Casual Listening 8-31-07

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 31, 2007

*Helen Sung – Sungbird: After Albeniz (jazz/classical)

A brilliant crossover concept from a consummate pianist. Sung’s inspiration is Isaac Albeniz’ suite for solo piano España, which is itself a classical vision of traditional Spanish music. Sung alternates the six original pieces with jazz reinterpretations played with a small combo. Her virtuosity and creativity in both styles are on display, and hearing the two versions back to back deepens the experience of each piece.

* Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass (rap)

Aesop Rock is the musical incarnation of a wildstyle graffiti piece. His lyrics are surreal, often cryptic, yet endlessly compelling. The production is equally intricate, sampling cool jazz, congas, old spoken word records, and scratch vocals.

Sarah Johns – Big Love in a Small Town (country)

The songs from Johns’ debut album may soon end up in endless replay on a country music radio station near you, but don’t let that turn you off to this talented singer. Johns has a freight train of a voice that invokes the great country divas of yesteryear. Plus you get great lyrics like “If you could hold your woman like you hold your whiskey, I’d still be in your arms.”

Atreyu – Lead Sails Paper Anchor (rock)

Atreyu fill their plates at the loud buffet – metal, punk, alternative, and guitar rock. It’s an unlikely meal that somehow goes together well, and leaves you alternately humming along and screaming along.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Terry Gross interviews heavy metal stars

Drop whatever you're doing and listen to this week's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. On yesterday's show, she interviewed Rob Halford of Judas Priest and James Hetfield of Metallica. Today is Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin and Steven Tyler of Metallica. Tomorrow is Christopher Guest of Spinal Tap and Gene Simmons of Kiss. If you thought Spinal Tap was outrageous, the real interviews are even more over-the-top. Go to:

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13&agg=0&prgDate=08-29-2007&view=storyview

Casual Listening 8-24-07

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 24, 2007

! Galactic – From the Corner to the Block (funk)

Galactic is proof that New Orleans has a musical future. A brilliant mix of jazz and hip hop, with guest rappers on every track. Rump-shaking funk, with additional background provided by mardi-gras style horn players. Did I mention funky?

* M.I.A. – Kala (world)

Revolutionary dance tracks that draw influences from all over the globe. Snippets of Bollywood, Jamaican dancehall, Techno, and Dijeridoo, to name just a few. Music twenty years ahead of its time.

* Caribou– Andorra (rock)

Sergeant Pepper’s nerdy young Canadian cousin. Fuzzy, psychedelic canvasses glow under gauzy vocals. Dense arrangements augment guitar and drums with flute, tuba, and jingle bells as well as plenty of electronic ear candy.

* The Everybodyfields – Nothing is Okay (country)

Achingly bittersweet Americana accompanied by fiddle and pedal steel guitar. Introspective ballads with gorgeous vocals evoke a late-night loneliness that appeals to both the coffeehouse and the honky-tonk.

S.K.I.P. – Autobiographicology (rap)

A fresh re-envisioning of hip hop with drum & bass electronic backdrops and intelligent lyrics that are equal parts personal and political.

Poets & Pornstars – Poets & Pornstars (rock)

Classic rock revivalists that really rock. Great songs played on screaming guitars. Mullet optional.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

Check out the new blog at http://casuallistening.blogspot.com . To subscribe or unsubscribe, or just to say hi, send an e-mail to jeffpinzino@gmail.com.

Casual Listening 8-17-07

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 17, 2007

* Oreskaband – Oreskaband (ska)

Peppy, horn-driven, dance-friendly music as played by a group of hypertalented Japanese schoolgirls. Oreskaband are every bit as good as the best American ska. Energetic and fun.

* Eisley – Combinations (rock)

Vocal duets cry across a somber rock soundscape. Reverb-laden guitar work supported by piano and an occasional xylophone or hammered dulcimer gives an ethereal feel to an enticing group of songs.

Seldom Scene – Scenechronized (bluegrass)

Thick harmony singing distinguishes these veteran pickers, making characteristic bluegrass sound a little less lonesome. The band interprets a tasty array of classic Americana, including songs by Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, and Cowboy.

Blaqk Audio – CexCells (dance)

If you’ve been holding onto a battered cassette of Depeche Mode’s Violator since sophomore year, this is your new favorite band. Blaqk Audio churns out infectious electronic dance tracks for the black-clad euro-club scene.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

Check out the new blog at http://casuallistening.blogspot.com . To subscribe or unsubscribe, or just to say hi, send an e-mail to jeffpinzino@gmail.com.

Casual Listening 8-10-07

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 10, 2007

! Zap Mama – Supermoon (world)

The veteran vocal ensemble’s harmonies sparkle over a global groove. Their mash-up of African, European, and American influences is weighted on this album toward R&B stylings. Brightly colored with a broad palette of boogie-friendly sounds.

* Bruce Hornsby, Christian McBride, Jack DeJohnette – Camp Meeting (jazz)

Hornsby has dropped his adult contemporary persona and embraced his inner jazz geek. The trio cuts an intriguing set that ranges from the experimental to the romantic, and Hornsby’s improvisations are both more varied and more suited to a jazz context. A monster rhythm section helps him pull off brainbusters like “Giant Steps.”

* Simple Kid – 2 (rock)

Boy meets blues, boy loses blues for amplifiers, drum samples, and banjos, boy gets blues in the end. Simple Kid manages to present straightforward, compelling songs in a corona of shiny instrumental noise. Echoes of early Beck.

Public Enemy – How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul? (rap)

“The Black CNN” still makes music as relevant as today’s headlines. Chuck D skillfully untwists the commoditization of Black culture to a backbeat that quotes James Brown, AC/DC, and classic soul.

Cindy Combs – Sunny Rain (world)

Fingerstyle guitar work in the Hawaiian slack key style. Combs is an absolute master of the instrument, and her interpretations of tropical songs old and new are like chimes stirred by an island breeze.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

Check out the new blog at http://casuallistening.blogspot.com . To subscribe or unsubscribe, or just to say hi, send an e-mail to jeffpinzino@gmail.com.

Casual Listening 8-3-07

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 3, 2007

! The Silk Road Ensemble – New Impossibilities (classical)

Yo-Yo Ma’s pan-Asian supergroup teams up with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for a mind-opening set of cross-cultural creativity. Eastern instruments such as pipa, sheng, and er-hu join Ma’s cello, a battery of percussion, and occasionally the entire orchestra to create a surprising array of suggestive textures. Several of the pieces are challenging listening, but on balance Silk Road is more accessible than avant-garde.

! Common – Finding Forever (rap)

Common is one of a handful of principled innovators in the hip hop world, and his new disc continues to push the music to new horizons. The stories he tells go against the grain – fidelity in a hypersexualized culture, self-awareness instead of image, hope in the face of biting racism. Kanye West’s production is nothing short of epic, the traditional boom-bap replaced with a soul-groove including everything from church organs to rock guitars to piano fills and gospel choirs. Overall, a compelling and uplifting vision.

! Soulive – No Place Like Soul (funk)

Soulive hits the sweet spot at the crossroads of rock, soul, and jazz that makes this album absolutely infectious. Vocalist Toussaint has a voice to match the great blues shouters, and he sings his guts out. The rest of the band is funky as all get-out, and a Hammond organ gives their sound a retro vibe. This is a party that keeps you coming back long after the first listen.

* Martin Simpson – Prodigal Son (celtic)

A Celtic-inflected folk album that is both sweet and simple. Simpson’s fingerstyle guitar playing shimmers across a mix of traditional and contemporary songs. Soothing and familiar, this disc feels like a September sunset.

The 1990’s – Cookies (rock)

I’d place this band a decade earlier than their name suggests. Like the best of 80’s pop, this group plays danceable candy. Loaded with hooks and head-bopping beats, this is fun, fun, fun.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

Check out the new blog at http://casuallistening.blogspot.com . To subscribe or unsubscribe, or just to say hi, send an e-mail to jeffpinzino@gmail.com.

Request: Ron Carter - Dear Miles,

I had a request for a review of this album -- here it is:

Ron Carter: Dear Miles,

This album is Carter’s rumination on his days playing with the Miles Davis Quintet in the 1960’s. From one of the most respected and prolific jazz bassists alive today, we are treated to a very personal tribute to an era, a great musician, and a friend.

Many of the songs here are among those most closely associated with Miles – Seven Steps to Heaven, Stella by Starlight, and My Funny Valentine. The arrangements are not radical reinterpretations of the originals, and neither are they straight copies. Instead it’s a loving tribute to the music. Two originals expand the range of the album to fit Miles’ personality, Cut and Paste on the hot end and 595 on the cool. As Time Goes By also feels appropriate here to set the mood.

Stephen Scott’s assured piano work is the foreground of this ensemble, and he is a compelling soloist. Roger Suitero’s percussion adds occasional accents such as bongos and rainsticks to Carter’s bass, Scott’s piano, and Payton Crossley’s drums. However, the core of this unit is not a piano trio. It’s a quartet with one of the members missing. They’ve left enough space in the music to imagine what Miles would have played, if he happened to drop by.