Helen Merrill's first American record since 1968 (she had spent much time in Japan) is mostly a duet set with pianist John Lewis; three songs also have flutist Hubert Laws, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Connie Kay. The emphasis is on ballads, with all of the nine songs (other than the pianist's "The Singer") being quite well-known. The obvious empathy between Merrill and Lewis is well displayed on such numbers as "Django" (which has rarely been sung), "Angel Eyes," "Alone Together" and "Mad About the Boy." An introspective set full of subtle creativity.

The first solo album by the former leader of the Impressions, Curtis represented a musical apotheosis for Curtis Mayfield - indeed, it was practically the "Sgt. Pepper's" album of '70s soul, helping with its content and its success to open the whole genre to much bigger, richer musical canvases than artists had previously worked with. All of Mayfield's years of experience of life, music, and people were pulled together into a rich, powerful, topical musical statement that reflected not only the most up-to-date soul sounds of its period, finely produced by Mayfield himself, and the immediacy of the times and their political and social concerns, but also embraced the most elegant R&B sounds of the past. As a producer, Mayfield embraced the most progressive soul sounds of the era, stretching them out compellingly on numbers like "Move on Up"…

Heldon's real excellence as a band is dramatically demonstrated with this fine recording. A dashing young left-wing intellectual, Richard Pinhas was something of a cult figure in his native France, or at least had the potential to be one, but he wisely rejected the role of rock & roll guitar hero with backing band, in favor of something much more interesting and radical. Patrick Gauthier on moog and Francois Auger on percussion had played with Pinhas on and off for the previous several years, and at this point they had developed into a solid sympathetic unit with a strongly rhythmic orientation. The intricate interlocking rhythms, created by percussion and several synthesizers, have a proto-techno quality at times, and suggest both the German group Can and, on at least one piece, early Ash Ra Tempel…

Laid-back London groove maestro Simon Green (alias Bonobo) returns after a considerable absence (on the recording front, at least) with this fourth full-length helping of his masterfully mellow monkey magic. While it's not terribly divergent from the future-jazz cut-ups that made his earlier efforts such an instinctively natural fit with the turn-of-the-century Ninja Tune stable, Black Sands evidences a clear evolution into a more distinctive, sophisticated, and complex style, resulting in his most musically adventurous work to date, and certainly his most modern-sounding. Green's clearly been keeping his ear to the ground for a bit of rhythmic reinvigoration: the immediately striking "Kiara" reworks the hauntingly elegant string refrain that opens the album with submerged vocal splices and a halting, head-nodding left-field hip-hop beat á la relative Ninja Tune newcomer Flying Lotus…

"Back to the Sea" has speed and twin guitar work like Keepers-era Helloween, "To the Realm of Gods" the driving, marshal beats and harmonized vocals of Sabaton and "Oceans of Eternity" the epic, neoclassical stylings of Rhapsody of Fire. A quick scan of the nautical-themed song titles will make clear the pirates of Alestorm and Running Wild were just over the horizon from Terra Atlantica's recording location as well. If albums like Captain Morgan's Revenge, Theater of Salvation and Symphony of Enchanted Lands are in your heavy rotation, make room for Oceans.

An Australian sextet, Little River Band's debut album sounds as American as anything by the Eagles or the Doobie Brothers, and is driven by "It's a Long Way There" - whose eight and a half minutes of crunchy electric guitars, luminous acoustic guitar, and smooth harmonizing is spread across a musically dramatic arc that is worth every second of its running time. This is an astonishingly strong debut album. There aren't any surprises, just seven more eminently enjoyable if slightly looser structured mainstream rock songs in the same vein, inventive where they had to be (like on the solos or the variations on the extended choruses), all more modestly proportioned than the hit and thoroughly enjoyable. Guitarist Graham Goble dominated the songwriting with the single and "I Know It," but singer Glenn Shorrock contributed significantly with the delightfully exuberant "Emma"…

The only domestic compilation celebrating this trio's accomplishments is a 21-track affair containing Willie Dixon's "dozens" diatribe "Signifying Monkey," the catchy "Tell That Woman" (later covered by Peter, Paul & Mary as "Big Boat Up the River"), and several crackling instrumentals ("Big 3 Boogie," "Hard Notch Boogie Beat") that show what fine musicianship this triumvirate purveyed. Points off, though, for not including their only legit hit, "You Sure Look Good to Me."