With the first quarter coming to an end in a few days, I made an interesting discovery: I have purchased nothing new that really blew me away.
By now, I usually have 5 or 6 candidates for our year end list, but so far, just 2 strong contenders: River: The Joni Letters, and Shelby Lynne’ Just A Little Lovin’, a Dusty Springfield cover album.
I previously mentioned the latest Billie Holiday, but for some reason, I didn’t think that quite qualified as new.
~~~
Anything circa late 2007/2008 that is really floating your musical boats?
What say ye?
I still have American Gangster by Jay-Z in my car’s cd player. That’s all I know.
I’ve been listening to Roll Away by Back Door Slam. We’ll see if they have legs, but the guitarist/lead singer sounds promising for a 20 year old. They do sort of Cream/SRV kind of blues rock.
great jazz track- “joy of life” by Third World Love
OK, breaking protocol here, but two non-2008 discs that still deserve a spin:
Dirty Dozen Brass Brand Live at Montreux, and
Stanley Clarke Live at the Greek
I believe you have panned Clarke before, but give him another chance.
Two ‘feel good’ selections — we can use it in this market.
Out here (in the NorthWest) it’s 14 hours of all kinds of Blues…..(4pm pdt Fri- 6am pdt Sat) kmhd.org
Not to mention the rest of the week is a mixture of Jazz (all over the map) that is
streamed 24 hrs a day.
Tift Merritt – Another Country if you don’t want the whole album, download the first three songs; Something To Me, Broken, Another Country.
You might like “Balance” Sara Tavares latest.
If you like Country check out “The Animal Years” Josh Ritter.
One of the great Jazz Radio Stations in the country is KJZZ http://kjzz.org/listen/ontheweb
Blaze Lantana starts her showat 8pm 11pm NYC
An excellent program – not only plays many of the artists discussed here but at 9pm showcases one artist with lots of presented background about the artist. One of my favorite Programs and favorite stations – it continues Jazz all night til 3am when NPR morning news begins in AZ
Bruce Hornsby, Christian McBride, and Jack DeJohnette — Camp Meeting
Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs — Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby (tricky title on that one…)
Beefheart — The Dust Blows Forward
Andy Partridge — Fuzzy Warbles box set
I’ve been digging a new CD from progressive jazz bassist Ben Allison these days. Go to http://www.benallison.com and “Little Things Rule the World”, the sweet title track from his 2008 album, will start. I’ve been listening to this album over and over for the last week.
There’s a good take on Allison and his ilk at:
http://www.33rpm.com/Modern-Jazz-and-its-Restless-Identity-1854-art.html
I’m betting you’d like The Bad Plus a bunch, too. Another jazz delight: this crisp animation, set to Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” by a young Isreali graphic designer:
http://www.michalevy.com/giantsteps_download
~enjoy
Some non-jazz suggestions: You’ve had Clap Your Hands Say Yeah listed on your MP3s Spinning list for a while, so I’ll suggest the band Clear Tigers, who have a similar sound. Their album is called ‘Brutal’. I’ve also been playing an album called Porcelain Empire by The Winter Sounds a lot lately. Kind of like the Decemberists meet, I don’t know, a band from Athens, Georgia. Or something. Anyway, worth checking out.
OAM’s blues by Aaron Goldberg
Worlds.
Levon Helms of The Band has a wonderful CD entitled Dirt Farmer
Well lately, I like the Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes song “Bad Luck” from 1975, another time of stagflation.
Check out the lyrics at the very end of the song:
“People in the world, out there,
I know none-a y’all satisfied, satisfied,
The way prices have been goin up on things,
I’m about to say, I can barely buy a morning paper, yeah,
I have to cut down on smokin’,
Cut down on smokin’,
Have to cut down on drinkin’,
Cut down on drinkin’
‘Cause early one morning I got me a paper, huh, I sat down on my living room floor
Opened it up [Opened it up], opened it up [Opened it up]
Guess, what I saw, huh?
I saw the President of the United States,
The man said he was gonna give it up,
He did resign y’all,
But he still turned around and left all us poor folks behind,
They say they got another man to take his place,
But I don’t think that he can satisfy the human race
Bad luck, huh
Bad luck, bad luck, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
(They’re referring to Nixon here)
Wall Street Journal running a story that lehman is victim of a $250mm swindle.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120675856370773951.html??mod=djemalertNEWS
Brandi Carlile’s album The Story is pretty good. Although not on the album, another song that you must listen to is her live version of Hallelujah, the Lenny Cohen cover.
Cut Copy’s new album In Ghost Colours is a fun listen.
And for a classic song: “Care of Cell 44” by The Zombies.
The Mars Volta-Bedlam in Goliath
They’re not jazz but the instrumentation is phenomonal. The drummer is beyond amazing. You can listen for something different almost everytime you listen to their albums. All of them are great. Bedlam in Goliath is their latest. Deloused in the Comatorium is my favorite with Francis the Mute a close second. The main composer/songwriter is a musical genius. He blends latin rythmns, classic rock, funk, and jazz with an incredible touch that you don’t even notice that you’re on the 3th song and have been listening for almost a half hour (yes they have the occassional 10-15 minute epic song).
I guess they would be considered progessive rock. One thing is for sure, they are original. I typically hate most new/modern rock as you can say “they sound just like so and so”. I hate formulaic music and The Mars Volta definitely stays away from formulaic music.
PS. This is coming from a total hip hop head. I have ecletic tastes but as long as they have talent and are original I usually like it.
Joe Jackson’s New Album, “Rain” is pretty cool, kind of jazzy. Holly Cole has some new jazz out.
The Raveonettes “Lust, Lust, Lust” has three or six cool songs.
“Paper Planes” by MIA is a cool single.
Last Year:
– Jesca Hoop, “Kismet”
– Crowded House, “Time on Earth”
– Peter Bjorn and John, “Writer’s Block”
– Live At Lollapalooza, Regina Spektor
– Zolar X, “Zap! You’re Zolarized”
– White Stripes, “Icky Thump”
– Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Raising Sand”
–
Pinback
I agree with Cut Copy. Its a great electro pop album. Others I’ve enjoyed in the past year include Bon Iver, Yeasayer, MGMT, Klaxons, Beirut, Hot Chip, The Whigs, and Mark Kozelek.
Conviviencia by Le Mar Enfortuna. Jennifer Charles’ vocals – wow. She has a voice… a VILF.
Barry,
Great blog.
Fleetwood Mac,
“The earth has music for those who listen.”
William Shakespeare
Oh yeah, one more; MGMT.
Some good releases of 2008 so far:
1) Liam Finn “I am Lightning” (excellent debut from son of Crowded House lead singer Neil Finn)
2) Gutter Twins “Saturnalia”
3) Toumani Diabate “The Mandé Variations”
4) Shelby Lynn “Just a Little Lovin'”
Some things to check out:
1. Wyclef Jean (though I guess that came out late last year).
2. new R.E.M., out Tuesday. Really first rate. And I was a fan before I was their lawyer.
3. The new Pat Metheny (with Christian McBride & Antonio Sanchez), may also have been late 2007, but for some reason I think it was January.
4. Toumani Diabate
5. Duffy
6. the latest from Tift Merritt.
There are some others, but I’ve got to search my stack at home!
John Scofield “This Meets That”
Good Jazz Guitar album.
…. it’s a 2006 album, and I’m trying to dig up the new one but.
“Boat man love”- a thousand Dreams behind.
I have no idea what ‘Boat man love’ is.. and sounds Creepy and yet, intriguing.
But I think that Blues/R&Roll may be up BR alley.
http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomboatmanlove
“a Crime Being me”
“the man you’re tugging in”
they are dutch, have to forgive them for some interesting Phrasing.
Amy Winehouse : Back to Black
The Amy Winehouse is cool, and the DAP KINGS also play behind Sharon Jones if you like the kind of thing that would have fit with the movie Jackie Brown.
Check out “Real Emotional Trash”, the fourth album from Portland, Oregon indie rockers Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. It came out earlier this month and I can’t stop listening. Beautiful psychy guitar solos, unexpected song structures, solid drumming and electric piano, and thoughtful lyrics swirling around themes of intergenerational guilt and displacement. Listen to “Out of Reaches,” “Cold Son,” and the title track for good samples.
I don’t know man. I’ve reflecting on this post since yesterday.
Seems like music has gone way down hill since Grunge, the last
good American music scene.
Where are the bands like Alice in Chains?
I mean, Otep has a new album, if you like female gorilla growl death metal.
There’s just nothing like the hard heavy Blues influences of earlier Heavy Metal with Zep and Aerosmith.
Hollywood is said to be relying a bit on European talent. Our music is in a funk. There’s little feeling of hope for the future these days that helps artists thrive.
We must change this!!
White Stripes – Icky Thump
My tie for number one album of the year. Probably too much mainstream but I’ve been digging The Stripes since their self-titled album
The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
Not “Castaways and Cutouts” and not “Picaresque” but still a phenomenal album
The Cat Empire – Two Shoes
Great mix of reggae and rock from this Aussie group.
Coheed and Cambria – No World For Tomorrow
Dean and Britta – Back Numbers
My tie for number one album for the year.
The Hives – The Black and White Album
So much potential…kind of falls a bit flat…but better still than 99% of the trash out there.
Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
More mainstream but a tighter feeling album overall. Some great jam tracks too.
Serj Tankain – Elect the Dead
Empty Walls. Need I say more?
Truth and Beauty by Sam Yahel Trio.. a last year’s release but nice! organ jazz, mellow, cool….excellent!!
THis isn’t Jazz, but
A Fine Frenzy’s debut album is wonderful IMO.
If you like female singer songwriters, that is.
Terence Blanchard’s “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina)”. Some of it used in Spike Lee’s documentary ‘When the Levees Broke’
He’s native New Orleans. It comes thru….heavy
Grammy winner, too.
check out soulive. a jazz/funk trio that occasionally features a sax or trumpet. theyve opened for the rolling stones, and play mainly on the east coast plus the summer festival tours. really great stuff to get the energy going in the morning or a pick me up on the way home.
Passport – “Cross Collateral”
Chick Corea – “Now He Sings, Now He Sobs”
Climax Blues Band – “FM/Live”
Rufus Reid – Live at the Kennedy Center”
Jerry Bergonzi – “Live Gonzi”
The new Black Mountain disk is really good. Kind of an old school Pink Floyd feel to it.
Robert Glasper – In My Element (2007)
Vampire weekend!
Thanks for the shoutout to REM. I first heard them on WHFS (gone now). The song was “Million” from the EP that preceded Murmur. I drove to a record store and bought it that night. I’d like to find some new music too, so I’ve gotten some good ideas from the comments here.
My way of finding new music has been via CBC 3 (on Sirius and online). Check out the playlists at http://radio3.cbc.ca/ and have some fun exploring others playlists and finding some fresh new music.
I recommend Corb Lund’s “Horse Soldier” and Caribou’s “Melody Day”. I also like the New Pornographers and the Telepathic Butterflies.