International Anthem US Vinilo y CD

Review: Since turning up in the Windy city a few years ago, spiritual jazz singer, clarinetist and composer Angel Bat Dawid has become a stalwart of Chicago's vibrant avant-garde scene. Here he delivers a debut album that should, if there's any justice at least, propel her towards international superstardom. Both her melancholic clarinet lines and distinctive singing feature prominently throughout, alongside sparse percussion, occasional Afro-futurist synthesizer motifs, harp and guitars - all of which Dawid plays herself. It's a virtuoso display that more than confirms her status as one of the spiritual jazz scene's most authentic voices.

Review: Rob Mazurek and the Exploding Star Orchestra's Lightning Dreamers is a new and eclectic mix of vignettes for jazz and beat-tronica, with its instrumental oeuvre ranging from brass and analog synths to strings to sampled electronics. In total, the album amounts to a sonic wonderland of boppy brain-ticklers, but that should only go to serve the already extensive reputation of the project's lead brain Rob Mazurek - trumpeter and 'interdisciplinary abstractivist' extraordinaire. Fashioned after a slew of experiences while the on a 3-year trip to Rio Negro, Brazil, this is a metallic and scrapy jazz opus, full of curiosities and odd twist-turns.