Record Roundup: Catching Up (Sort Of)

Although "catching up" is an unattainable goal, what follows is a quick multi-genre run-through of things I'm burning to present to your beleaguered attention before the end of the year ruminations and revelations begin.

Wang Lu - An Atlas Of Time After 2018's stunning Urban Inventory, I knew to expect even greater things from this composer and this album exceeds those imaginings in every way. The title piece is a five-movement spectacular, incorporating orchestrations that Bartok would envy alongside electronics and prerecorded material for collage-like effects that will have your head spinning in the best way. It's astonishing in its concision and power and the performance by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project with Gil Rose conducting is unlikely to be equalled - but that doesn't mean I don't think others should try, and often, in concert halls across the globe. The album also includes Ryan And Dan, a duet for saxophone (Ryan Muncy) and guitar (Dan Lippel) that manages to combine post-punk, free jazz, art rock, and modernism in a mesmerizing seven minutes, Double Trance for string quartet, played by Momenta Quartet and showing mastery of the medium, Unbreathable Colors, a sparkling and off-kilter piece for solo violin (Miranda Cuckson), and Siren Song, which puts more of her orchestral artistry on display. Fearless, fun, fascinating - and emotionally compelling - the world of Wang Lu is one of my favorite destinations. Plot a course ASAP.

Sarah Hennies - Spectral Malsconcities How you relate to these two half-hour+ pieces may depend on the musical references you find within. For me, the opening section of the title track, played with a casual perfection by Bearthoven, sounds like a fragment from a Tim Buckley session, circa Happy Sad or Star Sailor, with a starring role for Pat Swoboda's woody bass. Then it moves into a something that triggers the PiL/Flowers Of Romance synapse in my brain before entering a period of extreme repetition. To that last point: not everyone will be able to take this level of minimalism, but I love it, finding a kind of tart wit to each iteration. Played by the piano-percussion lineup of Bent Duo, Unsettle shades into an acoustic form of ambient music, with plucked piano strings hanging the air, populating their own resonance. I'm getting Eno/On Land vibes, but as I note above, your results my vary. Curious? There's only one way to find out...

Tristan Perich - Drift Multiply In 2018, I attended the world premiere of this majestic piece for 50 violins and one-bit electronics at the Cathedral of St. John The Divine. It was glorious and I ended my review with these thoughts: "While there is certainly an element of performance or installation art, the whole thing was deeply musical and I hope that logistics don’t get in the way of future performances. There was a video crew and likely audio recording being done as well so I would keep an eye on the Red Bull website to see if they make it available for you to experience at home. Drift Multiply is a triumph of imagination and execution that may just give your living room, or wherever you listen, a touch of the divine." And now we have this recording, made in Amsterdam last year, to bear out my statement. Listen and let it bathe you in sound.

Tracks from these albums and many others can be found on my Of Note In 2020 (Classical) playlist.

S.G. Goodman - Old Time Feeling I'm not sure if this debut album was long in the making, but Goodman's voice rips out of the speakers with a captivating impatience, even on the ballads. The production by Jim James foregrounds her remarkable clarion call, which feels drenched in her Kentucky roots, surrounding it with tube-fired guitar, drums, and the simplest of bass lines. The songs are crafted from a deep well of Americana, with country, blues, and folk blended in such a way that the seams are invisible. As the title indicates, Goodman must be an old soul - one listen and she's also an old friend.

Jeffrey Silverstein - You Become The Mountain Pedal-steel infused minimalist mysticism here, with Silverstein your gentle guru. A song title like Cosmic Scene may not sound promising, but such is Silverstein's sincerity that he gets away with it and leaves you wanting more. I put this on and I'm instantly walking in the woods, after rain, smelling leaves and hearing water's gentle movements. It's a trip, alright.

Melody Fields - Broken Horse In 2018, I called this band "Swedish psychonauts who seem to travel through space and time with equal ease," when reviewing their debut album. These four new songs find them in an almost singleminded pursuit of draggy sparkle and shimmer, hitting the mark every time.

Boogarins - Levitation Sessions With the longest track clocking in at under seven minutes, you know this is going to be a different experience than their 2017 epic of the stage, Desvio Onirico, but these are different times. It's no less excellent, however, and finds them blazing through a career-spanning set of songs from their first four albums and Manchaca Vol. 1, their marvelous odd'n'sods collection that also came out this year. Platinum-sellers in their native Brazil, Boogarins will always be on my hit parade!

Tracks from these and many others can be found on my Of Note In 2020 (Rock, Folk, Etc.) playlist.

Vibration Black Finger - Can't You See What I'm Trying To Say Percussionist and keyboard player Lascelle Gordon has come a long way since 1985, when he was a founding member of the Brand New Heavies, a group which always struck me as superficial. But everything here is 100% REAL, whether in abstract explorations like the title track or the furious groove Acting for Liberation, Pt. 1, which seems to incise itself on your mind and body more deeply with each passing moment of its expansive 10-minute length. Surely one of the most authentic progeny of the spiritual jazz movement, VBF are not fooling around.

A track from this album and many others can be found on my Of Note In 2020 (Jazz, Latin & Global) playlist.

Quakers - II - The Next Wave When I included the debut from this hip hop collective in my list of the 100 greatest albums of the 2010's earlier this year, I was fully convinced it was a one-off. I was even growing a little nostalgic, remembering how it introduced me to both Jonwayne and Guilty Simpson, both of whom I went on to interview, but still feeling a bit stung by its lack of seismic impact. Eight years later they are back and it's as if no time as passed. Eclectic beats, varied rappers, including Jonwayne and Guilty Simpson, and just as much fun. Also a blast is Supa-K: Heavy Tremors, their "beat tape" - 50 tracks in 49 minutes - which had my wife asking, "Is this J Dilla?" Not quite, but it certainly hits that spot very sweetly. Welcome back, Quakers, long may you rock my world.

Tracks from these albums and many others can be found on my Of Note In 2020 (Hip Hop, R&B, & Reggae) Playlist.

Elsa Hewitt - Ghostcats This EP is an extra fuzzy excursion from Hewitt, and all the more charming in its graceful electronic distortions. Hewitt's world enters the physical realm with her handmade cassettes and this one was very special - I celebrated it in this unboxing video - but a talisman is not required for the magic to happen. All you need do is push play.

A track from this album and many others can be found on my Of Note In 2020 (Electronic) playlist.

You may also enjoy:
Of Note In 2020: Classical
Of Note In 2020: Electronic
Of Note In 2020: Hip Hop, RnB, and Reggae
Of Note In 2020: Jazz, Latin, and Global
Of Note In 2020: Rock, Folk, Etc.

Best Of 15: The Top 20

When I waded in with my mid-year report back in July, my musical cup runneth over enough that I picked 20 albums to celebrate. Then, it became a bit of a horse race to see what would stay on the list, in what position, and what would drop off. In the final analysis, these adjustments are not really about quality but reflect what albums became the soundtrack of my life and defined 2015 for me. 

Remarkably, the six top spots remained exactly the same, and six others stayed on the list, which made it tough for later releases to shoehorn their way in. But horn in they did, helping to create what I now present to you as The Top 20 of 2015.

1. Holly Miranda - Holly Miranda Watching Holly perform many of these songs solo at The Studio in Freehold, NJ only served to solidify my judgment that this is the album she was born to make.

2. Gecko Turner - That Place By The Thing With The Cool Name Sometimes it seems as if the world has gone mad. I prescribe more Gecko. Pursue your happiness here.

3. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear  The world of music could use more people like Josh Tillman, who brings a dyspeptic flair to everything he does. This album is a masterpiece and behind the jokes is something as serious as his - and your - life.  He's also a pop culture critic of rare perspicacity, as proved by his pointed jab at Ryan Adams covering Taylor Swift.

4. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly  What, I'm going to speak for Kendrick Lamar? Here's the man himself, quoted by BET.com at his Terminal 5 concert earlier this year: “People have said a lot about this album. They done said ‘album of the year,’ ‘album of this generation’ and all that s**t. That’s cool. But on some real s**t, making this motherf**kers album was therapy. Not only for you, but for me… [It’s] some s**t that y’all can feel whether you insecure, vulnerable, mad, happy, angry, sad. You pop this motherf**ker's tape in, and you love and you live this s**t.” I love it and live it and I think we're going to be alright. But, Kendrick...tape?

5. Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass Natalie Prass is full of surprises and Matthew E. White's sympathetic and masterful production couldn't be more perfect.

6. The Amazing - Picture You Though the elements are familiar, there's a sense of discovery that makes it all seem fresh. European rock music at its finest.

7. Killing Joke - Pylon The original lineup of this legendary band is at full throttle - 35 years after their classic debut. 

8. Phil Cook - Southland Mission Since his band Megafaun broke up, there have been a lot of folks depending on Phil Cook to make them sound great in the studio and on the road. They might find him a little harder to book now that he's made this gem of an album.

9. Wilco - Star Wars It was fun to watch the ripples from the surprise release - for free, at first - of Wilco's ninth studio album. But what lasts are the songs and the sense of six brilliant individuals playing as one.

10. Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell - Sing Into My Mouth In which Sam Beam and Band of Horses frontman Bridwell set their iPods on shuffle and sing the heck out of whatever they love. Beautifully arranged, too. And if Beam wants to do a whole album of Sade covers, sign me up.

11. Guilty Simpson - Detroit's Son Even if I hadn't had the opportunity to go deep with Guilty in a wide-ranging interview, I would've noticed him coming into his own on his best full-length yet. The spectacular beats are by Katalyst from Quakers.

12. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit It's a good thing Barnett is so approachable - otherwise her dazzling lyrics and protean talent would be overwhelming. She pushes her voice and guitar into some new places on her debut full-length and there's still the sense that she will go further in the future.

13. Missy Mazzoli with Victoire and Glenn Kotche - Vespers For A New Dark Age At first the rapturous beauty is almost distracting. But then you realize Mazzoli is using it to hold off despair. Such is the power of art.

14. Jamie XX - In Color Unlike many who work mainly with electronic sounds in a pop context, Jamie is as deft with silence as he is with sound, giving his up-to-the minute collages a timeless elegance. For more good times, check out the remix EP of the album's doo wop to hip hop summer smash.

15. Boogarins - Manual Their debut album went platinum in their home country of Brazil, helped no doubt by their relentless live attack. The U.S. might catch up a little with their second album, which has added a soaring inevitability to their gorgeous psych-rock explorations. Don't let the name put you off - it's a type of jasmine flower that is said to smell like "pure love." This album is sweet indeed.

16. In the Light of Air: ICE Performs Anna Thorvaldsdottir Not yet 40, Thorvaldsdottir continues to astonish with her grasp of orchestration and structure. This album, spectacularly performed and recorded by the International Contemporary Ensemble, features the four-movement title piece, which brings to mind Eno crossed with Sibelius, and Transitions, for cello and electronics. While there is a darkness to her work, it's never hopeless. I learned from Meet The Composer that Iceland, where Thorvaldsdottir is from, is of comparatively recent volcanic origin. Maybe that's why artists like her and Björk are so unbeholden to the past. Can't get enough of Anna? Check out Clockworking by Nordic Affect, another excellent album which includes her Shades of Silence among other Scandinavian works.

17. Leonard Cohen - Can't Forget: A Souvenir Of The Grand Tour Now 80, the Canadian poet can be forgiven for indulging in a little nostalgia - except every song on this patchwork collection of live performances sounds fresh from his pen. There are also two previously unreleased songs, including the wry blues of Never Gave Nobody Trouble, and two covers, one of which finds him fearlessly taking on George Jones. Quietly miraculous. 

18. Matthew E. White - Fresh Blood For his second album, White dialed up his sound with more players and an even more assured set of songs. He's always going to have a modest voice but he plays well to his strengths. There was nothing modest, however, about his performance atBRIC Arts Center in March, where he led a 20-piece orchestra. He was unafraid to take command of the stage - and the audience - delivering an impassioned and warmly inclusive set that showed him at his best. More, please. 

19. BADBADNOTGOOD with Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul In the last week or so Wu Tang Clan has been in the news quite a bit, in relation to the multi-million dollar sale of a very limited edition album to "pharma-bro" Martin Shkreli. My only hope is that some of this tabloid coverage will shine a little light onto Sour Soul. The Wu's Ghostface Killah chews the scenery with vigor on this collaboration with Toronto-based ensemble BADBADNOTGOOD, which provides enough crime-jazz swagger to burn. Kendrick Lamar got a lot of credit for incorporating elements of jazz into the tapestry of To Pimp A Butterfly, but nothing on that album swings like Sour Soul.

20. Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL - Mad Max Fury Road OST No Grammy nod for this all-but overwhelming heavy metal symphony? For shame. Hopefully, the Oscar voters will get the memo.

Here's the playlist - if you hear something you like, make sure to click through to the album. There's not a bad song in the bunch.


What's topping your list? Let me know where we overlap - and where we don't. Soon to come: overviews of The Best of The Rest Of 15, Classical & Composed, Reggae & Hip Hop, and Singles & EP's. Subscribe above to make sure you don't miss anything!

Guilty Simpson & The American Dream

On the eve of the release of his latest album, Detroit's Son, I interviewed veteran rapper Guilty Simpson for Mass Appeal. Our discussion was wide-ranging, hitting the notes from his earliest memories of music to the development of his style, and from what it's like to grow up black in America to how he sees the landscape at the current fraught moment. 

Here's a sample quote:

So, is the American Dream a lie? Or is Guilty, in fact, living it? “I’m living it because I’m doing something that I love to do. But, when I look back through my history of making it, there wasn’t really a blueprint. It was all trial and error. I’m living the dream, but it’s almost like I survived my dream. I wanted be a doctor once, but it seemed so far-fetched. For some reason, I had a bigger dream: to be in the NFL. But even me, a black guy from Detroit, Michigan, I’m more likely to be a brain surgeon than to be a point guard for the Detroit Pistons. But, that’s the side that’s presented to me to become a success, rather than becoming a doctor, or a lawyer, or an architect. It’s kind of ‘all or nothing’ with us. There is no intermediate ground.”

Read the full article and don't get caught sleeping - Detroit's Son is an excellent album. Watch The D below. 

Fall Preview 2015

When the sunlight decreases and the temperatures begin to drop, a new layer of cells forms that cuts off leaves from the branches that supply their nutrients. The leaves are eventually released from their trees and drift to the ground. The fall album release schedule will see many musical leaves drift toward us, but instead of being dead they will come to glorious life in that infinite space of the universe between our ears. Here are a few things that should make this a very colorful autumn.

Guilty Simpson - Detroit's Son This gritty rapper has been at it for a while, honing his flow and never settling for less when it comes to the beats he rhymes over. This new album, produced by Quakers member Katalyst, is his strongest album yet. Out September 11th on Stones Throw. 

Phil Cook - Southland Mission Cook's pedigree as a member of Megafaun, a former associate of Justin Vernon's in DeYarmond Edison, and a member of Hiss Golden Messenger's touring band, among other things, guaranteed his new album would be worth a listen. And it is - repeatedly, in fact. Rootsy and meticulously produced, Southland Mission is the real "new Americana" - accept no substitutes. Cook is also heading out on an international tour but you can catch him at Rough Trade in NYC on September 23rd. Out September 11th.

Dr. John - The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1974 Looking at the peak of Mac Rebennack's legendary career through the prism of his singles should be a recipe for pure pleasure. Make sure you're in the right place at the right time. Out September 18th on Omnivore.

Lloyd Price - sumdumhonky Not a record but an autobiography that promises to be a "no holds barred" look at 80 years in the life of a founding father of rock'n'roll (Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Stagger Lee, etc., etc.). Price has survived in every aspect of the music business while also surviving as a black man in America during tumultuous times past and present. Out October 13th from Cool Titles.

Killing Joke - Pylon The 16th album (and first since 2012) from the post-punk legends will feature their original lineup again. Beyond that not much is known,but judging by the pummeling Autonomous Zone, which they have played in concert, James Murphy needn't worry: they haven't lost their edge. Out October 23rd on Spinefarm.

Van Morrison - His Band and the Street Choir Moondance was a delight but this was the album that sealed the deal for me with Van Morrison. This expanded version will likely earn its keep with the alternate take of I've Been Working, which is supposed to be even funkier than the released version. Van's masterpiece Astral Weeks is also getting the deluxe treatment. Out October 30th on Warner Bros./Rhino. 

Boots - Aquaria Everything I've heard from this makes me think it's going to be more interesting than anything a Beyonce collaborator should be capable of doing. The sounds are lapidary but Boots doesn't seem as sure of himself as a singer and it remains to be seen if that will be a deal-breaker. Out November 13th on Columbia.

Kanye West - Swish Okay, now that we know you don't understand awards shows, can you stay away from them until you finish the follow-up to the mighty Yeezus? Out TBD.

Concert Forecast

The magic doesn't only happen in the studio. Here are some highly recommended live experiences in NYC. Many of these people are performing elsewhere as well - check your local listings, as they say. 

Holly Miranda will be playing at the Mercury Lounge on Thursday, September 17th and Friday September 18th. Those will be full-band concerts but the creator of my number one album of the year so far will also be playing a special solo concert at The Studio in Freehold, NJ on September 11th. That's the one I'm going to and I'm bringing cookies for the potluck. Www.concertsinthestudio.com

Ibeyi will be gracing the stage of Webster Hall with their intoxicating blend of world sounds and hip hop production on Friday October 2nd.

Nicole Atkins, whose Slow Phaser was a big favorite from 2014, will be playing Webster Hall with J.D. McPherson on Friday October 9th. 

Michael Chapman and Ryley Walker will both be at Rough Trade NYC, also on Friday, October 9th. This lineup may just win the "embarrassment of riches" award for 2015.

Chance The Rapper and several friends will be at Terminal 5 on Sunday, October 25th. As much as I want to see him, I'll have to see if I'm in the mood for a posse concert.

Wand will be bringing their unique brand of buzzing-amplifier mayhem to Mercury Lounge and Rough Trade NYC on Friday November 13th and Saturday November 14th, respectively.

Winter Bonus

Baroness - Purple Some fans were underwhelmed by their last album, Yellow & Gold, but I thought it was beautiful. The heavy stuff had a lighter touch and the lighter songs were only deceptively so. Baroness's rise was slowed by a devastating bus accident that led to the departure of two members. They regrouped and worked their way back to full strength on the road. Purple will be the first album with their new rhythm section of bassist Nick Jost and drummer Sebastian Thomson (known for his work in Trans Am), and based on Chlorine & Wine it's going to be a doozy. Out December 18.

If you want an easy way to listen to what I'm fussing about, here's a handy Spotify playlist:  http://open.spotify.com/user/jshatan/playlist/24Fm3xWcD1S1gEaVZ088bS.

What are you looking forward to?