wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Three outstanding new releases as picked by our staff.

India – Putumayo (several artists)

One sweats a lot to Indian music these days – in clubs, or gyms, where Bollywood-dance classes pop to the sound of Slumdog Millionaire. Slow down, people! This new compilation, from Putumayo records, includes music by A.R. Rahman, Oscar-winning composer of the Slumdog soundtrack. The album features also traditional musicians, like Bombay S. Jayashri (Zara, Zara) and even Bollywood stars like Rajeshwari Sachdev, but always showing their mellower side (the song 'Maavan Te Tiyan') -- Picked by Gisele Regatao

Till Fellner – Bach Two and Three-Part Inventions (ECM)

If you like your Bach all modern and aggressive, don't bother with this new recording. The young Viennese pianist Till Fellner brings a healthy sense of poise and refinement on a new recording of the Two and Three-part Inventions, the endlessly inventive collection of keyboard works that Bach originally wrote as exercises for his students. Yet there’s nothing didactic about Fellner’s approach here, and he has a particular feeling for Bach’s more reflective inventions. -– Picked by Brian Wise

Bell Orchestre, As Seen Through Windows (Arts & Crafts)

Our final pick is the second album from the chamber-rock group Bell Orchestre. “As Seen Through Windows” is somewhere between electronica, contemporary classical and soundtrack music. Bell Orchestre is from Montreal and so, yes, they share members with the indie-rock monster known as Arcade Fire. Recently, the group shared a stage with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the local sorta-classical, sorta-rock group Clogs.
--picked by Joel Meyer