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One of the most unique and enduring bands in alternative rock, Cowboy Junkies embodied a sound that had its roots in traditional folk, blues, and country music but was performed with a placid, languid pace that belied the slow-burning passion of their performances. The honey-infused, ethereal whisper of lead singer Margo Timmins was matched by the spare but thoughtful accompaniment of guitarist Michael Timmins, bassist Alan Anton, and drummer Peter Timmins, and their most successful recordings played heavily on that dynamic, documented in a naturalistic and unobtrusive manner...
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...
Midwest guitar-and-drum duo the Black Keys are known for their raw blues- and garage rock-infused sound. Influenced by performers like Junior Kimbrough, Howlin' Wolf, and Robert Johnson, the band emerged in Akron, Ohio, and gained early buzz with 2002's The Big Come Up before signing with cult blues label Fat Possum Records for 2003's Thickfreakness and 2004's Rubber Factory...
...Strongly influenced by American bands such as R.E.M. and the Pixies, Radiohead paid early dues on the local pub circuit. With their university education completed, the group landed a deal with Parlophone in late 1991. Although its debut album, Pablo Honey (1993), barely hinted at the grandeur to come, the startling single “Creep”—a grungy snarl of self-loathing—made major waves in the United States... 
Comprised of Leanor Watling, Alejandro Pelayo, and Oscar Ybarra, the pop/jazz/experimental group Marlango began gaining their loyal underground European following in the late '90s. Taking their name from an obscure Tom Waits reference, the pair drew heavily on dark, brooding recording artists and filmmakers like David Lynch and Björk for inspiration...
Formed after the breakup of the Birthday Party in 1983, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds became one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward. Playing music that meshed with the dark, multi-layered narratives of Cave's lyrics, the Bad Seeds created sounds that were physically and emotionally powerful, but with a sense of dynamics and drama that set them apart from their peers...
A group that effortlessly straddles the gap between avant-garde improvisation and accessible groove-based jazz, Medeski, Martin & Wood have simultaneously earned standing as relentlessly innovative musicians and as an enormously popular act. Emerging out of the New York downtown scene in the early '90s, MMW soon set out on endless cross-country tours before returning home to Manhattan to further refine their sound through myriad influential experimentations...
Pearl Jam rose above the legions of grungy alt-rockers littering the early '90s to become the most popular and enduring American rock & roll band of their time. Unlike many of their Seattle brethren, Pearl Jam, as a collective, were never signed or affiliated with an indie label -- founding members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament both were veterans of Green River, one of the first major bands on Sub Pop, though -- and in an age defined by irony, they were unflaggingly sincere...
Evoking the riffy, bluesy rock of bands like Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes, California's Rival Sons emerged in the early 2010s as hard rock classicists with a modern edge... Establishing a strong collaborative bond with Nashville producer Dave Cobb to helm each of their albums, the group enjoyed modest success at home in the U.S. while becoming perennial chart staples throughout much of Europe thanks...
The brainchild of singer and guitarist Jack Sharp, Wolf People started in 2005 when Sharp recorded a demo album in the English town of Bedford. Named after the children’s book Little Jacko and the Wolf People, the band is a throwback to the bluesy psychedelia of Black Sabbath, Cream, Traffic, and early Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention, tackling the sounds of the past with a kind of nostalgic reverence...
Not to be confused with the American alternative rock outfit of the same name, Polar Bear are a British experimental post-jazz five-piece influenced by the likes of Beethoven, Stevie Wonder, and Björk. Formed in London in 2004 by drummer Sebastian Rochford, previously an early member of Babyshambles, saxophonists Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart, double bassist Tom Herbert, and electronic musician/guitarist Leafcutter John, the band first attracted attention with its 2004 debut album, Dim Lit, whose eclectic fusion of avant jazz, folk, electronica, and punk earned them a nomination for Best Band at the BBC Jazz Awards...
Nicolas Jaar is one of the least predictable and most experimental dance music producers of the late 2000s and 2010s, composing reflective downtempo numbers indebted to jazz and modern classical as well as minimal techno. After establishing his name throughout the techno scene for his early EPs and singles, he reached a wider audience with the release of his acclaimed debut album, Space Is Only Noise, in 2011...
favtraxmix label The player always plays the latest playlist tracks. / A lejátszó mindig a legújabb playlist számait játssza.
2005-2011
One of the most unique and enduring bands in alternative rock, Cowboy Junkies embodied a sound that had its roots in traditional folk, blues, and country music but was performed with a placid, languid pace that belied the slow-burning passion of their performances. The honey-infused, ethereal whisper of lead singer Margo Timmins was matched by the spare but thoughtful accompaniment of guitarist Michael Timmins, bassist Alan Anton, and drummer Peter Timmins, and their most successful recordings played heavily on that dynamic, documented in a naturalistic and unobtrusive manner...
License to Kill (Bob Dylan) 4:47
Two Soldiers (Traditional) 4:02
December Skies (Michael Timmins) 5:18
It's been over 15 years since the Cowboy Junkies dropped their sparse masterpiece The Trinity Session. Recorded with very little gear in the span of one evening, it introduced the group's signature "sepia-drone" delivery to the world, a style that's never really undergone any surgery. Early 21st Century Blues attempts to build a bridge between 1988 and 2005 with a new collection of standards, covers, and originals that employ that same minimalist approach and scant recording time -- five days this time around. Built around the themes of "war, violence, fear, greed, ignorance, and loss," the familial quartet, along with a handful of friends, presents the works of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Richie Havens, and U2 as filtered through the half-time heartbeat that is the Cowboy Junkies' trademark... All of the intimacy, heavy guitar reverb, smoky vocals, and snares kissed by brushes that fans have come to expect are here, rolling in like a harmless summer rain dressed in the dark clouds of a storm...
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...
Dead Dog on Asphalt (Adrian Belew) 4:05
Face to Face (Adrian Belew / Erick Cole) 3:03
Sex Nerve (Adrian Belew) 3:06
from Side Two 2005
Then came Side One, Belew's triumphant return to the type of experimental rock that first turned heads in his direction more than 20 years ago. Maybe it was the time away from his solo career proper; maybe it was hooking up with relative youngsters like Danny Carey and Les Claypool, but Belew seemed positively reinvigorated. That feeling continues with Side Two. No big guest stars on this one; Belew handles just about everything entirely solo. Longtime fans may be a bit surprised by the prevalence of electronic sounds, loops, and synthesized percussion, but Belew has really done a great job of incorporating them into his sound. The lyrics are deliberately sparse (inspired by Haiku), which allows for much more focus on the music and atmosphere. In fact, Belew has pretty much forsaken any "pop" aspirations here and fully pursued his more experimental muse, which will absolutely delight many of his longtime fans (and perhaps alienate the more pop-oriented ones a bit, though nothing here really qualifies as harsh or difficult listening). The album is filled with great sounds and textures, and there is plenty of ferocious guitar playing, as expected...
Midwest guitar-and-drum duo the Black Keys are known for their raw blues- and garage rock-infused sound. Influenced by performers like Junior Kimbrough, Howlin' Wolf, and Robert Johnson, the band emerged in Akron, Ohio, and gained early buzz with 2002's The Big Come Up before signing with cult blues label Fat Possum Records for 2003's Thickfreakness and 2004's Rubber Factory...
Keep Your Hands off Her (Junior Kimbrough) 3:06
Nobody But You (Junior Kimbrough) 5:21
from Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough 2006
Chulahoma is a stopgap EP from the Black Keys, a collection of six covers of songs by cult bluesman Junior Kimbrough, whose "Do the Rump" they covered on their 2002 debut, Big Come Up. Considering that this is the first time the blues-rock guitar-n-drums duo has devoted an album to nothing but straight-ahead blues songs, it wound seem logical that Chulahoma would be the bluesiest recording in their catalog, but the Black Keys aren't that simple. The six songs on this 28-minute EP are hardly replications of Kimbrough's gritty originals, nor do they have the dirty, punch-to-the-gut feel of any of the duo's three proper albums. Instead, this is the weirdest set of music the band has done to date, a trippy, murky excursion into territory that floats somewhere between the primal urgency of the duo's best work and the dark, moody psychedelia of late-'60s blues-rock... And while that might mean that Chulahoma doesn't necessarily sound like a kissing cousin to Kimbrough's originals, it does make it a greater, richer tribute than most cover albums, and it certainly proves that Auerbach's testimonial in the liner notes about how Junior Kimbrough changed his life is no lie.
...Strongly influenced by American bands such as R.E.M. and the Pixies, Radiohead paid early dues on the local pub circuit. With their university education completed, the group landed a deal with Parlophone in late 1991. Although its debut album, Pablo Honey (1993), barely hinted at the grandeur to come, the startling single “Creep”—a grungy snarl of self-loathing—made major waves in the United States...
Down Is the New Up 4:59
Go Slowly 3:48
Bangers + Mash 3:19
from In Rainbows 2 2007
All tracks are written by Radiohead.
...Like the main LP, this bonus disc could not be mistaken for the work of a band other than Radiohead-- from Thom Yorke's nerve's-edge balladeering, to ever-slighter splashes of experimentalism, to guitar tones as fussed over as other band's hairdos... The playlist wades from one slice of paranoia to another, the ear going most often to the incessant horror film piano-- and to Yorke's voice. .. Still, the thick fog that hangs over the album doesn't obscure all its gems... As the album's only wake-up call, "Bangers & Mash"'s antic drums grab your attention until Yorke's crude snarling lets it go again-- although the itchy, uncomfortable feeling it gives you is an interesting break from an otherwise sweatless set... But its weaknesses notwithstanding, this bonus disc isn't meant for the public at large; it's for the fans, who've studied these songs through bootlegs, YouTube clips, and clues on websites...
Comprised of Leanor Watling, Alejandro Pelayo, and Oscar Ybarra, the pop/jazz/experimental group Marlango began gaining their loyal underground European following in the late '90s. Taking their name from an obscure Tom Waits reference, the pair drew heavily on dark, brooding recording artists and filmmakers like David Lynch and Björk for inspiration...
Shout (Alejandro Pelayo / Leonor Watling) 3:44
Dance! Dance! Dance! (Alejandro Pelayo / Leonor Watling) 3:52
Never Trust Me (Alejandro Pelayo / Leonor Watling) 2:33
from The Electrical Morning 2007
Released in 2007, The Electrical Morning is the third studio album from the experimental jazz-pop trio fronted by Spanish actress Leonor Watling, Marlango. Produced by bandmember Alejandro Pelayo, the follow-up to Automatic Imperfection includes collaborations with Latin pop vocalist Miguel Bosé ("Dance! Dance! Dance!")...
Formed after the breakup of the Birthday Party in 1983, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds became one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward. Playing music that meshed with the dark, multi-layered narratives of Cave's lyrics, the Bad Seeds created sounds that were physically and emotionally powerful, but with a sense of dynamics and drama that set them apart from their peers...
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Nick Cave) 4:11
Today's Lesson (Nick Cave) 4:41
Moonland (James Sclavunos) 3:53
from Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! 2008
Apparently, the Bad Seeds side project Grinderman injected some serious adrenaline into the equation, evidenced mightily on Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! This is the 14th album by Nick Cave and company. After the masterpiece that was Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus in 2004, Cave and Warren Ellis scored a pair of films -- The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and recorded the self-titled Grinderman album with other bandmembers Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos. Grinderman was a howling, raucous, rock & roll racket of a set that sweat humorous garage rock blues and raw shambolic guttersnipe stroll that spread its nasty cheer to the listener. The return of the full-on Bad Seeds octet builds on this energy and emerges with an album that is at once snarling, darkly humorous, decadently sexual, and, if you are a religious Christian person, seemingly blasphemous. An obvious example is the title track that opens the album. As always, Cave's lyrics are at the center. They are the focus whether he wants them to be or not, and they certainly are here. The track kicks off with a low-end, loose-limbed bass slog and snarling guitar swagger that simultaneously recall Link Wray and Johnny Thunders... It's an album where a fire breathing, rootsy, garage rock band creates a soundtrack to modern fun house life: where the stakes are high, the odds are hopelessly stacked, and there is little left to do but laugh at its dreadful irony.
A group that effortlessly straddles the gap between avant-garde improvisation and accessible groove-based jazz, Medeski, Martin & Wood have simultaneously earned standing as relentlessly innovative musicians and as an enormously popular act. Emerging out of the New York downtown scene in the early '90s, MMW soon set out on endless cross-country tours before returning home to Manhattan to further refine their sound through myriad influential experimentations...
Muchas Gracias 6:36
Sweet Pea Dreams 3:00
Free Go Lily (Traditional) 4:32
from Radiolarians 1 2008
Medeski, Martin & Wood have been incorporating seemingly every corner of the musical universe, from funk to gospel to progressive sambas, into their sound for some time now, so it should come as no surprise that Radiolarians 1, the first of three planned and linked releases for the group in 2008, is all over the map, from country funk to sweet piano jazz, and that it coheres (since there are occasions when the band overloads and overreaches, although that isn't the case here) is really good news for their many admirers and fans. With a bright, and at times even sunny and joyous, sound, this first of the planned trilogy is a complete delight, moving from thundering fusion funk grooves to delicate atmospherics in the blink of an eye, and it shows the tight, detailed connection keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood have with each other...
It's all joyous and filled with graceful touches of humor and elegance, all the while churning to both big and little grooves, stomping, skating and skipping lightly by turns, and it reminds just how remarkably well these three musicians work together, making, as they say, improvisation fun again.
Pearl Jam rose above the legions of grungy alt-rockers littering the early '90s to become the most popular and enduring American rock & roll band of their time. Unlike many of their Seattle brethren, Pearl Jam, as a collective, were never signed or affiliated with an indie label -- founding members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament both were veterans of Green River, one of the first major bands on Sub Pop, though -- and in an age defined by irony, they were unflaggingly sincere...
Gonna See My Friend (Eddie Vedder) 2:48
Got Some (Jeff Ament / Eddie Vedder) 3:02
The Fixer (Matt Cameron / Stone Gossard / Mike McCready) 2:57
from Backspacer 2009
Pearl Jam made peace with their hard rock past on their eponymous eighth album, but its 2009 sequel, Backspacer, is where the group really gets back to basics, bringing in old cohort Brendan O'Brien to produce for the first time since 1998's Yield. To a certain extent, the band has reached the point in its career where every move, every cranked amp, every short tough song is heralded as a return to form -- call it the Stones syndrome -- and so it is with Backspacer, whose meaty riffs have no less vigor than those of Pearl Jam; they're just channeled into a brighter, cheerier package. Despite this lighter spirit, Pearl Jam remain the antithesis of lighthearted good-time rock & roll -- they're convinced rock & roll is a calling, not a diversion -- but there's a tonal shift from the clenched anger that's marked their music of the new millennium, a transition from the global toward the personal. Ironically, by looking within the music opens up, as the group isn't fighting against the dying light but embracing how this most classicist of alt-rock bands is an anachronism in 2009... This means, all things considered, Backspacer is a party record for Pearl Jam -- a party that might consist of nothing but philosophical debates till the wee hours, but a party nonetheless -- and if 18 years is a long, long wait for a band to finally throw a party, it's also true that, prior to Backspacer, Pearl Jam wouldn't or couldn't have made music this unfettered, unapologetically assured, casual, and, yes, fun.
Evoking the riffy, bluesy rock of bands like Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes, California's Rival Sons emerged in the early 2010s as hard rock classicists with a modern edge... Establishing a strong collaborative bond with Nashville producer Dave Cobb to helm each of their albums, the group enjoyed modest success at home in the U.S. while becoming perennial chart staples throughout much of Europe thanks...
Tell Me Something 4:06
Pocketful of Stones 2:56
Pleasant Return 3:42
from Before the Fire 2009
There’s a ton-wad of “When The Levee Breaks”/”When you get to the bottom, you go back to the top of the slide” blues-rock goodness inside Rival Sons‘ 39-minute opening salvo, Before The Fire (Front Line Music). This is rock so un-ironic that the singer screams, “Whooo!” before the intro to marvelously Zeppelin-y opener “Tell Me Something,” and they retain that high energy, just-barely-on-the-rails mojo throughout. Lead singer Jay Buchanan tears into every syllable with laughter and lust, the sort of sound that makes young girls damp and grown men spill their drinks. Buchanan strongly recalls the Freddie Mercury of Queen’s raunchy early work, and the rest of the band is messy-tight, flexing and strutting with utter confidence but little care for the jagged edges they leave behind. Rival Sons echo the best of their ’70s ancestors (the spark scattering pairings of Bowie/Ronson and Page/Plant come readily to mind, with interestingly a small sprinkling of The Monkees to boot) and do the tradition of thumping, hormonal rock ‘n’ roll proud by simply embracing its most appealing traits and presenting them with fresh enthusiasm.
The brainchild of singer and guitarist Jack Sharp, Wolf People started in 2005 when Sharp recorded a demo album in the English town of Bedford. Named after the children’s book Little Jacko and the Wolf People, the band is a throwback to the bluesy psychedelia of Black Sabbath, Cream, Traffic, and early Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention, tackling the sounds of the past with a kind of nostalgic reverence...
Tiny Circle (Wolf People) 5:10
Cromlech (Wolf People) 3:17
Castle Keep (Wolf People) 7:34
from Steeple 2010
So much of music is about taking the lessons of the past and improving upon them in an attempt by the artist to leave their mark on the artistic landscape. Occasionally, a band comes along and reminds us that those old sounds are so good on their own that they don’t really need anything added to them to stand on their own in the modern era. On Steeple, the first proper album from England’s Wolf People, the band takes up the challenge of championing the bluesy, psychedelic rock of their homeland. With a sound that’s deeply rooted in the fuzzy riffage of Jethro Tull, Hawkwind, and Cream, Wolf People pick and choose the best parts of that old British sound in a way that makes them feel more like curators than a band... If the rise of chillwave has taught us anything, it’s that the line between vintage sound and ironic pastiche is a thin and treacherous one. Fortunately for them, Steeple proves that Wolf People is a band that is more than capable of traversing it.
Not to be confused with the American alternative rock outfit of the same name, Polar Bear are a British experimental post-jazz five-piece influenced by the likes of Beethoven, Stevie Wonder, and Björk. Formed in London in 2004 by drummer Sebastian Rochford, previously an early member of Babyshambles, saxophonists Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart, double bassist Tom Herbert, and electronic musician/guitarist Leafcutter John, the band first attracted attention with its 2004 debut album, Dim Lit, whose eclectic fusion of avant jazz, folk, electronica, and punk earned them a nomination for Best Band at the BBC Jazz Awards...
Happy for You (Sebastian "Seb" Rochford) 4:08
Drunken Pharaoh (Sebastian "Seb" Rochford) 3:26
Peepers (Sebastian "Seb" Rochford) 4:24
from Peepers 2010
Polar Bear are an interesting band. On paper, two tenor saxes, acoustic bass, and drums look like a fairly standard jazz setup, but the addition of guitar/electronics puts a decidedly different spin on things. The music is clearly not written as a vehicle for soloing; these are songs, played by a band. They're concise and generally have a pop song structure. Everyone contributes to the songs, without grandstanding or tenor battles. Drummer Sebastian Rochford (who writes all the tunes) is a tasty and melodic drummer, supported nicely by bassist Tom Herbert. Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart are both fine tenor players who can add some edge when need be but generally play it pretty cool. Leafcutter John splits pretty equally between rhythmic guitar comping and well-placed "what-the-hell-is-that-sound?" electronics... Peepers is the sound of jazz-rock in the new millennium. Very well done.
Nicolas Jaar is one of the least predictable and most experimental dance music producers of the late 2000s and 2010s, composing reflective downtempo numbers indebted to jazz and modern classical as well as minimal techno. After establishing his name throughout the techno scene for his early EPs and singles, he reached a wider audience with the release of his acclaimed debut album, Space Is Only Noise, in 2011...
Keep Me There (Nicolas Jaar) 5:21
Space Is Only Noise if You Can See (Nicolas Jaar) 5:42
from Space Is Only Noise 2011
Space Is Only Noise is the first full-length effort by Nicolas Jaar, a Chilean-American producer whose work is deeply influenced by Ricardo Villalobos, jazz pianists like Dave Brubeck and Keith Jarrett, and Leonard Cohen. Early singles "Russian Dolls" and "Time for Us" were more dancefloor-friendly than the album, which layers multiple acoustic instruments, most notably Jaar's own jazz-inflected piano, sampled vocals... Jaar assembled the disc from several years' worth of recordings -- he's relentlessly productive -- but it has a conceptual unity that makes it feel like the product of a single burst of inspiration. This music is spiritual, psychedelic at times, and always rooted in a strong core concept that goes beyond "intelligent dance music" toward the idea that electronics are merely a tool, and do not themselves demand loyalty to any particular aesthetic...
2011HL
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