Shuggie Otis

Inspiration Information

He's one of the great mystery men of the early '70s. Multi-instrumentalist Shuggie Otis, son of West Coast R&B pioneer Johnny Otis, played with Frank Zappa and turned down an offer to join the Rolling Stones after Mick Taylor's departure. In 1974, he made one of the terrific, and thoroughly unheralded, albums of the era with Inspiration Information, an auteur effort on which he sang and played all the parts (or, in the case of strings and horns, arranged them). The disc's first five songs rival the classic work of artists like Marvin Gaye, Sly, Curtis Mayfield and the like. Otis' lilting, languid tenor glides over laid-back grooves and airily arranged backing tracks. The songs boast warm, unforced melodies that unfold at their leisure. On tracks 6-9, Otis shuts off the mic and crafts some engaging instrumentals that blend symphonic soul and mellow funk-jazz (with one exception: the drum machine and synth workout "XL-30," which prefigures the likes of Stereolab and Tortoise). The collection is rounded out by a few tracks from Otis' 1971 album, Freedom Flight, including his original version of "Strawberry Letter 23," which became a smash for The Brothers Johnson in '77, and the forward-thinking title track, a 13-minute, Dead-style space jam with some dub flavor. (Luaka Bop, www.luakabop.com)

—Eric Snider

Guided By Voices

Isolation Drills

GBV's quest to take their music from a Dayton, Ohio, basement to the masses, underway since the late '90s, is still a work in progress. While Isolation Drills deserves kudos for simply being the kind of hook-heavy, guitar-driven, straightforward pop-rock that has become so scarce these days, the album wilts over the course of 16 songs, most of which fall into similar terrain in terms of tempo and melody. Taken individually, each of the tunes ranges from adequate to perfectly fine, but they become homogenous, even indistinguishable, when absorbed one after another. Bob Pollard's lead vocals are more burdened by Brit-boy affectation than ever — to the point of distraction. Ultimately Isolation Drills is marked by a kind of workmanlike consistency — not the stuff of great rock 'n' roll. (TVT, www.gbv.com)

—Eric Snider

2 Planets

Matthew Shipp

Matthew Shipp's New Orbit With 17 albums in the '90s, Shipp established himself as the new voice of apocalyptic, avant-garde piano. On New Orbit, he makes a notable departure from the bombast in favor of meditative soundscapes and thick, chord-heavy ruminations. He's joined by bassist (and regular cohort) William Parker, drummer Gerald Cleaver and trumpet titan Wadada Leo Smith, who plays a series of echoey, fat-toned lines broken up by lots of space. Only one track, "U Feature" ventures into frenetic, dissonant bop. In its down spots, New Orbit is noodlesome, perilously close to new age. At high points, the music achieves a contemplative depth that evokes a Coltrane-esque spirituality. (Thirsty Ear, www.thirstyear.com)

—Eric Snider

This Busy Monster

Fireworks

The second full-length by this Seattle band — two-thirds of which run Barsuk Records — is a mixed bag that grows on you. There's an obscure narrative here, propped up by frontman Christopher Possanza's personal symbols: werewolves and other bloodthirsty creatures, trespassers in late-night houses and mysterious entities known only as "things." Possanza's vocals are a distinctive centerpiece, like XTC's Andy Partridge caught between practicing his Roky Erikson and Bob Mould impersonations. Musically, the band straddles a line, too, between The Birthday Party's brooding and the playfulness of Built to Spill. Hung on the sparse, loose bones of guitar, bass, drums and the occasional piano is a patchwork of banjo, cello, singing saw, clarinet, violin and french horn. Fireworks has many moods: angular, cranky Pixies-style guitar numbers; creaky psychedelics; and downright traditional, old-school rock 'n' roll ballads. (Barsuk, www.barsuk.com)

—Stefanie Kalem