Al Green's landmark R&B album 'Call Me' turns 50

Green is widely considered one of the greatest pop singers ever. In 1973, he constructed this superb nine-song album for Hi Records in Memphis, in close collaboration with co-producer Willie Mitchell.

* This article was originally published here

Collection features almost all the music Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes danced to

In 1909, the Russian impresario came to Paris and created a sensation with a company he called the Ballets Russes. A new 22-disc set revisits the music of Diaghilev's legendary ballets.

* This article was originally published here

Walter Smith III sounds right at home on 'return to casual'

Everything's in balance on the tenor saxophonist's new album: Smith's pliable expressive tone is neither too heavy nor too light as he exploits the tension between the composed and the improvised.

* This article was originally published here

JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown are here to blow up your function

The joyously chaotic rap team-up Scaring the Hoes is less Watch the Throne and more Wedding Crashers: a pair of motormouthed eccentrics running wild trick plays and daring you to stick around.

(Image credit: Carlo Cavaluzzi/Courtesy of the artist)

* This article was originally published here

Feist holds a mirror up to her 'Multitudes'

On her best album to date, Feist mines age and experience, love and loss to shape 12 songs about the hard-earned insights of simply existing.

(Image credit: Sara Melvin & Colby Richardson/Courtesy of the artist)

* This article was originally published here

Wednesday's 'Rat Saw God' is fearlessly, chaotically, grimly American

The Asheville, N.C., band's new album blends country and shoegaze influences in a thrilling set of songs that capture youthful debauchery and local lore against a backdrop of strip malls and highways.

(Image credit: Zachary Chick)

* This article was originally published here

100 years ago today, Louis Armstrong wrapped his first recording session

The 21-year-old Armstrong, on cornet, was a protégé of New Orleans fellow cornetist and band leader King Joe Oliver. On April 5, 1923, they went into a Richmond, Ind., studio for a two-day session.

* This article was originally published here

Lana Del Rey's ambitious new album is her riskiest to date

Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. is filled with dense compositions about family lore and romantic entanglements.

* This article was originally published here