Music Reviews

Out of Exile Interscope/Epic Music •••½ Sound ••••½

It's difficult to say whether the band or the pro

Monkey Business A&M Music •••• Sound ••••½

The purists who once adored them might dis them now, but the Black Ey

Got This Feelin' Ascetic Music •••½ Sound •••

These guys share their name with a pen-and-paper role-playing game

In Your Honor RCA Music ••••½ DualDisc Mix •••• Extras •••

Foo Fighters 5 is a mighty big enchila

Imagine the score for a 33-minute film noir with nonstop action. That's Béla Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin in a nutshell, although it's actually a one-act dance suite. The story concerns three thugs who use a young woman as bait to rob a series of victims, culminating in the Mandarin. They murder him—but not before he consummates his passion for the girl. The plot had enough sex and violence to get it banned immediately upon its 1926 debut in Köln, Germany.

By mere coincidence (or perhaps not), I sat down to review this new hybrid SACD on the rare rainy day in Los Angeles (although not quite as rare this winter). The two were a perfect fit. The Jazz Kamerata has a comfortable warmth about it, inviting you to wrap yourself in it and settle in for a lazy afternoon.