Sister Act: Haim

Remember the Roches, the fresh young things who broke onto the folk scene in the late '70's?  They haunted last remaining folk clubs of that era with a charming irony and a knowing feminism.  C'mon, you remember how they'd open, "We are Maggie and Terri and Suzy..."  Oh forget it.  The bridge I'm building here is to sister acts and the Pointer Sisters don't get me where I'm going.

The Roches fooled around for one album with guitarist Robert Fripp, who sent a blippy, electronic pulse through the record that underscored the uncanny way that those sisters were wired together.

So that's how we get to Haim, three Los Angeles sisters who are making electro-folk that's infectious and joyful and once again demonstrates that there's something special about sister acts.

This is a wave that's still forming off-shore: a couple of EP's to their credit and a first album due at the end of September.  They will be big.

Beat the Heat: The Piano Man

No, not Billy Joel.  Did you think I had taken leave of my senses in the heat?

The jazz pianist Brad Mehldau is the piano man of my summer dreams.  And on this, the hottest day of the year (so far), I am keeping my sanity and my cool by listening to his extraordinarily nuanced recordings of "new standards."

The jazz crowd love Mehldau for his virtuosity and musical originality, changing keys and time signatures and completely shifting the listener's perspective on familiar composition.

Me?  I love the songs he covers -- jazz takes on Radiohead, Paul Simon, Soundgarden, the Beatles and 60's pop.

Listen to him steal "Alfie" back from the realm of Musak:

On his trio recordings, the bass and percussion bring electricity to even the subtlest ballads, like a softly burning candle that sparks and crackles.    His treatment of L&M's "Blackbird" is revelatory:

Mehldau now has a place on my list of go-to jazz pianists, who always satisfy. It's rare company:  Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Ahmad Jamal, Herbie Hancock and, of course, Thelonius Monk.

You can beat the heat with any these guys, but Mehldau is for me the new, new thing.