This Week’s Best Album: December 8, 2009

Helen Money: In Tune (Table of the Elements / Radium)

In Tune is the second solo release by cellist Alison Chesley, a founding member of Verbow who has appeared as a guest on albums by Mono, Anthrax, Broken Social Scene, and others.

Like the first, self-titled Helen Money album, In Tune is a collection of minimalist, a-percussive creations that excel through overdubbed harmonies, dirty rock effects, and brooding melodies.

An absence of accompaniment leaves the focus on Chesley, who continues finding her voice as a solo artist. The songs on In Tune are darker, fuzzier, and well balanced. With the high-quality engineering of Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio, In Tune reflects an original rock cellist who is reinventing her musical career.

Honorable mentions:

Vladimir Horowitz: Complete Original Jacket Collection box set (Sony Classics)
Mi Ami: Cut Men 12″ (Thrill Jockey)
Nadja: Belles Betes (Beta-Lactam Ring)
Trans Am: What Day is it Tonight? live 2xLP (Thrill Jockey)