MELOMANIA with 7 albums that we just KNOW you are going to flip over
say "Hi" to your Moms and Dads too - we wager they will even like half of what is here.
J.RAWLS - #jazzhop [LP](Polar Entertainment/Fat Beats)[LP]
Now we don't want to criticize, but the whole "Lo-Fi Instrumental Hip-Hop" honestly took away from a side of that genre and added a lot to what makes producers and DJs - artists. For example, Freddie Gibbs' "Pinata" is already a blistering album with his rhymes and Madlib's beats, samples, and drops. Without Gibbs, it remains as tense and enthralling as the car chase in "The French Connection." J.Rawls has been putting out quality records for twenty years while working with Hieroglyphics, Black Star, and even producing Aloe Blacc. "#jazzhop" on its surface could be another one of those deft albums that blends classic samples and musical add-ons (from B Jazz) with slamming beats. But like Makaya McCraven's revamp of Kenny Dorham, Rawls is incorporating the essence of the older music to actually create something new. "#daydreaming" could function on his dope beat alone. However, he subtly brings the samples in planting the idea of how he will be moving through the album. "#grand" uses a fantastic melange of samples that play with both the upbeat and the downbeat in an interesting way. On the Dilla-esque "#afterdark" the faint swirl of samples and the organ are all that is needed to keep the driving beat pushing forward. In fact, Rawls's use of small vibraphone lines and only lush vocals ooh'ing in the background sets the entire album drifting beautifully from one track into another. The slinky bass of "#mood" slowly pulls you out of it, and then the standout cut "#satisfaction" with its bold brass and cool vibes is the perfect summation of how Rawls can do so much with these small disparate parts in interplay with each other.
MOTHERHOOD - Winded [LP](Forward Music Group CAN)
Like a Prog/Punk (louder) Once and Future Band, Motherhood pours out a wealth of great hooks and ideas. The Pop surprise “Shepherd” is Motherhood as their essence spouting weird lyrics in harmonies and layering their wild riffs to push and pull through it quickly. The twin-track opener “Crawly I/II” is a bit more Emo than Prog, but its thrust (that TV theme vocal part in “Crawly I”) and drive hint at their future. The louder songs definitely show their musical skills (the drum part and rising background vocals on “Tabletop.”) Like the chaotic middle of “Ripped Sheet,” when Motherhood takes control of these notions to just let go of all convention - they are going leave everyone agape.
BIRTH - BORN [LP/CD](Metal Blade/The Orchard)
San Diego’s Astra gives us Birth - a very Seventies Prog Rock band that hearkens back to the perfect mixture of Pink Floyd and their fellow ornate Rockers. “Descending Us” is almost the exact mixture of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep one could hope for. In the places where its “Gypsy”-like lick is massive, it only makes you want more from this very talented band. Birth’s real musicianship shows through in the lengthier pieces. “For Yesterday” is anthemic as it charges into its Rush-ian riff just before shining like a crazy diamond after the first startling guitar solo. In fact, the guitar/organ interplay on “Cosmic Tears” is almost a continuation with Mellotron that could seriously on for eight more minutes. “Another Time” introduces a Jazzy ELP (think: the underrated first album) style sizzler with Greg Lake-ish vocals. “Born” is weirdly breezy for a Prog album. At 41 minutes and six songs, Birth rarely wastes a moment. Musically, there is so much going on between the virtuosity and the melodic structure, “Born” demands multiple listens to capture everything that is spinning by you. Most importantly, Birth is a true old-school Prog band (as Strawberry Bricks might say.) “Born” is rarely too loud or busy for even the most ancient fans to find something to enjoy.
BHAKTI JAZZ - First Step [LP](Perfect Toy GER)
European Jazz and/or Vocal Jazz is among the most difficult to translate to our Blue Note/Atlantic trained ears. This 1980 recording from Gotz Tangerding and his group is the closest to meeting both standards. Tangerding studied in Europe and New York (with Jaki Byard no less) and his music shows the compositional strategies and accenting of a fledgling artist who improvised a lot. "Glimpses of Truth" is a splendid opener with its stretched bassline and odd-time drum fills. Add to that the vocals and saxophones in tacet and you achieve that "minor swing" that European Jazz fans seem to prefer. In addition, Tangerding is recording his own traditional Jazz music at a time when very few of these records were being noticed. That last fact is to Tangerding's benefit. The gentle piano runs on "An Answer To My Soul" and how he uses his passing chords (like Bill Evans or Paul Bley) provide all that is necessary for his compositions to take shape. Everything else is just icing on the cake. The beautiful quaint sax solo goes feverish. The drive of the female vocal. Later on the abstract changes of "Opes De Salsa," the piano and drums are never pinned down resulting in a song going everywhere (even into slight dissonance.) While there are places where the vocals slightly overwhelm Tangerding's piano/drum communication, the Metheny-esque runs on "Nitter One Pearl Too" and how they work with the saxophone on the hard swinging "Eastern Mood" make up for it. Overall, "First Step" is a worthy addition to the small library of traditional Jazz that appeared from 1974-1981 in reaction to Jazz's sojourn into Rock, Prog, Soul, and the dreaded Fusion.
CHERI KNIGHT - American Rituals [LP](RVNG)
In the Eighties, there was freedom and an artistic renaissance around Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA (read the Beat Happening chapter in Michael Azerrad's "Our Band Could Be Your Life" for more.) When minimal composer Cheri Knight met the multitrack studios at Evergreen, the tape became her palette. These compositions are the missing link between Brian Eno's Ambient series and all of today's singers and synthesists who use looping devices to stretch pitch, timbre, and sound thus making the human voice sound like alien transmissions. "Tips on Filmmaking" would be like "My Life In The Bush of Ghosts" made by Eno and Laurie Anderson. The streams of marimba (again, ahead of its time in Indie Music,) voices in unison and upfront percussion are dream compositional tools. The slithering Avant-funk of "Prime Numbers" is a bit like Arthur Russell on Sesame Street. Knight's numbers come out of every rhythm (especially like the "4-5-sixxxx" being dragged out) and the Steve Reich-ian handclaps hold you in their thrall. "American Rituals" collects all these micro-runs of singles into one glimpse at an artist being given complete control to use the studio (and its limitations) to expand post-No Wave Avant-Garde in an earthy, thoughtful and maternal direction.
U.S.HIGHBALL - A Parkhead Cross of the Mind [LP/CD](Lame-O)
As Twee as you might expect a second-generation band from the land of Belle & Sebastian to be, U.S. Highball summons the chime of Seventies Power Pop, then mix it with the D.I.Y./C86 sound and 80’s UK Jangle. Glasgewians Calvin Halliday and James Hindle are mostly like a less buzzy Husker Du with a drum machine. Their songs are written to compliment the other’s skills (think Chip N’Dale.) “Double Dare” features them in tandem, helping each other out and then ripping a guitar solo. “Get In The Van” with its handclaps and silly organ is so naive, that it makes the perfect backdrop for singing about their adventures (The lyric “I feel like an undertaker” has never had such a lift.) “Parkhead” dishes out short, concise songs that packed together are unavoidably catchy. Their first single out “By The Clydeside” is a beauty that is reminiscent of The Woodentops but with a drum machine. U.S. Highball truly knows how to write songs that are tight and well-organized. “Down In Timperley” may be their most “Punk,” The Flamin Groovies-esque harmonies unveil themselves so beautifully you may not even notice their smartass curse-word ending. “(You’ve Got To) Activate A Carrot” is longing and wistful even as it sounds like early Soft Boys playing with Cleaners From Venus. (That organ break is genius.) U.S.Highball has to get the most credit on “Parkhead” for making a record that is so minimal in sound (guitars, vocals, and drum machine mostly) but managing to make every song different. A truly brilliant slice of their lives that fits into all who listen.
JAY WORTHY - ST.LGND 94 [7"](Flipnjay CAN)
For a scant 15 minutes, Jay Worthy's partnership with St. Ides is a celebration of the artfulness of an old-school mixtape. "Don't Be Wasting My Time" ends too soon. Its rollin' beat and the hook-driven chorus could slip into radio rotation today. "All Over a Hoe" and "We Don't Need It" isolate Worthy's marvelous flow over minimal-but-effective music. In fact, the whole pattern of shoutout/song fragment/film sample works wonders as "ST.LGND 94" hits like both East Coast and West Coast (the Snoop-ish "Creepin'/With a bag of cheese and a pocket full of trees" is just one of many knockout lines here) The Nineties beats and slinky synths plus all production by Harry Fraud wrap the whole package up into one tight tape that in 1994 would be hard to pry from my tape player. LGND thrives on Auto Reverse.
We leave you with the complete weekly 25-song playlist of new releases (and reissues) from T-BONE'S Records and Cafe. Enjoy the width and breadth of all the physical media that labels and distributors worldwide have to offer.
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Oscar Wilde - “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”
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Remembering one fantastic band and all those Stereogum writers who we have not seen the last of.