Casual Listening
Extra!
February 29, 2008
Salvador Santana Band -- SSB (rock)
The most adventurous release this week doesn't quite pull all the pieces together, but Santana will definitely be an artist to watch in years to come. His palate is amazingly broad - rap, reggaeton, dancehall, funk, salsa, not to mention the guitar rock that his dad is best known for. Some grooves hit, and others not quite, but there is amazing potential written all over this album.
Casual Listening
a review of cool new music
by Jeff Pinzino
February 29, 2008
! Erykah Badu – New Amerykah (R&B)
If the reinvention of R&B is becoming a requirement for a graduating class of divas, Badu is validectorian. With hard funk, torch ballads, and Hendrix-insprired space jams, Badu delivers neo-retro with a trippy twist. A great vibe that takes you East of ordinary.
* Toumani Diabate – The Mande Sessions (world)
Diabate is a virtuoso of the kora, a traditional West African harp. On this solo record, the intricacy and expressiveness of his playing puts him in a category with the best players of any stringed instrument -- Ravi Shankar comes to mind.
Dolly Parton – Backwoods Barbie (country)
Dolly has the midas voice - here she even makes a Fine Young Cannibals cover sound golden. This album grins with ringing high harmonies and a countrified band that's more taste than twang. If all you know of Dolly is 9 to 5, Backwoods Barbie will show you just how much you've been missing out.
Punch Brothers – Punch (bluegrass)
Wildly creative acoustic music led by former Nickel Creek mandolinist Chris Thile. Classical influences bring an element you rarely hear in even the most adventurous bluegrass: dissonance. This album represents the release of newgrass 2.0.
Janet Jackson – Discipline (dance)
Never doubt the ability of a member of the Jackson family to create amazingly catchy and danceable music. The production pops like an electronic bubble machine, and there are multiple tracks here that I'd recommend for the next version of Dance Dance Revolution.
The Dirtbombs – We Have You Surrounded (rock)
Garage rock so vivid you can smell the fumes.
In the blog this week: Salvador Santana Band
* highly recommended
! highest recommendation
Check out the 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
Extra!
Casual Listening snags 5 Grammys
Permit me a moment of self-congratulation. After scanning through the Grammy winners, I realized that in five categories, I had reviewed the winning album with a starred review or better. One of these was also album of the year, and if I do say so myself, Herbie Hancock was the most deserving winner of the night. I’d challenge you to find another critic as predictive in such a diverse array of categories. Here’s the list:
Best R&B Album: Funk This, Chaka Khan
Best Rap Album: Graduation, Kanye West
Best
Best Contemporary Jazz Album: River: The Joni Letters, Herbie Hancock
Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album:
Ray Davies – Working Man’s Cafe (rock) deluxe release, originally 12-07
A solid, interesting album from one of the original Kinks. Davies is a vivid lyricist, and these country-tinged rock songs tell stories of hard times in an age of globalization.
Time Again – Darker Days (rock)
Straight-up hardcore punk. Rock on.
Casual Listening
a review of cool new music
by Jeff Pinzino
* Carla Bruni – No Promises (rock)
I herby declare Carla Bruni to be the ultimate rock star. A supermodel who partied with a who’s who of the rock elite, she recently made headlines by marrying the president of
* Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (rock)
Quiet intensity of lush vocal harmonies over a simple guitar. Gorgeous songs to curl up with on a snowy night.
Vinicius Cantuaria – Cymbals (world)
Cantuaria delivers perfect classic-style Bossa Nova. Effortless vocals with acoustic guitar give this music just the right degree of mellow intensity.
Shauna Burns – The Moon and the
Confessional songs strung together like pearls with cascading piano lines. Tori Amos fans will treasure this album.
Monade – Monstre Cosmic (rock)
Bright, mysterious pop sung in French. Monade is the side-project of Stereolab’s lead singer, and Monade has a similarly smart sound.
In the blog this week: Casual Listening snags 5 Grammys, Ray Davies, Time Again
* highly recommended
! highest recommendation
Check out the 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
a review of cool new music
by Jeff Pinzino
! Aaron Weinstein & John Pizzarelli – Blue Too (jazz)
In a field full of incredible talents, there are precious few jazz musicians that merit the g-word. I say confidently: Aaron Weinstein is a genius. He's master of an instrument that's only occasionally heard in jazz - the violin. Weinstein's tone is precise and powerful, and his improvisation shows a depth of imagination that surprises again and again. Pizzarelli’s guitar work would do Django proud. A true delight.
* Maceo Parker – Roots and Grooves (R&B)
Still takin' it to the bridge, this time with a big band along for the ride. The "Roots" part of this 2 CD set is a tribute to Ray Charles, and Parker eerily invokes Ray with a strong vocal performance. The "Grooves" part is an all-out funkfest, with the band's firepower trained on several of Maceo's best-known tunes. Shake everything you got!
Luciano – Jah is My Navigator (reggae)
Classic-styled Roots Reggae from a next-generation artist. If old Bob Marley is still your speed, you won't be disappointed with this one.
Gladys Hardy – I Love Jesus But I Drink a Little (comedy)
A fiery 88-year old Texan deals hilariously with phone systems, family, and Ellen DeGeneres. Clever, obscenity-free, and all proceeds go to charity.
Projekt A-Ko & Horowitz (rock)
In order to restore karmic balance to Casual Listening, I'm following up last week's corporate rock love-fest with a review of an excellent split seven-inch on the Filthy Little Angels label. Both bands show cool pop melodies spraypainted across a wall of feedback and distortion. Horowitz has a remarkably sunny disposition, while Projekt A-Ko is a little more subdued.
* highly recommended
! highest recommendation
Check out the 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
Extra!
“We Like it Stanky” (concert January 28)
I am happy to report that the
I arrive at
A guy named Dave from
The band kicks in and locks into a greasy groove. The band is a kaleidoscope of funk, sprung from the same soil as The Meters, Dr. John, Professor Longhair, and Jelly Roll Morton. Rock-solid rhythm section, acrobatic sax and crying guitar propel the sound, but the heart of the band is the big man on the
Instantaneously, the room is rocking with 40 people in various states of dance. Dave comes up and punches me in the shoulder. “If you could sum it up in one word…?”
“Good!” I said.
“You can do better than that!”
“Slinky!”
“That’s more like it,” and he dances off into the crowd. By this time, the whole front row of people has let go of all self-consciousness and are engaged in flat-out goofy dancing. The more I listen, the more I dance, and I realize that it only looks goofy from the outside – it’s just what naturally comes out when you let yourself fall into the music.
“WE LIKE IT STAN-KYYYY” the man behind the organ growls. Stanky, slinky, goofy, funky – this is
Dave grabs me once more on my way out. “Don’t you ever fuckin’ forget this!”
The Blind Boys of
Released just in time for Mardi Gras, the classic gospel group takes a road trip, and comes up with some solid crossover material. Full-throated singing with brass and jazz backups makes for great gumbo.
Casual Listening
a review of cool new music
by Jeff Pinzino
Thanks to Yesh Pavlik for last week’s reviews while Jeff was in
* Austin Lucas – Putting the Hammer Down (folk)
Since Dylan went electric and Joni went jazz, it’s been harder to find good songwriters playing traditional folk styles. Austin Lucas’ painfully confessional songs are inside-out Childe ballads, dragged into the 21st century. Fiddle and banjo echo an older sound, recast for a new generation’s ears.
* Bernard Allison – Chills & Thrills (blues)
Hot guitar blues, funk, and roadhouse rock. Allison delivers driving grooves on an unconventional but compelling collection of contemporary blues.
Sheryl Crow – Detours (rock)
Strike one against my indie critic street cred, but I really like this album. There’s a creative tension in Crow’s music between personal pain and a wide-open embrace of the world. Plenty of big melodic hooks to keep you coming back.
Lenny Kravitz – Break Your Arm for Evolution (rock)
Unapologetic high octane rock & roll. Strike two. I’m too busy rocking out to care.
In the blog this week: Papa Grows Funk, Blind Boys of Alabama
* highly recommended
! highest recommendation
Check out the blog at http://casuallistening.blogspot.com . To subscribe or unsubscribe, or just to say hi, send an e-mail to jeffpinzino@gmail.com.
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