Alec K. Redfearn & The Seizures, Exterminating Angel (side A)

I've been a long-time fan of accordionist Alec K. Redfearn's primary group, The Eyesores.  That group stands out in part for its subtle, intricate arrangements.  With his smaller ensemble Alec K. Redfearn & the Seizures, Redfearn's songwriting still appropriates elements from both prog-rock (and the artier side of the Rock In Opposition crowd) and Eastern European folk music.  The Seizures music begins to head toward song structures — the intricate arrangements have been removed and the vocals reside more in the foreground as a result.  The songs are built more around the vocal melodies, and the instrumental sections feel more like rock solos.  At times the Seizures also employ a heaviness that's generally missing from the Eyesores.  Redfearn has purposely abandoned some of his greatest strengths as a composer — it feels like he's exploring new ideas and having fun doing so.  On some songs he even drops his trademark accordion to play ukulele instead.  2009's Exterminating Angel is an interesting aside for an incredibly talented musician, and it's still an impressive showing of his talents (and those of the rhythm section backing him, too).  Sonically, it's a bit raw and plain sounding, which neither captures all of the magical details of the playing nor gets in the way of the band's talent.  The mastering job brings the high frequencies of the metal percussion a bit too far to the foreground.  The intricate and foreboding cover image would fit more with a contemporary free noise album than the more structured rock songs contained here.

Bird Show Band, Bird Show Band (side A)

On 2010's Bird Show Band, Ben Vida takes a break from his solo electronic work as Bird Show to team up with a large group of Chicago improv collaborators.  Most of the album finds Vida in a quintet with two Tortoise drummers (Dan Bitney and John Herndon) and two members of the city's broad jazz community (Josh Abrams on bass and Jim Baker on synthesizer).  Where Tortoise hint at their love of fusion-era Miles Davis, here that influence is front and center.  With synthesizers floating over two groove-oriented drummers and Abrams's repetitive basslines, the most obvious antecedent is Herbie Hancock's Sextant.  The sound of Bird Show Band is neither as sterile as Tortoise nor as classic as Sextant — the recordings are slightly lo-fi but mostly somewhat plain.  The high synth frequencies and low tones of the upright bass give a bit of a modern and scooped sound, and the drums are a bit too murky to really flesh out the midrange.  Two tunes with Vida solo feel a bit closer to his other albums, and a bit out of place when surrounded by the more flowing ensemble pieces.  The front cover is simple with a lot of text — it does not quite mesh with the more classic style captured here.

Paul McCartney, McCartney (side A)

The amazing thing on hearing 1970's McCartney is how small it sounds.  The sound of the record presages indie rock, with a smallness that reminds me, a little bit, of Before Hollywood or Colossal Youth.  The drums especially fall into the mix with very little impact.  While it all sounds appropriately small, it's also beautifully mixed across the instrumental palette and frequency spectrum.  Where McCartney's understated song structures and clumsy lyrical turns can feel out of place when juxtaposed with bombast (as on "Live and Let Die", most notably), the same qualities feel organic in the context of this simple record.  The musicianship is consistently great, and the melodies are well-crafted.  The humble front cover image perfectly fits McCartney's simple beauty.

Duncan Browne, Give Me Take You (side A)

At some point, 1968's Give Me Take You moved from forgotten folk oddity to coveted collector item, and it's also a memorable oddity.  Moving past Browne's exaggerated lyrical themes (most memorably "Dwarf in a Tree"), the songs are well-written, with beautiful melodies and some lyrical subtlety inside of the stylized themes.  Browne sings in a tenor both rich and airy, and his acoustic guitar playing exhibits both detail and taste.  The scooped frequency response, even of old pressings, hints at more modern recordings, though it's not as exaggerated as many modern releases.  While Browne's voice is thinned some, it often provides the only low-mid content — the emphasis on sibilance created by this equalization would benefit from de-essing.  The bass sits mostly in low-frequencies with little harmonic content.  Some songs are very sparse, others have subtle string and keyboard arrangements, and others are layered with surprisingly odd, and very psychedelic, string parts.  The cover design emphasizes the fairy-tale quality of the lyrics.

Leonard Cohen, Songs of Leonard Cohen (side A)

It's easy to take 1966's Songs of Leonard Cohen for granted — it's an incredibly canonical and beloved album.  Many songs are beloved and well-crafted, including lyrics surprisingly dark for their time.  The album also captures an amazing recording of the nylon-string guitar and Cohen's voice, with a dark and flattering frequency balance.  John Simon's arrangements are tasteful and subtle, nicely complementing Cohen's great performances without distracting from them.  While the cover design features a prominent photo of Cohen's face, the blurry and strangely-cropped image becomes a flattering part of the design.  Whenever I hear "Suzanne", I appreciate that New Zealand primitivists The Garbage And The Flowers took their name from the lyrics.