The Brave and the Bold

TORTOISE & BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY

Overcoat

Tortoise needed a jolt. The Chicago instrumental collective had settled a little too comfortably into its gauzy soundscapes — not repeating themselves, really, but sounding like it. This collaboration with Bonnie "Prince" Billy (aka Will Oldham) is just the tonic to re-instill a sense of liveliness into one of America's most original ensembles.

The Brave and the Bold finds the Oldham/Tortoise nexus deconstructing, often drastically, a series of covers, ranging from iconic (Springsteen's "Thunder Road") to obscure (Quix*o*tic's "On My Own").

Thankfully, there is nothing glib or ironic in these remakes. The collaborators clearly revere the material, but not so much that they won't dismantle a song and rebuild it from the ground up.

Exhibit A is "Thunder Road," which would likely send a Boss-o-phile into a fit of pique. Over a lugubrious, barely mid-tempo beat, Oldham reads the lyrical fusillades with a weary smolder; whereas Springsteen sang this escape song with defiance and optimism, Oldham's version resonates with anxiety, even fear. Further, he completely overhauls the melody. For its part, Tortoise re-works the chord sequence, builds a new central guitar riff, and decorates the arrangement with rib-rattling bass, chunky piano and synth filigree. In effect a new song, and a successful one.

Tortoise (Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire and Jeff Parker) seems invigorated by the project. It sounds as if they're having a ball, whether laying down a lively rock/samba backdrop for Milton Nascimento's "Crave E Canela," or cutting loose with some distortion-laden grind-rock on The Minutemen's "It's Expected I'm Gone"; pulling off some abstract twang on the Don Williams number "Pancho," or going balls out with the echo and clatter on Elton John's "Daniel."

Oldham, likewise, sounds energized, willing to stretch beyond his usual somnambulistic and fragile vocal work. He's damn near spunky on Devo's "That's Pep!"

It takes a handful of listens to digest (and in some cases accept) the intrepid re-imaginings on The Brave and the Bold, but perseverance yields valuable dividends. (www.overcoatrecordings.com) 4 stars.

ERIC SNIDER

Inventions & Dimensions

HERBIE HANCOCK

Blue Note

This has to be the most accessible free jazz ever made. In 1963, pianist Hancock, then 23, put together a quartet (including two Latin percussionists and a bassist) for a session that — save one song, "Mimosa" — was completely improvised. The results are open-ended and adventurous, but agreeably swinging and melodic (along with some winning Latin forays). So, no, this is not free jazz in the way the genre is generally understood, but there is a freeness to the music that sets it apart from the other, more four-square post-bop of the era. Hancock seems to enjoy the lack of strictures; his playing is uniformly brilliant. 5 stars.

Take Me Home

MARE WAKEFIELD

Mare Wakefield

A Nashville native, but now hailing from Oregon and with extensive Northwest touring experience, Wakefield went back to her hometown to record her third full-length. The sound is a mix of familiar elements: Folky enough to rock a coffee shop near you, rural enough for her to perform the songs at a state fair. The disc is just a little too consistent throughout, however, and when you eject the thing, little except the overall vibe is lodged in your mind. 3 stars.

COOPER LANE BAKER

The Lie That Matches the Furniture

VAZ

Narnack

This Brooklyn-based trio raises a pretty brutal racket despite its stripped-down guitar-voice-drums format. Tracks rumble along and shift gears on a dime, dismissing structure en route to warehouse-rattling bliss. Smartly, the band interrupts the heavier stuff with brief tracks like "Mensa Beast," which are usually lighter and easier to cope with. This ensures that the album never sounds monotonous from start to finish, the usual problem with bands of this sort. 3.5 stars.

CLB

ORTHRELM

Ipecac

First, a warning: This isn't really an album per se. Nope, it's one goddamn track. And it's 45 minutes long. And it's basically a repetition of the same idea over and over (and over) again. Nothing but pounding drums and high-pitched guitar shredding, this is one of the most extreme things these ears have ever been subjected to. Maybe I'm a wuss, but what's the point here? Endurance? Can that be it? 1 star.

CLB

Curtis

CURTIS MAYFIELD

Curtom/Rhino

Mayfield's first solo album (after leaving the Impressions), released two years before Superfly, is a masterful combination of black consciousness, ghetto realism, slinky funk, symphonic R&B (with a touch of echo-drenched psychedelia) and sweet soul music. Mayfield — one of the renaissance figures of '70s music — wrote, produced, played guitar, and gave the music its most distinctiveness via his voice, a high tenor that was simultaneously sweet, tough and exuberant. Curtis, reissued with bonus material in '04, includes lots of extended, percussion-heavy instrumental sections — best of all, a nine-minute version of the irrepressible "Move on Up."

ERIC SNIDER

This article appears in Feb 1-7, 2006.