Mandance cover
Released

The fourth Decoding Society studio album, and the second with the Vernon Reid/Melvin Gibbs/Reverend Bruce Johnson lineup, expands the horn section: saxophonists Zane Massey and Lee Rozie are joined by trumpeters David Gordon and Henry Scott (they play on different tracks). The group’s taut, busy funk has more of a rock edge sometimes; the aptly titled “Spanking” is a burst of blaring horns, punk-rock shredding and rhythmic battery. It’s mixed like a hard rock record, too, thanks to engineer Ron St. Germain. But when Vernon Reid switches from guitar to banjo (“Iola”), a West African feel blows through the room like a cool breeze. Jackson’s drumming, as ever, is a nonstop roll of thunder — the fact that there’s still room for everyone else to be heard is some kind of miracle.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Brown Reason to Live cover

Brown Reason to Live

Butthole Surfers
Hero Trio cover

Hero Trio

Rudresh Mahanthappa
The Trance of Seven Colors cover

The Trance of Seven Colors

Maleem Mahmoud Ghania, Pharoah Sanders
Technodelic cover

Technodelic

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Perfection cover

Perfection

Murray, Allen & Carrington Power Trio
Lick My Decals Off, Baby cover

Lick My Decals Off, Baby

Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
Mono cover

Mono

The Thing
Sugarland cover

Sugarland

Talk Normal
Even Better cover

Even Better

Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson, Tim Berne