Lord Newborn & The Magic Skulls-Self-Titled

The opening track on Lord Newborn & the Magic Skulls' self-titled album on Ubiquity tells you everything you need to know. "A Phase Shifter I'm Going Through" features slippery, bluesy, psychedelic electric guitar, a bubbling, repetitive bassline playing 12-bar blues, and shimmering hi-hats and snares — all wrapped in a loose groove that might have been an outtake from Jimi Hendrix's "Rainy Day, Dream Away." Voices hum along in harmony, and the entire track just slithers and adds to itself with the sound of sampled sitars, fuzzed-out guitar, more percussion, and breakbeats, while never losing its groove. Lord Newborn & the Magic Skulls are the studio collaboration between Shawn Lee,Money Mark, and Tommy Guerrero. Together they've responded to Ubiquity's penchant for psych-driven beats and grooves and come up with a messed-up, acid-drenched, rhythm-heavy mosaic of sounds, textures, open spaces, and EFX. The grooves are deep and dubby — reminiscent of some of Lee's work with Clutchy Hopkins and his own middle-period recordings. Money Mark's killer instrumental work is very similar to the stuff he did for Mo' Wax. And what can you say about former skateboard champ turned rocker Tommy Guerrero? The instrumental work here resembles — at least texturally — his Soul Food Tacqueria album. Soul-jazz and early soul-esque funk are all wrapped up and layered inside the rockist stance. The set's best cuts are the opener, the beautifully woven "Rainy Day Dog" (check out those flute sounds), the completely flipped-out and acid-inspired "L.I.V.E," and the dubby funk of "Ancient Scrolls." Hopefully this isn't a one-off and these cats can find time to work together again; while what's here is deeply satisfying, the possibilities they introduce on this set are nearly limitless. by Thom Jurek (AMG)

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The Lions-JUNGLE STRUTTIN

The Lions are something of an underground Los Angeles supergroup — an ad hoc assemblage of current and former members of bands as diverse as Breakestra, Sound Directions, PlantLife, Orgone, and Poetics, among others. In late 2006 this motley crew of rock and funk musicians came together at Killion Studios and put together a ragged but enjoyable set of reggae, soul, and funk. There's no electronica here, no synthetically smooth soully and jazzy reggae, just lean and crunchy old-school grooves that sound like they could have been recorded and mixed at Dynamic Studios or the Black Ark in the early '70s. Opening with the dubwise slide guitar showcase "Thin Man Skank" (somewhere David Lindley is smiling), Jungle Struttin' then proceeds to explore instrumental funk ("Jungle Struttin'"), vintage rocksteady ("Think [About It]," featuring the fine and soulful singer Noelle Scaggs), and even some faintly Latin grooves ("Hot No Ho," "Cumbia de Lion"). "Lankershim Dub" is a melodica showcase in the style of Augustus Pablo, and "Fluglin' at Dave's" combines a mellow jazz horn sound with Skatalites-style early reggae. That last track is great, but would have been even better if the flügelhorn were in tune. Very nice overall. by Rick Anderson(AMG)

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Frank Zappa-THE YELLOW SHARK

During his last years, Frank Zappa concentrated on his "serious music," trying to impose himself as a composer and relegating the rock personality to the closet. His last two completed projects topped everything he had done before in this particular field. The Yellow Shark, an album of orchestral music, was released only a few weeks before he succumbed to cancer (the computer music/sound collage album Civilization Phaze III was released 14 months later). This CD, named for a plexiglas fish given to Zappa in 1988, culls live recordings from the Ensemble Modern's 1992 program of the composer's music. The range of pieces goes from string quartets ("None of the Above") to ensemble works, from very challenging contemporary classical to old Zappa favorites. The latter category includes a medley of "Dog Breath Variations" and "Uncle Meat," "Pound for a Brown," "Be-Bop Tango," and the Synclavier compositions "The Girl in the Magnesium Dress" and "G-Spot Tornado" transcribed for orchestra. Being more familiar, these bring a lighter touch, but the real interest of the CD resides in the premiere recordings. "Outrage at Valdez," the piano duet "Ruth Is Sleeping," and "Food Gathering in Post-Industrial America, 1992" are all the gripping works of a mature composer, strongly influenced by Varèse and Stravinsky but overwhelmed by them. But the crowning achievement is "Welcome to the United States," a more freeform piece based on the U.S. visa form. Zappa shined when ridiculing stupidity. The average fan of the man's rock music will most probably feel lost in The Yellow Shark, but for those with interests in his serious music it is an essential item, more so than the London Symphony Orchestra and Orchestral Favorites albums. by François Couture (AMG)

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