Nonesuch

Halvorson Mary: Amaryllis & Belladonna [2 Vinyl LP]

The newest album from Rhiannon Giddens', You're the One is her third solo studio album and her first of all original songs. This collection of 12 songs written over the course of Giddens' career bursts with life-affirming energy, drawing from the folk music that she knows so deeply, as well as its pop descendants. Produced by Jack Splash (Solange, Alicia Keys, Valerie June), You're the One features some of Giddens' closest musical collaborators from the past decade, including multi-instrumentalists Francesco Turrisi and Dirk Powell, bassist Jason Sypher, and Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu. The album features electric and upright bass, conga, Cajun and Piano accordions, guitars, a Western string section, and Miami horns, among other instruments, capturing the inclusive spirit that channels through all of her work. <br/><br/>"I hope that people just hear American music," Giddens says. "Blues, jazz, Cajun, country, gospel, and rock-it's all there. I like to be where it meets organically. They're fun songs, and I wanted them to have as much of a chance as they could to reach people who might dig them but don't know anything about what I do. If they're introduced to me through this record, they might go listen to other music I've made with a different set of ears."

The Black Keys' twelfth studio album, "Ohio Players" - a title inspired by the legendary funk band of the same name from Dayton, Ohio - features several collaborations between band members Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney with various friends and colleagues, such as Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, Beck, Noel Gallagher, Greg Kurstin and others. "We had this epiphany: 'We can call our friends to help us make music,'" says Carney. Auerbach adds, "No matter who we collaborate with, it never feels like we're sacrificing ourselves. It just feels like it adds a special touch... But when it came time to finish the album, it was just Pat and me."