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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Casual Listening - Derek Webb, Bill Frisell, Eyedea & Abilities

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

July 24, 2009

! Derek Webb – Stockholm Syndrome (Christian)

One of the most interesting recordings of the year, in any genre. Meticulously produced, with elegant pop songcraft over heavy drums and electronic samples – if you dug Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” you’ll be equally entranced with Webb’s sonic collage. The album has also become the center of serious controversy, as Webb’s label refused to release it as written due to inappropriate content (namely, he used the s-word in one song, and railed against the pervasive homophobia in conservative Christian circles). Whatever your religious persuasion (or lack thereof), you’ll appreciate this as art with a progressive, righteous vision.

Listen to the song that kicked off the controversy "What Matters More” on myspace.

Then spend the $8 for the uncensored album here. When someone sticks their neck out like he did, it’s important to show your support.

Bill Frisell – Disfarmer (jazz)

Frisell is a modern guitarist who paints American musical landscapes in shimmery watercolor. This collection was inspired by another artistic original: self-taught depression-era photographer Mike Disfarmer. Reverb-soaked guitar draws out folk and country styles to convey an American Gothic atmosphere, with fiddle and bass to fill out these instrumental portraits.

Listen to Bill Frisell “No One Gets In”

Eyedea & Abilities – By the Throat (rap)

Underground rap performed with a rock band tending toward an industrial sound. Lyrically, it’s dark, but thought-provoking. These mad scientists of hip hop are succeeding with some pretty daring experiments.

Listen to Eyedea & Abilities “Spin Cycle”

Blue Roses –Blue Roses (folk)

Echoes of Joni Mitchell come through in a beautiful voice and songs that defy easy chord structures. Piano and guitar alternate in backing these songs, with multi-layered vocals, and occasional strings or glockenspiel.

Listen to Blue Roses “Greatest Thoughts”

The Takers – Taker Easy (country)

Barroom country with electric guitars and ballads of hard living. Along with a sharp album of their own this week, The Takers also have an EP out with labelmate and Casual Listening fave Austin Lucas.

Listen to The Takers “Friends in Bottles”

Listen to Austin Lucas with The Takers “My Momma’s Son”

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Casual Listening - Present Music, Debashish Bhattacharya, The Dandy Warhols

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

July 17, 2009

* Present Music – Graffiti (classical)

Motown meets Mozart? “Motor City Requiem” is one of three smart, comtemporary pieces for small ensemble that grace this collection. “Village Idiot” is energetic and accessible in a post-minimalist style reminiscent of John Adams, while “Graffiti” is a series of humorous scribbles that put on the style and affectations of famous jazz and classical composers without any recognizable melody. Clever, vibrant, and beautiful.

Listen to Present Music "Motor City Requiem"

Debashish Bhattacharya – O Shakuntala! (world)

Despite not being included in the video game pantheon, Bhattacharya is a real guitar hero. Having re-engineered the instrument to play Indian classical music, he plays mesmerizing lines accompanied by a simple table drum.

Listen to Debashish Bhattacharya “Baarish!”

The Dandy Warhols – The Dandy Warhols Are Sound (rock)

Artsy-cool electropop. Synthesizers, drums, and whispery vocals. The hipness quotient is so high, I almost feel like a poseur just talking about them.

Listen to The Dandy Warhols “We Used To Be Friends”

Gina Villalobos – Days On Their Side (rock)

She’s got a voice that’ll break your heart. Alternative country bliss with pedal steel, acoustic, and electric guitars side-by-side and just enough twang to reel you in.

Listen to Gina Villalobos on myspace here.

Clutch – Strange Cousins From the West (blues)

Clutch continues the classic rock tradition of buying a bluesmobile and hot-rodding the engine almost beyond recognition. Clutch brings power guitar riffs, hellhound-on-my-trail vocal delivery, and a proto-metal love of extreme volume.

Listen to Clutch memorialize our 16^th president in rawk: “Abraham Lincoln”

The Panic Is On: The Great Depression As Seen By the Common Man (folk)

This collection of 1930’s sides is just too timely to pass up. Twenty-three songs about hard times, including tunes from Woody Guthrie, Roy Acuff, and Sonny Boy Williamson.

Listen to Bessie Smith “Nobody Knows You (When You’re Down and Out)”

Schoolhouse Funk

Speaking of too good to pass up, how about a collection of funk tracks from high school bands off of self-produced albums in the 70’s? Yes, it’s as crazy as it sounds.

For purchase here, and some sound samples here. Check out “Camel Back”

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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Casual Listening -- Ivan Villazon, Vicente Fernandez, Hannah Montana

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

July 10, 2009

* Iván Villazón & José María “Chema” Ramos – El Vallenato Mayor (Latin)

Vallenato is the accordion-based party music of Colombia, and these two play it with gusto. Villazon’s tenor is bright and energetic, and Chema’s skills as a former world champion accordionist are still intact. Finding Vallenato this good is a rare treat.

Listen to Ivan Villazon & Chema Ramos "El Errante"

* Vicente Fernandez – Necesito De Ti (Latin)

Fernandez is something like the Bob Dylan of Mexican folk music – after decades of recording iconic songs that qualify him as a living legend, he finds a way to keep putting out amazing new music. The style is ranchera: rustic ballads well-orchestrated with strings, horns, and guitars.

Listen to Vicente Hernandez “Tengo”

Hannah Montana – Hannah Montana 3 (rock)

No, seriously…she’s popular for a reason. Just think – America has spent the last two weeks mourning a former child star who made the leap to serious adult artist. Of any of the current crop of musical teens, I think Hannah’s got the chops to make the leap. This album of songs from the TV show are cotton candy pop, but even cotton candy has its place. Trust me – seven years from now she’s going to be putting out music that’ll turn heads.

Listen to Hannah Montana “Let’s Do This”

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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