Even though Half Note Records is building a highly appreciated catalog of jazz CD's recorded at New York's Blue Note jazz club, Half Note—and musician/producer Mordy Ferber—throw the listener an unanticipated curve with the release of Mr. X. Instead of the crackling energy of a live club recording, Mr. X crackles with a different type of energy: an energy of multi-leveled recording engineering feats in support of visionary and unconventional guitar work.

Here they are, one of the mighty pillars of Motown: the original Four Tops—Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Peyton—live in concert. They sound sublime on "Baby I Need Your Loving," "I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)," "It’s the Same Old Song," "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over)," "Reach Out I’ll Be There," "Standing in the Shadows of Love," "Bernadette," "Walk Away Renee"…16 hits spanning the ’60s to ’80s! Sunset Blvd.

With the DIY video for her 2017 track “Pretty Girl,” Clairo became the premier case study for how the internet can instantly blow up homespun artists. But with her full-length debut album, the Massachusetts indie-pop phenom betrays a bold artistic vision that can no longer be contained by her bedroom walls. Co-produced by the artist with ex-Vampire Weekender Rostam Batmanglij, Immunity achieves just the right balance of focus and fuzz, expanding Clairo’s sonic vocabulary with neo-soul vibes, jazzy piano lines, and boom-bapped drum breaks while framing her most brutally honest tracks—like the breakup lament “Bags” and same-sex-love anthem “Sofia”—with gritty intensity and blown-out distortion. Throughout the album, Clairo tries to reconcile her desire for independence with her need for intimacy, an emotional tug-of-war that reaches its zenith on the momentous closer “I Wouldn’t Ask You,” a stark, defiant piano ballad that cedes to the warm embrace of its ecstatic chillwave outro.