tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292618592024-03-14T04:42:38.953-04:00anearfulAn earful about music, pop culture and whatever else is on my mind.Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.comBlogger407125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-86355836311127832032023-04-02T13:19:00.003-04:002023-05-07T11:02:04.268-04:00Best Of 2022: Out Of The Past<div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Have No Fear, AnEarful is now <a href="https://anearful.substack.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></i></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtXtZ6j2lFe3Cgwep0tyE-O45jldpBZlxvjhcOFL9VR1gOxqq7ScwHlJkEhXcqY8dr4Ii-T9MjEI24iNakKoWw9427e6lkKTbtoLhEG7OyWizUhfwNEg2mPnY-Zy58PUF2cSWRYl7yHzh5OKrSImRkc2QF0coLYyc5y7PYeklVvf_dKuKAA/s1800/Best%20Of%202022%20Past.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1199" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtXtZ6j2lFe3Cgwep0tyE-O45jldpBZlxvjhcOFL9VR1gOxqq7ScwHlJkEhXcqY8dr4Ii-T9MjEI24iNakKoWw9427e6lkKTbtoLhEG7OyWizUhfwNEg2mPnY-Zy58PUF2cSWRYl7yHzh5OKrSImRkc2QF0coLYyc5y7PYeklVvf_dKuKAA/w357-h536/Best%20Of%202022%20Past.JPG" width="357" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I feel like I’m highlighting a slimmer batch of reissues than usual this year. It could be because I reviewed over 175 albums and listened to hundreds more, which may or may not be above or below my annual average but still feels like a lot. Another factor is that </span><a href="https://twitter.com/RichardS7370" target="_blank">Richard Shaw’s</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> ongoing #5albums polls on Twitter may be adding to my retrospective load in such a way that I have less bandwidth for other sounds of the past. All that said, there were some significant reissues that demand to be discussed, even if only briefly, from overstuffed commemorative boxes to obscurities seeing the light of day for the first time. As noted, a few of these are vinyl only but a track from the rest can be found in </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5iw0mM82JqTB3m8q9ZhQq2?si=ebefa4b70ee14392&pt=e15ebd54444d30912d23c51c52424c81" target="_blank">this playlist</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> or below.</span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/5iw0mM82JqTB3m8q9ZhQq2?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">THE BIG BOXES<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Revolver-Special-Half-Speed-LP-Vinyl/dp/B0BB3DXS6M/ref=tmm_vnl_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank"><b>The Beatles - Revolver (Super Deluxe)</b></a> It’s easy to be jaded by the yearly drumbeat of rejigged and expanded versions of these bedrock albums, especially when you already have multiple copies, as I do (three on vinyl, two on CD). As with other entries in this latest go round, one of the selling points with this one is a version of the original stereo LP remixed by Giles Martin, the son of original producer Sir George. These have been of intermittent necessity, with the Sgt. Pepper’s “mono in stereo” mix likely being the most essential one. There’s nothing wrong with this new Revolver, with its slightly more prominent rhythm section, but there’s nothing necessary about it either. Then we get two discs of outtakes, which are actually among the most fascinating and satisfying of their kind. Even with all the bootlegs I have, I was unaware of the “actual speed” version of Rain, a single recorded during the Revolver sessions. To manipulate the sound to their liking, they recorded the backing track what sounds like 50 percent faster than the released version, then slowed it down for that uniquely draggy sound. What a rush. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Then you get working tapes of gleaming icons of perfection like And Your Bird Can Sing, Dr. Robert, and others, some of which give a hint of what a live jam in this sound world might sound like. This batch of outtakes is one I’ve been coming back to, unlike some of the “one and done” flotsam and jetsam on other sets. If you don’t need the book, which is by all accounts handsomely designed, you might very well be satisfied with streaming the set, which costs a hefty $165 on vinyl. But - and this is a very big but - the collection also includes a mono master edition of the album, which is the best way to hear it as The Beatles intended. If you have a turntable and you missed out on the Mono Masters series from 2014, this set is actually a bargain, as those are now going for at least $125 on the resale market. That means for $165 you can get the album on mono vinyl PLUS all those other goodies, including a 7” of the Paperback Writer/Rain single. If you already have a mono copy, it’s a tougher sell, but by all means listen to the extras wherever you stream music.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yankee-Hotel-Foxtrot-Super-Deluxe/dp/B09Y9JBNTN/ref=tmm_vnl_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680375149&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Super Deluxe Edition)</a> </b>Like The Beatles, Wilco - especially in their Jay Bennett phase - liked to put songs through various wringers to get to the essence of how they should be recorded. Unlike The Beatles, however, Wilco specializes in a kind of gut-wrenching emotionalism and some of the drafts, demos, and alternate takes seem to be doing their hardest to avoid those white-hot feelings. But even if there is little that would cause you to question their judgement about what ended up on the final album, the X-Ray of their process is deeply engaging, especially if you're involved in creative endeavors of your own. Embrace their process and then return to your own, renewed. There's also a generous helping of killer live performances and a book, written by Bob Mehr, which goes deep into the motivations and machinations that led to the end result, one of the true masterpieces of our young century. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Symmetry-David-Bowie/dp/B0BGNH4KML" target="_blank">David Bowie - Divine Symmetry</a> </b>As you might have guessed, this latest box from the Bowie estate is concerned with peeling back the layers that led to Hunky Dory. Starting with the startling Tired Of My Life, which evolved into It's No Game nearly a decade later, this is more of a step-by-step experience than the Revolver or YHF boxes. Raw demos are taken on stage, sometimes solo and sometimes with early versions of what would become the Spiders From Mars, and then into the studio to become all-time classic tracks. While Bowie's process can seem slightly random he always manages to stick the landing on the final album, especially when it's an all-time classic like this one.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">MODERN CLASSICS REVISITED</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://hamiltonleithauser.bandcamp.com/album/dear-god" target="_blank"><b>Hamilton Leithauser & Paul Maroon - Dear God</b></a> Originally released solely on vinyl in 2015, this is "a bravely bare setting for Leithauser to display his vocal talents and he is more than up to the task," as I <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/10/new-americana-pt-2-hamilton-leithauser.html" target="_blank">wrote in my review.</a> Glad to see its varied charms getting wider release and don't be jealous if you can't get your copy hand-delivered like I did!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://boniver.bandcamp.com/album/bon-iver-10th-anniversary-edition" target="_blank">Bon Iver - Bon Iver (10th Anniversary Edition)</a> </b>Beautifully packaged and with an essay by super-fan Phoebe Bridgers, this commemorative edition also includes five glorious live-in-the-studio performances featuring Justin Vernon's voice, his grand piano, and some minimal accompaniment from Sean Carey. Stripping everything away to the bare essence removes some of the "<a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-rest-of-11.html#.ZCiI2uzMI1I" target="_blank">willful obscurity</a>" that had me keeping the album at arm's length at times. A cover of Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me is worth the price of admission, giving a precious opportunity to concentrate on Vernon's incandescent brilliance as a singer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">AFRICAN ECHOES</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://alhajiwazirioshomah.bandcamp.com/album/the-muslim-highlife-of-alhaji-waziri-oshomah" target="_blank">Alhaji Waziri Oshomah - World Spiritual Classics Vol. 3: The Muslim Highlife Of...</a> </b>After earlier volumes featuring <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/07/record-roundup-spirits-of-past.html#.ZCiMROzMI1I" target="_blank">Alice Coltrane</a> and the "<a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/01/best-of-2019-out-of-past_25.html#.ZCiMvezMI1I" target="_blank">funkiest, most soulful gospel you didn't know you needed</a>," Luaka Bop strikes again with this collection of seven tracks from the man known as the "greatest entertainer in all of Edo State." Recorded in southern Nigeria in the 70s and 80s, the songs are blissful enough that their formulaic nature is easily forgiven. Usually consisting of two mournful chords, a danceable beat, Oshomah pontificating cheerfully, and one unique sound or another (a wah wah trumpet, here, a burbling synth there), the songs run together and transport you to a place where the complexities of life are met with joy and forbearance. </span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><b><a href="https://sunrastrut.bandcamp.com/album/sun-ra-arkestra-meets-salah-ragab-in-egypt" target="_blank">Sun Ra Arkestra and Salah Ragab plus the Cairo Jazz Band - Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab In Egypt</a> </b>If Sun Ra WAS originally from Saturn, one can imagine a stop in Ancient Egypt before his 1914 appearance in Alabama as Herman Blount. Either way, it makes perfect sense for him to have brought the Arkestra to Egypt to collaborate with Ragab, a percussionist and bandleader. Based on the first two tracks here, recorded in 1983, they got on like a house on fire. Sun Ra sparkles on the electric piano, the grooves are expansive, and the arrangements and solos fall just this side of a beautiful chaos. More of that would have certainly been welcome, but the rest of the compilation is taken up with tracks by Ragab from the early 70s. Fortunately, he was enough of a kindred spirit to Sun Ra that the album is a consistent delight. As someone new to Ragab's work, I'm grateful to Strut Records for making the introduction!</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">NORTH COAST HIP HOP</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/thrust-the-chosen-are-few-vinyl?_pos=1&_sid=07c954a71&_ss=r" target="_blank">Thrust - The Chosen Are Few</a> </b>Montreal reissue label Return To Analog uncovers a lost near-classic of Canadian hip hop with Thrust the cheerfully bombastic ringleader joined by guests like Scam, K-Cut, and Kardinall Offishall, the only name familiar to me. Speaking of unfamiliar names, some younger listeners may need to Google the hilarious Lorena Bobbit reference in The Music but it will be worth the effort! Even if from the frozen north, there's plenty of Caribbean warmth among these loose tracks, the sound of friends at ease in the studio. But what impresses the most on this heavyweight, dead-silent pressing is the rich bass - it just sounds so good. This first reissue since 2001 comes in an edition of 1,000 copies on vinyl only so don't miss out. <i>Vinyl Only</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/shades-of-culture-mindstate?_pos=1&_sid=15e84ffb4&_ss=r" target="_blank">Shades Of Culture - Mindstate</a> </b>First time on vinyl for this 1998 album, and Return To Analog pulled out the stops once again, with a beautiful pressing and a gatefold jacket. While this trio's debt to neighbors to the south, including the Beastie Boys and the Pharcyde, is more pronounced than Thrust's, there's still a lot to love here, especially if you've worn out all your favorites from hip hop's 90s golden age. </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Vinyl Only</i></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PSYCH OUT</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/seompi-we-have-waited-singles-and-unreleased-vinyl" target="_blank">Seompi - We Have Waited: Singles and Unreleased</a> </b>Texas psych-metal as you might have heard it at friend's house party. Chaotic and grungy, with series of riffs that don't always add up to songs but the conviction of the players always gets the tracks to the finish line. This cross-border collaboration finds Return To Analog working with Illinois psych specialists Lion Productions to gather this material and present it in a nice edition of 500. The package includes a 12-page booklet with an extensive interview with bassist-vocalist Dave Williams, who has some real tales to tell about being a "longhair" in Dallas, circa 1970.</span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Vinyl Only</i></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/badge-collected-singles?_pos=1&_sid=1ef35068e&_ss=r" target="_blank">Badge - Collected Singles</a> </b>This tunefully lysergic band was mainly the project of Val Rogolino, Jr., an emigre from France to Maryland who developed a versatile drumming style somewhere between Nick Mason and Keith Moon, and Cheese Sollers, a rhythm guitarist with some songwriting skills. Spanning recordings from 1971 to 1976, these tracks find the band sticking to their guns in the face of nearly zero traction (including a rejection letter from Apple signed by May Pang!), turning out songs ranging from brisk pop-psych to completely spaced-out jams. A lost corner of the 70s, now given the spotlight in an edition of 500 from Return To Analog and Lion Productions. The booklet tells the tale of their origins and their only album, as Kath, also <a href="https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/kath-1-original-album-unreleased-material-cd?_pos=2&_sid=1ef35068e&_ss=r" target="_blank">available on a deluxe CD</a>. The 1976 recordings are surprisingly accomplished and comparing the two versions of As I Look/As I Looked shows how far they came. But times changed, the gigs dried up, and Badge limped its way to dissolution in the early 80s. Bring them back to life in your living room today. </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Vinyl Only</i></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">POST-PUNK POSTSCRIPT</span></b></div><div><b><a href="https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/asexual-be-what-you-want?_pos=1&_sid=dee9953ee&_ss=r" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/asexual-be-what-you-want?_pos=1&_sid=dee9953ee&_ss=r" target="_blank">Asexuals - Be What You Want</a> </b>This 1984 debut album from a Montreal band often lumped in with hardcore punk - but far more melodic than most in that genre - gets a well-deserved reissue on bright red vinyl and in perfect sound. Guitars soar in searing solos and riffs, the rhythm section is tight and unstoppable, the songs are well-written, and John Kastner's (later of the Doughboys) vocals are aggressive but not too harsh. There's also a booklet filled with great pictures (including one of Kastner in a PIL t-shirt that I especially appreciated) and contemporary interviews. I wish I had heard them in the 80s but it's never too late to discover a great band. </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Vinyl Only</i></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://mayanewman.com/" target="_blank">Malka Spigel & Colin Newman - Gliding & Hiding</a> </b>As a big fan of Newman's main project, Wire, I have been remiss in diving into the extended universe of the band, which includes Immersion, a duo between Spigel and Newman, and Githead, a quartet in which both play. But I think my greatest sin of omission may have been ignoring Spigel's considerable talents as a bass player, songwriter, and vocalist, which were first put to use in the Israeli post-punk band, Minimal Compact. This collection, which pulls together the 2014 Gliding EP, reworked tracks from 1994's Hide LP, and some recent recordings, offers a kaleidoscopic array of sounds and songs. Often featuring her throbbing, dubbed-out bass and gleaming, hypnotic guitars (including Newman and Wire's youngest member, Matthew Simms), and winding melodies that seem to draw on her Israeli heritage. Not only is this stunning collection a must for Wire-heads, but for anyone interested in art rock of the highest quality. Ignoring Malka Spigel is not a mistake I will repeat.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">IN THE ZONE</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://suzianalogue.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-zonez" target="_blank">Suzi Analogue - Infinite Zonez</a> </b>Crucial collection of all of the fizzy electronic grooves Analogue put out on the Zonez EPs from 2016 to 2019. Find plenty of the "ultra-rhythmic and sweetly melodic personality" I've <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/11/record-roundup-eclectic-electronics.html#.Wkqp4VQ-eu4">praised</a> in the past, with the songs "like mini-trips through her imagination via the most scenic route possible." As Michael Millions repeats on my favorite cut NNO APOLOGY, "Control with knowing/Who I gotta be/Living with no apology." Amen to that!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://bobmarley.lnk.to/LiveAtTheRainbow1PR" target="_blank">Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live At The Rainbow, 1st June 1977</a></b> Two days before the release of Exodus, BMW took the stage and laid its first four songs on an unsuspecting audience. Perhaps because they were still working out where the new material would fit in their setlist going forward, it was also the only night of the four-night stand that they played Natural Mystic, So Much Things To Say and Guiltiness. Those songs were infrequently performed in the future, if at all, only increasing the interest of this first-ever release of the complete show. The new material also finds the band somewhat slow to warm up, but when they get to Jamming and Exodus near the end - after traversing many classics, including a mesmeric War/No More Trouble - you can hear the unstoppable, world-beating force they would become on the 1978 tour, so beautifully preserved on Babylon By Bus. When it comes to Marley in his prime, there is no such thing as overkill, so dig into the complete shows from June 2nd and 3rd while you're at it, both also released for the first time in a celebration of the 45th anniversary of Exodus. Only time will tell if they have anything left in the vaults for the 50th anniversary!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dig in to more older sounds in this <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3O00IrEJF0qVh5981CMvpt?si=3ff678d7f9274308" target="_blank">archive playlist</a> and keep up with what 2023 unearths <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4sN4wCyEu4fPuDxCyJzZaS?si=f901f048e3c046e0" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy: <br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/best-of-2021-out-of-past.html#.ZCmvYezMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2021: Out Of The Past<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/02/best-of-2020-out-of-past.html#.Yngk6vPMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Out Of The Past<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/01/best-of-2019-out-of-past_25.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2019: Out Of The Past<br /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/03/best-of-2018-out-of-past_13.html#.XizPQxNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2018: Out Of The Past</a></span><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/best-of-2017-out-of-past_16.html#.XizPcBNKg1I" target="_blank"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Best Of 2017: Out Of The Past</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/01/best-of-2016-reissues_28.html#.XizPoxNKg1I" target="_blank"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Best Of 2016: Reissues</span></a><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/01/best-of-rest-of-12-out-of-past.html" target="_blank">Best Of The Rest Of 12: Out Of The Past</a></span></div></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-48432983793404773472023-03-11T17:34:00.002-05:002023-03-11T17:34:36.578-05:00Best Of 2022: Rock, Folk, Etc.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapJLFmbRpo2hhaLM_R5T1j9nbQceI0E9c54JdfsvHUP75DsHBEeTdLKrtWbfIQt24nQ7k33Sueo1xKlQDibcsgvQvQpe94ZaTiNDfCtcCLpv3tzq_ZtaeZ0UofJSvj6qHeeHu4Psq7RpRV3Ykn5pYlm7c4oP0llEUkzKPzN8F5jWKpvaOiA/s1800/Best%20Of%202022%20Rock%20Folk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1199" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapJLFmbRpo2hhaLM_R5T1j9nbQceI0E9c54JdfsvHUP75DsHBEeTdLKrtWbfIQt24nQ7k33Sueo1xKlQDibcsgvQvQpe94ZaTiNDfCtcCLpv3tzq_ZtaeZ0UofJSvj6qHeeHu4Psq7RpRV3Ykn5pYlm7c4oP0llEUkzKPzN8F5jWKpvaOiA/w353-h530/Best%20Of%202022%20Rock%20Folk.JPG" width="353" /></a></div><p>I won't claim that any of the artists below are saviors of rock & roll as that would imply a genre on life-support. Only people who confuse music with the <i>music business</i> might make such a claim. As long as one person is listening, a genre is alive and the ripples outward from that individual's experience are unknowably vast. That's not to say, however, that everything I cover here (or in my Top 25) is obscure. Artists like Wet Leg, Wilco, Arctic Monkeys, Björk, and Father John Misty all have millions of listeners, after all. As for the ones that count their fans in the hundreds or thousands, perhaps they're meant to be more of a boutique or niche experience - and who doesn't love being part of an exclusive club? So, push past the velvet rope and find your own V.I.P. listening room among the releases below, starting with ones previously covered. Press play on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/627aMW3r5qBKG2YSF5gxDA?si=e82deadb5c804af2" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below to hear a track from most of them.</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/627aMW3r5qBKG2YSF5gxDA?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></p><p><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: 22 For 22 (Part Two)</span></a><br /></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://laneyjones.bandcamp.com/track/stories-up-high" target="_blank">Laney Jones - Stories Up High</a><br /></b><b style="font-family: helvetica; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://fatherjohnmisty.bandcamp.com/album/chlo-and-the-next-20th-century" target="_blank">Father John Misty - Chloe And The Next 20th Century</a>
</b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://katiedey.bandcamp.com/album/forever-music" target="_blank">Katie Dey - Forever Music</a> </b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(See also <b><a href="https://katiedey.bandcamp.com/album/the-kraken" target="_blank">The Kraken</a></b> EP, featuring songs based on Tennyson, etc.)<br /></span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://dexyuk.bandcamp.com/album/sleeping-through-summer" target="_blank">Dexy - Sleeping Through Summer</a><br /></b><a href="https://thesmile.bandcamp.com/album/a-light-for-attracting-attention" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank"><b>The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention</b></a> (See also <b><a href="https://thesmile.bandcamp.com/album/the-smile-live-at-montreux-jazz-festival-july-2022" target="_blank">Live At Montreux Jazz Festival, July 2022</a></b>)<br /><a href="https://spoontheband.bandcamp.com/album/lucifer-on-the-sofa" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank"><b>Spoon - Lucifer On The Sofa</b></a> (See also <b><a href="https://spoontheband.bandcamp.com/album/lucifer-on-the-moon" target="_blank">Lucifer On The Moon</a></b>, Adrian Sherwood's dub remix of the whole album)<b style="font-family: helvetica; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</b></p><p><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html#.Y_I1p-zMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Best Of 2022 (So Far)</span><br /></a></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://sopharela.bandcamp.com/album/sometimes-forever" target="_blank">Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever</a></b><br /><b></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/09/record-roundup-evocative-voices.html#.Y_I2rezMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Evocative Voices</a><br /></span></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://ethanwoods.bandcamp.com/album/burnout" target="_blank">Ethan Woods - Burnout</a><br /></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://billieeilish.lnk.to/GuitarSongs" target="_blank">Billie Eilish - Guitar Songs</a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/record-roundup-songcraft.html#.Y_I3fOzMI1J" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Songcraft</span></a><br /></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://bjork.bandcamp.com/album/fossora" target="_blank">Björk - Fossora</a><br /></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://thesofthills.bandcamp.com/album/viva-chi-vede" target="_blank">The Soft Hills - Viva Che Vede</a><br /></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://tchotchke.bandcamp.com/album/tchotchke" target="_blank">Tchotchke - s/t</a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-2.html#.Y_I4nezMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Autumn Flood, Pt. 2</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://rachaeldadd.bandcamp.com/album/kaleidoscope" target="_blank">Rachael Dadd - Kaleidoscope</a><br /></b><a href="https://bonnylighthorseman.bandcamp.com/album/rolling-golden-holy" target="_blank"><b>Bonny Light Horseman - Rolling Golden Holy</b></a><br /><b><a href="https://ingridsuperstar.bandcamp.com/album/inner-world-peace" target="_blank">Frankie Cosmos - Inner World Peace</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://daydreamingwinter.bandcamp.com/album/what-kind-of-blue-are-you" target="_blank">Winter - What Kind Of Blue Are You?</a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/12/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-3.html#.Y_I5a-zMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Autumn Flood, Pt. 3</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://thestargazerlilies.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-tidal-wave-2" target="_blank">The Stargazer Lilies - Cosmic Tidal Wave</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://paledian.bandcamp.com/album/feral-birth" target="_blank">Pale Dian - Feral Birth</a> </b></p><p><b>NOISIER</b></p><p><b><a href="https://starcrawler-music.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">Starcrawler - She Said</a> </b>On their first two albums, the trajectory of this L.A. band, from the <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/06/record-roundup-rock-100s.html#.Y_dp0ezMI1I" target="_blank">"sloppy, grinding" filth</a> of the 2018 debut to the "<a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-top-25.html#.Y_dqZuzMI1I" target="_blank">intoxicating</a>" blend of primal urges with a bit more sophistication of 2019's Devour You, was a total thrill ride. On album three, we find a leveling off, with much the same variety they gave us on Devour You, delivered with plenty of conviction but without the sense of discovery. Still, there plenty of the short, sharp shocks we expect, like Roadkill, which opens the album in blistering form, and True (original title: Deranged), which blasts past like a roaring train. Midnight and Better Place are both more reflective, with guitarist Henri Cash showing off his skills at layering acoustic and electric textures. The anthemic Stranded and bouncy Thursday come closest to pointing in new directions, for an album that satisfies but never quite hits the <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/11/shamans-of-north-sixth.html" target="_blank">transgressive heights</a> singer Arrow de Wilde shows off on stage. Once they figure out how to inject more of that back into their studio material, watch out!</p><p><b><a href="https://lifeguardband100.bandcamp.com/album/crowd-can-talk" target="_blank">Lifeguard - Crowd Can Talk</a> </b>Like their Chicago compatriots <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank">Horsegirl</a>, this trio of high schoolers seems to have heard all the best indie/art rock records and have the skill to combine noise, melody, and a rhythmic drive into something that feels fresh. These four songs definitely have me eager for more, which is why I hope to catch them <a href="https://www.songkick.com/concerts/40933329-horsegirl-at-house-of-independents?utm_source=1471&utm_medium=partner" target="_blank">opening for Horsegirl</a> at House Of Independents in Asbury Park, NJ on July 22nd. Look for a date near you.</p><p><b><a href="https://bodegabk.bandcamp.com/album/broken-equipment" target="_blank">Bodega - Broken Equipment</a> and <a href="https://bodegabk.bandcamp.com/album/xtra-equipment" target="_blank">Xtra Equipment</a> </b>While I found it "<a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-rock-folk-etc.html" target="_blank">kind of thrilling when they flex their pop muscles</a>" on their 2019 EP, Shiny New Model, had it been an album I think I would have missed their sharper edges. I'm delighted to report that they've figured out how to salt the high energy, angular sound of their <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/12/best-of-2018-top-25.html" target="_blank">classic debut</a> with the clever and catchy tunefulness of the EP. Lyrically, they're still pursuing their critique of modern society from an ironic distance that can be witty and inspiring ("This city’s made for the doers. The movers shakers. Not connoisseurs./This city’s made for the doers. The movers shakers. Health food reviewers." - from Doers) but can also be so obvious that it feels almost condescending ("Craven is the island that we all come from. New York was founded by a corporation." - from NYC (Disambiguation)). In fact, if not for that quality, this likely would have been in my Top 25 like the first one. Once they remember that their audience is likely as smart as they are, classic status will be once again in their grasp. Xtra Equipment, a collection of B-sides, leftover tracks, alternate takes, and covers, finds them expanding their palette yet again, with the sweetly reflective doo wop of Memorize w/ yr Heart and the electro of Post yr Kilimanjaro (Doers 2.0) pointing to an exciting future. </p><p><b><a href="https://noknuckle.bandcamp.com/album/no-knuckle-2" target="_blank">No Knuckle - S/T</a> </b>On their second self-titled record, this Portland, OR post-punk trio has their take on the sound down to a science, all taut bass lines, jagged guitars, driving drums, and quirky vocals. But the sheer adrenaline and canny songwriting keep it fun instead of rote. Also, at nine songs in 20 minutes, there's no chance they'll overstay their welcome.</p><p><b><a href="https://2ndgrade.bandcamp.com/album/easy-listening" target="_blank">2nd Grade - Easy Listening</a> </b>While far more straightforward than Palm or Empath, this vehicle for the songs of Peter Gill is another fine example of how vital the Philadelphia scene is these days. With ringing guitars, bittersweet melodies, and lyrics to match ("You’re one step ahead of me/And I’m one hundred steps behind/Where I oughta be/But I’ll go there some other time," as Gill sings in Strung Out On You), 2nd Grade will slot nicely into your collection near Big Star and The Replacements. Guitarist/vocalist Catherine Dwyer, whose voice adds a nice counterpoint to Gill, is one secret weapon that sets them apart, but the songs are strong enough to do that on their own.</p><p><b><a href="https://rollingblackoutscoastalfever.bandcamp.com/album/endless-rooms" target="_blank">Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Endless Rooms</a> </b>After the <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/02/best-of-2020-rock-folk-etc.html" target="_blank">new heights</a> of 2020's Sideways To New Italy, it would be greedy to expect another leap from this Melbourne band, but I'm happy to report that their songwriting, employment of dynamics, and guitar layering all continue to advance. The inclusion of field recordings is an original touch, too, lending a true sense of place - and time, i.e. the late pandemic. Making this record helped get them through Australia's many lockdowns, now its here to help you with whatever challenge you need to power through.</p><p><b>LESS NOISY</b></p><p><a href="https://princesschelsea.lilchiefrecords.com/album/everything-is-going-to-be-alright" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Princess Chelsea - Everything Is Going To Be Alright</a> If you, like me, are not one of the millions of people who streamed or watched Chelsea Nikkel's 2011 song Cigarette Duet, this latest album, her fifth, might actually be a better place to start. While the title track keeps her twee cred intact, The Forest embraces power and repetition in a heavy yet controlled way that makes the building apotheosis truly cathartic. As a second track, it's slightly oddly placed as where do you go after catharsis? But her charming, well-constructed songs just win you over each time, whether the baroque pop of Time or the draggy lysergia of Dream Warrior. Score another win for New Zealand!</p><p><b><a href="https://kinghannah.bandcamp.com/album/i-m-not-sorry-i-was-just-being-me" target="_blank">King Hannah - I'm Not Sorry, I'm Just Being Me</a> </b>I had already spent some time with this Liverpool Band's sepulchral folk-blues before seeing them at <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html#.Y_pf0-zMI1I" target="_blank">Indieplaza</a>. That performance cemented my impression that Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle were on to something, with Merrick's moody, haunted vocals perfectly complimented by Whittle's spare, rattling guitar. A few songs feature Whittle singing and his voice is less distinctive than Merrick's, but the mood is sustained throughout. Don't be surprised if you hear a song like The Moods That I Get In or Foolius Caesar in David Lynch's next project - they'll work a treat.</p><p><b><a href="https://shop.sggoodman.net/" target="_blank">S.G. Goodman - Teeth Marks</a> </b>While most of my knowledge of rural Kentucky comes from binging episodes of the classic series Justified, this second album rings out with the same absolute authenticity as her first. Perhaps even more confident than on 2020's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/11/record-roundup-catching-up-sort-of.html" target="_blank">marvelous</a> Old Time Feeling, her range is powerfully on display between the searing a cappella of You Were Someone I loved and the working-class blues of Work Until I Die. The latter makes a great pair with <a href="https://youtu.be/_epXwsJeXq0" target="_blank">Food For Thought</a> by Mattiel, another artist incapable of singing a false note. </p><p><b><a href="https://earthlibraries.bandcamp.com/album/eddy" target="_blank">Charlie Reed - Eddy</a> </b>Not a person, but a six (or seven?) piece band led by cosmic Americana dreamer Luke Trimble. There's a touch of late Beatles here, too - like, really late, think Real Love or Free As A Bird. Assured and very sweet, let yourself get pulled in by their sunny melodies and wide-ranging sound, with pedal-steel coexisting with mellotron, all yoked to some truly fine expressions of the bittersweet nature of existence. </p><p><b><a href="https://michaelhead.tmstor.es/?lf=a021a857c1249312a44f187d33971171" target="_blank">Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - Dear Scott</a> </b>The last album by this near-legendary Liverpudlian songwriter, <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/11/autumn-albums-part-2_19.html#.ZASzuOzMI1I" target="_blank">Adiós Señor Pussycat</a>, was one of 2017's most <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/best-of-2017-top-25.html#.ZASzy-zMI1I" target="_blank">delightful surprises</a>. A five-year wait dampened some of the momentum and may be the main reason I struggled to connect with this one. But it really is nearly as good, with songs either breezy and sparkling or dreamy and reflective creating jewel-like settings for Head's hard-won, yet still optimistic, wisdom. Never one to pontificate, his philosophy might be best encapsulated in the refrain from Gino And Rico: "Life is for living and living is for life/It's all in a day's work, tonight." Words to live by and tunes to match is what you can expect from this latest gem from the magical world of Michael Head.</p><p><b><a href="https://gabrielsdawn.bandcamp.com/album/gabriels-dawn" target="_blank">Gabriel's Dawn - s/t</a> </b>Like The Clientele, this English band wears their influences on their (striped) sleeves, with a deep love for jangly, harmony-drenched, Laurel Canyon folk pop coming through loud and clear on this debut. But it's not just their enthusiasm that vaults this above mere revivalism, it's the songs, which breeze by in a rush of emotions like first love, first disillusionment, first sorrow. Fresh, is what this is, with ingeniously layered guitars and keyboards, swinging rhythms, and blissful harmonies. Kudos to guitarist Leon Jones for his production, which shaped these lockdown sessions, with band members often recording separately, into something warm and cohesive. </p><p><b><a href="https://thuslove.bandcamp.com/album/memorial" target="_blank">Thus Love - Memorial</a> </b>This band from Brattleboro, VT, are not shy about presenting themselves as "self-identifying trans artists," but even more germane to the listener is their absolute adoration of 80s post-punk and dream pop. Bizarrely enough, I might prefer their take on the sound, with its heavily chorused guitars, atmospheric synths, melodic bass, and splashy, driving drums, to some of the original. Call me a philistine...but blazing enthusiasm like that shown by Echo Mars (guitar, vocals, cello), Lu Racine (drums), Sophia DiMatteo (bass), and Nathaniel van Osdol (synth) is a rare thing indeed - and completely contagious on this beautifully recorded album.</p><p><b><a href="https://miroshot.bandcamp.com/album/loot-box" target="_blank">Miro Shot - Loot Box</a></b> Their debut album, <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/06/record-roundup-machine-learning.html#.ZAz1_uzMI1I" target="_blank">Content</a>, slotted into 2020's Electronic list quite nicely, with its focus on forward-thinking sonics created with an eye on their eventual realization in VR-enhanced performances. This immaculately-recorded acoustic EP, however, puts the focus on what I called Roman Rappak's "trademark vocals, alternately wry and bruised" while also pointing up the sturdy song structures and emphasizing the melancholy core of Miro Shot's concerns. </p><p><b><a href="https://theorielles.bandcamp.com/album/tableau" target="_blank">The Orielles - Tableau</a> </b>Jumping into a band's career on their third album, especially one as accomplished as this, can feel a little like cheating. After all, not being there to support them through their growing pains do you deserve to reap the rewards of their current mastery? Sure. Life's too short to deny yourself the pleasure of a richly immersive and flowing series of songs like this one. Intriguingly, this Manchester-based band calls Tableau their first "truly contemporary album," which makes me curious about their first two, and also detail the myriad processes used throughout its creation, from Leo Wadada Smith's graphic scores to Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies. Additionally, they expanded their sound with strings and electronics, although even a new listener can tell that the trio of vocalist and bassist Esmé Hand-Halford, drummer Sidonie Hand-Halford, and guitarist Henry Carlyle-Wade remains the core of what they do. The results take you on a journey, from driving songs like Chromo II and Television to abstractions like The Improvisation 001 and Some Day Later, to others, like The Room and Transmission, which combine both impulses. I'm glad I discovered the Orielles, albeit belatedly, but if you miss this opportunity to start becoming a fan, that's on you.</p><p><b><a href="https://turnover.bandcamp.com/album/myself-in-the-way" target="_blank">Turnover - Myself In The Way</a> </b>The striking, die-cut cover, painted by bassist Dan Dempsey, caught my daughter's eye at Rough Trade, leading us to investigate further. We were pleasantly surprised to find a an album of sweetly melancholy pop songs, often disco-inflected and occasionally psychedelic. Mountains Made Of Clouds is a perfect example of the latter impulse, with watery strumming, birdsong, and a shuffling beat adding up to a transporting result. Bre Morell of Crushed, whose <a href="https://crushedworldwide.bandcamp.com/album/extra-life" target="_blank">Extra Life EP</a> just came out, duets with singer Austin Getz on Ain't Love Heavy, which cranks up the string synth, hands the hi hat to Isaac Hayes, and lets the dance floor fill with couples on their way to breaking up. Judging this consistently great album by its cover turned out to be entirely appropriate. We would have been even more surprised by how good it is had we been aware of the band's beginnings over a decade ago, when they were on some kind of emo tip. But we won't hold that against them!</p><p><a href="https://historianreal.bandcamp.com/album/light-goes-out" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Historian - Light Goes Out</a> Ten albums in and Chris Karman keeps refining his dreamy chamber pop template. While this one has the now requisite strings and other orchestral touches, he also adds James Paul Mitchel's pedal steel, adding even more starlit grace than we've come to expect. Recorded at the same time as 2021's Out Of Season, this shares all <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-2021-rock-folk-etc.html#.ZAzPo-zMI1I" target="_blank">the virtues</a> of that earlier release. Since Shelf Life in 2013, Karman has been <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/12/best-of-rest-of-13.html#.ZAzS7uzMI1I" target="_blank">a supremely reliable</a> source of decorous and resonant song craft. Let him decorate and resonate in whatever space you listen.</p><p><a href="https://livinghourband.bandcamp.com/album/someday-is-today" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Living Hour - Someday Is Today</a> It took three albums for this Winnipeg-based band to reach my ears. Maybe that's because they're from Winnipeg or it could be that they just hooked up with the excellent folks at Riot Act Media, who dropped this expansive indie-rock gem in my inbox. Although, working with such worthies as Melina Duterte (AKA <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/10/record-roundup-rock-formations.html#.ZAzCNuzMI1I" target="_blank">Jay Som</a>) and Jonathan Schenke, who has collaborated with indie gems like Parquet Courts, Snail Mail, and The Drums, and released on Kanine Records, from whence came the <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-rock-folk-etc.html#.ZAzDGOzMI1I" target="_blank">perpetually underrated</a> Coasting by Honey Cutt, I think I would have got here somehow. But all those bona fides would count for nothing if the songs weren't so good and delivered with such assurance. Hump is just one example from late in the album, a slow-burner that gains force without ever gaining volume or tempo, guitar, bass, and drums in an inexorable but airy lockstep, while the vocals grow ever more hypnotic. Come under the power of Living Hour, not someday but today.</p><p><b>SYNTH-BASED</b></p><p><b><a href="https://graceives.lnk.to/jankystar" target="_blank">Grace Ives - Janky Star</a> </b>There is nothing janky about the solid melodic architecture Ives employs on song after song on this short, sweet, and tart project. Take Angel Of Business, with a verse that moves up by half steps, seemingly leading you to some kind of nirvana that never quite arrives, a stairway to...a few flights below heaven. But that kind of tease just makes the repeat button command to be struck. Then there's Lazy Day, as blissful and swinging as an early Madonna song, yet without the hard sell baked into every gesture. The musical underpinnings she builds are also sturdy, little engines of programmed drums, synth bass, and electronic keyboards, with occasional guitar or piano. She sings all these songs in an airy soprano, as natural as breathing, and often as relatable as your best friend: "Wait/I just wanted to relate/It only took me like 300 tries/Just to motivate," as she notes on Angel Of Business. However much effort it took for her to get here - and this is her third album - it all sounds delightfully easy peasy.</p><p><b><a href="https://automatic-band.bandcamp.com/album/excess-2" target="_blank">Automatic - Excess</a> </b>This electro-pop trio from L.A. was one of many bright discoveries at last year's IndiePlaza Festival and their taut bass lines, motorik drumming, swooping, burbling, and buzzing analog synths, and deadpan vocals are equally diverting on this terrific record. And, in contrast to the title, there's no fat on these carbon-steel bones.</p><p><b><a href="https://sofieroyer.bandcamp.com/album/harlequin" target="_blank">Sofie Royer - Harlequin</a> </b>As a fan of her marvelous <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-hip-hop-and-r.html" target="_blank">curatorial skills</a>, I wasn't quite convinced by Cult Survivor, her 2020 debut as an artist, and I was even less sure after a <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html" target="_blank">tentative performance</a> of mostly newer material at IndiePlaza. Fortunately, all of that is dispelled by this far more assured collection, with her 70s-cabaret-disco-decadence approach coming fully into focus. Baker Miller Pink, with its effulgent keyboards, tart rhythm guitar, handclaps, and four-on-the-floor rhythm is a standout, and is sure to reduce any hostilities at your next party as effectively as the "drunk-tank pink" to which the title refers. But any of these clever confections will liven up a playlist while adding a touch of European sophistication.</p><p><b><a href="https://mitski.bandcamp.com/album/laurel-hell" target="_blank">Mitski - Laurel Hell</a> </b>I'm not a die-hard, so I haven't ridden the rollercoaster with her fans around the announced retirement in 2019 then the (inevitable?) comeback with Working For The Knife in 2021. That song, which seemed to grapple with her career fears ("I used to think I'd be done by twenty/Now at twenty-nine, the road ahead appears the same/Though maybe at thirty, I'll see a way to change/That I'm living for the knife.") over a brick-hard beat, doomy synth, baroque piano, and dramatic guitars, now finds a home on what may be her finest album yet. Or at least the one that appeals to me the most. Tracks like Stay Soft, Heat Lightning, and I Guess show her complete mastery at assembling arresting (mostly) electronic environments for her introspective songwriting. The last track, That's Our Lamp, goes a bit overboard, but it almost sounds like she's having fun, which is refreshing. And since I'm not a die-hard, I'll try not to read too much into lyrics like "I guess, I guess/I guess this is the end/I'll have to learn/To be somebody else." After all, she's already very good at being Mitski.</p><p><b>FOLKISH</b></p><p><b><a href="https://skywayman.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-no-1" target="_blank">Skyway Man & Andy Jenkins - Nothing No. 1</a> </b>It's been a long wait since Jenkins's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/06/record-roundup-rock-100s.html" target="_blank">sublime</a> Sweet Bunch in 2018, a hiatus that was slightly softened by <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/11/record-roundup-american-harvest.html" target="_blank">The Garden Opens</a>, a fine EP from 2019, so just hearing his voice on this collaborative release is a balm to the soul. As a bonus, Molly Sarlé, who got a bit of play around here with her <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/11/record-roundup-american-harvest.html#.XkmA7RNKg1I" target="_blank">excellent</a> Karaoke Angel album in 2019, also lends her dulcet voice to the project. And Skyway Man? He seems to fit right in with the cosmic, soulful Americana for which Jenkins and other Spacebomb artists are known. Holding onto this like a little life raft until the next Jenkins opus. Let it be soon.</p><p><b><a href="https://patrickwatson.bandcamp.com/album/better-in-the-shade" target="_blank">Patrick Watson - Better In The Shade</a> </b>This brief (21-minute) collection is a reminder of what makes Watson so special: the voice like a cloud, the Satie-esque piano, the existential attitude of a chain-smoker of Gauloises. Even better was seeing him <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html" target="_blank">in full flight</a> with the Attaca string quartet in Central Park last summer, but this is as lovely a calling card as I could hope for.</p><p><b><a href="https://caroline.bandcamp.com/album/caroline" target="_blank">Caroline - s/t</a> </b>In this day and age, few bands have the patience to wait five years to put out a debut album. But getting eight players to gel, as they do so beautifully on this album, takes time, as does arriving at a sound that has a familiar warmth but doesn't sound precisely like anything else. There's some of the (mock?) solemnity and fireside minimalism of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra here as well as a touching relationship with a current strain of UK post-rock - think Black Country New Road, yet pursued more profitably. It's arty, it's folky, and, even at its oddest, it creates a palpable sense of friendship while you listen, something ever more valuable in these times.</p><p><b>POPPISH</b></p><p><b><a href="https://girlpuppy.bandcamp.com/album/when-im-alone" target="_blank">Girlpuppy - When I'm Alone</a> </b>While Becca Harvey's sound is very different from that of Faye Webster or Mattiel, it's great to hear another sign of life from Atlanta on this richly produced series of songs. Over tunes that sometimes opt for a 90s guitar chug and at other times drift into more dreamy territory, Harvey's sweet voice delivers some bitter pills about the pitfalls of modern relationships. As she sings on Revenant: "i’m waiting for you to leave/now, sick of checking my phone and seeing your name/i wish i knew how to forget everything/that’s ever happened to me." The sound overall is detailed, with layers of guitars, keyboards, and strings adding up to a polished yet personal result. Multi-instrumentalists Samuel Acchione (who also produced) and John Michael Young put in most of the work creating those layers and it was time well spent on these fine songs.</p><p><b><a href="https://noso.bandcamp.com/album/stay-proud-of-me-2" target="_blank">NoSo - Stay Proud Of Me</a> </b>As proven by a quick dive on YouTube, Abby Hwong is a guitar virtuoso who has wisely learned to turn down all the tricky stuff they used to play and let the focus be on the songs. And fine songs they are, dealing with the ups and downs of identity and romance in a tuneful and deceptively breezy fashion. "I'm envious of straight hips/Jangling nerves, simple limbs/Oh, I couldn't swim/fFast enough/But I made it out/Halfway done," Hwong sings in I Feel You, covering a lot of ground in a few words before the song switches to a coda that calls you to the dance floor. With sleek production, a beautiful voice, and wise pop songs, NoSo has put together a remarkably assured debut album that will have you marveling at their craft while never drawing attention to it.</p><p><b><a href="https://cduncan.bandcamp.com/album/alluvium" target="_blank">C. Duncan - Alluvium</a> </b>The title refers to a deposit of silt, gravel, etc., left behind by running water, which might be slightly ironic as this fourth album is all running water, flowing gently past my ears and continuing through to the ether. This does mean it took me longer to connect to it than his last, 2019's Health, which featured tunes <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/05/record-roundup-poptones.html#.ZAyxyuzMI1J" target="_blank">"as catchy as heck"</a> and hit my Top 25. But there are few hoeing the row of sophisticated, synthetic pop better than Duncan these days, so grasp these diaphanous wisps of optimistic song as tightly as they'll let you. </p><p><b><a href="https://fayewebster.bandcamp.com/album/car-therapy-sessions" target="_blank">Faye Webster - Car Therapy Sessions</a> </b>This orchestral EP of one new and four reimagined songs is pop in the sense that Julie London or Joni James would easily recognize. And with Spacebomb's Trey Pollard behind the arrangements, the surroundings are not only as rich and lush as a room full of whipped cream but also phenomenally tasteful. The older songs, including Kind Of (here called Kind Of (Type Of Way)), a standout from 2021's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html#.ZAy25uzMI1I" target="_blank">brilliant</a> I Know I'm Funny HaHa, slot perfectly into this expanded sound world, and the one new song, Car Therapy, takes advantage of them from the start. A gorgeous consolidation of all that makes Webster special, I'm now dreaming of her take on James' version of <a href="https://youtu.be/3YwTUuH4Sjk" target="_blank">Little Girl Blue</a>.</p><p><b><a href="https://beabadoobee.bandcamp.com/album/beatopia" target="_blank">Beabadoobee - Beatopia</a> </b>The buzz for Beatrice Kristi Ilejay Laus's 2020 debut album, Fake It Flowers, was tough to ignore but I found it sounded too...familiar, with pale echoes of 90s bands that had limited appeal in the first place. But at my daughter's urging I tried again with Beatopia and it was totally worth it. The leap between albums is quite extraordinary to my ears, with her intimate, slightly child-like voice now assaying everything from string-laden folk (Ripples) to bossa nova (The Perfect Pair) to some orchestral pop of her own (Lovesong). While I listened, I kept saying to myself, "How did she get so GOOD?" She put in the work, that's how. Now it's up to you to make the effort to listen.</p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There's more goodness of this sort to be found in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6SspdTCZ1barzEqvhkl2PW?si=05468b2195214676" target="_blank">this archive playlist</a> - plus, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LkZsJ5GtjZDHc18FeoSrJ?si=b646b790e6524de0" target="_blank">keep up with 2023 here.</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-2021-rock-folk-etc.html#.ZAz39ezMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2021: Rock, Folk, Etc.<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/02/best-of-2020-rock-folk-etc.html#.YmScU5PMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Rock, Folk, Etc.<br /></a></span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-rock-folk-etc.html#.XtQgORNKg1I" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Best Of 2019: Rock, Folk, Etc. </a><br style="font-family: helvetica;" /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-rock-folk-etc.html#.XtQf5BNKg1I" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Best Of 2018: Rock, Folk, Etc. </a><br style="font-family: helvetica;" /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-rock-folk-etc.html#.XtQf5BNKg1I" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Best Of 2017: Rock, Folk, Etc.</a><br style="font-family: helvetica;" /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/01/best-of-2016-rock-folk-etc.html#.XtQfqRNKg1I" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Best Of 2016: Rock, Folk, Etc.</a></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-78172663770248606302023-02-12T16:25:00.000-05:002023-02-12T16:25:59.567-05:00Best Of 2022: Jazz, Latin, And Global<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxH33lbwo8I7yfDnWgnqWzDvRyvwg0me6WiDgDqNcQkaWTIdRmItVvyM9yAAcgmT77RtYfLfu4mEIzf3Xg_Cp-5InnjFr0coaMCf1sTECckEtvSreZhDKd6RNZB36Io_TbL0ucBcPeTSFtK_Sg6mtStB1hZkWeLqyazhFGoVqv9bi7X92S6A/s1800/Best%20Of%202022%20Jazz%20Etc.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1198" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxH33lbwo8I7yfDnWgnqWzDvRyvwg0me6WiDgDqNcQkaWTIdRmItVvyM9yAAcgmT77RtYfLfu4mEIzf3Xg_Cp-5InnjFr0coaMCf1sTECckEtvSreZhDKd6RNZB36Io_TbL0ucBcPeTSFtK_Sg6mtStB1hZkWeLqyazhFGoVqv9bi7X92S6A/w354-h532/Best%20Of%202022%20Jazz%20Etc.JPG" width="354" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Seeing L'Rain, Sons Of Kemet, and Makaya McCraven in <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html" target="_blank">a spectacular concert</a> last summer was a powerful reminder of the ability of jazz to electrify a crowd and unite them in a journey though the unknown. On a record, the trajectory is more intimate but can be equally thrilling. Latin music, in the form of pop crossover from the likes of Bad Bunny, is more popular than ever but true fascination may be found more in the niches. As for music made beyond the US/UK hegemony, Africa is still a strong source, but Europe - especially when cultures blend, as on Topical Dancer - can still bring much to the table. Beyond Charlotte Dos Santos, who has at least as much jazz in her musical DNA as anything else, and Jimmy Delgado, I didn't find as much of the many Latin varieties as I have in other years. That will likely change in 2023, but in the meantime discover some of the best recent releases in these genres below, beginning with those few albums I previously covered. Give a listen to tracks from each in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Y2pVDRScfNZn4vr2IjbxF?si=b90d5d69fffe45e4" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below.</span></p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/4Y2pVDRScfNZn4vr2IjbxF?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></p><p><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">22 For 22 (Part Two)</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4mpWv0nGQVFyoIPbePcZxm?si=coceN6aBSz-3doTqd1ZSOw" target="_blank">Jimmy Delgado - A Mis Mentores...To My Mentors</a><br /></b><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://charlotteandbolis.bandcamp.com/album/topical-dancer" target="_blank">Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer</a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/12/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-3.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Autumn Flood (Part 3)</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://charlottedossantos.bandcamp.com/album/morfo" target="_blank">Charlotte Dos Santos - Morfo</a></b></span></p><p><b><u><span style="font-family: helvetica;">JAZZ</span></u></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://jazzmanalbums.bandcamp.com/album/lost-in-abstraction" target="_blank">Amanda Whiting - Lost In Abstraction</a> </b>It takes a certain boldness as well as a light touch to traverse ground trod by such greats as Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, both avatars of the jazz harp, not to mention stunning contemporary talents like Brandee Younger. Whiting, a classically-trained player from Wales, rides that line perfectly on her second album. Whether sweeping the strings with a seductive flamboyance in Venus Fly Trap or plucking delicately around the groove of Suspended, she seems to always know just what's required by a song. Sensitive and engaged backing from Aidan Thorne (bass) and Jon Reynolds (drums) is enhanced by Chip Wickham's flute and sax and Baldo Verdú's percussion for a blend of lush and spare textures that is very satisfying indeed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://chipwickham.bandcamp.com/album/cloud-10" target="_blank">Chip Wickham - Cloud 10</a> </b>Wickham himself is in fine form on this swinging set of soulful spiritual jazz - or is that spiritual soul jazz? - with an expansive sound courtesy of his compatriots, including Whiting on harp, Ton Risco (vibes), Sneaky (bass), Jon Scott (drums), Jack McCarthy (percussion) and Eoin Grace (trumpet and flugelhorn). Informed by the past but not indebted to it, Wickham is keeping jazz moving forward in a fashion that is accessible and full of integrity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/in-these-times" target="_blank">Makaya McCraven - In These Times</a> </b>I'm still buzzing from that explosive Central Park show so I have trouble seeing this finely wrought if a bit too chill album as mostly a placeholder for the next time. What a huge talent, though, and an essential part of the story of jazz in our time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://tyshawn-sorey.bandcamp.com/album/the-off-off-broadway-guide-to-synergism" target="_blank">Tyshawn Sorey Trio with Greg Osby - The Off-Off Broadway Guide To Synergism</a> </b>I remember watching these Jazz Gallery gigs take place from afar - i.e. Instagram - in March 2022 and wishing I could be there. This triple album is a damned good consolation prize, however, with the energy of Sorey's drums, Aaron Diehl's piano, Russell Hall's bass, and Osby's sax fairly leaping out of the speakers. The sets are filled mostly with standards from the likes of Cole Porter and Billy Strayhorn, but there are also two killer takes on Ornette Coleman's Mob Job and a fine version of Miles Davis's Solar, both of which should be considered standards by this point anyway. Sorey is fully in command throughout, conducting the band with drum hits and cymbal crashes rather than a baton. Next time I hope to get there in person! </span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://timucinsahin.bandcamp.com/album/funk-poems-for-bird" target="_blank">Timuçin Şahin's Flow State - Funk Poems For Bird</a> </b>Spiky, fractured, and often witty, this Charlie Parker-inspired collection is a perfect showcase for Şahin's unique guitar playing, with plenty of push and pull from Cory Smythe (piano), Reggie Washington (bass), and Sean Rickman (drums). Şahin uses a custom-built double-neck guitar with one fretless neck, which gives him an infinite palette of colors and textures to deploy. Must be fun to watch live, too. And what a delight to hear Smythe, who I'm mostly familiar with from his <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-and-concert-roundup-on-island.html" target="_blank">work with the International Contemporary Ensemble</a>, let his fingers fly in an improvised setting!</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://intaktrec.bandcamp.com/album/no-es-la-playa" target="_blank">Brandon Lopez - Ingrid Laubrock - Tom Rainey - No es la Playa</a> </b>Just as he <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/record-roundup-solos-duos-ensembles.html#.Y-kgqezMI1I" target="_blank">collaborated so well</a> with Tak Ensemble in 2021, bassist/composer Lopez inserts himself seamlessly into the duo of Laubrock (saxes) and Rainey (drums). The word "seamlessly," however, doesn't convey the excitement the trio generates, a swirling interaction built from deep listening and the vast array of experiences the three bring to the studio, from free jazz to contemporary chamber music. More fun can be had in the latest from Laubrock and Rainey, <a href="https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/album/counterfeit-mars" target="_blank">Counterfeit Mars</a>, with the drummer pushing her to be her wittiest while still full of sharp angles. Laubrock also shines on <a href="https://laubrock-intakt.bandcamp.com/album/fragile-24bit-hi-res-96khz" target="_blank">Fragile</a>, another duo album, traversing between poles spiky and contemplative with pianist Andy Milne, who even injects a bit of blues into the mix. What a year for Laubrock, who continually proves herself to be one of the most exciting players in jazz and classical music today.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://natewooleypyroclastic.bandcamp.com/album/ancient-songs-of-burlap-heroes" target="_blank"><b>Nate Wooley - Ancient Songs Of Burlap Heroes</b></a> As he put on full display in 2021's <a href="https://natewooley.bandcamp.com/album/mutual-aid-music" target="_blank">Mutual Aid Music</a>, trumpeter/composer Wooley has the gift for assembling a sound world out of perfectly chosen groups of players. In this case, an impressionistic, almost cinematic world arises from Mary Halvorson's electric guitar, Susan Alcorn's pedal steel guitar, and Ryan Sawyer's drums, with an occasional assist from Mat Maneri's viola and Trevor Dunn's electric bass. The group roils and retreats, like the stormy tide heard in the four interludes, making for a deeply absorbing experiences. Wooley is great thinker, too, and as he explains it, "A burlap hero is one who marches—consciously or not—back to the sea in hopes of making no splash, who understands and embraces the imperfection of being, and in that way, stretches the definition of sainthood to fit." So wear your burlap proudly and let this be the soundtrack to wherever you march.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://samgendel.bandcamp.com/album/blueblue" target="_blank">Sam Gendel - BlueBlue</a> </b>I was recently chatting with an old friend of mine and we got to talking about Gendel, remarking on how he can play just about anything and find his way in a staggering variety of musical settings. In this case, he's putting guitar to the foreground and duetting with himself on breathy woodwinds and synths for a quietly radical set of pieces based on ashiko, a traditional style of Japanese embroidery. The relationship is mostly in his own mind, as pieces like <span class="track-title" style="-webkit-box-orient: vertical; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Amime (網目, fishing nets) bear no obvious relation to that particular pattern. But no matter - whatever it takes to get him going! He also invited percussionist Craig Weinrib into the fold, who virtually jams with Gendel, adding a stylish, if still restrained, swagger to the album.</span></span></div><div><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div><b><u><span style="font-family: helvetica;">GLOBAL/WESTERN AFRICA</span></u></b></div><div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://etrandelair.bandcamp.com/album/agadez" target="_blank">Etran de L'Air - Agadez</a> </b>While this Saharan family band shares some of the hallmarks of other Tuareg artists such as <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.Y-T3C-zMI1I" target="_blank">Tinariwen</a>, Tamikrest, or <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/03/best-of-2021-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.Y-T4HuzMI1I" target="_blank">Mdou Moctar</a>, there is an overall air of celebration that sets them apart. It came as no surprise to learn they're the most popular wedding band in Agadez, their home city in Niger. The percussion also feels a bit more progressive than on other "desert blues" releases, with touches of arty disco (think Dennis Davis on Bowie's Fashion) and dance-rock underscoring the high-flying guitars. Bring the party to your house, wherever that may be.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://worldcircuit.lnk.to/VFTRacines" target="_blank">Vieux Farka Touré - Les Racines</a> </b>Somehow I lost track of this Malian guitarist and singer after putting his superb sophomore album, Fondo, on my <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-is-born-best-of-2009.html" target="_blank">top ten in 2009</a>. Correcting that record starts here, with his first solo album since 2017. Hypnotic, meditative, and deeply engaged in the sound world of his legendary father, Ali, it's both a beautiful tribute to, and a continuation of, that legacy. While on Fondo, he had to be deliberate about escaping his father's shadow, here he can confidently embrace all that that shadow encompassed. Between Ali and Vieux, the Touré name is synonymous with Malian music and all it has to offer, which you can find here in abundance. If you use a streaming service, don't be fooled by the algorithm that wants to serve you with Ali, Vieux's unfortunate collaboration with milquetoast try-hards Khruangbin, which has, on average, more than <i>100 times the streams </i>as Les Racines. That's a goddamned shame and hopefully a few of those listeners will find their way to the real thing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://shikashika.bandcamp.com/album/a-guide-to-the-birdsong-of-western-africa" target="_blank">Various Artists - A Guide To The Birdsong of Western Africa</a> </b>In a testament to the power and importance of going to record stores, I only discovered this series, which has been going since 2015, when my daughter spotted the cover on one of our trips to Rough Trade. The color, variety, and sheer artistry of the illustration is an accurate reflection of what can be found within. Each artist was given the birdsong of an endangered species from their country and asked to incorporate it into a new song. Vieux Farka Touré is here, jamming with the call of the Black Crowned Crane, alongside nine other less familiar names. The collection opens with the airy delight of Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin paying tribute to the Loango Weaver with a synth-based groove and plenty of call and response. Another highlight is the charming Nimba Flycatcher by Ruth Tafébé, propelled by delicate acoustic guitar, clicking percussion, and her bittersweet voice, but there are no weak tracks. Ask your local store to stock it!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0BFJWDN3Y?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_jaQTzRBRs033j01YsiemYdLrW" target="_blank">Black Sherif - The Villain I Never Was</a> </b>Here's one case where the algorithm worked in my favor, as the one track that has a guest (Burna Boy) landed this Ghanaian singer-songwriter in my Release Radar. And I'm glad it did, as the album is sleek and canny combination of the deeply rooted genre of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlife" target="_blank">Highlife</a> and contemporary Afrobeats with touches of reggae and hip hop. In a further quest for universality, Black Sherif sings in English, offering his reflections on his life, country, and status in a strong tenor, occasionally distorted with autotune. While there is a mournful, haunting quality to many of the songs, he never falls victim to cloying sentimentality, which can sometimes mar music from the region. Give a listen and raise a hand in welcome to an important new voice in the music of Western Africa.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0B1489H2N?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_NTjLHfaNN8KnMi293PiX5mcUi" target="_blank">Burna Boy - Love Damini</a> </b>In 2019, I praised this Nigerian Afrobeats pioneer's African Giant for being "<a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">suave, smooth, and funky</a>," elements that are still in place on several songs here. On a whopping 19 tracks, the best stuff is front-loaded, with tracks like Science, with ticky-tack drums, brooding horns, and sensual vocals, Cloak and Dagger, with its sharp feature from J. Hus, and Kilometre, a choppy slice of dancehall, as strong as anything from his catalog. But things go awry on the back half, where nearly every song has a guest, including regrettable appearances from bards of bland like Ed Sheeran and J. Balvin. In his quest for ubiquity, Burna Boy is in danger of leaving behind what made him so popular in the first place. Hopefully next time, he'll leave the grabs for Pepsi-commercial pop stardom on the cutting room floor because when he's at his best, as on at least half the tracks here, he's a special artist indeed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://florenceadooni.bandcamp.com/album/yinne" target="_blank">Florence Adooni - Yinne</a> </b>I've written before about the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.Y-fi3-zMI1I" target="_blank">joyful, intricate</a> sounds of Ghanaian Frafra before, as presented by the German label Philophon. On the first song on this latest single from the label, "Gospel Queen" Adooni sails her lighter-than-air voice over a delightfully busy arrangement, all blaring horns, swirling guitars and synths, burbling bass, and precise percussion, barely breaking a sweat as she sings in praise of Yinne, the Creator. For Yelle is more contemplative, with an almost folky melody and arpeggiated guitars. Here's hope for an album from Adooni - as well as a follow up to #1, Guy One's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/02/record-roundup-one-day-in-2018.html#.Y-fk_uzMI1J" target="_blank">extraordinary album</a> from 2018.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There's more from these genres in the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6QLY43ibx5bKd6W0Imkzkw?si=9d4cee17b04a42e7">archived playlist</a> and you can follow along with what I discover in 2023 <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jX11zwEGWeThNHGH85inR?si=3bacb648707949d0">here</a>. <br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/03/best-of-2021-jazz-latin-and-global.html" target="_blank">Best of 2021: Jazz, Latin, and Global<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-jazz-latin-and-global.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Jazz, Latin, and Global<br /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.XsrwOJNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2019: Jazz, Latin, and Global</a> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/03/best-of-2018-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.XssSZpNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2018: Jazz, Latin, and Global</a></span></span></p></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-24624320795286916192023-02-04T16:05:00.002-05:002023-02-04T17:10:03.642-05:00Best Of 2022: Hip Hop, RnB, and Reggae<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFbXHMVpRK_DkSLxNpcdCD42QwD0J4HkLJRsp9_qhvAwmeBTHpMyZ_wReqEL9Tq7zZaydfpzYRhIAUz5vIhvIgdTePQO5Vwfu1ZrPp5RIGD9Om7ZyH7TsOKilyle3g3ujLQLuDFYQmVQIyttBXHuKa_5lcYJ8B29kXpN3bFwIng-I7v4PQEg/s1800/IMG_0831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1198" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFbXHMVpRK_DkSLxNpcdCD42QwD0J4HkLJRsp9_qhvAwmeBTHpMyZ_wReqEL9Tq7zZaydfpzYRhIAUz5vIhvIgdTePQO5Vwfu1ZrPp5RIGD9Om7ZyH7TsOKilyle3g3ujLQLuDFYQmVQIyttBXHuKa_5lcYJ8B29kXpN3bFwIng-I7v4PQEg/w349-h524/IMG_0831.JPG" width="349" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hip hop continues to dominate popular music, whether as itself or as an influence on production and songwriting. But there is great depth to the field as well, far beyond the commercial frontier. The same can be said for RnB, which now incorporates hip hop, pop, and the old DNA of soul and funk into its makeup. As for reggae, I've stopped worrying about where Jamaican music would go after dancehall and just listen for the sounds that hit my sweet spot. See below for what I discovered in these intertwined genres, starting with the releases I already covered. Find a track from each (except Isaiah Rashad) in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4GDuVhS18EVz3nMsAeMY3C?si=1182a31b829e4c1a" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/4GDuVhS18EVz3nMsAeMY3C?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: 22 For 22 (Part 1)</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://fkatwigs.lnk.to/CAPRISONGS" target="_blank">FKA Twigs - Caprisongs</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://pushat.lnk.to/ItsAlmostDry" target="_blank">Pusha T - It's Almost Dry</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://kendricklamar.lnk.to/MrMorale" target="_blank">Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/09/record-roundup-evocative-voices.html#.Y766I-zMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Evocative Voices</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://moormother.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-codes" target="_blank">Moor Mother - Jazz Codes</a> See also the powerfully skeletal <a href="https://700bliss.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-to-declare" target="_blank">Nothing To Declare by 700 Bliss (Moor Mother with DJ Haram)</a></b><b><br /></b><b><a href="https://store.lizzomusic.com/products/retail-standard-vinyl?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lizzomusic.com%2F" target="_blank">Lizzo - Special</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/record-roundup-songcraft.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Songcraft</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://stevelacy.lnk.to/geminirights" target="_blank">Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://sudanarchives.bandcamp.com/album/natural-brown-prom-queen" target="_blank">Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Prom Queen</a></b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">HIP HOP</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://mymixtapez.com/album/255626" target="_blank">Isaiah Rashad - Music 4r Da Vibers</a> </b>Given that his <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/12/best-of-rest-of-14-hip-hop-jazz.html#.Y9br5-zMI1I" target="_blank">best album</a> included the word "demo" in the title and his second album was about <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-hip-hop-and-r.html#.Y9btSezMI1I" target="_blank">writer's block</a>, it's obvious Rashad sometimes gets in his own way. Following up last year's The House Is Burning with this leaked collection of demos and snippets may point a new way forward for him because it's even better than that <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/02/best-of-2021-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">excellent</a> album. Warmth, immediacy, and a cutting self-examination are just some of the characteristics that have had me coming back to this over and over, along with the smeared, grimy beats. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://traumazine.megantheestallion.com/" target="_blank">Megan Thee Stallion - Traumazine</a> </b>Wildly entertaining, vulnerable, and intricately assembled, Megan's second album proves her staying power. The best songs feature not only her sharp flow but also a kind of vocal counterpoint going on the the background, breath sounds, random words, and vocal tics creating an atmospheric tapestry. Ending with Anxiety ("They keep sayin' I should get help/But I don't even know what I need/They keep sayin' speak your truth/And at the same time say they don't believe, man"), the first 11 songs alone would have been enough to get Traumazine on this list. Things get a little patchier after that, with the pace slowing down and Megan becoming almost a guest on her own album. But when she's ON there are few others who can do what she does. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://conwaythemachine.lnk.to/GDMM" target="_blank">Conway The Machine - God Don't Make Mistakes</a> and <a href="https://bigghostlimited.bandcamp.com/album/what-has-been-blessed-cannot-be-cursed" target="_blank">Conway The Machine & Big Ghost Ltd. - What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed </a></b>While this Buffalo-based rapper seems to be working all the time, God Don't Make Mistakes is only his second album proper after <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/02/best-of-2021-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.Y86JFuzMI1I" target="_blank">2021's excellent La Maquina</a> - and he's raised the bar significantly this time. When he ends Tear Gas with the line "I keep the guns and the drugs just for the paranoia," I couldn't help but think, "And for the lyrical content." But by the time you get to the extraordinary title track you realize there's nothing sensationalist about the gritty noir that defines his style. Over a grimy track by the Alchemist, Conway runs through a series of questions about the life-changing aftermath of getting shot ("Sometimes I wonder, if this Bell's Palsy didn't paralyze my grill in/Would there still be murals of my face painted on side of buildings?") ending with his mother praying over his grievously injured body in the hospital. It's a haunting finale that will have you hitting repeat so you can try to grasp how he pulled a new beginning out of that near ending. While God Don't Make Mistakes represents Conway's major label debut, What Has Been Blessed... finds him back with Big Ghost and showing no sign of losing touch with his roots. As he raps on Bodie Broadus: "I'm the main source of the culture, I'm love's professor/The one that every major label wanna all get next to/And that's just from recordin' pressure, all it cost was effort/Bars so electric, shit might could charge your Tesla." All never truer than on these two albums.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://goodtasterecords.com/products/freddie-gibbs-soul-sold-separately-vinyl-lp" target="_blank">Freddie Gibbs - $oul $old $eparately</a> </b>After the haymaker one-two punch of <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-top-25.html#.Y9cSv-zMI1I" target="_blank">Bandana</a>, produced entirely by Madlib, and <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/12/best-of-2020-top-25.html#.Y9cSMezMI1I" target="_blank">Alfredo</a>, produced entirely by The Alchemist, I had some trepidation when I heard Gibbs was going the major label-multi-producer route. I was at least a little bit right to be concerned as there is definitely a more diffuse, diluted vibe to this collection. Even the concept - Freddie locked up in a Vegas hotel trying to finish his album - is not quite enough to make it cohere. But Gibbs is never less than committed when comes to the microphone there's nothing slack about his raps. The concept also imposes a number of skits on the album, which are amusing, but when you have a song as hot as Gold Rings, with its killer Pusha T feature, I kinda wish it didn't end with 30 seconds of tomfoolery, i.e. Jesus leaving a voice mail. They should at least put those on their own track so you can weed them out if you want to.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1xhIUCFuzlf17stdPjF5Ct?si=UkTwUuqyQuaUOWUXwccyzg" target="_blank">Prodigy - The Hegelian Dialectic 2: The Book Of Heroine</a> </b>While this collection is uneven, it's good to see Prodigy's planned trilogy finally coming to fruition. Following 2017's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/07/best-of-2017-so-far_4.html#.WlvLNVQ-d-U" target="_blank">darkly elegant</a> The Book Of Revelation - the last album released during his lifetime - this one addresses lighter concerns of "sex, drugs, and partying" as opposed to apocalyptic, political themes. Some of the beats feel demo quality but Prodigy's voice is always strong, rapping with intent. As on the romantic Low from the last Mobb Deep album, Prodigy actually, er, rises to the occasion of discussing sex and love on I Heart You: "Candle-lit rooms, shadows on the wall kiss/Her silhouette shape on the wall so thick/The flames on the wick dancin' to the music/Make our hearts melt like wax into each other palms." It's hard to know what he would have done differently, but I imagine he would be proud to have Big Daddy Kane, D.J. Premier, Faith Evans, his old running buddy, Big Noyd, and others on the project. Perhaps even more importantly, Prodigy's estate was finally able to resolve the business tangles that kept his work off of streaming services, making his <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/p/queens-noir-prodigys-legacy-in-25-songs.html" target="_blank">indelible legacy</a> available again. The final album in the trilogy, promised to confront death itself, is coming out later in 2023.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://theyhatechange.bandcamp.com/album/finally-new" target="_blank">They Hate Change - Finally, New</a> </b>Even though their set was <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html" target="_blank">cut short at IndiePlaza</a> last fall, at least the festival succeeded in turning me on to this Tampa-based duo. Vonne Parks and Andre Gainey combine tag-team, high energy raps with an eclectic landscape of beats that incorporate dub, drum & bass, and all manner of electronic dance grooves - sometimes in the same song. No dilettantes here, however, as they take full ownership of every sound. While they are aggressive in making it clear they stand apart from much of the hip hop universe (As Gainey raps in Blatant Localism: "It’s funny how y’all get excited about crime/I can’t deny, I thought them rhymes was really true to they lives"), it's less clear where they do stand lyrically - but the words sound good nonetheless, making for an assured package. No surprise, as they've been working their way up to this album since 2015 - hence the "finally" in the title. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Pinkcaravan! - <a href="https://youtu.be/9L5y50LOGK8" target="_blank">Bananaz</a> and <a href="https://song.link/eazybake" target="_blank">Eazy Bake</a> </b>Since 2018, when her <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae_19.html" target="_blank">delightful</a> EP 2002 came out, we've been lucky to be gifted one or two songs a year from this unique artist. These two tracks do nothing to stop me from wanting more of her candy-coated hip hop confections. Perhaps 2023 will make that happen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://orcd.co/fewgoodthings" target="_blank">Saba - Few Good Things</a> </b>While nothing here quite matches the cinematic sweep and emotional depth of Prom / King, the standout track from <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae_19.html" target="_blank">his 2018 album,</a> Care For Me, this third album is also more consistent. You can learn a lot about what he's giving us here just by the picture of his seemingly indomitable grandfather on the cover - and the ambiguity of the title. There is no bitter without the sweet, and vice versa, in Saba's universe. As he noted when describing the <a href="https://youtu.be/bkI_5ouHUFI" target="_blank">short film</a> attached to the project, "An empty glass is full of air. An empty bank is full of lessons. An empty heart is full of memories." But this album is full - full of heart, soul, anger, humor, not to mention juicy beats, mostly cooked up by Saba and his Pivot Gang cohort. As Saba tries to just live life, I think you'll find him enriching yours.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://store.vincestaples.com/products/ramona-park-broke-my-heart-exclusive-lp" target="_blank">Vince Staples - Ramona Park Broke My Heart</a> </b>While his last two projects didn't connect with me, in 2017 I <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-hip-hop-r-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">highlighted</a> Big Fish Theory for its "high tech" feel and Staples' "gritty and compelling" raps. Now, on his fifth album he's caught me again, although he's in a much more reflective mood. As the title hints, he's exploring his relationship to the Long Beach neighborhood that raised him. An example of the complexity and depth of his approach is When Sparks Fly, which uses Havoc's echoing beat from Mobb Deep's <a href="https://youtu.be/WteIKrshg64" target="_blank">More Trife Life</a> to provide atmosphere and drive for a love song between a man and his gun, playing with the many ways the language of romance can have a double meaning: "She said, "Baby, keep me closely, love it when you hold me/Know that I'm a real one, I don't do no ghostin'/I know that you love me, you don't gotta show me." Sampling the chorus from Lyves' yearning 2016 track <a href="https://youtu.be/3PsP3ITNNIU" target="_blank">No Love</a>, with its "Lovers in arms" line, is yet another clever feint, making the song sound even more romantic. Of course, there's a subtext about why a young Black man in Long Beach would need a gun. As a bit of of autobiography in the otherwise bloody Magic notes: "Momma met my daddy, then they had me in the ghetto/Handed me a thirty-eight and told me I was special." Touches like that are what makes these songs, and the album, so haunting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://billywoods.bandcamp.com/album/aethiopes" target="_blank">Billy Woods - Aethiopes</a> and <a href="https://billywoods.bandcamp.com/album/church" target="_blank">Church</a> </b>It's not uncommon for hip hop to come across as cinematic, the words making pictures in your mind that move with the music. Aethiopes, with a textured background by producer Preservation coming from a realm of deep knowledge of many musics of the African diaspora, comes across with the electric, intimate immediacy of an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutchman_(play)" target="_blank">Amiri Baraka play.</a> The Doldrums, for example, stitches together harpsichord stabs, Ralph Towner guitar fragments, throbbing drums, and brooding bass as Woods barks out a tapestry that links the slave trade with the drug trade, both of which can leave people stranded in the doldrums: "Thick mist, piff smoke, draw straws from clenched fists/Sinkin' ship, human souls in thе hull/He got the whole world in his hands, ice cold/Open them palms up, turned black as a ghost." Church features production from Messiah Musik and feels murkier and less coherent than Aethiopes, but still compelling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://elucid.bandcamp.com/album/i-told-bessie"><b>Elucid - I Told Bessie</b></a> Elucid is Billy Woods' partner in the long-running avant hip hop duo, Armand Hammer, and Woods appears on four songs and executive produced I Told Bessie. But as tribute to the love and support Elucid received from his grandmother, Bessie, who died in 2017, it's clearly very personal to him. The album is filled with languid, minimalist beats from a variety of producers, all of whom hew to Elucid's vision and give him space to spin his impressionistic rhymes. Impasse is one highlight, with Elucid interrogating his mortality over an off-kilter drum track and nocturnal horns: "Who will close the book, who ain't write my name down?/Who gon' hold the torch, what the cards say now?/Last good kiss, last call, the lights up/It's where the road splits, asphalt shakedown." With this album, Elucid has definitely written his name in the book of hip hop.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>R&B</b><br /><b><br /><a href="https://www.szasos.com/">SZA - SOS</a></b> In 2017, I praised SZA's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-hip-hop-r-and-reggae.html#.Y9fKsOzMI1I">"versatility and burgeoning mastery"</a> on her debut, CTRL. Five years and, by all accounts, hundreds of songs later, we get more of the former and evidence that the latter needs no qualifiers. Of course, versatility can become a liability when you have trouble recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, which leads to some longueurs on this 68-minute album. But for every miss, like the rote pop of F2F, you get three hits, like the delicious revenge fantasy, Kill Bill (complete with <a href="https://youtu.be/MSRcC626prw">Tarantino-esque video</a>), the yearning Nobody Gets Me, or Ghost In The Machine, which finds power in sisterhood with Phoebe Bridgers, who guests on the song. Hopefully next time she doesn't feel the need to be all things to all people - after all, as proven by the best songs here, she's already perfect at being herself.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://store.kehlani.com/products/blue-water-road-digital-album" target="_blank">Kehlani - Blue Water Road</a></b> While the first three tracks on this third album are in no way unpleasant, they feel unfocused, like a warmup. But when the rounded weight of the beat from Slick Rick's Children's Story drops on Wish I Never (one of a few well-deployed samples on the album) the momentum kicks in and doesn’t let up. Even Justin Bieber can’t interrupt the flow of song after song of sleek, emotionally engaged R&B. The ballads, like Melt, which starts off with little more than an acoustic guitar and a drum machine, have an urgency and a melodic inevitability that keeps you listening. When the burner is lit, Blue Water Road is a triumph for Kehlani and their main collaborator, Pop Wansel. The son of Philly Soul legend Dexter Wansel, Pop is in nobody’s shadow by now - and neither is Kehlani. </span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.phony-ppl.com/album?albumId=17" target="_blank">Phony Ppl - Euphonyus</a> </b>Over a decade into their career, it would be easy to take this Brooklyn-based R&B group for granted, but the fact is there aren't too many like them around anymore, such is the focus on solo acts in the genre. But that would all be immaterial were it not for the many varieties of charming tunes here, from upbeat electro-dance tracks like Dialtone and Warmest Winter, neo-disco like To Get Home (feat. Leon Bridges and The Soul Rebels, who lay down some nice horns), or a creamy ballad like Been Away, which rises to a glorious guitar-driven crescendo. Then there's Fkn Around, another electro track that airlifts Megan Thee Stallion in for a signature rap, complete with counterpoint, which only adds extra juice to the quintet's classic tales of infidelity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://yayabey.bandcamp.com/album/remember-your-north-star" target="_blank">Yaya Bey - Remember Your North Star</a> </b>Bey comes across as self-effacing, with those lower-case song titles and that sweet voice, which assays jazz, reggae, soul, R&B, and hip hop with equal ease, but don't be fooled. The first words we hear are "Fed up bitch/I just won't let up bitch/I take my foot up off your neck when I feel like bitch," which clues you in to her steely resolve to realize her music and express her feelings, which center around the "deep wound" Black women have around finding love and being loved. Self-produced with assists from Phony Ppl’s Aja Grant and DJ Nativesun, the music ranges over all those genres in which her voice feels so at home. With 18 songs from 16 seconds to 4:25, there's almost a sense of cracking the code of someone's iPhone and scrolling through their voice notes. The vocal sound on a song like Street Fighter Blues only reinforces that vibe. Intimate, vulnerable, and powerful, you won't soon forget Yaya Bey or her music.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://shop.transgressiverecords.com/browse/michelle/products/after-dinner-we-talk-dreams-limited-blue-lp" target="_blank">Michelle - After Dinner We Talk Dreams</a> </b>Having been lucky enough to catch this charming sextet <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html#.Y9J77-zMI1I" target="_blank">in concert</a> I am happy to report that everything you hear on this second album is real - the harmonies, the unity, the tunefulness, the grooves, the sheer delight they have in making music together, a feeling they seamlessly translate to the listener. It's also a remarkably consistent album so don't trust those Spotify play counts and only listen to the first four songs. Also give an ear to the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7t3CYSKXmlMDUMGwOhbOQ0?si=_cIp6nf8Q7aIqaS_YN75Bw" target="_blank">Side Dishes</a> single, which has two more great songs. There's a deep well here, so drink up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://stimulatorjones.bandcamp.com/album/round-spiritual-ring" target="_blank">Stimulator Jones - Round Spiritual Ring</a> </b>On his <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae_19.html#.Y86IuOzMI1I" target="_blank">debut</a> and subsequent <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/02/best-of-2021-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.Y86JFuzMI1I" target="_blank">instrumental album</a>, Sam Lunsford displayed his dazzling, somewhat off-center facility at many forms of R&B and dance music. On his latest, he gives us another mix of related styles, from hearkening back to Shannon's Let The Music Play on Pain Inside to paying homage to the mid-70s Isley Brothers on Love Will Light Your Dreams, complete with a smoking hot guitar solo. The album's dreamy trajectory gets goosed by the uptempo rock of Peace, Love, Respect & Adoration, connecting him with other traditions. And it is all about connection - the album title may have originated in a misheard Prince lyric but is a good metaphor for the interchange between creator and listener and between inspiration and creativity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://ladywray.bandcamp.com/album/piece-of-me" target="_blank">Lady Wray - Piece Of Me</a> </b>Twenty-four years on from her <a href="https://youtu.be/nLGnEJvtwHE" target="_blank">debut as a protege</a> of Missy Elliott and Timbaland, nearly everything about Nicole Wray has changed - not just her professional name. Her voice is stronger and her artistic vision more her own, just to name two things. Some of what you hear on this third album was evident on 2016's Queen Alone, when she reemerged in the soul-revival orbit of Leon Michels, Lee Fields, and Charles Bradley. But while she's still recognizably in that world, the sound of Piece Of Me injects much that is new - whether a folk-like directness on Come On In or hints of dub and lovers rock on Through It All - into what can quickly become formulaic. This is also her most personal album, with her father and daughter making appearances, lending even further warmth. Follow her lead: invite the family, then put this record on.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">REGGAE</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://onerpm.link/thekalling-album" target="_blank">Kabaka Pyramid - The Calling</a> </b>It took not only a 2023 Grammy nomination but an Instagram post from Damian Marley, who produced this third album, for this artist to gain traction in my eardrums. Granted, his output has been slow, with his debut coming over a decade ago. But this rich 15-song collection is a great showcase for his songwriting and toasting. Even if nearly every song has a guest, starting with the opening track, which features an effective sample of the late Peter Tosh, Kabaka is a commanding presence more than able to hold his own with anyone in contemporary reggae. Grateful is a great showcase of his rhythmic flexibility, with verses seamlessly transitioning from rapid fire flow to stop-start segments. The song has a sweet hook sung by Jamere Morgan, grandson of Denroy Morgan, too, lending an additional sense of legacy to the track. For anyone waiting for Damian Marley's next album - his last, the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-hip-hop-r-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">excellent</a> Stony Hill, came out in 2017 - this fills the gap very nicely.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gifted-Koffee/dp/B09RQHHPDK" target="_blank">Koffee - Gifted</a> </b>Nearly twice as long as her <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">fine 2019 EP</a>, Rapture, this gives us a chance to get to know Koffee's breezy, winning style better. Opening with X10, which has her casually singing over Bob Marley's Redemption Song, was a bold move, and many tracks have spare backing to keep the focus on her voice. Whether toasting intensely over Where I'm From or sweetly starting the party on West Indies, where she tosses in a hint of Lionel Richie's All Night Long, she's effortlessly versatile. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://horaceandyon-usound.bandcamp.com/album/rockers-scorchers" target="_blank">Horace Andy - Rockers & Scorchers</a> </b>One of reggae's most legendary voices, Andy released two albums in 2022, Midnight Rockers and Midnight Scorchers, both brilliantly produced by UK dub magus Adrian Sherwood. This deluxe edition compiles both of them with two bonus tracks, giving us a cup that runneth over with passionate roots reggae. Several songs are updates, like This Must Be Hell, originally on his classic 1978 album, Natty Dread A Weh She Want. But he sounds so engaged, you won't hear complaints from me. He also covers Safe From Harm, the Massive Attack song, in convincing enough fashion that I wonder why he didn't do it in the first place. With so many of the great voices now gone, having Andy nearly at full strength is a gift indeed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://dubokaj.bandcamp.com/album/daydreamflix" target="_blank">Dubokaj Meets Lee Scratch Perry - Daydreamflix</a> </b>With Perry's death in 2021, I was sure we would be inundated with subpar scraps from the master's workbench. Maybe they're out there - but this is not one of them. Recorded in 2017, Daydreamflix finds Perry working with Swiss-based dub scientist, Daniel Jakob, on a series of spacious, spacey dub tracks, heavy on the electronics and full of atmosphere. Jakob is not too reverent either, processing Perry's voice and treating it like just another color on his palette. A fitting addition to Perry's vast discography with the only mystery being why it took five years to reach fruition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://echobeachlifefidelity.bandcamp.com/album/dubmatix-meets-future-dub-orchestra-frontline-dub" target="_blank">Dubmatix Meets Future Dub Orchestra - Frontline Dub</a> </b>Smooth, expansive, and never without forward motion, this collaboration between the Toronto-based producer and the Bristol, UK band is an object lesson in dub, if not quite as titanic as the <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae_19.html#.Y8qdIezMI1I" target="_blank">Sly & Robbie connection from 2018</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Find more beats, rhymes, grooves, and rhythms in the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/67IDSIYBl0BuhU7H66kUG1?si=72c7043a04f94b30" target="_blank">2022 archived playlist</a> and <span>follow the </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7cAfWip3RgkfSd2T2tJItX?si=14b9f096783d4c3f" target="_blank">2023 playlist</a><span> to see what this year brings!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/02/best-of-2021-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2021: Hip Hop, RnB, and Reggae<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.Yh15OpPMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Hip Hop, RnB, and Reggae<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.XsBLS5NKg1I" target="_blank"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Best Of 2019: Hip Hop, RnB, and Reggae</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae_19.html#.XjYAphNKg1I" target="_blank"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Best Of 2018: Hip Hop, RnB and Reggae</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-hip-hop-r-and-reggae.html#.XjYBIBNKg1I" target="_blank"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Best Of 2017: Hip Hop, RnB and Reggae</span></a><br /><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-hip-hop-and-r.html#.XjYBVhNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2016: Hip Hop and RnB</a></span></span></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-4615325366289455042023-01-08T18:11:00.000-05:002023-01-08T18:11:49.444-05:00Best Of 2022: Electronic<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjuLNgg0v1EPqykO4PgrD-pfSzZKbfxckFjvJ0fGF9fCJ44g9LyiE6UnMvDRPTyR36BmVeShUIg5OJRj-od2eC3g5O5N9eecibRQF9dNonK13ou6Ye9ekiHTMTcB0E9J_j4S_OO-XD-silLvbzBOckqkqQChiQqSHP21XaEbYaAs_KLfKKw/s1800/IMG_0668.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1198" height="529" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjuLNgg0v1EPqykO4PgrD-pfSzZKbfxckFjvJ0fGF9fCJ44g9LyiE6UnMvDRPTyR36BmVeShUIg5OJRj-od2eC3g5O5N9eecibRQF9dNonK13ou6Ye9ekiHTMTcB0E9J_j4S_OO-XD-silLvbzBOckqkqQChiQqSHP21XaEbYaAs_KLfKKw/w352-h529/IMG_0668.JPG" width="352" /></a></div></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div>My interest in this genre leans closer to soundscapes that create an imaginary environment or persona rather than the more popular beat-driven expressions. But there are still a few jams to be had here, where songs emerge out of the synth-based constructions. At the top are previously covered releases followed by pocket reviews of other things that caught my ear and demanded repeat listening. Get the flavor of each album in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WBlITyt8FVw2GzeMeh5gt?si=c9f11b7f83b3453d" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below. </span><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6WBlITyt8FVw2GzeMeh5gt?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: 22 For 22 (Part 1)</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://carlosnino.bandcamp.com/album/carlos-ni-o-friends-live-at-commend-nyc" target="_blank">Carlos Nino & Friends - Live At Commend, NYC</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times" target="_blank">The Living Earth Show and Danny Clay - Music For Hard Times</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://boomkat.com/products/the-long-count-16d8c6ef-30e1-4e6f-80fa-6957fd643e18" target="_blank">Debit - The Long Count</a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Best Of 2022 (So Far)</span><br /></a></b><b><a href="https://bakudi-scream.bandcamp.com/album/final-skin" target="_blank">Bakudi Scream - Final Skin</a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-1.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Autumn Flood (Pt. 1)</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/the-other-forgotten-letters-2" target="_blank">Stephen Vitiello and Bill Seaman - The Other Forgotten Letters</a> </b><span>Note: also see his <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6PB8EZDE4r5UbFG1W6wYzo?si=lZTLXPKPRd-ONTbL1wEBcg" target="_blank">collaboration with ex-Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty</a> and his gorgeous entry in the Longform series, <a href="https://longformeditions.bandcamp.com/track/prelude-0000" target="_blank">Prelude (00:00)</a><br /></span><b><a href="https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/album/of-no-such-place" target="_blank">Seabuckthorn - Of No Such Place</a><br /></b><a href="https://mollyjoyce.bandcamp.com/album/perspective" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Molly Joyce - Perspective</a><br /><a href="https://corntuth.bandcamp.com/album/letters-to-my-robot-son-2" target="_blank"><b>Corntuth - Letters To My Robot Son</b></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-2.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Autumn Flood (Pt. 2)</span></a></b></div><div><b><a href="https://narducci.bandcamp.com/album/darkness-to-light" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Narducci - Darkness To Light</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://benseretan.bandcamp.com/album/sandhills-music" target="_blank">Ben Seretan - Sandhills Music</a> </b>As he proved on 2021's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/best-of-2021-top-25.html" target="_blank">wonderfully immersive</a> Cicada Waves, singer/songwriter/guitarist Seretan also has a gift for putting a structure around the sounds of nature by combining them with electronics. Ambient music, then, and worthy of the legacy of Brian Eno's Ambient 4: On Land. Whether viewed as landscapes in sound or travels in the mind, these pieces, recorded both in Sanford, NC and Troy, NY, have a way of redefining the space around you.</span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><b><a href="https://nickstorring.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-w-i" target="_blank">Nick Storring - Music from Wéi 成为</a> </b>Made up of layers of piano sounds (both from an old upright and a computer-controlled Yamaha Disklavier), Storring's latest album is marvelously evocative. Nearly symphonic in scope, each emotionally-driven track leads to the next with a steady inevitability. The level of invention in Storring's approach is quietly astonishing, with plucking, preparations, E-bow, and other techniques deployed with remarkable assurance - never more so than in movement VI, when things really take off! The Chinese characters in the title relate to the verb "to become" so maybe that's a clue to the story being told, but any interpretation that meshes with your life is valid and may change over time. Either way, it's an album that has continued to reveal itself over many listens - compelling stuff, indeed. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/214ZQMboaHOUVa2hUXva70?si=RO0pv8jkQWeGJGfiY5elqw" target="_blank">Amanda Berlind - Mousemilk</a> </b>As on her <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-2021-new-year-new-music.html#.Yfh861jMI1I" target="_blank">delightful debut</a>, 2021's Green Cone, this EP often combines hazy atmospherics with off-kilter rhythms, for an experience not unlike standing between rooms playing different radios - but it works. The longest track, Wand, is 13 languorous minutes of piano, guitar, wordless vocals, and reverb, perfect for staring at the rain or the inside of your eyelids. While this is only available on streaming services (including <a href="https://youtu.be/iJFlNMvwyUA" target="_blank">YouTube</a>) it seems it may be forthcoming as a cassette, which would be the perfect medium for these rich but low-fi audio collages. Berlind is also a witty and wonderful visual artist so be sure to keep up with her on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/amanda.berlind/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://sofiebirch.bandcamp.com/album/holotropica" target="_blank"><b>Sophie Birch - Holotropica</b></a> There is a lush, almost humid, enveloping quality to Birch's work here, created with electronics and occasional sax, flute, and harp, that connects it to those "rainforest" cassettes you used to find in crunchy stores in the 70s. But that reference does little to reveal how musically astute Birch is as a composer and sonic sculptor. Birch, who hails from Denmark, also collaborated with Polish vocalist Antonina Nowacka on <a href="https://unsoundfestival.bandcamp.com/album/languoria" target="_blank">Languouria</a>, which has a bit more forward motion than Holotropica on some tracks and features the voice as another instrument, sometimes soothing, sometimes startling, always wordless and expressive.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anewagefornewage.bandcamp.com/album/a-new-age-for-new-age-vol-5" target="_blank">Various Artists - A New Age For New Age, Vol. 5</a> </b>Launched in 2019, this series has become a durable fixture on the electronic scene, with each volume having something to offer. Expanding their brief, they collaborated with the University of Michigan's Modern Percussion Lab to have students create the eight tracks featured here. From Paul Puleo's Non-Frontation, which opens the album with Harry Partch-like resonating percussion, to the space-station corridors of Chris Sies' Radiant Streams, the collection is compelling and fresh throughout - yet another new age for new age!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://kaitlynaureliasmith.bandcamp.com/album/i-could-be-your-dog-i-could-be-your-moon" target="_blank">Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Emile Mosseri - I Could Be Your Dog/I Could Be Your Moon</a> </b>I seem to have lost track of Smith since I noted the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-electronic_7.html" target="_blank">"rich and rewarding" experience</a> of her album, The Kid, in 2017. But this collaboration with Emile Mosseri, a composer known for soundtracks for such excellent movies as Kajillionaire and Minari, caught my attention quickly. A two-part collection that feels like a story, the first few songs seem to transit us gently through the clouds, as if on a butterfly’s back, and when we finally touch down during the sun-kissed groove of Shim Sham, it’s a marvelous sensation. Smith's latest solo album, <a href="https://kaitlynaureliasmith.bandcamp.com/album/lets-turn-it-into-sound" target="_blank"><b>Let's Turn It Into Sound</b></a>, also has a sense of narrative, if in a more oblique way. A venture into near hyper-pop, it's full bright textures and sunny moods. Dazzling and entertaining in equal measure.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://yeule.bandcamp.com/album/glitch-princess" target="_blank">Yeule - Glitch Princess</a> </b>Opening with a haunting and halting spoken word piece that seems to come over a fraying ethernet cable, this remarkably assured debut introduces us to Nat Ćmiel, a creature of the internet who is looking for love, acceptance, and community. Or is Yuele the creation? In their bio, Ćmiel calls Yeule "a portal or riff" created to "communicate their art to the outside world..." The mind-bending conceptual underpinning only adds a kick to the album. The songs are indeed glitchy, and very artfully so, conveying nuanced emotions and fractured melodies. And when they go full pop on Bites On My Neck, it's wonderfully celebratory and conjures a vision of Bowie's Earthling-era self dancing in the wings. It's an immersive album, like a trip to the metaverse without a headset, and the digital and streaming versions end with a nearly five-hour bath of dreamy ambiance, the perfect way to process everything that's come before. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://clairerousay.bandcamp.com/album/everything-perfect-is-already-here" target="_blank">Claire Rousay - Everything Perfect Is Already Here</a> </b>Rousay is prolific enough that it almost seems as if the steady flow of albums and EPs may be acting as some sort of diary for her. There certainly is a lived-in quality to the the two 15-minute pieces that make up this album, which not so much creates an environment but <i>comes</i> from one, and a Cageian dwelling at that. It feels like entering a sprawling apartment filled with musicians, but as pure consciousness, allowing you to hear all sound as music and all music as sound, without making any noises of your own. Joined by Alex Cunningham (violin), Mari Maurice (electronics, violin), Marilu Donovan (harp), and Theodore Cale Schafer (piano), Rousay maps out a place of memories you never had or haven't had yet. Captivating, witty, and utterly unique.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://dawnrichard.bandcamp.com/album/pigments" target="_blank">Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn - Pigments</a> </b>As much as I wanted to love 2021's Second Line, Richard's sixth album since making her name as a member of Danity Kane, the intrigue created by her trajectory from pop star to indie artist was not enough to counter the frequent nods to convention on the record. But there was the kernel of something that made me keep trying, an effort that was finally rewarded by this spacious, drifting collaboration with Zahn. While Zahn's bass, vibes, and keyboards underpin everything, the mix also includes guitar, strings, sax and flute, with the clarinets and bass clarinets of Stuart Bogie and Doug Wieselman are nearly as prominent as Richard's strong yet diaphanous vocals, creating a blend of jazz, chamber, and electronic musics. Zahn has also been busy on his own and I'm looking forward to delving into his solo work, including <a href="https://spencerzahn.bandcamp.com/album/pale-horizon" target="_blank"><b>Pale Horizon</b></a>, a delicate series of pieces for bass and piano with some of Vince Guaraldi's wistfulness, which came out in May 2022.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://snowdrops.bandcamp.com/album/missing-island-2" target="_blank">Snowdrops - Missing Island</a> </b>Featuring Christine Ott on Ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument, harmonium, and piano, Mathieu Gabry on piano and electronics, and Anne-Irène Kempf on viola, this album continues the marvelous thread from 2020's <a href="https://snowdrops.bandcamp.com/album/volutes" target="_blank">Volutes</a> more so than the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/02/best-of-2021-electronic.html#.Y7s1MuzMI1I" target="_blank">darker and occasionally explosive</a> Inner Fires from last year. Over 41 minutes, the players build up velvety layers of sound, creating a space for reflection just structured enough to avoid collapsing under its own weight. I note that this was recorded in 2020 - what more wonders does their seemingly bottomless archive hold? I can't wait to find out!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5sYtJrQczrv04aP7St9SXk?si=ZxHf80B_RqGge3zzUgdRcA" target="_blank">Finneas O'Connell - The Fallout OST</a> </b>From his work with his sister, Billie Eilish, you could guess that O'Connell understands how to create drama and emotion out of minimal gestures, which he does throughout this elegantly melancholy score for the 2021 film about the aftermath of a school shooting. With treated piano leading the way, you can hear echoes of the late, great Jóhann Jóhannsson, which is not bad company to be in on your first outing as a soundtrack composer. There are also a few sweetly hymn-like songs sung by Maisy Stella with and without her sister Lennon. While his own pop music is hamstrung by his all-too-obvious lyrics and all-too-anthemic choruses, this would seem to be a worthy direction for him when he's not producing the next blockbuster for Eilish. <br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Transport yourself further into these realms in this <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pEAxwUIFDQWh7UeN2A7PL?si=097dd401b23746c0" target="_blank">archive playlist</a> and keep up with 2023's excursions <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1uyjwdSsyZIrGyJmWavU5N?si=cda4f80e930448cd" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy: <br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/02/best-of-2021-electronic.html#.Y7s9UOzMKt9" target="_blank">Best Of 2021: Electronic<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-electronic.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-electronic_31.html#.XrbcrpNKg1I">Best of 2019: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-electronic_7.html#.XrbcKJNKg1J">Best of 2018: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-electronic_7.html#.XrbcKJNKg1J">Best of 2017: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-electronic.html#.XrbchZNKg1J">Best of 2016: Electronic</a></span></div></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-64771727005062107652023-01-02T14:15:00.000-05:002023-01-02T14:15:28.009-05:00Best Of 2022: Classical<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6CgXfn-vdoKc67NIwM5kOxAhUtBArFl69-hJIPP6tJVetVXHzafC5yNkRZjJ9iS61JMFiKIOvq8kgQsiVhtjBUWm5s2KCzlFAw3ORLGRFjS-0Dq8qbz013BrHZaMqG7aQAPyPuDgZj87rU8JTc5nkZ8uXlcMY1I0aLqQVITtjOXqddVzjwA/s1800/Best%20of%2022%20Classical.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1198" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6CgXfn-vdoKc67NIwM5kOxAhUtBArFl69-hJIPP6tJVetVXHzafC5yNkRZjJ9iS61JMFiKIOvq8kgQsiVhtjBUWm5s2KCzlFAw3ORLGRFjS-0Dq8qbz013BrHZaMqG7aQAPyPuDgZj87rU8JTc5nkZ8uXlcMY1I0aLqQVITtjOXqddVzjwA/w349-h524/Best%20of%2022%20Classical.jpg" width="349" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Even with the constant onrush of mostly negligible repertory recordings from the major labels, the new music scene continues to be one of the most fertile in music today, filled with endless innovations in structure and sound. Here's a scratch of the surface - or, more appropriately, a sip of the cream, starting with things I've already written about.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hear a track from each of these in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2r3HNVzoIoFrcNPY4RNImh?si=854a6bf531244d70" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below, excepting those noted that are on Bandcamp only - I urge you to follow up and give those a listen, too.</span></p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2r3HNVzoIoFrcNPY4RNImh?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.Y62q5OzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: 22 For 22 (Part 1)</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/when-dark-sounds-collide-new-music-for-percussion-and-piano" target="_blank">Pathos Trio - When Dark Sounds Collide</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/missing-words" target="_blank">Eric Nathan - Missing Words</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html#.Y62rrezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Best Of 2022 (So Far)</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://www.sarahplum.com/contact-10" target="_blank">Sarah Plum - Personal Noise</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/enfolding" target="_blank">String Orchestra Of Brooklyn - Enfolding</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/08/record-roundup-envelope-pushers.html#.Y62sROzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Envelope Pushers</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://triptickstapes.bandcamp.com/album/dread-sea" target="_blank">Ted Reichman - Dread Sea</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://www.greyfade.com/releases/newprimes" target="_blank">Greg Davis - New Primes</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://joshmodney.bandcamp.com/album/near-to-each" target="_blank">Josh Modney - Near To Each</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/assemblage-chamber" target="_blank">Steven Ricks - Assemblage Chamber</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://kuyin.bandcamp.com/album/four-strings" target="_blank">Maya Bennardo - Four Strings</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/09/record-roundup-evocative-voices.html#.Y62tI-zMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Evocative Voices</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6449/" target="_blank">The Crossing - Born</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://www.carlossimonmusic.com/album/requiem-for-the-enslaved" target="_blank">Carlos Simon - Requiem For The Enslaved</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-understanding-of-all-things" target="_blank">Kate Soper Feat. Sam Pluta - The Understanding Of All Things</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/loadbang-quiver" target="_blank">Loadbang - Quiver</a><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/record-roundup-songcraft.html#.Y7Ck0uzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Songcraft</span></a><br /></b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/29261859/143381895237926888#"><b>Michael Hersch - The Script Of Storms</b></a> <i>Also note reissues of <a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-wreckage-of-flowers" target="_blank">The Wreckage Of Flowers</a> and <a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-vanishing-pavilions" target="_blank">The Vanishing Pavilions</a>, music for violin (Miranda Cuckson) and piano (Hersch), respectively.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-1.html#.Y7CmAezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Autumn Flood, Pt. 1</span><br /></a></b><b><a href="https://johnlutheradams.bandcamp.com/album/sila-the-breath-of-the-world" target="_blank">John Luther Adams - Sila: The Breath Of The World</a> <br /></b><a href="https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0022008kai" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Anthony Cheung - Music For Film, Sculpture, And Captions</a><br /><b><a href="https://www.highresaudio.com/en/album/view/mtmu4d/julian-brink-various-artists-julian-brink-utility-music" target="_blank">Julian Brink - Utility Music</a><br /></b><a href="https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0022000kai" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Andrew McIntosh - Little Jimmy</a><br /><b><a href="https://gregstuart.bandcamp.com/album/subtractions" target="_blank">Greg Stuart - Subtractions</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-2.html#.Y7CmhezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Autumn Flood, Pt. 2</span><br /></a></b><a href="https://www.newworldrecords.org/products/i-a-m-artist-mother-project-new-works-for-violin-and-electronics" target="_blank"><b>Olivia De Prato - I, A.M. - Artist Mother Project: New Works For Violin And Electronics</b></a><br /><br /><a href="https://bridgerecords.com/products/9554" target="_blank"><b>Steven Beck - George Walker: Five Piano Sonatas </b></a>If you’re looking for an advocate for some underperformed and under-recorded piano music, there couldn’t be a better choice than Beck. Having seen him apply his monster technique and deep engagement a number of times with the Talea Ensemble, including a memorable tribute to Fred Lerdahl, I knew I would be hearing these works at their best. Walker, who died at 96 in 2018, has been called the “great American composer you never heard of” - although some of that obscurity was lifted when he became the first Black composer to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1996. Even so, these five sonatas were new to me, and they show an impressive range and growth over the years. From the First Sonata (1953), which puts him solidly in the American tradition with its variations on the Kentucky folk tune “O Bury Me Beneath the Willow," while still hewing to a fairly traditional sonata form, to the five-minute, one-movement Fifth Sonata (2003), which explores a fascinatingly attenuated harmonic realm that seems purely his own, Walker's grasp of the form is equal to anyone's. If you want more Walker - and I think you will - look no further than the Cleveland Orchestra's <a href="https://www.clevelandorchestrastore.com/products/george-walker-cd" target="_blank">spectacular collection</a> of his orchestral works. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/through-broken-time" target="_blank">Jennifer Grim - Through Broken Time</a> </b>Grim not only has a great technique, whether in music of exquisite lyricism, like Tania León's Alma (2009), which opens this superb album, or of an advanced architecture, such as Julia Wolfe's Oxygen, for 12 Flutes (2021), but her curatorial acumen is equally sharp. Putting crucial recent works by Valerie Coleman and Alison Loggins-Hull alongside an Alvin Singleton piece from 1970 lends context to her selections, which the liner notes describe as being at the intersection of post-minimalism and Afro-modernism. Through Broken Time was recorded and released in 2022, which is not as common as you would think in the new music world - but it is just that urgent a collection, and one that will be looked back upon as a landmark in the future. Grim did not hesitate to get this music to us, do not hesitate to listen ASAP.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://platoon.vip/stealth-player/johannes-moser/johannes-moser-alone-together/d3822106" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Johannes Moser - Alone Together</a> I admit it - I'm terrible. So terrible, in fact, that I made a playlist with only the six newly-commissioned works on this album. I just don't need my experience of brilliant new pieces by Christopher Cerrone, Ellen Reid, Timo Andres, Annie Gosfield, Ted Hearne, and Nina Young diluted by Grieg, Barber, and others, even if they're in "octophonic arrangements." Also, that <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1QzJWLrfbx2rQXWI0Oopif?si=118e8a69622f42e3" target="_blank">playlist</a> is 42-minutes long, just the right length for an album. The new pieces range from the dramatic (Reid's Somewhere There Is Something Else) to the songful (Andres' Ogee), with Hearne's Lobby Music unsurprisingly taking the cake as far as innovation goes. Blending Moser's hypnotic cello with electronic beats, voices from recent events, and electronics, Hearne somehow avoids being gimmicky through sheer force of will. Any fans of his <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-classical.html#.XwDDU5NKg1I" target="_blank">masterpiece</a>, Place, will know what I'm talking about. Cerrone's more quietly futuristic Exhalation makes the most of Moser's multi-tracking skills, with an electronic shimmer behind searching melodic lines and pizzicato sections. Moser has the skills and taste to be an important force for new cello music, perhaps he'll do so without apology next time around.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://cerrone.bandcamp.com/album/the-air-suspended" target="_blank">Christopher Cerrone - The Air Suspended</a> </b>While Moser's album in original form was too long, this tantalizing EP of recent pieces by Cerrone is all too brief at 22 minutes. The title piece (2019) is a commanding three-movement piano concerto, whose power belies its minimal forces, with only the Argus String Quartet and bassist Pat Swoboda backing up Shai Wosner, for whom the piece was written. Conceived for the close, sculptured acoustic of a recording, I can imagine it being thrilling in a concert hall as well. Also included is Why Was I Born Between Mirrors?, performed here by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, who premiered it in 2019. The recording is a true product of the pandemic-era, however, with sessions taking place in six cities across two continents. But no matter, the final result is a deeply absorbing piece, with a narrative thrust that hints at the inspiration Cerrone took from Ben Lerner's Leaving The Atocha Station. The tale of how Cerrone improvised his way into the piece, locking flower-pot percussion jams onto a digital grid and then building from there, is nearly as gripping as the music. The Air Suspended may be short, but it packs an outsized punch.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-brink" target="_blank">Bergamot Quartet - In The Brink</a> </b>This excellent debut puts the Bergamot right into the mix of our most exciting string quartets with four debut recordings. While Paul Wiancko's bustling Ode On A Broken Loom (2019) and Suzanne Ferrin's wobbly Undecim (2006) are both captivating, it's the works by Tania León and Ledah Finck (also the group's violinist) that kick their repertoire into the next level. León's Esencia (2009) is jam-packed with expertly deployed rhythms from Caribbean and Latin American traditions, both a warm embrace of her roots and a dazzling display of compositional acuity. Finck's title track (2019) takes things to a continent of her own imaginings, adding a drum set (Terry Sweeney) and shouted vocals by the quartet for a wild, spiky ride. My radar is firmly set for more, both from the Bergamot and Finck. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://cenkergun.bandcamp.com/album/inseln" target="_blank">Cenk Ergun - Inseln</a> </b>Even with 12 layers of countertenor Rupert Enticknap's voice, this sublime work always feels like one person and profoundly individualistic. The end result is an emotionally driven equation that somehow multiplies Medieval monophony by Ligeti's Lux Aeterna to arrive somewhere new. Originally a sound installation at Berlin's Zionskirche, the digital release also includes a recording made there, which is full of atmospheric externalities in addition to the space's unique resonances. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://johnlutheradams-coldblue.bandcamp.com/album/houses-of-the-wind" target="_blank">John Luther Adams - Houses Of The Wind</a> </b>Consisting of five tracks that manipulate the same recording of an aeolian (wind-driven) harp, this album aligns more explicitly with ambient music than most of Adams' work - which is only to say that it is even more deeply peaceful and meditative. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://aaronmyersbrooks.bandcamp.com/album/oblique" target="_blank"><b>Aaron Myers-Brooks - Oblique</b></a> The Eleventh and 6th Caves, a track that naturally extends Eddie Van Halen's virtuosic rock into microtonal realms, opens this album for guitar and electronics like a fanfare welcoming you into Myers-Brooks' unique world. Using a guitar tuned to 17 equal divisions of the octave (17 EDO) frees him to explore unusual harmonies, which he expresses through a phenomenal technique that is equally at home with delicate harmonics and lethal shredding. Triads and Arpeggios, which is for electronics only, reveals further characteristics of his compositional interests away from the guitar - colorful, dense, teeming with ideas, like a little island filled with evolutionary anomalies. Set sail.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="AGS - Lab Rat" target="_blank"><b>AGS - Lab Rat</b></a> Ever since getting hooked on Scott L. Miller's work due to the Tak Ensemble's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-classical.html#.YRA8dNNKg1I" target="_blank">excellent recording</a> of his Ghost Layers, I have eagerly awaited transmissions from his universe. Just as with <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/08/record-roundup-enigmas-and-excitations.html" target="_blank">last year's collaboration</a> with Rarescale, that anticipation has been repaid with interest by this latest release. AGS is the trio of Alexander Kranabetter (trumpet, electronics), Gloria Damijian (toy piano, percussion), and Miller (<a href="https://kyma.symbolicsound.com/" target="_blank">Kyma</a>, electronics), a group formed initially for an improvised set at December 2020's Alte Schmiede Vienna festival. The experience was compelling enough that they put in some time in a studio and also recorded telematically to arrive here. Good thing, too, as the album delivers both kicky fun and otherworldly atmospherics for an absorbing listen. High risk/reward ratio for both players and listeners! </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://dinzuartefacts.bandcamp.com/album/a-butterfly-on-your-shoulder-into-years-and-years-to-come" target="_blank">andPlay & Victoria Cheah - A Butterfly On Your Shoulder Into Years And Years To Come</a> </b>This collaboration between the violin/viola duo of Maya Bennardo and Hannah Levinson and composer/synthesist Cheah could almost be a sequel to her piece on Concrete And Void, last year's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html" target="_blank">stunning debut</a> by Wavefield Ensemble. Cheah's strength of musical vision integrates the strings and electronics into a single, tensely purposeful unit, occasionally shading into spectralism with long, gradually ascending lines. Bummed that the cassette sold out but so glad I eventually caught up with these intriguing soundscapes. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia" target="_blank">Eren Gümrükçüoglu - Pareidolia</a> </b>The title refers to the phenomenon of seeing shapes in randomness, like picking an elephant out of a cloudscape. But "peripatetic" could have worked just as well, so well-traveled through various realms is this Turkish-born, Florida-based composer and performer. And it's not just geographical, as his jazz guitar roots, engineering skills, and experiences creating soundtracks for television all inform his compositional approach. This debut portrait album features five recent compositions performed by the likes of Conrad Tao, the JACK Quartet, the Mivos Quartet, Ensemble Suono Giallo, and the Deviant Septet, bookended by two electronic pieces, for a 360-degree view of his stylish, entertaining, open-hearted music. Seen strictly as a calling card, Pareidolia should have students flooding his composition classes at FSU.</span><div><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/immensity-of" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/immensity-of" target="_blank">Departure Duo - Immensity Of</a> </b>The duo of soprano and double bass shouldn't really work. But apparently György Kurtág thought enough of the idea to compose Einige Sätze aus den Sudelbüchern Georg Christoph Lichtenbergs, based on the scrapbooks of an obscure 18th century physicist, for such an ensemble. Taking that witty 1999 piece as a jumping off point, Nina Guo and Edward Kass went all in and commissioned three other works, leading to this delightful collection. The Kurtág consists of 22 very short vignettes that foreground Lichtenbergs' quirky pronouncements (example: "The one who is in love with himself has at least the advantage that he won't encounter many rivals."), almost like character studies of whomever would deign to write such things down. The duo alternates reading English translations of each one, which interrupts the flow a little, but their voices are so nice I don't really mind. The album opens with Katherine Balch's four-movement Phrases (2017), which pull and push poems by Arthur Rimbaud like textual silly putty, giving Guo a lot to play with as Kass' bass pulses in the background. The three movements of John Aylward's Tiergarten (2018) feel more like a duet between the players and also inject some tone-painting into three Rilke poems about animals freighted with mythical resonances, the swan, the panther, and the unicorn. The final work, Emily Praetorius' Immensity Of (2019), plays with one line of text from Daphne Oram, abstracting it with whistles and single notes as the bass searches for resolution and connection. While everything about this rara avis album could seem quite, well, serious, Guo and Kass have a lightness of approach (see the photos in the booklet for further proof of this), not too mention complete command over their instruments, making listening a pure pleasure. More commissions are in the offing and I say bring. them. on.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://nyfosrecords.limitedrun.com/products/733420-a-picnic-cantata" target="_blank">Paul Bowles - A Picnic Cantata</a> </b>Those who associate Bowles only with his forbidding novel, The Sheltering Sky, must have missed the EOS Ensemble's <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Music-Paul-Bowles/dp/B00004SUS7" target="_blank">wonderful recording</a> of his music back in 1997. While there is a sense of promise unfulfilled by those colorful works, he definitely had something to say as a composer, with his globe-trotting ways having an influence, whether through French impressionism or the markets of Morocco. And now the New York Festival of Song has given us a sparkling gift in the first stereo recording of this brief theater piece, a collaboration with poet James Schuyler, which was performed at New York's Town Hall in 1953 and released by Columbia in 1954 on an LP with Francis Poulenc's Sonata For Two Pianos. I can guarantee you that if I had ever seen <a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/1195917-Paul-Bowles-Francis-Poulenc-Gold-and-Fizdale-A-Picnic-Cantata-Sonata-For-Two-Pianos" target="_blank">this</a> in a thrift store, I would have known about this piece years ago. No matter - I'm just grateful to NYFOS for finally putting this out!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/carols-after-a-plague" target="_blank">The Crossing - Carols After A Plague</a> </b>It can be hard to keep up with this pathbreaking choir, but the effort will always be rewarded, a sentiment that was never truer than with this epic collection of 12 new works by composers such as Tyshawn Sorey, Shara Nova, and Viet Cuong. As the title hints, everything is organized around themes from the recent pandemic era, whether the terrors wrought by the new virus, or the rage and sorrow brought on by police killings and a divided country. Everything is done in a spirit of compassion, empathy, and sincerity, however, so it never feels like pandering. The composers and choir are all in the same boat with us, consoling rather than preaching. Interludes composed by Crossing director and conductor Donald Nally lend the nearly 90-minute album a cinematic sweep. It's hard to think of a better album with which to draw a line between 2022 and 2023. May the coming months bring different things to sing about.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Find more classical and composed goodness in this <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ecA4lFUfNKV8bPY2SFYtj?si=1f5c8e5b666b4ec8" target="_blank">archive playlist</a> and make sure to follow <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ecA4lFUfNKV8bPY2SFYtj?si=9f60eb646103478d" target="_blank">this one</a> to see what 2023 brings. For a different view of this arena, check out my playlist of <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3CvQQmbiUSHUB9WK7EY48j?si=9e7ae870aa2a4aa9" target="_blank">Classical Grammy Nominations 2023</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/01/best-of-2021-classical.html#.Y7L9POzMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2021: Classical</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/12/best-of-2020-classical.html#.YfW_DVjMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/01/best-of-2019-classical.html#.X-Ox_elKg1I">Best Of 2019: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/12/best-of-2018-classical_31.html#.X-OxyulKg1I">Best Of 2018: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/best-of-2017-classical.html#.X-OxqulKg1I">Best Of 17: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/01/best-of-2016-classical_8.html#.X-OxfelKg1I">Best Of 16: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/12/best-of-15-classical-composed.html#.X-OxSulKg1I">Best Of 15: Classical & Composed</a><br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/01/best-of-rest-of-14-classical-composed.html#.X-OxIOlKg1I">Best Of The Rest Of 14: Classical & Composed</a></span></div><div><br /><br /></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-4715118831874842262022-12-23T14:47:00.001-05:002022-12-23T14:47:23.986-05:00Best Of 2022: The Top 25<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_A8F_t9RnxBKodYEfqdfLLJhTufMN3HrNVl1YBtXlEf0D-jGo-NGxcUhkgV0P_uiHvrFu-enMzl6M_EcFdEktExPIIhAubJEKEua0PDQWnWwi2OsD3t1vOpjXRnvVbS94cOUuDzdgGD2_XU81brATFVn4LVZKUMmiHt9Xi_SOsWiHWCAJQ/s1800/Best%20Of%202022%20Top%2025.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1198" height="511" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_A8F_t9RnxBKodYEfqdfLLJhTufMN3HrNVl1YBtXlEf0D-jGo-NGxcUhkgV0P_uiHvrFu-enMzl6M_EcFdEktExPIIhAubJEKEua0PDQWnWwi2OsD3t1vOpjXRnvVbS94cOUuDzdgGD2_XU81brATFVn4LVZKUMmiHt9Xi_SOsWiHWCAJQ/w340-h511/Best%20Of%202022%20Top%2025.jpg" width="340" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another tumultuous year on the world stage, another triumphant year for musicians, who battled seeming impossibilities to deliver an embarrassment of riches to my ears and my life. The first half of the year was </span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html#.Y6XvjezMI1I" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">so strong</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> that it was a challenge to hone things down to incorporate the albums that came on </span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/12/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-3.html" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">like a flood </a><span style="font-family: helvetica;">in the second half. None of the albums that didn't make the transition from the July list will be forgotten, however - keep an eye on this space for the genre-specific lists to come. And while I agree to a certain extent with those who have said "genre is over," I still believe that you can group albums in a way that allows you to quickly find the experience that most closely matches your taste or mood. As always, this list combines all genres, at least in theory. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Conspicuous by its absence is hip hop, which has been represented on every "Top" list since 2010. Up until almost the last minute, Pusha T's remarkable It's Almost Dry was a lock for the top 10 but when the rubber hit the road it did not sit well with me to so elevate a record with Kanye West as a featured performer. Irrational as it might seem, if he had just lent his still brilliant production talents to the album I think I could have gone with it. But his continuing hateful idiocy along with recent revelations about praise for Hitler going back a decade or more just made it a bridge too far. So apologies to Pusha, who definitely helmed the hip hop album of the year - watch for it on a future list. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Since I've already written about all of these albums but one, click through to find the original posts - and also press play on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1EjwNfHFubu5qPKPKpIOWz?si=d3dce2ef76304afa&pt=128073cf9b27da3dc4feda14af547a23" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below to listen while you read. Numbers 12 and 17 are only available on Bandcamp but I assure you they are worth the micron of effort it will take to hear them. </span></p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/1EjwNfHFubu5qPKPKpIOWz?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/08/record-roundup-envelope-pushers.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>1. Florist - Florist</b> </span></a></p><p><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">2. Angel Olsen - Big Time</span></a></b></p><div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YroLTuzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3. Wet Leg - Wet Leg</span></a></b></div></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank">4. Hollie Cook - Happy Hour</a> </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-2.html" target="_blank">5. Nev Cottee - Madrid</a></b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YroLTuzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">6. Mattiel - Georgia Gothic</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/08/record-roundup-envelope-pushers.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">7. Congregation Of Drones - Twenty Twenty</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank"><b>8. </b><b>Horsegirl - Versions Of Modern Performance</b></a> </span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">9. Christopher Trapani - Horizontal Drift</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/12/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-3.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">10. Matt Evans - Saprotrophia</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YroLTuzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">11. Empath - Visitor</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.YroLkezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">12. Laura Cocks - Field Anatomies</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank">13. Jascha Narveson - Flash Crash + Remixes</a> </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-2.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">14. Aoife Nessa Frances - Protector</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">15. Tomberlin - I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This... </span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">16. Revelators Sound System - Revelators</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.YroLkezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">17. Weston Olencki - Old Time Music</span></a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html" target="_blank">18. Wilco - Cruel Country</a> </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-1.html" target="_blank">19. Brian Eno - FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE</a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/12/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-3.html" target="_blank">20. Warhaus - Ha Ha Heartbreak</a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/12/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-3.html" target="_blank">21. Arctic Monkeys - The Car </a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://palmnewyork.bandcamp.com/album/nicks-and-grazes" target="_blank">22. Palm - Nicks And Grazes</a> </b>It's been an eventful four years since Rock Island, their <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/12/best-of-2018-top-25.html" target="_blank">genius</a> sophomore album, with forces both within and without putting immense pressure on the quartet </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">of Eve Alpert, Hugo Stanley, Gerasimos Livitsanos, and Kasra Kurt. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But rather than giving up, they took the opportunity to both hone and explode their sound, with instant Palm classics like Parable Lickers (those rhythms! the electro-steel drums!) sitting alongside the mostly washy Away Kit and almost pure expressions of musique concrete like Suffer Dragon, which itself resolves into a sentimental chord sequence out of a Miyazaki film. Ultimately, Palm's greatest strength may be in converting the outer edges of avant garde sound-making - including both digital and physical manipulation of their instruments - into actual </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">songs </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">that deliver pop satisfaction once you've absorbed all their twists and turns.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> One of our </span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/02/moment-of-palm_13.html" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">great live bands,</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> too - hope to seem them again in 2023!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/12/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-3.html" target="_blank">23. Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork</a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/record-roundup-songcraft.html" target="_blank">24. Julia Jacklin - Pre Pleasure</a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/12/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-3.html" target="_blank">25. Dazy - OUTOFBODY</a></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Let me know if any of these brought you joy!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From the archives:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/best-of-2021-top-25.html#.Y6X0E-zMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2021: The Top 25</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/12/best-of-2020-top-25.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: The Top 25<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-top-25.html#.Xp5AO9NKg1I" target="_blank"><span>Best Of 2019: The Top 25</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/12/best-of-2018-top-25.html#.Xp5ADtNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2018: The Top 25</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/best-of-2017-top-25.html#.Xp4_2tNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2017: The Top 25</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-top-20.html#.Xp4_qtNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2016: The Top 20</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/12/best-of-15-top-20.html#.Xp4_etNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 15: The Top 20</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/12/best-of-14-part-1.html#.Xp4_DdNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 14 (Part 1)</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/12/best-of-14-part-2.html#.Xp4_OtNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 14 (Part 2)</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/12/best-of-2013.html#.Xp4-zNNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2013</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2012/12/best-of-12-part-one.html#.Xp4-XdNKg1I" target="_blank">The Best Of 12: Part One</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2012/12/best-of-12-part-two.html#.Xp4-j9NKg1I" target="_blank">The Best Of 12: Part Two</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-11.html#.X94fmulKg1I" target="_blank"><span>The Best Of 11</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2011/01/best-of-ten.html#.X94fLelKg1I" target="_blank"><span>Best Of Ten</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-is-born-best-of-2009.html#.X94e9-lKg1I" target="_blank"><span>A Blog Is Born: Best Of 2009</span></a></span></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-25979119834855719362022-12-04T15:30:00.000-05:002022-12-04T15:30:39.423-05:00Record Roundup: Autumn Flood, Pt. 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DRmG-Yq6aSyOvXYsq7G7D676y84_CEuCIQ7TEpt_FI4IerrMME99NgzettPwltNYWdq2w_YohKO1Y0SDLzi7MoS-9uuVaBlCl-Q-Bk90WK3lAGFSZL-CijoCmdeja_JoUT1KrlNaInkeqDF7ayVRuygfeWPjoEX6oY31KTim6v29ViYs_A/s1799/Autumn%20Flood%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="1285" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DRmG-Yq6aSyOvXYsq7G7D676y84_CEuCIQ7TEpt_FI4IerrMME99NgzettPwltNYWdq2w_YohKO1Y0SDLzi7MoS-9uuVaBlCl-Q-Bk90WK3lAGFSZL-CijoCmdeja_JoUT1KrlNaInkeqDF7ayVRuygfeWPjoEX6oY31KTim6v29ViYs_A/w348-h486/Autumn%20Flood%203.JPG" width="348" /></a></div><p>Like I said, it's been a busy fall so far. And with the "best of" lists right around the corner, this will have to be the last installment! Catch up with <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a> and <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-2.html" target="_blank">Part 2</a> and press play on the updated playlist <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2yXbjQ3RdkU4spQmfAZyhN?si=d9b543ef6cc248cc" target="_blank">here</a> or below.</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2yXbjQ3RdkU4spQmfAZyhN?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></p><p><b><a href="https://thisismattevans.bandcamp.com/album/soft-science" target="_blank">Matt Evans - Soft Science</a> </b>Percussionist, programmer, producer, and composer Evans continues to build on his remarkable discography with this third solo album. In fact, after the fizzy electronica of <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-electronic.html" target="_blank">New Topographics</a> and the complex and emotional soundscapes of <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/10/record-roundup-plugged-in.html" target="_blank">Touchless</a>, this may be the most well-rounded of the three. You get the full flavor of his polyrhythmic approach to the drum kit along with his marvelously distinctive and expressive curation of electronic sound, all woven together in a seamless and consistently compelling series of pieces. A perfect example is the opening cut, Saprotrophia, which incepts with a breathy synth before Evans unleashes a busy drum pattern that becomes like the verse of a wordless song and has me hanging on every note. A more abstract chorus (or is it the bridge?) provides respite before the drums kick back in, leaving me breathless. As he puts it, the albums is "mostly-not-chill" although some songs are more groove-oriented. And the finale, Alocasia, is fully chill, with droning synths and hand-percussion providing an underpinning for the gorgeous sax of David Lackner (<a href="https://yaisounds.bandcamp.com/album/flowers-from-home" target="_blank">check out YAI</a> if you want more of him), leaving us in the perfect state to reflect on the marvels we just heard. </p><p><b><a href="https://charlottedossantos.bandcamp.com/album/morfo" target="_blank">Charlotte Dos Santos - Morfo</a> </b>While we were treated to a <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">five-song EP</a> in 2020, it's been a bit of wait since Dos Santos' <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/09/record-roundup-siren-songs.html#.Xrx0pZNKg1I" target="_blank">delicious debut</a>, Cleo, came out in 2017. If anything, her music has grown even more exquisite and expansive since then, morphing (hence the title?) ever closer to jazz, but never committing fully to any genre. Her voice remains a limber and delicate wonder that she employs with greater confidence than ever. Filha Do Sol is but one standout that shows off everything she can do, with a sinuous opening section that transits through a flute solo as it slow builds towards an abrupt shift into a Brazilian parade rhythm that has Dos Santos' declaiming in Portuguese with a sense of triumphant homecoming. Just one stunning musical vision out of the baker's dozen that make up this remarkable album.</p><p><b><a href="https://drycleaning.bandcamp.com/album/stumpwork" target="_blank">Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork</a> </b>After several EPs and singles and a <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/05/record-roundup-song-forms.html" target="_blank">smashing debut</a>, I suppose I should stop being surprised by Dry Cleaning's ability to find new avenues of invention while staying within the basic idea that Florence Shaw speak-sings evocative, fractured lyrics while guitarist Tom Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard, and drummer Nick Buxton cook up colorful, post-punk informed surroundings for her musings. But here are 11 new songs that do just that, with Dowse and Maynard adding new colors to their palettes, like the chorused, arpeggiated guitar on Kwenchy Kups, or the funky, churning bass on Hot Penny Day. The instrumentation has also expanded, with keyboards and woodwinds making appearances. Shaw herself pushes into new territory, with an almost gentle (and charmingly off-key) croon on some songs, like Gary Ashby. Her lyrics also continue to confound and enchant in equal measure, as in the internal monologue/dialogue that forms the chorus of Kwenchy Kups: "Well, things are shit, but they're gonna be okay/And I'm gonna see the otters/There aren't any otters/There are/Well, we can check/And I'm gonna see the water caterpillar/There's no such thing, hmm?/Nice idea." And then there's Conservative Hell, which puts all their despair into the way Shaw phrases the chorus before ending with the bruised optimism of "I wanted to thank you for organizing the Edinburgh trip/Which apart from what happened to my Kindle, was amazing!/No one ever believed in me until your semi-circle eyes." It's details like that Kindle that elevate Shaw's work to that of literature. Gimme more.</p><p><b><a href="https://warhaus.ffm.to/hahaheartbreak.OPR" target="_blank">Warhaus - Ha Ha Heartbreak</a> </b>With this third album, Maarten Devoldere's solo discography has now taken shape as a trilogy. The first, 2016's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/11/from-warhaus-to-your-house.html" target="_blank">titanic</a> We Fucked A Flame Into Being depicted a bad boy reveling in success and all its various infatuations. The self-titled <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/11/autumn-albums-part-2_19.html" target="_blank">sophomore album</a> from 2017 was warmer, finding our man in love, if not in a completely uncomplicated way. Hopefully the five years since were happy ones. But we knew it couldn't last, hence this breakup song cycle that uses some of the sound world of Philly Soul and disco to limn Devoldere's sorrows. Amid the sweeping strings and funky percussion are the typically dramatic hallmarks of the Warhaus sound, horn blasts, scratchy guitars, and of course, Devoldere's husky burr, which imparts such wisdom as "'Cause someone should have left me like you did/Just someone, someone else instead/But it had to be you" with a casualness that's almost conversational. Even in a melancholy state, Devoldere can't help being darkly entertaining, as in Desire when he sings "There’s the god for your inner peace/The god of lust has him on a leash/The one who tripped and then fell from grace/And the one who’s renting out the place." Whatever the state of Devoldere's love life, he can rest assured that his place in the musical firmament of our time is ever more assured with this latest flash of brilliance.</p><p><b><a href="https://arcticmonkeys.ffm.to/thecar" target="_blank">Arctic Monkeys - The Car</a> </b>After the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-best-of-2018-so-far_4.html#.XCFpm_ZKhsM" target="_blank">left turn</a> of Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino in 2018, which saw Alex Turner and company leave the jagged post-punk and groovy hard rock of their previous albums for (as I wrote) "spacious arrangements of burbling bass, chamber-pop keyboards and witty drums," the sky really was the limit for the band. And while some question whether that album and this one are really Turner solo projects, the fact remains that when he needs to finalize his ideas, he turns to the same guys he's been working with all along. He also needs them to take it on the road, which they do quite successfully as the recent live film from Brooklyn's King's Theater made plain. But even there, Turner proved himself scarily talented and dominant, often driving the band with his guitar - tart, dense, funky, or soaring, as the songs require - and holding the spotlight with his charisma and conviction. If Tranquility Base presented the Arctics as essentially a new band, then they show no sign of sophomore slump on The Car. Adding elements of R&B and funk warm up the feel of the album and the songs are again cinematic, with a way of worming their way into your heart and mind over time. The album's themes can be summed up in I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am, which finds Turner (or his protagonist) feeling out of place amidst hollow displays of luxury and false camaraderie: "It's the intermission/Let's shake a few hands/Blank expressions invite me to suspect/I ain't quite where I think I am/Stackable party guests/To fill the awkward silencеs." That "stackable party guests" line is just one of many, many examples of how Turner's brilliant lyricism continues to be a hallmark of the band, as the driving beat, sharp wah wah guitar, and massed choral vocals show them pushing into new territory to match the mood. For any fans who deserted the Arctic Monkeys when Tranquility Base came out, it is truly their loss as they just keep getting better and better. And, to the new fans (like my wife!), I say welcome to the wonderful world of Alex Turner.</p><p><b><a href="https://dazysound.bandcamp.com/album/outofbody-2" target="_blank">Dazy - OUTOFBODY</a> </b>Their early singles were exciting enough to get me to <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html" target="_blank">Indieplaza</a> early to catch the New York debut of this Richmond, VA noise pop band. Their set was a delightful blast of tune-laden distortion and they've totally delivered on that promise with this 12-song, 25-minute debut. All the songs are catchy and some, like On My Way and Rollercoaster Ride, are EXTREMELYCATCHY. Get to this STAT so you, too, can say you were up on Dazy early. </p><p><b><a href="https://thestargazerlilies.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-tidal-wave-2" target="_blank">The Stargazer Lilies - Cosmic Tidal Wave</a> </b>On their self-produced fifth album, these psychedelic shoegazers seem to have internalized whatever they learned from working with Tobacco (of Black Moth Super Rainbow) on <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-rock-folk-etc.html" target="_blank">Occabot</a> (read it backwards), further expanding their sound without losing the focus on melody. John Cep's guitar playing has grown even more adventurous, with soaring lines dramatically emerging from the haze. He's also upped his keyboard game, with ever-groovier synth/guitar interactions. Kim Field's vocals are still evocative, almost shamanic, as she sings into the storm of sound, driven on by the majestic drums of Carissa Giard. In short, this is one heckuva band and they deserve wider uptake among discerning listeners - and isn't that you?</p><p><b><a href="https://paledian.bandcamp.com/album/feral-birth" target="_blank">Pale Dian - Feral Birth</a> </b>Six years on from their debut, <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/10/record-roundup-guitars-guitars-etc_16.html#.Y4zuaOzMI1I" target="_blank">Narrow Birth</a>, this Austin-based "nightmare pop" band - mostly the project of Ruth Smith - has left behind most of what made that one sound a bit over-familiar, if still powerful. The addition of space, elegance, and a dynamic range that has some songs delivering hammer blows like an epic soundtrack, is evidence of newfound confidence as they cut loose from their influences. MeLt, for example, is an excursion into post-punk atmospherics with touches of glossy reggae - all very unexpected from them, but still seeming inevitable. A song like True Love even shows a pop sensibility that will find first-time listeners quickly converted into fans. If this is an "auditory emotional sample for futures to come," as Smith describes it, I say bring it on.</p><p>You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/06/record-roundup-rock-100s.html#.Y4z3iuzMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Rock 100's</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/11/record-roundup-eclectic-electronics.html#.Y4z4FuzMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Eclectic Electronics<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/10/record-roundup-guitars-guitars-etc_16.html" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Guitars, Guitars, Etc.</a></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-11424564226193250492022-11-18T09:15:00.007-05:002022-11-18T09:23:09.333-05:00Record Roundup: Autumn Flood, Pt. 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOysNIFbzuqxE8Nf9IZ4KJUhDCVGRWEA0MN3JkWdiPeFrv8fLdEIl4M9yfgETJicfTOrolreANLIjUgEwCYt1cmYJ3Wm_5L4klu0QB5jhHYfLoX22O1Z2svolqC5d9OZdUlYnpV2vLHqjLKXQntSoIyT8kMtjA6YrDYcfy8DryysR-I0Ua1A/s1799/Autumn%20Flood%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="1285" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOysNIFbzuqxE8Nf9IZ4KJUhDCVGRWEA0MN3JkWdiPeFrv8fLdEIl4M9yfgETJicfTOrolreANLIjUgEwCYt1cmYJ3Wm_5L4klu0QB5jhHYfLoX22O1Z2svolqC5d9OZdUlYnpV2vLHqjLKXQntSoIyT8kMtjA6YrDYcfy8DryysR-I0Ua1A/w364-h508/Autumn%20Flood%202.JPG" width="364" /></a></div><p>Continuing on from <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/11/record-roundup-autumn-flood-pt-1.html#.Y3Y8J-zMI1I" target="_blank">Part 1</a>, here are some more sips from the firehose of recent releases. The playlist has been updated and can be found <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2yXbjQ3RdkU4spQmfAZyhN?si=5709780e16014bca" target="_blank">here</a> or below. And there will be a Part 3!</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2yXbjQ3RdkU4spQmfAZyhN?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.newworldrecords.org/products/i-a-m-artist-mother-project-new-works-for-violin-and-electronics" target="_blank"><b>Olivia De Prato - I, A.M. - Artist Mother Project: New Works For Violin And Electronics</b></a> In 2018, I called De Prato's debut, Streya, "an object lesson in how to put together a solo violin record" and also noted "the electro-acoustic wonders" that lay within it when I included it on my <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-2010s-anearfuls-first-decade.html#.Y3EMVezMI1I" target="_blank">100 best albums of the 2010s</a>. So it was with great expectations that I clicked Play on this latest collection, which includes world-premiere recordings of works composed in the last couple of years by Natacha Diels, Katherine Young, Ha-Yang Kim, Pamela Stickney, Jen Baker, and Zosha Di Castri. I was especially excited to hear that last piece, as Di Castri's portrait album, <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/11/record-roundup-contemporary-kaleidoscope.html#.Xpz5j9NKg1I" target="_blank">Tachitipo</a>, was also on my top 100. The Dream Feed opens with an electronic splash, almost a shattering of the sonic plane, that leads into pensive lines from De Prato's violin. Gradually, a piano enters and the music becomes lush and almost romantic, before building to a tangled density that is breathtaking. Created in collaboration by the two musicians, with Di Castri improvising to De Prato's violin, it has the feel of a settled piece even though it could be different every time they play it. The Dream Feed also reflects the theme of the album - the challenges of embracing the role of artist and mother - by including field recording of sonograms and the "whimpers of sleeping babies" among the electronic underpinnings. </p><p>Emblematic of the album as a whole, there's an almost cybernetic relationship between the acoustic and synthetic sounds in The Dream Feed, an even deeper blend than that found on Streya. Noch Unbenannt, a collaboration with composer and Theremin virtuoso Pamela Stickney, is another great example of that, with the electronics and violin combining in seamless and captivating fashion. Fire In The Dark by <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html#.Y3EU-uzMI1I" target="_blank">Jen Baker</a>, pushes De Prato into an almost spectral realm with whispery and scratchy sounds building to a soaring drone, while Kim's May You Dream Of Rainbows In Magical Lands transits from a somber, multi-tracked opening to a starlit world. The album opens with Automatic Writing Mumbles Of The Late Hour by Diels, a brief and playful electro-fantasia, and Mycorrhiza by Young, as knotty and expansive as the underground fungi to which the title pays tribute. With I, A.M., De Prato further secures her status as one of the most thoughtful, exciting, and adventurous musicians we have.</p><p><b><a href="https://narducci.bandcamp.com/album/darkness-to-light" target="_blank">Narducci - Darkness To Light</a> </b>Over the course of three EPs, with the last being 2020's <a href="https://narducci.bandcamp.com/album/journey-to-los-angeles" target="_blank">Journey To Los Angeles</a>, Matt Silberman (who records as Narducci) has been building a repertoire of evocative, jazz-infused electronic music. He has also scored films, skills which he draws on here, orchestrating sounds and dynamics with the flow of narrative. Martial Meditations has some of the rainswept moodiness of Vangelis' Blade Runner score, which is only amplified by the Japanese vocals, while Boards Break would make a great TV theme song, with a haunting sax refrain, a touch of chamber music, and a muscular rhythm track. Silberman may release music at a slow drip, but each installment has been well worth the wait.</p><p><b><a href="https://aoifenessafrances.bandcamp.com/album/protector" target="_blank">Aoife Nessa Frances - Protector</a> </b>Her debut, Land Of No Junction, was a <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-rock-folk-etc.html#.Y3E0s-zMI1I">dreamy drift of an album</a> that I leaned on throughout the dislocations of 2020. The follow-up finds her adding a little more definition to the sound, especially the percussion, while also adding lush layers of instrumentation, including harp, strings, and brass. As on the earlier album, Brendans Jenkinson and Doherty provide much of the backing alongside Frances' guitar, keyboard, percussion, and drum machine. Cian Nugent, who produced and played on the debut is missing in action, which could explain the sharper sound. The songs, however, remain elliptical and hypnotic psych-folk-chamber vignettes with melodies that transport and enthrall. Her voice, serene and clear, sails over it all with a distance that sounds like wisdom, as in Only Child when she sings, "All my love/Won’t be enough this time/All your love/Can’t be enough this time," while the strings and guitar push to a near crescendo out of the Velvet Underground. Marvelous stuff.</p><p><b><a href="https://wonderfulsound.bandcamp.com/album/madrid" target="_blank">Nev Cottee - Madrid</a> </b>While Cottee is continuing the fascination with moody, cinematic folk-rock that he displayed so gloriously on 2017's <a href="https://wonderfulsound.bandcamp.com/album/madrid" target="_blank">Broken Flowers</a>, there's an added focus to this latest, as if he's absorbed more songwriting lessons from his heroes (primarily Lee Hazlewood and Scott Walker) that makes each track instantly indelible. Tempos have also occasionally increased, with the title track a nearly explosive instrumental, and Johnny Ray's spaghetti western update moving at a true gallop. That latter song also displays Cottee's deft toggle between wit and mystery, describing a "Leather clad stranger/God's lonely man/A modern day Lone Ranger," who "Spends his days lost in time/got no reason, got no rhyme/Hang around, he'll undo your mind." The tale ends in chilling fashion: "Then one day, Johnny/With zero resistance/disappeared from this world/Left his existence." My mind is both undone and deeply desirous of seeing that movie! He and his main collaborator Mason Neely weave backgrounds of sounds curated with the exquisite specificity of <a href="https://rockandrollglobe.com/country-and-or-western/jonathan-wilson-curator-of-song-and-sound/" target="_blank">Jonathan Wilson</a>, with bass tones and drum sounds perfectly placed in the soundscape. Could be Cottee's most impressive album yet - I know I'm addicted.</p><p><b><a href="https://rachaeldadd.bandcamp.com/album/kaleidoscope" target="_blank">Rachael Dadd - Kaleidoscope</a> </b>Untangling some of the knots which made her last album, Flux, occasionally off-putting has Dadd surrounding her gentle incantations with warmth - strings, reeds, vibraphone, piano - and the results aim straight for the heart. That directness was deliberate, as she describes Kaleidoscope as being "a lot more honest and personal" than the earlier work and an effort to help people "feel held and find space to breathe, grieve and celebrate." Mission accomplished.</p><p><a href="https://bonnylighthorseman.bandcamp.com/album/rolling-golden-holy" target="_blank"><b>Bonny Light Horseman - Rolling Golden Holy</b></a> The <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-rock-folk-etc.html#.Y3FLsOzMI1J" target="_blank">first album</a> by the trio of Anais Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman was a masterful setting of traditional songs, some of them quite ancient ,and one of the miracles of 2020. Now, they have taken that deep dive into folk form to create ten (eleven, if you buy the vinyl) collectively written songs, all of them steeped in a timeless halcyon. Timeless, but far removed from our high-tech world, as made clear by lyrics like "I'll be a river and a-roving hie/And I'll be your lover when the moon is high/Above the timbers where the wolves, they call" from Gone By Fall, or "And I was merely cannon fodder/In the nineteenth cavalry/Waiting, waiting, waiting/To sing, "Nearer, My God, to Thee"" from Someone To Weep Over Me. In this way, their project is a little like that of The Band's, although the sound is quite different, more acoustic, with none of the nods to funk and soul of that legendary band. Even so, as they maintain the delicacy of the first album, there are some sharper dynamics here, with Kaufman even letting in a little of the explosive riffing anyone whose seen him on stage knows is in his guitar-slinging quiver. Most of all, what comes through is the sound of friends making the music they love. Bonny Light Horseman is a real band, then, and one of our best.</p><p><b><a href="https://ingridsuperstar.bandcamp.com/album/inner-world-peace" target="_blank">Frankie Cosmos - Inner World Peace</a> </b>In 2016, I declared myself <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/10/record-roundup-guitars-guitars-etc_16.html#.Y3FXlOzMI1J" target="_blank">charmed</a> by the "tunefully awkward pop" of this band led by songwriter Greta Kline. Then, it seems, I promptly forgot about them, ignoring releases from 2018 and 2019 - which may be why I'm so blown away by the leap forward they make here, with Alex Bailey (guitar/bass), Lauren Martin (keyboards), and Luke Pyenson (drums) playing as a tight unit. With the help of producers Nate Mendelsohn and Katie Von Schleicher, they envelop Kline's songs and her high, thirst-quenching soprano in settings of great flexibility within the indie-pop framework they still occupy, if now with a touch of psych-rock. Over the course of 16 tracks, some of them quite short, Kline emerges as songwriter who uses a combination of broad, colorful strokes, specific details, and humor to create a persona to whom it is very easy to relate, especially if you're a creative person. As she notes in Empty Head (at 5:13 the longest song in Frankie's cosmos!): "I’m always bursting at the seams/I’ll tell you all about my dreams/I wish that I could quiet it/accept a little silence/maybe one day I’ll find it/and I’ll toe the line." God forbid that ever happens!</p><p><b><a href="https://daydreamingwinter.bandcamp.com/album/what-kind-of-blue-are-you" target="_blank">Winter - What Kind Of Blue Are You? </a></b>Though Brazilian-born singer/songwriter Samira Winter has been releasing music for at least a decade, it took this year's <a href="https://youtu.be/Qu0SIQVoAnE" target="_blank">collaboration</a> with roots reggae revivalist <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/02/best-of-2021-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.Y3Y5gezMI1I" target="_blank">Pachyman</a> to bring her to my ears. Her vocals on that confection of a song, smooth yet infused with the saudade of her home country, stuck with me. I'm happy to report, that even if there's no reggae on this sophomore LP, it reveals a confident songwriter and producer (she co-produced with Joo Joo Ashworth, who also worked on that kick-ass <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html" target="_blank">Automatic</a> album) who creates emotionally specific vignettes out of spare elements, both lyrically and sonically. For example, on the feedback-drenched Write It Out, her prescription for art's healing powers is one easy to take to heart: "Sit down, write it out/When there’s nothing left to do/Reaching higher ground/Keep pushing through the blues." Then there's Good, which languorously moves through its melancholy chord changes as guest vocalist Sasami repeats "I wanna be good to you/Wanna be good to you/Wanna be good..." As the guitars gain heat and noise, the protagonist's goal seems ever more remote - and fascinatingly so. By tinting her grungy shoegaze pop with some Julee Cruise mystery, Winter leaves a haunting wake on this compelling album.</p><p>You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/09/record-roundup-songs-and-singers.html#.Y3Y37ezMI1J" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Songs And Singers<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/10/record-roundup-rock-formations.html#.Y3Y2_ezMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Rock Formations<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/09/record-roundup-siren-songs.html#.Y3Y2X-zMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Siren Songs</a></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-85390720285677516072022-11-07T08:57:00.003-05:002022-12-12T11:23:07.680-05:00Record Roundup: Autumn Flood, Pt. 1<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLMGliZmu16k89j-yTU2l-ZgbNWUwY76OlGYg2ReDI3OPLpGSOes8VpZE5MlWIIrUpaa05Ce9DGoo97cn21Pg9RMuqXqbRmG5qb9pHkGn06hm4PGtvqJYPOfbVQsA-lZeIypFwJTOTpjH3fepvqLGJmV4pA_rNM94-Vjz5N16mxMGo7oSqA/s1799/Autumn%20Flood%20Pt%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="1285" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLMGliZmu16k89j-yTU2l-ZgbNWUwY76OlGYg2ReDI3OPLpGSOes8VpZE5MlWIIrUpaa05Ce9DGoo97cn21Pg9RMuqXqbRmG5qb9pHkGn06hm4PGtvqJYPOfbVQsA-lZeIypFwJTOTpjH3fepvqLGJmV4pA_rNM94-Vjz5N16mxMGo7oSqA/w348-h486/Autumn%20Flood%20Pt%201.jpg" width="348" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As the leaves began to turn and rain down, a veritable flood of albums of all genres were released, from newcomers and veterans alike. This deluge held music of such quality that even if all music of the previous nine months mysteriously disappeared, we could call it a damned fine year. Thank goodness that didn't happen, but I can say that my calculations for those year-end lists have been upended in the last few weeks. A few of the reasons why can be found below and in a subsequent post or posts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Follow along in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2yXbjQ3RdkU4spQmfAZyhN?si=714f00b0a9624a98" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2yXbjQ3RdkU4spQmfAZyhN?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://johnlutheradams.bandcamp.com/album/sila-the-breath-of-the-world" target="_blank">John Luther Adams - Sila: The Breath Of The World</a> </b>Though composed for very different forces (woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings, and voices vs. symphony orchestra), as an experience Sila takes its place alongside Become Ocean and Become Desert: a seemingly vast expanse of music that unfolds more like landscape than anything else. Behind the scenes, there are other differences, with each player given the chance to be "a soloist, who plays or sings a unique part at her or his own pace," creating a bespoke version of the work each time it's performed. Here, the players are the JACK Quartet, the Crossing Choir, and musicians from the University of Michigan, all artists of such surpassing excellence that every minute lands with the inevitability of the tides. Given the flexibility granted to the performers, it may be surprising how completely unified the sound is, with instruments and voices blending together in a sublime wash of sound that invites to you to pause, to breathe, the find your own rhythm among theirs. Sila takes its name from the Inuit spirit that animates all things and, even though it preserves a particular performance forever, this remarkable recording feels marvelously alive.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0022008kai" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Anthony Cheung - Music For Film, Sculpture, And Captions</a> Listening to this spine-tingling collection of three pieces puts you in dialog with a lively mind as it responds to creativity encountered in sculpture, film, and, yes, captions. Cheung's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/07/best-of-2016-so-far-pt-2_8.html" target="_blank">absolute brilliance </a>as an orchestrator and sonic synthesist are at the fore throughout, perhaps most impressively in The Natural Word (2019), composed for and performed by <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/search?q=niente" target="_blank">Ensemble dal Niente</a>. Inspired by a selection of closed-captions describing sounds other than dialog, this gives Cheung the opportunity to blend together, in a witty and captivating 15 minutes, such cues as "orchestra playing tender melody" and "rain pattering." The assured architecture of the piece - another specialty of Cheung's - keeps it from being just a sequential series of sounds. That structural confidence is also well-represented in A Line Can Go Anywhere (2019), a piano concerto that pays homage to the spare, playful beauty of Ruth Asawa's sculpture. Pianist Ueli Wiget and Ensemble Modern give a dazzling, definitive performance of a work which could find a place in any orchestra's repertoire. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Null And Void (2019), given a swaggering, pin-sharp performance by Ensemble Musikfabrik is not a film score but a "musical analogue" for Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson's silent short, Stump The Guesser. Not having seen it, I can only say that if the film is as full of charm, elegance, and emotional variety as the music Cheung created, it must be a masterpiece. Cheung's music for smaller forces is well represented on <a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/all-roads" target="_blank">All Roads</a>, released earlier this year. Most notable is the title piece, for string quartet and piano, which absorbs harmonic language from Billy Strayhorn's Lotus Blossom with graceful results. All in all, a banner year for Cheung fans, a constituency which should be growing rapidly!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.highresaudio.com/en/album/view/mtmu4d/julian-brink-various-artists-julian-brink-utility-music" target="_blank">Julian Brink - Utility Music</a> </b>Like Brink, I am a fan of Jonny Greenwood's film scores. Unlike Brink, I did not move halfway around the world (from South Africa) to get a master's degree in film composition from Berklee. A move to California had him putting that degree to use and scoring several indie films, including Amir Motlagh's Three Worlds (2018). But what we have here is repurposed music from one that got away, 11 short pieces that show not only an individual approach to scoring (Eventually Lapse, for example, combines a string quartet with trumpet, harp, and guitar), but a very organic sense of building harmonies and melodies into emotion-evoking snapshots. The sense of unity among the players is a further tribute to his skills as the players recorded in five different cities and were blended together later. Brink's music is sure to enhance your life, however you make use of it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0022000kai" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Andrew McIntosh - Little Jimmy</a> I admit to being slightly distracted by the title of the main piece (2020) here, which is named after a campground in a National Forest in California. In no way does it prepare you for the thoughtful, suspended sounds to come, with the piano/percussion quartet Yarn/Wire, dropping jewel-toned sounds and repeating phrases into a space colored by field recordings from the campground. Knowing the campground was forever changed by the raging Bobcat Fire also lends emotional resonance, but the music is very evocative either way. Two other pieces, I Have A Lot To Learn (2019), a gently spiky piano piece, and Learning (2021), a meditation for solo percussion, fill out what makes for an excellent introduction to McIntosh's work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://gregstuart.bandcamp.com/album/subtractions" target="_blank">Greg Stuart - Subtractions</a> </b>As a collaborator with some of the most distinctive composers of our age, such <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/01/best-of-2019-classical.html#.Y2hDGOzMI1I" target="_blank">Sarah Hennies</a> and <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/01/best-of-2021-classical.html#.Y2hDQuzMI1I" target="_blank">Michael Pisaro-Liu</a>, both of whom have works premiered on this album, Stuart has more than staked a claim for himself on the landscape of avant garde percussion. Throw in work with <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.Y2hC0OzMI1I" target="_blank">Clipping</a>, the radical hip hop group, and the picture broadens to a musician of uncommon depth. No surprise that he tosses off the nervous assemblage of Hennies' Border Loss (2021) as if he thought of it on the spot. His lightness of touch astonishes even more when you learn of his focal dystonia, a condition which leaves his left hand unpredictable and even uncontrollable. But any difficulty he might have is rendered completely invisible here and in Pisaro-Liu's Side By Side (2021). The first movement, for bass drum and cymbals, is exquisitely tactile, a study in texture and almost a deliberate avoidance of rhythm. Part two, for vibraphone and glockenspiel, exploits the attack and sustain of each instrument beautifully, gleaming streaks of sound hanging in the air. Let them decorate the space around you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/the-other-forgotten-letters-2" target="_blank">Stephen Vitiello and Bill Seaman - The Other Forgotten Letters</a> </b>Over the last four years, we have been graced with many riches in the realms of ambient and electronic music from Vitiello. While I have always found his sound art fascinating, I am even more heartened by the stand-alone music he has been releasing, of which this is one of the most accessible. A long distance collaboration with Seaman, also a sound and visual artist, the three pieces here are immersive and cinematic, with a temporal inevitability that belies the improvised origins of much of the music. A hall of memories, a landscape through rain-streaked glass, a tense film montage...close your eyes and let the guitars, pianos, synths, and percussion of Vitiello and Seaman work their magic. Much to my delight, the duo promises more is yet to come later this year. Don't get left behind. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/album/of-no-such-place" target="_blank">Seabuckthorn - Of No Such Place</a> </b>Both ethereal and dramatic, like a gritty but gorgeous film about survival, Andy Cartwright's latest under this <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/search?q=seabuckthorn#.Y2gV--zMI1I" target="_blank">moniker</a> is one of his best. The guitar, treated and prepared, is always at the heart of these records, but once combined with field recordings, clarinet, tongue drum, and cymbals, it becomes almost immaterial. That said, Form Less Ness, an album he released earlier this year under his own name with only "a little obscured guitar," drifted far enough from shore that I could never be certain I actually heard it. Of No Such Place sticks with you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://shop.brian-eno.net/*/*/FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE-Exclusive-Clear-Vinyl-LP-Print/7IE40000000" target="_blank">Brian Eno - FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE</a> </b>"I think Eno has ascended to another plane," I said to my wife as we listened to this in jaw-dropped stillness. She agreed, marveling at the warm embrace of his deeper but still characteristic voice, mostly unheard since 2005, surrounded by gloriously rich textures. My statement had a double meaning, too, both referring to the utter majesty of the music and to the sense of godlike remove he was projecting across these 10 tracks. That was even before I read his statement that "I like creating worlds, that’s what I do as an artist, creating sonic worlds." Adding his voice, according to him, is like peopling his landscapes with humans. From on high, he's noting that our home planet has been much abused and we need to fall back in love with nature and appreciate all it gives to us. So, a climate change record, if you must. But you don't have to. It may just be enough to recognize that a world that gifts us Eno and his all-encompassing reinvention of drone-based song, just may be a world worth holding onto.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://mollyjoyce.bandcamp.com/album/perspective" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Molly Joyce - Perspective</a> In writing about her last album, 2020's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/06/record-roundup-machine-learning.html#.Y2gh9ezMI1I" target="_blank">Breaking And Entering</a>, I said of one song that it puts "wind in your hair as you pirouette through the ether in imagined flight." That sense of weightlessness, and of an artist coming into her own, made for a thrilling listen, and must have been equally thrilling for Joyce - who also identifies as a disability activist - to put into the world. On Perspective, you get a 360 view of what she was working against when cutting loose the bounds of the earth on Breaking And Entering. Each track features a variety of voices answering questions relating to their experience of disability: What does: access, control, care, weakness, strength, etc. mean to you? Listening to the answers is alternately sobering and inspiring and, yes, lends new perspective on how people with disabilities - like, say, my brother-in-law, blinded by retinitis pigmentosa - are forced to navigate the world. But even those of us without a disability but who have been confronted by the hardest tests life can throw at you can relate to much of this, as when the one speaker answers "What does resilience mean to you?" with "It's a never give in feeling." The music behind all these unvarnished sentiments is not unlike what we heard on Breaking And Entering: pulsing, looping electronics, sometimes with percussive elements, sparkling and full of forward motion. Joyce gives these brave speakers extra dignity by setting their thoughts in these exquisite frames. <br /><br /><a href="https://corntuth.bandcamp.com/album/letters-to-my-robot-son-2" target="_blank"><b>Corntuth - Letters To My Robot Son</b></a> On his third album, the artist currently known as Corntuth, has pursued the programmatic nature of his music even beyond that of his first album, the self-explanatory <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-electronic.html#.Y2hJDOzMI1I" target="_blank">Music To Work To</a>, or his second, the impressionistic road trip of The Desert Is Paper Thin, into pure storytelling. The background he imagines for this album, created with his trademark vintage digital synths, involves a series of musical modules left by one of the last humans for his robot son, in the hopes that they might act as software and make him sentient. That series of sci fi thoughts leads to sounds that have the bright naiveté of early Bill Nelson solo electronica, like La Belle Et La Bête, alongside the soulful sensibility that has defined Corntuth's music from the start. A perfect example is E-003, which pairs a chilly repeating loop with some warmer and perfectly placed chords in a contrasting and wonderfully fat texture. One knock against the Yamaha DX7 when it first came out was that it took some of the creativity out of synthesis with a plethora of preprogrammed sounds. Perhaps like the robot son, the DX7 and Korg Poly-800 mkII, were just waiting for the right spirit to bring their ultimate humanity to the fore, which is exactly what Corntuth does on this enchanting album. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/11/record-roundup-catching-up-sort-of.html#.Y2hPrOzMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Catching Up (Sort Of)<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/08/fall-classics.html#.Y2hNkezMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Fall Classics, Vol. 1</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/08/fall-classics.html#.Y2hNkezMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Fall Classics, Vol. 2</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2012/10/listening-to-lux-on-west-57th.html#.Y2hQCezMI1I" target="_blank">Listening To Lux On West 57th</a></span></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-41919216634389577202022-10-23T19:11:00.003-04:002022-10-23T19:11:47.589-04:00Record Roundup: Songcraft<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK59gKkTjSTQckqR3t3lx37CfrYUmx2y-bcOqH1XYNbPopALYGPSZ7I_kT0FW9BSD2_VCOu0IY9QebZs_5UpWDx7Mq93et_nSjdGd5aupc-7y_2HztcspI-T64yC2j1O44YHWrFehVFWuZxLl-xHpqnhqoIRQdzNEqUsaHPRfQ6kJqE85gAQ/s1800/Songcraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1198" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK59gKkTjSTQckqR3t3lx37CfrYUmx2y-bcOqH1XYNbPopALYGPSZ7I_kT0FW9BSD2_VCOu0IY9QebZs_5UpWDx7Mq93et_nSjdGd5aupc-7y_2HztcspI-T64yC2j1O44YHWrFehVFWuZxLl-xHpqnhqoIRQdzNEqUsaHPRfQ6kJqE85gAQ/w300-h451/Songcraft.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to the dictionary, “songcraft” should be two words yet “witchcraft,” to which it often seems related, is one. Let this post serve as one citation on the road to changing that. All of the albums below find artists pursuing their own definitions of songcraft, whether in a cycle derived from poetry or a kaleidoscopic array of hip hop-infused R&B. Read on and give a listen - you may even find your own definitions expanding.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/29261859/143381895237926888#"><b>Michael Hersch - The Script Of Storms</b></a> As I wrote about his searing 2020 album, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/29261859/143381895237926888#">I hope we get a chance to visit soon</a>, we owe Hersch "a debt of gratitude for never turning away from subject matter that would make other artists uncomfortable." That obligation continues to grow with the title piece here, composed in 2018 and based on poems by Fawzi Karim, an Iraqi author who often focused on the horrors he witnessed during his war torn childhood. As the text in the devastating final song reports:<br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"Skulls and fragments of bone,<br />Wreckage ...<br />given thicker presence by the mud.<br />You can’t get away from the sight of those mouths where the breath is stilled."</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hersch gives these words breath through the vocal lines he wrote for soprano Ah Young Hong, who sang on his previous album and delivers another furiously concentrated performance here. Often singing in the upper realms of her voice, sometimes ending lines with a shriek, it is impossible not to feel the impact of</span> <span style="font-family: helvetica;">these unflinching songs. The fourth song makes explicit why it is critical that we listen very closely: "We are not victims of some past epidemic./Nor were we ever fodder for lost wars./No, we are your mirror."<br /><br />The music, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Tito Muñoz, maintains a churning intensity, punctuated by violent outbursts. The imaginative orchestration and dynamic range are reminiscent of Shostakovich's 14th Symphony, itself a response to Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death.<br /><br />Cortex and Ankle (2016), another song cycle featuring Hong and played by Ensemble Klang, opens the album seemingly in medias res, with a dramatic blast of piano, woodwinds, and percussion, before an electric guitar fanfare leads the way to the first song. The words of British poet Christopher Middleton provide the texts here, and while often more abstract than Karim's, also approach humanity's dark side in a manner both visceral and clear-eyed, as in the 11th song:<br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"The dead are tangled in a heap,<br />Scooped up and in and left to rot.<br />Waves of them come up with a stink,<br />Agony in the gaping rhomboid mouths,<br />Some with bedroom slippers on their feet.<br />So many, how to identify them?"</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">By animating the texts in both pieces with music of great integrity and color, Hersch pays homage both to the masterful poets and the people whose lives - and deaths - they describe. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://bjork.bandcamp.com/album/fossora" target="_blank">Björk - Fossora</a> </b>It's been over a decade since I reviewed an album by Iceland's favorite dottir, my struggles and ultimate disappointment with both Vulnicura and Utopia reflected by their absence from these pages. I am happy to report that were I to be ridiculously reductive, I would just say, "Björk is back!" But she has worked her way both back to a semblance of her old form and forward to somewhere entirely new. The shapely melodies alone confirm that the last two albums were at their roots lacking in good songs. And not only are Fossora's tracks filled with the moments of humor, seduction, and sublime beauty she had addicted us to before, now they are set in her most inventive art-song arrangements yet. The music is filled with next-level combos of acoustic instruments, such as a clarinet sextet, and electronics, while not ignoring the needs of the body with insistent rhythms percolating under several songs. Lyrically, she's often dwelling in nature (mushrooms are mentioned) or dwelling on the death of her mother in 2018. While there's the occasional clunker (from Freefall: "I let myself freefall/Into your arms/Into the shape of the love we created/Our emotional hammock") that's par for the course and it's all heartfelt. While she's still more of a niche artist than she used to be, without the dance-floor-ready grooves and easy pop appeal of the past, on Fossora Björk has found a rapprochement between arty and accessible, between the intellect and the body. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://stevelacy.lnk.to/geminirights" target="_blank">Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights</a> </b>I admit to keeping The Internet, the band that put Lacy on the map, and his prior solo album in my peripheral vision. So pardon me for sipping on the cream when it rises to the top, but this album is a TREAT. A multicolored blend of pop, rock, funk, and r&b that comes on like a descendent of Shuggie Otis, Andre 3000, and Frank Ocean, the main feature are the tightly focused songs that might have all three of them watching their backs. About the only bad thing I can say about Gemini Rights is that Lacy occasionally sounds too much like Stevie Wonder, but it's like Stevie in his prime - and it's been too long since we heard that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://sudanarchives.bandcamp.com/album/natural-brown-prom-queen" target="_blank">Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Prom Queen</a> </b>As I noted when I saw her live <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/10/hot-live-summer.html" target="_blank">last summer</a>, the music of Brittany Parks has grown edgier as she continues to build on the promise of Come Meh Way, the single that turned so many heads, including mine, back in 2017. While her creamy voice, swooping violin, and diamond-sharp electronic rhythms are still the heart of her sound, she's also grown more accomplished as she deftly switches between moods and styles - sometimes within the same song - across this expansive release. And it is a <i>release</i>, with 18 tracks over nearly an hour giving you the full range of her personality. Vulnerable, arrogant, smart, romantic, she doesn't hold back or construct a perfect person for your consumption, and the album is richer for it. Get to know Sudan Archives so you, too, can say <a href="https://youtu.be/mmbJL993B-A" target="_blank">OMG BRITT</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://juliajacklin.bandcamp.com/album/pre-pleasure" target="_blank">Julia Jacklin - Pre Pleasure</a> </b>After her <a href="https://rockandrollglobe.com/folk/julia-jacklin-brings-the-hammer-down-on-album-two/" target="_blank">stellar</a> sophomore album, 2019's Crushing, Jacklin reached a new level of success, playing to crushing crowds (I literally could not move when I saw her at Warsaw!) around the world. Possibly in response to all that attention, she has grown both more intimate and more expansive on her third release. Opening with the stripped down, keyboard- and drum-machine-driven Lydia Wears A Cross, we're already in a different sound world than one might expect. It builds up to a gauzy strum before coming to a halt and leading into Love, Try Not To Let Go, which begins in such a constrained fashion, it's almost like the instruments are being cupped by tiny hands. The sensitive accompaniment of Ben Whiteley (guitars, etc.), Will Kidman (bass, etc.), and Laurie Torres (drums) really shines here. Then, when it explodes on the chorus, it feels wonderful. Ignore Tenderness is next, a glowing ballad with sweeping strings - another new sound for her - arranged by Owen Pallett. I Was Neon is one of the crowning glories of the album, riding a <i>motorik </i>beat, chugging guitar, and boasting a melody that flows so naturally you almost don't notice how sophisticated it is. Throughout these four songs, she pursues issues of identity, whether the skeptical Lydia of the opening, or the narrator of Neon who wonders, "Am I going to lose myself again?," and the complexities of love and relationships. Throughout all, her voice is a glory, flawlessly expressing the nuances of the emotional tenor of each song. A key line in Love, Try Not To Let Go hints at painful events ("The echo of that partyThe night I lost my voice/The silence that surrounds it/No longer feels like a choice") that lend a layer of poignance to her sheer excellence as a singer and songwriter. May she never lose her voice. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://thesofthills.bandcamp.com/album/viva-chi-vede" target="_blank">The Soft Hills - Viva Che Vede</a> </b>This psych-folk-cosmic-rock project of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Garrett Hobba has been going since 2007, but journeys both exterior (to Europe) and interior (Ayahuasca) meant that he was away from making music for the last few years. Whatever the road it took him to get here, Viva Che Vede sounds like the work of someone who knows exactly what they want and has the skills (and collaborators, most notably Jon Peloso (guitars & keys), Anthony Shadduck (basses), and Garrit Tillman (drums) to get it. Opening track Medicine starts with an accented voice telling us "We must die...we must be reborn" before the softly galloping song begins, with quirky percussion touches, a halo of electronics, melodic guitars, and flowing harmonies. The playful dislocations of Medicine - familiar to any Syd Barrett fans - set the tone for a collection of great beauty, with Hobba's sweet tenor becoming a welcome companion across the ten songs. Like Jonathan Wilson, Hobba is influenced by the past (mainly the 60s and 70s, with a touch of Elliott Smith) but never indebted to it. He's always present in the now, his prismatic lyrics constantly referring to the natural world that keeps him grounded as he explores, as one song would have it, "the infinite." Listen and be embraced. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://tchotchke.bandcamp.com/album/tchotchke" target="_blank">Tchotchke - s/t</a> </b>The path to musical fulfillment lies in following the threads. For example, that time <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/05/record-roundup-electro-humanism.html" target="_blank">Drinker</a> played at Berlin Under A I became acquainted with Emily Tooraen, a sharp musician who was playing bass, and managed to keep an eye on her over the years. I was not surprised when I saw she was taking a more prominent role in this new band, but I was delighted at the first single, Dizzy, a glamtastic pop tune with fat analog synths and a sprightly melody. Follow-up Ronnie was even better, with a skirling twin-lead guitar hook that grabbed on and wouldn't let go. The album is one winner after another, clever, sunny, songs with a slightly theatrical bent. It's a great collaboration with the Lemon Twigs, who I knew were talented but needed better songs. Emily, along with her partners in sass, Anastasia and Eva (who prefer first names), more than do their part as far as that's concerned. Fun, fun, fun - a pure blast of escapism and most welcome in these times.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy: <br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/10/record-roundup-plugged-in.html" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Plugged In</a><br /></span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/05/record-roundup-song-forms.html" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Song Forms</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/11/record-roundup-catching-up-sort-of.html" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Catching Up (Sort Of)</a></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-20900025420372393492022-10-05T09:39:00.003-04:002022-10-08T13:18:28.308-04:00Hot Live Summer<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TvocIDRB_a0F6P88Z4SDUH2C2F8hyhUbNo8BGl9YR7SLbzmitjKCNEEirmIZ4tj7uXcatIMM3_Gee1eppiKfDeAR72TLu6B54q4UgqIJm-gz_0D-3rtSJueOZwKW7XTjgMeAcChH8_7qlpxoclfSDJCcKk_djPhDjashSULX2j0kFJBhhw/s5400/Hot%20Live%20Summer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4050" data-original-width="5400" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TvocIDRB_a0F6P88Z4SDUH2C2F8hyhUbNo8BGl9YR7SLbzmitjKCNEEirmIZ4tj7uXcatIMM3_Gee1eppiKfDeAR72TLu6B54q4UgqIJm-gz_0D-3rtSJueOZwKW7XTjgMeAcChH8_7qlpxoclfSDJCcKk_djPhDjashSULX2j0kFJBhhw/w405-h304/Hot%20Live%20Summer.jpg" width="405" /></span></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On a limited budget and still feeling cautious (if less so than 2021), I decided to make summer 2022 as hot has possible by taking advantage of as many free outdoor concerts I could. With my daughter, Hannah, as my intrepid companion (except for one show) I soaked up a ton of sounds, sights, and sun in a variety of venues, also partaking of the fun food and drink on offer. <br /><br />All told, we attended 10 shows at seven venues in two states (and two boroughs), experiencing over 30 performers - and not one drop of rain. Read on to find out how it all went down - and press play on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4XvbwFnuig8P5cM2Gmd8PG?si=d87ebfc46ffd4cb9" target="_blank">this playlist </a>or below for the perfect soundtrack. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/4XvbwFnuig8P5cM2Gmd8PG?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuapeh-Ulr8DEe5lT3pucsODC-UtZywOEvQu9r5LFzT4_11vYlilRYDuL0rV2y6ApStf5OZz2JDVm1IKrOyERE8nSVqsCBLrXKBAobneghI8aKekQBVgsJsZFgmMmDJ9x7OeloAIy8FMT0wKANnBRTZfLXobUrFIo54e43gIfa2y4hA154Og/s4032/Selfie%20LeFrak.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuapeh-Ulr8DEe5lT3pucsODC-UtZywOEvQu9r5LFzT4_11vYlilRYDuL0rV2y6ApStf5OZz2JDVm1IKrOyERE8nSVqsCBLrXKBAobneghI8aKekQBVgsJsZFgmMmDJ9x7OeloAIy8FMT0wKANnBRTZfLXobUrFIo54e43gIfa2y4hA154Og/w200-h150/Selfie%20LeFrak.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Blissing out to CSH</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>June 17: Brooklyn Magazine Festival at LeFrak Lakeside, Prospect Park, feat. Car Seat Headrest, Sudan Archives, and Mr Twin Sister </b>I was going to regretfully give this inaugural event a pass due to its $60 ticket, but then I entered one of those DO NYC contests and actually won two tickets. Hannah was especially thrilled as she had never seen CSH before and was tantalized by my tales about that time <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/06/levitating-with-car-seat-headrest.html#.Xb345kVKgnU" target="_blank">they blew the roof off Webster Hall</a> a few years ago.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> I was also curious to see how the more synth-based sound displayed on their last album, Making A Door Less Open, would translate to the stage. </span></span><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We took the train to Parkside Avenue, one of my old stomping grounds, but instead of heading to 379, a limestone building where I lived after college, we turned right and headed into Prospect Park. Through a combination of signage, Google maps, and following the crowd, we made our way to the venue, a new addition to the area, having opened in 2013. After a minor hitch at security, when Hannah had to hide her metal water bottle near the gate as it was prohibited, our tickets were scanned and we were drawn towards the sounds of Mr Twin Sister, who were already on stage. Food and drink were on our minds, however, so we let their electro grooves be a background to an expensive but tasty burger and fries and a refreshing cocktail. For a first-time event, everything seemed quite well organized from the picnic tables to the reams of porta-potties. <br /><br />The DJ mix between acts wasn’t quite catching the vibe, with an aggressive beat-driven blend, but at least it showed off the sound system, which was excellent. Just as we finished eating, Sudan Archives took the stage in a dazzling emerald outfit that had Grace Jones in its DNA and we joined the small throng in front of the stage. I had been wanting to see this project of Brittney Parks since her debut EP from Stones Throw dropped in my inbox in <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/09/record-roundup-siren-songs.html">2017</a> and she impressed from the first note. A violinist, singer, songwriter, and producer, Parks pulls strains of West African music into her blend of ultra-modern hip hop and R&B. Performing as a duo with a synth player/percussionist, she commanded the stage, whether ripping off runs on her violin or just singing. Her music has grown edgier over the years and I loved all the sharp angles and emotions. We got a nice preview of her next album, the just-released Natural Brown Prom Queen, including Selfish Soul, with its questing violin line. The album is fantastic, too, completely paying off the deposit she made at LeFrak. </span><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><font face="helvetica"><br /></font></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVdWAsbcIG19PdmHjTckY-TDMXOtliYAs1jeBvbulx77_n4k_1_UWL23IiOctsRLURvBLx1RIoUe8NEzD4EZ-RwDmcfgBSn0iOYt4eSS-uUrBEIINUZ9VxrskA8OgUwcJpVME_6jomY6Fj5tnXRLrpFMbCh_tCZyz1qC-UXSOs30jLa0GAQ/s2825/Sudan%20Archives.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2119" data-original-width="2825" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVdWAsbcIG19PdmHjTckY-TDMXOtliYAs1jeBvbulx77_n4k_1_UWL23IiOctsRLURvBLx1RIoUe8NEzD4EZ-RwDmcfgBSn0iOYt4eSS-uUrBEIINUZ9VxrskA8OgUwcJpVME_6jomY6Fj5tnXRLrpFMbCh_tCZyz1qC-UXSOs30jLa0GAQ/w375-h282/Sudan%20Archives.jpg" width="375" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sudan Archives at LeFrak Lakeside</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">People were streaming in throughout the set but the plaza was still only about half-full by the time CSH took the stage, giving some context to the ticket giveaway. But everyone who came seemed devoted to CSH and the crowd tightened up as they launched into the first song. It was immediately clear that they had lost none of the fire I saw on stage in 2016, although the energy was a little different on songs where leader Will Toledo put down his guitar and let guitarist Ethan Ives and the keyboard player take the lead. This gave him the chance to launch into some choreographed movements, adding a more formal body language to his already arresting stage presence. At one point he showed solidarity with the few semi-furries in the audience, donning a bear’s head in which to perform - even that couldn’t dim his light. The band was tight, too, with drummer Andrew Katz simultaneously holding everything together and propelling it furiously forward. Still one of the best live bands on the planet.</span><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wapa4quYjsc" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We left on lightened feet, found Hannah’s water bottle, and gave a nod of gratitude to DO NYC for the tickets and Brooklyn Magazine for conceiving an excellent event that will hopefully return next year. </span><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEc9yS0GnDGF_UeMfqa7S9uKtgrqztNW2R1BK9RDfkEaVq_vU-mIcgEABjf6CE59uFyckAEXniYO2W3Jq8P6CGgfG1Qr6zIuXKyhXAdAw8tA7twuJgeuqhetyPuAmOHCsiN0S3uTyPimzL0Cbz-5iUQNVr7zzo4xkeipnydihlGrQUSGOMw/s4032/Selfie%20Summerstage.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEc9yS0GnDGF_UeMfqa7S9uKtgrqztNW2R1BK9RDfkEaVq_vU-mIcgEABjf6CE59uFyckAEXniYO2W3Jq8P6CGgfG1Qr6zIuXKyhXAdAw8tA7twuJgeuqhetyPuAmOHCsiN0S3uTyPimzL0Cbz-5iUQNVr7zzo4xkeipnydihlGrQUSGOMw/w200-h150/Selfie%20Summerstage.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Glowing with Patrick Watson</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>July 2: Central Park Summerstage feat. Patrick Watson with the Attacca String Quartet, Elisapie, and La Force </b>This was our first time at this iconic series since 2014, when we saw Beck give an <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/07/beck-central-park-shuffle.html" target="_blank">incredible show</a> with the added bonus of an opening set by The GOASTT. So it felt a little like a homecoming with the layout of the stage and amenities feeling deeply familiar. It was a nice vibe, too, with everyone from families of tourists with giant FAO Schwarz bags to dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers chilling and ready for an interesting experience. </span><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As Watson is from Canada, they had organized a lineup of northern imports including La Force and Elisapie. First up was food, though, with a decent of slightly dry chicken Caesar wrap (and a vegetarian version for Hannah) and some canned hard seltzer or cider, which we enjoyed sitting on the bleachers. While we ate, we were treated to a diverting French-language short film as we tried to dodge the sun’s laser rays. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ariel Engle, who performs as La Force both solo and with Broken Social Scene, was up next and, while she has a beautiful voice, was rarely more than pleasant. Covering Technotronic's Pump Up The Jam showed spunk and livened up the gathering crowd, however, and when she sings with Watson on his new EP, Better In The Shade, it's pure magic. Elisapie, an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit">Inuk</a> artist who sings in English, French, and Inuktitut, was more distinctive, creating dense webs of sound to hold her dark soprano. Her best songs - many of which are on her 2018 album, The Ballad Of The Runaway Girl - mesmerize with a ritualistic power.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;">When Watson took the stage, the entire atmosphere changed. His stage setup helped, with his signature upright piano surrounded by the Attacca players and an array of candle-like floor lamps encircling them all. His voice was as lithe and limber as it was the last time I saw him a decade ago and he had the same relaxed charm, as if his way of immersing us in his all-encompassing ballads was no big deal.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;"> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qdUC-2POGus" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;">He was joined by La Force on some songs, and even a ballerina, but nothing could take the focus off of his songs and singing, all beautifully supported by the Attacca and a sensitive rhythm section. Whether in the park or a club, Watson creates his own effulgent atmosphere that everyone should experience. We floated toward Fifth Avenue with the crowd, trying to extend the dream state to our journey home.</span><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTd1TwCuMnI5AS_7U_bOU4-8O43bCVR9mB2Q-ctMIAq5aXSuVxkanCyTdpVEEXeSooaHD8-Av4TK64VrCsyxfrzQP14cP9ZLd3l-BvFxMHbA--s3P-2Xh_Toe4lpX1CcX2DM6qjeqbluQHC674oilWSkR0udF_dLrGMmCOoPcuNKSEXuMBw/s3619/Selfie%20Wagner.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2557" data-original-width="3619" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTd1TwCuMnI5AS_7U_bOU4-8O43bCVR9mB2Q-ctMIAq5aXSuVxkanCyTdpVEEXeSooaHD8-Av4TK64VrCsyxfrzQP14cP9ZLd3l-BvFxMHbA--s3P-2Xh_Toe4lpX1CcX2DM6qjeqbluQHC674oilWSkR0udF_dLrGMmCOoPcuNKSEXuMBw/w200-h141/Selfie%20Wagner.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">With Nicole Atkins and other <br />landmarks</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>July 7: River & Blues Festival, Wagner Park, feat. Nicole Atkins and Levi </b>As we trekked down to the southern tip of Manhattan, memories of </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">the late, lamented River To River festival came to mind, specifically when we saw <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2010/12/we-are-2-live-crew-year-in-live-music.html#.YzmwTezMI1I" target="_blank">Burning Spear in Rockefeller Park in 2010</a>. But this was also a long time coming, as I've been trying to get in front of a stage with Nicole Atkins on it since 2014, when I fell for Slow Phaser, one of the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-2010s-anearfuls-first-decade.html" target="_blank">best albums of the 2010s</a>. </span><p></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IqKFKjfVVdzNvJjr5xX83-wCjwLPEvmuU9pdSJiB4GPy1qP5h96o1MrdfEHUpagZZt52_SrO72rbx0Jrnv8s_mIcUkvnK6idzNwP2IVBoPA3V0pxJauuP4y16k_L_z-Q34Ltew2np6Qz47RvXuTBvRd3s3tn6SfWkBIV5yXhf_2blDZnVw/s4032/Nicole%20Atkins.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IqKFKjfVVdzNvJjr5xX83-wCjwLPEvmuU9pdSJiB4GPy1qP5h96o1MrdfEHUpagZZt52_SrO72rbx0Jrnv8s_mIcUkvnK6idzNwP2IVBoPA3V0pxJauuP4y16k_L_z-Q34Ltew2np6Qz47RvXuTBvRd3s3tn6SfWkBIV5yXhf_2blDZnVw/w368-h276/Nicole%20Atkins.jpg" width="368" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nicole Atkins & band at Wagner Park</span><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When we got to the venue, however, we quickly learned there was no food or drink to be had on the site, so after collecting a free t-shirt, we hustled back to Broadway and found some takeout sushi. The park was filling up with a mellow crowd, but we found a spot to eat while DJ Susan Z. Anthony helped build excitement for the show. Atkins soon came out to welcome us and introduce <a href="https://www.instagram.com/levimusique/">Levi</a>, an English singer and songwriter, who was soon mesmerizing us with her shimmering electric guitar and limpid voice. An unexpected delight - and I hope to hear more from her soon. <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sspC5YJHYDM" title="Levi Live in Wagner Park" width="213"></iframe></div>After Levi's short set, Atkins took the stage with her three-piece band (Mickey Burgess, guitar; Matthew Wilson, bass; Danny Banks, drums) and gave us a pure blast of her blues/soul/pop/rock at full throttle. She presented fine overview of her career, from slow ballads to uptempo numbers, engaging the crowd and letting her band shine. Levi joined her to sing backup from time to time and they made a heavenly blend of voices as the sun set behind the stage. <br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O-BMNNFW9b0" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />It's a rare thing indeed when years of anticipation lead to your expectations being not only met but exceeded - but that's what happened in Wagner Park. We treated ourselves to drastically overpriced soft ice cream on the way back to the subway, giving our perfect evening a sweet finish.<br /><br /></span><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmzeYRE0JumWqC6WlGVCX0riN_n2VrXa41p57BSknZA6DkrEagvt748SfIOGp86zEBGoFWfPuFwdx9Jv2EehAyKk-7U1nuv5lYUFrQINLe_YKsAFR7KA8dU6HTNB5wc-0dPG4zXno_9H99kT-G5zb68VCYP-D8ritUKRVURNMUSOX1xTBYQ/s4032/Selfie%20BRIC.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmzeYRE0JumWqC6WlGVCX0riN_n2VrXa41p57BSknZA6DkrEagvt748SfIOGp86zEBGoFWfPuFwdx9Jv2EehAyKk-7U1nuv5lYUFrQINLe_YKsAFR7KA8dU6HTNB5wc-0dPG4zXno_9H99kT-G5zb68VCYP-D8ritUKRVURNMUSOX1xTBYQ/w200-h150/Selfie%20BRIC.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Crumb aftermath</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>July 9: BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn, feat. Crumb and Slauson Malone </b>It was four years ago, almost to the day, when we last made our way to the Lena Horne bandshell in Prospect Park to see Natalie Prass (come back, we miss you!). Just as that night checked a box for Hannah that I already marked <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-surprising-natalie-prass.html" target="_blank">years earlier</a>, this would finally be her chance to see Crumb, a band we've both enjoyed since their debut EP in 2016. Having had a time getting tickets to see them in clubs, I wasn't surprised to see a long line gathering by the time we got into the park. We were surrounded by a riotous atmosphere as the locals were hosting several birthday BBQs, with music blaring and elaborate tents, which got us warmed up as we waited. </span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMTOyOmrukSUCjcntDZoAuMklC7fDAhvXO3IO4GFExk9p1DMyiAqWTADgVWxhWmzZC2UHAAZJKDKN-2CDN_dHDX3iSpdp5Dbd3J3P3e3r_o2E4mhy4a9S4S4DYk-ZFx4rtoVpjD8gGFylh-WJgNpGpSZCzKobgJ9T47wCwPQJgq4qGRgycA/s3410/Crumb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2382" data-original-width="3410" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMTOyOmrukSUCjcntDZoAuMklC7fDAhvXO3IO4GFExk9p1DMyiAqWTADgVWxhWmzZC2UHAAZJKDKN-2CDN_dHDX3iSpdp5Dbd3J3P3e3r_o2E4mhy4a9S4S4DYk-ZFx4rtoVpjD8gGFylh-WJgNpGpSZCzKobgJ9T47wCwPQJgq4qGRgycA/w369-h258/Crumb.jpg" width="369" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Crumb in full flight in Prospect Park</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Once in the compound, things were as we remembered, with rows of chairs, multiple concessions, and a great selection of food and drink. We found seats and loaded up on chow, which was delicious, especially those ridiculous ice cream sandwiches. I had done some listening and research on the opening act, learning that Slauson Malone was an alias for Jasper Marsalis, son of Wynton, and someone with an experimental bent pursuing R&B, electronic music, hip hop, jazz, etc. He was formerly in hip hop-adjacent production team Standing On The Corner, but what I heard of the new work was scattered enough that I still wasn't sure what to expect. He turned out to be a riveting presence, provocatively angry at times, mournfully vulnerable at others, and while definitely a post-Frank Ocean artist, also stunningly original. His band for the show included a bass clarinet, a tuba, and finally a cello played with spectacular flair by Nicholas John Wetherell. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIPYGzF3bNmGttK-RlnfF-GS4d7GFyiftABk1w2hecpNYoVbJKItNuTEq6DSGnbLFnv9Kc-YUObfyFigbFGcr_NMj6oTEqJNKNLzuBMllR1MvwMQdLUIG0PzRBgJqhr3DrtY2jqMTJZ7ySkk04CnjlfKoyvYbKeqRo945rnl8Mw13iWwQuqw/s2870/Slauson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2870" data-original-width="2507" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIPYGzF3bNmGttK-RlnfF-GS4d7GFyiftABk1w2hecpNYoVbJKItNuTEq6DSGnbLFnv9Kc-YUObfyFigbFGcr_NMj6oTEqJNKNLzuBMllR1MvwMQdLUIG0PzRBgJqhr3DrtY2jqMTJZ7ySkk04CnjlfKoyvYbKeqRo945rnl8Mw13iWwQuqw/w241-h275/Slauson.jpg" width="241" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-2t-FaCA1Lz-tMHkbqKqknyWJn3Ov_fD5cNH5lm7K-_i6BkgY-4oDI08R7iU1c9DbEPhks0pemKss97nHo4_XpMyhfSNFV5CTB3hZwGFoV_sXbp7_JL1YT9Y11AGsCdfDLopDdM3a0xOUwqgyj2cK9F1sgSaCBYxLjVAyEp-kcG5Fq_ovA/s1831/Slauson%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1831" data-original-width="1340" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-2t-FaCA1Lz-tMHkbqKqknyWJn3Ov_fD5cNH5lm7K-_i6BkgY-4oDI08R7iU1c9DbEPhks0pemKss97nHo4_XpMyhfSNFV5CTB3hZwGFoV_sXbp7_JL1YT9Y11AGsCdfDLopDdM3a0xOUwqgyj2cK9F1sgSaCBYxLjVAyEp-kcG5Fq_ovA/w199-h272/Slauson%202.jpg" width="199" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Slauson Malone (Jasper Marsalis, left, and looming large) in Prospect Park</span></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marsalis led the group with some of the most striking acoustic guitar playing I've heard in years, past the point of virtuosity to what sounded like total freedom. The audience seemed caught off guard at first - and some of the more explosive moments kept them there - but I think Slauson Malone made a lot of new fans that night, including me. <br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wepkgj6uHlQ" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />As good as Crumb's albums are, their woozy, jazz-inflected psych has always sounded best in concert and they have now ascended to an even more mind-blowing level of road-hardened grandeur and power. By the time they got on stage, the venue seemed at full capacity, making it the largest audience I've seen them with (9,000 vs 200), but they played to every member of the crowd. Front-woman Lila Ramani has reached new heights of confidence, too, turning on her charisma and leading the band with her guitar. <br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tzysk1zX2qg" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />Throughout the show, they displayed incredible levels of dynamic control, traversing the gap between delicate filigrees and pile-driving riffage with shocking ease. The lighting design, including giant flowers that opened up and changed colors, added to the spectacle immensely. It was one of those nights that levitates you and turns the crowd into a single unit of devotion. At the end of the show I realized that they have been holding back throughout their career. Either they have to somehow get this energy onto one of their records or just release a live album from this tour. How about both?<br /></span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzY_gNlkRrQclzOzRtxRbEC0tioSUvcfLkhnIOsOVIEfhVSRwn9JB0cJg0U2R8ae_VUU-Zr_tO0fWtEYZinsrH_zgZitjDNTkGpsMBfPpIRvxNzQ1BU3b5-NRPBJ5aTy_3T5TV4GEwcfJqpOeblRwyQzmQHW3dTj2xZXq_f81Wddm61JmEA/s4032/Selfie%20BRIC%202.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzY_gNlkRrQclzOzRtxRbEC0tioSUvcfLkhnIOsOVIEfhVSRwn9JB0cJg0U2R8ae_VUU-Zr_tO0fWtEYZinsrH_zgZitjDNTkGpsMBfPpIRvxNzQ1BU3b5-NRPBJ5aTy_3T5TV4GEwcfJqpOeblRwyQzmQHW3dTj2xZXq_f81Wddm61JmEA/w200-h150/Selfie%20BRIC%202.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Post-Kronos step & repeat</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>July 14: BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn feat. Kronos Quartet and Roomful Of Teeth </b>The scene on the way into the park was less vibrant on a Thursday night and we didn't have to wait on line at all on our second visit to Prospect Park. Not because there wasn't a crowd but because I had scored us a pair of Friends tickets, which gave us VIP entry and access to the coveted Friend's Tent, which had a nice vibe and picnic tables for a more civilized meal. This all seemed appropriate for this high-minded concert, which promised a "live documentary" looking back at 50 years of the Kronos Quartet. This was a group that played an important role in my involvement in contemporary composition, gaining my attention when they performed an arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze in 1986 on an album also included Peter Sculthorpe and Conlon Nancarrow, among others.</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjipwti37RVtGWgakJM_fAOVHVKGHriU_WNb15PQ-m10ZTLRzRi4vgwO60k5shRvP2OUC0uGX6zGPJMR9nsNHMjf4n5DGoiHbxsthpP7l0H8_EnBRieue1YyLDnvsO6Wc0-k31CQgjVlFDQOAWKb0bErZ8p8xyICXvDxhbdONeqif6knR0VPA/s3755/Kronos.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2699" data-original-width="3755" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjipwti37RVtGWgakJM_fAOVHVKGHriU_WNb15PQ-m10ZTLRzRi4vgwO60k5shRvP2OUC0uGX6zGPJMR9nsNHMjf4n5DGoiHbxsthpP7l0H8_EnBRieue1YyLDnvsO6Wc0-k31CQgjVlFDQOAWKb0bErZ8p8xyICXvDxhbdONeqif6knR0VPA/w379-h272/Kronos.jpg" width="379" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Kronos Quartet with Jimi Hendrix in Prospect Park</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">First up was <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/08/record-roundup-vox-humana.html#.Yzh4zuzMI1I">Roomful</a>, the vocal ensemble led by composer/singer <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/05/record-roundup-song-forms.html#.Yzh48-zMI1I">Caroline Shaw</a>, who performed with the added bonus of genius drummer <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/10/record-roundup-plugged-in.html#.Yzh5QOzMI1I">Matt Evans</a>, who lent extra dimension to their performances of works by Wally Gunn. The final work, sans Evans, was Shaw's The Isle, aka "our version of Shakespeare in the Park," a substantial three-part piece based on the Bard's final play, The Tempest. There were echoes of plainchant blending with guttural noises in one section and the "full fathom five" section had a folk-like shapeliness reminiscent of Benjamin Britten. The Isle premiered in 2016 - no idea why they haven't recorded it yet!<br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WfUkQB3qu6c" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />A Thousand Thoughts, the Kronos retrospective, had filmmaker Sam Green narrating a history of the group while they played excerpts of signature works, sometimes in collaboration with those on the screen. This was especially effective when they jammed along with Tanya Taqag, who drove them hard into the outer limits. There were many moments of insight, both musical ("Do we play what you've written, or do we play the voice that we're listening to?" - founder David Herrington to Steve Reich, who had questions about their approach) and personal (After his child died, Herrington noted, "There was no sound inside. Musicians rely on a sound inside.") and plenty of great music from around the world.<br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mteC7VSfIiU" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />Truly like a PBS American Masters come to life, this was an absorbing and moving evening and perfectly presented, ending with a well-deserved standing ovation. "Great concert, right?" asked an eight-year-old boy who had been listening outside the fence. "Absolutely!" I told him before we headed through the night-drenched park to the subway.<br /><br /></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRC4UMeB9CHmK2XCMzIf09K6F6jAXWS7Uw_yGQGTC71Kcl8Iv9pJK1IfHKMGVtLBRcVynuB3SOkSnGadDMnwY35kaiNeFClpRRnYpgj5rNO8xeAVI_YW8Tt8EI4cEGdJiBLH3-Klo5fyv4tr1DExj46ITij6Hnh6SdBMjB0W-Ea31w3DTQZw/s4032/Selfie%20Gowanus.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRC4UMeB9CHmK2XCMzIf09K6F6jAXWS7Uw_yGQGTC71Kcl8Iv9pJK1IfHKMGVtLBRcVynuB3SOkSnGadDMnwY35kaiNeFClpRRnYpgj5rNO8xeAVI_YW8Tt8EI4cEGdJiBLH3-Klo5fyv4tr1DExj46ITij6Hnh6SdBMjB0W-Ea31w3DTQZw/w200-h150/Selfie%20Gowanus.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Suited up in Gowanus</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>July 23: Unheard-of//Ensemble, Gowanus Canal </b>This was our second opportunity to hear and see composer Christopher Stark and multimedia artist Zlatko Ćosić's Fire Ecologies from a canoe in the Gowanus, having witnessed an earlier version in September 2021. It was in a slightly different location this year, but we still drove as it's a good distance from any subway. Fortunately, parking was easy on the dead-end street where the Gowanus Dredgers were hosting the performance. </span><p></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Combining footage of nature across the country - including the 2020 wildfires - with music that ranges from pensive to mournful to mysterious, Fire Ecologies has gotten richer and more dynamic. A movement called Infernal Dance, with its emphasis on electronics and rhythm, was especially dazzling. <br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tXxUII23JOc" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />Playing on a floating dock surrounded by canoes, the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/04/2019-first-quarter-report-albums.html?m=0#.YziPJOzMI1J">quintet</a> - Ford Fourqurean (clarinet), Matheus Souza (violin), Erica Dicker (violin), Iva Casian-Lakoš (cello), and Daniel Anastasio (keyboard) - performed with aplomb. Just like last year, the lapping of the water and the meditative task of keeping our canoe from drifting only enhanced the work and prompted reflections on our relationship to our environment, whether in a National Park or an industrial zone. It's a wonderful piece and you can hear it from your own canoe (or on land) when they play it <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fire-ecologies-on-newtown-creek-tickets-418963580347?aff=ALLEVENTS">October 8th on Newtown Creek</a>.<br /><br /><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjppbGF0_vXaqaleyCz2ljexO8h9s3e7JhKHckO5eBWcXJxWtG09riJpMHuTBLpTgug8NLt2ZXKgeMloilkPJ5BBVDtWwIeLwBAr5OCQHNsmq8qk2TTrNp8SHSBrtJaWsYktDbLLPqOAr6PritslaeU9lt7fnzPLk26DZzOsPiAU1oEc0uCHg/s4032/Selfie%20Hudson.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjppbGF0_vXaqaleyCz2ljexO8h9s3e7JhKHckO5eBWcXJxWtG09riJpMHuTBLpTgug8NLt2ZXKgeMloilkPJ5BBVDtWwIeLwBAr5OCQHNsmq8qk2TTrNp8SHSBrtJaWsYktDbLLPqOAr6PritslaeU9lt7fnzPLk26DZzOsPiAU1oEc0uCHg/w200-h150/Selfie%20Hudson.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Post-Michelle Vibes</span></td></tr></tbody></table>July 27: Summer Concerts @ The Wells Fargo Stage, Hudson Yards, feat. Michelle</b> While I've toured The Shed and traversed Hudson Yards on the way to Danny Myer's Porchlight, this was my first time at this particular stage, which is at the foot of the divisive attraction known as The Well. The DJ was already creating a warm vibe when we arrived and there were plenty of places to sit as we wolfed down our food truck fare. Just as in Prospect Park, the ice cream vendor was the true star, serving up a rich treat studded with breakfast cereal. <br /><br />Michelle's music blends R&B, soul, pop, and dance music, a mixture they’ve presented with even more sophistication on their second album, After Dinner We Talk Dreams, which came out earlier this year. While I've been enjoying that album, and it's predecessor, 2018's Heatwave, I was not quite prepared for for their absolute vivacity on stage. The four singers - Sofia D'Angelo, Layla Ku, Emma Lee and Jamee Lockard - harmonized with perfection as they executed dance moves that were choreographed but seemingly casual. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eaIQzbWshS4" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Percussionist Julian Kaufman and bassist Charlie Kilgore were delightful as well as they played everything that wasn't on a backing track. The musical blend was seamless, however, and had the audience grooving from the opening notes. For a captivating hour, the sextet brought us into their circle of friends, a glow we carried with us all the way home. Michelle is <a href="https://www.wearemichelle.com/tour">on tour</a> in the U.S. and Europe for the next few months - catch'em if you can.<br /><br /><b>July 31: Central Park Summerstage, feat. Sons Of Kemet, Makaya McCraven, L'Rain, and Danielle Ponder </b>Hannah took a pass on this second visit to Central Park, but my wife, Karen, came, a wonderful turn of events as we hadn't been to a concert together since January 2020. On our way to the venue, we heard a busker singing a decent rendition of Radiohead's Creep, which turned out to be a strange bit of foreshadowing. There were already a lot of people on the Astroturf, but we found a spot for our blanket - or blankets, as we were expecting friends a little later - and dug into the delicious feast Karen had prepared. <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s5XPmqhRlEA" title="Danielle Ponder Live in Central Park" width="213"></iframe></div>We were expecting a triple bill, but they announced Ponder as a late addition. Any concerns about too much music for one night dissipated as soon as she started singing in her big, soulful voice. Her set had a classic soul feel, except for a nearly operatic take on...Radiohead's Creep. She connected deeply with the song - and with the audience. A former public defender, Ponder's <a href="https://www.futureclassicshop.com/music/danielle-ponder-some-of-us-are-brave-vinyl-lp/?">first album</a> came out last month and I think she has what it takes to go the distance. <br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SH4RvnPemCc" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkcLFvCcmweKZJtGXhbj0ZlKK6mO20d8tJ44MI1pXQQFAGf_-GK9UgMhYZ6fW-RNCYtea1qGhWyNl6TcfLLGY9QBgsX3EyYlohvgpAj6DXhMD_3SFW4XOckY72xtJNqH85RZJBKconbv6BUVVDwe9YHjXgOtLhssm9PVeixO1c1QxISJebQ/s4032/L'Rain.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkcLFvCcmweKZJtGXhbj0ZlKK6mO20d8tJ44MI1pXQQFAGf_-GK9UgMhYZ6fW-RNCYtea1qGhWyNl6TcfLLGY9QBgsX3EyYlohvgpAj6DXhMD_3SFW4XOckY72xtJNqH85RZJBKconbv6BUVVDwe9YHjXgOtLhssm9PVeixO1c1QxISJebQ/w150-h200/L'Rain.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">L'Rain in Central Park</span></td></tr></tbody></table>I had seen Taja Cheek, who performs as L'Rain, a few years ago, opening for Crumb, and was intrigued, even if her set was unfocused. But her 2021 album, <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/02/best-of-2021-electronic.html#.Yzi3w-zMI1I">Fatigue</a>, was mightily impressive, a kaleidoscopic, sometimes overwhelming soundscape, which made me very interested in seeing her again. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There was a very different feel as soon as she started playing, her four-piece band creating a swirl of sound with her arty guitar to the fore, moving by seeming instinct through various sections and suites of sound. Electric Miles came to mind, with that same sense of an artist's vision being realized through the creativity of others. Not only has she made leaps since that night in 2018, she's also moved into a space beyond her last album. If she can capture what went on in Central Park, her next release will be a thing to behold.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/px9D9qCwKbA" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />McCraven is a jazz drummer, composer, and producer and a nexus of activity in Chicago. For all his incredible skill, my favorite project of his was a reimagining of I'm New Here, Gil Scott-Heron's last album, which came out in 2020 as We're New Again. Albums of his own material have left me a little cold, but I had a feeling he could bring it live. And I was not wrong, as he came out of the gate with power and passion, supported by an all-star band including Brandee Younger and Joel Ross on vibes, both of whom took several jaw-dropping solos. McCraven himself was incredible, either driving the band with an unstoppable pulse and precise accents, or taking explosive solos of his own. His new album, In These Times, is seriously good, but hearing the music breathe on stage is yet another thing. He's on an extensive U.S. and European tour in October and November - <a href="https://www.makayamccraven.com/#page-section-62a80fe5d655357142843718">check the dates and make a plan</a>.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MdXTelG3imk" title="Malaya McCraven (Solo/Ending) Live in Central Park" width="213"></iframe></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilybOU9sqvwrpunYpjTe_OU2T9QarPP7jdQ0hCxrI6vHkeizqsgKurvXAkOd76d_mkApKin5__4ximqZky9i1awp-w4Cmcg7vrDhqRS0Mc06WQCBDYgyaRsEUhH-oYVryOMeZybBaXupbs63KREecTkUUa4KgjJF2O-LM_nXQrJKpDltCjnQ/s4032/McCraven%20Solo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilybOU9sqvwrpunYpjTe_OU2T9QarPP7jdQ0hCxrI6vHkeizqsgKurvXAkOd76d_mkApKin5__4ximqZky9i1awp-w4Cmcg7vrDhqRS0Mc06WQCBDYgyaRsEUhH-oYVryOMeZybBaXupbs63KREecTkUUa4KgjJF2O-LM_nXQrJKpDltCjnQ/w300-h400/McCraven%20Solo.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Makaya McCraven leads from the kit in Central Park</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I am that kind of nerd who got more interested in Sons Of Kemet after Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood started working with their drummer, Tom Skinner, in their new side-project(?), The Smile. His work is mind-expanding on <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YzjKBuzMI1K">their album</a> and I was eager to hear what he could do in a freer context. Besides Skinner, Sons Of Kemet also includes Shabaka Hutchings on sax, Theon Cross on tuba and flute, and Edward Wakili-Hick, also on drums. Like McCraven, I've listened to their albums and not been entirely drawn in, but as night fell and the families with young children melted away, they made an instantaneous connection with my body, heart, and mind. <br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Q5oBmAe6Jc" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />After a brief intro by Cross on flute, Hutchings started to blow and the drummers began creating patterns, sounding like a section of percussionists rather than two kit players. Then, Cross started wailing on his tuba(!), setting a foundation only to destroy it with seismic charges. It was collective improvisation with a singular purpose and seemed as if it would go on forever. </span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha96aDz2uRYUYzO95tEgYVz9D4zmZ2wsDOMx4MZ7w0GUuTNsGjYHmgMbRXb6wzhKgDsLq7QJfx04Y4q6VrtqO-Sgexhsu4uVs_scnnh923956Lj_9_jeHuPvHbVRlzZYpdIGehSOI7XLmh89xvL-jsdVI1xXTVbgI9BoRgphd7RJ1TPj9Kzw/s3559/Kemet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2669" data-original-width="3559" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha96aDz2uRYUYzO95tEgYVz9D4zmZ2wsDOMx4MZ7w0GUuTNsGjYHmgMbRXb6wzhKgDsLq7QJfx04Y4q6VrtqO-Sgexhsu4uVs_scnnh923956Lj_9_jeHuPvHbVRlzZYpdIGehSOI7XLmh89xvL-jsdVI1xXTVbgI9BoRgphd7RJ1TPj9Kzw/w400-h300/Kemet.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Sons Of Kemet in the Midst in Central Park</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They broke up the set with solo spots for all the players, but what stuck was that collective Dionysian throw-down that had the crowd moving muscles and bones that might have atrophied in the last two years - or that they never knew they had. It was cathartic and exhausting in all the best ways. One benefit of having our friends there is that they had their car with them and gave my limp body a ride home as my mind continued to percolate and process.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pAkQJ74cZ28" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />Sons Of Kemet's latest tour closed "this chapter of the band’s life for the foreseeable future" so I'm sorry for anyone who never got to see them. You can catch Skinner in The Smile and <a href="http://www.shabakahutchings.com/">Hutchings</a>, <a href="https://theoncross.com/roots">Cross</a>, and <a href="https://nokculturalensemble.bandcamp.com/">Wakili-Hick</a> have plenty going on so you can trace the threads of this inspired band.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tXSB0GqgWSI" title="Sons Of Kemet (Theon Cross Solo) Live In Central Park" width="213"></iframe></div><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIFjy9fKCi29CvHoViRaEpkpKhQeuzQPwelJlObMy581G-8QGZYDiZI_6puTVZENXWQyhOaPagtTLJN8OUCd7UleiJAzB_qx2spGzvZf8QA2sHa9miD7t9KnKjziTr7fb1aAfCDC38Fh3SlFxoJi-WUX23uKCU-fOHCsd37rx0Nus0NVUDA/s4032/Selfie%20Tanglewood.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIFjy9fKCi29CvHoViRaEpkpKhQeuzQPwelJlObMy581G-8QGZYDiZI_6puTVZENXWQyhOaPagtTLJN8OUCd7UleiJAzB_qx2spGzvZf8QA2sHa9miD7t9KnKjziTr7fb1aAfCDC38Fh3SlFxoJi-WUX23uKCU-fOHCsd37rx0Nus0NVUDA/w200-h150/Selfie%20Tanglewood.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All smiles in Ozawa Hall</span></td></tr></tbody></table>August 7: Festival Of Contemporary Music, Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA, feat. Tanglewood Music Center Fellows, New Fromm Players, and Guests</b> This is the site of many of my first musical experiences, whether the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pete Seeger, or that time my brother had to take me to see Seals & Crofts in 1973. Hannah is also an old hand as we used to go to these Sunday morning chamber concerts with some regularity <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2010/12/we-are-2-live-crew-year-in-live-music.html#.YzmwTezMI1I">over a decade ago</a>. So when the stars aligned between us being in the Berkshires and Tanglewood being open, we did not hesitate. <br /><br />Ozawa Hall was as gorgeous as always and, with most people wearing masks and the back wall open, we felt comfortable being inside. The program was typical for one of these events, with a great deal of variety and stunning playing from either fellows or guests. From Carlos Simon's string quartet, Warmth From Other Suns (2020), which opened the concert with pithy movements as concise as pop songs, to George Lewis' Born Obbligato (2013), a 25-minute piece for seven players with plenty of bright, busy swagger, it was a journey and a half by the time we left after noon. We also heard a set of Shakespeare Sonnets (2017) by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, a fragment of John Harbison's Piano Sonata No. 2 (2001), and a spectacular world premiere of Andreia Pinto Correia's Cântico (2022) for solo violin, played by Yevgeny Kutik as if he were drawing it out of the air - and his own soul.</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPOQhQWI-3jln6LVsRUtGEtfk7F76h5RAnM4hMVhDJF9W0dkIWdocczNiGiU1NcB6BVsNFYoioYAf8cSo3rMWsOzgkvsDH_VcIBh6-zZMOa0GtFVzoVKgLq4PSViaz5YLDfqdAc7MhQOx7HOvngQCr-aidkGgBGILNhlSSRFYsZ783yEpvg/s3474/George%20Lewis%20Etc.jpg" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2259" data-original-width="3474" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPOQhQWI-3jln6LVsRUtGEtfk7F76h5RAnM4hMVhDJF9W0dkIWdocczNiGiU1NcB6BVsNFYoioYAf8cSo3rMWsOzgkvsDH_VcIBh6-zZMOa0GtFVzoVKgLq4PSViaz5YLDfqdAc7MhQOx7HOvngQCr-aidkGgBGILNhlSSRFYsZ783yEpvg/w400-h260/George%20Lewis%20Etc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">George Lewis (right) takes the ovation with the players in Ozawa Hall</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Andile Khumalo's <a href="https://youtu.be/Op4sPKx01Lc">Cry </a><a href="https://youtu.be/Op4sPKx01Lc">Out </a>(2009) also impressed with its wit and originality, from the styrofoam percussion at the opening to a memorable plucked piano note near the end, and Jesse Jone's Dark Is Yonder Town (2020) was a spellbinding bit of folk-lieder for tenor and guitar, performed to perfection by Matthew Corcoran and Dieter Hennings. It was a rich feast of music that sent us back home energized by the musical invention on display.<br /><br /><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylxfaSfOeHuAYPHd8ZzpDyGqmzg4qkKbVVW3QzIrdZkMmXmRDGQkUeR5L5Gm9O6BWUgAsA-VSGKWk8VIZyUugnweoy6BRksmC5Xc5C62gYh5phYpD-XHoE93_kFrf8sUtnH5H6laKdVPaa3_4PcSH5WRBVuyWl9rfjtKpQK5UOiSd52R4JQ/s4032/Selfie%20Indie%201.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylxfaSfOeHuAYPHd8ZzpDyGqmzg4qkKbVVW3QzIrdZkMmXmRDGQkUeR5L5Gm9O6BWUgAsA-VSGKWk8VIZyUugnweoy6BRksmC5Xc5C62gYh5phYpD-XHoE93_kFrf8sUtnH5H6laKdVPaa3_4PcSH5WRBVuyWl9rfjtKpQK5UOiSd52R4JQ/w200-h150/Selfie%20Indie%201.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tourists at home in Rock Center</span></td></tr></tbody></table>September 17: IndiePlaza Festival, Rockefeller Center, feat. Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Automatic, Claud, Horsegirl, Yaya Bey, Mary Lattimore, They Hate Change, The Muckers, Sofie Royer, King Hannah, Anxious, The Bobby Lees, and Dazy</b> We bookended our summer with another first-time event, except we didn't have to win tickets to this one as it was "inclusive and free to all New Yorkers," according to Rough Trade and Rockefeller Center, who co-created it. While some were skeptical when Rough Trade moved from Williamsburg to midtown, I felt it was a fresh idea - but even I didn't envision them hosting concerts at the Rainbow Room or throwing a party on the plaza where the giant Christmas tree will soon be erected.<br /><br />IndiePlaza was a two-day festival and the lineup for Saturday was incredibly well-curated, with several artists I've been wanting to see and others I was happy to discover through my <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Jk1YDlDEiFYYR6XGiG5S8?si=5ca2b429b45e4c0a">pre-show research</a>. It was thanks to that preparation that we showed up bright and early to see Dazy, a blurred and tuneful indie-guitar band from Richmond, VA, making their NYC debut at noon. When we entered at the South Plaza, we were greeted by cheery tents staffed by even cheerier people, whether reps from Rough Trade and <a href="https://bandshirtday.com/">Band Shirt Day</a>, silkscreen printers making tote bags and t-shirts on the spot, and other vendors.<br /><br />The stage was centrally located, near the skating rink, with a layout for the audience made somewhat awkward by the rostrum for the Christmas Tree, which was fenced off. This made for a fairly small area just in front of the stage with a long, empty gap behind us as we took our spot among the few other early birds. Dazy were worth the effort, too, well-drilled, but not too tight, and with a friendly stage presence. Memorable songs abounded, especially Rollercoaster Ride, one of their latest. Looking forward to their official debut, which comes out October 28th. Based on the enthusiastic response to their set, I'm sure I won't be alone.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GxPc3QU0QNw" title="Dazy Live At Rockefeller Center" width="213"></iframe></div>The Bobby Lees are a bit conventional and Anxious has one vocalist who's a bit too growly for my taste so we took some time away from the stage to explore the crafts at the Band Shirt tent. Yes, I said crafts! We were given a rainbow's worth of permanent markers and blank 7-inch sleeves for us to decorate. I took the opportunity to finally make some protection for my rare copy of Pay To Cum, the Bad Brains debut single, and commissioned Hannah to do the same for my copy of Happenings Ten Years Time Ago by The Yardbirds. In a flight of fancy, I also made a cover for <a href="https://miscelana.com/2022/01/30/the-first-james-bond-song-underneath-the-mango-tree/">Underneath The Mango Tree</a>, Monty Norman's Jamaican-style folk song from the Dr. No soundtrack, which I used to sing to my kids. No 45 of it exists, but if it did, I totally think it should have my Three Friends characters (Hippo, Rhino, and Elephant) on the cover.<br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghF3VUGrUVebV81U65htw76tYEL5pRNDMhW-Weh6Bak2xz15ZmN5FwH3Ln_kuAVtW_jVJsmZHdIh1CEcaZ1FA4DAWq1nt3SzSTC0nXMNt2G1hNmQdUcodHaae60XvoqqMLhyfMWek-BsvmDbgNyysncAz-bfEvNsJd7rIilticFP5joy_d6A/s2266/7-Inch%20Covers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1823" data-original-width="2266" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghF3VUGrUVebV81U65htw76tYEL5pRNDMhW-Weh6Bak2xz15ZmN5FwH3Ln_kuAVtW_jVJsmZHdIh1CEcaZ1FA4DAWq1nt3SzSTC0nXMNt2G1hNmQdUcodHaae60XvoqqMLhyfMWek-BsvmDbgNyysncAz-bfEvNsJd7rIilticFP5joy_d6A/w400-h321/7-Inch%20Covers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Custom covers!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: left;">We also flipped through the crates at the Rough Trade tent and I picked up an exclusive pressing of Horsegirl's fantastic debut, since they were doing a signing later in the day. Then it was time for lunch, but we found food options to be exceedingly limited. The pizza truck was not yet up and running and the Other Half Brewery and City Winery locales only offered beer and wine along with seating. So we fired up Google and ordered sandwiches and tater tots to pick up from a nearby Melt, which gave us an excuse to head into the Rough Trade store and use their photo booth. That activity was one of several on an IndiePlaza bingo card that we filled in with enthusiasm. Lunch in hand, we went back to Other Half's beer garden, where Hannah had a draft and we both took advantage of the free water.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/usEguQNq1SA" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />Just as we finished, it was time to get back to the stage to catch Liverpool's King Hannah, whose 2022 debut, I'm Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me, I've listened to a number of times, enjoying its sepulchral and hypnotic electric folk-blues. Their dark, mesmeric tunes, which also have a touch of Portishead in their makeup, took on a surreal edge in the sun struck plaza, with reflections bouncing off the surrounding buildings like shards from Craig Whittle's guitar and Hannah Merrick's intoned vocals casting a spell. A 30-minute set was just long enough for them to create their mood, but I look forward to seeing them again and really immersing myself in their sound.<br /><br />While the stage was being reset, we explored the North Plaza, which had a booths run by the Williamsburg School of Music, where you could form a band and learn a song in 15 minutes, Vivobarefoot, where you could have your feet scanned (the one bingo item we didn't check off), and Death By Audio and Landscape, both displaying musical gear. When we returned, Sofie Royer was nearly ready to begin her show. She's an interesting case, having established herself as a tastemaker par excellence as a Boiler Room DJ, producer, and compiler of Sofie's SOS Tape in 2016, an up-to-the-minute collection of electronic hip hop and R&B, and now making her way as an artist herself. When I <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/78k6q3902ecz31w/Sofie%20And%20The%20Art%20of%20the%20Mix%20_%20Mass%20Appeal.pdf?dl=0">interviewed her for Mass Appeal</a> in 2016 about the "art of the mix," she was studying at the University Of Vienna and I didn't get an inkling of this latest phase of her career.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hI3XX-Pv9wg" title="Sofie Royer Live At Rockefeller Center" width="213"></iframe></div>That said, as <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-hip-hop-and-r.html">devoted</a> as I was to the SOS mix, especially for introducing me to Charlotte Dos Santos, I wasn't totally feeling Sofie's debut, Cult Survivor, which came out in 2020. However, newer songs were more promising and I was curious to see how she would bring them to the stage. The answer turned out to be a little uneven, as she seemed unsure whether to present herself as a pop-pixie or a Eurocentric chanteuse. The latter persona suits her better, so she charmed at the keyboard or when playing the violin yet felt a little out of place when just dancing. But the songs were an appealing mix of glam, Berlin theater songs, and electro pop and now that her new album, Harlequin, is out they sound even better. Perhaps, for the moment anyway, where Sofie truly shines is in the studio - nothing wrong with that. Definitely hit play on Harlequin and if you catch her <a href="https://toroymoi.com/#tour">opening for Toro Y Moi</a> let me know what you think. And pay no attention to the guy in the clown nose - at least we tried not to!<br /><br />We dashed back to the South Plaza for the Horsegirl record-signing and heard they were stuck in traffic - welcome to New York! But we were at the front of the line, which grew rapidly, so we kept our spot and got their signatures, which were as quirky and artistic as their music. One of them asked if Rough Trade gave me the record. "No," I answered, "I bought it..." "What a scam!" she exclaimed. "Hey, I was going to buy it anyway," I told them, "<a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-best-of-2022-so-far.html#.Yznr7-zMI1I">It's one of the best of the year!</a> Plus, you benefit from the sale, right?" They couldn't argue with that, and eagerly turned to greet the next autograph-seeker.<br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUo26QDJw4b860tBOKOqRkP5j8weTIz8Uq6nzA9uMlMAPP4FvYIaG-vZWsWHQkry-uuKy123PKOxFxFvd5Cv0P_feHhsgmE0VymNAmWx2kJbcMmBA_kDJWF-tGWTlc8i4JYANejeXTdv11cIll2DyDR6slHqJ1mOFPmlAxA2xA14QC2rLCA/s4032/Muckers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUo26QDJw4b860tBOKOqRkP5j8weTIz8Uq6nzA9uMlMAPP4FvYIaG-vZWsWHQkry-uuKy123PKOxFxFvd5Cv0P_feHhsgmE0VymNAmWx2kJbcMmBA_kDJWF-tGWTlc8i4JYANejeXTdv11cIll2DyDR6slHqJ1mOFPmlAxA2xA14QC2rLCA/w400-h300/Muckers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">The Muckers rock in Rock Center</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ever since </span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/record-roundup-rocknpop-adjacent.html#.YznimuzMI1J" style="font-family: helvetica;">falling for their debut</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;">, Endeavour, in 2021, I've had The Muckers on my must-see list and they were as great as I expected, throwing themselves into their riff-tastic rock with gusto. They have a wide-eyed quality, as if to say "can you believe we're doing this," which is immensely appealing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MbgTNeJNR_I" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We took a quick walk after their set to find some facilities, as the organizers themselves provided nothing in that regard. Fortunately, the Rockefeller Center mall has restrooms that were more than adequate. We also took a load off back at the craft table and made some bracelets using their fabulous array of beads.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />Then I suddenly realized I hadn't had coffee, so we scootched over to the a coffee truck on the North Plaza. As we walked back, I overheard one of the members of avant-hip hop group They Hate Change put out a call for an RCA cable. Not a good sign...and by the time they solved the problem, they had only minutes left to play - what we saw was invigorating, but I was glad Rough Trade was running a tight ship and shut their set down at the appropriate time. Hopefully next time I see them they'll have all their cables.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/slls_UEICsA" title="They Hate Change Live At Rockefeller Center" width="213"></iframe></div>Meditative harpist <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-electronic.html#.YznmHOzMI1I">Mary Lattimore</a>, who uses loops to build up ambient webs of sound, was on next, and played a sublime set. Our minds at peace, we found our stomachs making themselves known again so we went in search of dinner. The pizza truck was now closed (Oy!) so we hiked over to ever-reliable Uncle Paul's near Grand Central and got some slices there, which we enjoyed with wine and hard cider at the City Winery setup. Perhaps next time, the organizers will have more food available - and keep it open for the duration. <br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rI0kr6oyvzY" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />Due to the quest for food, we missed most of Yaya Bey's performance, but what we heard was great - if she's not on your neo-soul hotlist, correct that, stat. </span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4SnaQPgKOryPTCgsqJI7scyB_KSNPuUzbnWfSIeg9PpCAWCxaImZDxpzZBcDWo1TYznSg7G-DIH73xH17PsR4K7Ohb_adX1E-86r39b7YJMoYgyLAFahLS_GATwzbh4W8n1GJU54anw58gNNllXtscp1IhW812_lQZghcObwdfjo8tCaSA/s4032/Horsegirl.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4SnaQPgKOryPTCgsqJI7scyB_KSNPuUzbnWfSIeg9PpCAWCxaImZDxpzZBcDWo1TYznSg7G-DIH73xH17PsR4K7Ohb_adX1E-86r39b7YJMoYgyLAFahLS_GATwzbh4W8n1GJU54anw58gNNllXtscp1IhW812_lQZghcObwdfjo8tCaSA/w400-h300/Horsegirl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Horsegirl Weaving at Rock Center</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But there was no way we were going to miss a second of Horsegirl and we found plenty of people who felt the same way when we got back to the stage. The trio inspired rapturous applause as they blasted through most of their repertoire with remarkable assurance for a young band. It was fun to watch how they created their weaves of sound, with front-women Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng employing the distinctive tones of the Fender Bass VI when they weren't playing guitars. I was thrilled by their set and excited to learn they're leaving their beloved Chicago to become a New York band. Keep an eye out for </span><a href="https://horsegirlmusic.com/" style="font-family: helvetica;">more tour dates</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> and hopefully you can see them when they're not opening for lesser bands.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wmXA0OgmsEg" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />Hannah was excited to see Claud, who I only knew about because of her expansive and compulsively listenable <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1SZM76RovgPIoyXzUqoFHj?si=446c499a941a4fcd">LGBTQ Pride</a> playlist. Claud's breezy pop was a natural fit on the outdoor stage and their stage presence could only be described as adorable, whether hanging a pride flag from an unused microphone stand or rolling on the stage with glee. They seemed so completely delighted to be there that it was contagious. They were supported by a guitarist and drummer and the best songs had them on guitar as well, as the backing tracks were not as well integrated as when we saw Michelle. A bigger crowd also meant more of the concert-goer's anathema: people talking while the band is playing. If I can hear you and you're not talking to me, you're talking too loud! But I wouldn't hesitate to see Claud again and, had I known about it, would have included their album <a href="https://toastmp3.bandcamp.com/album/super-monster" target="_blank">Super Monster</a> on the Best Of Rock, Folk, Etc. in 2021.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ovpFrUtDCG4" title="Claud Live At Rockefeller Center" width="213"></iframe></div>It was after 9:00 PM and we were starting to droop, but the promise of Automatic's music was too enticing to bail so we rallied for one more set. And I'm glad we did, as the L.A. electro-pop trio presented their catchy songs, many from their new album, <a href="https://automatic-band.bandcamp.com/album/excess-2" target="_blank">Excess</a>, in a stylishly sleek and playful style that had the crowd bopping along, including me, suddenly reenergized by the motorik beat. They're on tour throughout October and I highly recommend you find a date <a href="https://automatic.band/">near you</a>. If you're a New Yorker, put Market Hotel on 10/14 with Omni in your diary.<br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fC8gJGtudBc" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />While we felt a little bad abandoning the headlining DJ set by Ali Shaheed Muhammad, we'd been on our feet for most of 10 hours and had no gas left in our tanks, so we made our way to Fifth Avenue to get a cab. On the way, we discovered that the lifesaving underground bathroom was now closed, whoops! We followed someone else and found salvation in the place where they rent the roller skates. Noted for next year. Fortunately, when we rode by in our Lyft a little while later we heard enthusiastic cheers for Muhammad's mix of a Kanye West Pablo-era beat and we knew he and the audience were in good hands. <br /><br />A blowout like IndiePlaza was the perfect way to put a bow on our hot live summer. Hopefully 2023 will be as generous to us. Until then, let me know the who-what-where-and-whens of your summer concert season. Maybe we just missed each other at one of the great shows described above!</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjFNvA7vRAapKb587b6i6JETL_io_5IF8iHIcqq-5Uj2Lro6MoSPPENVpb2Tf_BIjUr5UAovUiE2VwQsbRM-HgaFkDTX3n0-RcmqNUI-etkc4fGvj_aFZfQo_yWv-VeP7xcZXp7-Gd-7VKUkNee0QQp58IH8O8lEVz0zu0oZ3KL2g9vowGw/s4032/Selfie%20Indie%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjFNvA7vRAapKb587b6i6JETL_io_5IF8iHIcqq-5Uj2Lro6MoSPPENVpb2Tf_BIjUr5UAovUiE2VwQsbRM-HgaFkDTX3n0-RcmqNUI-etkc4fGvj_aFZfQo_yWv-VeP7xcZXp7-Gd-7VKUkNee0QQp58IH8O8lEVz0zu0oZ3KL2g9vowGw/w400-h300/Selfie%20Indie%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Sun struck on Saturday at the IndiePlaza Festival</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">P.S. Catch up with all the videos above <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqgoihxtuITiR0VSbteqcycdBdPoOdbP9" target="_blank">in this handy playlist</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy: <br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/2-nights-4-trios-1-duo.html#.Yzn2BOzMI1I">2 Nights 4 Trios 1 Duo<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/02/best-of-2018-three-concerts.html#.Yzn2kezMI1J">Best Of 2018: Three Concerts<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/11/long-time-coming.html#.Yzn1bezMI1I">Long Time Coming<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2012/02/2011-year-in-live-part-2.html#.Yzn1E-zMI1I">2011: The Year In Live, Part 2<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-year-in-live-part-1.html#.Yzn0rezMI1I">2011: The Year In Live, Part 1</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2010/12/we-are-2-live-crew-year-in-live-music.html#.Yzn0cezMI1I">We Are The 2 Live Crew: The Year In Live Music</a></span></div></div></div></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-66396629072442809392022-09-05T13:02:00.001-04:002022-09-05T13:02:20.050-04:00Record Roundup: Evocative Voices<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The origins of all music lie in the body and the voice. Here are some remarkable recent releases that foreground the voice in various ways.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUe00CslxZeBjgjoY1Y0fDfGmjoAg5JpxxJx8b1QMNcS77DgtDSvV6sgmjVAEs6BvMbI4HcrM4WUa3OdJGPJEHWkfcoWeswRVIXYib01cvTt0p4Fx_qYizLPIGWB5l3_uKJPHLfY9jCQq_rw0lTUuywqaVPbFUSyYaZDC2pwV68TXVXUCPQ/s3600/Evocative%20Voices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3600" data-original-width="2700" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUe00CslxZeBjgjoY1Y0fDfGmjoAg5JpxxJx8b1QMNcS77DgtDSvV6sgmjVAEs6BvMbI4HcrM4WUa3OdJGPJEHWkfcoWeswRVIXYib01cvTt0p4Fx_qYizLPIGWB5l3_uKJPHLfY9jCQq_rw0lTUuywqaVPbFUSyYaZDC2pwV68TXVXUCPQ/w347-h462/Evocative%20Voices.jpg" width="347" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6449/" target="_blank">The Crossing - Born</a></b> "So this is his mother. This small woman. The gray-eyed procreator." So begins Born, the arresting poem by Wislawa Szymborska that provides the text for the emotionally incisive piece (2017) by Michael Gilbertson that opens this album. Scored so it feels like the singers are feeling their way through the poem's universe and reacting in real time, it's a gorgeous tribute to the mother of conductor Donald Nally, whose sure hand guides the choir. Gilbertson's Returning (2021), which draws on Biblically-inspired text from Kai Hoffman-Krull, closes the collection in two parts of dynamic, searching music. In between those bookends is Edie Hill's Spectral Spirits (2019), 13 short movements meditating on extinct birds through the poetry of Holly J. Hughes and observations by Henry David Thoreau and other naturalists. Hill uses the words and occasional vocalise to create gently flowing phrases, interspersed with short solos announcing the naming of the lost animals. It's a gorgeous elegy and an original way to reflect on all the ways humankind has been unkind to the earth. Typically for an album by The Crossing, the recording and performances are impeccable. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.carlossimonmusic.com/album/requiem-for-the-enslaved" target="_blank">Carlos Simon - Requiem For The Enslaved</a> </b>If a piece of music can be seen as a container for emotion, then Simon's extraordinarily powerful Requiem is near to bursting. Such is the weight of what he's conveying - "marking eternal rest" for the American slaves sold off in 1838 to keep Georgetown University afloat - that it would seem an impossibility for any work of art to encompass it. But Simon is both brave and skilled enough that he pulls it off in a way that should silence any argument about slavery's central role in the American legacy. The idiom he creates, drawing on musical colors associated both with the European classical tradition and the diaspora, including spirituals, hip hop, New Orleans jazz, and others, would become a morass for almost any other composer, but Simon moves his brush around the palette with dazzling ease and great depth of feeling. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">While I hope this bold, at times shattering, work becomes a concert hall staple, it's going to be hard to match Simon's collaborators here, including rapper and spoken word artist Marco Pavé, who also wrote the text, trumpeter Jared "MK Zulu" Bailey, and Hub New Music, a quartet that sounds like an orchestra. Simon himself takes on the piano part, lending it the dynamic range and compelling flow of a great preacher, making it another voice in the piece. Another masterstroke is Simon's complete ownership of the 10-movement requiem structure, using the soul-nourishing force of ritual to his own ends. To be clear, however, while there is a healing force here, there is also deep sorrow and anger. Pavé's text ends with this blistering couplet: "Now when you read the word slave in your false history books...you will know the truth. The so-called masters unknowingly elevated the souls of their property while simultaneously building a tomb in hell for themselves." Amen. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-understanding-of-all-things" target="_blank">Kate Soper Feat. Sam Pluta - The Understanding Of All Things</a> </b>On this fantastic and fantastical collection, Soper shoulders her way into a small but elite group that includes <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/02/words-music-part-2-scott-johnson-and.html" target="_blank">Scott Johnson</a> and <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/02/words-music-part-1-laurie-anderson-and.html" target="_blank">Laurie Anderson</a>. Using her voice to convey content that is both informational and musical, all with a wry wit that seems to say, "Can you believe I'm getting away with this?" she takes us on a thrill ride grounded in her piano and Pluta's electronics. At times her voice is a ghost in the machine, getting pulled like taffy or chopped into bits, while never losing sight of the thoughts she wishes to explore. Pulling texts as wide-ranging as Kafka, Parmenides, and W.B. Yeats, to explore the meaning of existence, this is like hippest philosophy class - or Ted Talk - ever, and one you can play over and over again. To be honest, however, I wasn't feeling it much on my first go round. But then I listened to Season Two of the <a href="https://www.missioncommissionpodcast.com/" target="_blank">Miller Theatre's Mission Commission</a> podcast, on which Soper is a featured composer, and something clicked. Whatever journey you take to find this, get started now. You don't want to be late for class. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/loadbang-quiver" target="_blank">Loadbang - Quiver</a> </b>This quartet puts baritone voice (Jeffrey Gavett) alongside trumpet (Andy Kozar), trombone (William Lang), and bass clarinet (Carlos Cordeiro or Adrián Sandi) almost as if it were just another breath-powered instrument - yet one that can outdo the others in flexibility and variety. As on their <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/record-roundup-solos-duos-ensembles.html" target="_blank">last album</a>, which featured a string section, they unflappably take on whatever the pieces demand, whether it's the (mock?) solemnity of Gavett's own Quis Det Ut (2016), which takes inspiration from the renaissance, or the gasps and warbles of Heather Stebbins' fragmented title track (2014). Other pieces by Quinn Mason, Cordeiro, ZangYun WE, Kozar, and Chaya Czernowin, are more text-based, featuring poetry by Lydia Davis, William Blake, and others, in settings like you'e never heard before. Venture in and be as fearless in your listening as Loadbang was in the act of creation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://ethanwoods.bandcamp.com/album/burnout" target="_blank">Ethan Woods - Burnout</a> </b>After 2019's Hyperion Drive, a <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-electronic_31.html" target="_blank">sleek and sexy</a> collaboration with <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-2021-rock-folk-etc.html" target="_blank">Alice TM</a>, Woods returns to similar realms as his earlier <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/02/record-roundup-one-day-in-2018.html#.XFD2v89Kihc" target="_blank">Mossing Around EP</a>, applying his warm singing to meandering melodies in chamber-folk arrangements of his most assured set of songs yet. Many of the lyrics address animals or are even from the point of view of the feathered and the furred, adding to the gently dissociative vibe that could be called psychedelic, but also reaches back to Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Woods' approach to song-craft is unique enough that it's easier to see it as a parallel path rather than tangential so when you get tired of our storyline, give a listen to his.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://moormother.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-codes" target="_blank">Moor Mother - Jazz Codes</a> </b>Though not obviously a concept album, there's a cinematic sweep to this latest from poet, professor, composer, and visual artist Camae Aweya that calls back to Barry Adamson's movie of the mind, <a href="https://www.offyourradar.com/issues/135-barry-adamson/" target="_blank">Moss Side Story</a>. While there is great musical variety here, with bright touches from Mary Lattimore's harp, Nicole Mitchell's flute, and other guests, the whole thing is slathered in a rhythmic juiciness, like a lost dream of the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/12/best-of-rest-of-14-hip-hop-jazz.html" target="_blank">late, great Ras G.</a> The vocal blend is top notch, with singers <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">Orion Sun</a>, Wolf Weston, Melanie Charles, and others lending their hearts and souls to the project alongside rappers including Yungmorpheus and Akai Solo. But dominion over all comes from Moor Mother herself: her composition, her intention, her spoken words, and even her sharp flow on Rap Jasm, the obvious single here. Her kaleidoscopic overview of the Black musical experience encompasses everyone from Woody Shaw to OutKast and Linton Kwesi Johnson. Her lyrics are impressionistic, revealing, and arising out of a depth of knowledge and feeling that power through any haziness due to their roots in the traditions of "great Black music, ancient to the future," as the Art Ensemble of Chicago put it. The song Evening gives us plenty of bread crumbs to follow, from "Free jazz lifestyle, yeah, I'm off the cuff," to "Spirits in the dark, let Nina sing, because it DON'T mean a thing/If it ain't got the blues." I mentioned a lot of names here, but the only one you should remember is Moor Mother's as she continues to astonish and become ever more crucial to the tenor of our times.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://store.lizzomusic.com/products/retail-standard-vinyl?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lizzomusic.com%2F" target="_blank">Lizzo - Special</a> </b>When her last album, <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.YxYLA-zMI1I" target="_blank">Cuz I Love You</a>, exploded in the sky over 2019, I worried about the influence success might have on her future work. But as she was just remaking pop, hip hop, and r&b in her own image, I was probably overthinking it. Either way, I'm overjoyed that her latest goes down so easy you might play it twice just to keep feeling so good. No song overstays its welcome and if Am I Ready causes a slight cringe with its Katy Perry-esque chorus, its still catchy as heck and goes by fast. Standouts are the pure disco of About Damn Time, the electro overshare of I Love You, Bitch, and the swinging folk-pop of If I Love You, but she plays to her strengths throughout for a fun, fizzy ride. And we all owe her thanks for the great opening lines of The Sign, an epitaph for a pandemic that is not quite over: "Hi, motherfucker, did you miss me?/I've been home since 2020/I've been twerkin' and making smoothies, it's called healing/And I feel better since you seen me last." So do I, now that I have Special in my life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://billieeilish.lnk.to/GuitarSongs" target="_blank">Billie Eilish - Guitar Songs</a> </b>While the death of the album has been an ongoing debate for a decade or more, it seems like singles are the things that can disappear more easily. So I'm pinning this here, like the beautiful butterfly it is. With Eilish in intimate, reflective mode, accompanied by her brother Finneas' delicate backing, these two songs show off her songwriting and singing in their purest form. The lyrics are deeply personal, with TV finding her alone on the couch after a breakup, asking "What's the point of anything?" and The 30th detailing the aftermath of a friend's terrifying car accident. But her sense of drama never leaves her and the way she finds comfort in a stadium audience near the end of TV, or the crescendo of The 30th ("You’re alive, you’re alive, you’re alive!"), are strokes of genius that nail the songs to your soul like the end of a Raymond Carver short story. Deceptively simple stuff and hopefully a signpost to her next album.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy: <br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-roundup-rooms-of-their-own.html#.YxYUoezMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Rooms Of Their Own<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/08/record-roundup-vox-humana.html#.YxYUGOzMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Vox Humana</a></span></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-35604268442148118732022-08-14T17:48:00.000-04:002022-08-14T17:48:40.342-04:00Record Roundup: Envelope Pushers<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdoJCCrfxSE1SCxL1SxikKoI6RPe1xmoj3Y-UePN3nTQM1tCHw-5LsQmej5DRwwgmQ___6f8pgUjt5NcMFpqz8xsu376iP7yIQgIEfGYfzCmzSoNj_g_aGN8lO_hMdqmlDzJgl3DpQEFaxMd-kn5FRbuWtzGHMwsIz5YMYQVGlwkjQGpDJgw/s1605/Envelope%20Pushers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="1605" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdoJCCrfxSE1SCxL1SxikKoI6RPe1xmoj3Y-UePN3nTQM1tCHw-5LsQmej5DRwwgmQ___6f8pgUjt5NcMFpqz8xsu376iP7yIQgIEfGYfzCmzSoNj_g_aGN8lO_hMdqmlDzJgl3DpQEFaxMd-kn5FRbuWtzGHMwsIz5YMYQVGlwkjQGpDJgw/w412-h308/Envelope%20Pushers.jpg" width="412" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here are seven albums that work on many levels, each one of them seeking to take their chosen form - whether chamber music, folk rock, or electronic music - somewhere new. Their ultimate success, however, is the shifts they cause within me, either displaying future vistas or calling back to early memories I'd nearly forgotten. What will they do for you?</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://triptickstapes.bandcamp.com/album/dread-sea" target="_blank">Ted Reichman - Dread Sea</a> </b>The tale Reichman tells in the liner notes and in a poem contained in the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tripticks_tapes/?hl=en" target="_blank">Tripticks</a> cassette's j-card, of encountering a "heavily drugged juvenile sloth" attempting to swipe him with a "long, slow arc of its claw," has a certain lysergic flavor that matches these multi-layered audio collages perfectly. Assembled from electronically treated mbira and accordion combined with prepared piano, synth, and tape, the resulting tracks come to your ears fully formed, as if created from one instrument. Of course, there is no requirement to think about aggressive sloths (I prefer the cute ones I see on Instagram!) while you listen. The music will most likely transport you to realms related to your own experiences. Take the journey.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.greyfade.com/releases/newprimes" target="_blank">Greg Davis - New Primes</a> </b>As a recovering arithmophobe, reading that prime numbers form the basis of Davis's new album on Greyfade is enough for me to tune out to avoid past anxieties. But that stuff is all behind the scenes. You don't need to know that Davis is using "custom-written software to translate prime number sequences" into music, using only sine tones as his medium, to listen and respond to the sounds contained herein. And while all that sounds super-cerebral, there is definitely an emotional reaction to have to these throbs and drones as they rise and fall, thicken and attenuate. I can't help being taken into an alien space of almost pure loneliness, as if engaged in a space-walk between ships, hungry for the noise, clatter, and melodiousness of human existence. But I can just as equally let the hum of an air conditioner, laboriously beating back the heat, blend with Davis's music as I zone out to the play of leaves and sunlight just outside my window. My mind drifts, imagining the activities of tiny animals for whom a blade of grass might constitute their entire universe. Davis is surely on to something here, and you don't need to know any math for it to grab you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://congregationofdrones.bandcamp.com/album/twenty-twenty" target="_blank">Congregation Of Drones - Twenty Twenty</a> </b>That artists have their antennae up is well known, so the idea that violinist/composer Pauline Kim Harris and electronic musician Jesse Stiles came together to record the first two foreboding tracks here in February 2020, just days before COVID lockdown, makes perfect sense. After an interruption of some months, they reconvened virtually and continued the project. When complete, they named each track after a headline in the New York Times from the day it was recorded: Gesture Of Devotion, See What Happens, Experimental Treatment, and No Spinning. With that background, it is also no surprise that these richly evocative tracks could make for an excellent soundtrack for reflecting upon what we’ve all been through for last two - now almost three - years. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But Twenty Twenty is so much more than a mirror to the past. This is stunning, nail-you-to-your-chair music, with Harris’ extraordinarily versatile sound-making abilities - from long, arcing lines to percussion, pizzicato, and beyond - fully matched and intertwined with Stiles’ starlit and multi-hued electronics. While some of it is spaced out and slow, it never lets up in intensity, occasionally exploding into segments that are near metallic. This landmark in electro-acoustic music is also available on vinyl, which should be a fantastic experience, although I do like losing myself in the full 71-minute sweep without having to change sides. I urge you to get to Twenty Twenty STAT, through whatever medium you prefer, and let it mold itself to your life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://joshmodney.bandcamp.com/album/near-to-each" target="_blank">Josh Modney - Near To Each</a> </b>I think I might have just found David Bowie's next band and it's a goddamned pity he's not around to take advantage. But knowing how Blackstar's collaboration with Danny McCaslin and Co. turned out, get your mind around Bowie working with Modney, a brilliant violinist here making his debut as a composer, Ingrid Laubrock, a saxophonist equally at home in jazz and new music, Cory Smythe, the genius pianist with the International Contemporary Ensemble, and Mariel Roberts, a fearless virtuoso cellist whose <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/record-roundup-sonic-environments.html" target="_blank">last album</a> was a series of brutal improvisations. And they really play like a <i>band</i>, too, with Modney tailoring the compositions to each player's unique style and engaging in deep collaborations to arrive at the final product. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The results are a series of gripping dynamic pieces of chamber music that incorporate drones, spiky duels between instruments, pounding ensemble work, and moments of crystalline beauty. Near To Each opens with a solo violin piece that casts back to Engage, Modney's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/08/record-roundup-avant-chamber-and.html" target="_blank">triple-album</a> from 2018, which included a series of improvised solos, but other than Tenor Solo for Laubrock, the rest is all about interaction, juxtaposition, and overlap. The pieces also take you through a series of emotional states, from angst to contemplation, and how you relate those to your own life will be very personal. A couple of my favorite passages in Whalefall and Crystallization I bring to life that sensation of lying back on grass on a hot summer's day, only to have the whine of a small airplane cross the sky - and your consciousness. It's a lonely, restless sound that brings the vastness of our planet into dramatic focus. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ballad contains yearning interplay, with Smythe's measured chords reminiscent of Messiaen's Quartet For The End Of Time, his custom software subtly enhancing the sound world. The last piece, Chorale, is a 23-minute tour-de-force and the track that put Bowie dreams in my head. Opening with Roberts' violent cello intertwining with Modney's squirrelly violin, the work gradually develops a narrative flow as searching piano from Smythe transitions it to a different mood. While Chorale doesn't echo anything specific from Bowie's world, it <i>rhymes</i> very nicely not only with Blackstar but the exploratory sides of Low and "Heroes" in the way it works with unexpected sounds and structures to create something as grabby as an avant garde pop song. I can imagine an adventurous listener and creator like Bowie being jazzed by this piece and the others, becoming eager to get involved. I know I am!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/assemblage-chamber" target="_blank">Steven Ricks - Assemblage Chamber</a> </b>Rather than questing into the future, Ricks bravely spelunks into the Baroque, pulling out modes and methods (and the occasional harpsichord, played by Jason Hardink) to inform his own bricolage approach. This gives the three acoustic pieces here a wonderful off-kilter feeling as past and present collide in lighthearted and inventive ways. The addition of guitar (Dan Lippell) and bass clarinet (Benjamin Fingland) creates ever more delightful anachronisms in Reconstructing The Lost Improvisations of Aldo Pilestri, while the title track eliminates instruments altogether, with Ricks cutting and pasting bits and pieces of the earlier works into a sound collage that both sums everything up and points in new directions. With great playing by members of Counter)Induction and the NOVA Chamber Music Players, among others, this is a satisfying feast of a collection suitable for gourmands of many genres.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://kuyin.bandcamp.com/album/four-strings" target="_blank">Maya Bennardo - Four Strings</a> </b>Bennardo is one half of the <a href="https://kuyin.bandcamp.com/album/four-strings" target="_blank">redoubtable duo</a> AndPlay, a core member of the Mivos Quartet, and has played on countless great records in recent years. Here, she finally steps out on her own and the results are captivating. Consisting of two long works for solo violin, Four Strings not only allows Bennardo to pursue her interests in stasis and simplicity, but premieres two important pieces by composers demanding wider attention. The first, Kristofer Svensson’s Duk med broderi och bordets kant, has a folk-like simplicity, with a repeating motif and overall warmth that will call you back home, wherever you're from. The title piece by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandelweiser" target="_blank">Wandelweiser</a> composer Eva-Maria Houben is a spacious meditation on individual tones and notes, like pick-up sticks where none of the sticks are touching. Bennardo's concentration and the care she gives every draw of the bow shine brightly here, making a nice contrast to Svensson's more gregarious work. Bennardo can do no wrong, apparently, and I will be glad to follow her to more fantastic music in the future. P.S. She and her AndPlay partner Hannah Levinson publish one of the best newsletters in the biz - in fact, it was they who led me to Twenty Twenty! Subscribe <a href="http://andplayduo.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://florist.bandcamp.com/album/florist" target="_blank">Florist - Florist</a> </b>The permission granted by The Beatles on the so-called White Album to fill a double album with a wide variety of styles and approaches is often more of a curse than a blessing. See under: Sandinista by The Clash or that new goulash by Big Thief, which has some very good songs but makes you work to find them. Not so with Florist, sometimes the solo project of Emily Sprague, but presented here as a full band. Drawing together all of the threads cast out by a decade's worth of Florist releases, as well as those under Sprague's own name, Florist presents everything these musicians can do at the pinnacle of artistic success. From the gleaming chamber-folk perfection of a song like Red Bird No. 2 to the sketches like Duet For Guitar And Rain, the parts assemble into a whole that envelops and inspires. The use of field recordings or ambient sounds of nature only enhances that sense of environment, as if you've turned on one of those old lights with a paper cylinder that sends stars rotating around your room.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Like the sounds in the background, the lyrics are filled with references to nature, relating the night sky, fireflies, breezes, and so on, to various inner states. The results are pure poetry, as in these lines from Spring In Hours: "oh, the light inside you now oh, the wild inside you now/maybe there’s something that takes us beyond this/and flowers like spring in our arms." Among the shorter songs and fragments are several longer tracks that really show off the interplay between Sprague (vocals, guitars, synth), Jonnie Baker (guitars, synths, sampling, bowed guitars & bass, saxophone, vocals) Rick Spataro (bass, vocals, engineering, piano, synths), and Felix Walworth (percussion, vocals, synths, guitar), like 43, which extends into a jam reminiscent of Jonathan Wilson circa <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-11.html" target="_blank">Gentle Spirit</a>. And those player credits are a hint of what Florist means when they call themselves a "friendship project," also pointing out their gently radical reimagining of what a band can be when you break down silos between the individual roles in the group.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Whatever path Florist took, they arrived at a very special place and have given us a masterpiece of an album. I'm slightly despairing at the play counts on Spotify, which suggest people are picking and choosing between the songs.I strongly suggest that, if listening digitally, you entrust yourself to this whole album. I believe you'll find yourself richer for the experience.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/record-roundup-solos-duos-ensembles.html#.Yvlh7OzMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Solos, Duos, Ensembles<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-roundup-rooms-of-their-own.html" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Rooms Of Their Own</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Novelty Is Not Enough</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-electronic_31.html#.Yvlgv-zMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2019: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/10/record-roundup-string-theories.html#.YvlhoezMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: String Theories<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/08/record-roundup-avant-chamber-and.html#.YvlhYezMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Avant Chamber And Orchestral<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-rock-folk-etc.html#.Yvlg8OzMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2017: Rock, Folk, Etc. </a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-53793734021116173622022-07-30T15:35:00.001-04:002022-07-30T16:13:05.124-04:00Book Nook: Music Made Words<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4Di32h2Wznlufillh4sZYPEFs_2b7YLxkDtrDCs0AUmqt3a_aYgeno_yHHfMHs-x2CDEI6iGVZhQK8Li9TKX5OwRy9Mniu7kC8LUa9Stnal89NUb-00anpkXltoGiEmp00fPB7vMwapJJavAm4gZsViOnQnuOHc6aQeDDV51Tg59FDI8Nw/s1542/Book%20Nook%207.22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1542" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4Di32h2Wznlufillh4sZYPEFs_2b7YLxkDtrDCs0AUmqt3a_aYgeno_yHHfMHs-x2CDEI6iGVZhQK8Li9TKX5OwRy9Mniu7kC8LUa9Stnal89NUb-00anpkXltoGiEmp00fPB7vMwapJJavAm4gZsViOnQnuOHc6aQeDDV51Tg59FDI8Nw/w394-h306/Book%20Nook%207.22.jpg" width="394" /></a></div><p>Books take longer to consume than records, so I find it hard to be as up to the moment with my reading as I am with my listening. But I'm always reading and most of that is (shocker) music books. Here are a few notable books on music from recent years.</p><b><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/laurie-andersons-big-science-9780190926021?cc=ca&lang=en&" target="_blank">Laurie Anderson’s Big Science by S. Alexander Reed (2021)</a></b> It was over 40 years ago that I first became aware of Laurie Anderson, introduced by a double-page spread in Life Magazine’s The Year In Pictures. There she was, spiky-haired and playing a violin with a magnetic tape bow. Mike Tyson was a page or two over, shot from the back to emphasize his impossibly thick neck. But it was Anderson who intrigued me, having already developed an interest in avant garde music. Oddly enough, however, when people around me were going nuts over her 1982 debut album, Big Science, it kept me at arms length. Maybe the possibilities the photo had set whirling in my mind were too different from what I was hearing to be reconciled. I kept up with her over the years, though, intrigued by her collaboration with William S. Burroughs and later charmed by her relationship with Lou Reed. But it wasn’t until Landfall, her 2017 album with the Kronos Quartet, that I <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/02/words-music-part-1-laurie-anderson-and.html" target="_blank">truly fell in love</a> with one of her pieces. <br /><br />Big Science still loomed, however, so when Reed’s book showed up, I welcomed the opportunity to take a deeper dive into its background and creation. This handsome little book is the 15th in Oxford’s Keynotes series, and only the second to take on a work of the second half of the 20th century, following John T. Lysaker’s 2018 book on Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music For Airports. It’s also the third book for Reed, following Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music and an entry in the 33 1/3 series on They Might Be Giants. And while Reed, a professor at Ithaca College, occasionally writes like the academic he is, the book is mostly a fizzy read, with his excitement about following Anderson’s trail of creativity coming through loud and clear. He also doesn’t shy away from musicological dissection when it seems useful, but always provides a way in for the uninitiated, using musical examples that almost everyone will know.<br /><br />I was especially taken with his brilliance in setting up a structure that takes into account the album’s creation in the past and how it exists now. I’ll let him explain: <div><blockquote>“Foremost, I'm interested in the circa 1980 creation of these songs: "now" in the sense of <i>chronos</i>, or historical sequence. How did their concept, text, and music develop, and in dialogue with what real-world artifacts and events?…Second, I also describe what it's like to inhabit a private listening encounter, marking time not by dates and eras but from second to second: "now" in the sense of <i>kairos</i>, or experiential action. Third, I ask without nostalgia how Big Science resonates now in the twenty-first century, acknowledging in the book’s final chapter what some have heard as an eerie prescience in the record.” (Reed, Page 3)</blockquote>This is a paradigmatic way to approach a work of the past and will be a great guide next time I revisit a classic album.<br /><br />As for this classic album, Reed’s three-dimensional excavation and explication of the musical and conceptual components of every song, made the end result - when it works - even more impressive. There are still a couple of duff tracks - Sweaters, for one - that no amount of advocacy will rescue, but I find myself more immersed when listening to the songs I do like. Reed also gives Anderson her due as an extraordinarily brave, intelligent, and original artist in three mind-expanding chapters on her relationships with the musical context of the time (“New Music Versus New Wave”), sexuality and gender, and politics. People often bemoan the lack of liner notes in the streaming era. Reed’s book makes up for that lack - and then some - for an album that is a nearly bottomless well of fascination. <p><b><a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/ted-gioia/music/9781541644373/" target="_blank">Ted Gioia - Music: A Subversive History (2019)</a> </b>Near the end of this enthralling, game-changing book, Gioia notes:</p><blockquote>"...every major music genre today echoes, at least in part, some of the imperatives of prehistoric song. The rock star evokes the scapegoat from ancient rituals of symbolic violence. The country artist re-creates the pastoral strains of the herders, who relied on music to soothe domesticated animals, and celebrates the stable life of home and hearth. The hip-hopper returns to the monophonic chant that served to unite the first human communities, the oldest 'hoods of them all. The pop star draws an audience with erotic stylings and dance moves that remind us of the fertility rituals that gave birth to the love song." (Gioia, Page 450)</blockquote><p>If any of that sounds farfetched to you, you desperately need to read this book. If it sounds like something you almost take for granted but don't understand why, you also need to read this book. Each one of those examples is based on broad research, and spectacularly synthesized into a text that informs you even as it excites you. Gioia goes DEEP, looking beyond and away from musicology to explore the transformative power of song, from the use of chants to scare away alpha predators from prey so human's could feed themselves to the ongoing threats to those in power from the artists engaged in a long line of "permanent revolution," such as Pussy Riot, those punk rock thorns in Putin's side. </p><p>A key point he makes over and over again is that musical innovation almost always comes from where you least expect it - the oppressed, the poor, the marginalized - a trope that goes back to the earliest civilizations. Perhaps even more importantly, he notes that when rulers make claims about musical innovations they brought about, we need to "study these powerful figures in musical history, not for what they did, but for what they hid." That last quote come Gioia's Epilogue: This Is Not A Manifesto, 40 statements about music and its role in life and society. He describes them as precepts that forced him to "alter his beliefs" as he was researching and writing. Reading Music not only altered some of my beliefs but helped me to reposition my relationship to music, narrowing down for me what is of core importance in the music I love, and for that I am immensely grateful to Gioia. </p><p><b><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Beyond-Printed-Page-Times-Critic-ebook/dp/B00SNPQYX6" target="_blank">Alan Niester - Beyond The Printed Page: The Life And Times Of A Big Time Rock Critic (2014)</a> </b>The title for this often hilarious book is slightly misleading. While the first 50 pages or so detail, in his wry and witty style, his upbringing and the winding path he took to becoming a music journalist, the next 250 comprise reprints of concert reviews from Niester's time as a critic at the Toronto Globe And Mail. Not that there's anything wrong with that - and the reviews have more personality than most memoirs - but I wouldn't have minded a bit more "life" along with the "times," especially since he's got killer anecdotes, like the time he rode a bicycle from Niagara Falls, Ontario to downtown Buffalo for a concert, or playing in a garage band with future Bowie/Iggy axe-man Stacey Heydon, or nearly starting a race riot with a very drunk Lester Bangs. Lord knows what tales are still in the vault! </p><p>The live reviews, however, constitute a fascinating, and often very funny, chronicle of the state of rock and pop from the Ramones in 1978 ("an explosion of torn jeans, aging black leather, and cultivated acne") to Jeff Mangum in 2011 ("intense but casual"). In between you get upstarts struggling to establish themselves, like U2 in 1980 ("one of the most vital and interesting new bands I've seen in the past few years"), to hall-of-famers struggling to live up to their past, like Carole King in 2005 ("She has developed a noticeable Rod Stewart rasp, most evident in the high notes and higher volumes"). Every review is a breeze to read and never less than interesting, and a few are all-time classics, such as Niester's snarky but evenhanded response to the Jonas Brothers in 2009, which he structures like a report card, grading them lowest on their lyrics: </p><blockquote><p>"English - D. Sadly, the boys' lyrics are cliché-ridden and banal, and filled with grammatical mistakes. For example, in the song World War III, they insisted they didn't want to fight "wit chyou" (sic). In Poison Ivy (not the Coasters' classic) they claimed that "Everybody needs some Poison Ivy." This is clearly wrong." (Niester, Page 299)</p></blockquote><p>I look forward to having Niester's book on hand when needing to refer to a real-time reaction to a legendary band, say when writing an anniversary review. I will make sure to correct any typos, which are rife in the book, when quoting him, however. In the end, while his true love is prog-rock (he finally convinced me to listen to Wishbone Ash - the guitars are indeed great), he brings a broad knowledge and love of the music to everything he reviews, providing a fine example for critics everywhere and a fun read for everyone else.</p><p><b><a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631492563" target="_blank">Paul McCartney - The Lyrics: 1956 to Present (Edited with an Introduction by Paul Muldoon) (2021)</a> </b>This is a sly book in so many ways. From the start, Sir Paul admits he will never write a memoir but he’s happy to go song by song and talk about the process and context behind them and let something of himself take shape in your mind. Then there’s the fact that the first thing 90 percent of people will think when hearing his name is an endless spool of melody, then his fantastically versatile voice (at least in its prime), then his remarkable skill as a multi-instrumentalist. Lyrics could be dead last, although he has certainly crafted some gems, whether Blackbird, Dear Friend, Eleanor Rigby, For No One, or She’s Leaving Home, which are marvels of compressed emotion and/or narrative.</p><p>You’ll note that my little list of songs is alphabetical, which hints at my only real frustration with the book. Rather than progress through his songwriting chronologically, which would allow you to see his skills develop, from the “pronoun songs” of the early Beatles to the more allusive and surrealist stuff that came later, we are led alphabetically. Ordering them this way could also be his bid to reduce the distance between his achievement as a Beatle and his solo years, to which I say: Nice try. Moreover, putting things chronologically would also allow him to build on stories, such as the "Nerk Twins" Paris trip of 1961, or The Beatles in India, rather than just have them crop up here and there as fits the song under discussion. I suspect it's all in the game of one of the world's most famous people holding on to a shred of his privacy. </p><p>That's not so say that The Lyrics isn't a revealing book. It's satisfying to read that even he his baffled by The Beatles' shocking trajectory, as when he says when talking about Eleanor Rigby: “To this very day, it still is a complete mystery to me that it happened at all...All these small coincidences had to happen to make The Beatles happen, and it does feel like some kind of magic. It’s one of the wonderful lessons about saying yes when life presents these opportunities to you. You never know where they could lead.” In the entry for Carry That Weight, he describes the business meetings as The Beatles headed to dissolution as "soul-destroying" - and you feel his pain at friendships and collaborations being ripped apart. He also goes deeper on his complicated relationship with that most complex of characters, John Lennon.</p><p>Naturally, there are plenty of instructive tidbits about his approach to songwriting, as when he remarks about Come And Get It, which he wrote for Badfinger: “But I was trying to write a hit, so I didn’t want anything too complicated.” He is also not shy about his bossy side, describing how he told the band not to change a thing from his demo (which he recorded in 15 minutes) rather than trying to "interpret" his song. Bossy, but 100 percent right as proven by the song's chart success.</p><p>He also drills down a little on his attraction to the ordinary, which stems from the working class roots he continues to stay in touch with, even with his fabulous wealth. In the section on Café On The Left Bank, he notes: </p><p></p><blockquote>"I'm actually quite a fan of 'ordinary'. I hope in many ways it defines me, and so also many of the songs I've written. Don't get me wrong; I like extraordinary people and things, but if people can be great and ordinary at the same time, that to me is kind of special. So my Liverpool family - my parents, all the aunties and uncles - they were great and ordinary, and I think the fact that this combination can be easily dismissed makes it even more special. So many people would dismiss my Liverpool family, but they're actually a lot smarter than the likes of Maggie Thatcher, say. Their attitude to life was not as uptight as many people I've encountered since. They were always up for a song around the pub piano, for example. So you can choose to be highly sophisticated but very uptight, or you can be not so sophisticated but at peace with yourself. I try and be a bit of a mixture, and I draw very strongly on that ordinariness."</blockquote><p></p><p>One thing that is decidedly <i>not</i> ordinary is the physical heft and beauty of The Lyrics, which comes as two splendidly illustrated volumes in a handsome green slipcase. The photographs, may of them unfamiliar to me, are only surpassed by the artifacts, whether handwritten lyrics or drawings (many of which are quite good - another talent!), which make the books a joy just to flip through. Speaking of heft, the 858-page book only contains lyrics for 156 songs out of the 500 or so Sir Paul has written or co-written. Not only does that give you an idea of how much additional material is contained within, it also lets you know that songs were selected based on what McCartney wanted to get across. So Why Don't We Do It In The Road is here, giving him an opportunity to talk about the primal urge to procreate, while a late-career near masterpiece like Riding To Vanity Fair is left out - perhaps its still too soon to talk about what led to that dark-hued number. </p><p>But as Paul himself says when talking about the line "Spending someone's hard-earned pay" in Two Of Us: "I don't know where that came from or what it means. I don't necessarily want meaning. I don't root for meaning all the time. Sometimes it just feels right." And this book, on the whole, feels <i>very</i> right. Make room on your groaning shelf of Beatles books for one more!</p><p>You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/getting-back-to-let-it-be.html" target="_blank">Getting Back To Let It Be<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/10/not-price-but-cost.html" target="_blank">Not The Price But The Cost<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-book-of-fab.html" target="_blank">The Book Of Fab</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-beatles-thing.html" target="_blank">The Beatles Thing<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/11/overdosed-on-pleasure-book-of-nilsson.html" target="_blank">Overdosed On Pleasure: The Book Of Nilsson</a></p><p></p></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-84487246593141037122022-07-03T16:29:00.001-04:002022-07-03T16:29:23.985-04:00The Best Of 2022 (So Far)<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwbbGRaOPuP-DXYTJ0m9XGXm4giUdp3-xprRxrLyQILpO8wJItXTTar5pjsGkZax5-l4ZzU78XxrNavTinAuhJjt5g8CL2-DMTJ_1Fv6LSmAVAUhUReuk0C7cieldS-ywN6ZrbWDdTNo89PCpex37bN5IFUDThTt8-Gtr-6pM3aSGPvNfzw/s1800/Best%20Of%2022%20So%20Far.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1198" height="463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwbbGRaOPuP-DXYTJ0m9XGXm4giUdp3-xprRxrLyQILpO8wJItXTTar5pjsGkZax5-l4ZzU78XxrNavTinAuhJjt5g8CL2-DMTJ_1Fv6LSmAVAUhUReuk0C7cieldS-ywN6ZrbWDdTNo89PCpex37bN5IFUDThTt8-Gtr-6pM3aSGPvNfzw/w308-h463/Best%20Of%2022%20So%20Far.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">While the news keeps finding new ways to be terrible, music keeps finding new ways of bringing joy, inspiration, energy, calm, and even a satisfying dose of mirrored despair, to our lives. Here are 25 of the best ways its done that in 2022. Much gratitude to all the artists pushing through and delivering these remarkable albums to my ears!</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As usual, anything that's been reviewed previously is linked to those earlier words. You can listen to selections from most of these albums in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KIvkUPqsLWfoRgt4M1JPR?si=b5d6539ec54443c3&pt=c8ea5426a765eb855f6abc1083b68871" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below. Otherwise, find them on Bandcamp - and consider paying for the privilege of listening. <iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/5KIvkUPqsLWfoRgt4M1JPR?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://angelolsen.bandcamp.com/album/big-time" target="_blank">1. Angel Olsen - Big Time</a> </b>This magnificent album is a dream come true for me. Pairing Olsen's glorious voice and incisive, informed songwriting with the genius production of Jonathan Wilson is an idea so delicious that I never even thought to hope for it. They both outdo themselves, too. Olsen cuts to the bone over and over again as she processes the recent grief of losing both her parents, the painful process of becoming ever more herself, and the overwhelming joy of finding true love. When she sings "Never thought the day would come/When I would find someone/To love me only," it's impossible not to believe her and root for her new relationship with Beau Thibodeaux, who also co-wrote the soaring title track. Wilson, who plays drums on every song, marshals some of the same <a href="https://rockandrollglobe.com/country-and-or-western/jonathan-wilson-curator-of-song-and-sound/" target="_blank">deep knowledge</a> of Americana he displayed on his last album, Dixie Blur, even lending a "countrypolitan" grandeur to some tracks, like This Is How It Works with its weeping pedal steel. But Olson and Wilson are not tied to any particular genre, giving each song just what it needs. When they bring on Drew Erickson and Dan Higgins, for string and horn arrangements respectively, the widescreen approach is reminiscent of <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-top-25.html#.X5WqQkJKg1I" target="_blank">All Mirrors</a>, Olsens's 2019 epic. There's no better example of this than the stunning Go Home, which starts out dead simple, just two chords from Erickson's piano and Emily Elhaj's bass, and Wilson's ticking percussion. Olsen first enters quietly: "The world is changing/You can't reverse it," but soon pushes her voice into the stratosphere: "I wanna GO HOME/Go back to SMALL THINGS" and the music gathers itself to catch up, with sweeping strings, stentorian horns, and Wilson's fuzz guitar bringing the hammer down. When the song returns to earth and Olsen sings, almost to herself, "Forget the old dream/I got a new thing," all you can do is agree. It's a wonderful thing, too.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.YroLkezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">2. Laura Cocks - Field Anatomies</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YroLTuzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3. Wet Leg - Wet Leg</span></a></b></div></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.YroLkezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">4. Weston Olencki - Old Time Music</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://holliecook.bandcamp.com/album/happy-hour" target="_blank">5. Hollie Cook - Happy Hour</a> </b>When someone's mission statement is pure delight, each new album becomes more and more like a high-wire act: how can she keep it up? Which makes Cook's big, bold fourth album even more thrilling. While still sticking to her patented blend of lovers rock and sunshine pop, she does expand that fabulous formula a little. Whether it's the strings on Gold Girl, which should be the next James Bond theme, the guest spot on Kush Kween from Jah9, whose florid style shows off Cook's clean soprano perfectly, the hints of dancehall on Love Is A Losing Game, or the 90s dance rhythms of Move My Way, she pushes the envelope with aplomb. My favorite characters on the recent <a href="https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/pistol" target="_blank">Pistol</a> miniseries were Paul Cook's parents, who were loving and warmly supportive of their son's musical ambitions. With them as her grandparents, Cook's bounteously beauteous spirit must run deep in her blood. Get a transfusion here.</span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YroLTuzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">6. Mattiel - Georgia Gothic</span></a></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.YroLkezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">7. Christopher Trapani - Horizontal Drift</span></a></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.YroLkezMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">8. Pusha T - It's Almost Dry</span></a></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YroLTuzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">9. Empath - Visitor</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://jaschanarveson.bandcamp.com/album/flash-crash-remixes" target="_blank">10. Jascha Narveson - Flash Crash + Remixes</a> </b>According to his notes, Narveson "...crafted Flash Crash especially for internationally acclaimed cellist Ashley Bathgate out of raw stock market data culled from high-frequency trading bots" - a sentence that tickles my mind the same way the music here excites my ears. The main piece finds Bathgate carving a gorgeous line through Narveson's electronics, like an expert skier cutting through the trees. It's a rich, deeply involving piece on its own, then all hell breaks loose - in the best way - when Narveson's collaborators get their hooks into things. And the word "hooks" is especially appropriate for Lorna Dune's remix, which finds catchy bits in the original and bolts them to a four-on-the-floor beat, cooking up a killer groove. It's the perfect follow up to Matthew D. Gantt's take, which adds percussion and clarinet samples to create a type of artificial chamber music. Lainie Fefferman manipulates the sound of the cello to create a character study she calls Repairbot Q Sent To Engine Room 3, Working Through The Loneliness, which is as good a description as any for the fun and feeling to be found throughout the album. Angelica Negron sends Bathgate deeper into space, with pulsing beats moving through like debris from a dead satellite. Then Vadislav Delay - a "Finnish electronic music legend," apparently - drops the hammer with serrated power chords and breaking glass, treating Narvson's original like a trash compactor treats a robot. What a way to go! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://thisishorsegirl.bandcamp.com/album/versions-of-modern-performance" target="_blank"><b>11. </b><b>Horsegirl - Versions Of Modern Performance</b></a> Smashing debut from a Chicago-based trio (Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums)) who know exactly what they want from their sound. Picking up on 90's alt, 80's indie, 70's post-punk, and even a touch of 60's psych as they blast through their songs, their division of labor finds guitars acting as basses and (maybe) basses acting as guitars. Occasionally, they pause for an artfully fractured instrumental but with Reece pummeling away in the engine room, it's a very unified sound. Veteran producer John Agnello may have helped give the guitars a burnished quality that comforts even as it energizes. Deadpan but melodic vocals complete the picture to deliver lyrics that are allusive, elusive, and often mantric, like the repetition of "How does it breathe?" from Beautiful Song. Pleased to meet them and I think you will be, too.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.sarahplum.com/contact-10" target="_blank">12. Sarah Plum - Personal Noise</a> </b>In 2015, I <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-pair-from-plum.html#.YsGscezMI1I" target="_blank">worried</a> that I would have trouble keeping up with Plum’s boundless curiosity and tireless efforts to expand the violin repertoire. Then I had to wait seven years for her next album, although she has been busy as a performer, teacher, and commissioner of new works. Thankfully, this colorful, varied, and passionate album was worth the wait. It kicks off with Eric Moe’s Obey Your Thirst (2014), which opens with a synthetic exhalation as if to say, “Now, where was I?” before launching in to a spiky dialog between Plum’s strings and his electronics. It’s a rhythmic piece, with digital percussion that seems to be driving the violin at a breathless pace. Eric Lyon’s Personal Noise With Accelerants (2015) follows, continuing the jagged rhythmic feel and high tempo. It’s fully acoustic, but features a structure determined by white noise. Kyong Mee Choi’s Flowering Dandelion (2020) slows things down a bit, filling the space with starlit electronics that occasionally remind me of the transporter on Star Trek. Sarahal (2013) by Mari Kimura adds Yvonne Lam on second violin and interactivity to the electronics for a flight into even deeper space. Several of these pieces were written for Plum and are featured here in their world-premiere recordings, including After Time: A Resolution (2013) by Jeff Harriott and Il Prete Rosso (2014) by Charles Nicholls. Both works also feature interactivity and a bit of randomness but feel fully realized in these performances even as they search for resolution. Mari Takano’s Full Moon (2008) literally ends the album with a bang, or at least several explosions of pounding sound. Plum sails through it all flawlessly, once again proving that close collaboration with composers and deep engagement with the work is a recipe for artistic success. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YroLTuzMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">13. Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/enfolding" target="_blank">14. String Orchestra Of Brooklyn - Enfolding</a> </b>String orchestras of America! Those intrepid folks at the String Orchestra Of Brooklyn have given you your season-opening program right here! You don't even need to add the Barshai Shostakovich arrangement, which I'm sure you've played hundreds of times - and I love Shostakovich! First you get <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/search?q=wollschleger" target="_blank">Scott Wollschleger's</a> Outside Only Sound, specifically commissioned by the orchestra to be ready to play with minimal rehearsal and to work well outdoors. With each player operating semi-independently and added spice from percussion instruments, this live recording from Fort Greene Park works a treat, with "outside" noises - laughter, chatter, sirens - integrating but not interfering with the skirling storm of sound. There's no reason why it can't be played in the concert hall, however, so don't try to worm out of it that way. Then you get <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/search?q=lanzilotti" target="_blank">Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti’s</a> expansive With Eyes The Color Of Time, which was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Composition. Based on pieces in The Contemporary Museum in her native Honolulu, there is a strong narrative thrust to the eight parts. Starting with the long, exhaling lines of The Bronze Doors and taking you through the dense scrapes and scratches of Les Sortilèges and on to the warm resolution of Enfolding, it adds up to a very satisfying whole. With both pieces coming in at a little under an hour, this program will leave you enough time for cocktails with your subscribers, who will throw money at you for the next season. Just don't try to claim bragging rights for the world-premiere recordings - the String Orchestra Of Brooklyn already beat you to it on this excellent album.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://tomberlin.bandcamp.com/album/i-don-t-know-who-needs-to-hear-this" target="_blank">15. Tomberlin - I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This... </a></b>Who knew sonic adventure could be so quiet? In the four years since her debut, <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/02/best-of-2018-rock-folk-etc_9.html#.Yrom6OzMI1I" target="_blank">At Weddings</a>, Sarah Beth Tomberlin has maintained utter control over the dynamics of her songs, but manages to fill them with exquisite details that deepen the experience. A perfect example is Tap, with its ticking percussion (Kenny Wolleson, from <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.YroodOzMI1I" target="_blank">Sylvie Courvoisier's trio</a>), plucked cello (the great <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/01/best-of-2021-classical.html#.YropZezMI1J" target="_blank">Gyða Valtýsdóttir</a>), and gentle woodwinds (Stuart Bogie and Doug Wieselman), all combining into a little miracle of a musical engine. Tomberlin coproduced the album with Philip Weinrobe so I don't mention all those notable musicians to remove any agency from her achievement here, but rather to add to it. The strength of her songwriting is what attracts players like that and the strength of her vision is what has them combining to make such specific sounds. Her voice is even more wondrously light and supple than in the past, delivering the deeply felt poetry of her lyrics with a gossamer ease. The words will repay your attention, too. This line, also from Tap, is one of my favorites: "Do you think about the trees in the breeze/How they swing and scream and talk and breathe/I wish I was so tall and green/ Swing my branches only sing for me." Thank goodness Tomberlin sings for us, too.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.Yq5c_xPMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">16. Carlos Nino & Friends - Live At Commend, NYC</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://sopharela.bandcamp.com/album/sometimes-forever" target="_blank">17. Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever</a> </b>Sophie Allison, who records as Soccer Mommy, pushed the sound and passion of her indie rock into new places on her last album, 2020's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-rock-folk-etc.html#.YsGvdOzMI1I" target="_blank">richly dynamic</a> Color Theory. Rather than repeat herself on this, her third official album, she made the genius decision to work with Daniel Lopatin, who records electronic music as Oneohtrix Point Never and also made the brilliant soundtrack for Uncut Gems. This doesn’t mean Allison has made an electronic album, however, although there are more synthetic textures woven in than in the past. Rather, the collaboration has created a sleek and powerful album, gleaming with sonic jewel tones, where every sound seems placed deliberately in the mix. "...I want perfection/Tight like a diamond," she sings in Unholy Affliction, putting her cards on the table. Yet even if nothing here is casual, there's still plenty of heat generated by Allison and her band mates, especially drummer <a href="https://weownthistown.net/reviews/the-robe-bullies-official-video/" target="_blank">Rollum Haas</a>, who pushes and pulls the rhythm in original ways. The key track for me is Darkness Forever, which has some of the hypnotic wash of I Want You (She's So Heavy) from Abbey Road but addresses the seduction of suicide as a relief from the pain of mental illness rather than the search for an elusive lover. Images of fire and water throughout the album lend elemental strength to the struggle within, but the ultimate triumph - ambiguous as it is - is the transformation of all this hurt into art. As long as she can keep doing that, she'll keep the <a href="https://youtu.be/7rXeXsGghMg" target="_blank">devil on his leash</a> - and keep us listening, raptly.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://revelatorssoundsystem.bandcamp.com/album/revelators" target="_blank">18. Revelators Sound System - Revelators</a> </b>There was a taste of this new project from Hiss Golden Messenger’s M.C. Taylor on last year’s <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/best-of-2021-top-25.html#.YsGu6-zMI1I" target="_blank">The Sounding Joy</a>, a selection of dub versions from his anti-holiday-album holiday album. O Come All Ye Faithful. That collaboration with Spacebomb magus Cameron Ralston slowed and stretched the songs, creating a warm bath of healing music that doubled down on the premise of the album itself. Rather than building on previous recordings, however, the four long tracks here make their own way, meandering in a most wonderful way through the minds of musicians who have absorbed the atmospheric majesty of Lee “Scratch” Perry and Miles Davis. But everything here is infused with the distinctive tang of Richmond, VA and Asheville, NC, adding a wonderful dimension to both the Hiss and Spacebomb projects, and creating a place of comfort where ever you happen to be.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://wilcohq.bandcamp.com/album/cruel-country" target="_blank">19. Wilco - Cruel Country</a> </b>I'm not sure Jeff Tweedy has thrown down a songwriting masterclass like this since <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-wilco-diaspora-part-2-tweedy-son.html" target="_blank">Sukirae</a> in 2014. Across the 21 songs here he finds words and melodies that make classic themes seem new. The album is filled with gentle acoustic sounds and some songs have a strong country music inflections, the title is a clever feint incorporating the band's insider/outsider relationship with America and American music. "I love my country," Tweedy sings in the title track, as the band plays jauntily, "Stupid and cruel." While Tweedy wrote the songs, the arrangements were ginned up live in the studio, with all players contributing in a way that hasn't happened since The Whole Love in 2011. So, while there's lots of breezy strumming, and even pedal steel, the old adventurousness is still there in subtler form, as in the psychedelic shimmer of Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull or the slightly dissonant French horn in Darkness Is Cheap. Lyrically, the songs mostly address either national politics or personal politics, which can each serve as metaphors for the other. But there are also a number of literally cosmic moments, such as The Universe and Many Worlds, which center the album in bigger themes. The song I keep going back to, however, is Falling Apart (Right Now), which might just be the best song Buck Owens or Roger Miller never wrote. Witty and perfectly constructed, it features stellar playing that would rival any Nashville session band. On their 12th album, Wilco has offered up quite a feast and even if Tweedy is preaching to the choir on songs like Hints, with its refrain of "There is no middle when the other side/Would rather kill than compromise," I'm happy to sing along.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YrsDwezMI1J" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">20. Father John Misty - Chloe And The Next 20th Century</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YrsDwezMI1J" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">21. Laney Jones - Stories Up High</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.Yq5c_xPMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">22. Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://bakudi-scream.bandcamp.com/album/final-skin" target="_blank">23. Bakudi Scream - Final Skin</a> </b>Albums like Barry Adamson's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss_Side_Story" target="_blank">Moss Side Story</a> pioneered the soundtrack in search of a movie. Now, Rohan Chander, under his new Bakudi Scream alias, has given us a soundtrack in search of a video game, not unlike what <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/video-premiere-phong-tran-high-tech.html" target="_blank">Phong Tran gave us on The Computer Room</a>. The first hint of what was to come on this startling, immersive, and, heartfelt new collection came at the height of lockdown, when pianist Vicky Chow premiered The Tragedy of Hikikomori Loveless on one of many spirit-rescuing <a href="https://twitter.com/AnEarful/status/1363555293427286018" target="_blank">online marathons from Bang On A Can</a>. The <a href="https://bakudi-scream.bandcamp.com/track/the-tragedy-of-hikikomori-loveless" target="_blank">video</a> confused and delighted viewers as Chow triggered synthetic sounds from a MIDI-enhanced piano and voices popped in and out of the mix. Unsurprisingly for a COVID-era piece, a central theme here is loneliness, building on documentary Chander watched about hikikomori, a form of extreme withdrawal which has young Japanese people living reclusively with their parents, unable work, attend school or participate in society in any meaningful way. Just as the bad guys get all the best lines in movies, a villainous character called Somnus has some of the richest music in a three-part piece that's the heart of the album. Part 1, Nightmusic, sparkles and shimmers seductively, sucking you in to a reverie only to boot you out of the game with the sampled voice of a blues singer saying: "What I wanna know, is why don't you love me like you used to do?" It's just one of many moments where Chander stuns you with his deep humanity, putting real flesh and bone under this final skin. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YrsDwezMI1J" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">24. The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/06/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-two.html#.YrsDwezMI1J" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">25. Spoon - Lucifer On The Sofa</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html" target="_blank">The Best Of 2021 (So Far)</a><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html" target="_blank"><br /></a></span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/07/best-of-2020-so-far.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2020 (So Far)</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/07/best-of-2019-so-far.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2019 (So Far)</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-best-of-2018-so-far_4.html" target="_blank">The Best Of 2018 (So Far)</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/07/best-of-2017-so-far_4.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2017 (So Far)</a></span></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-18026290912099564202022-06-18T19:41:00.001-04:002023-02-13T09:09:01.841-05:00Record Roundup: 22 For 22 (Part Two)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSv-0vRjYgaotYFOd0dKPI7WLP1xxBO3B1nf9DMIE1urLjGJLxM6yyCsFoYWXVcU4Ccr7i1WsqRQv81XHu_3R5QDiEcizXDiGj2k4F-W75IdiLORjQvdWV952gv7bkKDI6IVYcoydM_vUuvlBq-CMsalZm0rdGk68Cd7UpWi3RnrhsuRRBDA/s1800/22%20For%2022%20Pt%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1201" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSv-0vRjYgaotYFOd0dKPI7WLP1xxBO3B1nf9DMIE1urLjGJLxM6yyCsFoYWXVcU4Ccr7i1WsqRQv81XHu_3R5QDiEcizXDiGj2k4F-W75IdiLORjQvdWV952gv7bkKDI6IVYcoydM_vUuvlBq-CMsalZm0rdGk68Cd7UpWi3RnrhsuRRBDA/w339-h507/22%20For%2022%20Pt%202.jpg" width="339" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As promised, here's Part Two of this <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2022/05/record-roundup-22-for-22-part-1.html#.Yq5c_xPMI1I" target="_blank">little series</a>, now focusing mostly on what I call "Rock, Folk, Etc." - but kicking off with an excellent new Latin release.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">JAZZ, LATIN, AND GLOBAL</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4mpWv0nGQVFyoIPbePcZxm?si=coceN6aBSz-3doTqd1ZSOw" target="_blank">Jimmy Delgado - A Mis Mentores...To My Mentors</a> </b>Delgado is master percussionist who's recorded with everyone from Ray Barreto, Willie Colon, and Eddie Palmieri to Celia Cruz and the Fania All-Stars. He also toured behind Harry Belafonte for years. While I have definitely heard some of those records, his was not a name with which I was familiar - nor did I know he was my upper Manhattan neighbor - until I listened to a terrific interview with him on the <a href="http://www.inwoodartworks.nyc/stage-works/inwood-art-works-on-air/" target="_blank">Inwood Art Works podcast</a>. He talked about his glittering past but also mentioned his latest album, which pays tribute to those earlier masters of "hard salsa" in fine style. Beautifully recorded and featuring expert playing (especially the trumpets of Nelson Gazu Jaime, Dennis Hernandez, and Chris Sanchez) along side Delgado's blazing timbales, conga, and bongos, A Mis Mentores shows how vital this music still is. Delgado's fantastic debut solo album from 2002, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1PsuRERQpI0c1YgPfm1wmi?si=aCLHYLKESZip-S1MQvUM1g" target="_blank">Salsa Con Dulzura</a>, has also been reissued digitally and should not be missed.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">ROCK, FOLK, ETC.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.dominomusic.com/releases/wet-leg/wet-leg/lp" target="_blank">Wet Leg - Wet Leg</a> </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A great melody can be like a river, pulling you along with undeniable strength. Even better is when it sounds like the singer is in the same thrall, holding on for dear life as they wend their way through the song. That was the first thing that caught my ear when Wet Leg began releasing their bright and buzzy singles last year, starting with Chaise Longue. Then the musical surrounds came into focus, filled with chiming guitars, bright keyboards, melodic bass, tight drumming, and the occasional hint of sheer abandon</span>. But the deal was sealed when the lyrics hit me like a <a href="#">lobster</a> to the face. Is there a better put down than Wet Dream's "What makes you think you're good enough to think about me when you're touching yourself...?" Except for the come-on line attributed to the same feckless man: "You said, "Baby, do you want to come home with me? I got Buffalo '66 on DVD"." And there are many such delightful examples, pricking any distended male egos within hearing distance. Bandleaders Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers give everything the ring of truth, drawing on their unfortunate relationship experiences in ways to which anyone can relate. After each single, I would say to myself, "How long can they keep this up??" Well, as this smashing debut proves, there may be no limit to their effervescent brilliance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://laneyjones.bandcamp.com/track/stories-up-high" target="_blank">Laney Jones - Stories Up High</a> </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Somehow I missed the moment when Jones was given “next big thing” status, which may be what led to a six-year gap in albums while she made her way through TV and movie sync deals. So I had probably heard her voice in a commercial or film along the way, although I don’t recall it. But this album seems remarkably untroubled by a need to be successful, coming rather from a place of deep interiority and a personal expression. That’s not to say it’s solipsistic; rather it’s inviting and easy to lose yourself in her songs. Even when they have familiar themes (I Can’t Stop The Rain, for one), there is a sense of artistic discovery that is hard not to get excited about. Working with producer Andrija Tokic and sympathetic musicians, Jones seems to give each song the surroundings it needs, mostly guitars, organ, and a rhythm section that lays back in the groove. Sometimes the music is delicate, and sometimes dynamic, even dropping a little 90s loud-quiet-loud on Remember, which also works as an epic soul ballad. But everything is wisely focused on Jones' remarkable voice, which wraps itself around your heart and then ever so gently slips a knife between your ribs. Hurts so good!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://fatherjohnmisty.bandcamp.com/album/chlo-and-the-next-20th-century" target="_blank">Father John Misty - Chloe And The Next 20th Century</a> </b>I am well aware that there are those who hate on FJM's music as much as I love it. So I can't help thinking that the opening track, a nodding and winking cabaret tune, complete with muted trumpet and a herky-jerk rhythm is more catnip for them than for us. How ya hate me now? he seems to be saying. It could just be I don't like that song very much, clever lyrics aside, even though I'm a huge Weill/Brecht fan. As a distancing device, setting up an album about a range of characters, it's a bit too obvious. But all is IMMEDIATELY forgiven with Goodnight Mr. Blue, a gorgeous, time-suspending ballad in the <a href="https://youtu.be/55xQu9eIPIA" target="_blank">Nilssonian</a> mode and an elegy for a dead cat that rep</span>resents "the only thing left of me and you." Jonathan Wilson's warm production, aided by Drew Erickson's lush string arrangement, shines here, making for an instant classic. That song sets a high bar, which the album meets more than once, especially on the epic sweep of corporate satire Q4 and the Braziliana of Olvidado (Otro Momento), which finds Erickson in full <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Ogerman" target="_blank">Claus Ogerman</a> mode. The lyrics are uncharacteristically spare, perfect for a song about a language barrier: "All I want to say is words have failed me many times before/But never so completely as with you." If FJM wants to make an all-bossa nova album next, I would not complain! Funny Girl is also excellent - and hilarious - as the protagonist wanders a hall of mirrors, haunted by pizzicato strings and old TV music, and the swagger of Only A Fool could make Bob Dylan jealous. A couple of songs seem to recede pleasantly, but the finale, The Next 20th Century, is grand indeed, a brooding and tense traverse through the mind of Misty. When it erupts in a guitar freak out (likely Wilson), it seems to release millennia of tension. Breathe out, breathe in, start again. It's all we really know how to do.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://charlotteandbolis.bandcamp.com/album/topical-dancer" target="_blank">Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer</a> </b>I wrestled with where to include this album, which has elements of electronic pop, dance music, and art rock. Finally, it fused with some loose synapses that connected it to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZE_Records" target="_blank">Ze Records</a> sound, which fused uptown dance floors with downtown punk clubs in a way that briefly felt like the next big thing. This Belgian duo wrap their polemical statements ("Do you carry the burden of this privilege?/Do you see this guilt as leverage?") in colorful grooves constructed from blooping synths, burbling bass, digital drums, and the occasional sharp guitar. In the ironically titled in Ceci n'est pas un Cliché, Adigery speak-sings "I bet this song sounds familiar" like a lighter Grace Jones, and I'm thinking, sure, but only in the most original way. And if you think they take themselves too seriously, check out Haha, which uses sampled laughter in a way unheard since Scott Johnson's Involuntary Songs - and it's impossible not to chuckle along with it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://katiedey.bandcamp.com/album/forever-music" target="_blank">Katie Dey - Forever Music</a> </b>Like Billie Eilish, Dey prizes the illusion of intimacy, processing her vocals into a near-AMSR texture that comes across like a voice note. Listen in your earbuds and you may just think she's speaking to you alone. The musical backings are spare, digital, and tuneful without ever going totally pop and the lyrics are baked down and telegraphic, describing painful life moments with sensory details and bursts of insight. Real Love, for example, describes a home life of "constant violence/smells of alcohol and cigarettes/when you got home," leading to worries of "what of you lives within me." She's not sure, but knows she wants "love that hurts my skin" and "rots through my limbs." As a confessional songwriter for the social media age, Dey has honed her craft to a fine point on this, her fifth album. I came across her in a tweet about how this was the worst music ever - which I suspect has more to do with prejudice against her trans identity rather than what this actually sounds like. I hope she finds not only "real love" but a bigger audience - don't be surprised if you see her opening for Eilish in a stadium somewhere.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://dexyuk.bandcamp.com/album/sleeping-through-summer" target="_blank">Dexy - Sleeping Through Summer</a> </b>For someone who claims to be sleeping too much, Dexy sure knows how to channel some explosive energy, starting off the album with the righteous blast of I Don't Think I Turned Out Right. With loud guitars, barroom piano, and an ass-kicking rhythm section, it practically dares you to sit still. And the album doesn't let up for the first three songs, before A Shrug To The Floor proves his way with a ballad, giving it the sweep of a glam epic. Even with two more ballads at the end, Sleeping Through Summer serves as the perfect rock and roll wake up call for any doldrums in which you might find yourself.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://thesmile.bandcamp.com/album/a-light-for-attracting-attention" target="_blank"><b>The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention</b></a> Is there a rueful tone to that title, considering how easy it is for Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood - the ostensible leaders of Radiohead - to attract attention? That aligns with the anonymous name of the group, which also includes Brit-jazz drummer Tom Skinner. Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich is at the controls, probably doing more than producing. But what if you didn’t know who was involved and were unfamiliar with their main band? Would this hold your attention? First up is Yorke’s voice, which I’ve heard some complain about. I think he sings better than ever here, often using the minimum of power to emit angelic tones from ghostly to soul-piercing. He’s also rediscovered his snarl, which is energizing. If you think you don’t like it, try it, and if you still don’t like it, no disrespect. Then you’ve got Greenwood, as inventive a guitarist as we’ve got, smoothly transitioning from densely picked patterns to dirty chords and equally versatile on acoustic guitar. If you’re bummed he hasn’t played guitar much on recent Radiohead albums, get here quick. The short, sharp blast of You’ll Never Work In Television Again may just take your head off.<br /><br />Then there is Skinner, just an astonishing drummer with the dazzling technique of Tony Allen (Fela’s drummer) and the left field inventiveness of Can’s Jaki Liebezeit. On songs like The Opposite or A Hairdryer, Skinner is so good that you even wonder if Radiohead drummer Phil Selway is a little jealous - or worried. Greenwood also flexes his compositional and arranging muscles to wonderful affect, adding dark, velvety strings and dimensional horns to several songs. Melodic intrigue abounds and the lyrics find Yorke at his most stripped down, even telegraphic at times. If you’re a Radiohead fan, I know I’m preaching to the choir - but if you’re a lapsed fan, this could be the album you’ve been waiting for. And if you’ve never been into them but you just like art-rock shot through with a golden seam of passion, take my highest recommendation for this extremely accomplished work. <br /><br /><b><a href="https://empathx.bandcamp.com/album/visitor" target="_blank">Empath - Visitor </a></b>In the two-three years since their last full-length, every band has endured a stress test like no other. So the fact that this young Philly band is still together is itself a kind of miracle. And the fact that they managed to hone their craft in that time is even more special. Somehow they’ve managed to increase both the noise factor and the glossy, shiny elements, amping up their sound and heat-seeking straight to my pleasure centers. Guitars and keyboards enthrall through their interactions and the drums pummel and bounce, while the vocals chirp and soar. So Visitor is wilder AND more addictive than <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/07/best-of-2019-so-far.html#.Yq5hcRPMI1I" target="_blank">Active Listening: Night On Earth</a>. Get hooked. <br /><br /><a href="https://mattiel.bandcamp.com/album/georgia-gothic" target="_blank"><b>Mattiel - Georgia Gothic</b></a> Ever since their <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/10/record-roundup-rock-formations.html#.Yq5hJRPMI1I">towering 2019 album</a>, Satis Factory, I’ve been waiting to see this band live, but the closest I’ve gotten is buying a t-shirt for their cancelled 2020 tour. Only 60 were made, so it’s a cool thing to have, but it also represents a lot of heartbreak on both sides of the stage. Mattiel Brown is not only a gifted singer and songwriter, but she’s also a fantastic communicator, so she’s managed to stay connected to her audience through deft use of social media. We saw her pivot to printmaking to create another income stream, which was inspiring, and when she and her main collaborator, Jonah Swilley, began work on this album, we shared their excitement - a sensation that only grew when Georgia Gothic finally arrived. Despite all the troubles and challenges of our times, Brown and Swilley, have given us a fun and fizzy record full of danceable rhythms, sharp guitars, swaggering horns, and badass vocals. Brown seems to have found some new directions for her voice, too, like the hyper-romantic wail on Lighthouse, or the Siouxsie Sioux incantation of You Can Have It All. Cultural Criminal seems tailor-made for Grace Jones and gives an opportunity for Brown to show that kind of strength. Swilley is an inventive partner, too, conjuring up settings ranging from the perky new-wave of Jeff Goldblum or a spaghetti western folk song for Blood In The Yolk. While I still have yet to see them in concert, I cheered them on as they took their songs on the road. I saw it all on Instagram, which was even better than getting a t-shirt.<br /><br /><a href="https://spoontheband.bandcamp.com/album/lucifer-on-the-sofa" target="_blank"><b>Spoon - Lucifer On The Sofa</b></a> My wife and I have a running argument about Spoon. She thinks they lack dynamic range and are too minimalist. I love that quality about them, how the tight control of the sound seems to be the only thing keeping leader Britt Daniel, a rock & roll lifer, from going completely ape. But even she perked up a little at the opener for this, their 10th album. Held, a blistering cover of a typically shaggy Bill Callahan song, might in fact be the most unleashed Spoon recording yet, with gritty guitars and drummer Jim Eno actually flailing away at one point. The torrid pace does not let up for the first four songs, culminating in Wild, an anthemic barnburner with rolling gospel piano like Nicky Hopkins working with the Glimmer Twins - and radio-friendly gloss from Jack Antonoff. Things grow more varied after My Babe, a sweet ballad, with a couple more rockers alongside Astral Jacket, which is so atmospheric it practically starts a smoke machine in my apartment. The title track ends the album at the after-party, a mid-tempo elegy full of regret over loss and what could've been: "What am I gonna do/With your last cigarettes/All your old records/All your old cassettes?" It's a haunting way to end an album that evinces an ongoing belief in the power of rock and roll, even as Spoon innovate new textures within the confines of the genre. Still questing, still engaged, still exciting - on the eve of their 30th anniversary, how cool is that?<br /><br />Coming next: The Top 25 of 2022 (So Far)<br /><br />You May Also Enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/10/record-roundup-plugged-in.html#.Yq5f2BPMI1I">Record Roundup: Plugged In</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.Yq5gOxPMI1I">Of Note In 2020: Jazz, Latin, and Global</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/05/of-note-in-2020-rock-folk-etc.html#.Yq5gHRPMI1I">Of Note In 2020: Rock, Folk, Etc.</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/10/record-roundup-rock-formations.html#.Yq5gWhPMI1I">Record Roundup: Rock Formations</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/06/record-roundup-rock-100s.html#.Yq5gchPMI1K">Record Roundup: Rock 100s</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/05/record-roundup-rock-on-and-on.html#.Yq5gphPMI1I">Record Roundup: Rock On (And On)</a></span>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-50881046283820819312022-05-28T10:00:00.003-04:002023-08-23T15:41:10.199-04:00Record Roundup: 22 for 22 (Part 1)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5OG6fCefi7KrG7RhMjjHjCP1qfktwjupDenW5xlT3imFzqiAIisEeItqWRPxkMTAI9oa7uTXhxKDKD6sVSIZiblldi3evJVaSVzyHqHjGSySxZxxVai-7kQo6ZOBsIFP1cEkmDgqwQlGD6-DcLPD_4tFXq-_VOakQzDPxr2InUiNEhRJMA/s1751/22%20For%2022%20Pt%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1751" data-original-width="1196" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5OG6fCefi7KrG7RhMjjHjCP1qfktwjupDenW5xlT3imFzqiAIisEeItqWRPxkMTAI9oa7uTXhxKDKD6sVSIZiblldi3evJVaSVzyHqHjGSySxZxxVai-7kQo6ZOBsIFP1cEkmDgqwQlGD6-DcLPD_4tFXq-_VOakQzDPxr2InUiNEhRJMA/w344-h502/22%20For%2022%20Pt%201.jpg" width="344" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There's no single reason why it took me so long to complete my "Best Of 2021" series, just life - in all its stress, strife, wonder, and joy. But all throughout everything that was going on and while I was doing my darnedest to put some shape to the music of last year, I was listening - passionately - to music from this year. And there has been plenty of brilliant stuff, more than enough to fill a dozen roundups. In order to keep myself (and you) from getting overwhelmed, I'm starting off with 22 albums across all genres, split in two parts. Future posts will drill down further into each genre. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Find songs from most of these albums (some are only on Bandcamp) and follow along with my 2022 listening in these playlists:</span></div><div><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2r5kff7Mn5ftZqmabO4lMi?si=21875447dd7d4ba5" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of Note In 2022</span></a></div><div><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ecA4lFUfNKV8bPY2SFYtj?si=e0504b9ce7e74567" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of Note In 2022 (Classical)</span></a></div><div><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1uyjwdSsyZIrGyJmWavU5N?si=c6789f1b20984a2d" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of Note In 2022 (Electronic)</span></a></div><div><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7cAfWip3RgkfSd2T2tJItX?si=0492651df45f457a" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of Note In 2022 (Hip Hop, R&B & Reggae)</span></a></div><div><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jX11zwEGWeThNHGH85inR?si=cfa40cf4880346e7" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of Note In 2022 (Jazz, Latin & Global)</span></a></div><div><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LkZsJ5GtjZDHc18FeoSrJ?si=62fd4b1ad34a45eb" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of Note In 2022 (Rock, Folk, Etc.)</span></a></div><div><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4sN4wCyEu4fPuDxCyJzZaS?si=0bc33fe64ddb4b38" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of Note In 2022 (Out Of The Past)</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Classical</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://lauracocks.bandcamp.com/album/field-anatomies" target="_blank">Laura Cocks - Field Anatomies</a> </b>It's only fitting that an album of "blisteringly physical works for flutes" comes in an exquisite package, hand-collaged with dried flowers and decorated with beeswax. The beauteous outside, however, belies the often fierce sounds inside, as Cocks (known for their work with the ever-questing <a href="http://www.takensemble.com/home#about" target="_blank">Tak Ensemble</a>), goes toe to toe with some very extreme conceptions of what can be done with a flute, breath, the body, electronics - and some even less expected sources of sound. Bethany Younge's Oxygen And Reality, for example, was composed for piccolo, electronics, balloons, and hardware, and includes at least as much rhythmic breathing as anything else. It also features Cocks in seeming conversation with theirself, as half-heard spoken sentences cross the soundscape. That's the second track; the first is <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-and-concert-roundup-on-island.html#.Yok4FpPMI1I" target="_blank">David Bird's</a> Atolls for solo piccolo and 29 spatialized piccolos, which kicks things off with what sounds like someone taking oxygen from the flute before eventually exploding in dazzling swirls of gleaming sound. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Jessie Cox, whose work was recently heard on the excellent <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html#.Yok5gpPMI1I" target="_blank">Wavefield Ensemble album Concrete And Void</a>, contributes Spiritus for solo flute, which alternates meditative tones with busy flurries of melody. "Contributes" is the wrong word, however, as the collaboration between composer and performer is as deep as it gets on Field Anatomies, beautifully detailed in the conversations on <a href="https://soundcloud.com/takeditionspodcast/022-laura-cocks-field-anatomies?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing" target="_blank">episode 22 of the Tak Editions podcast</a>. The two other pieces are You'll See Me Return To The City Of Fury for glissando flute and electronics by DM R (Diana Marcela Rodriguez), both jarring and space-age sleek, and Produktionsmittel I for amplified flute, aluminum foil, glass bottle, and fixed media by Joan Arnau Pàmies, frantic and animalistic even when its just the sound of crinkling foil. All of these works are fully formed and as rewarding as they are demanding. Field Anatomies is a remarkable piece of art, which will cause emotion and inspiration to sprout faster than the packet of seeds that comes with the special edition CD. Act fast, in any case: only five copies remain.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://triptickstapes.bandcamp.com/album/old-time-music?from=fanpub_fb_pr" target="_blank">Weston Olencki - Old Time Music</a> </b>The Tak Editions podcast also gave me the opportunity to focus on the <a href="https://soundcloud.com/takeditionspodcast/025-weston-olencki?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing" target="_blank">mind of Olencki</a>, which was perfect (though not required) prep for their music, as represented by this monster of a tape from Tripticks. The three works here astound in their invention, conceptual gravitas, and sheer listenability. Wittily titled Tenor Madness, the opener puts sax player Anna Webber through more changes than a dozen <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_sheet" target="_blank">fake books</a> as she interacts with some very messed up electronics derived from short extracts of over 300 albums spanning recordings of the (improvising) tenor saxophone from 1939 to the present. And that should give YOU an idea of how Olencki's mind works! A Vine That Grew Over The City And No One Noticed is a four-part work for "two electro-mechanically controlled banjos, homemade magnetic resonators, solenoid motors, AM radio transmitters, vintage transistor and tube radios, railroad spikes, mason jars, carriage bolts, South Carolina red clay distortion unit, 60Hz ground hum, field recordings, and neural net re-synthesis of seminal old-time repertoire and Markov-driven Scruggs-style banjo picking." I swear I hear a snippet of John Lennon's Well Well Well in there, too...but for all that it's compulsively listenable, a drone that sounds as old as Appalachia and as new as the Boeing Starliner that just connected to the International Space Station. The last piece, <a href="https://triptickstapes.bandcamp.com/video" target="_blank">Charon Guiding The Weary 'Cross The Long River (Or, How To Care For A Dying Instrument)</a>, is comprised of a similarly baffling array of source material, including "hydrophonic recordings made of the Connecticut River transduced through found slate roofing tiles," and would probably give the titular hell-bound oarsman a chill up his demonic spine. Kudos to Olencki for putting as much thought into how the end products sound as he did into making them. Drastically original and staggering stuff.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/horizontal-drift" target="_blank">Christopher Trapani - Horizontal Drift</a> </b>On the title track of Trapani's latest portrait album, Dan Lippel plays a quarter-tone guitar through software of the composer's own design called <a href="http://christophertrapani.com/wordpresssite/loop-sculptor/" target="_blank">LoopSculptor</a>. The piece incorporates tropes from Delta blues and other genres native to Trapani's hometown of New Orleans, resulting in a 10-minute trip through museum of hazy half-memories. The title seems to do double duty, referring both to American expansion and the interactions of various loops across the software's grid layout. The unusual instrument, the engineer's approach to sound, and the emotionally resonant results are paradigmatic of the whole album, which opens with Targul, a piece for vioara cu goarna, a horn-enhanced instrument similar to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroh_violin" target="_blank">Stroh violin</a>. Played with seemingly casual mastery by Maximilian Haft, the sound is not unlike a gramophone, with a sharp, tinny edge that blends perfectly with the sketchy, truncated phrases of the music. Haft also finds himself in a sort of duet/competition with electronics played through megaphones, adding immersive depth to the attenuated sounds. Trapani also puts new-music piano maven Marilyn Nonken through her paces in Lost Time Triptych, a piece for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scordatura" target="_blank">scordatura</a>-tuned instrument that manages to be inspired by both Gerard Grisey and Bob Dylan. The other works, including Linear A, for microtonal clarinet (Amy Advocat) and electronics, Forty-Nine, Forty-Nine, for a MIDI-controlled equal-tempered Fokker organ, and Tesserae, for viola d’amore (Marco Fusi) grab the attention as well. Trapani continues to prove himself to be smart, playful, and fearless explorer on this triumphant collection.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/when-dark-sounds-collide-new-music-for-percussion-and-piano" target="_blank">Pathos Trio - When Dark Sounds Collide</a> </b>The first thing that struck me upon listening to this was how richly it was recorded, with the percussion of Felix Reyes and Marcelina Suchocka fairly leaping out of my speakers and taking up space in my living room like blow-up furniture. The piece, Evan Chapman's Fiction Of Light, begins with Alan Hankers delicate (and delicately enhanced) piano, which only gives the drums more presence. Two-thirds of the way in, things get glitchy and pulsating and we're in the realm of a Radiohead remix. The group's versatility is further proven by Alison Yun-Fei Jiang's Prayer Variations, which includes some very subtle work from Reyes and Suchocka, letting Hankers takes center stage, before they drop the "boom." It's a dynamic and satisfying piece, as are works by Alyssa Weinberg and Finola Merivale. Hankers' own Distance Between Places ends the album on a brooding note. Each work was commissioned by Pathos and has an accompanying <a href="https://youtu.be/lYiN_She0h4" target="_blank">video</a> by Four/Ten Media (Chapman is a co-founder), lending even more of a sense of occasion to this excellent debut.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/missing-words" target="_blank">Eric Nathan - Missing Words</a> </b>I got a great sense of <i>kissenkühlelabsal </i>from Whitacre Hill's horn in the first part of Missing Words, performed by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. And in case you think I've lost my mind, "kissenkühlelabsal" is a word Ben Schott invented to describe "the ineffable pleasure and instant relief of a cool pillow." Every movement of this six-part work is in fact based on one of Schott's words from his <a href="http://www.benschott.com/schottenfreude.html" target="_blank">Schottenfreude </a>project, which turns into a great excuse for Nathan to produce reams of chamber music, from sparkling to introspective, and have it performed to a fare-thee-well by BMOP, the American Brass Quintet, cellist Parry Karp and pianist Christopher Karp, the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Neave Trio, and Hub New Music. Whether you know the words or not, this is a delight to listen to, although it did require some <i>fingerspitzentanz </i>("tiny triumphs of nimble-fingered dexterity") to get the booklet out of the CD package so I could read the liner notes!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Electronic</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://carlosnino.bandcamp.com/album/carlos-ni-o-friends-live-at-commend-nyc" target="_blank">Carlos Nino & Friends - Live At Commend, NYC</a> </b>For some reason it took me years to find out that the innovative label <a href="https://igetrvng.com/" target="_blank">RVNG</a> had a performance space and store in lower Manhattan. Now sadly on hiatus, at least I got to spend one blissful night in that jewel-box of artistry </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">back in 2019</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">, listening to sets by </span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/video-premiere-phong-tran-high-tech.html#.Yop4rZPMI1I" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Phong Tran</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> and </span><a href="http://adamcuthbert.com/" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Adam Cuthbért</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;">. But I wasn't there on November 16, 2021, when Nino assembled this crack lineup to make peaceful, yet intricately textured music. Adding to Nino's bells, chimes, and percussion were the great Laraaji (electric kalimba, vocals, and iPad), Surya Botofasina (keyboards), Photay (Buchla, 808, and electronic drums), and Will Logan (drum set). That should give you an idea of the sound dimension you can enter when you press "Play" - and I hope you do.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times" target="_blank">The Living Earth Show and Danny Clay - Music For Hard Times</a> </b>Composed/organized by Clay as "calming strategies" for musicians stuck at home, these 15 gentle, twinkling tracks find Living Earthers <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/04/record-roundup-chiaroscuro.html" target="_blank">Andy Meyerson</a> (percussion) and Travis Andrews (guitar) and, in Book Two, a cast of dozens including the San Francisco Girls’ Chorus and students from the San Francisco Conservatory (who sent in tracks via Dropbox) finding their way towards the light. Let it shine on you.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://boomkat.com/products/the-long-count-16d8c6ef-30e1-4e6f-80fa-6957fd643e18" target="_blank">Debit - The Long Count</a> </b>Just in case your existential dread has been too well alleviated by the sweet sounds above, here comes Delia Beatriz using machine learning to process the "ancestral technology" of Mayan wind instruments, creating a disquieting dreamscape that pays homage to a culture that has not so much been forgotten but "purposefully erased." Whether the Mayans would find anything to recognize in these sounds is unknown, but I think they would appreciate the effort - and we can enjoy the spare, spectral beauty either way.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hip Hop & RnB</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://fkatwigs.lnk.to/CAPRISONGS" target="_blank">FKA Twigs - Caprisongs</a> </b>As someone who has championed Twigs since before she was FKA but was disappointed in both her long-form releases (LP1 and Magdelene), this album - she calls it a mixtape - is a balm to my ears. While still on the leading edge of electronic RnB, there's a sense of play and lightness on these 17 tracks that's a far cry from the overly considered work on those earlier releases. Whether it's the presence of new collaborators like producer El Guincho, who worked on most of the album, or just the fact that she considered it a mixtape rather than an album allowed her to fly more freely. A breezy, but deeply creative, caprice.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://pushat.lnk.to/ItsAlmostDry" target="_blank">Pusha T - It's Almost Dry</a> </b>Four years after the perfection of <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-best-of-2018-so-far_4.html" target="_blank">Daytona</a> (my #3 album of 2018), "cocaine's Dr. Seuss" is back with his fourth album, collaborating almost equally with his two greatest partners, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West - and nearly hits those same heights. The album starts with three knockouts, the first two produced by Williams and the third by West. Brambleton opens the album with a door-knock snare drum and spooky keyboards as Pusha details his sense of betrayal after his former manager claimed credit for his stories. Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes deals out a deeply funky groove as Pusha once again finds new ways to be the king of coke rap, saying "If kilograms is the groove/I done sold the golden goose." </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Then, in a masterstroke only West could come up with (and that Pusha T begged for), Dreaming Of The Past drops the hammer with a slightly sped-up sample of Donny Hathaway's take on John Lennon's Jealous Guy. The ice-cold vibe warms right up as Pusha practically duets with Hathaway while reminiscing about the good old days when "We hollowed the walls in back of bodegas" and "Gun stutter, make the drumline like Grambling." Even as he relitigates his old life, he's self-aware enough to point out that he "Didn't have to reinvent the wheel, just a better design." But even so he tries out some new things, like the way he floats his voice over Williams' nagging groove on Call My Bluff. The final track, Pray For You, combines old and new as Pusha T takes a "side step back into the duo/The kings of the Pyrex," by having his brother Malice (aka No Malice) join him on the song. Over a churchy track by producer/singer Labrinth that flashes back to Prayer, which opened Clipse's unreleased debut album (<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1oUihvYcVCPJW2kqRNNjkJ?si=-ZcQA9X0TeSrZDV4eJL4MA" target="_blank">finally available!</a>), Malice brings the heat like the old days, which has me both dreaming of the past and eager for the future.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://kendricklamar.lnk.to/MrMorale" target="_blank">Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers</a> </b>In one of the instantly busy hot-take threads that popped up when this eagerly awaited album dropped - Lamar's fifth and first since the Pulitzer prize-winning Damn in 2017 - a friend of a friend said, "I like the rapping but I wish the music was more hip hop." This reminded me of another exchange where someone asked if Revolution #9 was a Beatles song. My response was that, while it's an unwieldy sound collage, it is a Beatles song by virtue of being on a Beatles album. Mr. Morale comes from a similarly imperial view: it's all hip hop because Lamar is a hip hop artist, and one of such creativity and stature that he can bend whole genres to his will. To be clear, there are sonic references to reggae, jazz, r&b, and, of course, many sub-genres of hip hop - but like iron filings on a magnet, they all adhere to Lamar's wiry form, moving the genre along rather than leaving it behind. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lyrically, Lamar is on another plane than most rappers, dishing out a memoir's worth of tangled reflections, observations, stories, and histories. The dense firehose of words is often challenging to sort through and revealing enough to occasionally cross into "TMI" territory. But as Lamar himself says on Worldwide Steppers: "I am not for the faint of heart." He then continues with a few lines that give a hint of the micro and macro concerns of the album: "My genetic build can build multi-universes, the man of God/Playin' "Baby Shark" with my daughter/Watchin' for sharks outside at the same time/Life as a protective father, I'd kill for her." The cover depicts him with a child in his arms, a crown of thorns on his head, and a gun in his waistband, all signifiers for the world's weight, which he feels heavily on his shoulders. In Mother I Sober, which features featherweight vocals from Portishead's Beth Gibbons, Lamar remarks, "I'm sensitive, I feel everything, I feel everybody/One man standin' on two words, heal everybody." That sense of responsibility may have led him to overstuff the album, which runs an hour and 13 minutes. But Lamar is a visionary artist and incapable of being less than fascinating at this point in his career. It's still early days for my relationship with Mr. Morale - for all I know a song that now feels half-baked might prove to be a favorite in a few months. An essential listen.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Next time: Latin, rock, folk, pop, etc. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-2021-new-year-new-music.html" target="_blank">Celebrating 2021: New Year, New Music</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="#">2019 First Quarter Report: The Albums</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/02/record-roundup-one-day-in-2018.html" target="_blank">Record Roundup: One Day In 2018</a></span></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-61010204889430200502022-05-08T17:32:00.000-04:002022-05-08T17:32:31.890-04:00Best Of 2021: Out Of The Past<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_luaFR33-mjHIuEChvH0yKP46M11zOzOFLrlnz_2DeGEZZKbWHzcNoM45IpN2BDgG5n4dF8argReDQi4LEhyXOBwpP6TiSijzat23ciIDTi6asIcxDnSLc7V1Cs25pRqnQ2HIhdyNMeh7UL1jgLdg4oWB_m-5aFBA5A25uJU5wf0D4vB4RA/s1800/Best%20of%2021%20Past.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1201" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_luaFR33-mjHIuEChvH0yKP46M11zOzOFLrlnz_2DeGEZZKbWHzcNoM45IpN2BDgG5n4dF8argReDQi4LEhyXOBwpP6TiSijzat23ciIDTi6asIcxDnSLc7V1Cs25pRqnQ2HIhdyNMeh7UL1jgLdg4oWB_m-5aFBA5A25uJU5wf0D4vB4RA/w348-h520/Best%20of%2021%20Past.jpg" width="348" /></a></div><br /><p>According to a report in <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/over-82-of-the-us-music-market-is-now-claimed-by-catalog-records-rather-than-new-releases2/" target="_blank">Music Business Worldwide</a> from January 2022, consumption of "catalog" music (i.e. stuff older than 18 months) is not only the majority of listening overall, but actually <i>increased</i> between 2020 and 2021. They speculate that some of this might be due to older listeners flocking to streaming services during COVID and staying in their comfort zone when they get there. As someone who is constantly in a state of near-overwhelm trying to keep up with new releases (and filter the best stuff to you), I get it! But, perhaps ironically, my consumption of reissues was lower than usual in 2021, which makes it easier for me to create a more concise list of what rose to the top. So here are a mere dozen of the best releases from out of the past. Two of them you'll have to find on vinyl, but you can listen to tracks from the others <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3v2lE6fMhd3vnjZyY2CVKY?si=6c1a8b420fb0430d" target="_blank">here</a> or in the playlist below. </p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/3v2lE6fMhd3vnjZyY2CVKY?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></p><p><b>REISSUE OF THE YEAR</b></p><p><b><a href="https://bobdylanstore.com/products/springtime-in-new-york-the-bootleg-series-vol-16-1980-1985-deluxe-cd-box-set" target="_blank">Bob Dylan - Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 / 1980-1985</a></b> Just in case you think I’m a total Dylan Stan, take note that not only didn’t I buy the last two volumes in this series (More Blood, More Tracks and Travelin’ Thru), I didn’t even review them. I listened, of course, and found them wanting. It could be that I was just still rushing on that run from <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/bob-dylans-bootleg-gospel.html#.YnaJz_PMI1I" target="_blank">Volume 13: Trouble No More</a>, which was my <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/best-of-2017-out-of-past_16.html#.YnaKAvPMI1I" target="_blank">2017 reissue of the year</a>. That ecstatic sound continues almost unbroken on the first two discs here, which bring to light the sessions that led to Shot Of Love, revealing that what became a good album could have been a great one. With the same core band that made Saved and toured that album and Slow Train Coming (most notably Fred Tackett (guitar), Tim Drummond (bass), Jim Keltner (drums) and backup singers Clydie King, Carolyn Dennis, and Regina McCrary), these recordings find a well-oiled machine able to respond to Dylan's every wish and whim with passion and professionalism. This leads to jaw-dropping moments like Price Of Love and Borrowed Time, where Dylan makes up songs as he goes along, the band follows, and you nearly get a master take - if he had bothered to record them again, they might have become classics. Dylan also assays a number of covers, dispatching classics like I Wish It Would Rain and Fever with casual mastery. He even has a run at Sweet Caroline, investing that crappy song with more feeling and depth than Neil Diamond possesses on his best days.</p><p>Discs three and four jump ahead to the making of Infidels, it's ultra-clean digital soundscape a world away from the road-hardened greasiness of the earlier material. But a band with Mark Knopfler, Mick Taylor, and Sly & Robbie (guitars, bass, and drums respectively) is incapable of doing wrong, even when the songs go awry, like Julius And Ethel, a tuneless and tone-deaf tribute to the Rosenbergs. But most of it is magic, especially the spine-tingling full-band version of Blind Willie McTell, recorded on the first day of the sessions. Singers, songwriters, and musicians might be ready to sell part of their souls to be involved with something like that. For Dylan, it was just another day at the office. There are other revelations here, including great versions of Foot Of Pride, Lord Protect My Child, and a storming live take on Enough Is Enough, a song that never made it into the studio. The only complaint I have about this phenomenal set is that the compilers didn't include all three songs Dylan played with The Plugz on Late Night With David Letterman in March 1984. But that's a minor quibble about a major achievement.</p><p><b>JAZZ REISSUE OF THE YEAR</b></p><p><b><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Complete-Live-Lighthouse-Box-Set/dp/B096C185JM" target="_blank">Lee Morgan - The Complete Live At The Lighthouse</a> </b>I know, I know, there was that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Love_Supreme:_Live_in_Seattle" target="_blank">great John Coltrane discovery last year</a>, which was certainly a more than worthy document that needed to come out. But this Lee Morgan material is so furiously, gloriously, compelling and alive that I just keep coming back to it. My relationship to the original Live At The Lighthouse double album started over 30 years ago with some very personal crate digging: in my brother's collection. I was looking for anything early 70s that rode the line of fusion, progressive jazz, spiritual jazz, what have you. I was partly on a mission for Mike D., who was in constant need of new grooves to mine for the Beastie Boys. So anything of interest I would tape twice and send him a copy. While I'm not sure what he thought of LATL, I became obsessed, listening to the tape on repeat. Auto-reverse was definitely employed. I could not get enough of each long, luxurious track, with sparkling interplay between Morgan's fluttering and soaring trumpet and his genius band of Bennie Maupin (sax/flute/bass clarinet), Harold Mabern (piano), Jymie Meritt (bass), and Mickey Roker (drums). All of the compositions were new and had great introductory sections and chord changes that inspired the best from everyone. The music was much knottier and explosive than the soul jazz Morgan was known for, approaching free jazz at times, such as the oozing majesty of Maupin on Neophilia. I even got hooked on Morgan's laconic introductions: "This is one composed by Harold Mabern...very bright, busy, and the title is The Beehive." </p><p>I never spotted that album in the wild but one day in 1997, I was walking past Academy Records and did a double-take: there in the window was a three-CD set of Live At The Lighthouse. I did a U-turn, walked in, and snapped it up. I was in pig heaven with that thing, which had more songs than the original four, all of which were as good as the ones I had been listening to for years. But it quickly became clear that Blue Note had used different takes at times; intricate solos that I knew as well as my own soul were different - as was the intro to The Beehive. But it was only slightly frustrating as the music was so fantastic, especially the Latin-tinged and exquisitely melancholy I Remember Britt. But now, finally, we have it all, 12 sets of music recorded over three days - over seven and a half hours of music, and not a half-hearted note to be heard. Sometimes I dive in and listen to an individual set, or swap through different recordings of the same song, never tiring of any of the variations. I have even worked eight-hour day listening to nothing else and been a happy man, cursing only the interruptions of meetings and phone calls! - thank you, Blue Note. Thank you, Lee Morgan.</p><p><b>VINYL REISSUES OF THE YEAR</b></p><p><b><a href="https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/sonny-greenwich-sun-song" target="_blank">Sonny Greenwich - Sun Song</a> </b>I'm fairly convinced that there is no better fan community than that of the Beastie Boys. The most recent "Exhibit A" being that of Fred Heff, someone I met online through that world who has now turned me on to the extraordinary, Montreal-based reissue label Return To Analog by sending me a stack of recent releases. All of them were distinguished by masterful pressings, gorgeous remastering, and quality design and packaging. These are the kind of LPs you invite people over to listen to and this 1974 album by Canadian guitarist Greenwich may have been the best of the lot, a dose of spiritual jazz that really delivers on the promise of the genre. Greenwich's questing single-string solos, played with a fat tone just this side of distortion, are perfectly accompanied by the warm pool of sound created by Don Thompson (piano), Rick Homme (bass), Terry Clarke (drums) and Clayton Johnson (percussion). I fell in love at first listen and now give the album pride of place alongside things like In A Silent Way by Miles Davis and Journey to Satchidananda by Alice Coltrane. You'll likely never find an original copy - and this one probably sounds better - so consider this a public service from Return To Analog.</p><p><b><a href="https://roughtrade.com/us/nico/drama-of-exile/lp" target="_blank">Nico - Drama Of Exile</a> </b>Long out of print and still absent from streaming services, Nico's penultimate album gets a much-needed reissue from Modern Harmonic. Don't kick yourself for missing the translucent red and black marble limited edition, just get the black vinyl and be happy you can listen to Nico's brilliant entry into post-punk. Angular guitars, pumping bass and drums, icy keyboards, and occasional sax create perfect frames for her songs, which are typically dark, but more melodic than some of her other stuff. She also covers I'm Waiting For The Man and Heroes, attacking both with iconoclastic energy, as if she actually could better the originals - the fact that she gets as close as she does is a minor miracle. </p><p><b>REGGAE</b></p><p><b><a href="https://trojanrecords.tmstor.es/product/83769#:~:text=Release%20Date%3A%2015%2F10%2F,seminal%20album%20Hopelessly%20In%20Love." target="_blank">Carroll Thompson - Hopelessly In Love (40th Anniversary Expanded Edition)</a> </b>Available on vinyl for the first time since its release in 1981, this reissue throws a spotlight on one of the greatest lovers rock albums of all time. In fact, the whole genre, a romantic, British-born offshoot of reggae, could be explained by Thompson's sweet voice floating over these languid grooves, which have just a touch of the burgeoning sound of digital dancehall. The expanded version adds material from various 12" singles, including Make It With You, a divine duet with Sugar Minott from 1983. If you're unfamiliar with Thompson or lovers rock, press play and fall hopelessly in love.</p><p><b><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08QBS1TD8/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_4GBK5T9A7M9697EN2TMS" target="_blank">Various Artists - Different Fashion: High Note Dancehall, 1979-1981</a> </b>This collection of 33 early dancehall 12-inches (11 released here for the first time) came out last December, when barbecue season seemed but a dream or a half-forgotten memory. Now, the time to fire up the grill is here, and this expert overview of Sonia Pottinger's High Note singles is here for you to provide the perfect soundtrack. Featuring some familiar names, like Ansel Collins and Marcia Griffiths, and many that are less so - Zara, Tony Tuff, Lee Van Cleef, Sonya Spence, etc. - singing over killer cuts by The Revolutionaries, Roots Radics, and others, this is a nonstop groove-a-thon. After all, who wants to keep picking the music, when there's BBQ to tend to?</p><p><b><a href="https://shop.bobmarley.com/products/the-capitol-session-73-cd" target="_blank">Bob Marley & The Wailers - The Capitol Sessions '73</a> </b>After being removed from their opening slot on a tour with Sly & The Family Stone - for being too good - BMW made use of their time on the west coast by booking an in-studio set, which was recorded and <a href="https://youtu.be/QEXO5Qy84oA" target="_blank">filmed</a> in front of a small and extremely lucky audience. Finally coming to light (at least officially), it's another precious - and smoking hot - document of the band just on the cusp of Peter Tosh's departure. Bunny Wailer was already home in Jamaica, having found that life on the road was not for him. As on Talkin' Blues, the 1991 collection which included material recorded a week later at The Record Plant, Joe Higgs sits in for Bunny Wailer and sounds great, although Marley and Tosh are front and center. But perhaps the true stars are the Barrett brothers, Aston and Carlton, whose bass and drums provide a ceaselessly inventive and intricately funky foundation for everything that transpires. </p><p><b>FAB FOUR FINALE?</b></p><p><b>The Beatles - Let It Be (Super Deluxe) </b>Everything you need to know about this forensic and deeply moving document of the Beatles semi-last album (and the accompanying Get Back documentary) can be <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/getting-back-to-let-it-be.html#.YngHMPPMI1I" target="_blank">found here</a>. Where will the Fab Four reissue train stop next? </p><p><b>WONDERS OF THE WORLD</b></p><p><b><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08CJJRPR6/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_AYAYAGNGMW4ZREEZ6CM6" target="_blank">Ike & Tina Turner - The Bolic Sound Sessions</a> </b>This collection of alternate takes, previously unreleased songs, and live material from the closing years of Ike & Tina's musical and personal partnership, is a pointed reminder of the musical alchemy they created together. Ike named their studio Bolic Sound in tribute to Tina's maiden name, Bullock, and perhaps also to her hyperbolic power as a singer and performer. While there are a few unnecessary moments (there was no need to remake their versions of River Deep-Mountain High or Proud Mary), much of this is furiously funky or hypnotically bluesy stuff. The backings show Ike's skill as an arranger as they manage to meet Tina's unholy power without ever pushing her to the background. There is no debate that Ike was an often reprehensible person, but we likely would never have had Tina as we knew her without him.</p><p><a href="https://lesliewiner.bandcamp.com/album/when-i-hit-you-youll-feel-it" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Leslie Winer - When I Hit You - You'll Feel It</a> This is one of those axis-correcting collections, detailing the last 30 years of a unique career by an artist last compiled <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/01/best-of-rest-of-12-out-of-past.html" target="_blank">a decade ago</a>. A literal <a href="https://lightintheattic.net/releases/7735-when-i-hit-you-you-ll-feel-it" target="_blank">black-market baby</a>, Winer carved her own path from the beginning, turning a provocative way with words and her intense appearance into friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jean-Michel Basquiat - and a notable modeling career. As the 80s came to a close, she began recording, completing Witch, her first album, in 1990. While it was ahead of its time in its combination of spoken word, samples, programmed drums, and dubbed-out bass, Witch was delayed for three years and subsumed on release by music Winer had anticipated, like Portishead and Massive Attack. But Winer was probably never going to fill stadiums or soundtrack your local Starbucks; she's just a little too edgy for that. But her commitment and strength of personality (or even <i>personhood</i>) shine through every fascinating track here. Naturally, Light In The Attic do a wonderful job with the packaging, so you might want to track down the vinyl - <a href="https://www.popmarket.com/leslie-winer-when-i-hit-you-youll-feel-it/826853018111?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1N2TBhCOARIsAGVHQc7jVT2d43iD8WwFG5OGHx2WuCQOZ0GhLkEVdb2fio9xnQvDHUTxN3MaAp7vEALw_wcB" target="_blank">Popmarket</a> has it for a reasonable price. </p><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2pibIpnnJddBF5vjcMB91a?si=lEkWfUr1Q2mZE_GZZ_XHGQ" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Perrofláuta - s/t</a> First digital release for the 1998 debut by this Spanish band, which featured <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/search?q=gecko+turner#.YngfJfPMI1J" target="_blank">Gecko Turner</a> alongside Markos Bayón and C´sar Inn. Five years before Gecko's epochal Guapapasea!, you can hear his blissful blend of south-of-the-equator sounds in nascent form. As we approach the eighth year without a new record from him (save for a compilation), this is doing a nice job of filling in the gaps.</p><p><b><a href="https://hailumergia.bandcamp.com/album/tezeta" target="_blank">Hailu Mergia & The Walias Band - Tezeta</a> </b>Awesome Tapes From Africa once again live up to their name with this reissue of an album originally released on cassette in 1975. All instrumental, it features those wonderfully watery Ethiopian harmonies at full strength, led on by Mergia's fanciful organ playing, which is supported by mesmerizingly mellow rhythm tracks and beautiful horns. Though expertly remastered, there's still a trace of evocative murkiness - and if you want to amplify that you can buy it on cassette!</p><p>For more reissues and excavations from 2021, dig into <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4vLGDLoV3VyqcJzh9UdbI5?si=1f70b3a4999c46a7" target="_blank">this playlist</a>, and keep up with with what 2022 brings to light <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4sN4wCyEu4fPuDxCyJzZaS?si=e4aabee6e1404a15" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p>You may also enjoy: <br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/02/best-of-2020-out-of-past.html#.Yngk6vPMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Out Of The Past<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/01/best-of-2019-out-of-past_25.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2019: Out Of The Past<br /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/03/best-of-2018-out-of-past_13.html#.XizPQxNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2018: Out Of The Past</a></span><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/best-of-2017-out-of-past_16.html#.XizPcBNKg1I" target="_blank"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Best Of 2017: Out Of The Past</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/01/best-of-2016-reissues_28.html#.XizPoxNKg1I" target="_blank"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Best Of 2016: Reissues</span></a><br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/01/best-of-rest-of-12-out-of-past.html" target="_blank">Best Of The Rest Of 12: Out Of The Past</a></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-52430173422933230872022-04-24T10:30:00.006-04:002022-04-24T19:17:42.438-04:00Best Of 2021: Rock, Folk, Etc.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZY49dVclZbyYVdqbcPQtR2D2PTsWQ7v0LeTaP8C__Cjj30-w_cV6fxFP1BsYJCNPX0GYkZZXMqfb_r3wKLrNgKkZ1iEIe6VSHXuqlZ2Le2aL4UAeStEx3QRHjVwhUB5myEpAMNhs4_d6mOg0n7tM8qBYwXnnQeX7721UtEGYvlwt5E6pe3A/s1800/Best%20Of%2022%20Rock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1201" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZY49dVclZbyYVdqbcPQtR2D2PTsWQ7v0LeTaP8C__Cjj30-w_cV6fxFP1BsYJCNPX0GYkZZXMqfb_r3wKLrNgKkZ1iEIe6VSHXuqlZ2Le2aL4UAeStEx3QRHjVwhUB5myEpAMNhs4_d6mOg0n7tM8qBYwXnnQeX7721UtEGYvlwt5E6pe3A/w357-h534/Best%20Of%2022%20Rock.jpg" width="357" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of all the genre-based lists, only classical exceeds or comes close to this category, which both accurately reflects my listening and the general ferment among creators in those spaces. I wrote about plenty of rock, folk, etc. albums during the year, 14 of which landed on my <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/best-of-2021-top-25.html#.YjdkZRDMI1I" target="_blank">top 25</a>. As usual, the other previously covered releases will come first below and new reviews will follow those. Listen to a tracks from all of them <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0M7p4rYgJFfrJvk8TQOkoP?si=54d24111bc804fef" target="_blank">here</a> or in the playlist below.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/0M7p4rYgJFfrJvk8TQOkoP?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="60%"></iframe></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-2021-new-year-new-music.html#.YjdnlhDMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Celebrating 2021: New Year, New Music</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://shamebanduk.bandcamp.com/album/drunk-tank-pink" target="_blank">Shame - Drunk Tank Pink</a><br /><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/record-roundup-sonic-environments.html#.YjdoNBDMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Sonic Environments<br /></span></a></b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><b>Steven van Betten & Andrew Rowan - No Branches Without Trees</b></a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><b>Anika Pyle - Wild River</b></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-americana-beautiful.html#.Yjdo7RDMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Americana The Beautiful</span></a><br /></b></span><b><a href="https://jeffreysilverstein.bandcamp.com/album/torii-gates" target="_blank">Jeffrey Silverstein - Torii Gates</a> <br /></b><b><a href="https://corntuth.bandcamp.com/album/the-desert-is-paper-thin" target="_blank">Corntuth - The Desert Is Paper Thin</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/record-roundup-rocknpop-adjacent.html#.YjdphRDMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Rock'n'Pop Adjacent</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="https://themuckersband.bandcamp.com/album/endeavor" target="_blank">The Muckers - Endeavor</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://reverberationappreciation.bandcamp.com/album/take-it-from-the-dead" target="_blank">Acid Dad - Take It From The Dead</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://bachelortheband.bandcamp.com/album/doomin-sun" target="_blank">Bachelor - Doomin' Sun</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://laelneale.bandcamp.com/album/acquainted-with-night" target="_blank">Lael Neale - Acquainted With Night</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://uvtv.bandcamp.com/album/always-something" target="_blank">UV-TV - Always Something</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://palbertapalberta.bandcamp.com/album/palberta5000" target="_blank">Palberta - Palberta5000</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://ganser.bandcamp.com/album/look-at-the-sun" target="_blank">Ganser - Look At The Sun</a> <br /></b><b><a href="https://lucydacus.bandcamp.com/album/home-video" target="_blank">Lucy Dacus - Home Video</a></b></span></p><p><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-roundup-rooms-of-their-own.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Roundup: Rooms Of Their Own<br /></span></b><b style="color: black;"></b></span></a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/products/sbr276-anika-change" target="_blank">Anika - Change</a> <br /></b><b style="color: black;"><a href="https://wearemytree.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-grace-is" target="_blank">My Tree - Where The Grace Is</a><br /></b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><b>(Eli)zabeth Owens - Knock Knock</b></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/10/record-roundup-plugged-in.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Record Roundup: Plugged In</b></span></a><br /><b><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Slow-Down-Babe-Freak-Dwyer/dp/B094T5LJ38" target="_blank">Freak Slug - Slow Down Babe</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://scott-hirsch.bandcamp.com/album/windless-day" target="_blank">Scott Hirsch - Windless Day</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://matthewewhite.bandcamp.com/album/k-bay" target="_blank">Matthew E. White - K-Bay</a><br /></b><b><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/bLOW-Colin-Linden/dp/B0942QJ7CM/?tag=theorc-20" target="_blank">Colin Linden - bLow</a><br /></b><a href="https://amylandthesniffers.bandcamp.com/album/comfort-to-me" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Amyl And The Sniffers - Comfort To Me</a></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">POST-PUNK TRAJECTORIES</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://notdummy.bandcamp.com/album/mandatory-enjoyment" target="_blank">Dummy - Mandatory Enjoyment</a> </b>This doesn't sound like an L.A. band, more like Brooklyn or London, except they are less single-minded in their pursuit of art-rock nirvana than say, Stereolab or UV-TV. Unafraid to go from sleek to noisy - sometimes in the same song - their combination of churning guitars, spacious synths, and driving rhythms is remarkably assured on this debut. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://shop.greenwayrecords.com/products/spud-10" target="_blank">Spud - Spud</a> </b>Rather than being a couch potato during lockdown, Holly Findlay (bass player of Australian band, Stonefield) cooked up a synth-heavy EP of micro-anthems, each one unexpectedly hooky. If you've got the cash, you can still score it on a limited-edition 10" pressing from stalwart label Greenway Records.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://tamaraphek.bandcamp.com/album/all-bets-are-off" target="_blank"><b>Tamar Aphek - All Bets Are Off</b></a> If this is an example of what's going on in the Israeli rock underground, I say give me more. Aphek, who can be serene or stentorian, sails over edgy art-punk songs that stick under your skin like needles that hurt so good. She and her band of atmospherically inclined noise-rockers do not put a foot wrong, except for a cover of As Time Goes By, which ends the record on a note of retreat after eight songs of attack. No matter, just hit repeat after Nothing Can Surprise Me and continue to be surprised.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://churchgirls.bandcamp.com/album/still-blooms" target="_blank">Church Girls - Still Blooms</a> </b>My favorite YouTube discovery last year was <a href="https://youtu.be/P-bO7fXoDYA" target="_blank">Jarrett Wolfson's channel,</a> documenting his obsessive New York City concert-going with very conscientiously shot videos of all the shows I would be going to if I were going to shows - and some I wouldn't have known about, like this band. Hailing from Philly, which must have a scene rivaling Brooklyn's by now, Church Girls platforms the catalytic talent of Mariel Beaumont, a singer/guitarist who wrote or co-wrote all the songs here. On paper, she might not be doing anything entirely new - a blend of pop, punk (without exactly being pop-punk) with a bit of new wave sheen - but it's the passion with which she does it that puts it over the top. Predicting big things for Beaumont, whether with Church Girls or not. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://geesebandnyc.bandcamp.com/album/projector" target="_blank">Geese - Projector</a> </b>The first thing that struck me when I heard Disco, the first single from Brooklyn-based Geese, was <i>style</i>. Singer Cameron Winter has style and swagger to burn, grabbing you by the throat with his range and variety of approaches. I wasn't even sure I liked it right way, but his no-fucks attitude, plus the splashy guitars and dance-punk rhythms, kept me listening as more singles and then the album came out. I'm glad I did, as Projector is an excellent first step for this young band. Their original but historically-informed post-punk update is full of twists and turns, at times white hot, at others contemplatively cool. A bright debut from a band that sounds like they can go the distance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://sleighbells.bandcamp.com/album/texis" target="_blank">Sleigh Bells - Texis</a> </b>Of all the twists and turns in 2021, a return to relevance for this electro-clash (or hyper pop? who cares!) duo was certainly among the most unexpected. After hitting my top ten in 2010 (and my <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-2010s-anearfuls-first-decade.html#.Yj0N1RDMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of the 2010's</a> list) with their explosive debut, Treats, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller seemed to gradually run out of steam over the next three albums. How many different ways could they combine Miller's buzzsaw guitars, a drum machine, and Krauss's sugary vocals? Well, somehow they've figured out a new path - or maybe that debut was more about the songs than the sound after all. They seem to have found their spark again, in any case, with adrenalized melodies delivered by Krauss with roller-girl swagger, and more dynamics in the musical backing, even including the occasional acoustic guitar. Highly enjoyable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://foyerred.bandcamp.com/album/zigzag-wombat" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Foyer Red - Zigzag Wombat</a> A meeting of messed-up minds, including Mitch Myers, whose 2020 cassette Turn Tail (as "Sreym Hctim") I speculated could be "<a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/07/record-roundup-unclassifiable.html#.YmHYAJPMI1I" target="_blank">the end of all music</a>." Apparently not, because he has found a brilliant way forward, with helping hands from Elana Riordan, who sings and plays clarinet and Omnichord, and Marco Ocampo, responsible for drums, bass, and percussion. Myers contributes guitar, bass, vocals, and percussion, and somehow the end result is delightfully intuitive, sounding perfectly natural, as angular and odd as it is. This 19-minute EP has me eager for more.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">POP ART</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://alicephoebelou.bandcamp.com/album/childs-play" target="_blank">Alice Phoebe Lou - Child's Play</a> </b>Breezy and just a touch hazy, this effortlessly tuneful album showcases Lou's airy voice beautifully. Drawing on 60s pop and 90s bedsit indie, its an intimate visit with a great songwriter. A South-African-born prodigy who has been making music since the age of 14, this is her fourth album since 2016. Her third album, <a href="https://alicephoebelou.bandcamp.com/album/glow" target="_blank">Glow</a>, was also released in 2021, and features a more sophisticated, even sultry, sound, with sparkling keyboards and insistent bass lines. Once I've had my fill of these two albums, I'm looking forward to catching up with those earlier ones, which I unaccountably missed!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://tvgirl.bandcamp.com/album/summers-over" target="_blank">Jordana and TV Girl - Summer's Over</a> </b>Brad Petering's gift for catchy tunes, inflected by both hip hop and 60s pop, hasn't deserted him since I discovered TV Girl <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/08/channel-surfing-with-tv-girl.html" target="_blank">years ago</a>. Putting his production and songwriting skills in service of Jordana Nye's airy voice is a winning combination, and when they sing together it's even more pure pleasure. Jordana also put out an <a href="https://jordananye.bandcamp.com/track/push-me-away-feat-magdalena-bay" target="_blank">excellent single</a> with Magdalena Bay last year and has her own album, Face The Wall, due in May. Pre-saving!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://francespriya.bandcamp.com/album/princess-wiko" target="_blank">FPA - Princess Wiko</a> </b>Released on Justin Vernon's 37d03d label, this second album from Frances Priya Anczarski finds her assaying pop, folk, R&B, and art-song with equal aplomb, earning that regal pose on the cover. Between her enveloping and lovely voice and the cinematic sweep of the songs, you will swear twice the amount of time has passed when its 25 minutes are up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://laurawolfmusic.bandcamp.com/album/artifacts" target="_blank">Laura Wolf - Artifacts</a> </b>Arty and airy synth-pop EP that somehow hits some of the same buttons as <a href="https://www.billnelson.com/transcorder" target="_blank">Bill Nelson's club singles from the 80s</a>, meaning they are highly melodic, quirky, and follow their own internal logic in how the sounds are assembled. Unexpectedly, it all comes together in delightful ways.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://alicetm.bandcamp.com/album/little-body-in-orbit" target="_blank">Alice TM - Little Body In Orbit</a> </b>When I saw her perform with <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/02/record-roundup-one-day-in-2018.html#.YlMduG7MI1K">Ethan Woods</a>, Alice Tolan-Mee's serene confidence - along with her expert musicianship - made her a captivating presence. Then, the two of them put out an album of sexy, weird electro-pop as <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-electronic_31.html#.YlMZ_G7MI1J" target="_blank">Hyperion Drive</a>, which seems to contain some of the seeds of this debut solo album. Hoeing a row that might be termed synth-art-song, Alice TM uses a lot of the shiny textures of pop to present her imaginatively meandering melodies, which gain more inevitability with each listen. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Lily Konigsburg - <a href="https://lilykngsbrg.bandcamp.com/album/the-best-of-lily-konigsberg-right-now" target="_blank">The Best Of Lily Konigsburg Right Now </a>and <a href="https://lilykngsbrg.bandcamp.com/album/lily-we-need-to-talk-now" target="_blank">Lily We Need To Talk Now</a> </b>Even if she had just released Palberta5000 (see above) with her bandmates in Palberta, Konigsburg would have had a great year as it was their best album yet. But her songwriting cup runneth over, apparently, as she also put out her first solo album, the sprightly Lily We Need To Talk Now. While some of the songs sound like they could be on a band record (and drummer Nina Ryser makes several appearances), the best material explores more layered pop production to support songs that seem a little more introspective. Sweat Forever and That's The Way I Like It are great arguments that Konigsburg could play in the same arena as Clairo or Lorde - and have more fun doing it. The Best Of..., which collects several singles and EPs going back to at least 2017, is even more terrific, with every song hitting the sweet (or bittersweet) spot in the best indie-pop tradition. The a cappella of Rock and Sin and perky autotune of It's Just Like All The Clouds are earworms you will actually not want to shake! If Konigsburg wanted to be the opening act for her own band, I guarantee you that no one would feel oversaturated with her quirky brilliance by the end of the night. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://lorde.lnk.to/SPAlbum_US" target="_blank">Lorde - Solar Power</a> </b>I was maybe one of the few that found Lorde's second album, Melodrama, to be mostly overwrought and overthought, the anxiety of her surprise success with the song Royals and ensuing album Pure Heroine all too apparent in its conception and execution. At the time, I blamed producer Jack Antonoff whose "magic touch" usually makes sounds that turn me off. Four years later, it seems I was only partly right. While she's once again working with him as a co-producer and co-songwriter, she's made clear in interviews that this time around, she's in full control. And thank goodness, as this is the tuneful, sun-struck pop album promised by the title but so unexpected by an artist who usually shades on the darker side of things. Singing in a fluttery higher register than before - and often double-tracked (or shadowed by Clairo) - the focus is firmly on her voice, which has never sounded more natural, surrounding it with acoustic guitars, sinewy bass lines, and sensitive keyboards. There is very little of the hip hop influence shown on her earlier work, but the drums (by the great Matt Chamberlain) give oomph when needed. It's almost like having a whole new artist to listen to - and I like this Lorde a lot!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://clairo.lnk.to/Sling" target="_blank">Clairo - Sling</a> </b>Speaking of Clairo and Antonoff, when I included her in the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-rock-folk-etc.html" target="_blank">2019 edition of this list</a>, I celebrated the fact that she hadn't gone the "full Jack Antonoff route" for her debut, Immunity. Now we know what that sounds like, as Antonoff co-produced Sling and co-wrote half the songs - fortunately, it's not the obnoxious disaster I predicted. But neither is it the bright success of Solar Power. In fact, it leans over a little too far in the opposite direction, with one hushed, drum-less song blending into another. Not unpleasant, but I was hoping for more. Amoeba, however is a massive highlight, perhaps her best song yet, as she digs into a Steely Dan/Boz Scaggs groove circa 1976 and completely commands the sleek ship at it sails into AM radio glory. The lyrics throughout show a maturity and self-empathy that are sure to give comfort to many, I just wish the musical surround was a little more distinctive. If she's looking for her next collaborator, can I suggest Nate Amos, who helped Lily Konigsburg make some of the magic mentioned above.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1Hs5SAioUMz5JA1qw8zrmZ?si=4UemFU5GRD2WlYAhBeSI2A" target="_blank"><b>Dora Jar</b> <b>- Digital Meadow</b></a> Blending acoustic, electric, and electronic textures to frame her assured songwriting and flowing voice, this 20-minute EP showcases a burgeoning talent. Not surprised Billie Eilish tapped her to open some shows. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://historianreal.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-season" target="_blank">Historian - Out Of Season</a> </b>Chris Karman continues to expand on his chamber-pop approach - working with nearly a full orchestra's worth of musicians to realize his melancholy songs on this, his ninth album as Historian. While he still wears his love of Radiohead on his sleeve, the Historian sound is its own thing, and embraces new tributaries all the time, such as the 1920s ballroom resonances of Transitions, with its woozy sax and upright bass. His singing is more confident than ever, too, stepping away from the reverb-laden approach he often uses. While he wonders if he is "out of season" on the title track, I would say his time is just beginning.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">FOLK-INFUSED</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://rebeccatilles.bandcamp.com/releases" target="_blank">Rebecca Tilles - Oh Sister</a> </b>This folk-pop debut from a Swedish-American singer/songwriter has a light touch that gains weight as it goes on. The trilogy of songs that end the album, starting with the wry melancholy of Endless Days, moving through the bittersweet I Don't Even Miss You, and ending with The Beginning, may be the finest here. Sensitive production from Robin Applewood adds just the right touches to the acoustic strumming, whether accordion, mandolin, or organ, and keeps things varied yet consistent. Rebecca was a member of one of my writing groups and it was always a highlight when she contributed - now she's here for the world to hear.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://marissanadler.bandcamp.com/album/the-path-of-the-clouds" target="_blank">Marissa Nadler - The Path Of The Clouds</a> </b>For her ninth solo album - and first of all-original songs since 2018's stunning <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/02/best-of-2018-rock-folk-etc_9.html#.YlM1XG7MI1J" target="_blank">For My Crimes</a> - Nadler throws up her folk-infused songs on the widescreen, blowing them up with rich layers of guitar, droning underscores, starlit keyboards, and Mary Lattimore's harp. This has the effect of lending her dark tales of love, loss, and murder even more gravitas. I expect the movie and TV sync requests are coming in even more fast and furiously now. Nadler also found time to showcase her interpretive gifts on the cover album <a href="https://marissanadler.bandcamp.com/album/instead-of-dreaming" target="_blank">Instead Of Dreaming</a>, especially on versions of King Crimson's Moonchild and Metallica's Nothing Else Matters.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://lerenmusic.bandcamp.com/album/leftovers" target="_blank">Le Ren - Leftovers</a> </b>It's a self-effacing title, that, and an understandable defense by an artist who appears very much exposed on this spare, stately, and drop-dead gorgeous album of folk songs. There's a toughness here, however, reminiscent of those bedrock artists from America's past, who would work the fields and then meet Alan Lomax on their front porch to make a field recording. In short, these are sturdy yet delicate songs by someone who sounds fully engaged with the life of the earth and workings of her heart. A stunning debut.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">INDIE-ISH</span></b></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://snailmail.bandcamp.com/album/valentine" target="_blank">Snail Mail - Valentine</a> </b>I felt there was a coiled ambition contained in the emotionally-connected indie-rock of Lindsay Jordan as presented on her debut, <a href="https://snailmail.bandcamp.com/album/valentine" target="_blank">Lush</a>. But then I found myself taken aback by the nearly Kelly Clarkson-esque uplift of the huge chorus on the title track of this second album. I soon got over myself and marveled at the wide range of places she was taking her voice, both as a singer and songwriter. I never would have expected something like Forever (Sailing), which samples an obscure 70s R&B jam (by Madleen Kane) she heard at Starbucks, from Jordan, nor that she would pull it off with such organic ease. Then there's the string-laden Glory (arrangement by Spacebomb's Trey Pollard) that finds new sonics in which to embed her passionate lyrics and delivery. Overall, there's a little more gloss than I would expect from a Brad Cook production, but there's still enough tooth here to grab me along with the thrill of self-discovery that is a through-line from Lush. If she keeps moving this fast, she'll have to change her name to Email.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://laurastevenson.bandcamp.com/album/laura-stevenson" target="_blank">Laura Stevenson - Laura Stevenson</a> </b>Distinguished by her literate lyrics and well-developed melodic sense, Stevenson's sixth album is a winner throughout. Adding a little 90s-influenced loud-quiet-loud cannily reflects the mysterious trauma that underscores the storytelling. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://handhabits.bandcamp.com/album/fun-house" target="_blank">Hand Habits - Fun House</a> </b>For their third album, Meg Duffy has conjured up a richly textured collection of what at one time might have been called "soft rock," with each drum hit and acoustic strum burnished to a warm glow. However, she avoids all the pitfalls of what made that genre artistically bankrupt - the shallow solipsism, mainly - and continues to develop her introspective and complex songwriting. While I wouldn't have minded a little of the straight-forward indie rock of their debut, but the restraint only makes a song like Concrete & Feathers hit harder. Piece by piece, Duffy is assembling an impressive and nourishing discography.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://fieldmusic.bandcamp.com/album/flat-white-moon" target="_blank">Field Music - Flat White Moon</a> </b>While I might still recommend Tones Of Town (2007), Measure (2010), or Plumb (2012) to any under-rock dweller not yet familiar with the smart and funky art-rock of the Brewis brothers, this is their must unfetteredly joyful release since that latter album. So if it's easiest, feel free to start here and lap up all the jabbing angular guitars, sunny harmonies, catchy choruses, and perfectly pocketed drums on offer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://pipblom.bandcamp.com/album/welcome-break" target="_blank">Pip Blom - Welcome Break</a> </b>A band from the Netherlands that's ever more expert at channeling the sound of Boston college rock circa 1995, but with their own energy and European spin. Guitars chug, jangle, and soar over propulsive rhythms while the band's namesake lets her sweet-tart vocals tell stories of coming of age and interpersonal thrills and spills. I was even more convinced by their live set (as seen on Jarrett Wolfson's YouTube channel) and it may be that the stage is even more a natural habitat than the studio.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">MIND-ALTERING</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://triptides.bandcamp.com/album/alter-echoes" target="_blank">Triptides - Alter Echoes</a> </b>Lysergic, sun-drenched rock, with sixties echoes in evidence, from garage rock to The Byrds. Like <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-rock-folk-etc.html" target="_blank">Levitation Room</a>, their light touch injects a fresh taste of the surreal into their sound.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://boogarins.bandcamp.com/album/manchaca-vol-2" target="_blank">Boogarins - Manchaca Vol. 2</a> </b>Another compilation of "memories, dreams, outtakes, and demos" from Brazil's finest rock band. Recorded both in Austin, TX and Sao Paulo, the 12 tracks mainly showcase their weirder, more studio-bound side, with plenty of sonic manipulations amidst the melodic invention and guitar fireworks. There are also two songs in English: Basic Lines, an early song they never recorded, and Far And Safe, a rework of Te Quero Longe from 2019's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-top-25.html" target="_blank">Sombrou Dúvida</a> with Erika Wennerstrom (Heartless Bastards) on vocals. The latter is a heavenly listen and suggests further collaborations, with her or others, could be yet another avenue of exploration for this most exploratory of bands. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://crumbtheband.bandcamp.com/album/ice-melt" target="_blank">Crumb - Ice Melt</a> </b>Some of the murk has been stripped away and there's a little less of that distinctive wobble to their sound - but Lila Ramani's vocals have grown ever-dreamier and they're only more expert at making the studio their canvas for their sweet and slightly off psych-rock. And I would imagine they're still great on stage!</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">CLASSIC RAWK</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://nealfrancis.bandcamp.com/album/in-plain-sight" target="_blank">Neal Francis - In Plain Sight</a> </b>On his second album, Francis invites you for a jam back at his place with the ghosts of the Allman Brothers, Leon Russell, and ex-Beatles John and George. And they're all having a blast because he brought a briefcase full of tasty songs, most notably Alameda Apartments, Can't Stop The Rain, and Sentimental Garbage. Rain is an instant classic, slotting in next to similarly named tracks by the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival and others. I'm having fun thinking of how much juicier this could have been if Jonathan Wilson had been behind the boards, but it's early days yet for Francis - more goodness will come.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://israelnash.bandcamp.com/album/topaz-2" target="_blank">Israel Nash - Topaz</a> </b>Nash has been living off the land for a while now, ingesting nourishing meals of cosmic country and funky soul, which he has now digested for us in a widescreen collection of heartfelt tales, aided by an array of driving horns, sweeping keyboards, sky-scraping guitars, and a locked-in rhythm section. Don't be concerned that Adrian Queseda of the Black Pumas is on hand to produce and play guitar. Nash never stoops to the crowd-pleasing, award-show clamor of their stuff. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LIVE AND DIRECT</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://jefftweedy.bandcamp.com/album/love-is-the-king-live-is-the-king" target="_blank">Jeff Tweedy - Live Is The King</a> </b>As I noted in <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/02/best-of-2020-rock-folk-etc.html#.Yl6x_ejMJPY" target="_blank">my review</a> of Love Is The King, the Tweedy album from which these songs are taken, it offers few surprises. However, these live versions do at least add some spark - and occasional fire - mainly thanks to the guitar of James Elkington. There's also a fine cover of Neil Young's The Old Country Waltz, making for a satisfying and heartwarming listen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://fleetfoxes.bandcamp.com/album/a-very-lonely-solstice" target="_blank">Fleet Foxes - A Very Lonely Solstice</a> </b>Recorded alone during 2020's lockdown in St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, Robin Pecknold does sound a little lonely on this album, except for the first and last songs featuring the Resistance Revival Chorus. But the solo performances also allow us to appreciate the songwriting, not to mention his honeyed voice, with new acuity, while noting the quality he has maintained across four Fleet Foxes releases. A moment in time perhaps, but one we're having difficulty shaking, so I'll be keeping this close to hand.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/killing-joke/total-invasion-live-in-the-usa" target="_blank">Killing Joke - Total Invasion (Live In The USA)</a> </b>Relentless, uncompromising, and, at just nine songs, over far too soon. But what other legendary band would be humble enough to go out on the road as an opening act (for Tool) more than 40 years into their career? So what if this is something like their dozenth live album, let them have their victory lap - and enjoy this bracing listen.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">MAXIMUM HEAVIOSITY</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://bigpaulferguson.bandcamp.com/album/virtual-control" target="_blank">Big Paul Ferguson - Virtual Control</a> </b>And so it was that as the fifth year passed since <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/11/killing-joke-at-full-throttle.html#.YmK4DJPMI1I" target="_blank">Pylon</a> with no new music from Killing Joke and the Gatherers had grown restless. But one arose from the drum set at the back of the stage, conscripted Mark Gemini Thwait (The Mission, Peter Murphy, etc.) to co-write and co-produce, and took on the dusty mantle of tribal rhythms, skirling and grinding guitars, atmospheric keyboards, and doom-scrolling lyrics - and it was good. Not exactly Killing Joke, and not quite as scary good as Pylon, but more than enough to light the torches once again and let the fire dances begin.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://pjsykes.bandcamp.com/album/fuzz" target="_blank">PJ Sykes - Fuzz</a> </b>My erstwhile <a href="https://www.offyourradar.com/" target="_blank">Off Your Radar</a> colleague has been busy during the pandemic! Among other things, he founded <a href="https://www.theofficeofcreativity.com/" target="_blank">a creative agency</a> and put together these 10 punked-out songs, layering fuzzed guitars over slamming rhythms and adding anthemic vocals for a blistering album. While he had a little help from guitarist Jeff Roop, he did everything else himself and perhaps the most impressive thing about his solo proficiency is the fact that it sounds like he's banging these tracks out with his best friends, rather than working alone. Putting Fuzz on will fill your room with an instant crowd and togetherness, even virtually, still feels in short supply these days.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LNJKYMT/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_EE08JQXCDHNK1JX1YESP" target="_blank">Soen - Imperial</a> </b>My son listens almost exclusively to prog metal so he's become an important filter for a genre in which I like to dip a toe on occasion. This fifth album from a Swedish band was a quick favorite, with melodies that soar, guitars that are heavy yet sleek, and rhythms that aren't afraid to swing a little. The vocals, so often a deal-breaker in this style, are passionate and clear, if not overly distinctive. Some fans find their approach too straightforward here, so I'm looking forward to investigating their potentially knotty past.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://mastodon.lnk.to/hushedandgrim" target="_blank">Mastodon - Hushed and Grim</a> </b>Over 20 years into their career, by now we know that Mastodon is at their best when they have a concept as big as their sound and ambition to hang an album's worth of songs on. Except that is for The Hunter, their <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-11.html#.YmSURpPMI1I" target="_blank">extraordinary</a> 2011 album. While they don't reach those heights on this, their eighth album and first double-disc collection, as an exploration of their strengths as performers, Hushed and Grim is a thrilling ride. Even without a concrete story to tell, they have an emotional core to work off of, paying tribute to their longtime manager, Nick John, who died from cancer in 2018. That loss forms a white-hot magma from which sparks and sorrows shoot off, with echoes of Pink Floyd at their most elegiac or King Crimson at their most aggressive. Incorporating French horn and strings, including the Indian Sarangi, in totally organic fashion, Mastodon are continuing their evolution as a hard rock band that can go anywhere and do anything.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you think that's everything, you couldn't be more wrong, believe it or not! Find more 2021 albums of note from these genres in this <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2UoByUa617obqeTo9VbSY8?si=ed4bc7b1767a4d6c" target="_blank">playlist</a> and keep up with what this year has to offer <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LkZsJ5GtjZDHc18FeoSrJ?si=8f297fee1c324834" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span>You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/02/best-of-2020-rock-folk-etc.html#.YmScU5PMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Rock, Folk, Etc.<br /></a></span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-rock-folk-etc.html#.XtQgORNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2019: Rock, Folk, Etc. </a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-rock-folk-etc.html#.XtQf5BNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2018: Rock, Folk, Etc. </a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-rock-folk-etc.html#.XtQf5BNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2017: Rock, Folk, Etc.</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/01/best-of-2016-rock-folk-etc.html#.XtQfqRNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2016: Rock, Folk, Etc.</a></span></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-68562417062332984792022-03-17T20:11:00.002-04:002022-03-17T20:11:49.276-04:00Best Of 2021: Jazz, Latin, and Global<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGPX7dQsV2AHt-QrcEJaIgWUlrOK3DqlmHZr8QLvJDS0e2qfWzsG0cTMJyQjnT12PoFDZRsITw1MnsSK7asExArtAcaPEKg5RiC_MJ5WbpYMJe6u7-bgp_Rbr1C-NijpyrsJsddQbLDSg--Om2U24i4SPT6gfH-qhYRuCVzeLNc2gaGruucg=s1800" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1201" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGPX7dQsV2AHt-QrcEJaIgWUlrOK3DqlmHZr8QLvJDS0e2qfWzsG0cTMJyQjnT12PoFDZRsITw1MnsSK7asExArtAcaPEKg5RiC_MJ5WbpYMJe6u7-bgp_Rbr1C-NijpyrsJsddQbLDSg--Om2U24i4SPT6gfH-qhYRuCVzeLNc2gaGruucg=w333-h498" width="333" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Most of what I covered in these categories ended up on my <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/best-of-2021-top-25.html#.Yi82D_7MJPY" target="_blank">Top 25</a> - for global, Raoul Vignal (France) and Arooj Aftab (Brooklyn via Pakistan), and for Latin, Mallu Magalhaes and Domenico Lancellotti (both Brazil), while for jazz the closest thing was Pharoah Sanders' beautiful blowing on his collaboration with Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra. But several favorites in contemporary jazz returned and delivered as did some new discoveries - their excellent albums are below, along with two others from the realms of Latin and global. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Listen to tracks from most everything (a couple are Bandcamp only and believe me, I get it!) in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2InwJfl1CwRIIC6GXje1G5?si=ad595abcfc7148b1&pt=0b8a888c7defb088620455a992a3532f" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2InwJfl1CwRIIC6GXje1G5?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="60%"></iframe><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/open-the-gates" target="_blank">Irreversible Entanglements - Open The Gates</a> </b>Hard on the heels of their 2020 masterpiece, <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.Yi84zv7MJPY" target="_blank">Who Sent You?</a>, and foregrounded by the declarations of the tireless Camae Aweya (aka Moor Mother), this expansive quintet returns with another hard-swinging set. Even as they churn in constant motion, the rhythm section of Luke Stewart (bass) and Tcheser Holmes (drums) sets up a rock-solid foundation for the sax and trumpet of Keir Neuringer and Aquiles Navarro, who engage in duets reminiscent of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, creating a conversation that communicates as powerfully as Aweya's words. Even when they slow things down on Water Meditation, every note crackles with energy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://astralartifacts.bandcamp.com/album/and-then-theres-this" target="_blank">Artifacts - ...And Then There's This</a> </b>I became an admirer of the "ancient to the future" ethos of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians back in the 80s, digging on albums by the Art Ensemble of Chicago among others. But never did I imagine that some 40 years later along would come such a perfect exemplar of that ethos. A supergroup consisting of Tomeka Reid (cello), Nicole Mitchell (flute), and Mike Reed (drums), Artifacts create an interplay so engaging that you can practically <i>hear</i> them listening to each other as they play. Reid's dexterity and creativity on the cello, beautifully captured by the exquisitely alive recording, is astonishing on its own. But combine it with Mitchell's songful flute and Reed's precise and funky percussion and the results are sublime. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://sylviecourvoisiermaryhalvorsonpyroclastic.bandcamp.com/album/searching-for-the-disappeared-hour" target="_blank">Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson - Searching For The Disappeared Hour</a> </b>Informed as much by jazz as by modernist chamber music, this is a wildly imaginative collaboration between pianist Courvoisier, who can go from swinging to knotty on a dime, and guitarist Halvorson, who can both pick delicately or generate webs of sound. Each track uses a combination of repetitive sections and sharp left turns, either in dynamics or density - from quiet and spare to loud and busy - to keep you on your toes. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://cleanfeedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/lockdown" target="_blank">Sylvie Courvoisier/Ned Rothenberg/Julian Sartorius - Lockdown</a> </b>Courvoisier finds more playmates on this very different album, which only occasionally showcases Rothenberg's more self-indulgent side on reeds and shakuhachi. Usually what seems wayward snaps into focus, especially when percussionist Sartorius gets more involved. Courvoisier is content at times to lay back and gently comp, but then she'll take command - sometimes from the inside of the piano. Not surprisingly, over half the album is made up of group compositions - a sign of the democratic nature of the sessions, a moment in time brought to us by the pandemic.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://thebuddysystemproject.com/album/tyshawn-king" target="_blank">Tyshawn Sorey & King Britt - Tyshawn / King</a> </b> Even before this came out in October, drummer/composer/conductor Sorey was having quite a year <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-and-concert-roundup-on-island.html?spref=tw" target="_blank">both on the stage and on record</a>. But this series of improvisations between him and producer/DJ/synth-whiz Britt is far more than icing on the cake. Drums, cymbals, and electronic sounds intersect and diverge in a series of playful and groovy explorations, made only more scintillating by Sorey's absolute control over every touch of a stick to skin or metal.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://timchernikoff.bandcamp.com/album/pieces-of-sanity" target="_blank">Tim Chernikoff - Pieces Of Sanity</a> </b>Working with drummer Kenneth Salters and bassist Jakob Dreyer, it's not that Chernikoff takes the piano trio anywhere radically new, rather it's that he is so damned good at what the form does best. For sheer beauty, I'm not sure if any recent jazz record betters it, although its not just about being pretty. There's a striking emotional honesty to the chord sequences and melodies that reminds me of Steely Dan at their most reflective. Chernikoff has been at it as a leader, accompanist, composer, and educator for over 15 years - it's about time he put all that experience, skill, and love onto a record. This one captures his confidence and mastery perfectly.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://williamparker.bandcamp.com/album/mayan-space-station" target="_blank">William Parker - Mayan Space Station</a> </b>I'm overwhelmed by this bassist-composer's output, which includes at least three other albums from 2021 with which I still need to catch up. But that's partially his fault for making this one so crushingly GREAT that I have yet to move on from it. And part of that is due to the towering performance of Ava Mendoza on guitar. Her searing tone and alternately soaring and jagged structures take us on a thrill ride extraordinaire, with Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver her willing co-conspirators. The recording is earthy and rich, too, with a physicality to Parker's bass that makes every buzz a thing of beauty. Stunning - and when I need more Mendoza I can turn to <a href="https://astralmendoza.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">New Spells</a>, her exploratory album of solo guitar.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://triptickstapes.bandcamp.com/album/death-in-the-gilded-age" target="_blank">fluke-mogul / Liberatore / Mattrey / Mendoza - Death In The Gilded Age</a> </b>And when I need EVEN more Mendoza, I can buckle in for this fabulously fractured collective, which also includes the great Matteo Liberatore, who can do the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/07/record-roundup-unclassifiable.html" target="_blank">unthinkable</a> with an acoustic guitar, along with gabby fluke-mogul on violin, and Joanna Mattrey on viola. Another completely original release from Tripticks Tapes, who also gave us the <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/record-roundup-solos-duos-ensembles.html#.YczNPBPMI1I" target="_blank">Tak Ensemble/Brandon Lopez collaboration</a> among many others, this one is a celebration of texture above all. Strings are bowed, plucked, and strummed to their very limits, in an almost unrelenting - and wonderful - cacophony, which can take abrupt turns into something adjacent to folk music. While it was the unique stressors and opportunities of the pandemic that brought these four together, let's hope that rising vaccination rates and the coming endemic don't prevent them from gathering again. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://burntsugarthearkestrachamber.bandcamp.com/album/angels-over-oakanda-digital-edition" target="_blank">Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber - Angels Over Oakanda</a> </b><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/greg-tate-critic-obituary-1268145/" target="_blank">Greg Tate</a> was such a force of nature as a music critic and journalist - someone I had been reading way back when you had to pay for the Village Voice (when there was a Village Voice) - that it's hard to believe he was taken from us by a heart attack last December. He was also one of the few writers to put his critical beliefs into action by co-founding the Black Rock Coalition and, later, Burnt Sugar. This, their first album in four years, is conceived as a suite about Oakland, CA, where "Black Culture is appreciated and nurtured," but I think I will be forgiven for hearing it now as a eulogy for Tate. A sprawling epic in the mode of Miles Davis circa 1969-75, it accomplishes both tasks with all of his flair, sense of drama, and intellectual integrity. Conducted by Tate and anchored by the bass of Jared Michael Nickerson, these are jams with focus, insistent rhythms carrying you along while the solos - on flute, sax, synth, etc. - hurl splashes of color on the canvas. I will not be surprised if there is more where this came from in the vault, but this is plenty to chew on while we wait.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://antonioneves.bandcamp.com/album/a-pegada-agora-essa-the-sway-now" target="_blank">Antonio Neves - A Pegada Agora É Essa (The Sway Now)</a> </b>Neves was the arranger responsible for some of the quicksilver turns on Ana Frango Elétrico's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-jazz-latin-and-global.html" target="_blank">wonderful</a> Little Electric Chicken Heart from 2019. On this, his second solo album, he acts as a ringleader for a cast of nearly two dozen of Brazil's finest, including Eléctrico, who lends her voice to the expansive and slinky Luz Negra. I used the word "ringleader" intentionally as the album opener sounds like a circus, with people shouting unintelligible exhortations and Neves' trombone making some comical noises. There are also hard-driving tracks like the cinematic Fort Apache, which somehow gets away with having Hamilton de Holanda solo on mandolin over the churning rhythm. There are plenty of other highlights, like the sparkling piano of Eduardo Farias, the atmospheric guitar of Gus Levy, or the questing bass clarinet of Joana Queiroz, but there's a strong sense of a collective at work to realize Neves' vision. His sense of play and feel for funk across a variety of Brazilian forms is such that if I ever get to Rio I'm going to find out where he's playing - it's sure to be the best party in town.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com/album/afrique-victime" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime</a> Everything I said about Moctar's <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-jazz-latin-and-global.html" target="_blank">previous album</a> remains true here, in bigger, bolder fashion. His electric guitar gets ever closer to touching the sky, the rhythms find new invention in Tuareg traditions, and the songs draw from an ever deeper well of emotion, whether the romantic desire and longing of songs like Ya Habibti (O My Love) and Tala Tannam or the political rage of the title track. A true epic with searing guitar that seems to teeter at the edge of control, it sets a new standard not only for Moctar but Nigerian music in general.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There's more from these genres in the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2MHgPuJEI5vOcNzR2JpUI1?si=446a83714bbe4291" target="_blank">archived playlist</a> and you can follow along with what I discover in 2022 <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jX11zwEGWeThNHGH85inR?si=4b179c484ffa4480" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-jazz-latin-and-global.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Jazz, Latin, and Global<br /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.XsrwOJNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2019: Jazz, Latin, and Global</a> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/03/best-of-2018-jazz-latin-and-global.html#.XssSZpNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2018: Jazz, Latin, and Global</a></span></span></div></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-40257737901913390192022-02-28T21:19:00.001-05:002023-01-29T17:03:02.316-05:00Best Of 2021: Hip Hop, RnB, and Reggae<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdxNbBVmkkK8PMDvrQIfyY8zRXHHyudNf9AuOBt-un0eisoLLAOVg-hipeyo7KqI54lqWPirH9jljn630YqKwptu2coKj7kUpeEaWREKYlEwtjMAgf1vG9opKL69iaDXmj861lv03T4A_SUkwVslwAWfl4zRChthcId-648ZSxrPzOAW311A=s1800" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1201" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdxNbBVmkkK8PMDvrQIfyY8zRXHHyudNf9AuOBt-un0eisoLLAOVg-hipeyo7KqI54lqWPirH9jljn630YqKwptu2coKj7kUpeEaWREKYlEwtjMAgf1vG9opKL69iaDXmj861lv03T4A_SUkwVslwAWfl4zRChthcId-648ZSxrPzOAW311A=w332-h496" width="332" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Last year, I only reviewed two hip hop albums, which must be a record low for me. Both of them - Madlib's Sound Ancestors and Tyler The Creator's Call Me If You Get Lost - were on my </span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/best-of-2021-top-25.html#.Yguswf7MJPY" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Top 25</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;">, too. But that doesn't mean I wasn't listening broadly and finding much to love in the genre, which, as Dr. Dre and company further proved on the recent Super Bowl Halftime Show, is as much American music as anything else. RnB and reggae also had their moments, with the former at its best when it didn't sink into cliché or pop cheesiness, and the latter always struggling mightily with its own past. Here, then, are the releases that stood out from the pack. Listen to the mix </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1epBF6ExhOeUtxvRbBb3Cr?si=ab7dc0341a184152" style="font-family: helvetica;">here</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> or in the playlist below.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/1epBF6ExhOeUtxvRbBb3Cr?utm_source=generator" width="250" height="380" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5AKoeQlhuM3JgtZxjNqUCd?si=eBlm5LrMRZ6GJkcHC_9h7A">Atlas Jenkins - The Doomsday Device</a> </b>The cover announces the ambitions of this album to be nothing less than a hip hop Dark Side Of The Moon, an epic mind movie about the human condition - and it comes very close to succeeding. Kicking off with a monologue from My Dinner With Andre that ends with the warning, "Escape before its too late," Jenkins then proceeds to provide that escape through spacy grooves, a few questing raps, including some standout rhymes from Jack Harlow, and more monologues from the likes of astronaut Frank Borman (which seems to cast back to another progenitor, DJ Shadow's Endtroducing) and Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson. There's also a cover of the Beastie Boys' Flute Loop cooked up with sax/flute maven Benny Reid. Another collaborator is Preston Crump, known for contributing gooey bass lines to records by Outkast, Raphael Saadiq, and others. But overarching it all is the vision of Jenkins, who in his day job as an ICU nurse is pursuing the intersection of music and medicine. Take a dose of The Doomsday Device - it's over the counter but strictly prescription strength.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://81355.bandcamp.com/album/this-time-ill-be-of-use" target="_blank"><b>81355 - This Time I'll Be Of Use</b></a> Pronounce it "BLESS." Indie hip hop from Indy, brought to my attention via Justin Vernon & co.'s 37dO3d (pronounced "PEOPLE") label. Production by Sedcairn Archives is both spare and sparkly, underpinning moody, reality-grounded raps and soaring sung choruses by Sirius Blvck and Oreo Jones. Their struggles and joys seem to become my own - pop music transference.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B09JGRR5XK/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_AVHD3A2KEQ7ZKXC56S6M " style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Kanye West - Donda</a><b> </b>While Donda continues the troubled trajectory of releases since 2013's <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/07/form-is-content.html" target="_blank">Yeezus</a>, West's last true masterpiece, this is more coherent than <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-top-20.html" target="_blank">The Life Of Pablo</a>, more varied than <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-top-25.html" target="_blank">Jesus Is King</a>, and better in every respect than Ye. It's also less approachable than Pablo and lacks JIK's concision. Filled with broad-stroke minimalism that has simple, repetitive structures blown up to arena size, there is an almost operatic or cinematic scale to everything here. In a sort of musical imperialism, some songs overstay their welcome or recur in alternate versions barely distinguishable from the originals. That said, there are more than a couple of real winners here, including Jail, Hurricane, Believe What I Say, Jesus Lord, Keep My Spirit Alive, and Lord I Need You, all of which have emotionally-connected raps and memorable melodic elements. As much as I loathe some of the people involved here (Da Baby and Marilyn Manson, to name two), perhaps there's a message in their inclusion about not being judged only by your worst acts. Musically speaking, they're essentially unnoticeable among the overall grandeur. If there's one thing West seems to have lost since 2013, it might be a ruthlessness toward his own art - something none of his collaborators have been able to inculcate again. Still, an utterly fascinating listen from a man whose talent remains formidable despite the surrounding chaos.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6TQ8nqw43uUOWu7Yqp58ko?si=vt8z76ZZSlGEZPTbSk0RdQ" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Isaiah Rashad - The House Is Burning</a><b> </b>"Weed couldn't settle my fire/Couldn't cover my pain," Rashad raps over the melancholy backing of Headshots (4r Da Locals), a standout track from his long-awaited third album. Unlike the tentative moves of 2016's The Sun's Tirade, this one finds him confident in himself, embracing joy, sorrow, anger, and lust in equal measure. He also displays a dazzling variety of flows, from staccato spitting to relaxed rhyming. While the gap between albums slowed his momentum, there's nothing stopping him now.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Conway The Machine and Big Ghost LTD - </b><b><a href="https://gourmetdeluxxx.bandcamp.com/album/conway-the-machine-and-big-ghost-ltd-if-it-bleeds-it-can-be-killed" target="_blank">If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed</a><br />Conway The Machine - </b><a href="https://conway-the-machine.bandcamp.com/album/la-maquina" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">La Maquina</a><b> </b><br />The problem with this Buffalo-based rapper/producer is not that his rapid output dilutes his talent, but that he so damned consistent that he demands you keep up. Even as I write this, he has another great album out. That said, there are matters of degree and even by his standards, La Maquina is ahead of the pack. Whether chewing the mic on Blood Roses or uplifting the crowd on Grace (both featuring Jae Skeese, another product of Buffalo), Conway is fully in command. Don't be turned off by the long list of guests, there's no doubt who is calling the shots. Along with work for Conway, Big Ghost also produced The Lost Tapes by Ghostface Killah, and while If It Bleeds... is not as monumentally scuzzy, it's hypnotic and dank, giving the rappers plenty to work with, and they take full advantage for a thrilling ride.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Mach-Hommy - <a href="https://daupe.bandcamp.com/album/pray-for-haiti" target="_blank">Pray For Haiti</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Balens-Cho-Hot-Candles-Explicit/dp/B09MZSLQXB" target="_blank">Balens Cho (Hot Candles)</a> </b>Even more so than Conway The Machine, with whom he is connected through the Griselda collective, this NJ-based, Port Au Prince-rooted rapper is building a world of his own. Mostly working in obscurity (his real name is still unknown) since 2004, he emerged big-time with these two albums in 2021. Featuring woozy beats, off-center punchlines, and highly personal reflections alongside outlandish boasts - sometimes in Haitian Creole - both albums display a tight integration of words and music, like a soloist jamming over a jazz band that follows their every move. While the air of mystery might draw you in, you'll stay for the originality and a backstage pass to a place where the rules don't apply. And don't miss his bittersweet track $payforhaiti alongside songs with H.E.R. and Thundercat on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4BwfoXhDqTfiGS6pZueR9g?si=VRVl13eITSOo2wklcaZVaw" target="_blank">Kaytranada's Intimidated EP.</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://paristexasworldwide.bandcamp.com/album/boy-anonymous" target="_blank">Paris Texas - Boy Anonymous</a> </b>Neither from Paris, Texas, or Paris, Texas, this LA-based duo's debut is a completely assured introduction to their talents, which include making self-produced electronic beats that are are infused with a rock sensibility and pop smarts. The vocals, spoken and sung, are sometimes obscured to tantalizing effect like half-heard conversations from another room. At just over 20 minutes, it's guaranteed they will leave you wanting more.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://shop.brckhmptn.com/products/brockhampton-new-light-new-machine-digital-album" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Brockhampton - Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine</a><b> </b>"America's greatest boy band," as they like to call themselves, announced an "indefinite hiatus" to begin after their Coachella appearance later this year. Whether this proves to be their last album or not, there are no signs of flagging energy as they trade verses among themselves and a slew of notable guests (A$AP Rocky, JPEG Mafia, etc.) in trademark style. The music is full of color and catchy hooks, adding to the exuberance - and another reason they will be missed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://moormother.bandcamp.com/album/black-encyclopedia-of-the-air" target="_blank">Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia Of The Air</a> </b>In which Moor Mother makes an album completely recognizable as hip hop while also sounding as if she's inventing a new genre as she goes along. Whether wielding an acoustic guitar, a modular synth, or a drum machine, everything she does has a ritual power. If you're seeking a point of entry into her distinctive universe, look no further. Also nice to hear <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">Orion Sun</a> on a few tracks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://youtu.be/MkWUpRrd8EE" target="_blank">Pinkcaravan! - Pink Lemonade</a> </b>While I appreciate the "more is more" philosophy of some of the artists included above, Pinkcaravan!'s little gems brighten up my year with candlepower disproportionate to their length and frequency. This one charming song is what she gave us in 2021 and I savor every delightful second.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://arloparks.bandcamp.com/album/collapsed-in-sunbeams" target="_blank">Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams</a> </b>Often lighter than air, Parks' songs are only occasionally in danger of disappearing entirely. But her strong pop sensibility - and that of her main collaborator, Gianluca Buccellati - lodges several choruses firmly in your ears and her emotional engagement gives the songs staying power. Is she capable of something utterly devastating like Cranes In The Sky by Solange, one of her inspirations? Unknown, but I'm pulling for it!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://secretnightgang.bandcamp.com/album/secret-night-gang" target="_blank">Secret Night Gang - Secret Night Gang</a> </b>While their fealty to the wonders of Stevie and the elements of Earth Wind & Fire is sometimes oppressive, that's more a result of me thinking too hard than anything they should be concerned about. While the psych-folk-soul epic of The Sun is still their strongest song, the album is proof that there is nothing they can't do in the jazz-funk-gospel-R&B arena and no limit to the sunshine they can bring to your life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://store.brunomars.com/?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fsilksonic.lnk.to%2F" target="_blank">Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic</a> </b>Well, goddamn if Anderson .Paak doesn't have me listening to Bruno Mars without cringing! The two are having so much fun in their Motown/Philly Soul (with a touch of Outkast) fantasies that it's almost impossible not to join in. The songs are strong, if not especially original, and the production gleams with .Paak's usual flair. Collaborating seems to have brought out the best in both of them so join the party or be a stick in the mud.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://shop.mutualintentions.com/album/la-mano" target="_blank">Stimulator Jones - La Mano</a> </b>It's been three years since <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae_19.html" target="_blank">his debut</a> and Jones' music has only grown more organic, shading closer to jazz, but the grooves and gently left-field approach make it a nice fit among contemporary RnB, too. There are no vocals this time, just quietly dazzling virtuosity on a variety of instruments, including organ, synth, piano, guitar, drums, and bass. New vistas, including tv and film soundtracks, are opening up for the stimulating Mr. Jones.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://newagedoom.bandcamp.com/album/lee-scratch-perrys-guide-to-the-universe" target="_blank"><b>New Age Doom - Lee "Scratch" Perry's Guide To The Universe</b></a> An unexpected blessing from the <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/03/lee-perry-black-ark-man-at-70.html" target="_blank">now departed</a> Perry, who answered the call from this Vancouver-based drone-jazz-metal collective and set them on a path to the dub side of the moon - and all the other planets. Led by drummer Eric J. Breitenbach and multi-instrumentalist Greg Valou, the album features a big cast, including two members of Bowie's Blackstar band, Donnie McCaslin on sax and Tim Lefebvre on bass. Perry's presence is appropriately spectral yet somehow fully in charge, like a Jamaican Gandalf goading his band of explorers ever onward. Not for dub purists and all the better for that. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://pachyman.bandcamp.com/album/the-return-of" target="_blank"><b>Pachyman - The Return Of...</b></a> Another unexpected success, as Pachy Garcia of synth-punkers <a href="http://www.prettiesteyes.com/" target="_blank">Prettiest Eyes</a> indulges in his dub obsession with almost eerie fidelity to the original masters, most notably King Tubby. What keeps it from being a rote exercise in studio craft is Garcia's ultra-light touch, a sense of play that is infectiously delightful. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://etanamusic.com/" target="_blank">Etana - Pamoja</a> </b>Occasionally you discover an unheard gem among the Grammy nominations, which is how I found the free-flowing joys of Etana as exhibited here, on her seventh album. Resolutely contemporary, but with an expansive gaze that takes in roots as much as dancehall, she lavishes everything with vocals that are both soulful and elegant. The lyrics could be sharper, but I'm not complaining - positivity and uplift are in short enough supply these days. There are also a number of guests, including the dancehall stalwart Vybz Kartel and the now iconic Damien Marley, who is too infrequently heard from (his last album, <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-hip-hop-r-and-reggae.html" target="_blank">the excellent Stony Hill</a>, came out in 2017). Marley is in fabulous form on Turn Up Di Sound, which only makes me wish harder for more from him. Etana's generosity with the mic leads to the album's only stumble, on a song called Fly, which features an execrable vocal from a character named Fiji. It's easily avoided, however, but don't skip this album. I'll be pulling for Etana on April 3rd, when they hand out the Grammys - it's about time a woman took the prize.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Find more beats, rhymes, grooves, and rhythms in the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3AaJ69Q2d5M5mcSZDqdyX5?si=da81b45671b54b28" target="_blank">2021 archived playlist</a> and <span>follow the </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7cAfWip3RgkfSd2T2tJItX?si=7e9b1d424fd6495d" target="_blank">2022 playlist</a><span> to see what this year brings!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.Yh15OpPMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Hip Hop, RnB, and Reggae<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/02/best-of-2019-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae.html#.XsBLS5NKg1I" target="_blank"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Best Of 2019: Hip Hop, RnB, and Reggae</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-hip-hop-rnb-and-reggae_19.html#.XjYAphNKg1I" target="_blank"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Best Of 2018: Hip Hop, RnB and Reggae</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/01/best-of-2017-hip-hop-r-and-reggae.html#.XjYBIBNKg1I" target="_blank"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Best Of 2017: Hip Hop, RnB and Reggae</span></a><br /><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-hip-hop-and-r.html#.XjYBVhNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2016: Hip Hop and RnB</a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-19002647946219789462022-02-13T14:43:00.000-05:002022-02-13T14:43:45.588-05:00Best Of 2021: Electronic<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIvOv7npIDJI9QDbkyeM3PudYAnUD3K7XwqNrAEpAyvh5udydYG_IL2xMhXutXUji-FvmP8Z07mo6kL13jTcP09jrnKPvNBIQ1w4dasu7cQvO7aQs6iZdh9A3pjmWL8Rz25ryG_Uv3i_HwSGIxRG1oyCRG2D69RKfQRNp7dpNbUYDLFXph1A=s1800" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1201" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIvOv7npIDJI9QDbkyeM3PudYAnUD3K7XwqNrAEpAyvh5udydYG_IL2xMhXutXUji-FvmP8Z07mo6kL13jTcP09jrnKPvNBIQ1w4dasu7cQvO7aQs6iZdh9A3pjmWL8Rz25ryG_Uv3i_HwSGIxRG1oyCRG2D69RKfQRNp7dpNbUYDLFXph1A=w297-h444" width="297" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From playful abstraction to sleek sound baths, and from abrasive to soothing, the world of electronic music is filled with limitless variety. Here were a few releases that rose to the top in 2021, starting with those I already covered and then moving on to new reviews. I should point out that four records in my </span><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/best-of-2021-top-25.html" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">Top 25</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> would fit nicely here, namely albums by Jane Weaver, Elsa Hewitt, Wavefield Ensemble, and Ben Seretan. Make sure you don't miss those either! Listen to tracks from nearly everything here in </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5m7IpvkaO9NU1UBgcTbafS?si=77e8234c33914987" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">this playlist</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> or below.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/5m7IpvkaO9NU1UBgcTbafS?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="250"></iframe></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-2021-new-year-new-music.html#.Yfh861jMI1I" target="_blank"><b>Celebrating 2021: New Year, New Music</b> </a><br /><span><a href="https://curiousmusicia.bandcamp.com/album/green-cone" target="_blank">Amanda Berlind - Green Cone</a><br /></span><span><a href="https://foudrenoise.bandcamp.com/album/future-sabbath" target="_blank">Foudre! - Future Sabbath</a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html#.Yfh96VjMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Novelty Is Not Enough</a><br /></b><a href="https://anewagefornewage.bandcamp.com/album/a-new-age-for-new-age-vol-3" target="_blank">Various Artists - A New Age For New Age Vol. 3</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-americana-beautiful.html#.YfiDy1jMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Americana The Beautiful</a><br /></b><a href="https://corntuth.bandcamp.com/album/the-desert-is-paper-thin" target="_blank">Corntuth - The Desert Is Paper Thin</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html#.Yfh-d1jMI1I" target="_blank">The Best Of 2021 (So Far)</a><br /></b><span><a href="https://mndsgn.bandcamp.com/album/rare-pleasure" target="_blank">Mndsgn - Rare Pleasure</a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/10/record-roundup-plugged-in.html#.Yfh_a1jMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Plugged In</a><br /></b><a href="https://thisismattevans.bandcamp.com/album/touchless" target="_blank">Matt Evans - Touchless</a><br /><a href="https://artetetra.bandcamp.com/album/discepolato-nella-nuova-era" target="_blank">Luce Celestiale - Discepolato Nella Nuova Era</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/video-premiere-phong-tran-high-tech.html#.YfiACVjMI1I" target="_blank">Phong Tran: High Tech, High Emotion</a><br /></b><a href="https://phongtran.bandcamp.com/album/the-computer-room" target="_blank">Phong Tran - The Computer Room</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://adamcuthbert.bandcamp.com/album/transits" target="_blank">Adam Cuthbert - Transits</a> </b>Modular synths, field recordings, and a trumpet like liquid gold make up most of these sublime soundscapes by the founder of the <a href="http://slashsound.net/" target="_blank">Slashsound</a> label, now based in Detroit. Every track is a highlight, but Yin, which features the questing violin of Kelly Rhode, is sheer heaven. Perhaps being in a strange new city led to the reflective yet powerful concision of these pieces, as if Cuthbert had to be most fully himself so he wouldn't get lost in an unfamiliar environment. But it's not for me to psychoanalyze what makes this album so fantastic - I just know that it is. Part of a banner year for the label, too, alongside terrific releases from Phong Tran (see above), Daniel Rhode (see below), and Miki Sawada & Brendan Randall-Myers (see <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/record-roundup-solos-duos-ensembles.html#.YczNPBPMI1I" target="_blank">here</a>). More to come in 2022 - keep an eye and ear out. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://danielrhode.bandcamp.com/album/electrical-interaction-systems" target="_blank">Daniel Rhode - Electrical Interaction Systems</a> </b>With three works of generative electronic music, this latest from Rhode finds a series of happy intersections between Terry Riley, Brian Eno, and Cluster. The title piece is four movements of immersive minimalism - think Baba O'Riley if the rest of The Who never started playing - while Gen1 is an atmospheric conversation between an irregular heartbeat and a witty, squirrelly synth that gains excitement as it goes on. The album closes with the wistfully titled What If We Had More Time, which matches that mood with gently pulsating clouds of electronic sounds that traverse a slow-motion melody for you to drift along with. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://phantomlimblabel.bandcamp.com/album/psalm005-amtracks" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Dylan Henner - Amtracks</a> This four-track EP takes a "memory journey" across Pennsylvania, propelled by Henner's beautifully balanced blend of percussion, electronics, and field recordings. Whether despite or because of his UK origins, Henner seems to have sincere appreciation for the natural beauty of the land he saw from his train windows, lending his music an aura of hope and optimism. It's a lovely trip.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://phantomlimblabel.bandcamp.com/album/psalm006-the-last-wave" target="_blank">Ibukun Sunday - The Last Wave</a> </b>Like the Henner album above, this is part of <a href="https://www.phantom-limb.co.uk/spirituals" target="_blank">Phantom Limb's Spirituals</a> series, but the emotional impact couldn't be more different. Hailing from Lagos, Sunday takes a dark view of the changes he sees around him in Nigeria. Titles like Burn It All Down and Last Earth give the general idea yet the austere drones, sometimes incorporating field recordings and viola, are also languidly seductive, like slipping under black water and just drifting. Don't worry, however, you'll come up for air - at least long enough to hit "play" again.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://arushijain.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-lilac-sky" target="_blank">Arushi Jain - Under The Lilac Sky</a> </b>This divine interweaving of modular synthesis and Indian classical music, tied together by Jain's flowing vocals, sounds as if it has always existed. Richer Than Blood, the opening track, serves as the perfect overture to her project, with her voice soaring over spacious clouds of sound, vibrating woodpecker-like sounds tickling the back of your neck. Look How Far We Have Come, one of the longer tracks, also shows Jain's abilities to through-compose, taking us through moods, modes, and textures in a musical narrative that will keep you riveted. Trust me, you will not want to press pause throughout this marvelous debut.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://lrain.bandcamp.com/album/fatigue" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">L'Rain - Fatigue</a> I admit to being a little put off by L'Rain when I saw her open for Crumb back in 2018, partly because she asked us all to sit on the floor and partly because what followed did not seem to justify that imperiousness. She was the opening act, after all! But the buzz over this, her second album, was too intriguing to ignore and I am so glad I bent an ear, if not a knee, to listen. The opener, Fly, Die, is a dazzling rush through phantasmagoric electronics, air horn, spoken word (the powerful Quentin Brock), and chopped up beats - all in exactly two minutes. Jangled nerves are then soothed by Find It, a mantric piece of near-pop that could almost come from an Alice Coltrane cassette - until it abruptly changes to a rhythmless but no less hypnotic exploration of synth clouds, horns, and wordless vocals. A third section is a bit of haunted-house gospel, Travis Haynes reaching for the sky on vocals and organ. With all the sheerly protean talent on display on this occasionally overwhelming album, the end result is the opposite of fatigue and instead, pure energy. I'm expecting a symphony, or maybe an opera, next time - and I will happily sit on the floor to hear it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://gizehrecords.bandcamp.com/album/time-to-die" target="_blank">Christine Ott - Time To Die</a> </b>If you're like me, you might have heard the title to this spoken in the voice of Roy Batty, the murderous yet noble cyborg played by Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner, even before knowing there was a direct connection. The album also has a dark, rainswept, cinematic sweep, combining electronic sounds of various vintages (including the ondes martenot, a cousin to the theremin) with piano, harp, and percussion. Voices appear on some tracks, including a recitation of Batty's "I've seen things..." speech by Casey Brown on the throbbing, dramatic title track. By beginning at the end of Blade Runner, the album could be seen as an exploration of an alien afterlife, but its attachment to languorous beauty is all too human - and gloriously so. Moreover, there's is no need to be a sci-fi fan to fall for this album - my wife is living proof of that! Also highly recommended is<a href="https://forwind.bandcamp.com/album/inner-fires" target="_blank"> Inner Fires by Snowdrops</a>, Ott's more collaborative effort with multi-instrumentalist Mathiu Gabry, who also plays on Time To Die. Both albums were recorded over several years before final mixing in 2020 and release in 2021 - catch up with them before they catch up with themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://arainer.bandcamp.com/album/harbor">Alex Rainer - Harbor</a> </b>When <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/09/record-roundup-songs-and-singers.html#.YglML-7MI1I" target="_blank">I last reviewed</a> Rainer, I noted that he was an "exceptionally fine folk singer/songwriter," and that Time Changes, his 2020 album, was "loveliness itself." That's all still true, but there's an entirely different side presented here, on this collection of "ambience and soundscapes." Each brief track is a snapshot, catching a mood rather than an image, skillfully interweaving electronics, percussion, and field recordings. There's a sense throughout that Rainer is an observer of the world around him and that to listen is an act of witness. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-seamus-vol-30" target="_blank">Various Artists - Music From SEAMUS 30</a> </b>These collections from the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States are always worth a listen, but this one is especially scintillating. Whether the comic-book inspired bombast of Christopher Biggs' Monstress (2019), with Keith Kirschoff's virtuosic work on piano and Seaboard Rise MIDI-controller, Joo Won Park's cheeky Func Step Mode (2019) for no-input mixer and drum machine, or Heather Stebbins' unsettling Things That Follow (2018), commissioned and played by percussionist Adam Vidiksis, there's a kaleidoscopic selection of approaches, methods, and emotional impacts here, mapping out a broad range of territories for electroacoustic music. There's no better guide to a fascinating landscape.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span>For similar noises, check into </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Fyq5hGVD7NnKXtmaV9iWF?si=d7a7631bf16e42eb" target="_blank">this archive playlist</a><span> with much more where these came from and follow the </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1uyjwdSsyZIrGyJmWavU5N?si=9fd536749c324bca" target="_blank">2022 playlist</a><span> to see what this year brings!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy: <br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-of-2020-electronic.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-electronic_31.html#.XrbcrpNKg1I">Best of 2019: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-electronic_7.html#.XrbcKJNKg1J">Best of 2018: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/01/best-of-2018-electronic_7.html#.XrbcKJNKg1J">Best of 2017: Electronic</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-electronic.html#.XrbchZNKg1J">Best of 2016: Electronic</a></span></p>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-41839209132099901452022-01-29T19:37:00.004-05:002022-06-27T18:04:03.014-04:00Best Of 2021: Classical<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjStuf9SfCLSzhdlKy6Q9BLMXsYM9unsYHwTMLsjXZRRTsROdUkJtUDzO2eYjm9W8UJKVxXDk-wXm0EMwGAem12axc_qp9slqtD6so0wLxJgmm5TyHcc_5vlMoW9g9iu1aHSpp3Xf1nKG-v90A_13mRJg9XKxbqhwn1WjNflzG8VIG7lu5HiQ=s1800" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1201" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjStuf9SfCLSzhdlKy6Q9BLMXsYM9unsYHwTMLsjXZRRTsROdUkJtUDzO2eYjm9W8UJKVxXDk-wXm0EMwGAem12axc_qp9slqtD6so0wLxJgmm5TyHcc_5vlMoW9g9iu1aHSpp3Xf1nKG-v90A_13mRJg9XKxbqhwn1WjNflzG8VIG7lu5HiQ=w340-h508" width="340" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>I tried mightily to deliver to your ears the many excellent releases in this category as they came my way, but the deluge got the best of me pretty early on. As is usual in these genre-specific lists, I'll first give you links to what I've previously covered followed by pocket reviews of other albums that helped define my year. Selections from everything that's on Spotify* are included in <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/779wEwCGXPHz45vDjvoQdA?si=e7b44c9abf7e40ee" target="_blank">this playlist</a> or below. That said, I got a new CD player this year and have delighted in rediscovering the impact and expressiveness the format can have - many thanks to all the labels still providing physical promos!</p><p>
<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/779wEwCGXPHz45vDjvoQdA" width="250"></iframe></p><p><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-2021-new-year-new-music.html#.Ycy_lxPMI1I" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Celebrating 2021: New Year, New Music</span></b></a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#" style="font-family: helvetica;">Tak Ensemble - Taylor Brook: Star Maker Fragments</a><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/borne-by-a-wind" target="_blank">Sid Richardson - Borne By A Wind</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/susie-ibarra-talking-gong" target="_blank">Susie Ibarra - Talking Gong</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://patriciabrennan.bandcamp.com/album/maquishti" target="_blank">Patricia Brennan - Maquishti</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://annelanzilotti.bandcamp.com/album/yesterday-is-two-days-ago" target="_blank">Adam Morford & Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti - Yesterday Is Two Days Ago</a><br /><br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/record-roundup-sonic-environments.html#.YczEVBPMI1I" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Sonic Environments<br /></a></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#" style="font-family: helvetica;">Mariel Roberts - Armament</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#" style="font-family: helvetica;">Benjamin Louis Brody/Ian Chang - Floating Into Infinity</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#" style="font-family: helvetica;">Angelica Olstad - Transmute</a></p><p><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/04/record-roundup-chiaroscuro.html#.YczFuRPMI1I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Record Roundup: Chiaroscuro</span></a><br /></b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://akropolisreedquintet.bandcamp.com/album/ghost-light" target="_blank">Akropolis Reed Quintet - Ghost Light</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8866044--zibuokl-martinaityt-saudade" target="_blank">Žibuoklė Martinaitytė - Saudade</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Christopher Cerrone - <a href="https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/christopher-cerrone-a-natural-history-of-vacant-lots" target="_blank">A Natural History of Vacant Lots</a> and <a href="https://cerrone.bandcamp.com/album/the-arching-path" target="_blank">The Arching Path</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/05/record-roundup-song-forms.html#.YczG5xPMI1I" target="_blank"><b>Record Roundup: Song Forms<br /></b></a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.cedillerecords.org/albums/dreams-of-a-new-day-songs-by-black-composers/" target="_blank">Will Liverman and Paul Sanchez - Dreams Of A New Day: Songs By Black Composers</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://sopercussion.bandcamp.com/album/caroline-shaw-narrow-sea" target="_blank">Caroline Shaw - Narrow Sea</a><br /><br /><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html#.YczIEBPMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Novelty Is Not Enough<br /></a></b></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://sopercussion.bandcamp.com/album/stay-on-it?mc_cid=1c6df075dd&mc_eid=UNIQID" target="_blank">Sō Percussion and Friends - Julius Eastman: Stay On It</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.greyfade.com/releases/fromthemachine1" target="_blank">Kenneth Kirschner & Joseph Branciforte - From The Machine, Vol. 1</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/burned-into-the-orange" target="_blank">Peter Gilbert - Burned Into The Orange</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Orison-Ensemble/dp/B091WFGLZH" target="_blank">Chris Campbell - Orison</a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html#.YczIEBPMI1I" target="_blank"><br /></a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/08/record-roundup-enigmas-and-excitations.html#.YczJfhPMI1I" target="_blank"><b>Record Roundup: Enigmas And Excitations</b><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></a><a href="https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0015093kai" target="_blank">José Luis Hurtado - Parametrical Counterpoint</a><br /><a href="https://rarescale.bandcamp.com/album/05-ix" target="_blank">Rarescale + Scott L. Miller - 05 IX</a><br /><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-hunt-by-night" target="_blank">Douglas Boyce - The Hunt By Night</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-and-concert-roundup-on-island.html#.YczKhhPMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: On An Island</a><br /></b><a href="https://alarmwillsound.bandcamp.com/album/for-george-lewis-autoschediasms" target="_blank">Alarm Will Sound - Tyshawn Sorey: For George Lewis | Autoschediasms</a><br /><a href="https://compitello.bandcamp.com/album/unsnared-drum" target="_blank">Michael Compitello - Unsnared Drum</a><br /><a href="https://mollyherron.bandcamp.com/album/through-lines" target="_blank">Molly Herron + Science Ficta - Through Lines</a><br /><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/spirits" target="_blank">Van Stiefel - Spirits</a><br /><span style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="https://david-bird.bandcamp.com/album/iron-orchid" target="_blank">Ning Yu & David Bird - Iron Orchid</a><br /></span><b><br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/record-roundup-solos-duos-ensembles.html#.YczNPBPMI1I" target="_blank">Record Roundup: Solos, Duos, Ensembles</a><br /></b><a href="https://berglindtomasdottir.bandcamp.com/album/ethereality" target="_blank">Berglind María Tómasdóttir - Ethereality</a><br /><a href="https://wumankojiroumezaki.bandcamp.com/album/flow" target="_blank">Wu Man and Kojiro Umezaki - 流芳Flow</a><br /><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/blow" target="_blank">The City Of Tomorrow - Blow</a><br /><a href="https://www.innova.mu/albums/recap/count-five" target="_blank">Recap - Count To Five</a> <br /><a href="https://johannalundy.bandcamp.com/album/the-space-in-which-to-see" target="_blank">Borderlands Ensemble - The Space In Which To See</a><br /><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/loadbang-plays-well-with-others" target="_blank">Loadbang - Plays Well With Others</a><br /><a href="https://triptickstapes.bandcamp.com/album/empty-and-or-church-of-plenty" target="_blank">Tak Ensemble - Brandon Lopez: Empty And/Or Church of Plenty</a><br /><a href="https://interactivo.bandcamp.com/album/studio-session" target="_blank">Ensemble Interactivo de La Habana - Studio Session</a><br /><a href="https://natewooley.bandcamp.com/album/mutual-aid-music" target="_blank">Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music</a><br /><a href="https://www.greyfade.com/releases/ragsma" target="_blank">JACK Quartet - Christopher Otto: rags'ma</a><br /><a href="https://mikiplayspiano.bandcamp.com/album/a-kind-of-mirror" target="_blank">Miki Sawada and Brendan Randall-Myers - A Kind Of Mirror</a><br /><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/kerm-s" target="_blank">Julia Den Boer - Kermès</a></span></p><p><a href="https://sopercussion.bandcamp.com/album/let-the-soil-play-its-simple-part" target="_blank"><b>Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion - Let The Soil Play Its Simple Part</b></a> As I noted in my review, their previous release, Narrow Sea, left me wanting more, and now I have it! Consider this proof of the concept behind that song cycle, which let the Sō percussionists run wild with expressive clicks, clatters, and rhythmic inventions. Except, instead of Dawn Upshaw, it is Shaw herself who sings these 10 art song arrangements of everything from hymns and Joyce to Anne Carson and Abba. Of the latter, I will say that if you're skeptical - as I am - of the Swedish pop star's genius, I can at least say that it does not offend in this context. In fact, the album flows beautifully, with Shaw's crystalline soprano connecting all the dots, and ends with a sublime take on Some Bright Morning (also known as I'll Fly Away) which sounds wonderfully ancient and modern all at once.</p><p><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/bell-threads" target="_blank">Adam Roberts - Bell Threads</a> </b>I may be a romantic at heart, but when I see artists like AndPlay, Hannah Lash, the JACK Quartet, and Bearthoven on a portrait album, I like to think of them clamoring to play the music of an exciting composer. For all I know, it's just another gig for them - "work is good," as we used to say in the freelance photo biz - but at least it also serves as a guarantee of quality in the performances! In any case, had I been paying closer attention, I might have remembered Roberts' playful piece for Transient Canvas on their 2017 album, <a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/sift" target="_blank">Sift</a>, but I'm not that cool. This is also his second portrait album, with the <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Leaf-Metal-Adam-Roberts/dp/B00GTSVLA0" target="_blank">first coming out on Tzadik in 2014</a>, so I'm even further behind than I thought. But maybe you are, too, so I can only urge you to get to know this colorful, inventive, and versatile composer ASAP - and you might as well start here. </p><p>Whether you drink deeply from the dark and tangled duos for violin and viola (Shift Differential (2011) and Diptych (2019), masterfully played by AndPlay (Maya Bennardo, violin; Hannah Levinson, viola), or get lost in the sparkling web of Lash's harp in Rounds (2017), you will find yourself drawn into Roberts' world as if by a brilliant storyteller. There's also an Oboe Quartet (2016-17), played by the JACK with Erik Behr, that toys with classical form like a cat with twine, and the title piece (2009), a fine solo work for Levinson's viola. The deal-sealer for me, however, was Happy/Angry Music (2017), an angular, ruminative, and ultimately explosive suite of composed almost-jazz - not dissimilar from Sylvie Courvoisier's recent stuff - played with total immersion by Bearthoven (Karl Larson, piano; Matt Evans, percussion; Pat Swoboda, bass). Bell Threads was a wonderful, if belated, introduction to Roberts, now someone for whom my radar is firmly set.</p><p><b><a href="https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/skys-acetylene" target="_blank">David Fulmer - Sky's Acetylene</a> </b>This piece for flute (Mindy Kaufman), harp (Nancy Allen), percussion (Dan Druckman), piano (Eric Huebner), and double bass (Max Zeugner) has been sitting in the can since 2017, when the New York Philharmonic premiered it as part of their <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">now-defunct</a> Contact! series. The music remains well in advance of its sell-by date, however, a fresh and fascinating exploration of interplay and solo sonorities of the imaginatively assembled forces for 13 dazzling minutes. A chamber work with orchestral sweep. I should pay closer attention to Fulmer, whose Speak Of The Spring was one of the works gracing Michael Nicholas' remarkable <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/05/cello-for-all-part-2-michael-nicholas.html" target="_blank">Transitions</a> back in 2016.</p><p><b><a href="https://pleasureofthetextrecords.bandcamp.com/album/michael-pisaro-stem-flower-root" target="_blank">Michael Pisaro-Liu - Stem Flower Root</a> </b>"Holy shit, that's the most romantic-sounding thing I've ever heard you play!" So said composer Ingrid Laubrock when hearing trumpeter Nate Wooley playing a dress rehearsal of this piece. Commissioned by Wooley as part of his For/With Festival, and composed for b-flat trumpet with a variety of mutes and sine waves, the 30-minute piece has three distinct parts. Laubrock was probably talking about Flower, the middle section, which has a languor one might associate with Chet Baker. In the dense but beautiful essay included in the chapbook that accompanies the project, Pisaro-Liu notes that it is a "symmetrical collection of five arcs or five petals on a flower, with each petal picking up where the previous had left off." The opening and closing sections are meditations on tone, single notes blown through different mutes. The chapbook also has a series of "Anatomies" by Wooley (from whence the Laubrock quote comes), where he writes: "Every time a trumpet is muted, a pathway to a new sonic universe is laid." So true, whether it's Miles Davis playing Someday My Prince Will Come or the incantations Wooley lays down here. This sublime project is the first of the For/With pieces to be recorded - more to come in 2022. While the $7 digital download comes with a PDF of the chapbook, for just another $5 I recommend splurging on the physical book to treat yourself to a more immersive experience. There's something to be said for looking away from a screen from time to time!</p><p><a href="https://www.dustinwhiteflute.com/ri-ra" target="_blank"><b>Dustin White - Ri Ra</b></a> Boasting seven world-premiere recordings of 21st century works for C, alto, and bass flute - all inspired by middle eastern traditions - this debut highlights an engaged and adventurous musician. His generosity extends to his <a href="https://www.dustinwhiteflute.com/ri-ra" target="_blank">website</a>, with ample bios for each composer (Parisa Sabet, Erfan Attarchi, Sami Seif, Imam Habibi, Ata Ghavidel, Wajdi Abou Diab, Katia Makdissi-Warren) and links to their socials. This was especially helpful as all were unfamiliar to me. The album flows nicely, rising to a head on the penultimate track, Diab's The Awiss Dance (2020), based on an ancient rhythm used by Arabian tribesmen to make horses and camels dance. It's a wonderful piece that may have you get up from your seat to match its percussive flair. How often can you say that about a flute album?</p><p><b><a href="https://amandagookin.bandcamp.com/album/forward-music-project-20" target="_blank">Amanda Gookin - Forward Music Project 2.0: In This Skin</a> </b>When I reviewed the <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/07/record-roundup-unclassifiable.html#.YeWRkVjMI1I" target="_blank">first volume</a> in this series focusing on women composers, I remarked I would be on high alert for the next one. Now, that anticipation has been repaid by this new collection, featuring seven pieces commissioned by Gookin to spotlight female empowerment and strength. Many of the pieces use visceral techniques to reflect their rootedness in the body, whether the "everyday erotics" of Alex Temple's Tactile, the three ages of woman reflected in Kamala Sankaram's Belly, or the embodied anger of Shelley Washington's Seething. In addition to Gookin's stunning cello playing, the tracks may feature spoken word, singing, electronics, or bass drum, creating a variety of compelling textures. While Tactile highlights Gookin's own bell-like vocals, Veiled by Niloufar Nourbakhsh uses the voices of Chelsea Loew and Solmaz Badri to pay tribute to the resilience of women who have stood up to Islamic extremism. As on volume one, the inspirations and background stories (Paola Prestini cites the Kavanaugh hearings as fuel for her piece, To Tell A Story) certainly enrich the experience of listening but are not required reading to know that the composers and Gookin are being given free reign of expression and are exploring areas of true passion. All of that comes through in the music, loud and clear. Bring on 3.0!</p><p><b><a href="https://gyda.bandcamp.com/album/ox" target="_blank">Gyda Valtÿsdöttir - Ox</a> (also on <a href="https://www.diggersfactory.com/vinyl/246613/gyda-valtysdottir-ox" target="_blank">Limited edition vinyl</a>) </b>On her <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/08/fall-classics.html#.YeWhZljMI1I" target="_blank">last album</a>, the Icelandic cellist, composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist traversed 2,000 years of musical history. On Ox, she focuses on erasing genre, creating a transporting song cycle that touches on ambient, electronic, art-pop, and chamber music. Based on its title alone, Cute Kittens Lick Cream may be the archetypal piece here, embracing an up-to-the-minute languor that should decorate whatever place in which you shelter with gentle colors and gauzy textures. Let it envelop you.</p><b>Berglind Maria Tómasdóttir - The Lokkur Project: <a href="https://berglindtomasdottir.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-lokkur" target="_blank">Music For Lokkur</a> | <a href="https://berglindtomasdottir.bandcamp.com/album/lokkur-reworks" target="_blank">Lokkur Reworks</a> | <a href="https://berglindtomasdottir.bandcamp.com/merch/tv-s-ngur-duet" target="_blank">Duet</a> </b>When I reviewed Ethereality, Tómasdóttir's "<a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/11/record-roundup-solos-duos-ensembles.html#.YeXw_VjMI1I" target="_blank">spellbinding</a>" album of flute music earlier in 2021, little did know that I had just been granted a key to a marvelous world of invention and surprise. But I did not hesitate to respond with an enthusiastic "YES" when she offered to send me her next album, which was accompanied by a cassette and a book related to the project. Based on a pair of supposedly ancient Icelandic instruments - which she invented and built - Tómasdóttir has created a lighthearted investigation into national and cultural identity that has also led to some very real and very captivating music. The Lokkur, and its earlier incarnation, the Hrokkur, uses a foot-powered wheel to create a spidery drone on a stringed instruments, which can also be plucked or knocked to create other sounds and manipulate the pitch. Music For Lokkur opens and closes with solos that give an idea of the beguiling possibilities of the instrument. The four tracks in the middle are compositions by others that also include vocals, making for impressionistic folk songs that could point Björk in some new directions. All are profoundly odd and yet somehow comforting, except for Langlínusamtal viõ fúskara, which has some distorted vocals that I found off-putting. <div><br /></div><div>The cassette, which includes "reworks" by friends and collaborators including Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, Clint McCallum, Elín Gunnlaugsdóttir, and Erik DeLuca is a gem throughout, however. Each composer was sent a bank of sounds from the Lokkur and Hrokkur and encouraged to let their imaginations run free, creating atmospheric soundscapes that could create an alternate history of minimalism, not to mention electronic and ambient music. An early favorite is Kurt Uenala's Weltraum Rework, which accrues more synthesized details as a Lokkur loop repeats hypnotically, eventually arriving at an abstract groove not far from something by Autechre. </div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, there is the book, a beautiful hardcover with an embossed cover and many illustrations, containing a dialogue between Tómasdóttir and her alter ego, Rock River Mary (derived from Berg (rock), Lind (river), Maria (Mary)), in which they spar amusingly about the origins of the Lokkur Project, the challenges of being a woman in academia and the music world, differences between Iceland and America, and many other subjects. The sense of going through the looking glass while reading this delightful book is not unlike how I felt reading Pale Fire by Nabokov. All together, the Lokkur Project reveals Tómasdóttir as an utter original. I will endeavor to be less surprised when she blows my mind again.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://dalniente.bandcamp.com/album/confined-speak" target="_blank"><b>Ensemble Dal Niente - confined. speak.</b></a> The idea that the pandemic has brought with it both challenges and opportunities is by now a near cliché. However, there's no doubt that this flexible Chicago group has met the former and grasped the latter in exemplary fashion. After working up six pieces by composers including Hilda Paredes and George Lewis for livestream performances, they realized they had an album in the making. Featuring works for anywhere from two to 14 performers, the ensemble's versatility is on full display here, along with their brilliance in a variety of modes. From the mysteries of Andile Khulamalo's Beyond Her Mask (2021), which also features soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw, to the sardonic wit of Lewis's Merce And Baby (2012), composed for a John Cage tribute, they run the full gamut. Executive Director and <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/10/record-roundup-string-theories.html" target="_blank">harp genius Ben Melsky</a> gets a starring role in Paredes' Demente Cuerda (2004), while ensemble members Igor Santos and Tomás Gueglio both have new works performed. All is full of color and detail, making for a rich listening experience. Somewhere along the way, Dal Niente also found the time to contribute to <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3SwxsEquFhO1wyjKe678Gu?si=6Uhx3B-jSkSqkXnwTOKz6w" target="_blank">New Works From The Virginia Center For Computer Music</a>, which includes more great harp music and throws electronics into the mix. It highlights a robust academic program of which I was previously unaware, yet there's nothing studious about the music, which is consistently absorbing. Their name literally means "from nothing," and it seems nothing can hold them down!</div><div><p><a href="https://richardcarrviolinist.bandcamp.com/album/over-the-ridge" target="_blank"><b>Richard Carr - Over The Ridge</b></a> Carr is also someone who has used the pandemic fruitfully, taking a break from his usual metier of improvised and electronic music to put pen to paper and write material for string quartet. His rolodex is also impressive as he reached out to violist and composer <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/06/record-roundup-contemporary-classical.html#.YfWWH1jMI1I" target="_blank">Caleb Burhans</a>, who assembled an ad hoc group - including cello maven <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/03/record-roundup-electro-acoustic.html#.YfWWUVjMI1I" target="_blank">Clarice Jensen</a> - to play it. With violinists Laura Lutzke and Ravenna Lipchik filling out the group, and Carr himself adding violin on five tracks, the sound is full and involving. The result is this gorgeous album, which somehow manages to combine a Medieval stateliness with an earthy naturalism, even drawing in strains of Americana. Four of the pieces have all players improvising based on structures created by Carr. It's testament to their taste and creativity that all the music here, whether scored or improvised, displays the same taste, musicianship, and creativity. A quiet wonder.</p><p><b><a href="https://nowensemble.bandcamp.com/album/before-and-after-2" target="_blank">Now Ensemble - Sean Friar: Before And After</a> </b>Completed after a three year process of improvisation and collaboration between composer and ensemble, this often has a burnished, pensive quality, with occasional bite from Mark Danciger's electric guitar. There's also a swirling business to some sections, that seems to have a psychological impetus, like a Bernard Herrmann soundtrack for a Hitchcock film. There is, in fact, a programmatic element to the eight-movement work, with Friar calling it "a rumination on the lifespan of civilizations, on our own small place in the larger rhythm of the world." But you will be excused for thinking your own thoughts while listening, or just for admiring the beauty of the sounds and the adventurousness of the artists involved, who also include Logan Coale (bass), Alicia Lee (clarinet), Michael Mizrahi (piano) and Alex Sopp (flute).</p><p><b><a href="https://johnlutheradams-coldblue.bandcamp.com/album/arctic-dreams" target="_blank">John Luther Adams - Arctic Dreams</a> </b>Since it is unlikely that a mere mortal such as I will ever experience listening to "wind harps on the tundra," as Adams did while conceiving of this glorious shimmer of a piece, this album will have to do. Composed for four singers (the superb Synergy Voices) and a string quartet, and enhanced by three-layers of digital delay, the seven movements, each with titles like "Pointed Mountains Scattered All Around," seem to suspend time itself as they assemble in your ears. While individual words rarely register, the texts describe natural Arctic features in the languages of the Iñupiat and Gwich’in peoples of Alaska, adding additional depth to the music. Adams brings a technical rigor and a humbleness before nature to bear here, not unlike the work of his namesake, Ansel Adams, who did the same in his photography. Though the forces are far smaller, Adams' achievement here is equal to epic orchestral works like <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/09/immersed-in-become-ocean.html#.YfWst1jMI1I" target="_blank">Become Ocean</a> - massive!</p><p>These are far from the only albums in this realm that provided delight and fascination throughout 2021. For more, I urge you to check out my <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4VArjigRpSD6JhbuIMKISB?si=2d266f4859504ccb" target="_blank">Of Note In 2021: Classical (Archive)</a>. To hear what the Recording Academy deemed "of note," give a listen to my handy <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5idvqquBZwJOW9J2HRifR3?si=9d75cd8745534865" target="_blank">Classical Grammy Nominations 2022</a> playlist. And to see what develops this year, please follow <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ecA4lFUfNKV8bPY2SFYtj?si=0b6a524afd68447f" target="_blank">Of Note In 2022 (Classical)</a>. </p>You may also enjoy:</div><div><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/12/best-of-2020-classical.html#.YfW_DVjMI1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/01/best-of-2019-classical.html#.X-Ox_elKg1I">Best Of 2019: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/12/best-of-2018-classical_31.html#.X-OxyulKg1I">Best Of 2018: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/best-of-2017-classical.html#.X-OxqulKg1I">Best Of 17: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/01/best-of-2016-classical_8.html#.X-OxfelKg1I">Best Of 16: Classical<br /></a><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/12/best-of-15-classical-composed.html#.X-OxSulKg1I">Best Of 15: Classical & Composed</a><br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/01/best-of-rest-of-14-classical-composed.html#.X-OxIOlKg1I">Best Of The Rest Of 14: Classical & Composed</a></div><div><p><i>*I am fully aware of the multitude of issues around Spotify, whether their payment structures or their lax approach to content mediation, and am actively researching alternatives.</i></p></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29261859.post-53802723080054086812021-12-26T19:08:00.008-05:002023-03-11T12:16:00.436-05:00Best Of 2021: The Top 25<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUx1DJThpu7QMzZFxmIuZKrUdfPp8sdcCdtf2sUNOKyEdzAos1RyRjnnXJ5O_dg8Vaz_2F-jUXz249BA2ZnbG6QfXxh6Pg4slaomoTzGJhS5R64WlQchpn7pWyk3CZaqERVrdD3eGEtEAKCugyZ4gCoOWz6SGwvI7tecXV7k8ypVQVn2ZAiA=s1800" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1201" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUx1DJThpu7QMzZFxmIuZKrUdfPp8sdcCdtf2sUNOKyEdzAos1RyRjnnXJ5O_dg8Vaz_2F-jUXz249BA2ZnbG6QfXxh6Pg4slaomoTzGJhS5R64WlQchpn7pWyk3CZaqERVrdD3eGEtEAKCugyZ4gCoOWz6SGwvI7tecXV7k8ypVQVn2ZAiA=w315-h472" width="315" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As wild a ride as 2020 was, at least it had some kind of trajectory. We were learning to live with a pandemic, taking action to put it in the rearview. We were rallying to the cause of dumping Trump. There were fears and challenges aplenty along the way, but also a narrative to which our storytelling genes could give shape. Then came 2021, with so many neck-snapping reversals for every step forward that any shape the story had would resemble that of the path of a worm chewing its way through wood. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Fortunately, there was no shortage of new music, including dozens of albums that I leaned on like a crutch. I am filled gratitude once again for all the players, writers, singers, producers, labels, and other elements of this delicate ecosystem who were able to keep going. Still, I worry about some who seem to have dropped away, like Novelty Daughter, Natalie Prass, and Jane Church, and hope they are OK. And while I was glad to see some semblance of a return to concerts and touring, I only attended a handful of shows as I am as yet unable to project myself into an indoor space crowded with my fellow music lovers. It was a privilege to see the shows I attended, all of which were outdoors. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's hard to say how the lack of the additional dimension a live performance can provide to a piece of music is affecting my devotion to the artists I follow, but I can only work with what I have. I can be certain that my feelings for the 25 albums below - and the many others I will share in genre-specific lists - are as strong as any other year. I hope you find some measure of comfort, joy, inspiration, validation, energy, and all the things you look for in music in these miraculous releases. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">All of the albums below - except one - were written about in previous posts; click through to read my original review. Listen to selections from all of them <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SuBmDSkrUf2PZ3DX8E31M?si=f206d3f3eb334904" target="_blank">in this playlist</a> or below to get the flavor of each release as you explore. While my use of Spotify is certainly fraught with concern about how artists are paid, it has also connected me to music I might never have heard, which I have gone on to support in a myriad of ways. I urge you to do the same should you hear something you love. We need all hands on deck to keep the lifeblood of music flowing!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2SuBmDSkrUf2PZ3DX8E31M" width="250"></iframe></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-2021-new-year-new-music.html" target="_blank">Fruit Bats - The Pet Parade</a></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>2. </b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-americana-beautiful.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Hiss Golden Messenger - Quietly Blowing It</a><b> </b>Note: M.C. Taylor also gifted us with a most supremely chill holiday album in <a href="https://hissgoldenmessenger.bandcamp.com/album/o-come-all-ye-faithful" target="_blank">O Come All Ye Faithful</a>, featuring gorgeous originals like Hung Fire and Grace alongside covers of everything from Joy To The World and Silent Night to Woody Guthrie's Hanukkah Dance and CCR's As Long As I Can See The Light. The deluxe edition came with a separate disc of dubbed out versions, also available <a href="https://hissgoldenmessenger.bandcamp.com/album/the-sounding-joy-hiss-golden-messenger-meets-revelators-on-south-robinson-street" target="_blank">here</a>, that are absorbing, immersive, and some of my favorite music ever from Hiss. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/04/record-roundup-chiaroscuro.html" target="_blank">Scott Wollschleger & Karl Larson - Dark Days</a></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">4. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/05/record-roundup-song-forms.html" target="_blank">Jane Weaver - Flock</a></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">5. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html#.YdRY957MJPY" target="_blank">Elsa Hewitt - Lupa</a></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>6. <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/record-roundup-rocknpop-adjacent.html" target="_blank">Eye Knee Records</a> </b>Note: This is not an album but a series of remarkable singles released by Holly Miranda, Amb. Parsley, and Chris Maxwell's <a href="https://www.eyekneerecords.com/" target="_blank">new collective label</a>. Ranging from sweetly hilarious to delicate and from devastating to inspiring, they made for <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6IRzjQA0zBRIudUqiuDD6G?si=5151e3c608c940ff" target="_blank">an incredible playlist</a> that became a crucial listen for me. I can't suggest more strongly that you get yourself to their <a href="https://eyekneerecords.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> site to buy all these songs and make your own playlist!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>7. <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-roundup-rooms-of-their-own.html" target="_blank">Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever</a> </b>Note: Having signed on for a month of Disney+ to watch <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/12/getting-back-to-let-it-be.html" target="_blank">Get Back</a>, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to watch <a href="https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/movie/happier-than-ever-a-love-letter-to-los-angeles" target="_blank">Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter To Los Angeles</a>, which featured stunning orchestral versions of every song from Eilish's sophomore album. Played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the engaged direction of Gustavo Dudamel and with string arrangements by David Campbell, the reworks were exquisitely sensitive to the songs and further convinced me of their elemental strength. I can only hope for an audio-only release of the concert!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>8. </b><b><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html#.YeGv4Z7MJPY" target="_blank">Raoul Vignal - Years In Marble</a></b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">9. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/record-roundup-sonic-environments.html" target="_blank">Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises</a></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">10. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html#.YeGv4Z7MJPY" target="_blank">Mallu Magalhães - Esperança</a></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">11. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/05/record-roundup-song-forms.html" target="_blank">Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg</a></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>12. </b><b><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/08/record-roundup-enigmas-and-excitations.html" target="_blank">Spektral Quartet - Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Enigma</a></b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">13. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/05/record-roundup-song-forms.html" target="_blank">Domenico Lancellotti - Raio</a></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">14. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-2021-new-year-new-music.html" target="_blank">Madlib - Sound Ancestors</a></span></b></p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">15. <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/10/record-roundup-plugged-in.html" target="_blank">Summer Like The Season - Hum</a></span></b><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">16. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html" target="_blank">Wavefield Ensemble - Concrete & Void</a></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">17. <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html#.ZAy25uzMI1I" target="_blank">Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny HaHa</a></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>18. <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-best-of-2021-so-far.html#.ZAy25uzMI1I" target="_blank">Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost</a></b><b><br /></b></span><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">19. <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/record-roundup-rocknpop-adjacent.html" target="_blank">The Muckers - Endeavor</a></span></b></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span>20. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-americana-beautiful.html" target="_blank">Amy Helm - What The Flood Leaves Behind</a></span></b><br /></span><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">21. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/06/record-roundup-novelty-is-not-enough.html" target="_blank">Ben Seretan - Cicada Waves</a></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">22. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-2021-new-year-new-music.html" target="_blank">Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature</a></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">23. <a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/05/record-roundup-song-forms.html" target="_blank">Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince</a></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>24. <a href="https://courtneybarnett.bandcamp.com/album/things-take-time-take-time" target="_blank">Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time</a> </b>My heart sank the first time I listened to this, her third album. Where was the low-slung bass of Bones Sloane and the locked-in drumming of Dave Mudie? Where was Dan Lunscombe to provide guitar and keyboard interplay? Why did she choose to work with Stella Mozgawa from the perpetually underwhelming Warpaint? Now, I knew some of those choices were due to the multiple lockdowns in Australia during the pandemic, but still, I was disappointed with what I was hearing. But two songs grabbed me initially and kept me coming back until the whole album just snapped into place. The first of these was Here's The Thing, the most vulnerable song she's ever recorded, filled with romantic yearning - a color that has been mostly absent from her wonderfully clever songwriting. The second was Turning Green, which has some creative drum machine deployment, meditative keyboards, and builds slowly to a terrific guitar solo, abstract and angular yet restrained. The lyrics reveal a sort-of love song ("You've been around the world/Lookin' for the perfect girl/Turns out she was just livin' down the street) that in its series of missed connections seems never far from current events. Take It Day By Day is the perfect prescription for these times, with a chorus that reminds us never to take the survival of others (or ourselves) in isolation for granted: "Tuesday night, I'm checking in/Just to see how you're going/Are you good? Are you eating?/I'll call you back next week." There's more variety here than on her last album and a bravery to the way she's just putting herself out there, with no attempt to conceal her fears or enervation in the face of all that's gone on these last two years. Also, the stripped back intimacy of the production foregrounds some of Barnett's most well-developed melodies and seems to welcome a personal connection to the record, making it feel like a dispatch from a friend. It's Barnett's best album since her debut. As the title instructs, give it the time it deserves and you just might feel the same.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">25. <a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/07/record-roundup-rocknpop-adjacent.html" target="_blank">UV-TV - Always Something</a></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may also enjoy:<br /><a href="https://anearful.blogspot.com/2020/12/best-of-2020-top-25.html" target="_blank">Best Of 2020: The Top 25<br /></a><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-of-2019-top-25.html#.Xp5AO9NKg1I" target="_blank"><span>Best Of 2019: The Top 25</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2018/12/best-of-2018-top-25.html#.Xp5ADtNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2018: The Top 25</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2017/12/best-of-2017-top-25.html#.Xp4_2tNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2017: The Top 25</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2016/12/best-of-2016-top-20.html#.Xp4_qtNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2016: The Top 20</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2015/12/best-of-15-top-20.html#.Xp4_etNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 15: The Top 20</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/12/best-of-14-part-1.html#.Xp4_DdNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 14 (Part 1)</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/12/best-of-14-part-2.html#.Xp4_OtNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 14 (Part 2)</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/12/best-of-2013.html#.Xp4-zNNKg1I" target="_blank">Best Of 2013</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2012/12/best-of-12-part-one.html#.Xp4-XdNKg1I" target="_blank">The Best Of 12: Part One</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2012/12/best-of-12-part-two.html#.Xp4-j9NKg1I" target="_blank">The Best Of 12: Part Two</a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-11.html#.X94fmulKg1I" target="_blank"><span>The Best Of 11</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2011/01/best-of-ten.html#.X94fLelKg1I" target="_blank"><span>Best Of Ten</span></a><br /><a href="http://anearful.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-is-born-best-of-2009.html#.X94e9-lKg1I" target="_blank"><span>A Blog Is Born: Best Of 2009</span></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><p><br /></p></div>Jeremy Shatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03036653167532921988noreply@blogger.com0