It’s the squalling guitar and loud, propulsive drums you notice immediately on this latest release from L.A.’s hardcore outfit Social Distortion. With the searing leads of original guitarist Dennis Danell, Social Distortion have stripped out the Clash influences of their earlier releases and head straight into the punk maelstrom on their own. From the low, little feedback that starts the opening track, "Dear Lover," to the thrash reworking of the Stones’ "Under My Thumb" as a bonus track, White Light White Heat White Trash is Social Distortions best album in years, if not their best album yet. Lead singer Mike Ness with his down-in-the-gutter vocal style allows him to ably spit out the lyrics with a force and conviction that is missing from so much of what is termed "alternative" these days. The band, for its part, comes out ready to prove that despite fours years since their last album they can still tear the roof off any song. New drummer Chuck Biscuits adds the heavy bottom, bassist John Maurer anchors the sound solidly in rock and with such rave-up numbers like "Pleasure Seeker," "Crown of Thorns" and "I Was Wrong," White Light... proves that you don’t need to have spiked hair, or great PR to produce music that’s powerful and tuneful.

Finally the world is able to luxuriate in another aspect of the musical genius of Frank Zappa the way he intended it to. Originally slated to be a four-CD extravaganza, but due to major label apathy and head-up-the-ass business acumen (the Warner Bros. hatchet job creation of the late ‘70s albums Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, and Orchestral Favorites), Läther is now available in 3 neat and tidy CDs, arranged the way FZ wanted it to be. Läther is FZ’s sprawling masterwork, touching on all the musical genres he liked to work in (read: all genres). We’re re-treated to works of epic proportions such as "Tryin’ to Grow a Chin," "Revised Music for Guitar & Low Budget Orchestra" and "Punky’s Whip." The list goes on and on, and the one constant, as always, is FZ’s guitar and sense of humor. They of course are the centerpieces here, and with his compositional skills honed to an amazingly sharp point Läther covers probably the most musical ground of any Zappa release. "RDNZL," an eight minute showcase of both Zappa’s twisted, muscular guitar style and George Duke’s classical leaning keyboards. "Regyptian Strut" is orchestral music at its most majestic. "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" is a long storyboard piece that borrows from Stravinsky, rock and roll and Zappa’s own "Billy the Mountain." "Leather Goods," one of four bonus tracks from the same period is just another typical guitar workout (read: real goddamn good). This type of music (read: sprawling) is certainly not everyones taste. Zappa's been called sophmoric and too quirky to be good, but taken as a whole, the compositional skills displayed far outweigh any knock on the lyrical content. Try it, you might even like it.

Various Artists
Deep in the Heart of Tuva: Cowboy Music from the Wild East
Ellipsis Arts
So you thought you knew cowboy music? Give this disc a spin and discover that you don't know shit. I bet these cowboys aren't sitting around campfires eating beans, farting, singing Roy Rogers songs and telling ghost stories. This exceptionally challenging music comes from the Republic of Tyva (Tih-vah) north of Mongolia where the temperature most of the time is below freezing. The vocal style is reminiscent of Captain Beefheart and Howlin Wolf (but without the blues beat). Upon first listen you might think you've gone insane, but by the second or third song you'll be telling yourself there's something very interesting going on here. I guess coming from the harshest of climates is what makes this "throat singing" as strange as it is and led by the master throat singer Kongar-Ool Ondar this collection explores all the various aspects of Tuva social life including the steady diet of blood sausage. The first part of the album is taken up by accapella singing, sometimes solos, sometimes duets, sometimes trios and the occasional quartet. It's a tour de force of trained singers can do with their voices, from deep rumblings to high trills. Part Two has instruments added to not only flesh out the vocal calisthenics, but to heighten the intensity of the performances. Part Three blends the traditional Tuvan vocal style with Western, Russian, Bulgarian and Jewish musical traditions. Deep in the Heart of Tuva sounds bizarre, and it is, but this is music that deserves a wider audience.

Brahms Symphonies Nos. 1-4
Kurt Masur (cond.)/New York Philharmonic
Teldec
These symphonies cover the bulk of Brahms' composing period 1855-1885. Symphony No. 1, begun in 1855, but not completed until 1876 was his most difficult composition. He hadn't yet mastered the handling of large-scale orchestral writing, having recently finished his piano sonatas. With the prophecy of Schumann's "genius" remark he wasn't quite ready for the task, tossing his ideas aside for some 20 years. In the interim Brahms was able to explore the more challenging waters of orchestral composition with his "German Requiem" and "Haydn Variations." Finally he was brought back to this first symphony and the wait had been a boon to his skills. He was able to have his symphony "look completely different" than the Beethoven yardstick so many composers of the time were measured by. Brahms used a wide-ranging musical language that he was able to extend to all of his symphonies. Under the amazingly capable hands of conductor Kurt Masur the Brahms symphonies come alive like never before. Masur pulls out of the musicians of the New York Philharmonic a sound as rich and varied as the music warrants, moving from the density of the first movement to the grand gesture of the Alpine melody in the final movement. The second symphony came on the heels of the first, Brahms having been emboldened by the success of his first. It's a darker piece with its extended use of cellos and violas in the main theme and in turn further darkened by horn, flutes and oboes into a second theme. After the lightness of the third movement all of the seperate aspects are brought together for the finale, restating the three-note theme from the beginning, before ending in a blaze of D major glory. Brahms' third symphony is a much more dramatic piece than his first two, with conflict created between the the first and last movements. This symphony, of all of Brahms', clearly illustrates his wedding of the refined structure of chamber music and the emotional language inherent in the symphony. Masur and the NY Philharmonic relish in the dramatic nuances of the piece, squeezing out every ounce of passion Brahms had written into the music. The final movement, with its clash of violent sound is calmed by the horn and cellos before giving way to more impassioned conflicts and then being completely swept aside by shimmering strings. The musicians superbly convey conflict and violence tempered by a musical soothing to leave the listener completely swept away by the fanfare and momentum. Gloom and sombre impressions are what Brahms created with his fourth symphony. It's a dense piece lending it the distinction of being Brahms most inaccessable composition. Harmonics and tonality are the features of the 4th and they only lift the mood during the third movement before being dashed aside for dreary landscape of the final movement. Through the careful blending of woodwinds and violas Brahms was able to create a variation of the structural principle right down to the bridge passages that would confound even his closest friends. As presented by Masur and Co. the fourth becomes the work all the others seem to revolve around. The orchestra is able to grasp the complexities Brahms was striving for, push the limits on presentation and deliver this masterwork in a glorified burst of musical economy. Included in this 4-CD set are pieces that pretty much set the table for the work Brahms was to express in his symphonies. We're given the "Tragic Overture," "Akademische Festouvertüre," "Ouverture pour une Fête Académique," "Academic Festival Overture," "Haydn Variations," and "Schicksalied." All these peripheral pieces are rendered with the same love and consummate beauty as the symphonies.