Album reviews: A Tribe Called Quest, Pink Martini, Jane Siberry

"We Got It from Here. Thank You 4 Your Service," by A Tribe Called Quest

On Veteran's Day, A Tribe Called Quest released their first album in 18 years with all four founding members — Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi — taking part. Phife, who called himself the "Funky Diabetic," passed away in March from the disease. Rallying around his death, "We Got It from Here. Thank You 4 Your Service" caps off one of hip-hop's most storied runs.

The Phifer's jovial wordplay and the track dedications to his life are the heart of the record. On some "champion pen game," one minute he's scorching MCs in dancehall mode, the next he's griping about "surge pricing on these Ubers." But the Trini gladiator stayed grounded to the end: "I take zero for granted, I honor my gift."

Spiritual leader Q-Tip is still the Abstract Poetic. And those abstractions run deep. On "Black Spasmodic" he's playing bass and dusting the Dead Sea with "cremated molecules." Along the way, he harmonizes with Elton John, perks up about a photoshopped "face on a box of McCormick gravy" and harnesses the power of a dusty Nairobi Sisters sample.

Once content to play the wall, Jarobi even steps to the mic, emitting a confident Native Tongue flair. Longtime cohorts Consequence (who's "got the game on IV") and a Rastafarian Busta Rhymes also shine.

Other stars show out in force. The Andre 3000 spot is a high point: "I ain't no almanac/so lick my dictionary." Kendrick Lamar is hot on his coattails rhyming "Deuteronomy" with "fumigate our economy." Talib Kweli echoes Gil Scott Heron's "Winter in America" and Kanye West is feeling that hook on "The Killing Season."

Musically, their theories continue to favor the low end as they burrow paths of rhythm. And they still got the jazz, embedding vibrant chord structures in the forward push. The buoyant organ loop on "The Space Program" and jubilant hopscotch skitter of "Dis Generation" will please the ATCQ purists. New aspects include more live instrumentation (Jack White plugs in), a lean toward rock (Sabbath sample, Stooges influence) and a healthy dose of dub tactics.

It's a feel good record but politics and race loom large. As Phife and Q-Tip direct on the opener, "It's time to go left and not right." The ideal soundtrack to the Black Lives Matter movement, slide this one right next to Public Enemy's "Fear of a Black Planet." At one point, Jarobi dejects, "Seems like my only crime is having melanin." But ATCQ is not just holding it down for black people. As Tip iterates on "We the People.," they've got the backs of Mexicans, Muslims, the LGBT community and the impoverished.

No longer Midnight Marauders, "We Got It from Here. " is about a new day, unbridled expression, cutting through disillusion and healing. But most of all flexing their inimitable vibe y'all. Tribe still getting live y'all. — Jake O'Connell, The Associated Press

"Je dis oui!" by  Pink Martini

Pink Martini brings its progressive commitment to "Je dis oui!" ("I say yes"), an entertaining global jaunt in eight languages and a whirling variety of styles. With no airs and graces but plenty of splendor, Thomas Lauderdale's big band/little orchestra explores songs from Armenia to Portugal, a few originals and American standards like "Love for Sale" on its ninth studio album. NPR's Ari Shapiro helps out on "Ov Sirun Sirun," said to be most famous folk song from Armenia and a real tearjerker about unrequited love, while Rufus Wainwright sings "Blue Moon" with its now rarely-played introductory verse which further deepens the melancholy. Songs from Turkey, Iran and Lebanon add to the subliminal "can't we all get along" message saturating the album, world music from the times before it became just another marketing label and "exotic" sounds were not so easily within reach. "Finnisma Di" revamps a Chopin-quoting tune from the band's first album as a yearning yet hopeful refugee song in Arabic, lyricist Iyad Qasem giving voice to the suspended destinies of so many. Among the originals is a trio of songs in French sung by band mainstay China Forbes from "Souvenir," a recent film starring Isabelle Huppert. She plays a singer who once lost to ABBA in the Eurovision song contest and is attempting a comeback with the support of her much-younger, boxer boyfriend. In other words, one more story where Pink Martini feels right at home. — Pablo Gorondi, The Associated Press 

"Angels Bend Closer," by Jane Siberry

Jane Siberry twists genres and conventions on "Angels Bend Closer," a haunting, uplifting album befitting her eclectic style. On the Canadian's first major release in five years, Siberry's lyrics arrive like emotional gushes barely contained by their musical frames, mostly lavish ballads with a bounty of details. Nearly seven minutes long, "Morag" encapsulates several aspects of the album and Siberry's intense diversity — nearly stream-of-consciousness lyrics with few rhymes but plenty of reason, swirling melodies, crisscrossing arrangements and messages of reflection and redemption. Siberry illuminates a wide range of relationships on "Angels Bend Closer" but love is always at the core. "Mama Hereby" is a daughter's call for truce where reconciliation is also possible, while "Anytime," which appears first as a ballad and then propelled by a solid groove in a Willie Mitchell-like R&B production, expresses a parent's protectiveness even as the distance grows. Other highlights include opener "Walk On Water," the k.d. lang duet "Living Statue" and "Everything You Knew As A Child," which alternates dramatic verses with a thumping refrain handsomely dressed in lang-like majesty. "Angels Bend Closer" continues a tradition launched 35 years ago with her self-titled debut — Siberry is hard to pin down but a one-of-a-kind listen.  — Pablo Gorondi, The Associated Press