3 Dids / 3 Didn'ts

So while I did write about a bunch of music I loved (or at least recommended) as part of my year end extravaganza, I did not write about any albums that I listened to but was not necessarily impressed with or was ambivalent (since you know, I try to be positive here). However, there were a few.

For example, I was excited about the the new Jose Gonzalez trio, Junip, but their summer release ultimately didn't move me. I was hoping for a bit more richness from the accompanying musicians--particularly percussion. That happens on a track or two, but in the end, I would just as soon have heard a Gonzalez solo album since the added musicians really didn't change the feel of the songs and it took away from the solo acoustic guitar feeling.

Another album that didn't meet expectations (although I kind of saw this coming) was Jenny Lewis' new effort, Jenny and Johnny. Just too much self-indulgent psychoanalysis without music that could compensate. Anyone else besides me hoping for a Rilo Kiley reunion?

And then there was Josh Ritter's latest effort, So Runs the World Away. Now I had intended to write about Josh Ritter at more length since he as an artist I have been catching up with, but never got around to it. I had become quite taken with The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter thanks to Nelson and moved on to So Runs. Now this album is not necessarily a disappointment and I keep coming back to it so it has the best chance to be a turnaround album for me, but it is just not immediately an album I took to. There are some wonderful songs and I appreciate the darkness of the album, but we will have to see.

Now at the same time, a host of albums came out in 2010 that I did not get to, but still hope to. Some are just obvious that I will, but haven't. For instance, I didn't pick up the latest Spoon effort which I will-but that was in part because I was still diggin' all the older Spoon I had recently discovered. But stepping past the obvious--here are three artists I am planning to check out who are all relatively new.

First up is Mumford and Sons who were all over the year end lists and topped Paste's Best New Bands list of 2010.

Next up is young Sarah Jaffe from Texas who many are watching for both her voice and her songwriting.

And finally, The Head and the Heart who NPR picked as one of five bands you should have known in 2010.

Who else should I have listened to that I didn't and who can I not worry about?

The End of the Year Music Review / Holiday Shopping Recommendations Extravaganza

I know that some of you have been seeing all the year-end best of lists that are piling up out there and saying sure I can see Paste’s list or NPR’s or Spin’s, but when, when will we get a list from cpsland? (Actually some of you are probably just wondering if there was ever going to be a post that is about anything other than why I never seem to get around to posting anymore.)

Others are probably thinking that I am cutting it pretty close as you wait for the list so you can do your Christmas music shopping for your loved ones—you are waiting on me, right?

Others are thinking—I guess I could wade back though his blog and find each music review and decide what to buy (after all given how infrequently he posts it shouldn’t take that long), but damn, it would be nice if someone would just remind me of which ones he liked all in one place.

Others are wondering if there aren’t some discs out there that perhaps I have been secretly listening to, but not blogging about (surely this must be the case given his blogging rate as of late).

Others probably just Googled “extravaganza” and randomly ended up here. Welcome.

Okay, so here we go—my short list of albums I would recommend. Some I discussed early this year. Some I have not found time to write about. And there is even a hangover from last year that I never got around to. Bottom line, these are all “albums” that hold together all the way through.

• First up, because I don’t think you will see this one on any of the big name lists and I really just love these guys, is Frontier Ruckus with Deadmalls and Nightfalls. I like this album even more now than when I first reviewed it. This is a great gift for most because it is one of those bands that is just getting discovered by more and more folks so you can look like you are on the edge (well, sort of).
  
  
• Leaving Michigan and heading over to Brooklyn we find two other albums that ate up huge amounts of my listening time this year: The National’s High Violet and The Walkmen’s Lisbon. Both got my attention and admiration earlier this year—here and here--along with everyone else in the universe. But don’t let the success of these albums scare you away, they are both solid from start to finish and will surely be pointed to when people look back and talk about the Brooklyn sound from the early 2000s.
  
  
• Now in a similar vein as these slacker-esque-indie-singer-song-writer-rock bands (that is a compliment), comes the new album by Deerhunter which I have yet to write about. As you can tell from the reviews over at the big board, Halcyon Digest is a solid album that delivers on its name. As Pitchfork notes, this “is a record about the joy of music discovery, the thrill of listening for the first time to a potential future favorite, and that sense of boundless possibility when you're still innocent of indie-mainstream politics and your personal canon is far from set.”
  
  
• Speaking of critically acclaimed albums that I have yet to write about, let us not skip over the new Arcade Fire album, Suburbs. I almost didn’t put this on the list, because even though this is clearly their best album to date . . . and in many ways it eliminates some of my ambivalence about this talented group . . . and the angst over everything the suburbs stands for is more in line with my own angst . . . I somehow still feel something holding me back. Perhaps all the praise and first place finishes this album is receiving? Not sure. But the bottom line is that one way or another, this album is worth a listen and no one should be disappointed to find it in their stocking.
  
  
• Shifting gears to the alt-country side of the world, Justin Townes Earle’s new album, Harlem River Blues, is wonderful. I am not convinced it is good as Midnight at the Movies which I loved, but the focus on New York and really the first three songs are just about as good an opening as you could ask for. As PopMatters not so subtly puts it:

It takes balls of steel to write country blues about the Harlem River, living in Brooklyn, and working on the Manhattan subway line as if one were singing about rural life in the Appalachian hollows. Justin Townes Earle confidently writes and performs these 10+ songs as if he’s singing about life back in Tennessee instead of the Big Apple, and does this so damn convincingly that you believe him. It’s a neat trick, and a tribute to Earle’s artistry that he does this so well.

So for you honky-tonkers out there, this is a definite pick-up.

• Now at this point, I feel like I am writing an awful lot about albums I love, but haven’t bothered to write about—isn’t that helpful. So let’s jump back to a summer favorite that I have also been recently revisiting and still really enjoy (and isn’t it time for a woman lead in this list any way?). I am speaking, of course, about The Mynabirds, otherwise known as Laura Burhenn and her band. As I noted this summer, this is a wonderful country-gospel-blues Stax-like album with Burhenn imitating just about every female vocalist out there while still holding her own identity. Neat trick—you should check it out.
  
  
• And really, this can’t be a full list without some jazz, right? So, for absolute sure, anyone who has not picked up Ten by Jason Moran and his trio should. Right now. It may not be as hard in its boppin as Black Stars or as mixed media as Artist in Residence. It may not be as thoughtful or as stride as Modernistic. And it isn’t live. But it is all of those things in a wondrous mix of modern jazz set in a long tradition of jazz that celebrates the bands 10 years of work together.
  
  And speaking of the traditions of jazz, I never wrote about Vijay Iyer’s critically acclaimed album Historicity last year—despite the fact that it topped many a list for the year and is well worth it. This is a complicated and dense album—you will be amazed at the sound a trio can produce, but the point is, you will be amazed. So for any jazz lovers who happened to miss these two great albums—take care of that lack right now.
  
  

Okay, so that is definitely enough—I mean really, the staff here is pretty small. There are a bunch of albums I have listened to this year that didn’t make the list—but really it isn’t very holiday-like to write about things not to buy, right? I mean, artists need to earn their keep too.

Here is hoping you all have a great holiday season—even are already having one given how late I am here. Let me know which albums I should have checked out that I didn't--I already have a list going, but would love to hear your thoughts. I will save my resolving to blog more for the new year!

The Walkmen Getting it (Really) Together

For the last several weeks, while this blog has been silent on the matter of music, several discs have been receiving significant listening time here in cpsland, but none has been listened to as much as the latest effort by The Walkmen. Lisbon, which actually came out earlier this fall, is, in this writer’s humble opinion, the best album this band has released to date.

Now some will disagree on the grounds that this album has continued down a path the band has been taking toward slower, sparser, and quieter tunes. True, this album is no Bows and Arrows in terms of rock intensity, but many of the same qualities are still present, just toned down and more nuanced. The songs have more variation and textures, more space and ultimately are more lyrical.

When I first wrote about The Walkmen, I explained that I simply did not get them at first, in part because lead singer Hamilton Leithauser’s approach seemed to always be slightly off—off tune, off tempo—unconnected with the driving music underneath. It was accepting that tension between vocals and music that was key to coming to appreciate what the band was doing.

That tension is still there to a certain extent on Lisbon, but it only in your face here and there on rockers like the opening song “Angela Surf City”—which Pitchfork reviewer Tom Breihan puts on the top of the heap of Walkmen songs with “The Rat” and “In the New Year”. More often, that tension is resolving as many of the songs on Lisbon are crafted with the vocals wholly integrated into the song and Leithauser’s singing is simply beautiful (all the while maintaining his edgy, flat. slacker sound).

That is most clear on the back end of the album which slows down with each song. Who would have ever thought these guys would have a song called “Torch Song” (which is actually sung at the pace of a torch song)? They do—and, in fact, they seem to be getting comfortable in this new skin. As Leithauser’s sings in “While I Shovel the Snow,”

For now I’ll take my time
For now, I can’t be bothered . . .
There is no life like the snow life

That can only mean one thing. There next album is going to be a blazin’ rocker.

Until then, I highly recommend this album with it mix of mid-tempo rockers and slow burners—I predict it will be one that you come back to repeatedly. For samples, I was tempted to give you the closing title track which is a great reflection on the everyday and then that wonderful opening rocker (allowing you to enjoy that wonderful disc-replay- rollover), but decided on two others.

First up is a “Blue as Your Blood” which perhaps reflects best all the band’s talk about the album being influenced by early Sun Record recordings, but more importantly is a great example of the sparseness of many of these songs which also maintain their unique mix of guitar, drums and vocals. And then, I couldn’t help but share that “Torch Song” in which the band seeks a song to slow down all the madness. Leithauser moans that he doesn’t know that song, but, of course we are listening to it.

Blues As Your Blood
Torch Song

Go buy the album.

Another Fine Adventure with Frontier Ruckus

As if having just endured a long, grey winter followed by a cold, rainy spring and emerging into the wonders of early summer, Frontier Ruckus sighs and settles in to look back on what they have passed through and forward to what will replace the past. Deadmalls and Nightfalls, the bands second full album, is all about the shedding and sloughing off, abandonment and change, and (as always seems the case with lyricist Matthew Milia) memory and place.

Now, I had some significant angst as the release of this album approached because I love their first album The Orion Songbook so much and my expectations were high. No worries. Just about everything that I liked about that first effort holds true here. Milia's lyrics are as lush and poetic as ever filled with nature and smells, creating landscapes jam packed with imagery--as if Walt Whitman is walking through Michigan with a guitar. The album opens with Milia buzzing and worrying that "all the vegetation in the settled world is stirring" which it will continue to do throughout the album.

Musically, the album is both similar to the first album . . . and not. I thought that the first album got a bit "musical saw" happy (a minor criticism), but that is clearly not an issue here. The songs rely on Milia's guitar and Davey Jones banjo to build songs around with various instruments from fiddle to horn to harmonium providing texture and giving individual songs a different feel. As I noted when the album started streaming I was particularly happy to hear Anna Burch singing harmonies on this album as her steely voice is a perfect counter part to Milia's lead vocals. Overall, the songs are extremely well constructed and the band (and the production of the band) is clearly getting a bit more subtle and sophisticated.

At the same time, I have to say that my first reaction was that I wanted a bit more, um, ruckus. In fact, I was surprised to see PopMatters suggest that the main difference between the first and second albums was the "diversity of pace and rhythm in almost every song." I agree that there is sophisticated constructions on many songs, including "Ontario" as PM notes, but overall this album has a much more even tempo to it than the first. It is also somewhat more laid back, particularly on the back half of the album which is considerably more subdued than the first album which has a number of wonderfully rambunctious songs throughout the album.

On the other hand, as I listen (and listen and listen) to Deadmalls & Nightfalls, each and every song grows on me and this is part of what makes this album such a strong album. It is wonderfully similar and different all at once and, ultimately, at least, an equal to the first album--which is to say, not to be missed!

Now, you can still hear the whole album over on the band's Facebook page, but let me put up a couple samples for you to hear. But let me make a special request here. I don't often get the chance to write about and recommend bands that many of you won't have heard of--but that is the case here. And that means that this is a band that both needs and deserves your support. So after you listen to some of their tunes, go buy this album and while you are at it, get their first one too.

Deciding which songs to share was difficult given how much I am enjoying the whole album. "Silverfishes" was always clearly going to be one I wanted to share as it is simply a classic Frontier Ruckus song. After that it is tempting to put something from the first half of the album which is so strong with the two opening tracks really just setting the stage perfectly. But let me switch gears a bit and share one of the wonderfully slow songs which also includes some nice fiddle work that makes you think that might be a feature we see more of in the future. These two tracks also come in the middle of the disc (tracks 5 and 7) so you get a sense of the shift between the front and back half of the disc.

Silverfishes

Does Me In

Can't wait to listen to this one as we make the long drive up from DC, past Oriontown to the pines and birch of northern Michigan and the big lake.

Spare & Muscular: Catching Up with Spoon

I have a swamp of discs piled up that I am listening to, but before getting to those, I need to finish writing about the last batch, all oriented at my effort to fill in some major holes in my listening from the last decade. Now by know, you know I started this project because of Paste's Best of the Decade list, but in the case of the band Spoon, the real imperative came from the fact that they also topped the big board's decade list (although apparently in the twisted world of music criticism, Spoon's consistency can also become a problem--one The National should worry on--um, yeah).

Now, of course, Spoon recently released a new album, but, as is my want, I went back in the catalog and started with the critically acclaimed Kill the Moonlight which made me wonder how it was possible I had not been listening to this band as this is an absolutely solid indie-rock album. That made me drop back one album to Girls Can Tell which is not quite as strong of an overall album for me--although is still very, very good all the way through and has a couple killer tunes. It is also a little more straight forward rock with Kill the Moonlight introducing a bit more techno-synth sound. These albums are both on the short-side (better than on the long-side in my book), but are just packed full. As Pitchfork notes in their review of Kill the Moonlight:

Spoon's latest is their magnum opus to date; it takes a scalpel to the highlight reel of their career, cutting and pasting a 35-minute tour de force that ends too soon.

If I hadn't know so ahead of time, I think I would have assumed these gents hailed from the UK given Britt Daniel's punky drawl which is Joe Strummer like at times. But, of course, Texas is where Spoon calls home which might help explain the Austin-slacker attitude in their songs and the bluesy-rock feel which underpins many songs. Both of these qualities are key to why I find them so appealing--they typically take on very small, discrete everyday objects, events and ideas in their songs. That is not to say that the songs are simple--their may be a larger point to the songs--but ultimately, they don't over-reach. Observation trumps preaching.

But what is most intoxicating to me is the music. It too is simple and straightforward, but not. First of all, there is a whole bunch of space in the music and you really get a sense of the band consciously leaving that space between the instruments, riffs, vocals and melodies. At the same time, the music is very muscular--I can't think of another word to describe it. The bass and drum are not only insistent and solid underneath these songs, you get the feeling that the whole song is built around them--and yet they do all this without tons of notes or fills. The guitar (and on the more tech-oriented Kill, keyboards) do all kinds of wonderful lyrical filling in--but again always in a sorta-punky-rockabilly-chord-rippin' way. It is somehow lyrical and edgy simultaneously. And then there is Brit Daniels vocals which are growly, tense and urgent one minute, laid-back and whatever the next but always a perfect fit.

So I am far from done with Spoon. I will probably jump into the 2007 effort Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga next, or perhaps I will even try to start being current and pick up Transference. Any thoughts there? Until then, here are a few from these two wonderful albums. As usual, I am going with the order I experienced the albums, rather than chronology. Also going to try to give you a little mix of tempo and style.

Small Stakes (Kill the Moonlight / Buy Album)

Vittorio E.

Lines in the Suit (Girls Can Tell / Buy Album)

Take a Walk

Some Soaring Rocketboys

I'm going to work at throwing up some shorter posts to talk about the music that has been getting a good deal of play time around here in the last couple months. If I wait to try to write something longer, they will never appear. And this is a perfect example.

The Rocketboys are a band that I first heard thanks to the ever-giving Daytrotter (who continues to refuse to understand that paragraphs are important for readers). A five piece band out of Austin, Texas, their first full release, 20,000 Ghosts, is a beautifully constructed piece of folk-infused indie-rock that shows that these boys have been working together for some time.

Their sound and lyrics feel as if they were born out of a church experience with rich soaring choral harmonies and introspective wanderings that are filled (not surprisingly given the album title) with many spirits, floating memories, hopeful endings and a general sense of searching. Don't get me wrong, the songs are definitely rock pieces at their heart with some wonderful guitar playing and very tight drums and bass that drive the pieces. But fundamentally these are beautifully written and arranged acoustic pieces. You can see that here as they play the opening tune on the album--which is a great wall of layered sound and vocals--in an acoustic setting at the Paste studios. You almost feel like it is a Fleet Foxes set and that is saying something.

But the album is plugged-in acoustic. Everything is bigger, but not in a power-chord way, more like a church organ of searching guitars, wonderful piano/keyboard and voices.

They are going to have to figure out how they are going to move forward as this album is a little bit too much the same throughout (just a tad)--perhaps a bit more acoustic and some slower rather than mid-tempo pieces would help. I don't think going heavier and faster is in the cards or would be smart for these guys from listening to this album. That said, this is a wonderful album for folks who love well-constructed, layered songs (and don't mind turning it up a bit).

I must confess that I was listening to this a lot during the snowy, snowy winter we have had and it has a certain snow-dazed feel to it for me (despite the band being from Texas) and that may have colored my sense of it all (in a good way). It also has a couple qualities I love which is a great opening track (as you have already heard) and a slower, meditative final piece which then pulls back the theme from the opening track in a not heavy-handed way. Nice. Overall, these guys deserve more than regional attention as they make some beautiful music.

Here are two of my favorites from the album. The first up is the second track on the album which I think has wonderful lyrics and rhythm (and great drum work). The second shows how their vocals really shine on the slower pieces.

So enjoy, and then go download this album (not available on disc as far as I can tell).

All the Western Winds

Nineteen Twenty Nine

Okay, that wasn't as short as I thought it was going to be, but that tells you something as well.

Getting on the Jason Moran Bandwagon, Part III

So just about the time that I was really diggin' Modernistic, all of the best of the year and decade lists were coming out. Included in NPR's All Songs Considered 50 most influential albums of the decade list was Moran's 2001 effort, Black Stars. As one of the few jazz albums to make that list--and given that I was ready for more--it went on the pick-up list immediately. But not long after that list came out, Walter Ray Watson, producer at NPR, suggested that Moran's 2006 Artist in Residence is a "stronger portrait of the artist as a leading voice of the 'oughts.'"

Result--two albums got ordered.

Now the reviews linked to above are more articulate about these albums than I ever will be, but here are a few thoughts, and more importantly, a taste of each.

I am going to start with Artist in Residence because that is the one I listened to first--randomly. However, it is also because this is by far my favorite of his albums and since I was so engaged by it, I took a long time getting to Black Stars. What is so engaging?

First and mainly, it is the absolute wonderful mixed media aspect of the album. Moran samples Adrian Piper's voice (and ideas) on more than one track in different ways, incorporates the sounds of pen(cil?) writing on paper almost as percussion in a contemplative piece, incorporates operatic vocals, uses eclectic percussion sounds and drives all of this with a wonderful jazz sound underneath and at times out front. The trio is as tight and funky as ever on the upbeat pieces with Waits and Mateen driving the rhythm section, joined here and there by Marvin Sewell on guitar, but also sparse and beautiful on the slower pieces. The album runs the gamut of the genre from stride, to ballad, to funk-infused bop, to western swing, to pure open-form jazz--but as seems to be the case with Moran--all wonderfully arranged. There is no doubt that if I had to put one of his albums up for a "decade list" I would agree with Watson that it would be this one.

So many options to offer up to give you a sense, but here is the opening track with Adrian Piper samples, which grabs you from the first and never let's you go, followed by one of those wonderful left-hand driving open-bop pieces and then the contemplative "Cradle Song" employing writing as an instrument.

Break Down (Buy Album)

Refraction 2

Cradle Song

So I finally extracted myself from that album and started listening to Black Stars. Perhaps it was that I had high expectations given both it being the album selected as his best in someway and/or my own exuberance, but I confess my first reactions to this one was a bit of disappointment. However, I think most of it had to do with the fact that this seemed to be the least experimental and most straight-forward jazz album of those I had listened to--within the framework of Moran's music.

Now I have listened quite a bit more and have really come to appreciate the album--particularly the way it moves through different moods and forms, but I suspect it will not receive anywhere the air time of the others I have. For starters, most tracks include either sax or flute, played by legendary Sam Rivers who I don't mean to criticize here--his playing is amazing. It is just that I love the sound the trio generates (or Moran generates on his own) and the quartet piece here don't quite have that feel--they aren't as gutsy. In fact, probably my favorite piece on the album is a trio piece. I am also, I confess, not a huge flute in jazz fan--although "Summit" on this album, with its far east sound, is a lovely piece in the middle of the album.

That said, Moran here again demonstrates he has his feet firmly spread across the whole spectrum of jazz. So here are a couple samples--whose titles I think tell you just about as much as you need to know.

Kinda Dukish (Buy Album)

Skitter In

And so ends this series of posts--until the next album!

Getting on the Jason Moran Bandwagon, Part II

So just about the time I was really getting into Jason Moran's Bandwagon, another friend noted in a post I wrote on jazz resources that she had run into Moran's Modernistic via the New Yorker and it was beautiful. Coincidence? I think not. So that was the next album to try out and it was a great next step as we moved from the more aggressive live sound to a more intimate solo album which contains a number of the pieces off Bandwagon, although in a very different form.

Now to take a slight detour, David Alder (who is someone to follow if you don't) recently started a bit of a debate with his post on Covers vs. Standards when he argued that we shouldn't dismiss jazz players who focus on "covers" which are an important component of both keeping the form alive and of mastering the form. Alder suggests that currently the pendulum of tradition vs. innovation might be swinging too far toward the modern, experimental music--at least in terms of who is getting recognized. It was funny as I read the post because I was thinking how well Moran keeps a foot in each camp and that Modernistic was a perfect example of this.

I am not disagreeing with Alder (although the discussion about artists like Moran not playing standards seemed a miss, at least in Moran's case) but rather to say that his post highlighted something I love about Moran--and noted in the first part: his breadth. But not just that he ranges across genre and style, but that he is so clearly grounded in jazz and plays with both beautiful technique and skill.

Modernistic opens with a wonderful arrangement of Jame P. Johnson's "You've Got to be Modernistic" which shows of Moran's wonderful stride piano work, followed by a beautiful rendering of "Body and Soul"--hello! We then shift into the more funky part of the album, starting with a brilliant version of the 80's Afrika Bambaata's rap tune "Planet Rock." and then back into an introspective section, and so it continues. Originals mixed with "covers," stride to funk, standards to classical, but all tied together in an absolutely beautiful album all laid out on just piano and mini piano.

To give you a sense of the album, which you can pick up straight from Blue Note, here are three tracks. First the opening title track if you will--just because I love when he does the stride thing and this is such a fabulous opening track. Then we skip to later in the album for a pair of tunes that show the other two main styles on the disc. First in "Gangsterism on a Lunchtable" you get an spacey, funky exploration--with the help of some interesting instrumentation that someone will have to explain to me--that is Copeland-esque in both tune and phrasing, but all jazz. This is followed by a beautiful take on Robert Schumann's "Auf Einer Burg/In A Fortress" that makes you realize Moran could be a wholly different type of piano player if he chose to be. In short, it is all good.

You've Got To Be Modernistic

Gangsterism On A Lunchtable

Einer Burg/In A Fortress

This is an album that should be in everyone's collection and made me wonder if Jason Moran might not be the best young pianist and composer out there right now. A question I leave to those with more knowledge and awareness of all that is out there, but it is hard to not see him up there near the top of the list.

Getting on the Jason Moran Bandwagon, Part I

Somewhere about a year ago, a friend from college days noted that he had been listening to Jason Moran and, in fact, had seen him in concert. He said "not to be corny, but it was more like a journey than a concert." Now, this is a person who is a musician, was a composition major in college and, most importantly, was the guy who once gave me a similar description of Keith Jarrett before he dropped The Köln Concert on me. Yeah, so given that track record, who isn't going to go buy a Jason Moran album? But what album I asked. "Well," says musical friend, it "was a piece called Intermezzo off his album Bandwagon" that got him interested.

And so, that is where I began--although I have subsequently picked up several others, so I am going to write about these in the order I experienced them rather than in the order in which they were released.

When I first got the disc and put it in and the intro played followed by the first track "Another One" which is a pretty raucous affair, I had my doubts. Then comes "Intermezzo" which is actually a piece by Brahms--which is beautiful--followed by a whole host of tunes nothing like it. Now granted, I wasn't really attending to the disc as I should have been the first time thourgh, but I was left with the impression that the Brahms piece was the exception and reminded of the fact that my musical friend also loves the modern, dissonant stuff and I feared this was just not going to be my cup o' jazz.

But, I let it sit a couple weeks and then started playing it in places and at times when I could listen more carefully and a very different impression emerged. Here was someone who could range from Brahms to hip-hop oriented tunes, to beautiful delicate jazz ballads, to straight up bop, to swinging jazz standards. And the range and variation somehow manages to work in a way that produces an album that manages to not only hang together but also create, yes, a journey.

This is someone who uses voice and recordings in a way that makes the music rich and textured not gimicky. Moran is someone who not only has wonderful articulation on the right hand as skips across the keys, but who has wonderful left hand work that almost always has a stride feel to it or on more lyrical pieces big deep chords that resonate throughout the whole piece. That left hand rhythm work is aided by two talented musicians, Tarus Mateen on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums, both who drive the upbeat tunes primarily on the low ends of their respective instruments and delicately float through the softer pieces.

Bandwagon is a live affair so it has more pieces that are boppin' than chilled, but the balance is still wonderful. Just to give you a sense of that, here are two samples. I have to give you the Intermezzo, right, which speaks for itself. That is followed (here and on the record) by "Ringing My Telephone (Straight Outta Istanbul)" which exemplifies Moran's great use of voice.

Intermezzo, Op. 18, No. 2

Ringing My Telephone (Straight Outta Istanbul)

There is a whole lot more to say, but since, as I noted above, my experience with this album led to several other Moran albums, I will save some commentary for my discussion of those. If you like this one, you can buy the album here, or an autographed copy here.

Special Delivery: Prefab Sprout Exposed

So back during the holidays, College Roomy delivered, not 1, not 2, not 3, but 10 discs to my mailbox. This wasn't just a delivery of a lot of music, but a lot of music that is right in my listening wheel-house (I guess no real surprise given how well CR knows me). The delivery included classic jazz artists like Thad Jones, Eddie Harris and Steve Kuhn (amazingly three artists I had nothing by); Joe Henry's jazz infused Scar which I might have mistakenly chosen to not go back and get (it is a wonderful effort); a couple great solo piano albums, one by Richie Beirach at Maybeck the other Gabriela Montero's Piano Recital; and a few others including Van Morrison's wonderful Live Astral Weeks at the Hollywood Bowl.

But the album that took me by most surprise in someway, probably because I thought I knew (even owned) the album, was a classic 80's disc, Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout. The original, which was released in the U.S. as Two Wheels Good, came out at a time that might not be thought of as the height of good music. Prefab's style, in some ways, fits into that less-than-memorable era of smooth-wave, British techno-pop, but this album stands out despite the musical tendencies of that era. That said, this disc might have been relegated to the shelves along with many fine memories of college music were it not for CR's special delivery.

The key here is that in 2007, Prefab re-masters and re-releases McQueen, but this time with a bonus disc of frontman Paddy McAloon, playing and singing most of the songs accousticly. The originals are all wonderfully jazzy tunes that are better than most pop (aided by Thomas Dolby's production of the original album), but these acoustic versions drive that point home. As Pitchfork points out:

One thing the new versions do highlight is the astonishing maturity of the songs. Coincidentally, almost all of Dolby choices dated from 1979, when Paddy was 22. Yet they sound all the more appropriate sung by a man of 50.

The point here is that this was a very good album in the 80's, still is, and these bonuses brought me back to the album as more than just an album from college days. And the reissue is well worth your while if you don't already have this one.

Here are a couple originals paired with the acoustic versions. The opening track of the album Faron Young isn't my favorite, but it is a great first track and gives you a sense of one type of song on the album. Appetite is the more common type song on the album and shows off what I believe are the strengths of the album. Enjoy!

Steve McQueen: Legacy Edition / Prefab Sprout: Buy the Album

Faron Young

Appetite

Faron Young (acoustic version)

Appetite (acoustic version)

Avett Brothers Backwards, Part II (long overdue)

To say that I have a backlog of potential posts on music in my mind would be quite the understatement. When I re-formulated the blog to include more than just music, I thought this would allow me to post more regularly with music mixed in, but somehow music posts always take longer and I don't seem to get to them. But I will not give in! Post even shorter, even less-insightful posts about music? Sure. Give in? Never!

So let's start with the fact that it has been since last Halloween (as in two and a half months, several blizzards, and a host of holidays ago) that I posted Part I of this supposed two part post on the Avett Brothers. (As The Engineer would say: sheesh!) If you can recall that far back, I noted that I had not owned any music by these fine musicians and was in the process of exploring them startng with their most recent album first and working backwards. Payton commented (back on the dreaded WordPress blog) that he hoped the next album I was listening to was Emotionalism as every song on it was a gem.

It was, and he is right.

I know this sounds silly, but part of the beauty of this album is that it is so, well, emotional. And not just any emotions, but a lot of different ones--love, shame, anger, anticipation, remorse, sadness and on and on. Many of them are connected with growing up, learning and self-reflection, which anyone who has read anything I have written about music knows is one of my favorite themes. Here for instance is a favorite verse from "The Weight of Lies":

I once heard the worse thing
A man could do is draw a hungry crowd
Tell everyone his name, pride, and confidence
But leaving out his doubt
I’m not sure I bought those words
When I was young I knew most everything
These words have never met so much to anyone
As they now mean to me

Verses such as that are made all the more powerful by great song construction and singing with beautiful harmonies. The songs invite you in, envelop you and take you for their own individual rides. They make you ache, but leave you hopeful.

The album is also put together really well in terms of song order and theme. It moves nimbly from ballad to blues to upbeat bluegrass. Even the "Pretty Girl from Chile" which moves from country-flamenco (is that a genre? or redundant in some way?) to a minute and a half of rocking metal falls just right in the midst of the other songs. And as usual with albums that I find so compelling as albums it is hard to know what to sample to really reflect the effort as a whole. It is also a bit difficult because many of these songs speak directly to me and so it is not hard to get all personal about them.

So here are three from later in the album to give you a sense. Suffice it to say that I wish I had written "All My Mistakes" (on a regular basis). Following that "Living of Love" is perfectly time and beautifully crafted and "Pretty Girl from SD" gives you a sense of the fun side of this album.

All My Mistakes

Living Of Love

Pretty Girl From San Diego

The bottom line here is that if there happens to be anyone else out there who managed to not notice this album when it came out a couple years back, just pick it up already.

And for those who are already AB connoisseurs, what is the next album I should sample?

Lessons from the Road

We have once again made the trek up to the north shore to visit family and friends in Cleveland for the holidays and, as is always the case, I learned a few things in the car (and before) on the way up (some of which you think I would have learned already).

1. If you get your children a Wii for Christmas, it is best to not stay up the night before until midnight playing Super Mario Brothers instead of getting the packing and prep done for the trip (but it sure was fun).
2. We know far too many of the employees at the Bob Evans in Breezewood.
3. It appears that he who rides in the back--in this case, The Captain--seems to be the best traveler of the bunch.
   
4. I would really like to hang out with They Might Be Giants when they write a song for one of their kid's albums.
5. Even though it seems like a good time to plan some things (like say, life, for instance), we never really manage to do it.
   
6. If it is slanting-southern-sunny day, create some sun-blocking device for the Engineer's window since he sits on the side facing south and he is going to be HOT!
7. Tunnels are endlessly fascinating.
8. Thinking that a long road trip is the perfect time to listen to that stack of discs College Roomy sent earlier this month is based on the faulty premise that you can hear the music well enough to attend to it.
9. The Artist has thought of a lot of alternative (and faster, much faster) means of transportation.
   
10. Arriving just as a nice winter storm starts is perfect timing.

We shall see what the return trip has to offer.

Holiday Music 09 Installment Two: For the Kids

Yes I said I would be posting about holiday music and yes I said I imagined it was going to mostly focus on jazz as that seems to be the mood I am in, but see we had this little snow blizzard thingy that changed things. First it resulted in a lot more time hanging inside with the boys (who basically had their holiday break extended to two full weeks by the snow) and that meant more holiday music oriented toward their tastes. And that means, you get to hear about one of my favorite kid holiday discs.

Now the Veggie Tales cartoons are not for everyone I realize, but I do find the humor to be of that special kind that makes both kids and adults giggle alike and that is true on A Very Veggie Christmas. The basic premise of the disc is that the various characters (yes they are all vegetables) are all gathering at Bob the Tomato's place for a sing off with each character singing a holiday song in a different style (kinda). This is complicated by the fact that (stay with me here) Larry the Cucumber was in charge of food and has ordered it from the Oscar the Polish caterer who runs notoriously late and so the food jokes run throughout the disc until Oscar finally arrives--with various wrapped meats.

I won't go on here--you will get the gist from the music and banter below featuring Pa Grape and Family, the French Peas (my personal favorite--anyone have a good French Christmas music recommendation BTW?), and the whole cast singing along with Oscar. It really is a good one for the kids--trust me that it has been well tested and approved by the boys in this household.

Veggies Talking

Go Tell It On the Mountain

More Veggies Talking

He is Born, The Holy Child

Still More Veggies Talking

The 8 Polish Foods of Christmas

And in case you aren't keeping track, it is almost time for Santa to take off!

Cory Chisel: Suprised, Not Surprised

I know, I know--I should be doing Christmas-y things. But see I have all this music I have been listening to and then College Roomy sent me ten new discs--ten!!! So I am in danger of drowning in new music, which is fine except that what gets lost is any sense of what I wanted to say about different discs/artists, so I have got to get some of it out. So let's talk Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons for a little bit, shall we?

The new album, Death Won't Send a Letter which came out earlier this fall is the band's first major label release which follows the well-received EP release Cabin Ghosts, which we discussed back in The Room. Chisel is new enough on the scene, but I was surprised not to see more reaction, if not attention to this effort--not because it is earth-shattering, but it is a very solid album and Chisel seems like one of those dudes who might just be around a while (although it is hard to see).

However, when I did read through other reviews such as this one over at Consequence of Sound, I wasn't surprised to see discussion of Dylan, Springsteen and Petty--all names that came to mind as I listened to this disc. Not because he is any of one these guys (calm down ya'll), but because the influences seem to resonate through the disc at different moments--and that was, well, a surprise. After Cabin Ghosts, I was expecting a bit more of an acoustic album and here we have more of a rocker album--I'm not talking metallic, but rocking nonetheless (due, in part to some help from various Raconteurs). That isn't to say there aren't some acoustic-oriented or quieter songs--there are. But the album as a whole is really a blues-based rock album with folk and pop tendencies. And Chisel's voice--which really is the highlight--is very well suited.

It isn't beautiful and he isn't showing off some amazing range--but it is sincere and straightforward--gravelly and growly at times, soft and sweet others. I surely said this before but he really reminds me of Marc Cohn vocally. All of which makes me wish that we had caught their show when they were in town this week, but alas, that just was not to be this week.

Okay, so I really have to get back to the holidays, so here are the samples. First up is the video for "Born Again" which opens up the album, followed by two bluesy tunes that appear back to back in the middle of the album--and by the way can I say that I really like discs that have a strong set of songs in the middle of the disc and this one does.

My Heart Would Be There

Curious Thing

And if you are digging it, you should go Buy the Album!

Holiday Music 09 Installment One: Carla Bley

Last year when The Room was still my virtual home, I did a series of posts on Christmas music which I imagined that I would make an annual feature--and indeed we shall--just here in the new space. We are particularly in the mood since we got a little snowy blizzard yesterday that involved snowmen, hot chocolate and of course hanging by the fire (one of the first of the year given the family room project--really, pictures coming). On to the music.

I am feeling that this year's look at holiday music will be pretty heavy on the jazz given what seems to be playing most often around our place. And it is going to start with a disc that came out this year and that I just recently acquired thanks to a rec from AccuJazz--which, by the way, has gobs or holiday jazz streaming if you are looking for such a site. The disc in question is Carla's Christmas Carols featuring Carla Bley (piano) Steve Swail (guitar) and the Partyka Brass Quintet. It is in many ways the perfect mix for me.

First, it is wonderful blend of jazz arrangements with a classical feel. The instrumentation is wonderful since, as someone who played trumpet for a long time, I love brass (but this is not your parents' brass quintet). It is mostly quiet, but with some nice upbeat tunes and moments within songs, but nothing schlocky like so many jazz holiday albums. As All About Jazz points out, Bley picks mainly traditional--that would be traditional, not boring--tunes and deals with them uniquely.

While others look for obscure Christmas tunes to lend themselves identity, Bley's choices are as conventional as they come—"The Christmas Song," "Ring Christmas Bells," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and "Jingle Bells" are but four of the twelve tunes that are so familiar as to be nearly Jungian. Still, this isCarla Bley, one of the great arrangers of the past half century, and her arrangements manage to tread the fine line between veracity and expansive, personal interpretation. There's no mistaking the "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" melody of "The Christmas Song" but, while avoiding any "jazzin' up Christmas" schtick, Bley makes this an unequivocally jazz album, as flugelhornist Axel Schlosser lays down some bop-inflected lines during his solo.

Indeed. Here are a few samples starting with their beautiful version of "O Tannebaum" which opens the album, and then, one of my favorites, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (here, Part's I and II):

O Tannebaum

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Part I

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Part II

And if you are a Christmas music fan, a jazz fan and/or a classical brass fan, then, buy this album.

Three to Consider: Dinner Party Music

OK—I have to get some of the music blogging out of the way as it is getting crowded in in my mental music blog closet—and since College Roomy seems worried that I have completely abandoned jazz as of late, we shall start there with a quick look at two newer jazz albums and one other that came out last year. Bottom line here is that these are three well-performed and recorded disc, better than average, but ultimately not the kind of discs I might listen to routinely because they are so incredible. They are more apt to be a discs I could imagine lining up for different stages of a dinner or cocktail party—people swinging and chatting, they might ask who it is, but no one is going to run out and pick them up afterward. But let’s see what you think. Here is a mix of six songs (two from each) that you can listen to while you read on, or make dinner, or whatever.

I Can't Help It (Parlato)

"A" Dance (Figarova)

Uncle James (McBride)

Theme for Kareem (McBride)

Weak (Parlato)

Bedtime Story (Figarova)

First up we have Gretchen Parlato’s newest album, In A Dream (we are skipping including album cover art here for previously stated reasons). For those who don’t know Parlato, she is an up-and coming jazz vocalist who first got real attention when she one the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocals Competition in 2004. I ran into her this summer when she did a bit on The Checkout. The album was billed as a minimalist showcase for Parlato’s voice with only limited instrumentation on most songs. There is no doubt that she is a talented singer and particularly if you like the Brazilian flavor, bossa nova type sound you will dig the interpretations here. It keeps you feeling like you should be gliding through a hip crowd of sleekly dressed folks, in a mod bar sipping elegant drinks as Parlato gently swings the joint with her slightly funky interpretations (although you might wonder who brought their kid along at a couple of points). Very cool, very competent—just not so amazing I will regularly chose the disc over other vocalists.

Shifting gears, let’s move on to the new Christian

McBride album, Kind of Brown, which has also been getting a lot of attention, because, well, it’s Christian McBride and he has played bass of every sort with just about every jazz musician alive (and passed) even though he hasn’t even hit 40 yet. I had been avoiding it a bit because the band, “Inside Straight,” included vibraphones and I am just not a big fan. But people kept asking if I had heard, people were calling it the best album of the year, best in recent years, etc. and so I checked it out.

Kind of Brown is probably the best of these three albums and it will definitely get a lot of accolades this year. The performances are really, really solid and it is the kind of straight ahead jazz I typically really like. But again, I wasn’t as moved as others. It just didn’t grab me and make me really want to just turn it up and get into the groove of the music—it seemed almost too clean, too well-performed . . . safe. Now that said, I do think this is an album I will come back to and see if it just hit me wrong at the time, but for now it just isn’t coming across as the amazing albums others see it as.

Last up, we have Amina Figarova’s Above the Clouds (with another bad cover). Figarova is a Dutch pianist who fronts a nonet here, playing all original pieces. She has been composing and performing a while, but this is the first offering of hers I have listened to. I should note that the instrumentation includes flute which is right up there with vibes for me, but similarly here as with the vibes on McBride, it is okay.

The tunes are, for the most part, very straight forward jazz pieces with someone laying down the theme, the passing around of that theme to various soloists, and then a return to the full band synthesis of that theme--reminds me a bit of Blue Note albums I like that way. I don’t know a lot about European artists, but the ones I have listened to all have a certain smooth quality to them, very precise and clean but not hard. I don't mean that as a warning that this is tame or smooth jazz as in the kind you hear on radio stations with names like "The Breeze," but rather that they have a certain lyrical quality to them I enjoy. In fact, of these three albums, this is the one that has had the most listening time--although it does get a bet too theme-oriented in the middle if the disc.

Ultimately, they are all worth a listen, and if you like what you heard here, below are links where you can pick them up.

Gretchen Parlato: In A Dream

Christian McBride: Kind of Brown

Amina Figarova: Above the Clouds

Organizational/Musical/Technical Advice Requested

Alright y’all. I need some advice. I could research the inter-webs or perhaps even go to a store and talk to some knowledgeable sales person (assuming I could find one), but really, it is so much easier just to put it all out there for your feedback. Here is the conundrum.

800 plus CDs and a desire for more.

Owning that many isn’t the issue (c'mon, I'm old) nor is my desire to have more (I am also comfortable with denial). Storing them? Now, that is the problem.

Until yesterday they were in two college-aged CD racks, in piles in front of said racks (which were overflowing), in piles on top of random players around the house—in short, it was a mess. Neats, who seemed to think I am concerned about consistency, repeatedly reminded me that when the boys have toys they have not played with in months or even years, I argue they should be passed on and perhaps I might abide by the same rule? Uh-huh. So after much debate, we decided to get these cool CD towers to place on the back wall of our newly refinished family room (pictures soon after one or more detail is taken care of).

Now Neats wasn’t all that keen on having the CD’s exposed as, well, that aren’t all that aesthetic (to her), but she found a way to give it her touch as you can see. The real issue—yes, I am back to the issue—is that this is surely only a temporary fix—eventually those cubbies are going to get filled up, the random knick-knacks will get the boot until we are out of room and then what? More towers? A whole different solution? When will it stop?

So all of this has me thinking about technology—I know, you have been thinking this for a few sentences now. Should I finally make the move to all digital music? Will I notice the subtle degradation of quality by only listening to compressed files? What about the loss of opening the package, checking out the liner notes, etc.? And more to the point, if I do go this route, what is the right piece or pieces of equipment?

What I would like is one nice piece of technology that plays CD’s, but also let’s me rip them into iTunes (or wherever), sync various iPods (or whatever), connects to the Internet, has more memory than God, and is nicely compatible with the new Bose system. OK, I hear someone saying, um, that’s a computer. Well, yeah, but I don’t really need a whole computer for that, just parts of one--and I don't want a computer in the component mix.

I know there are a variety of options out there—Apple TV, smart DVD players, etc.—or I could just buy a mega-external hard drive just for music, sync the iPods, and then play those through the Bose (and play the CD’s, if necessary, in the DVD player), but somehow I am feeling like there might be other/better options out there. Or I could just stick with 1990's old school and keep buying CD's and filling up that wall.

So anyone who knows, has theories, or has developed their own system for managing the music, please do tell.

You May Just Have to Wait for the Music, We'll See

Seems like it is a 50/50 chance that I am going to actually post on any music I have been listening to as we are about to enter into the "I only listen to holiday music (or post about holiday music)" zone--as I have previously admitted. So, let me just put down a post-turkey, pre-Christmas tree raising marker tonight to say that here is what I owe you as far as I know (and will get to come in January if not before).

• commentary on the the new Dave Rawlings Machine album (aka another Dave and Gillian disc)--hint, yummm;
• recent jazz listening (which is all acceptable, but not amazing);
• my next post on my backward walk through the Avett Brothers catalog;
• a post wondering if Jason Moran is the jazz artist of the oughts;
• there is also the new Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons album; and,
• I am beginning to look back through the what I missed this decade list.

And now as the T-Day meal is officially done, I am off to do a little holiday music shopping informed primarily by AccuJazz who has been tweeting good suggestions from their upcoming holiday channel for a couple days now (I grant them a pass on the no Christmas tunes before T-Day rule because, well, because it is a random rule I can declare in place or not whenever I feel like it).

May I be the first to say happy holidays BTW!

Two Worlds Collide!

So when I was a younger man (even a boy), I was a wee bit of a Queen fan, er, -atic. Now The Artist, who is nine, is into all things puppets and animation and at the top of that list for some time has been The Muppets (which somehow always seem to appear in our NetFlix queue). So today, the news of this video means my eldest and I are going to have a good time on the YouTube tonight!

Hat tip to Mashable.

Not Judging an Album by Its Cover: Apparently the Only Hope for Many Female Jazz Artists

So College Roomy keeps asking me about what jazz I am listening to (and buying) these days. I pointed out that not all that long ago, I posted in the now retired Room some of the reasons I think I don't buy as much jazz as other music, but that doesn't mean I don't pick up anything new. And really, I am ready to post on a few new albums, but let me get this point out of the way separately so it doesn't distract from the music-oriented post (which will include commentary on these albums with regard to the actual music).

To understand where I am coming from, you have to check out these album covers. The first is Dutch jazz pianist Amina Figarova.

And then we have award-winning vocalist Gretchen Parlato.

My question is simple. Why do talented (and they are) women continue to allow whoever to put out their albums with such awful covers? I don't even just mean it in the sense of the objectification factor (which these do)--these are just bad, really bad, covers (they are going to end up here at some point). They make you think the albums were released 30 or 40 years ago. What is the excuse now--both from the selling the woman standpoint or the smart marketing standpoint? I fear I know. Thoughts?