Entremeses del Siglo de Oro
Montserrat Figueras, soprano; Hespèrion XX, Jordi Savall.
Aliavox AVSA 9831
Format: Hybrid Stereo SACD

Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment

In the 16th and 17th centuries, music was a huge component of Spanish and Portuguese plays. And boy, was that music ever rockin’. The musicians of the period had rhythm long before George Gershwin discovered it. Jordi Savall and his 12-member ensemble feel those rhythms to the tips of each player’s toes, and the ensemble feeling here is tight and focused. Singer Montserrat Figueras sings with controlled abandon in a voice that has an appealing timbre. The sound is close-up and a trifle aggressive in a few numbers, but the rest have commanding presence. The high-resolution reproduction adds intimacy to every sound, from the bowed viols to the sounds of the deliciously raspy cornetto, trombone, and chirimía. The CD tracks sound slightly veiled in comparison. While this hybrid disc is offered at regular CD price, the deluxe packaging contains a huge number of performance and recording-session photos....Rad Bennett

Virginia Mayhew: Phantoms
Virginia Mayhew, tenor and soprano saxophones.
Renma 6397
Format: CD

Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Most jazz ensembles use an instrument that can produce harmonic chords, usually a piano or guitar. In her third album, Virginia Mayhew has chosen to go without, fronting an ensemble that consists of saxophone, trumpet, bass, and drums. The resultant sound is unusually clean and clear, if a little spooky at times. The instrumental lines often cross and weave in and out, as in a motet by Palestrina; the harmonies result from the lines coinciding in the same place at the same time. Classics such as "I love You" and "I’m a Fool to Want You" receive entirely new outlooks, complemented by such poignant and compelling Mayhew originals as "Monterey Blues" and "Live Your Life." The recording is extremely lucid, as befits the instrumentation. A highly recommended adventure in jazz listening....Rad Bennett

De/Vision: Devolution
A Different Drum 1160
Format: CD

Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment

De/Vision is one of the thousand or so bands that base their sound on synthesizers and a smattering of guitar. Like Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, and Kraftwerk before them, this trio knows how to craft a catchy melody. If you listen closely, you’ll hear influences from the masters of the genre; David Gahan intonations and Kraftwerk bleeps and blips are sprinkled throughout. This works quite well on Devolution -- every song is good, though I found "A New Dawn," "Far Too Deep," "Digital Dream," and "You Say" the most engaging. The choruses are especially impressive, and the sound quality is a step above what one would expect from music engineered for the radio. Unfortunately, none of it sticks with me like the music of the classic synth bands. Devolution is very good synth pop, but it lacks the depths plumbed by the above-named titans of the genre....Anthony Di Marco

Sting: Sacred Love
A&M 000114102
Format: CD

Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment

You can always tell when an artist isn’t the creative force he or she used to be. Songs on new albums start sounding like songs on old albums, and the energy that was so apparent in their earlier work is lost in the mechanics of pristine production values. After writing so many enjoyable and beautifully crafted songs, Sting has reached this point. Sacred Love offers nothing new or exciting, and could have easily been titled Brand New Day 2. Where "Desert Rose" was invigorating, catchy, and exotic, "Send Your Love" shows how quickly an idea can grow stale. The former front man for the Police also needs to come to terms with his infatuation with crime and poverty -- "Filler Up" and "Stolen Car" are so similar that I wondered if one was a B-side version of the other. While I enjoyed some of these songs, the feeling of déjà vu was enough to make repeated listenings more a chore than a pleasure. It is a nice-sounding record, though....Anthony Di Marco

Soundtrack: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Reprise 31902-2
Format: CD

Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment

From the Mines of Moria to the precipice of Mount Doom, Howard Shore has created one of the most memorable and inspired film scores in cinematic history. The Return of the King caps this masterwork off with a bang. Shore could have glided through the last installment by using canned cues and overused motifs. Instead, he creates a completely new and exciting score that recalls the previous two films without ripping himself off. Nothing about this effort disappoints. Contributions by the cast, including Billy Boyd and Viggo Mortensen, are first-class, while Shore’s choice of vocalists pulls the last bit of emotion from each track. Even a song sung by pop diva Annie Lennox soars beyond the mediocrity of most soundtrack minutiae. As with the soundtrack albums of the first two films, the sound quality isn’t fantastic, but with such beautiful and exciting music, fidelity was the last thing on my mind. Taken on its own, The Return of the King is a wonderful score; taken in the context of all three films, it is Howard Shore’s masterpiece....Anthony Di Marco