THIS WEEK

Other new releases

Pet Shop Boys: Electric (x2/Kobalt; photo by John Wright)
Well, just look at that photo. Should we doubt that the boys, back on the dancefloor, are still cool? No, we shouldn’t.

David Lynch: The Big Dream (Sacred Bones; photo by Dean Hurley)
Well, just look at that photo. Should we doubt that the director-cum-musician, back already with a follow-up to the 2011 opus Crazy Clown Time, is still provocative? No, we shouldn’t, especially when 11 of the 12 tracks have Lynch composing and playing what he calls “a hybrid, modernized form of low-down blues.” (The 12th track: a cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Ballad of Hollis Brown.”)

Robert Randolph & the Family Band: Lickety Split (Blue Note)
Says my S&V colleague Parke Puterbaugh: “Lickety Split, the group’s fourth studio album and first in 3 years, is crisply played and enthusiastically delivered. You’d have to be 6 feet under not to get up and groove to “Amped Up” (a hip-hop-flavored throwdown that sets the album’s tone) and “Take the Party” (a brassy second-line shuffle featuring Trombone Shorty). . . . That said, there are moments when I wished for more depth, especially in the lyrics department. But maybe Randolph and band’s relentless positivity . . . is message enough.” You can read Parke’s full review in our September print issue.

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies: White Teeth, Black Thoughts
(Space Age Bachelor Pad; photo by Rod Black)
One of the songs, it says here, is “an elegantly untamed tribute to Warholian transgression.” That would be “Huffin’ Muggles.” All of the songs were written “as the Great Recession wreaked havoc upon the heartland,” and they “adeptly carve out more detailed narratives and complex characterizations than usually found in popular music, let alone classic swing and jump blues.”

Sarah Miles: One (Rock Ridge Music; photo by Nick Glimenakis)
Full-length debut of folk-pop singer/songwriter who grew up in Princeton and is now based in Austin. She has been compared with, among others, Sara Bareilles. Oh, look:

Sara Bareilles: The Blessed Unrest (Epic)
Fourth full-lengther.

Matt Nathanson: Last of the Great Pretenders (Vanguard)
Singer/songwriter’s eighth studio album since 1993.

Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals: Walk Through Exits Only (Housecore/MRI/Megaforce)
First solo project from the Pantera frontman.

Bitchin Bajas: Bitchitronics (Drag City)
Remember Robert Fripp’s Frippertronics? Bitchin Bajas (the side project of Cave’s Cooper Crain) have apparently trademarked Bitchitronics, which is also the name of this album. Explains a press release: “Bitchitronics was mostly recorded in a house in Fennville, Michigan, utilizing three tape machines: two to make loops and execute the Bitchitronics™ sound system while a third player captured the combined sounds of the loops and live interactions. Bitchitronics is the first Bitchin Bajas record made as a trio, blending woodwinds with a mix of electric keys, posthuman tones, and tape loops.”

The Verve Pipe: Are We There Yet? (LMNO Pop)
Second consecutive family-music album. Among the titles: “I Didn’t Get My Note Signed,” “When Grandma Says No,” “Homework Blues Stomp,” “My Principal Rocks,” and “You Can Write a Song.”

George Duke: DreamWeaver (Heads Up)
Primarily instrumental album concludes with “Happy Trails,” in memory of Duke’s wife. Also, the track features the late guitarist Jef Lee Johnson, and the album includes some of the final recorded vocals from Teena Marie. Other participants: guitarist Paul Jackson, Jr., bassists Stanley Clarke and Christian McBride, and singers Lalah Hathaway, Rachelle Ferrell, and Jeffrey Osborne.