar” collects assorted film works by these two long-time collaborators from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Ellis is also in The Dirty Three). Could be a throwaway, as many soundtrack albums are, but that’s the point of this one—this stuff is too good to be background music.

The first disc contains music from the three feature films they have scored: “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “The Proposition” and “The Road.” Music from “The Assassination” sounds the most symphonic—the most like a film score—while music from western “The Proposition,” whose screenplay was written by Cave, sounds the most daring and personal, with Cave resuming his role as the goth balladeer on “Gun Thing.”

The disc closes with music from “The Road,” all of which is desolately beautiful, dark, yet somehow hopeful—much as the story itself—particularly the stunning piece “The Beach,” which features Cave’s elegant piano with Ellis’ haunting violin. The second disc contains music from earlier documentary scores and four excellent pieces from the archives.

‘Opiate Sun’
by Jesu
label: Caldo Verde
genre: soft and heavy
suitable for: closet emo fans
online: www.avalancheinc.co.uk/jesu.html
Napalm Death, Godflesh… Jesu? The progression of U.K. artist Justin Broadrick through the years, from his early roots in extreme metal to his current Jesu project, which sounds something like a metal-head falling hard for the 4AD/shoegaze sound of the 1980s, has been a curious one. Grindcore, industrial metal… light rock? Basically, yes, but somehow the transition sounds natural.

Opening with “Losing Streak,” what one might call “classic Jesu,” Broadrick establishes early on that he has mastered this sound. He owns it like he owns the limbs on his body. Sounds like sludge, but too melodic to be sludge. Sounds distorted but too soothing to be metal. Sounds like Jesu. Broadrick, who plays every instrument on the album, keeps it fairly simple this time, eschewing electronic manipulation and focusing on essentials: huge, live drums, layers of buzzing guitar harmonies, and singing that seems to be transmitted directly into the hearts of the heartbroken.

In my view, the two best Jesu releases are 2006’s “Silver” and this one, both of which are EPs. It seems like the lethargic Jesu sound might be better suited for the short format. Regardless, this record leaves me craving the third Jesu full-length, whenever that next fix arrives.