Freeway & Jake One's The Stimulus Package is a marvel. The music itself is definitely worth a listen if you're into hip-hop, but the design is a straight-up object lesson in concept art for music. That plastic card you see in the video below? It's got a code to download the whole album's instrumentals for free.
In a few days, the wait is over for fans of Stile Antico, the phenomenal vocal ensemble who specialize in Tudor and Renaissance choral music (and high-profile side projects with Sting.) They release "Media Vita," a selection of works by the sixteenth century composer John Sheppard.
Less well-known than Thomas Tallis, Sheppard's fame has spread slowly, because his compositions only made it to the twentieth century in manuscript form and many of them are incomplete. What survives bears all the hallmarks of greatness. This recording provides ample evidence of his bold, rich and individual harmony, as well as an inspired knack for compositional passion, while still adhering to Archbishop Cranmer's protestant tastes for concise word setting.
The performance captured here is at the same lofty standard that Stile Antico's earlier recordings attained - almost perfect. This group engages the listener like no other, with the purpose of soloists, the tonal evenness of an ensemble, and with a clarity that is ground-breaking. On a few listenings, though, this perfection is itself the disc's undoing. I don't expect my thoughts to be received well, but I'm left willing the performance to move me more than it does.
If I'm honest, I miss children in this music. Children don't sing as well as the sopranos in Stile Antico, plain and simple. They are slavishly subservient to the choir director in front of them, the absence of which is one of the inspired features of this group. They also think about football while they sing and who might get the carol service solo instead of them, but when they get it right, for me, there is an experience beyond the finesse on this album.
If you doubt me, and live within a reasonable distance of New York, duck into St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, during a sung service and judge for yourself. Profound utterances, from the young, barely conscious of what they say, have a power that was understood by Britten, Walton, Boyce, Greene, Purcell, by all the great composers of liturgical choral music, all the way back to Sheppard. In the hands of a child, these notes and words come from a different sphere, literally. A sphere that the rest of us have had to leave behind. -- Hugo Munday
By the time the European avant garde had advanced to breaking china and blowing train whistles, Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck was deemed "too accessible." Their loss, as "Notturno," op. 47, (1931-1933) is a post-romantic chamber gem. Poems by Nikolaus Lenau, scored for string quartet and baritone are given a new reading on an ECM recording featuring the rock-solid, Rosamunde Quartet, with Christian Gerhaher. This is attractive, meaty, but agile musicianship, showing a wonderful dynamic range. Extra props go to Herr Gerhaher for his beautiful tone, and impeccable diction. – Hugo Munday
This album was released in February, so we had almost a full year containing some excellent recordings in which to check our judgment and yes, this is the best disc in the classical canon for 2009.
Bernarda Fink as contralto soloist with Petra Müllejans directing her and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, offer three Bach cantatas "Geist und Seele wird verwirret," BWV 35, "Gott soll allein mein Herze haben," BWV 169, and "Vernugte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust" BWV 170. All are from a minor fault-line in Bach's output, coming after three years of composing, rehearsing and performing a cantata a week, they focus less on the chorale as a musical and textual pivot and more on the solo voice. Bach also elevates the organ from the traditional meat and potatoes continuo role, to full concertante instrument.
The Freiburg ensemble kept up an impressive recording schedule in 2009, what with the recent release of an exceptional "Die Schöpfung," (Haydn) under Rene Jacobs, and there is ample evidence on this record, to show why they have become the 'go to' band for authentic instruments. Freiburg's ensemble work is the best of all worlds, giving us the hearty soul of a classical orchestra, but from the authentic texture of original instruments, with breath-taking individual contributions (I'm thinking of the woodwinds, especially.) Unlike the Haydn box set, Petra Müllejans serves a unique role within the orchestra as both a Musical Director and principle violinist, so the result is light years away from a "what the conductor wants" mindset.
Seminal works, like these cantatas, don't fare well if they're loaded up with superstar brilliance. Quite often the path to the center of the work is subtractive in that the interpreter removes any and all obstacles between the author and the lucky audience. On this recording, Bernarda Fink personifies this stripping away of the unnecessary. Soaring above fine tone and consummate musicianship, she renders some of the most introspective, uncomfortable texts with utter humility and simplicity. No raised pinky, no chewed scenery, just you, Bach and words that leave you nowhere to hide. -- Hugo Munday.
It may feel a little early for this sort of thing, but we on the Amazon music team have pooled our collective knowledge and taste to determine the best music of 2009.
We spent 2009 soothed by Neko Case's wail, moved to dance by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' turn towards big beats, intrigued by Somali hip-hop Troubadour K'naan, and ready to hear three key words from neo-twangsters the Avett Brothers.
On the songs side, French popsters Phoenix went nutty for a composer and we went nutty for Phoenix. La Roux made us feel invincible, Jay-Z officially crushed an awful trend, and Passion Pit sent us reeling.
Voting with their wallets, our customers told us they really like U2, as it was both our bestselling CD and MP3 album of 2009. Black Eyed Peas also popped up in plenty of playlists, as they locked down the top two slots on our songs chart.
Every year, great albums slip through the cracks. This year, our
editors wanted to save some from that unfair fate. We shine a spotlight
on excellent underheard CD and MP3 albums across all genres, and we've even made a playlist featuring a single song from each record, so you can sample 'til you find something you like.
Dig into the lists and see which lists line up most closely with your personal tastes:
Head over to our best music of 2009 store to find complete lists, plus the best in everything from Latin music to Gospel to comedy and all points between.
We're aware there's still a decent chunk of the year left. We'll be adding a latecomers and honorable mentions feature over the next few weeks. Hit the comments, let us know what we missed, and perhaps it'll make an appearance.
Sometimes, when the world feels like it's too much, you need to stop, breathe, and find a way to regroup. There are many forms of rejuvenation--I've always found mine in yoga, martial arts, or meditation. And I've increasingly found that the right music soothes my frayed nerves like nothing else.
But finding the right music can be tricky, and most new age music is too airy-fairy for my taste. It's thin and whispery, like cotton candy, and I need something solid and whole and grounding. New age music also tends to scare people by conjuring images of droning monks, sleepy piano music, whalesongs, or other nature sounds, or ridiculously cheesy CD covers featuring temples nestled in the clouds or dolphins arcing through the waves.
Fortunately, Kundalini Meditation Musicis none of these things. Featuring seven powerful tracks, this album is instantly calming, and just listening helps me rediscover a sense of balance. The word "kundalini" means "coil" in Sanskrit, and in yoga, the term "kundalini shakti" refers to a coil of energy that lives at the base of the spine. One can awaken this energy through meditation, or yoga, or pranayama (breathing), and cause it to uncoil and journey upward through the spine.
This music is no doubt intended to aid in process of awakening your kundalini energy, but you don't have to be a kundalini practitioner to enjoy it. The album features a number of well-known mantras warmed by just the right touch of instrumental music--soft guitars, a hint of cello and violin, unobtrusive piano, and background harp. But the voices of the singers remain front and center, as they should. The instruments serve to keep each track both texturally and rhythmically interesting, while at the same time remaining appropriately in the background--subtly enhancing, not detracting from, the featured mantra. Again, it's all about balance, and each track delivers. It's not easy to set a mantra (typically sung without instrumental accompaniment) to music--kudos to the arrangers.
My favorite tracks are the regal "Heal (Ra Ma Da Sa)," sung by peace activist Snatam Kaur, "Miracle (Guru Ram Das)" sung by German-Mexican duo Mirabai Ceiba, and "Universe (Universal Gong)" (an intriguing track consisting entirely of gong music), performed by Harijiwan Khalsa. I think the gong track might be my favorite, simply because I had no idea that gongs could create such fascinating, shimmering sounds--it was wholly unique, and somehow deeply grounding. Who knew that a gong could sound so primal, so "earthy"?
While this music is a fitting backdrop to mellow practices like yoga or pilates, it's also suitable for winding down at night, or zoning out during a bus ride home from work, or sitting down to a relaxing dinner. Give it a try, even if the term "new age" tends to make you want to run away. You just might like it.
Now that the ‘80s music revival is in full swing, those of us who were lucky enough to experience the original decade, and who were sad to see its musical demise, have a lot to be thankful for--and nobody has re-imagined the clean, danceable pop of the ‘80s for the new millennium better than British synthophiles La Roux. Sporting artistic influences of the highest
order, including Prince’s dark electro funk, Eurythmics’ shocking visual and
melodic style, and a heavy dose of the sharp songwriting and synthtastic soundsof Yaz (or Yazoo to you Brits) , the team of
Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid have created an anachronistic gem of an album
that’s so strong, it could have brought back the ‘80s all on its own.
So much synthpop from past decades, as well as from today,
has a plastic, disposable feel to it, and truly, much of it is just that—but
not La Roux. What’s so salient about this debut release is not only its sharp attention
to sonic detail and stylistic flair, but, as with all of the best pop music, its
top-tier songwriting. These songs are catchy, deeply felt, full of attitude,
and just the right length. Every listen leaves me begging for the back button, and
check my iTunes library—of all the records I’ve loved and obsessed over this
year, nothing has had more play than La Roux. Tracks like “Bulletproof” are
undeniable, amplifying the most ‘80s elements of the ‘80s into a distilled and
concentrated dose of thoughtful, dark, pop perfection that feel like they’d be perfect
for everything from exercising and dancing to road-tripping and relaxing.
But honestly, you don’t need to be a fan of ‘80s music, or
even pop to appreciate what this album really is—a timeless, quality work of
art created by talented people who feel what they’re doing so much that every synthesized
note feels completely natural.
Check out La Roux's video for their latest single, "I'm Not Your Toy," as well as the classic "Bulletproof," below.
David Gray
has come full circle back to his roots on his latest release, Draw the Line, which is
significant given the fact that he could have easily succumb to the many distractions
of success. Long-time fans of David Gray who gravitated to his earlier releases including A Century Ends, Flesh, and Sell, Sell, Sell will be happy to know he has
not wandered far from the musical path he set out on nearly 20 years ago.
The
result is a humble album punctuated by his gritty baritone, layered acoustics,
and a sobering thrush that comes across as an amped-up middle-aged confession
half the time, and a sweet lullaby the rest.
After the
overwhelming success he garnered from 2000’s White Ladder, followed by an introspective period that
included more down tempo and ethereal albums, Gray returns with a bit of idyllic
hope delivered with his own brand of cynicism and irony.
In my
interview with him, David Gray was gracious with his time and quite conversational
in talking about Draw The Line
and the multiple journeys that inspired it. He admitted to being full of
confidence following a long period where he was stuck in the “shock of success” that
descended on him with the ubiquitous accolades and critical acclaim of White Ladder. Now liberated from that
period that tested his personal demons, David Gray feels a new presence and sense of
purpose as he reflects and bears his musical soul to us all, more content than
ever with his life and his music.
Hear it all in the 14 minute interview, and enjoy.
The mighty Verdi Requiem has long been a staple of both the huge orchestra and huge opera singer. Set from the catholic funeral mass, the practical use in an actual funeral is somehow secondary to the intense drama, which storms down with the full force of a John Martin canvas, on us miserable listeners.
The last 50 years have given us several notable recordings which are joined this month by a new rendition, offered by EMI. Produced from a series of live concerts in Rome, Antonio Poppano conducts the orchestra and chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, with soloists whose credentials are impressive; Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi, Rolando Villazón and René Pape. The artwork is flames against a black background. Flames of passion? Flames of religious torment? Both, it turns out.
It is the band and especially the chorus that often take this recording beyond simply good. Great choruses are rare. They're horrendously expensive to maintain, and usually the most agile ones are made up of younger singers, whose voices have yet to mature. Pappano has his hands on the real thing. The fugal sections of the "Libera me, Domine" are first rate. Tons of full blooded, mature voices,with beautifully turned-out diction and articulation, demonstrate a heart-felt response to the dynamics of conductor and score. This brings me back to the flames. It is never lost on us that we're listening to Italians, making very catholic Italian music, with fire and intensity.
My perception of the Requiem will always be colored by the '67/Solti recording, which is flawed in so many ways but still, one of the most hell-for-leather, viscerally exciting events on record. I cherish this recording, but the bombast of the Vienna Philharmonic grate on the ear next to this new one. Also the soloists are too inconsistent. Marilyn Horn's Peterbuilt gear-change is distracting, Pavarotti delivers a "Ingemisco" for the ages, that is marred by really sloppy editing, Martti Talvela's grip on intonation is tenuous and Sutherland for all her worth, is just plain mis-cast.
The performance of Pappano's soloists are marked by truly impressive legato singing, without exception. All of them have the courage to throttle back and exhibit pure sotto voce, especially Villazón, but Anja Hartenros leaves the most indelible mark.
She and once again, that stunning chorus, deliver a "Requiem aeternam" that left me in the middle of the office, wondering what time of day it was. Youtube has a more. -- Hugo Munday.
Robert Glasper is a man of many talents. Certainly, he's both an inarguably accomplished jazz pianist and a first-rate composer. But what Glasper does best is pick drummers. With 2007's In My Element, he provided Damion Reid with a platform to record nothing less than the drum performance of the year. For his newest album, Double Booked (Blue Note), Glasper teams up with Chris Dave, and the results are astonishing.
It's a concept album, sort of. The first half features Glasper, Dave, and bassist Vicente Archer. It opens with a voice mail from a worried Terence Blanchard, who has booked the Trio for his club but hears rumors that Glasper's Experiment has plans to play elsewhere on the same night. A handful of originals and a take on Thelonius Monk's "Think of One" follow. Throughout, the piano and drums intertwine with a complex integrity that sounds deceptively effortless. To call it virtuosity is almost demeaning. It simply must be heard. (And to be fair, Archer keeps up.)
Then comes the Experiment: Derrick Hodge replaces Archer with an electric bass, and Casey Benjamin adds saxes and vocoder. Bilal and Mos Def drop in for vocal cameos (welcome and disposable, respectively). The Experiment's five compositions -- including one each by Glasper, Hodge, Benjamin, and Herbie Hancock -- showcase what a second voice mail from the Roots' ?uestlove describes as "miraculous, spaced-out, past-geometry." The Experiment's songs differ in texture and depth from the Trio's set, but the adventurousness of the performances and the gorgeous lyricism of Dave's drumming fuse the album's halves into a single musical statement whose two chapters and two stars make for the year's best jazz album so far.
--Jason Kirk
P.S. A few more words on Chris Dave, starting with two pieces of advice:
• If you're a drummer, start listening to Chris Dave now. Right now. Go! • If you know a drummer, buy her a copy of Double Booked, immediately.
Why? Well, Dave might just be the best drummer out there right now. His most high-profile gig has been recording and touring with Maxwell, but the man's a collaborative dynamo, the list of musicians who call on him long, ecstatically diverse, and worth discovering on your own. YouTube abounds with disappointingly short clips of his performances, and picking one to include here is an excruciating exercise in unfortunate exclusion. But hey, ChordStrike's here to do the dirty work for you…
Things come in clusters, suddenly, when you haven't thought about them in years. A few weeks back, watching the funeral cortege for Teddy Kennedy, "A Simple Song" from the opening of Bernstein's Mass, popped into my head.
Commissioned by Jackie Kennedy to open the Kennedy Center in DC, the whole thing bursts out like new in this Naxos release from the Baltimore Symphony, conducted by Marin Alsop and featuring the radiant Jubilant Sykes, as Celebrant. Time is hard on much from the 1970s, but not our Mass. -- Hugo Munday
J.S. Bach published his collected Partitas in 1731. He was 46 years old and had been the cantor at Leipzig's Thomaskirche for eight years. He had already composed two of the most important choral works; the St. Matthew and St. John passions. Bach probably attached significance to keyboard works by publishing them as his Opus #1, and they've come to be appreciated as the pinnacle of a form that was soon to fall out of fashion, in favor of other frameworks such as the sonata.
In late August ECM New Series put out a live recording of the Six Partitas, made 2 years ago in Germany, by Andràs Schiff. Mr. Schiff has already recorded these works, albeit more than 20 years ago, but between these recordings he's been in demand as a conductor, particularly after founding the Cappella Andrea Barca chamber orchestra. He points to his work from the podium, particularly conducting the choral works mentioned above, as influencing the performance of Bach's keyboard works.
These partitas are offered out of traditional sequence - V, III, I, II, IV and VI. Although there is no reason to think that Bach wrote the partitas to be performed together, this arrangement provides the most logical key progression (G - a minor - B flat - c minor - D - e minor). From his side of the footlights, Schiff also notes that in live performance the inner tranquility of the B-flat major partita (traditionally #1), is something that live audiences are seldom ready or settled-in to hear. I have no objection to the rearrangement, certainly as VI, which seems the most climatic, still comes last.
Andràs Schiff, is fresh off the completion of a very successful reading of the Beethoven piano Sonatas, again on ECM New Series, but one glance at his discography will tell you that Bach holds a special importance for him. As one would expect, you can't hear Schiff using any pedal, but the abstinence is much more pronounced than his earlier recording or most other prominent renditions. The effect is liberating. Free from lingering harmonics, this performance seems dedicated to the melodies within, as line and voice assume a clarity I've seldom heard. Recorded live in a 16th Century former armory in Neumarkt, Germany, there is an almost eerie lack of audience noise, although the placement of left and right hands in the stereo image is nigh on perfect. Schiff leads the listeners unflagging attention in an unbroken thread for hours. Masterly. -- Hugo Munday
John Eccles was a composer for court, church and stage, in the late 1600s and a contemporary of, and collaborator with, one of this years birthday greats, Henry Purcell.In 1700 Eccles, along with colleagues, Daniel Purcell (youngest brother of Henry), John Weldon and Gottfreid Finger entered a competition to see who could compose the best English version of "The Judgment of Paris."Move over Susan Boyle, this is the original "Britain's Got Talent."
This "Paris" is special because it shows Eccles trying to shunt musical theater in an all-English direction, and move it out of the shadow of the dominant Italian and French traditions.As Lindsay Kemp points out in verbose but thorough liner notes, the word settings, or underlay is for English speech rhythms and the score focuses more on line and melody that decoration and
ornamentation.This is a Maske, so it feels much more like music from a play than an opera.
The score is a theatrical and musical treat, lived up to in this vibrant and energized performance, conducted by Christian Curnyn and sung by the Early Opera Company.The soloists are well cast, lucid and each of them really grasp the difference between this and opera.
The Three Mad Songs that end the program are just that, set pieces from various English plays where the heroin loses it, usually because a man has done her wrong.One song each is given to our Paris soloists, Lucy Crowe, Claire Booth and Susan Bickley, so Curnyn presents the listener with a latter day "Judgment," with us playing Paris. Currently I'm awarding the apple to Ms. Crowe for her rendition of "Restless in Thought..." from "She Ventures, and He Wins."
Lastly, I save praise for Nicholas Anderson and the recording engineers.Chandos tout their 24-bit recording as giving greater dynamic range, and on this disc (along with attentive mike placement) this really seems to work.This listener feels right in the middle of the action.-- Hugo Munday
*A word of explanation about this list: while the majority of my picks can be called world music, a couple of them (Emmy the Great, Little Boots) are imports which don't necessarily fall into the world music category. I'm including them here because: 1) they've been released in another country, and 2) I couldn't resist sharing them (seriously, they're that good). But keep in mind that you probably won't find either of these artists categorized under world music in our music or MP3 stores.
I practically swooned the first time I heard this tiny, tattooed French-Canadian chanteuse. With a voice like honey, Coeur de Pirate ("Heart of a Pirate"), otherwise known as 19-year-old Béatrice Martin of Quebec, has crafted a rich, whimsical, and utterly stirring debut album imbued with a vein of nostalgia and maturity that far belies her years. While songs on the album are driven primarily by Martin’s magical piano playing, Martin weaves in string arrangements, horn interludes, and accordion accompaniment with a thoughtful, nuanced touch. Each melody is as finely crafted as spun silk.
The album sounds like it could have been made in 1920's France or used in the soundtrack to the film Amélie.The buoyant “Ensemble” (“Together”) makes me feel like dancing down the street, while the pensive “C’était Salement Romantique” (“It Was Terribly Romantic”) fills me with longing for something that I can't quite define. Listen and imagine yourself wandering the winding, cobbled streets of some old European city. You don’t have to understand French to love this album.
If you can't see the embedded video player above, clickhere to watch a YouTube video of Coeur de Pirate performing "C'etait Salement Romantique."
I was blown away when I first heard Issa Bagayogo’s Issa Remixed. Rarely have I heard West African music infused with house-style dance rhythms so successfully—and so infectiously. Originally from Mali, Issa grew up playing the ngoni (a three-stringed lute popular in West Africa), but rather than sticking to traditional music, he’s infused his albums with elements of jazz, dub, and funk. Hybrid albums like this can often go wrong, but Issa’s compositions are masterfully done, and Issa Remixed is no exception. Who knew that West African chord structures could mesh so well with electronica and sound so natural?
I never would have expected the artist behind one of my favorite folk albums to be from London--a city that I tend to associate more with sassy britpop (think Lily Allen, Kate Nash) or alternative rock (think Coldplay). But with a soaring, lyrical voice that hearkens back to the ‘60s, Emmy the Great (Emma-Lee Moss) is the real deal—with a twist. Yes, her music is folk, but she's anything but traditional. Witty and sarcastic, she probes into heavy subjects (death, pregnancy) and offers up world-weary and frequently biting social commentary couched in that smooth, magnetic voice of hers. This is folk music with a thoroughly modern edge--or, perhaps, folk music for the 21st century.
Reigning fado queen Mariza doesn’t disappoint with her fourth studio album. No fado album is complete without heavy doses of Portuguese guitar—and this album has it in spades—but Mariza also experiments with other musical styles without straying too far from her musical roots. She sets her marvelously flexible vocals to blues and jazzy piano, succeeding at the difficult task of offering up a thoroughly refreshing take on this most traditional and stylized of musical genres.
If you’re into dance music, you’ve probably already heard of Little Boots,
a.k.a. 25-year-old Victoria Hesketh of England. A multitalented
musical dynamo, Little Boots made a name for herself by posting YouTube
videos in which she performed her own original compositions and covered
other popular songs. Not only does she sing, she also plays the
keyboard, the piano, the stylophone, and the very cool electronic Tenori-on—sometimes
all at the same time. With an astute ear and a flair for making multilayered
rhythms irresistibly catchy, Little Boots merits the buzz that she’s
generated. She’s a serious musician taking electro-pop seriously,
and the result is a dance enthusiast's delight, especially welcome in a genre that is sometimes considered too commercial to be "real."
If you can't see the embedded video player above, clickhere to watch a YouTube video of Little Boots performing "Meddle."
We’re halfway through the year already, so it’s time to present half of a Top 10 list for our Best of the Year So Far. The following top 5 picks are the standouts in the ever-growing americana genre that pulls from all brands of alt country, bluegrass, folk, rock, and blues music. Each of the following titles fall somewhere in that spectrum, if not covering all of them in some cases.
Arriving on the scene in her early teens on the strength of her own written material, 18 year old bluegrass singer/songwriter Sarah Jarosz already has the right voice and music for anyone to notice that the young songstress has bluegrass in her soul and can express it with just the right tone. Offering listeners a brand of musical honesty and depth that’s mature beyond her years and mixing it with the rustic reflections of an observant troubadour, Jarosz holds her own with an apparent comfort and ease that bodes well for what she can do for years to come. Playing on the album with some venerated bluegrass greats (including Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, and Samual Grisman of the David Grisman Quintet) but not content to rest on the shoulders of such giants, Jarosz wrote all but two songs on the album herself, with interesting cover choices of Tom Waitsand Colin Meloy (the Decemberists) on the other two tracks. This rising bluegrass singer has laid down a solid foundation on Song Up in Her Head and is poised for great things to come. Let’s hope she will continue to burn as brightly as she has out of the gate.
Long-time fans of Neko Case
will be happy to know that dark and obscure themes continue to rule the
day in her musical world. Neko’s signature caterwauls and crooning
refrains call like a siren beckoning listeners to come to her shores in
a perilous world filled with fairy tale creatures whose purpose as
either friend or foe is not always apparent. That’s to say that Neko’s
off-center lyrics keep the listener just out of reach of her inner
circle. There’s a continuous sense that her songs are intentionally
obscure as if offering more literal insights might expose her to too
much intimacy with the listener. Instead, she offers broad lyrical
strokes that give an impressionistic feeling that remains compelling,
if not always clear. With a litany of cameo appearances on the album
from some great artists including members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, Giant Sand, The Sadies, Visqueen, and The Lilys, not
to mention those in her own band, the volume of talent around her
manages to thankfully remain in the pocket of the album instead of
overflowing into it. Ultimately, we’re left to scrutinize the finer
points of Neko Case’s songs to see what clues they can offer about her
fairy tale worlds, but we love hearing her sing about them nonetheless.
Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away, by Slaid Cleaves (CD, MP3)
Singer/Songwriter Slaid Cleaves
has been building his musical momentum for a while. And by some accounts, this is the album that defines the best of all 8 of his
albums to date since the mid-90s. Speaking of some accounts, partly
because it’s close to deadline, and more because our customers know
the music AND how to write, I’m highlighting a few lines from
our customer reviews to
help explain why this album is here. I’ll just add that the even keeled blend of folk, country, and
blues with a hint of rock is what propelled this into my list. Fans of Son Volt, T-Bone Burnett, Whiskeytown, and The Jayhawks (all on elevated status in my world!) will gravitate to this release and its
amalgamation of all things Americana. And now for some customer raves:
Hyperbolium
says, “Cleaves sings with a warmth that infuses an element of hope in
the crushing blows he delivers. Is there hard-won pain or only a clever
couplet in singing ‘Every man is a myth, every woman a dream / Watch
your little heart get crushed when the truth gets in between… The album
winds down with a bitter critique of politicians, global industrialists
and sleepwalking media, somehow managing to retain a belief in the
goodness of man. The closer, "Temporary," resigns itself to existential
impermanence.”
Tim Brough “author and music buff” says, “I've long posited on Amazon reviews that Slaid Cleaves is America's best working young folksinger and one of our finest interpretive singers. I considered his Unsungto
be one of that year's best records…. The music, downbeat as the
descriptions sound, is thoroughly likable. The hopeful "Beautiful
Thing" swings hard at the liars and manipulators in the belief that
"the goodness of man" sees us through "the new dark ages."
Colin Spence "grey mist"
says, “His 'matter of fact' delivery of the songs belies the potency of
their lyrics - a qualitative combination that would spell out a recipe
for disaster for some artists. But with SC, his somewhat impassive
vocals serve only to emphasize the intensity of the lyrics - then
again, with some songs I detected just a little more edge to his
singing than on previous albums.”
Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women, self-titled, (CD, MP3)
Fans of Dave Alvin, who know him from his years with The Blastersand all the goods they delivered in equal turns of blues, rockabilly, and vintage country sounds, should fall nicely into the groove of his latest CD. It offers the added twist of an all-star line-up of some of the biggest female stars in folk and bluegrass yesterday and today. Dubbed The Guilty Women, the group consists of Americana scene vets Christy McWilson, Cindy Cashdollar, Nina Gerber, Laurie Lewis, Sarah Brown, and Amy Farris. Alvin’s gruff baritone mixes with rich female harmonies and plenty of bluegrass string work from violins, lap steel guitars, and mandolins to fill the bucolic scenes and stories that come to life on each track. Here’s hoping that the ubiquity of female talent lingers a little longer to work with Dave on similar projects in the future, too.
Do Wrong Right, by The Devil Makes Three (CD, MP3)
Easily capturing the moniker of most-whimsical band on this list, the rough and tumble sounds of The Devil Makes Three leave their mark sounding like a jug band high on hay fever during a night of partying at the county fair where their music shuffles along in shades of half-sober Dixieland and Cajun styles. With lyrics that are peppered with references to all-nighter pop-offs, it’s fun to imagine what could happen during one of their set breaks: “No one’s getting arrested / no one’s having any fun / doctor’s orders for your heart beatin’ / go ahead and take you one / now you’re dumber than a singin’ saw playing ‘Uncomfortably Numb,’ it’s a thorazine work party with free fluorite bubble gum” and: “You drink a cheap malt liquor from a 40 ounce bottle / a fifth of bourbon and some pills if you got ‘em / but you know you’re goin’ to come down every night / and there ain’t no way that it’ll ever feel satisfied.” If you’re looking for a little entertainment under-the-influence, no prescription needed, check out Do Wrong Right. You won’t have to worry about a hang-over, but be aware of the quick onset of do wrong fun.
More contenders for Best of the Year:
Just to keep things interesting and honest, here are a few more albums that may very well end up on our final best of the year list, but for now they are worth noting to round things out.
It doesn't get much better than this: Classic Steve Earle covering classic Townes van Zandt. Since this is cover album (albeit with incredible songs and equally stunning renditions), this one is not currently in my top 5 list, but as the year goes on, we’ll see if any other better contenders can do a one up.
A solid sophomore follow-up to a good first release, Mescalito. I’m still debating in my head whether the style is overly derivative of Dylan, but the voice definitely is. I think it's probably a vocal preference thing for me. I'm also wondering if there’s a hint of Tom Petty(?!). Still on the fence with it as stylistic questions linger, but definitely some good tracks: “Day is Done,” “Change Is,” and “Hey Hey Hurray.”
This one is being released today as we go to print, so with not enough quality time for a critical listen I’ll have to relegate it to the second tier for now. But judging by the latest video clip, sound samples, and decade-spanning collage from Jay Farrar’s work (including Uncle Tupelo), there is little doubt that this will probably rock-it to the top of my list by the end of the year.
And with that, we wait for more to come in the second half of the year, including those sleepers in the ranks and some anticipated releases later in the year.
1. Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs With equal parts Lush-inspired poppy shoegaze, black metal brutality, and epic atmospherics that bring to mind bands like Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You Black Emperor!, France's Amesoeurs' self-titled debut album (and swan song) could very well be my favorite album of the year. Unable to determine a direction for the band, they decided to call it quits before the album was even released, and it's a real shame. True, the album is a bit schizophrenic--it's completely sung in french by both a male and female singers, and sounds like it could have been recorded by 3 or 4 completely different bands--but that only adds to the "wow" factor of this record, and speaks to the level of talent behind the music. While the sound may occasionally fall on the harder side of indie and alt-rock, tracks like "Faux Semblants" and "I XIII V XIX XV V Xxi XVIII XIX IX XIX IV V I IV" elevate Amesoeurs to levels of heavenly bliss.
2. The Horrors - Primary Colours Primary Colours, the sophomore album from (former) coffin-rockers The Horrors, who's debut album Strange House came out in 2007 to much acclaim, have given themselves a complete makeover with spectacular results. Brimming with post-punk texture, fuzz, and instruments that seem to bend sound like some kind of audio equivalent to CGI, the Horrors brought in Portishead's Geoff Barrow and acclaimed video director Chris Cunningham (who directed the video for "Sheena Is A Parasite" from Strange House, took two years off to learn audio production, and makes his debut as a music producer here) to create Primary Colours. Much like Radiohead's sophomore album The Bends, here is the evidence of a band that initially seemed like a flash in the pan novelty, and now reveals themselves as an artistic force that may be impossible to ignore.
3. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart TPoBPAH (as I will henceforth refer to them) are really awful at naming things, but they make damn good music. Take for example the terribly-titled "Young Adult Friction," an addictive, catchy tale of finding love in the library that bounces with excitement, and manages to sonically capture what it feels like to fall in love. The fact that TPoBPAH sound like a British band circa 1992 when they're in fact New Yorkers circa 2009, that they're on the legendary San Francisco Bay Area fuzz-pop label Slumberland Records, and they've virtually redefined what it means to be a indie rock nerd in the last year only sweeten the deal. A non-stop stream of relentlessly addictive songs doesn't hurt either.
Portland, Oregon's oddly named Point Juncture, WA's latest release, Heart To Elk, employs an intoxicating mix of drums, keys, vibraphone, bass, and horns, along with subtle, squealing atmospheric guitar to create visceral, inpsired sonic pop-scapes. Combining intricate, unexpected and unique melodies with equally equisite harmonies, Point Juncture, WA have, with Heart To Elk, created the kind of album you'll want to put on repeat, one that is instantly gratifying, but also reveals itself over time. Though the band has been playing together for the better part of a decade, they haven't managed to break out of their local scene until this release, which has started to see some well-deserved national recognition--expect big things in the future.
From the first few notes of Sharon Van Etten's debut album, Because I Was In Love, I knew I was in love. Sharon's bell-clear, lilting voice and heartbreaking, deceptively simple melodies create a soft and comfortable bed of beautiful melancholy that's hard to resist being drawn into. Like legendary folk mistresses Sandy Denny, Vashti Bunyan, Judee Sill, and Julie Doiron before her, Van Etten's songs are intense, beautiful, and each and every one is a gem. What makes Because I Was In Love so special is that it's so intimate--it puts itself so plainly on display, and it's sadness is tangible. Gorgeous, stunning, and essential.
I'm sure there will be complaints that I didn't call out Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Neko Case, or (insert your favorite band here). Sorry! Share the goodness, and let us know what indie and alt-rock albums you're digging on so far this year in the comments.
D.Folks' self-released album Jupiter doesn't stay in one place very
long, moving seamlessly between organic, '80s-indebted, uptempo pop and
contemporary loverman R&B in a way that's more refreshing than
schizophrenic. Jupiter is an album that both parents and kids will
enjoy, but would probably never enjoy together as a family. Songs like
"Superficial World" bring to mind not only the golden era of his fellow
Virginians the Neptunes' production career, but also their label signee
Robin Thicke. "Falling In Love Again," on the other hand sounds almost
like a soul song for the Yacht Rock set, which is a surprisingly good
thing. D. Folks' closest contemporary is Van Hunt, who is also
currently working sans-label. Maybe they're onto something.
As they're both from Bergen, Norway and seem to share most of the same influences, it's difficult to imagine Matias Tellez as anything but the sequel to Sondre Lerche. Clouds in particular sounds like an extension of Phantom Punch, only written by a teenager. This is charmingly spastic, raucous rock, a musical expression of what it is to be young. This will likely make you feel joyful or awkward. For me, it's a little of both.
Assembled by a crew of some premier sidemen, this fluid set of thumping
soul is the sort of album that as fun to listen to as
it seems like it was to make. With one eye pointed towards the past and the other one
winking, they show love for not only the funky greats of the past 30
years, but affection for kitsch, too. Vosotros takes their motto,
"music for you-all," seriously. They've made the album available as a free download for a limited time and licensed it under Creative Commons to encourage sharing. Enjoy it, remix it, and tell your friends.
Though she's had a song featured on a couple of TV shows you might recognize, there's a good chance you don't know about the Swedish singer-songwriter Miss Li. "I Heard of a Girl" is somewhere between the Cure and Belle and Sebastian, only sung by a dark, unknowable pixie. Much of the rest drifts towards cabaret or '60s girl group sounds. It's pop with a weird streak, salty and sweet, all delicious.
Shimmering, lo-fi, and glorious, Build a Garden feels like the
early work of Beulah, only more earnest and with boy-girl vocals.
Featuring more low-key revamps of four songs from last year's Build it Up and another four new cuts, my only complaint is that the serving size is too small.
The somber songs that make up Catacombs are a continuation of McCombs's earlier work A, Prefectionand display a mature evenhanded approach to songwriting and arranging. Songs like "Eavesdropping on the Competition," a quiet waltz of vocal harmonies with just a spare drum, rising pedal steel, and piano; and the sweetly disturbing Lennon-esque lament, "My Sister, My Spouse," replace the former hit-or-miss melodramatic flourishes of his earlier work. While "Lionkiller Got Married," anchored by a driving pulse continues the somewhat autobiographical narrative started on Dropping the Writ--its classic McCombs: poetic lyrics, his characteristic falsetto, and tenuous pondering, "I wonder why anyone in their right mind/would get married nowadays."
Neko Case's fifth studio album carries all the hallmarks of her previous work: peerless melodies, lyrical imagery, dynamic phrasing, and incomparable vocals. The difference here is the album pulls even further away from her alt-country roots, sounding like a middle '60s album, especially in "People Got a Lot of Nerve," with it's Byrds-esque chorus, in "Vengeance Is Sleeping" which echoes Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell, and in "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth," where Case brings an earthy wholesomeness to the Sparks's original. Another standout, "This Tornado Loves You," (an apt title given Case's all-enveloping approach) is an all-out wall of sound only nearly matching her huge vocals. Like this song, the entire album is loud, warm, and inescapable.
St. Vincent's Annie Clark presents dramatically playful yet fatalistic songs on Actor that course through dark, internal spaces but gleam, glittered with bellike synths and antique-sounding chamber instruments. Shadowy opener "The Strangers" intones "paint the black hole blacker" against a modern ragtime, "Marrow" opens with a shimmering Terry Riley-like modal figure and blooms into an electrified dancefloor anthem, and later "Just the Same But Brand New" is delicate (and still dark) where Clark channels Cocteau Twins Elizabeth Fraser.
On a lighter side, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's Beware, is reverent, joyful frolic--a marked departure from BPB's usual darkness. It plays much like the soundtrack to an idyllic farm summer--all careless sunny hayrides, impromptu sing-a-longs, and jug-band nights. Owing much to the workingman's Dead, "You Don't Love Me" shrugs off unrequited love as not much to worry about, "I Don't Belong to Anyone" is a waltzy daydream where BPB sings "it's kind of easy to have some fun/when you don't belong to anyone." The lightness continues on "I Am Goodbye." It's effortless and complete with ecstatic hoedown hey-hos.
Finale, A Pipe Dream and a Promise Produced by the Motor City’s lava-hot Black Milk, Finale’s Pipe Dream was bound to snare at least a little underground notoriety. Instead, though, it’s the clear-cut leader for the year’s best hip-hop album. Track for track, Milk’s beats outdo almost anything he’s touched before, the pitched instruments rolling like waves atop the twos and fours, but Finale’s delivery is the real discovery here. Lagging about as far behind the beat as possible without derailing, his rhymes layer and resolve with the confidence of a seasoned veteran, and he swings as hard and deeply as anyone out there today. If you only listen to one hip-hop album this year, make it A Pipe Dream and a Promise. (CD, MP3)
K'Naan, Troubadour Though it plays second fiddle to his brilliant, Juno Award-winning debut, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, K’Naan’s Troubadour is a well-played amalgam of hip-hop strength, Afrobeat shimmy, and immediately accessible pop balladry. As he says in song after song, this Somali ex-pat’s street-toughened bona fides provide the bitter, poetic backdrop to a variety of songs about growing up severely disadvantaged and nevertheless letting the love shine brightly through. (CD, MP3)
P.O.S., Never Better As mentioned in an earlier post, P.O.S. finally lives up to his potential with the aptly named Never Better. Backed by should-be Minneapolis superstars Doomtree, P.O.S.’s gritty crowning achievement mixes hook-driven sing-alongs with feral, mile-a-minute diatribes in what may prove to be year’s most gymnastic album-length rap attack. (CD, MP3)
J Dilla, Jay Stay Paid Under the reverent direction of Pete Rock, J Dilla’s posthumous, 28-track mix highlights guest spots by both hip-hop legends (Black Thought, Doom) and lesser-knowns (Frank Nitty, Cue D), the variety of which throws the full weight of Dilla’s production savvy into the sad vacuum left by his death at 32. Sadly, the guy was just getting started, but he could already mix circles (er, donuts) around almost every producer of his generation. (CD, MP3)
UGK, UGK for Life Southern rap isn’t for everyone, but if you’re looking for an in, try the guitars. True to the precedent they irrevocably set on 2007’s Underground Kingz, Pimp C and Bun B continue to enlist the best guitar performances around. A posthumous affair (Pimp C died in December, 2007), the reverently named UGK for Life offers an apt testament to a duo whose sound defined its city (Houston) for more than a decade. (CD, MP3)
Suspicious Omissions
Eminem, Relapse Eminem’s still got plenty of the zany lyrical swerve with which he made his name. Just listen to “Bagpipes from Baghdad,” a five-minute cut of surreal, R-rated fun interrupted, unfortunately, only by the chorus’s insistence on Shady’s own crazy unpredictability. For 10 years now, Eminem’s been brilliant when he’s not being the least bit serious or self-reflective, and Relapse devotes more time than ever to the self-commentary that chronically deflates his lyrical impact.
Mos Def, Ecstatic Like The New Danger before it, Mos Def’s Ecstatic is a limp collection of exquisitely mastered sketches. Despite its 16 tracks, the album lacks songs. Everything here sounds like a mediocre MC’s really well-funded demos. Once again, it’s clear that there are few sonic pairings that work as well together as Mos Def’s voice and a fat stack of low brass, but “songs” bearing this unforgettable dance of timbres are few and far between, and even they lack the musical motion of the least memorable tracks from 2002’s Black on Both Sides.
Asher Roth, Asleep in the Bread Aisle Kudos to the guy’s PR machine for pulling the wool over so many eyes simultaneously, but really, people: How, in 2009, does an MC’s being white and smokin’ dope still lend a hip-hop album this much cultural momentum? Granted, I’ve never been one to subscribe to the absolute value of lyrical sincerity, but could someone please ask Asher Roth to sound a little bit like he cares about his own music? Asleep in the studio is more like it…
