RECORDINGS Quick Spins

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

TOP RANKING

Santogold and Diplo

On today's polyglot dance floor -- where more is more -- what happens when the envelope pushers run out of envelopes? It's a conundrum that hasn't fazed Diplo. The Philadelphia DJ first made headlines (or at least bloglines) with "Piracy Funds Terrorism," a pioneering 2004 mix-tape collaboration with rapper M.I.A. that set the stage for genre-splicing club anthems to come. Now, four summers later, he's revisiting that same recipe by teaming with New York singer Santogold.

He's the alchemist, she's the maverick -- and their partnership yields punky, funky results. Diplo conjures dance-hall fireworks out of a Cutty Ranks verse and the itchy bass line from Black Flag's "Six Pack," while Santogold reanimates the Clash's "Guns of Brixton" as the reverb-laden "Guns of Brooklyn." And those are just two of the 35 tracks crammed onto this 75-minute jamathon, in which Diplo remixes most of the tunes from Santogold's excellent, eponymous debut album and surrounds them with swollen dub-step bass lines, twitchy Devo samples, Aretha Franklin vamps, Three 6 Mafia verses and a glut of classic reggae.

The riskiest step comes with Santogold's screechy cover of Bad Brains' thrash classic, "Right Brigade." It's an admirable curveball, but it feels cute compared with the urgency of "Get It Up," a track where Santogold, M.I.A. and Gorilla Zoe spit over a confluence of drum and vocal samples seemingly culled from all over the globe. It's sonic proof that the true envelope-pushers not only know how to push them -- they know where to find them, too.

-- Chris Richards

DOWNLOAD THESE:"Get It Up" (featuring M.I.A. & Gorilla Zoe), "L.E.S. Artistes" (XXXChange remix featuring Movado), "Dutty Six Pack."

MAGIC TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Last year's "Magic" was one of those rare Bruce Springsteen albums people only pretended to enjoy, like "Lucky Town." The download-only, all-live, guest-duet-heavy "Magic Tour Highlights" is a four-song set that can be purchased with or without accompanying videos (it's better with). It contains no songs from "Magic" itself.

If not for the fact that proceeds from the EP benefit the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund, a charity set up for the E Street organist (who died of the disease in April), this would be merely a nifty but not entirely necessary curio from a tour that isn't over yet and will likely yield its own live disc.

The song-by-song breakdown:

"Always a Friend" (with Alejandro Escovedo): Until this career-reshaping duet, Escovedo's name had never appeared in print without the words "roots rocker" in front of it. This cover of his own (very recent) song sounds like one of those awkward '80s buddy duets, as if Jackson Browne should be on it. Still terrific, though.

"The Ghost of Tom Joad" (with Tom Morello): This falls somewhere between the spartan dignity of the original and the ferocity of Morello's version with Rage Against the Machine. Skip the video: Morello spends most of it looking bored. Because it's not like he's onstage with Bruce Springsteen or anything.

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" (with Roger McGuinn): Nice, but it's remarkable only for the part where Springsteen seems to forget the lyrics.

"4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)": This would be Federici's last performance with the band, and everyone onstage seems to know it. Not the best version, maybe, but the most essential.

-- Allison Stewart

DOWNLOAD THESE: All of it

MEDIOCRE

Ximena Sariñana

That Ximena Sariñana can sing is no surprise: She made her debut years back in the film "Amar te Duele," looking innocent, sounding sweet. The stunner here is what a complete and riveting musical artist she is now, at the age of 22, and what promise she holds.

Her voice has become confident, full, often nuanced in unexpected and beautiful ways. The Anglo comparisons are probably Bjork and Fiona Apple, but it's evident that she's been listening to jazz singers, too. "Normal," about wanting to believe love's infinite vows, warms up like a pop song ( although with a bit of darkness, a handful of minor chords) and ends somewhere in torrid torchland. (Seriously, check out the MySpace video, with the live jazz band.)

Sariñana wrote or co-wrote nine of the 12 songs on the album, and they reflect remarkable maturity, both thematically and literarily. She made excellent choices in producers Tweety Gonzalez and Juan Campodonico, who respected her voice and allowed her to defy her frothier image as the young telenovela princess of Mexico. What we find here instead may well be the one of the most compelling talents in Latin indie music -- not just right now, but for years to come.

-- Achy Obejas

DOWNLOAD THESE:"Normal," "No Vuelvo Mas," "Vidas Paralelas"

NUDGE IT UP A NOTCH

Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere

Let's face it: Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere, two great soul men who are now Nashville neighbors, could get by these days on goodwill alone. Guitarist Cropper, for helping define the sound of '60s Southern soul while collaborating with Otis Redding and Booker T. and the MGs; vocalist-keyboardist Cavaliere, for spearheading the success of the Rascals on the pop and R&B charts during the same decade.

But these vets don't have to rely on the kindness of boomers to score points. Still carving out surefire grooves after all these years, Cropper and Cavaliere make for such a compatible fit on "Nudge It Up a Notch" that they have no difficulty turning the album into a relaxed, cousinly celebration of shared roots and interests.

Of course, since neither musician has lost his distinctive touch, a lot of the music recalls their respective chart-topping successes. While Cavaliere's blue-eyed soul croon often conjures his glory days, especially on the yearning ballads "If It Wasn't for Loving You," "Impossible" and "Without You," his keyboard work is similarly evocative on the slow-burning funk-blues "One of Those Days" and other cuts. Cropper, likewise, is in fine form, lacing a series of tight arrangements (including a few instrumentals) with trademark sliding riffs and concise solos. Not everything clicks. "Make the Time Go Faster," a flirtation with rap, comes across as an afterthought. But that miscue aside, "Nudge It Up a Notch" marks a natural and welcome pairing of seasoned pros.

-- Mike Joyce

DOWNLOAD THESE:"One of Those Days," "If It Wasn't for Loving You"