29-10-2018 FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 2005-2000

Ben Lamdin -Nostalgia 77

29-10-2018 FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 2005-2000  >>Nostalgia 77, Adrian Belew, Cowboy Junkies, Lhasa, Woven Hand, Ween, Jazzanova, David Bowie, 16 Horsepower, Dead Meadow, PJ Harvey<<

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2005-2000

Alias of Benedic Lamdin, an eclectic producer who switched between samples and live instrumentation on releases for Ubiquity and Tru Thoughts.  
Nostalgia 77
Cheney Lane 4:40
Green Blades of Grass 3:30
Seven Nation Army feat. Alice Russell 4:22
from The Garden 2005
The difference in spirit between Ben Lamdin's first and second Nostalgia 77 albums is tipped off by their titles. While 2004's Songs for My Funeral was fittingly downcast, The Garden is instead saturated with bright, vibrant energy. They're quite dissimilar in setup as well, with the debut's hip-hop roots exchanged for a combination of programming and actual live humans creating groove-driven jazz indebted to a range of recordings from the late '50s through the '70s...

Benedic Lamdin

Acclaimed guitarist's influence has ranged from progressive to indie rock.  Although Adrian Belew has played with some of rock's biggest names over the years (Frank Zappa, David Bowie, the Talking Heads, King Crimson, etc.), he remains one of the most underrated and woefully overlooked guitarists of recent times. Like all great guitarists, Belew has his own recognizable style/sound (one that admittedly tends to be quirky and off-the-wall at times), and is an incredibly versatile player, as he's always found a way to make his signature style fit into a wide variety of musical genres: hard rock, funk, new wave, experimental, Beatlesque pop, and more.
Adrian Belew
Ampersand (Adrian Belew) 4:23
Matchless Man (Adrian Belew) 2:32
Walk Around the World (Adrian Belew) 4:58
from Side One 2005
By 2005, it had been nearly eight years since Adrian Belew had unleashed an all-new solo studio effort. That's not to say he wasn't busy, though, as he toured/recorded with both King Crimson and the Bears during this time. And in the process, he became quite friendly with two of rock's top players -- Primus' Les Claypool and Tool's Danny Carey -- who happened to be major Belew fans. As a result, Belew invited the duo to play on several tracks on Side One...

Soporific Canadian country dream poppers, captured Americana imagination in the late-1980s & early-'90s. Canada's Cowboy Junkies' create a music grounded in traditional country, blues, and folk, filled with languid guitars and ethereal vocals courtesy of Margo Timmins. 
Cowboy Junkies
One Soul Now (Michael Timmins) 4:54
Why This One (Michael Timmins) 3:47
My Wild Child (Michael Timmins) 3:52
from One Soul Now 2004
While it seems more common in the '80s, '90s, and beyond for a good band to remain intact for ten-plus years, they all face the same challenge: how does one continue to keep the music fresh and remain relevant? The Cowboy Junkies faced an uphill battle from the get-go, always living in the shadow of The Trinity Session (1988), and moving from the mainstream (including major labels, radio play, and a gig on Saturday Night Live) to just under the radar. Despite these changes, the Junkies have still been able to make great albums, like 1992's Black Eyed Man and 2001's Open. Both of these albums also showed a band willing to delve into new sounds (country and classic rock, respectively) and come up winners. One Soul Now seems to pick up where Open left off, retaining the tougher sound highlighted by edgy guitar work and a more rhythmic pulse...

Maybe it was Lhasa's unconventional upbringing that has given her such a unique vision, or maybe it was always within her. Whatever the reason, she stands as one of the most idiosyncratic Mexican-American performers, fully aware of the tradition, but putting her own spin on it..
Lhasa
Con Todo Palabra (Yves Desrosiers / Lhasa) 4:30
Anywhere on This Road (Lhasa) 4:35
La Confession (Yves Desrosiers / Didier Dumoutier / Lhasa) 3:45
Para el Fin del Mundo O el Año Nuevo (Lhasa) 4:23
from The Living Road 2004
Everyone knows that when you release your debut album, consisting of an assortment of sophisticated and worldly numbers performed in Spanish, and that album goes on to make a far bigger splash worldwide than anyone expected, the only sensible course of action is to...run away and join the circus? That's precisely what Lhasa de Sela did following the success of La Llorona: she joined with other members of her family, which always had a nomadic streak in it, and toured around Europe as part of a circus. Upon her return, she got to work on The Living Road, an album about travel, whether it be wheels upon the road, or through life itself. It's hard to say whether the experience of life on the road was the catalyst for the broadening of the writing this time out; there are songs in Spanish, French, and English this time out, but all three are languages that Lhasa was immersed in beforehand. Musically, it's a natural follow-up to La Llorona, drawing from many of the same traditional styles and blending them with more modern instrumentation into a very seamless, sophisticated, and sensual mélange, one that thankfully never tips over into the pretentious, condescending, or hokey. And then, of course, there's the real star of the show: Lhasa's voice, which is never short of gorgeous throughout. It's a fantastic follow-up release; hopefully, it won't mean another five-year wait while she hides out under the big top.

David Eugene Edwards' project for his brand of Southern gothic, based on rustic old-timey music and featuring his dark, theatrical performance style. Winding dark, atmospheric lyrics with a fierce spiritual bent around elements of vintage folk and gospel music as well as rootsy rock & roll, Wovenhand was founded by David Eugene Edwards, formerly the frontman with brooding alt-country act 16 Horsepower. In 2001, 16 Horsepower went on hiatus, and as the group pondered a new creative direction, Edwards launched Wovenhand, built around similar musical and thematic frameworks but with a more powerful and personal approach.
Woven Hand
Cripplegate (Standing on Glass) (David Eugene Edwards) 4:29
White Bird (David Eugene Edwards) 5:00
from Blush Music 2003
Largely made up of de-/re-constructed songs from the self-titled Woven Hand album, David Eugene Edwards creates a whole new (though similarly sinister) experience with Blush Music. Commissioned by the Belgian avant dance company Ultima Vez, Blush Music stretches out the previously released songs, adding interludes of incidental music and found-sound collages. The result is something similar to a film score that is best listened to all the way through in a single sitting...

Utterly bizarre indie duo whose obsession with parody and novelty disguises their considerable skill in crafting excellent songs from rock to country. Ween were the ultimate cosmic goof of the alternative rock era, a prodigiously talented and deliriously odd duo whose work traveled far beyond the constraints of parody and novelty into the heart of surrealist ecstasy. 
Ween
It's Gonna Be a Long Night (Ween) 2:50
Happy Colored Marbles (Ween) 3:14
If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All) 4:47
from Quebec 2003
Prior to the release of its eighth studio album, Ween claimed that Quebec represented a return to the "browner side" of the band, an assertion that surely warmed the hearts of longtime followers. If you're not sure what the "browner side" is, it's their predilection for weirdness, both creepy and cheerful, that has largely been absent since expert studio-craft entered the picture with Chocolate & Cheese...

Hailing from Berlin, this collection of six DJs are nu-jazz proponents, mixing electronica beats with classic jazz samples. Jazzanova arrived in 1997 with "Fedime's Flight," an exquisitely layered production that had more in common with dancefloor jazz-funk truffles by Azymuth and Lonnie Liston Smith than with anything contemporary...
Jazzanova
L.O.V.E. and You & I (Alexander Barck / Stefan Leisering) 7:48
The One-Tet (Alexander Barck / A. Judson Green / Stefan Leisering) 3:51
Another New Day (Alexander Barck / Stefan Leisering) 5:19
from In Between 2002
Though Jazzanova's underground credibility and respect among fellow artists never wavered during the late '90s, the German six-piece waited a long time to release a proper full-length (reportedly, it required five years of recording). In Between certainly proves the wait was worth it; the collective has not only a Teutonic efficiency for creating complex, precise, detailed beat tracks -- recalling the earthier side of house, hip-hop, and jazz fusion -- but also the wisdom to focus away from music that sounds like it came out of a laboratory...

The mercurial music icon widely considered the original pop chameleon and figurehead for countless musical movements. The cliché about David Bowie is that he was a musical chameleon, adapting himself according to fashion and trends. While such a criticism is too glib, there's no denying that Bowie demonstrated a remarkable skill for perceiving musical trends at his peak in the '70s.
David Bowie
Sunday (David Bowie) 4:46
Afraid (David Bowie) 3:28
5.15 the Angels Have Gone (David Bowie) 5:02
from Heathen 2002
Heathen marks a new beginning for David Bowie in some ways -- it's his first record since leaving Virgin, his first for Columbia Records, his first for his new label, ISO -- yet it's hardly a new musical direction. Like Hours, this finds Bowie sifting through the sounds of his past, completely at ease with his legacy, crafting a colorful, satisfying album that feels like a classic Bowie album. That's not to say that Heathen recalls any particular album or any era in specific, yet there's a deliberate attempt to recapture the atmosphere, the tone of his '70s work -- there's a reason that Bowie decided to reteam with Tony Visconti, the co-producer of some of his best records, for this album -- even if direct comparisons are hard to come by. Which is exactly what's so impressive about this album. Bowie and Visconti never shy away from electronic instrumentations or modern production -- if anything, they embrace it -- but it's woven into Bowie's sound subtly, never drawing attention to the drum loops, guitar synths, and washes of electronica...

Denver alt-country band known for brooding songs reminiscent of Nick Cave and the Gun Club. 16 Horsepower were a Denver-based alternative country band that revolved around the unique songwriting and singing of David Eugene Edwards. The band made its name with music that combined rural backwoods kitsch with edgy, off-kilter country-rock...
16 Horsepower
American Wheeze (David Eugene Edwards / 16 Horsepower / Keven Soll / Jean-Yves Tola) 4:11
For Heaven's Sake (David Eugene Edwards / 16 Horsepower) 4:44
South Pennsylvania Waltz (David Eugene Edwards / 16 Horsepower / Keven Soll / Jean-Yves Tola) 5:45
from Hoarse 2001
Recorded in the band's hometown of Denver during 1998's Low Estate tour but not released until 2001, this live document of predominantly a single show is an accurate no-frills portrait of 16 Horsepower's tough goth rock attack...  the passionate music speaks for itself, and this is the disc you'll want after seeing 16 Horsepower tear up a stage in your town.

Critically praised hard rockers who blend heavy riffs with dreamy guitar fuzz. Dead Meadow's unique marriage of Sabbath riffs, dreamy layers of guitar-fuzz bliss, and singer Jason Simon's high-pitched melodic croon have won over psychedelic pop/rock and stoner rock fans alike, while elements of folk and pop would creep into their formula over time.
Dead Meadow
Drifting Down Streams (Dead Meadow) 8:19
Jusiamere Farm (Dead Meadow) 4:57
from Howls from the Hills 2001
Hailing from the nation's capital and looking rather like the teenage cast from the cult film Rushmore, Dead Meadow garnered many an accolade with its first album's surprisingly accomplished and highly authentic brand of psychedelic rock. The young musicians' subtle yet dazzling technical interplay lies at the core of this formula, where power chords and all other such outbursts are usually hinted at, but rarely fully vented through the soft haze of the group's stoner musings. With its flowing grooves and measured, slow stomp, the band's self-titled debut was a discreetly seductive affair, slowly creeping up on the listener when least expected. Quickly released later the same year, second opus Howls from the Hills reprises this same M.O., with only slightly inferior results...

The most challenging singer/songwriter to emerge in the '90s, her brutally honest lyrics match well to a progression of raw musical styles. During the alternative rock explosion, several female singer/songwriters rose to prominence, but few have proved as distinctive or as widely praised as Polly Jean Harvey. Over the course of her career, Harvey established herself as one of the most individual and influential songwriters of her era, exploring themes of sex, love, and religion with unnerving honesty, dark humor, and a twisted theatricality...
PJ Harvey
Big Exit (PJ Harvey) 3:51
Good Fortune (PJ Harvey) 3:20
A Place Called Home (PJ Harvey) 3:42
This Is Love (PJ Harvey) 3:48
from Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea 2000
During her career, Polly Jean Harvey has had as many incarnations as she has albums. She's gone from the Yeovil art student of her debut Dry, to Rid of Me's punk poetess to To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire?'s postmodern siren; on Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea -- inspired by her stay in New York City and life in the English countryside -- she's changed again. The album cover's stylish, subtly sexy image suggests what its songs confirm: PJ Harvey has grown up. Direct, vulnerable lyrics replace the allegories and metaphors of her previous work, and the album's production polishes the songs instead of obscuring them in noise or studio tricks...