This Week’s Best Albums: January 12, 2010

Blockhead: The Music Scene (Ninja Tune)

As a highly lauded hip-hop producer, Anthony “Blockhead” Simon is behind many of the great tunes and fat beats of big-name indie rappers, including Aesop Rock, Slug, Cage, Murs, and Mike Ladd.

The Music Scene is only Blockhead’s fourth full solo album,which seems strange given his decade of production. Nevertheless, it again documents his keen ear for melody, dynamics, and stylistic convergence. “It’s Raining Clouds,” the album’s opener, is one of many examples of this convergence, with head-nodding beats, flute loops, sitar-like sounds, sultry horns, soulful samples, and a whistling backdrop.

Available via MP3 a few months ago, The Music Scene now gets a full CD release through Ninja Tune.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis: The Road soundtrack (Mute)

Just months after the release of a “greatest hits” of soundtrack works, rock-and-roll mavericks Nick Cave and Warren Ellis combine forces for another melodic score that belies the post-apocalyptic nature of its film companion.

Centered on violin and piano, this score is alternately beautiful, melancholic, and tense, with emotive passages that speak to the drama and conflict of the protagonists in this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel.

Rempis/Rosaly Duo: Cyrillic (482 Music)

Saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Frank Rosaly are two of Chicago’s most productive improv musicians, delighting diehard jazz heads with the likes of The Rempis Percussion Quartet, Engines, Viscous, Cicadas Music, and dozens of other outfits.

Here the two entertain with a dose of free jazz that is as blistering as it is subdued; wild runs lead into relaxed rhythms. Though most of the material clashes with itself as each instrument does its thing, the album is more approachable than its counterparts that carry two or more tonal instruments.

Additionally, there are moments where the two really synchronize. These usually come after minutes of tension, making the payoff that much more rewarding.