Bad Brains – I Against I – SST, 1986.
🪨🫧 🪩⾾ 🤘⚒️🎗️⨻🥃:
A seminal Punk(?) Metal(?) band. Every song has an intense, violent delivery. In this case I think the drummer leans Punk, the guitarist Metal and HR is just HR (with a little Reggae influence). They were hugely influential and this album has, by my count, at least 5 iconic songs. The guitar playing surprises me in this context, a little shreddy for Punk music and it is using all the ‘80s tonal effects they associate with a different haircut. The guitar sounds out of context, but it totally works, creating the band’s own unique sonic space. High energy, sneering vocals, nasty shredding guitar and fast, back beats driving it all. “I Against I”
Overall = 8.7 (10) A classic. Get It!
Greg Brown – Covenant – Red House, 2000.
🇺🇸📣🌾🗣️:
In the early aughts my friend Jeff S. hipped me to Greg Brown’s rich, deep voice and roots influenced song writing. At that point his popularity was great enough to release 2 CDs in one year, but I think the success was regulated mostly to a certain community of song-writers who had their own thing and was somewhat outside of the popular music currents of the early aughts. I enjoyed what I heard then and kind of wondered if that particular current had resubmerged 2 decades later or had Mr. Brown stepped away from the music, because I hadn’t heard anything from him recently. It seems the both impressions were accurate. I just swam in different listening circles and he released albums until about 2012 and he resurfaced as the voice of Hades in the original concept album of Hadestown, which my daughter and I both love. But he also retired in 2012. His own songs are Folk in the sense of being stories about average people. Some of the music, the more Rock and Blues leaning songs, are a little too “studio” (too perfect/rehearsed) for me, but his voice always delivers. “Pretty One More Time”
Overall = 5.5 (10) – I think this album offers a peak at Popular Folk music at the turn of the century. Get It!
& Over And Under – Red House, 2000.
🇺🇸📣🌾🗣️:
A thought to wonder on? Folk music, to me, initially established traditional songs – music that is by and about people; not formally learned but traditionally/aurally learned, over the years may have many interpretations/composers as parts change from the original – basically public domain songs. These songs have a quality of singability, most people in a community should know the songs and the balance is song > performer. Folk songs are any culture’s informal traditional music. In the 60’s(with roots as early as the 20’s in America) Folk music leaned more towards political/protest themes and made a giant lurch into Pop/Folk and the artists became iconic personas (i.e. Dylan, Baez etc.) who composed their own songs (though still included older Folk material). Now, I wonder how today’s Folk performers define Folk Music for themselves? I bring this up because this music is fun, but the persona of the artist is as important as the songs, which are also newly composed songs in various genres. Greg Brown does not seem particularly ego driven, but the music business clearly relies on artist-forward personas and so these polarities coexist here in a weird blend for me. The music is very similar to the previous album and Mr. Brown can turn a phrase. However, when the vibe lurches into Blues or Country genre territory it feels like an aural costume to me, not a problem, but a sense that disturbs my listening flow. And something that I deem as something created with audience forethought perhaps driven by some sort of agent or music production angle. The songs which reside in what I would describe as Mr. Brown’s band sound mixes both those elements into the music in a personal way and those songs work better for me. Also interesting that he put out 2 albums in 2002. “Inabel Sale”
Overall = 4.7(10) – Still an incredible voice, but less vital material than the other 2002 album. Get It!
Solomon Burke – Soul Of The Blues – Black Top, 1993.
🇺🇸📣🏙️🗣️:
A “Legacy” recording for an artist who had a career which bobbed up and down for 50(?) years. Mr. Burke had an iconic voice who would dip into R&B, Soul, Gospel and Blues over that career. A “Legacy” recording to me is crafting something to feature the artist in a particular showcase. In this case it’s a Blues/Big Band album which touches on the Soul side of things here and there. It’s shiny and gives the listener what they wanted and I’m not sure how frequently, if ever, Burke recorded Blues only albums. Yet also “Legacy” albums often feel strangely impersonal and “This Is Your Life” celebratory, in a way that doesn’t always discover the best music. Mr. Burke’s voice and music always has a Blues character regardless of the musical genre. This recording can be too clean and it often feels like Mr. Burke is wearing a Ray Charles’, or BB Kings’, hat. “Along About Midnight”
Overall = 4.6 (10) – There is great Solomon Burke on its way, this is good Solomon Burke. Get It!
David Darling – Dark Wood – ECM, 1995.
🌌⚡️✆⌘🎧🪄📹⎄📀🎑👁️:
Fifteen years later than the next album reviewed, and an album which I discovered first. I purchased it because of the typical, beautiful ECM cover. The music is a continuous rumination and not as experimental as Journal October (reviewed below). However, solo cello performed outside of any typical applications is a naturally experimental format. You are hearing an example of David Darling’s sound ideas at this time in his life. It is personal music. I file it in my ambient collection because of its sound. I don’t keep it in my ECM collection – those albums I consider more in a Jazz tradition (and I file the “New” Classical ECM series differently as well). I love to drift away with this album. “Beginning”
Overall = 8 (10) – A lush, drifting partner, for sunrises and sets… Get It!
& Journal October – ECM, 1980.
🌌⚡️✆🕳️⌘🎧🪄📹:
Extremely experimental Ambient Cello. Solo works but Mr. Darling uses overdubs and loops to create multiple voices and dream-like effects that make it sound like many artists at work. This is an early enough recording to compare favorably with Arthur Russell’s own cello and electronic experiments in the early 80’s. Some songs are pretty intense, but several will drift you right away. Mr. Darling was a challenging improviser who found a home on ECM. My favorites are his solo works and again this is really exciting music for the time period. “Far Away Lights”
Overall = 7.3 (10) – Mesmerizing cello loops and layers. Get It!
The Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama – Oh Lord – Stand By Me/Marching Up To Zion – Specialty, 1954/1991.
🇺🇸📣🌳🗣️⛪️ 🗝️👁️🗨️:
A Classic Gospel vocal quintet. Rich voices, vibrant harmonies and a clear Blues element in the vocal characteristics and accompanying instruments. I think the Blues/Gospel coin is mostly based on subject material and setting (several voices vs typically one voice, or musician, in both Folk and Blues). The Blues influence, the inflection, is found in all American vocal music after the 20’s. An emotive vocal quality that has been totally assimilated and accepted as the way we sing now – which was an early culture clash that imbues our music with a need for emotional qualities beyond implementation of perfect technique. This 2 album set is the kind of Gospel recording I’m hunting for early vocal group full albums (not collections) and it delivers on my hopes of finding seminal music from one of the legendary groups. “Alone & Motherless”
Overall = 8.5 (10) – Hair raising. Get It!
Beach House – B-Sides And Rarities – Sub Pop, 2017.
🪨🫧 🪩 🗣️❂♛🏋🏽🚘❤️🔥📔;
A collection of extras from their first 5(?) albums and similar to Prince Beach house created a compelling collection of wonderful songs that can fill an album from their odds and ends, that plays like a cohesive whole. One or two songs show signs of not being from the same time period, but mostly they flow nicely together. There are alternate versions of album favorites, 3 songs that to me could/should have been on the albums they didn’t make the cut on, a cover of a Queen song and some songs they contributed to compilation albums. “White Moon”
Overall = 8.6 (10) – The only thing holding it back is the nature of the formatting, but this album is as close as something can get to being a complete album from a collection of odds bits. Get It!
VA – Music Of Indonesia 20: Indonesian Guitars – Smithsonian Folkways, 1990-1997/1999.
🍏🌾🇮🇩🫧📣🔮🎸❂✺:
Wow, a wildly diverse collection of Indonesian guitar music, in this case late 21st Century, reactionary (Indonesian’s reacting to the introduction of International technology and culture) music. Some musicians experiment with bringing traditional Indonesian music to the guitar and some bring interpretive guitar Pop music from an Indonesian perspective. It’s all pretty fun and has an easy vibe. A few recordings could have been from any 60’s Folk/Pop collections and some dive into the electrified ideas and lean towards some kind of Rock & Roll. There are more Folkways albums in this Music of Indonesia collection, it is extensive, and nice to find such a specific niche. The guitar “probably came to Indonesia on Portuguese ships in the 16th century” (liner notes). But that guitar was not yet the instrument we consider it now, so that could mean several things/strings when it is described and what we are hearing is the modern guitar we would recognize. “Langgam Di Bawah Sinar Bulan Purnama (By the Light of the Full Moon)”
Overall = 7.4 (10) – I love a culture collision. Get It!
Toumani Diabate/Ballake Sissoko – New Ancient Strings/Nouvelles Cordes Anciennes – Hannibal, 1999.
🌍🇲🇱📣🔮🤿🗝️🎑🔭🫂:
Kora duets from two Malian masters of the instrument. The nature of the Kora involves playing with thumbs and multiple fingers, leading to multiple parts and layers. Those layers often repeat creating hypnotic patterns and then add melodies over the top of that patchwork. In this recording having the two musicians negotiate the same spaces it can become unclear who is doing what and it often feels like a dance between their two sounds. I believe many of the songs are recent/modern, but perhaps the technique of the instrument is traditional. I’d like to explore that more and decide what is being improvised versus what might constitute being written, or learned, themes. The Kora has a bright sound and the rhythms roll along creating a very positive, peaceful vibe. “Salaman”
Overall = 7.4 (10) – Light, flowing themes that you can let go to. Get It!
VA – Shadow Music of Thailand – Sublime Frequencies, 2009.
🌏🇹🇭🫧📣🔮🎸❂✺⨻⚙︎📹⚒️⌘:
Electric guitars and keyboards embrace. Thai Pop music which grooves and if it were created here and now, it would be considered Hipster music. The songs are mostly instrumental and only occasionally do traditional instruments, or elements of traditional Thai music, sneak in as a layer. Every song here is a banger and generally this collection would make a great party soundtrack. It is another culture collision and I’m here for that. I would be interested in trying to decipher what Amer/Euro Pop music influenced it, but the first post in the comment’s section beneath the chosen song said “they came because of Khruangbin” that is an apt recognition of an influence for that band. Including that their name is Thai and their recipe is similar: a tight groove, precise and clear sound design, catchy riffs and melodic solos that an audience can hang onto, danceable. The difference being they mix noticeable elements of Pop/Funk/Disco concepts to their mix. And they are hipster in their audience. This music has a different authenticity level, it makes you feel like you are in some coastal bar, drinking Thai beers, something wet is happening, street food, old signs and wildlife hanging around – maybe no walls for this establishment? More of a bar stand type of feeling. You could dance. Sublime Frequencies, the label, specializes in this type of sound palette. “Mon Du Dow” Johnny Guitar.
Overall = 8.2 (10) – Irresistible mix of silly and sublime, with a groove. Get It!
Barbara Benary – Sun On Snow – New World, 2006
❂ ⨻🔮🎼⎄꧂🗝️🎑❂:
I discovered this CD at a thrift store in the Catskills and dollar for dollar (it was $1) it was a great purchase. At the time I had never heard of Mrs. Benary, she was a groundbreaking female composer who came up in the 70’s working in the Avant Garde, Classical and Minimalist corners. She was also heavily influenced by Gamelan, creating her own versions of Gamelan instruments and composed pieces that transformed those influences into something new. She often used downtown NY Jazz & experimental musicians. It is a wild and successful mix, a lucky prize found digging into the crates, quiet, but vital and experimental without being difficult to listen to. “Sun On Snow: III”
Overall = 7.7 (10) – I really appreciate music that draws on different cultures by bringing them into the composer’s world, rather than trying to appropriate the music itself. It is like the composer is adding colors to their palate. Get It!
el Camaron de la Isla / Paco de Lucia – Canastera – Universal, 1972.
🌎🫧🗣️💃🏽🎸🗝️🪄⚒️🫂:
More of these two masters (and more to come!). Flamenco that is so crisp rhythmically and so intense emotionally. There is an element of improvisation in Flamenco, essentially it always feels like live music, because the recording is always recreating the performance style. It’s hard for my foreign ears to pick out the improvisational elements, but these performances feel vital and exciting because there are unscripted (but also contain historical, traditional designs) characteristics of the song. Truly that is the lure of the live performance to capture this kind of energy and inspiration. “No Dudes de la Noblezza”
Overall = 8.8 (10) – All bangers! Get It!
Porrina de Badajoz – Gitano y de Badajoz – Promusica, ?.
⏺️❂🗣️🎭🗝️❂🌎📣💃🏽🎸🪄:
A 4 disc collection of one of the key figures of Flamenco vocals and something which all my research turns up only in Spanish – no recognition of this artist outside of Spain. I think the era this artist is from probably found little distribution for Flamenco internationally and yet he is most certainly one of the most famous progenitors of Flamenco in the mid-20th century. It is a 4 disc set! Porrina had a particular, recognizable look – as seen in the picture and which seemed to be a calculated persona, this shows awareness of some aspects of the music business. This was also a recent surprise purchase (again because of the look and quantity of recordings) and it all makes for an interesting comparison with el Camaron, helping me learn the traditions of Flamenco music. “Hasta el Alma me Duele”
Overall = 7 (10) – A wealth of traditional Flamenco. Not found!
Found Sounds 