Casual Listening - Mujerez, Q-Tip, Chris Knight

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

September 18, 2009

! Mujerez: Juana/Dolores/Tomasa (world)

Hands down the most powerful flamenco I’ve heard. The passion you hear in the voices of these three women is enough to knock you off your chair. Despite wide differences in vocal style, they share the soulfulness that’s made people across the globe fall for this music.

Listen to Mujerez “Te Quise Sin Darme Cuenta”

* Q-Tip – Kamaal the Abstract (rap)

Abstract is the operative word, and in this case it signals masterful creativity. Q-tip is embracing a tradition of Black experimental music, and you can hear its overtones throughout the album: Miles Davis’ fusion and Prince’s pop-funk are two reference points. This album is a challenging listen, but it rewards you with a sophistication that mainstream rap doesn’t even attempt.

Listen to Q-Tip – “Heels”

* Chris Knight – Trailer II (country)

Knight wears country lonesome like a favorite flannel shirt. He has a gutsy drawl that’s more troubadour than twang, and a simple guitar accompaniment leaves plenty of space for beautifully crafted, heartbreaking songs.

Listen to Chris Knight “It Ain’t Easy Being Me”

Muse – The Resistance (rock)

Muse creates for a giant-sized world: epic, dramatic, and with grand scale. Driving rhythms with guitars, synths, and earnest vocals characterize most of the songs. File this next to The Killers, although their palate is broad enough to pull in everything from Queen to Beethoven.

Listen to Muse “The Resistance”

Simian Mobile Disco – Temporary Pleasure (electronic)

This one’s just a pleasure to dance to. Simple electronic beats carry big hooks and harmonies, more music than metronome.

Listen to Simian Mobile Disco “Cruel Intentions”

Chris Russell – Merge (ambient)

While Casual Listening often strives to present music you can enjoy while doing other things, ambient music is purposely designed as creative background noise. Chris Russell’s newest project presents a range of electronic textures that manage to convey a sense of warmth amidst the machines. Let this wash through your subconscious while you’re going about your day.

Listen to Chris Russell’s track “Sky Watcher” at AtmoWorks

Cowboy Troy – Demolition Mission: Studio Blue Sessions (rock, etc.)

Cowboy Troy is one of my guilty pleasures. Best known as the inventor of the county-rap hybrid “Hick-Hop,” Troy takes this album in the direction of straight-ahead rock. Whatever he’s playing, he’s got a real pop sensibility that works.

Listen to Cowboy Troy “That’s Me”

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Casual Listening - Jay-Z, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Come O Spirit!

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

September 11, 2009

Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3 (rap)

An inventive album from a megastar who largely delivers on his promise “I don’t run rap no more, I run the map.” Thanks to Kanye West’s production, you’ll hear overtones of classic soul, rock, and jazz, shout-outs to Frank Sinatra, and even a klezmer clarinet riff. Jay-Z’s rhymes promise a peek at the secret to his success, both financial and musical, as well as tributes to neighborhood New York.

Listen to Jay-Z “Empire State of Mind”

Rodrigo y Gabriela – 11:11 (world)

Punk flamenco? Fiery acoustic guitar propels this set of funky instrumentals. For sheer kinetic energy, this duo is in the same caffeinated neighborhood as Ani Difranco.

Listen to Rodrigo y Gabriela – “Hanuman”

Come O Spirit!: Anthology of Hymns and Spiritual Songs Vol. 1 (folk)

Folklorists of the last century scoured the mountain villages of West Virginia for ordinary people doing simple renditions of traditional church songs. Now, a new wave of hip folksters are singing their way into the tradition. Sufjan Stevens, Damien Jurado, and friends sound like they just pulled the dulcimer off the wall for John Hammond to record on an old reel-to-reel for posterity.

Listen to “Hard Times” from Come O Spirit!

Les Triaboliques – rivermudtwilight (world)

The combination of guitar, saz, and bouzouki roll across the open landscapes of the world: Arabian Desert, Cuban Tropic, the Mississippi Delta. Laid-back traveling music to accompany a well-worn passport.

Listen to Les Triaboliques “afasundi (I have been corrupted)”

A Fine Frenzy – Bomb in a Birdcage (rock)

Sweet vocals cruise along an understated pulse with intricate pop production. Place this one in the Feist/Jem galaxy.

Listen to A Fine Frenzy “Electric Twist”

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Casual Listening - Bernstein Mass, James Moody, Bela Fleck

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

September 4, 2009

! Bernstein: Mass – Jubilant Sykes, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop conductor

A new recording of the least-performed work of one of America’s most beloved composers is in itself a cause for celebration. It’s an immense piece – full orchestra, adult choir, children’s chorus, and rock band – with some amazingly difficult music and a rebellious social message. It also contains moments of such beauty as can bring you to tears. Jubilant Sykes is an inspired choice in the role of the celebrant, and his interpretation brings both an expanded dynamic and emotional range to the work. The supporting cast often surpasses but sometimes under-reaches the mark set by the original recording. Some extremely quiet passages demand that it be listened to at full volume, so be aware it’s designed for your stereo system, not your ipod. All said, you’ll thank yourself spending two hours with this recording.

Listen to Bernstein: Mass “A Simple Song”

* James Moody – 4A (jazz)

Even at 85, years old, Moody’s tone on tenor sax is blazing. With a simple quartet and a set of such standards as Round Midnight and Stella by Starlight, he once again proves himself worthy of the moniker “living legend.”

Listen to James Moody “East of the Sun”

Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer – The Melody of Rhythm (classical)

Blistering virtuosity on a newly composed triple concerto for banjo, bass, and table drums, accompanied by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. It’s often over even my head, but there’s still some powerful new music here. Hussain’s drumming is wondrous, and between the pitched drums and the banjo (which itself contains a drum), the paradox implied in the title is well-explored.

Listen to Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer – “The Melody of Rhythm, Mvmt. 2”

Susana Baca – Seis Poemas (Latin)

An emotionally packed short set from a fantastic Peruvian folk singer. The lyrics come from poems of another Peruvian singer, Chabuca Granda. The language is exquisite, and the voicing even moreso.

Listen to Susana Baca “Resbalosas”

Drive-By Truckers – The Fine Print (Country)

When your B-sides are as good as the ones collected on this album, you can begin to legitimately stake your claim as king of the hill in alternative country. Ragged guitars, mournful pedal steel, and lyrics that read like short stories are DBT’s calling cards, and they’re all powerfully in evidence here.

Listen to Drive By Truckers “George Jones Talkin’ Cell Phone Blues”

The Black Crowes – Before the Frost…Until the Freeze (rock)

Three-quarters of this double-album is skippable, but the five remaining songs would make an EP than points to a powerful new direction for the Black Crowes. In place of the vocal high-wire act that characterized their early records, they’ve come done in the fertile soil of folk Americana. To the extent they continue down this road, they’ll find themselves in the illustrious footsteps of The Band and moving toward the psychedelic folk that’s increasingly being rediscovered by younger bands. Here are my picks for an EP:

Listen to The Black Crowes:

“What is Home”

“The Last Place That Love Lives”

“Aimless Peacock”

“Garden Gate”

“Shine Along”

Juliette Lewis – Terra Incognita (rock)

Perfect punk attitude in the vein of Patti Smith. She shows herself to be a woman not afraid of her own voice.

Listen to Juliette Lewis “Ghosts”

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Casual Listening -- Matisyahu, The Very Best, Imogen Heap

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 28, 2009

Matisyahu – Light (rap)

Matisyahu’s musical utopia seamlessly fuses rap, reggae, and cosmopolitan pop in a sonically adventurous, politically conscious cocktail. Thickly laid percussion tracks keep the party moving.

Listen to Matisyahu “We Will Walk”

The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa (world)

Call it “Africa: The Remix.” Malawi vocals shine over percussion, synthesizers, and samples with a bounce that sets it a step above most crossover efforts. Guests include M.I.A. and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig.

Listen to The Very Best “Warm Heart of Africa”

Imogen Heap – Ellipse (rock)

While “quirky female singer-songwriter” describes an awful lot of artists these days, Imogen Heap’s new album is top shelf. Vocals counterbalance electronic sounds to deliver songs that crack with the pain and joy of relationships.

Listen to Imogen Heap “Earth”

Roy Hargrove Big Band – Emergence (jazz)

Hargrove has one foot in classic big band styles and one in modern jazz harmony. He’s obviously enjoying the expanded possibilities, from a standard like “My Funny Valentine” to a Coltrane-meets-Ellington art piece like “Requiem”

Listen to Roy Hargrove Big Band “Requiem”

Mariachi El Bronx – Mariachi El Bronx (Latin)

There’s an additional layer of romance to mariachi that’s sung in your native tongue. This set of English-language tracks has the tunefulness of Simon & Garfunkel set to trumpets. A fun concept well-executed.

Listen to Mariachi El Bronx “Cell Mates”

Skillet – Awake (rock)

Heavy rock just this side of metal, with plenty of hooks amid loud, distorted guitars.

Listen to Skillet – “Hero”

p.s. The music’s old, but the recordings are pristine on Woody Guthrie’s box set My Dusty Road. If you’re a Woody fan, it’s priceless. If you’ve never really spent time with Woody, this is the collection to get. Here’s This Land is Your Land.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Casual Listening - Delbert McClinton, Cachao's Mambo All-Stars, Terence Blanchard

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 21, 2009

! Delbert McClinton – Acquired Taste (blues)

You’ll hear more of the American landscape in this album than anything short of hopping a cross-country freight train. Soul, blues, bajou, rhum-boogie, all with pitch-perfect production. Rattletrap drums, warbling organ, and a voice that’ll burn the rust off an old Cadillac. After more than 40 years in the business, McClinton’s at the top of his game.

Listen to Delbert McClinton “Mama’s Little Baby”

* Cachao’s Mambo All-Stars – Como Siempre (Latin)

Mambo is where salsa came from, and its brassy, dance-demanding sound plays as well today as it did 70 years ago. The band carries on the legacy of Israel “Cachao” Lopez, one of the originators of the mambo in Havana. A big horn section with flute, guitars, chorus, and lots of percussion – ¡Qué sabroso!

Listen to Cachao’s Mambo All-Stars “Alto Songo”

Terence Blanchard – Choices (jazz)

Give Blanchard credit for adding a most unusual instrumentalist to his ensemble: Cornell West on mystical rumination. The spoken word makes an interesting counterpoint to cool jazz charts stamped with Blanchard’s unconventional melodies and shimmering trumpet work.

Listen to Terence Blanchard “Jazz Man in the World of Ideas” and “Him or Me”

Sean Paul – Imperial Blaze (reggae)

Paul is a master of the singsong delivery and hopscotch rhythm that distinguishes dancehall from conventional hip-hop. You’ll find big hooks and boisterous attitude in this crowd-pleasing set.

Listen to Sean Paul “So Fine”

Choo Choo La Rouge – Black Clouds (rock)

Scruffy, tuneful rock & roll with retro tendencies. Wilco fans should feel right at home.

Listen to Choo Choo La Rouge “Here Come the Guns”

Linzay Young & Joel Savoy – Linzay Young & Joel Savoy (Folk)

Honest, unpretentious Cajun music with two fiddles and two voices. Spare, beautiful songs and some uptempo numbers whose charm lies in their simplicity.

Listen to Linzay Young & Joel Savoy – “Mercredi Soir”

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Casual Listening - Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Polkastra, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 14, 2009

! Ayelet Rose Gottlieb – Upto Here/From Here (jazz)

After a hundred years, is it still possible to say something new in jazz? Gottlieb demonstrates powerfully that there is. Harmonically intricate compositions weave cords of melody out of voice, saxophone and trumpet. Blank verse, sometimes her own words and sometimes Middle-Eastern poetry, matches the unexpected, beautiful, and sometimes jarring music.

Listen to Ayelet Rose Gottlieb “Wrong Rain (Bird Thoughts)”

Polkastra – Apolkalypse Now (world)

If polka is musical comfort food, Polkastra is your immigrant grandmother who knows the secret ingredient that makes it taste so good. Here, they play a global sampling of polka music, played on everything from accordion to bassoon to didgeridoo.

Listen to Polkastra “Clarinet Polka” (on Bassoon)

Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis – Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis (blues)

Blues is one of a handful of art forms where sounding raw and unpolished is a sign that you’r doing it right. The trio captures the grit of classic blues without any glitz. It’s music that belongs on an old 78rpm record (and believe it or not you can actually get this album as a series of 78’s).

Listen to Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis “I Got My Mojo Working”

I’m going to stop here this week, because you should all be listening to the treasure trove of concerts NPR managed to pull down from this year’s Newport Folk Festival. Legends such as Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, and Del McCoury and rising stars such as Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes – 30 concerts in all. Find it all here.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Casual Listening -- Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Senses, John Zorn, Junkyard Rebellion

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 7, 2009

* Cyro Baptista’s Banquet of the Senses – Infinito (world)

In the best Brazilian tradition of borrowing something from everywhere and swirling it all together. Drums and percussion drive each song, and you'll find everything from flutes and gongs to melodica and bird whistles to carry the tune. This truly is a "banquet of the senses," so go and eat well.

Listen to Cyro Baptista “Kwanza”

John Zorn – O’o (jazz)

A small, vibraphone-led jazz ensemble with tropical overtones. This set is lively and tuneful, with straight-ahead numbers and even some rock-influenced tracks. If the regular reviews of his various projects in this space haven't convinced you, the music should: this guy can do anything.

Listen to John Zorn “Miller’s Crake”

Junkyard Rebellion – Rebellion Politik (rap)

The "rebellion" moniker fits both the sonic innovation and the progressive politics of the group. Some live instrumentation as well as studio wizardry, and more than a little spoken-word influence among the rhymes.

Listen to Junkyard Rebellion “Original Assumption”

Aphrodesia – Precious Commodity (world)

Animated Nigerian-style funk from an American band. Aphrodesia has a solid horn section and full-throttle drumming designed to get you moving.

Listen to Aphrodesia “Special Girl”

Watermelon Slim – Escape From the Chicken Coop (blues)

Slim is one of the more innovative bluesmen playing today, bringing a sense of immediacy to a venerable form. This set mixes in enough country twang to make for good driving music, especially if your vehicle of choice is an 18-wheeler on a cross-country haul.

Listen to Watermelon Slim “Caterpillar Whine”

Yim Yames – Tribute To (folk)

A 6-song solo tribute to George Harrison. Reverb-laden and ruminative, Yames' intimate re-interpretations manage to find new emotional terrain in familiar songs.

Listen to Yim Yames “Long, Long, Long”

Also worth a listen: Selaelo Selota, Solillaquists of Sound, Zabe da Loca

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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