Tag: Spotify Playlists

No!vember ’24: A Spare Commentary on the Best New (and Newly Discovered) Music I Heard

I’ve got a cold Huey Piano Smith could write another song about, my new block-style teaching assignment is intense (but I like it), and I’ve been traveling throughout the month, so I’m scrambling to get this out on the first. You don’t want to hear me yammer anyway, even if I got to witness both Hailu Mergia and Nicole Mitchell live since last time. Thus:

Albums below in bold font strike me as possible Top Tenners in their respective categories.

NEW WORKS I DUG (in alphabetical order)

  1. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few: The World is on Fire (Division 81)—Collier and band are in a serious Trane mode, and the media clips make it sound like the record was made in 2020–but isn’t it really still, and might it possibly eternally stay, 2020?
  2. Jazz Sabbath: The 1968 Tapes (Blacklake)—Yes: early Sabbath jazzed impressively and with a wry sense of humor.
  3. Kenneth Jimenez: Sonnet to Silence (We Jazz)—It’s a musical sonnet to silence, not of silence, and bassist Jimenez’s quartet’s noise is splendid.
  4. Ava Mendoza: The Circular Train (Palilalia)—Is this a Year of the Guitar?
  5. Kendrick Lamar: GNX (pgLang/Interscope)—Sounds great to me, I guess because the music I’m loving most is his cadences and the production is brightly…defiant.
  6. Oaagaada: Music of Ogaadaa (We Jazz)—Finnish free quartet augmented by shruti box and log drum and generating serious energy that’s just contained enough for a dabbler.
  7. Kelly Lee Owens: Dreamstate (dh2)—My friend Kevin suggested this to somebody else when I was in a low mood, I stole the suggestion, and quickly added her to (a bit lesser light, but not by much) Jessie Ware as a mood shifter.
  8. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet: The Way Out of Easy (International Anthem)—Is this a Year of the Guitar?
  9. Paper Jays: Paper Jays (ESP-Disk)—Rhode Island instro-combo combines the spaciness of very early Meat Puppets with the weird, itchy vibe of Penguin Café and a touch of…the Middle East?
  10. Pascal & Baya Rays: Sonic Joy (Ultraani)—Freaky and fun Finnish funk.
  11. claire rousay: The Bloody Lady (Viernulvier)—Ambient master writes a mysterious score for Viktor Kubal’s 1980 film The Bloody Lady doesn’t require you to watch the film to be hypnotized.
  12. Various Artists: TRANSA (Red Hot Org)—Eight “chapters,” 46 songs, a dazzling array of performers (Larraji, Tweedy, Julien Baker, Sumney + ANOHNI, JLin + Moor Mother), consistent quality, surprising musical coherence, and good reason to worry made it easy for me to listen to this beginning to end.
  13. Wussy: Cincinnati Ohio (Shake It)—I really like the lyrics, I’m not too sure about the music, and I can’t hear Lisa well enough.
  14. Charli xcx: Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat (Atlantic)—This irresistibly trashy brat dragged me kicking and screaming and grinning ear to ear through this version.
  15. Dwight Yoakam: Brighter Days (Via/Thirty Tigers)—Dude really cannot make a bad album (always reminds me of Tom Petty that way) and this one (despite a very corny and terrible song and thanks to my favorite-ever cover of “Keep On the Sunny Side”) is no exception: sings great, surrounds himself with a crack band, and writes solidly—and, weirdly, often BRIGHTLY.
  16. Tucker Zimmerman: Dance of Love (4AD)—I was telling a friend the other day that, for a reason I can’t pin down that has to do with the way things are, I am tired of Americana even when it’s good…but I have a feeling I’m (and possibly you’re) gonna need this one, knocked out by a resurfaced legend who has his finger on the pulse o’things, Big Thief behind him, and his arms around a few friends.

EXCELLENT EXCAVATIONS

  1. Black Artists Group: For Peace & Liberty, in Paris, December 1972 (We Want Sound)—Too few recordings are available from a St. Louis, Missouri, gang of players who would later help fire up the NYC loft jazz movement, and this has never before been released.
  2. Emily Remler: Cookin’ at Queens (Resonance)—This short-lived, Wes Montgomery-influenced guitarist had already raised the eyebrows of her fellow players and was poised for bigger things when she stepped on a narcotic rainbow; she is flying on these live recordings.
  3. B. B. King: B. B. King in France (Elemental)—The most famous of the several “King”s of the blues is in exceptional form on this unearthed ‘70s set.
  4. Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Live in France—The 1966 Limoges Concert (Elemental)—Her guitar is shorter on beautifully ugly noise than on other available live recordings, but otherwise, 51 and just seven years from passing on, she’s all the way on.
  5. Various Artists: Super Disco Pirata—De Tepito Para El Mundo 1965-1980 (Analog Africa)—Don’t we all need even more cumbia (and related contagious rhythms) in our lives right now?

Check the shit out aurally–though I wish I had a better option than Squatify.

Ring The Alarm (June 26 – July 1)

Out in the real world, in real time, it was a terrible, terrible week. Maybe these years are like a bad boil that’s eventually gonna be lanced; maybe they’ll leave a nasty scar that’s never going away. As I told a friend, I’m a hair away from despair, but music, love, and liquor has seen me to this Sunday. As is my custom, here’s a Spotify playlist that contains the best tunes of the week, should you care to partake. I’m hoping that one day I’ll want to (be able to?) look back and see how I stayed sane.

Aaaaaand…this week’s awards!

Plucked from History’s Dustbin (best recent purchase of an old record): Blackfire, One Nation Under.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkpqmIcJWVqGaEbmChhQ66MniNnKIyFR

Grower, Not a Shower (old record I already owned that’s risen in my esteem): Soft Machine: Third.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SB5HhC_Aa4b5fyB1iNH-Av8eFpjQEj7

Encore, Encore! (album I played at least twice this week): Nidia, Nídia É Má, Nídia É Fudida

Through the Cracks (sweet record I forgot to write about): Spa 700 (with Moor Mother), 700 Bliss; Wynton Marsalis & Friends, United We Swing.

Sunday’s Children: The Mekons 77, John Coltrane.

Unsteady as She Goes (June 18-24)

Well–I missed a day. I guess I should be excused, as we went on a day trip to Kansas City to attend a Buddhist service with local Tibetan monk and former member of the Dalai Lama’s circle, and rode to and from the city with one of our fondest friends who is also a driver of the Jordan Baker variety. When we returned home, we were drained from sheer fear and relief, and I barely had time to get in my required reading (50 pages plus of Attica Locke’s terrific and East-Texas-musical crime novel, Bluebird, Bluebird) and Marvel’s Luke Cage (Season Two) viewing. So I apologize, but suspect you may not have not have noticed.

Sunday’s customary Spotify Playlist wrap-up of my last week’s aural adventures (quite a bit different from June 23rd’s Apple Music playlist):

Aaaaaand…this week’s awards!

Plucked from History’s Dustbin (best recent purchase of an old record): Ricky Nelson’s Legendary Masters Series aka The Glory of James Burton–ripped from vinyl for me by my pal in New Orleans, Cliff.

Grower, Not a Shower (old record I already owned that’s risen in my esteem): This dude called the Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die…

Encore, Encore! (album I played at least twice this week): Sarayah’s Feel the Vibe.

Through the Cracks (sweet record I forgot to write about): Wilko Johnson’s Blow Your Mind.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDskE3-tOecDYsXA27UJQ4qOkc1C7s-uf

Sunday’s Children (this day’s listening that shall be addressed later): BLACKFIRE!

Oh, and a final, critical comment, buried (intentionally?) all the way down here, re: The Carters’ Everything is Love: The titular sentiment may well be true, and more power to them, but a) I’m just not in the mood to attend royalty of any kind, and b) the couple’s attempts to fit into the production zeitgeist of Atlanta sound forced and a little embarrassing to me. For what it’s worth. I kinda like the lead video for its in-your-faceness, but that initial objection still applies.

Mighty Long Time (June 3-10)

A full morning, so much so that I need to add a bit of detail that I normally avoid on a Sunday post. At 7:45, I participated in KOPN’s Guinness Book of World Records-scaling attempt to interview the most humans (with completely unique questions) in a 24-hour period. I gabbed, unsurprisingly, about Tracey Thorn, Bettye LaVette, Gary Lucas/Nona Hendryx, Lamont Hawkins, and did I mention Tracey Thorn? Five questions in five minutes and Bob’s yer uncle. Also, Nicole and I invited our next-door neighbor over for brunch: cheesy scrambled eggs, thick-cut local bacon, mini-waffles with bourbon-barrel maple syrup, and Bloody Marys–several of the most latter. Because I had scoped her CD collection while tending to her cat while she was out of town, I treated Shireen to a bit of kinda-country brunch, as follows:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL94gOvpr5yt2s5TxB4d4c9h8Y5B0LXgsm

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXLVneEB9Y2YUTDkWEWgW4XWUjPf0o1GA

(Note: we’d warmed up with two hours of Lefty Frizzell.)

ANYWAY, here’s the usual week-ending Spotify playlist, summing up my listenings as far as the platform makes it possible (apologies The Thing’s Again, especially–an album-of-the-year candidate):

And here are this week’s awards:

Plucked from History’s Dustbin (best recent purchase of an old record): Marine Girls’ Lazy Ways / Beach Party

Grower, Not a Shower (old record I already owned that’s risen in my esteem): The Mamas and The Papa’s two-disc, perfectly titled Gold.

Encore, Encore! (album I played at least twice this week): Lefty Frizzell’s Country Favorites

Through the Cracks (sweet record I forgot to write about): Rodrigo Amado’s A History of Nothing (featuring Joe McPhee).

 

 

 

 

Quiet As It’s Kept (May 27-June 2)

We spent much of this week on vacation–our prime time for listening together, which is a whole different thing that I very much love. As such, much of this playlist is music that is also played at home on a very frequent basis. Dominant: meditative Ethiopian pianistics and roots reggae from the golden age.

 

This week’s Living to Listen Awards:

Plucked from History’s Dustbin (best recent purchase of an old record): Jewels and Binoculars’ unthinkably great Dylan-goes-modern jazz trilogy, Floater, Ships with Tattooed Sails, and The Music of Bob Dylan. Now, I need to find time to listen to the two I don’t know that well up close.

Grower, Not a Shower (old record I already owned that’s risen in my esteem): Phineas Newborn’s Fabulous Phineas, with Brother Calvin on point. Modern jazz, Memphis-style.

Encore, Encore! (album I played at least twice this week): The aptly-titled The Power of The Trinity–Great Moments in Reggae Harmony.  I played it three times–I bet you can’t play it just once.

Through the Cracks (sweet record I forgot to write about): Neil Young’s Time Fades Away.

Sunday’s Children / Today’s Sounds: Believe it or not, I haven’t listened to anything but the last of half of Serengeti’s Dennehy. I promise I’ll get it in gear.

Charge It To The Game: May 20-26

‘Twas a week of even less structure than last, as my wife Nicole, also a teacher, was loosed upon the summer months. I continued to find it difficult to get focused on writing (I clearly need my back to the wall once a day), but plenty of music flowed within the walls of our home. To wit:

The weekly “Living to Listen Awards” for high-impact records!

Plucked from History’s Dustbin (best recent purchase of an old record): Jewels and Binoculars, Floater (multi-reed master Michael Moore’s project designed specifically to interpret Dylan on a jazz tip–and does it work!). This ain’t that album, but if you’re skeptical?

Grower, Not a Shower (old record I already owned that’s risen in my esteem): see immediately below–a double-winner this week.

Encore, Encore! (album I played at least twice this week): Grant Green’s The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark. Lots of rockers don’t dig jazz guitar, but Green’s bluesy intensity might cut through that prejudice. Plus: ya got Clark on the 88s.

Through the Cracks (sweet record I forgot to write about): Pusha T’s Daytona. No MC alive is better. As they say, he could recite the phone book. An unfortunate man is allied with him on this project–I will continue to debate with myself as I hope you will whether it’s acceptable to encourage such a project. Also, Grupo Mono Blanco’s ¡Fandango! Sones Jarochos from Veracruz, from Smithsonian Folkways but don’t let that stop you from swaying to it.

Sunday’s Children / Today’s Sounds: The Del McCoury Band’s Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass.

Still Diggin’: May 13-19

I am still reeling from the realization that my drive to own and hold every great record every made has smashed up against my mortality linking arms with streaming technology. That said, here’s a Spotify playlist of the highlights of my last week of listening:

Plucked from History’s Dustbin (best recent purchase of an old record): Dennis Gonzalez, So Soft Yet. Get hip and give the man props while he’s livin’…

Grower, Not a Shower (old record I already owned that’s risen in my esteem): Digable Planets, Blowout Comb–I now like it better than the debut. More of an EDGE, shall we say?

Encore, Encore! (album I played at least twice this week): Dennis Gonzalez NYC Quartet, NY Midnight Suite

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUj8Av4fwOX8mVRb0hPJmCUcVmPtSamrc

Through the Cracks (sweet record I forgot to write about): Dennis Alcapone, Forever Version; Birdcloud, Singles Only

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2O9FJSjNhHe2bsWeV2DxYIpDuX-1b3W8

Sunday’s Children / Today’s Sounds:

Shabaka and the Ancestors: Wisdom of the Elders

African Scream Contest 2

Friendos: Diary Playlist 5 (May 6-12)

Plucked from History’s Dustbin (best recent purchase of an old record): I didn’t buy an old record this week–wah!!!

Grower, Not a Shower (old record I already owned that’s risen in my esteem): I have to admit, Migos’ Culture is 30% better on the third play. I’m starting to decipher their little quips.

Encore, Encore! (album I played at least twice this week): Cypress Hill; Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady.

Through the Cracks (sweet record I forgot to write about): Mt. Eerie’s A Crow Looked at Me. Sweet? I don’t know. A one-of-a-kind record that I really like, but I gotta think on it a bit.

Sunday’s Children / Today’s Sounds:

Lost Bayou Ramblers: Kalenda

Sonny Clark: The 1960 Time Sessions

Gene Pitney: Anthology

Linton Kwesi Johnson: In Concert

Linton Kwesi Johnson: LKJ in Dub

Them: The Story of Them

Jumper on the Line: Diary Playlist 3 (April 22-28)

This playlist is an accurate record of a typical musical week in the Overeem residence and vehicles!

Plucked from History’s Dustbin (best recent purchase of an old record): No purchases of hoary artifacts this week–wah!

Grower, Not a Shower (old record I already owned that’s risen significantly in my esteem): Actually, a shrinker: I still like Joe Cocker! but no longer are the band and arrangements enough to balance the mannerisms and the somewhat whimsical interpretative choices.

Encore, Encore! (album I played at least twice this week): Roky Erickson’s You’re Gonna Miss Me–The Best of Roky Erickson. Undiluted, maniacal rock and roll. Also, the only R. L. Burnside record one truly needs: Burnside on Burnside.

Through the Cracks (sweet record I forgot to write about): Laurie Anderson and The Kronos Quartet–Landfall.

Coming Attractions (Sunday’s Children): Neil Young live, Zydeco Shootout at El Sid-O’s, The Fall, Etoile de Dakar.