1.OUTKAST Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista) The most fascinating record of the year was this matched set of solo albums by Outkast’s Big Boi and Andre 3000. Both are obsessed with love and sex, not necessarily in that order, but all subject matter here is overshadowed by an amazingly polymorphous musicality. Andre 3000’s disc is more eclectic, recalling Prince at his late-80s best, and contains the highest of the many highs–the dark, minimal slow jam “Pink & Blue,” the irresistible pop hit “Hey Ya!”–as well as the lowest low, a turgid electro-jazz version of “My Favorite Things.” But Big Boi’s is more consistent, flying through a dozen variants of funk and making them all sound fresh.
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STEVE COLEMAN & FIVE ELEMENTS On the Rising of the 64 Paths (Label Bleu) Layering a bebop-derived melodic sense over hard-funk polyrhythms, composer and alto saxophonist Steve Coleman generates dreamlike tension and ritualistic power. Acoustic bassist Reggie Washington, electric bassist Anthony Tidd (chording here like a keyboard player), and drummer Sean Rickman spread out a detailed map of rhythmic and harmonic possibilities, and the front line–Coleman, trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, and flutist Malik Mezzadri–responds with careful polyphonic movement and long, coiling solo explorations. Two charging takes of the Gillespie classic “Dizzy Atmosphere” augment a batch of craggy originals, including “Call for Transformation,” where Mezzadri puts down his flute and chants like an improvising muezzin.
NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Electric Version (Matador) The debut from this Canadian pop all-star team sounded like the remarkably good ad hoc project it was; the follow-up seems the product of a bona fide band. The songs–mostly by Carl Newman, with a few by Dan Bejar–come at you in a giddy rush of daredevil melodies, Beach Boys-worthy harmony parts, and airtight playing. I wish Neko Case sang lead on more than one song–often, as on “The Laws Have Changed,” her backing vocals steal the show–but Newman does the job just fine.
PERIYA MELAM: TEMPLE DE CHIDAMBARAM (Ocora) The ensembles called periya melam are the last link between the ancient Carnatic music of southern India and the rituals of Hinduism. The predominant instrument in their music is the nagasvaram, a double reed instrument with a piercing tone (often associated by Westerners with snake charming) that can take some getting used to. Over a harmonium drone and undulating, elaborately subdivided rhythms played on drums and metal castanets called talam, the two nagasvaram players heard on this album (recorded in the temple at Chidambaram, on the Bay of Bengal) reel off wildly zigzagging lines, either in tag-team fashion or both at once. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I find it mesmerizing.
