What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)

seakayaker posted:

Now Playing........

Lee Ann Womack - The Lonely, The Lonesome, and The Gone 

Streaming on TIDAL........  A recent release and I have had out for a few spins. Love Lee Ann's voice, great lyrics/songs and a fantastic group of musicians backing her up.  Another favorite of this year releases, just fantastic and worth the time to give a listen!

Review by Brittney McKenna at NPR Music found here:

Lee Ann Womack's new album The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone begins, appropriately, with just her voice. "All the Trouble" starts with a nearly a capella verse from Womack, evoking an eerie calm that foreshadows the track's forthcoming lyrical storm. By track's end, her vocals sparkle like lightning, sinewy gold melodies crackling against a rough and tumble backdrop.

Womack has long been known for her singing voice, a pedigree that extends back to her mainstream country roots in the late 1990s and has been a primary focus of her career ever since. And rightfully so. The Texas-based artist can belt with the best of them, but outshines many of her contemporaries with an unrivaled vocal agility. Her startling precision is matched only by her passion, a combination that lends even the slightest quaver in her voice an emotional resonance that would be lost on lesser talents.

On this new LP, though, Womack reminds us that she's much more than just a pretty voice. Start-to-finish, The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone has a cinematic quality to it, one buoyed both by lush, dynamic arrangements and by a skillfully executed sequence, which effortlessly ebbs and flows between torch songs (the smoldering "He Called Me Baby") and Texas twang (the jagged crunch of "Wicked"), giving equal credence to the bedroom (the sweet and clever "End of the World") and the bar (the laid-back shuffle of "Bottom of the Barrel"). Produced by Womack's husband Frank Liddell and aided by crack co-writers like Waylon Payne and Adam Wright, the album finds her loose and at ease; in many instances, it sounds like she's having a damn good time.

A cover of Andrew Combs' "Shine On Rainy Day" (a co-write with Brent Cobb that appears on his 2016 album of the same name as well as on Combs' 2015 album All These Dreams as "Rainy Day Song") shows the pair to be cross-generational kindred spirits, each with a voice crystalline enough to shine through dusky arrangements but raw enough to convey the track's emotional heft. Another standout cover is closing track "Take the Devil Out of Me," a 1959 George Jones gospel tune; Womack's left-of-center take on it could soundtrack a Southern gothic tent revival.

That short track ends as quickly as it begins, fading out with just Womack's voice over a jangly electric guitar. Though The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone is bookended by stirring vocal performances, it's an album that shows Womack to be one of American roots music's foremost auteurs, one with a compelling voice for storytelling and the vision to use it to powerful effect.

Slightly underwhelmed. There’s a few highlights, accompanied with lot of mainstream. All in all good listening, but doesn’t give me the shivers. Still a good recommendation, [@mention:70553749506420292] !

seakayaker posted:

sjust posted:

Haim Ronen posted:

Inspired by Stefan's latest posting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuGtccrYLXY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U--XyuoYxdY

Catching up on [@mention:1566878603881681] ‘s list with his music of the year and dipping into Gefion and now Streams, both with Jakob Bro, and not dissimilar to what Frisell does, but Bro is not Frisell, and Frisell is still the master. Still: complaining on a very high level, as Streams isn’t bad, at all.

I would recommend that you check out Ballardeering, Time, and December Song from Jakob Bro if you haven't already. I believe the original mention of Ballardeering came from Haim Ronen. I ended up ordering the CD's below from Denmark since I could not find them in the US anywhere.

Jakob & Bill together is just fantastic. Paul Motian was scheduled to appear on Time as well but passed shortly before the scheduled recording.  Some wonderful music that may have that honey dripping in your ears once again!

I have Balladeering for quite some time, and really like it, [@mention:70553749506420292], super curious to discover Time and December Song, especially as I love Lee Konitz to tears. Has to be tomorrow, as I am still digesting Lee Ann Womack, and it’s getting late in good old Europe...  

1998 - Tidal...

David Gilmour- A friend got me to listen this album a month ago and haven’t stopped listening since. My better half has got this on Vinyl for me as an Xmas pressie. Can’t wait to hear it.

Now Playing.......

Ferenc Snetberger - TITOK

Ferenc Snétberger (guitar), Anders Jormin (double bass), and Joey Baron (drums)

Streaming from TIDAL.........  Another new release this year and one I find quite enjoyable!

Note from the ECM Records website here: 

Hungarian guitarist Ferenc Snétberger made a lot of new friends with his ECM solo debut In Concert (“a beautiful, assured performance” – All About Jazz) and will make many more with Titok, which features his trio with Swedish bassist Anders Jormin and US drummer Joey Baron.  Recorded at Oslo’s Rainbow Studio in May 2015 and produced by Manfred Eicher, it’s a warm and involving album, with an emphasis on intensely melodic improvisation and interaction which draws the listener gently into its sound-world.  The rapport between Snétberger and Jormin is evident from the outset, as both guitar and bass explore the contours of Ference’s compositions. Throughout, Joey Baron’s drums and cymbals provide shading and texture with restraint and subtlety.

Propaganda: A Secret Wish, Music on Vinyl 2011 re-release. For the sheer audacity of the pseudo philosophical, high moralistic tone and psychobabble, and the belief that the higher artistic goal matters enough to record the attempt in words and music. An iconoclastic blast from the past: high pomp ZTT at its best with clear stable links to Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Grace Jones' Slave to the Rhythm as it attempts to carve out a new spiritual, political and social direction, e.g.

'There can be no conclusion or certainty, where the very structure of communication has founded the reign of perplexity, of dissociation, of procrastination The consumers [sic] relation with the real world, with politics, history and culture is not one pf interest,investment or engaged responsibility - rather, it is one of curiosity... One must try everything'

Let the Marquis de Sade and Oscar Wilde eat their hearts out. The purely hyped self-conscious intellectualism is as refreshing in the cover and sleeve notes as it is in the music. 

'it is the anxiety of always feeling on the verge of -but only on the verge of- finally grasping the object of desire, ghe meaning of lfe, the rules of the game.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6H6DjPBFOo

Now Playing.......

Jon Balke - Siwan Nahnou Houm

Jon Balke (Keyboards), Mona Boutchebak (Vocals), Derya Turkan (kemençe), Helge Norbakken (Percussion), Pedram Khavar Zamini (Tumbak) -- Barokksolistene: Bjarte Eike (Violin, leader), Alison Luthmers (violin), Øivind Nussle (violin), Miloš Valent (Viola), Per Buhre (Viola), Torbjørn Köhl (viola), Judith Maria Blomsterberg (violoncello), Mime Brinkmann (violoncello), Johannes Lundberg (double bass)

Streaming on NAS......   A recent release and purchase which I have played a few times and really enjoy. The combination of European and Middle Eastern music/musicians works very well and enjoy both of Jon's Siwan albums.

Review found on All About Jazz by Mark Sullivan found here:

When Norwegian keyboardist/composer Jon Balke began the Siwan project in 2007 it grew out of a fascination with Andalusian culture, and an imaginary musical history. What would have happened in European and world musical development if the Inquisition had never happened? Siwan(ECM, 2009) brought together Gharnati music (represented by vocalist Amina Alaoui and violinist Kheir Eddine M Kachiche), Baroque and improvised contemporary music.

This album seeks to establish the concept as a working unit. Only Balke, Helge Norbakken (percussion), Pedram Khaver Zamini (tumbak) and Bjarte Eike (violinist and leader of the Baroque ensemble Barokksolistene) return from the previous recording. The approach trades off star soloists Alaoui, Kachiche and trumpeter Jon Hassell for a more cohesive group sound. This lineup features Algerian vocalist Mona Boutchebak and Turkish musician Derya Türkan on kemençe, a bowed string instrumentcommon all over the Eastern Mediterranean.

Balke has chosen a wide variety of poetry to set, ranging from traditional songs to the Persian Sufi mystic Attar, from St. John of the Cross to Spanish poet/playwright Lope de Vega. Their voices are like a mystical chorus embodying the meaning of the title Nahnouo Houm (which translates to "We are them"). Boutchebak immediately establishes herself with the stately dance rhythm and Spanish lyrics of the opener "Duda" (she also speaks Arabic, French, and English, although they are not all needed here). Her voice may not be as large as Alaoui's, but she blends with the ensemble much more. And her a capella version of the Andalusian traditional song "Ma Kontou" is a lovely interlude.

The arrangements make free use of the instrumental forces. "Desmayar Se" features Balke's harpsichord, with subtle, understated strings. "Castigo" employs Turkan's kemençe solo for the opening, then brings in the Barokksolistene strings playing pizzicato, ending in a haunting fadeout. "Del Ray" finally uses the full sound of the string section, along with a kemençe solo. The title tune (one of four tracks without vocals) features the strings with commentary from the small group, concerto grosso style ("Arco y Flecha" takes the same approach). Pedram Khaver Zamini has a brief solo tumbak spotlight on his own "ZemZemeh."

Nahnou Houm is a beautiful continuation of the cross-cultural Siwan concept. Its charms may be a bit subtler than the first album, but the more cohesive group sound is ultimately winning, and represents a real creative step forward.

Pretenders. Eponymous debut on original vinyl from 1980. I was a senior in high school when this energetic album debuted and found it a welcome fresh spin on basic rock 'n' roll. Others wanted to call it new wave or punk rock.

Kevin-W posted:

This is the first UK pressing, in the infamous sandpaper sleeve glued togeher by members of Joy Division. It was just sitting there looking at me (as it has a sandpaper sleeve, it can't be stored with any other album), begging to be played.

Here was me thinking it was the backside of the "In Through The Out Door" outer sleeve. Interesting marketing concept with the sandpaper. Never heard of such a thing before, nor the album for that matter.

Eagles. One Of These Nights. On original vinyl from 1975. The Eagles at their prime. This album and its successor, Hotel California, really epitomize the band's California sound to me.

naim_nymph posted:

LP - Vertigo 1975 : )

Francis Rossi - guitar, vocals / Rick Parfitt - guitar, keyboards, vocals

Alan Lancaster - bass, guitar, vocals / John Coghlan - drums

 

They were a great live band.

This one brings back so many happy memories.

Kept playing the swinging middle section of tunes on this album yesterday whilst stuck in two huge queues of traffic.

The Rolling Stones. It's Only Rock 'n' Roll. On original vinyl from 1974. Long time since I spun this one.

Wonderful LoFi and hand made music by Jolie Holland - Wine Dark Sea

perfect to blow away the night cob webs

the antithesis to ECM music, one might think...

Gin Blossoms. New Miserable Experience. On CD from 1992. Among several flash in the pan alternative bands in their time. The album still plays well, but where are they today?

Mixed feelings with songs between average and excellent: Pieta Brown - Post cards. Still a remarkable voice and great companions (amongst them a certain Knopfler), but I find the older records more genuine.

More LoFi, but MAN what a great session on YouTube. Worth mentioning Indigo Street wwhole plays a WICKED guitar together with Jolie Holland. Go check it out !

https://youtu.be/pIhdRcikIrM

Nick Cave via Tidal

Peaky Blinder!

The Jayhawks - Paging Mr Proust

Chillin before work.