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CD Picks of the Week

Jonas Kaufmann, tenor Romantic Arias (Decca)

There's a never-ending competition in the opera world for number one tenor and soprano spots. One name to enter the post-Pavarotti universe is the German tenor, Jonas Kaufmann. Though active mostly in Europe until now, his debut CD on the Decca label “Romantic Arias” promises him a wider audience here in the States. The singer applies his dark-hued voice to thirteen big tenor hits, including Flotow's "Martha," an old staple that is now nearly forgotten. –-picked by Brian Wise

Nalle, "Voi Ruusuni (O Rose)" from The Siren’s Wave (on Locust Music)

Nalle is both Finnish for a small bear and a trio named after lead singer Hanna Tuulikki’s favorite childhood toy. The Glasgow-based experimental-folk ensemble liberally blends traditional instruments with modern noisemakers like Moog Oscillators and walkie-talkies to create exotic ethno-medieval flavored music. Hanna’s little-girl vocals have a unique stutter and slide about them that might remind one of Bjork on helium, while Aby Vulliamy and Chris Hladowski weave an other-worldly instrumental drones around her. –-picked by Irene Trudel

Meredith Monk: Impermanence

The avant-garde vocalist, composer, and multimedia artist returns with a Buddhist-inspired meditation on the fragile boundaries between life and death, memory and oblivion, joy and loss. I know, sounds unbearably serious. But Monk has always used the voice to express a wide range of emotions, some of which we don’t even have words for, and on Impermanence, she creates some of the most buoyant and colorful music of her 40+ year career. Of course there are poignant moments as well, and for the first time in Monk’s music, actual texts on 3 of the songs. --Picked by John Schaefer

The Black Keys, Attack & Release (Nonesuch)

What happens when a gritty blues duo from Akron, Ohio teams up with the superstar producer behind Gnarls Barkley? You get “Attack & Release,” the latest CD from the Black Keys. After four albums recorded in basements, this twosome enlisted the knob-twiddling wizardry of Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse. With Burton’s gentle touch, this dynamic collection of blues rock avoids that genre’s biggest pitfall: studio polish. —picked by Joel Meyer

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