JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #824.563.192!

Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark – OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More (Eagle) :: Archly melodramatic like an old Bette Davis Warner Bros. weeper populated by ciggy-smokin’ automatons. Now, Voyager meets I, Robot.

Gary Numan – Dance (Beggar’s Banquet) :: Paul Henried.

Marian McPartland – Twilight World (Concord) :: She’s been ticklin’ the ivories longer than you’ve been listenin’ to ’em, but Marian is still as adept as ever at evoking slinky soundscapes. And although the album title may evoke echoes of Weegee’s flashbulb and Mark Hellinger’s Naked City, this is one instrumental outing that smacks of sensuously smooth seduction all the way. Tasteful bass and traps included.

Charles Lloyd Quartet – Rabo de Nube (ECM) :: There’s something swank about live jazz recordings that even the greatest studio sessions are unable to match, and this contemplative one by multi-reedman Lloyd has a definite emotional magic that charges the ether. It may not be the best live jazz album ever—you know which one that is—but it’s still a good ’un.

Felonious Bosch – New Dark Ages (Omnium) :: I’ve always wondered why more bands never picked up the studded gauntlet that Ian Anderson threw down decades ago with Jethro Tull, but I’m pleased to announce that humorously brainy mediaeval music continues to live on in this charming new release. And no, “Straight To Hell” and “Cooper’s Attic” aren’t about Alice.

MOLTEN PLATTER OF THE WEEK: Boiled In Lead – Silver (Omnium) :: Speaking of which, these guys have proved over the years that they can adeptly tackle everything from delicate trad ballads to heavy Springsteen rockers, but on Silver the modern masters of mediaeval music have cold-cast their coolest album yet. And although they may not agree with that description of them—they also expertly essay sounds from Ireland to North Africa to Algeria—if you’ve never heard BIL before, then you owe it to yourself to get righteously enlightened because they’re the solid gold standard.

Crash Romeo – Gave Me The Clap (Trustkill) :: Romeo is burning.

Be seeing you!