Amoeba Music

In the U.S., Tom Jones is mainly known as the open-shirted baritone of such cheeseball classics as “It’s Not Unusual” and “She’s a Lady,” but in the U.K. he’s an institution, having been knighted, still charting and having had a No. 1 single within the past five years. Perhaps in a move to advance his legacy beyond the hit-making lothario he’s often known as, Spirit in the Room, his 40th album, is a naked collection of folk covers sung genuinely, even spiritually, covering songs by artists ranging from respected contemporaries like Leonard Cohen to antecedents like Odetta and Bob Dylan and newer acts like The Low Anthem. He tackles Paul Simon’s vibrant’s “Love and Blessings” and Blind Willie Johnson’s contemplative “Soul of a Man” with equal furor. And you haven’t heard Jones fully until you’ve heard him take on Tom Waits, making “Bad as Me” doubly theatrical. Bold, smart choices here pay off handsomely. After listening to Spirit in the Room, the next time you hear about Tom Jones, you might picture a Johnny Cash-like figure strumming an acoustic guitar rather than a rapscallion in an unbuttoned shirt. More

The Haxan Cloak’s Excavation is an aptly named trip into the other side of the human ego. It takes listeners on a dark ride, requiring several listens for its movements to sink in and rewarding the patient with a unique listening experience. Starting with deep bass drum hits on “Consumed,” it moves into the two-part “Excavation,” which at first feels like travelling at the deepest part of the ocean, drumless and with little light let in, but deep sonar blasts of bass, heartbeats and backward sound guide us as if we’re seeing the unseen. Part two opens the chasm a bit, with squelching beats you could almost dance to, were they not so brutal and irregular. “Mara” sounds like the exact moment the protagonist finds the body in film noir or a horror film, built on unseemly strings and a door-slamming beat. The two-part “The Mirror Reflecting” gets even deeper, with a beautifully decayed last quarter, and the nearly 13-minute “The Drop” actually finds The Haxan Cloak’s Bobby Krlic at his most open and easy to follow, with melodic synths that sound like a synth-pop song slowed to quarter-speed. Though it provides few easy entry points and demands much of its listener, The Haxan Cloak’s Excavation is a worthwhile journey, even just to say you made it to the other side. More

The Airborne Toxic Event continue to make unabashedly stratospheric rock ’n’ roll on their third album, Such Hot Blood. Like their brethren in The Killers, The Airborne Toxic Event make no attempts to hide their Bruce Springsteen-inspired, stadium-bound ambitions, and thus their music is allowed to be as grandiose as possible, which is not to say it’s without nuance. Sure, “Safe” has U2-sized grandeur on its mind, but it gets there via traded-off male/female verses, chugging acoustic guitars and looping, slowly building violins before achieving that climactic chorus four minutes in. “The Storm” allows frontman Mikel Jollett to really belt over a stately arrangement, displaying an ability to appeal to fans of emotional acoustic-rock bands like Mumford & Sons. “The Secret,” meanwhile, makes its choral hook the main attraction, even as Jollett tears apart his voice to get there. They’ve got stars in their eyes, but you couldn’t accuse The Airborne Toxic Event of not putting their hearts on the line on the impactful Such Hot Blood. More

You could forgive Streetlight Manifesto their latest album title if you read their backstory — the ska stalwarts have been robbed of their equipment twice, crippling their ability to play. Still, the New Jersey band soldiers on, and their fifth album continues doling out energetic third-wave ska for a fervent, diehard base of ska fans. The Hands That Thieve is a dynamic collection, starting with the multipart “The Three of Us,” a battle cry of sorts for the band that seems to chronicle the band’s progression, though multiple lineup changes, mammoth tours and various challenges. The title track similarly sees an epic arrangement, starting with a simple strummed acoustic guitar and sultry horns building to pub-rock verses augmented with galloping percussion and raucous shoutalong vocals. Since the band has announced it will no longer tour as frequently, the album can’t help but feel like at least a temporary swan song for the band. If that’s the case, they leave listeners feeling like they gave it their all on the thorough The Hands That Thieve. More

It’s been nine years since underground rap legend R.A. The Rugged Man released his debut album (or his third, counting his two independently released albums), but Richard Andrew Thorburn hasn’t allowed age to dull his flow. If anything, he sounds more invigorated than ever on tracks like “Holla-Loo-Yuh,” in which the 39-year-old, accompanied by Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko, raps circles around MCs half his age. Just to drive that point home, “The People’s Champ” paints R.A. as the rap Rocky, with lyrics like “these other artists, I’m above ’em even if I’m under the ground.” R.A. may never get his due from mainstream rap fans, but Legends Never Die proves hip-hop success should be measured by standards, not dollars. More

With James Williamson back on guitar, who helped develop the iconic guitar sound found on the band’s classic Raw Power album, and raw production to match, Ready to Die feels like the Iggy & the Stooges reunion album fans have been hoping for. It’s clearly modeled after Raw Power, the band’s raucous third album, with acidic opener “Burn” replacing “Search and Destroy” and “Sex and Money’s” dirty groove calling to mind “Gimme Danger’s” acoustic menace. Purists may gripe at this or that; the “I want it!” calls in the background of “Sex and Money” are cheesy, but Fun House-era saxophonist Steve Mackay and Williamson’s insistent riffs, which dig further into you with each subsequent spin like a dirty hook, obliterate most of the issues listeners may take. Simple, thickheaded songs like “Job” and “Gun” pretty much sound great depending on how loudly you play them, despite unfortunate lyrics, while the ballads leave plenty to be desired — Iggy Pop’s take on Serge Gainsbourg’s vocal stylings sound awkward in this framework. Ready to Die sounds best when it looks back; the sentiment of the title track is as macabre as Stooges classics like “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell,” giving Williamson, Mackay, original drummer Scott Asheton and Mike Watt, who fills in on bass for the deceased Ron Asheton, the chance to get nasty like it’s 1970. At its best, on songs like the grimy “Dirty Deal,” Ready to Die will give fans the dose of Stooges madhouse rock ’n’ roll they’ve been clamoring for. More

Hanni El Khatib makes garage rock worth getting excited about on his second album, Head in the Dirt. Thanks to economical songwriting and deft production from The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Head in the Dirt doesn’t overreach nor does it fail to deliver the goods, 11 quick and dirty garage pop songs with only the necessary flourishes, like the surging electronics that deceptively open the album on the title track, which quickly moves into a blues romp. Single “Family” takes Sister Sledge’s lyrical concept and applies it to punk-fueled hard rock that should please any Black Keys or White Stripes fan. El Khatib’s songs possess a certain machismo, singing he’ll pray for a “Skinny Little Girl” or painting himself as an outlaw in reggae-rocker “Nobody Move,” but he also gets tender for a girl in “Penny,” an irresistible bubblegum ditty that nicely breaks up the broin’ down. The album ain’t exactly loaded with poetry, but El Khatib is often at his best being off-handed about the songs, as straight-ahead rockers like “Pay No Mind” and “Sinking in the Sand” will attest. Sometimes you just need to get your rocks off, and Head in the Dirt makes that remarkably easy. More

It’s tough to think of a Big Country record without late frontman Stuart Adamson, but with The Alarm’s Mike Peters at the helm, whose big voice doesn’t approximate Adamson’s warmer tones but still does the band justice, Big Country turn in a fine album that should appeal to fans who’ve stayed with the band over the years. Songs like “Hurt” feature loose, crisp production while Peters sings “no one can hurt you now,” both inspirationally and melancholically, and it’s hard not to think of Adamson, who hung himself after years of depression and alcoholism. Whether it’s a paean to their dearly departed frontman or otherwise inspirational ode, it works, given Peters’ spirited performance and the band’s delicate instrumentation, save for a blistering solo reminiscent of classic Big Country, in which the band made their instruments sound like bagpipes through heavy production. While Adamson is missed, The Journey gives hope and energy to the surviving lineup of Big Country, and new songs to pull from while touring beyond their 30-year discography. More

The Gentlemen of the Road Edition of Mumford & Sons’ hit album Babel offers fans a recorded version of how the band is best heard: live. The Road to Red Rocks collection on the second disc of the set (as well as on its included DVD) was recorded entirely at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Morrison, Colo., allowing fans the experience of being at one of Mumford & Sons’ shows, and the feelings of community and exuberance that come along with it. The recording sounds great, buoyed by cheers and claps that sound as much a part of the music as the band’s soaring harmonies and rumbling folk-rock. Vocally, Marcus Mumford occasionally runs himself ragged, which is sort of the point with M&S — the weariness and desperation in his voice makes the songs feel as though they’re sung in character, and fans can feel as though he’s living the things he’s singing instead of merely describing them. A rousing version of Babel’s “Below My Feet” and a rollicking version of Sigh No More’s “Roll Away Your Stone” qualify as standouts, with the latter feeling like a gospel revival taking place in a saloon. Also not to be missed is how the spare first half of “Awake My Soul” leads into its Fleetwood Mac-style roaring second half. By the time they play closing hits “I Will Wait” and “The Cave,” you’ll be hard-pressed not to cheer and sing along with the audience to the band’s triumphant anthems.

Like the xx, this London trio achieves dark, emotional grandeur through meticulously minimal atmosphere and captivating lyrical poetry. But you'd never mistake one for the other -- where the xx are painfully cold and reserved, Daughter create swirling beauty and yearning soul fire, especially Elena Tonra's sweetly heartbroken vocals, which will resonate with fans of Kate Bush or Mazzy Star. Guitarist Igor Haefelli is a master of dark, painterly composition, setting each mood with skillfully placed drones and chimes, and percussionist Remi Aguillela keeps the fragile energy flowing. This full-length for 4AD follows up a couple of well-received EPs, and it's a knockout statement that will surely stand as one of the year's best. More