San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Aidin Vaziri recommends a 1964 bossa nova album by Joao Gilberto (above) and Stan Getz.
The new albums that you need to hear. The song of the moment. The classic record on your shelf that deserves a fresh spin. Local acts headed for the big time. The songs dominating on the charts. You’ll find it all in “Listen,” a new column by Chronicle pop music critic Aidin Vaziri.
New albums
The releases that require your attention.
1. Thom Yorke, “Anima” (XL Recordings) The latest solo release by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke is not a soundtrack, although it does come paired with a silent film erainspired Netflix special directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Semantics aside, songs like “Not the News” and “I Am a Very Rude Person” — which he unveiled on his last round of live dates — are typical of his esoteric compositions outside the band, driven by robotic beats, tortured electronic squelches and the general feel of someone playing with random knobs.
2. “The Lion King (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (Walt Disney) We’re sure the score by Hans Zimmer is just fine, but the main attraction on the soundtrack of the photorealistic remake of “The Lion King” is a new Beyoncé single, “Spirit.” The heavyhanded ballad isn’t quite on par with anything on “Lemonade,” but on an album made up of instrumental passages and the voices of Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner and JD McCrary revisiting the old songs, it’s a veritable Oscar contender.
3. The Flaming Lips, “King’s Mouth: Music and Songs” (Warner) A limitededition Record Store Day offering that sold out in milliseconds, the Flaming Lips now give their 15th studio recording a proper release. The concept album about a hulking hero features 12 fantastically weird songs tied together with narration provided by Mick Jones of the Clash.
4. “Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit’s ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ ” (Atlantic) What better way to pay tribute to Frightened Rabbit singersongwriter Scott Hutchinson, who passed away last year, than to gather a group of admirers to revisit the songs from his group’s breakthrough album, 2008’s “The Midnight Organ Fight”? This compilation features riveting new interpretations of old tracks by friends and contemporaries like the National’s Aaron Dessner and Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry (“Who’d Kill You Now?”), Josh Ritter (“Old Old Fashioned”) and Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard (“Keep Yourself Warm”).
5. Africa Express, “Egoli” (Africa Express) Blur frontman Damon Albarn continues his musical exploration outside of the band, this time landing in South Africa to work with a collective of local musicians and imported guests like Super Furry Animals singer Gruff Rhys and Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner. This wildly eclectic set offers a funky reprieve from the standard pop rubble.
Song of the moment
The one to put on repeat. Fontaines D.C., “Big” The introductory single by this postpunk band from Dublin, Ireland, surges with electricity. Raw, angry and sneeringly focused, it finds frontman Grian Chatten shouting the verses as the music rumbles to life: “My childhood was small but I’m gonna be big!” The track is taken from Fontaines D.C.’s nearperfect debut album, “Dogrel,” which the band will bring on tour to America in the fall.
The classic
The record that you need to dust off and play right now.
Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz, “Getz/Gilberto” (1964) He didn’t invent bossa nova, but Joao Gilberto helped crystallize the genre with his hushed voice and understated fingerpicking. The Brazilian guitarist and singer, who passed away earlier this month at age 88, shot to international fame with his 1964 partnership with American saxophonist Stan Getz, “Getz/Gilberto.” Beyond “The Girl From Ipanema,” the album is a masterclass in intimacy, transforming the feverish samba sound of Saturday night into the airy soundtrack for countless Sunday mornings.
Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF