Gorillaz: The Fall (EMI, 12/25/10)

Gorillaz: "Phoner to Arizona"

Morrow: Over Christmas, Damon Albarn of Gorillaz (as well as Blur and The Good, The Bad & The Queen, et al) released a free album of material called The Fall for paying Gorillaz fan-club members.  Recorded on the road during the American portion of the group's recent Plastic Beach tour, the material (which can be streamed for free by non-paying mailing-list members) is most noteworthy for being entirely recorded and produced on an iPad.

The music isn't the high-water mark that was Plastic Beach, which benefited from virtuosic performances by The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music and others and which featured high-profile guests such as Lou Reed, Mos Def, De La Soul, and many others.  But the songs are fun, dance-y little electronic numbers (with Albarn singing over some of them), and there isn't much in the production that would tip it as being recorded on an iPad.  There are "legit" electronic instruments in the mix — Moogs, Korgs, etc. — as well as accents from traditional instruments, including a beautiful ukulele loop on "Revolving Doors."

Hajduch: For an album hung on a gimmick and released quietly over a long holiday, The Fall is much more solid than I'd expected.  Gorillaz has been on a hot streak — Plastic Beach was great, and its previous album, Demon Days, is outstanding — but at times it's hard to tell how much of the spark is Albarn's, how much is the producer's (I initially assumed that Dan the Automator was the brain behind the debut album until they got rid of him and the music gradually got even better), and how much it owes to guest appearances (De La Soul have had a lot of great moments over the past two Gorillaz releases).

Given its recording history as a solo endeavor, The Fall is pretty subdued in comparison to the usual Gorillaz kitchen-sink aesthetic.  But Albarn's voice hasn't changed a bit, and he can still write a tune, so there's tons to like here.  The tracks are percussive, with a lot of drum machine beats and wonky bass synths.

The way that Albarn adopts a monotone and rides the beat to "The Joplin Spider," before the whole thing changes keys and rhythm and morphs into a glossy, vocoded aside, is legitimately surprising.  So even when this album completely falls apart at the very end (nobody should have let "Bobby in Phoenix" happen, even if it is Bobby Womack singing), you got your money's worth.  As far as free not-really-albums go, that's a pretty good deal.

Morrow: For sure.  There's also some random yodeling at the end, and it sounds like a few of those later tracks were scrapped together just to get the dang thing finished.  But indeed, it's a solid release, and for free (at least while it's streaming), it's hard to beat.  EMI is issuing a physical release in 2011, and that should help tide over everyone's CD collections (people still have those, right?) in case it takes another five years for a "real" album.

An iconic poet/musician whose soulful spoken-word style helped give rise to rapping, Gil Scott-Heron has been proclaimed a major influence in hip hop, neo-soul, and acid jazz. His political activism has been at the forefront of his noted career, which includes the acclaimed poem/song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

Now, marking another landmark moment in his career, Scott-Heron has released I'm New Here, his first full-length since the 1994 album Spirits, which too was something of a "comeback" — his first studio album since 1982.

Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell, who convinced Scott-Heron to go back into the studio, I'm New Here is an atmospheric, down-tempo disc of diversity.

Acoustic pseudo-ballads are accented by electronics, dramatic strings, and piano in a combination of new poems, covers, and interludes. It's a release that feels extremely personal, whether from the lyrical content or Scott-Heron's familiar voice.

Gil Scott-Heron: "Where Did the Night Go"
Gil Scott-Heron: \"Where Did the Night Go\"

Pillars and Tongues: Lay of Pilgrim Park LP + download (Endless Nest)

With just three members, Pillars and Tongues manages to craft powerful folk abstractions and interwoven, trance-inducing vocal dynamics. Both composed and improvisational, these shifting forms evoke spiritual vibes in their soulful essence, heavenly harmonies, and repeated patterns.

Violin, upright bass, and drums and other percussive elements slowly build and fall. Each member contributes to the layered vocal harmonics, often trading rounds of the same melody or balancing pitches as a low or intermediate voice begins a wordless refrain. Fans of Huun Huur Tu, Charming Hostess / Jewlia Eisenberg, and other vocally driven experimentalists will love this.

Pillars and Tongues: "The Center of"
Pillars and Tongues: \"The Center Of\"

Arsis: Starve for the Devil (Nuclear Blast)

A major force in metal just six years after its debut, Arsis is a Virginia quartet that boasts tireless harmonized shredding. Thrash and black metal, gently crossing into death metal, form the basis of a sound that leans on flawless technical proficiency in accessible time signatures.

Starve for the Devil trends towards the melodic end of the band's material, but there's no shortage of full-speed aggression. Riff lovers will get their money's worth with this one.

Hot Chip: One Life Stand (Astralwerks)

Hot Chip's brand of synthesized dance pop has allowed the keyboarded quintet to climb the UK charts and garner heaps of attention in the United States.

One Life Stand is another disc chock full of dance-floor albums, albeit a bit more restrained than on albums past. The gentle vocals of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard will continue receiving much of the attention from casual listeners, but One Life Stand really shines with its diversity of synth sounds and instrumental complements (such as the touches from Trinidadian steel-pan player Fimber Bravo).

Massive Attack: Heligoland (Virgin)

Seven years after its last studio offering, commercially thriving electronic producers Massive Attack — closely tied to the trip-hop explosion of the early 1990s — have finally released their long-awaited fifth album, Heligoland.

With Grantley Evan Marshall, a.k.a. Daddy G, back on board in the studio, the group attains a multitude of electronic styles on Heligoland, thanks to its divergence of tastes as well as the usual assortment of guests.

This time, Massive Attack collaborates with Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio), Damon Albarn (Blur), Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star), Martina Topley-Bird, Adrian Utley (Portishead), and Billy Fuller (Beak). The result is a minimalist electro dreamscape, one that should appeal to a sizable cross-section of music fans.

Honorable Mentions

Bluebrain: Soft Power (Lujo)
Galactic: Ya-Ka-May (Anti-)
Georgia Anne Muldrow: Kings Ballad (Ubiquity)
Shining (Sweden): VI / Klagopsalmer (Indie Recordings)
This Moment in Black History: Public Square (Smog Veil)