Dave Holland Quintet, Critical Mass (Dare2 Records). Bassist Dave Holland, who emerged from some of Miles Davis's top ensembles, may be jazz's most underrated bandleader. His latest is a typically consistent effort that allows collaborators like trombonist Robin Eubanks to shine even as it showcases Holland's graceful songwriting and unimpeachable taste. The results will make listeners glad they reached Critical Mass. -- Roberts
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Adam Green, Jacket Full of Danger (Rough Trade). The latest from former Moldy Peach Adam Green is a ballsy ménage à trois that stirs the bodily fluids of Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave and Calvin Johnson into a slick yet sloppy bouillabaisse. Both staggeringly sharp and stultifyingly sophomoric, Green's fifth solo outing guarantees a song in your heart and a "WTF?" on your lips. -- Eyl
Hacienda Brothers, What's Wrong With Right?(Proper Records). Imagine honky-tonk with a Stax/Volt injection, and you've got the Hacienda Brothers' unique approach to Western soul. Co-helmed by accordion-playing vocalist Chris Gaffney (Dave Alvin's Guilty Men) and longtime Paladins bandleader guitarist Dave Gonzalez, this fresh five-piece drags atmospheric pedal steel and boot scoot through all the sweaty contortions of Percy Sledge. -- John La Briola
Kaada, Music for Moviebikers (Ipecac). Norwegian sound sculptor John Erik Kaada hired 22 different chamber players, vocalists and European folk musicians to create this weirdly beautiful and serene opus. Inspired by film, Kaada's organic departure from the digital orgies of his previous work utilizes prepared dulcitones, mallets, saws, sitars and psaltery, and borrows Middle Eastern lyrics from the ninth century. No wonder Mike Patton digs it. -- La Briola
Peter and the Wolf, Experiments in Junk (Whiskey and Apples). Want to wake up in some bathtub or learn where to go to get your head kicked in? Red Hunter and his cacophonous junk orchestra will take you there. Just pop in the new Experiments in Junk and expect plenty of freak folk in creepy graveyards, enough peyote to kill a rhinoceros, and one serious spiritual experience. -- Drew Bixby
Spoon, Telephono/Soft Effects EP (Merge Records). So both Telephono and Soft Effects EP sound like an extension of the Pixies' 1989 classic Doolittle. Big deal. Almost all of the nineteen songs on these two discs -- which were originally released in 1996 -- are worthy of adoration and give Spoon fans a glimpse of Britt Daniel before his snotty, faux-British singing style became an off-Broadway production. Bravo. -- Bixby
Various Artists, Dolemite: The Soundtrack (Relapse). Dolemite, released in 1975, isn't a great movie, but it's great fun, and so is the pimperrific music that powered Rudy Ray Moore's loopy blaxploitation extravaganza. The package includes Dolemite's self-mythologizing/self-satirizing theme, plenty o' porno-quality soul, and insane radio spots in which Rudy Ray declares that he's "uptown, downtown, crowned and renowned!" He'll have you begging for Moore. -- Roberts
