New Reviews for November 17, 2023
Epic
The debut solo album from one of the world's greatest rappers is a pleasant, sometimes sublime collection of flute-centered ambient soundscapes.
![Random Access Memories [Drumless Edition]](http://web.archive.org./web/20231120201015im_/https://rovimusic.rovicorp.com/image.jpg?c=VpWzU9kzMxh0WKG6EnV3th_TZlp6n_cq-Emr2zx15tU=&f=4)
Legacy / Sony Music
Stripping the beats from the duo's nostalgic 2013 masterpiece lets its musical and emotional nuances shine all the brighter.
Sub Pop
The band's first live album is made up of dramatic, exploratory, and burnished versions of songs drawn from throughout their long career.
![Rockstar [2 CD]](http://web.archive.org./web/20231120201015im_/https://rovimusic.rovicorp.com/image.jpg?c=mjLuJWPstIvm4nCHxNZJCZhUoDg0hsvx4F4sL4oO-nA=&f=4)
Big Machine Records
A mammoth star-studded album designed as a celebration of Dolly Parton's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Verve
This album-length collection of miscellaneous tracks from the permanently relaxed indie songwriter includes unreleased originals, alternate takes, and covers of Wilco and Dylan.
Mute
At once hypnotic and adventurous, the first solo album by the synth pop luminary captures home-studio experiments on modular synth format Eurorack.
Numero Group
Collection of early demos, some previously unreleased, that show the lo-fi shoegaze band in their promising, often magical, very early days.
Edsel
Four-disc anthology of the Bostonian disco legend's remix work bringing together the likes of Melba Moore, Cabaret Voltaire, and Shakin' Stevens.
Gift Guide
Reviews
Editors' Choice for October, 2023
![In Ribbons [Expanded 30th Anniversary Reissue]](http://web.archive.org./web/20231120201015im_/https://rovimusic.rovicorp.com/image.jpg?c=uwV_g1AsWQlEsCqIkIBexoAf7E_1E-2MlBBPmPAXRBU=&f=4)
AllMusic Staff Pick
- November 20, 2023
March 10, 1998
Expected to continue leading the post-rock brigade into a new fusion with dub and electronics, Tortoise instead turned yet another corner with their third album. Adding guitarist Jeff Parker to cement their musicianship as well as their connections to Chicago's fertile jazz/avant-garde scene, the band returned with a record of post-modern cool jazz, only slightly informed by the dub, Krautrock, and electronics of Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Instead of forcing studio experimentation to become an end to itself, the band mastered the far more difficult lesson of making technology work for the music.
