091ALTER.NATION.MiX weekly favtraX 14-06-2020

ALTER.NATION #91

Norah Jones, Jehnny Beth, Maserati, Built to Spill,  Daniel Johnston, Sammy Brue, Dougie Poole, Bibio, Kahil El'zabar, Kurt Rosenwinkel, GoGo Penguin, Boney James, Noveller

weekly favtraX 
1 4 - 0 6 - 2 0 2 0

"Hurts to Be Alone"

Pianist who sold millions with her beguiling vocals and a musical blend featuring jazz, traditional vocal pop, bluesy country, and contemporary folk.
Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off the Floor / Hurts to Be Alone
Once she came to the end of the promotional cycle for 2016's Day Breaks, Norah Jones decided to challenge herself by recording a series of swift sessions with a rotating cast of collaborators. The intention was to release the results quickly, issuing them as a digital single at a time, and Jones followed through on this plan, releasing a new song every few months throughout 2018. These tunes were rounded up on 2019's Begin Again, but that wasn't the end of the project. Jones cut a number of songs during these sessions that were unreleased but not forgotten by the singer/songwriter. She kept listening to the rough mixes, eventually coming to the conclusion that these tracks would make a strong album of their own accord. Pick Me Up Off the Floor proves her instincts were correct...

Whether she's making music, acting, or writing, Jehnny Beth challenges conventions, her audience -- and herself. Her unwavering commitment to pushing boundaries first became widely known during her time with Savages, whose acclaimed albums Silence Yourself (2013) and Adore Life (2016) delivered a jolt of uncompromising feminine energy into post-punk as well as the U.K. rock scene of the 2010s.
Jehnny Beth - To Love Is to Live / Flower
Arriving four years after Adore Life, Jehnny Beth's solo debut, To Love Is to Live, is exactly the kind of work expected from an envelope-pushing, multidisciplinary artist like Savages' frontwoman, yet it still manages to surprise. In Beth's eyes, living and loving aren't supposed to be easy -- it's the struggle and risk involved that makes both of them worthwhile. She never lets herself, or her listeners, get too comfortable on To Love Is to Live...

Aptly named post-rock outfit with a retro-futuristic sound that nods to space rock, dance music, and new wave.
Maserati - Enter the Mirror / Wallwalker
....Enter the Mirror evokes the real and fantasy crises of the '80s as well as the 2020s, and Maserati's vocoder-heavy robot rock sounds sleeker and feels more ominous than it has in some time. .. "Wallwalker" boasts riffs and solos big enough to fill a stadium before it effortlessly shifts gears and hits the dancefloor. Familiar yet unpredictable moments like these make Enter the Mirror a confident, dynamic celebration of Maserati's 20th year of reimagining the future of decades past with 20/20 hindsight.

Built to Spill were one of the most popular indie rock acts of the '90s, finding the middle ground between postmodern, Pavement-style pop and the loose, spacious jamming of Neil Young. From the outset, the band was a vehicle for singer/songwriter/guitarist Doug Martsch, who -- heavily inspired by Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis -- helped keep alive the concept of the indie guitar hero. 
Built to Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston / Impossible Love
As with other talented but troubled artists such as Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, and Roky Erickson, Daniel Johnston fights a daily battle with the chronic mental illness that has plagued him nearly his entire life.
In 2017, Built to Spill had the honor of serving as backing band for Daniel Johnston for two shows, and during rehearsals they decided to record a handful of their favorite songs to share with friends. The shows turned out well and a couple years later the trio of vocalist/guitarist Doug Martsch, bassist Jason Albertini, and drummer Steve Gere reconvened to work a little more on the songs to get them ready to be released. Ernest Jenning Recording Co. did the honors, and the finished product is a reverent tribute fitting to Johnston and of a piece with the group's best work...

Oregon-born, Utah-based Americana and country-folk prodigy who released his debut LP at the age of 15.
Sammy Brue - Crash Test Kid / Skatepark Doomsday Blues
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Sammy Brue wowed folk and Americana fans with his stylish 2017 debut, I Am Nice, which just happened to coincide with his 15th year on the planet. Three years older but still technically unable to legally set foot in some of the venues his job requires of him, Brue returns with Crash Test Kid, a bolder and decidedly more age-appropriate collection of songs that straddle the nexus between precocious troubadour and emotionally exhausted 18-year-old...

Dougie Poole is a musician and songwriter living in Brooklyn, New York. Coming of age in Providence, he dabbled in heavier and more experimental music before maturing into a country auteur.He writes earnestly about his experience (life in the big city, heartbreak in the digital age) and approaches country as an experimental music form, as well as a tradition. 
Dougie Poole - The Freelancer's Blues / Vaping on the Job
Practically every piece on Dougie Poole in some way points to the eccentricity of his work and his unlikely alliance to country music, with the word "weird" popping up as often as not. And in a very real way, the consensus is right -- Dougie Poole's music IS pretty weird, with its wobbly sounding keyboards attempting to mimic the sound of the pedal steel guitar, and the clanky-sounding rhythm programs, along with his sorta-funny, sorta-not lyrics about lost love, the trials of ordinary life, and recreational drugs. That said, if Poole feels a kindred spirit with classic country music, he comes by it honestly. Poole's songs demonstrate a very real compassion and understanding for the ordinary workaday people who populate country music and its audience, and while there are some truly bent angles in his work, he doesn't look down on his characters.

The folk-meets-electronica project of self-taught producer and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Wilkinson.
Bibio - Sleep on the Wing / A Couple Swim
The folky side of Bibio's music is always lovely, whether Stephen Wilkinson submerges it in blunted beats and decaying tape ambiance on Vignetting the Compost or lets the sun shine on it, as he did on Ribbons. Sleep on the Wing is a companion to that gorgeous 2019 album, and though it has a smaller scope, it's just as winning...

American drummer, inspired by African music, who has worked with top jazz musicians, pop artists, and on film scores.
Kahil El'zabar - Kahil El'zabar's Spirit Groove / In the Spirit
Spirit Groove features El'Zabar in the company of saxophonist and longtime collaborator David Murray, bassist Emma Dayhuff, and pianist/keyboardist Justin Dillard on synth, organ, and piano. This outing shines a light on the accessibility and vision of El'Zabar's abundant creativity. Whether playing kalimba, drum kit, congas, shakers, vibes, or singing, he is in pursuit of the ancient universal groove, and its twin manifestations as spiritual and aesthetic entities in the contemporary world...   "In the Spirit" is spiritual soul-jazz at its best; where Roy Ayers, Leon Thomas, Les McCann, Eddie Harris, and Joe Lee Wilson all mingle with Booker Little and Pharoah Sanders in riff-centric and obsessively assonant modal jazz. It stirs emotionally as poignant questions emerge from the mix about our attentiveness while affirming the spiritual truth of rhythm.

An adept guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, Kurt Rosenwinkel is known for his fearless, boundary-pushing approach to jazz. Building upon the eclectic post-bop work of guitarists like Pat Metheny, John Scofield, and Bill Frisell, Rosenwinkel gained early buzz in the 1990s leading his own groups and working with progressive artists like Paul Motian, Tim Hagans, and Gary Burton. 
Kurt Rosenwinkel - Angels Around / Simple #2
-...Joining him are Italian bassist Dario Deidda and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Both Deidda and Hutchinson bring a wealth of experience to the session. Deidda has played with such Italian luminaries as singer Fiorella Mannoia and trumpeter Enrico Rava, and his warm, robust sound brings to mind contemporaries like Christian McBride and veterans like Dave Holland. Similarly, Hutchinson has been a first-call player for decades, and his roiling, textured style is the perfect foil for Rosenwinkel's sparkling, far-eyed improvisational lines... and dive with red-eyed focus into the funky, Larry Coryell-esque original "Simple #2."...

GoGo Penguin is a charting, left-field jazz piano trio from Manchester, England. They seamlessly wed rock, post-bop jazz, and minimalist classical influences, to discoveries in electronic music and production by artists such as Aphex Twin and Four Tet. 
GoGo Penguin - GoGo Penguin / Atomised
...Always in motion, shifting constantly between repetition, rhythms, and improvisation, this is a group clearly influenced by Philip Glass' early minimalist, cyclical recordings. That said, they absorbed them simultaneously with devotion for techno, drum'n'bass, post-bop, post-rock, and electric jazz. The group's self-titled fifth album underscores the accuracy of these influences alongside new musical directions.
The best verb to describe the music found here is "propelled." It doesn't rely on grooves so much as energetic trio conversation: the space behind Chris Illingworth's suspended, alternately hovering and biting piano lines is framed by the rich, woody tone of Nick Blacka's upright bass playing and the skittering, forceful, breakbeat-driven drumming of Rob Turner...  First single "Atomised" is introduced with rolling breaks juxtaposed with Illingworth's hypnotic piano lines. Blacka offers the changes through each minimally evolving cycle. When the pianist moves afield, it's with cascading chords that eventually drop out to allow Turner's kit a snare groove that pushes the tune toward lithe, mutant, almost unbearably beautiful funk...

A best-selling tenor saxophonist, producer, and composer and one of the most successful artists in contemporary jazz.
Boney James - Solid / Solid
“A solid relationship is when someone has your back and will stand by your side no matter what,” explains Boney James about the title of his new CD. “Solid is a word that has a few meanings, but this one really resonated with me and became the theme of the record.”
Sometimes, inspiration is slow in coming, evasive and stubborn. Other times, if an artist is very fortunate, it simply flows, the music practically writing itself. That’s how Solid, the latest release from Boney James came to be. “This record really flowed at an unusually quick pace,” Boney says. “There was a lot of positive energy in making this music. Solid is a very upbeat record. As I was writing them, these songs put a smile on my face.”

Solo guitarist and Iggy Pop collaborator Sarah Lipstate makes icy drones and beautifully spare sounds as Noveller.
Noveller - Arrow / Pattern Recognition
...Arrow continues that record's expanded approach to composition and finds Lipstate's filmic sounds at their most intense. The album was the first Noveller set since Lipstate relocated from her longtime home in Brooklyn to Los Angeles. There's a sense of both discovery and disruption in these songs, reflecting the unknown factors of a cross-country move...

Norah Jones, Jehnny Beth, Maserati, Built to Spill,  Daniel Johnston, Sammy Brue, Dougie Poole, Bibio, Kahil El'zabar, Kurt Rosenwinkel, GoGo Penguin, Boney James, Noveller

PnM:MiX / eLECTRONiC:MiX < 2020 so far

EMOTIONS PnM.MiX / eLECTRONiC:MiX < 2020 so far

1. Nídia - Emotions
2. Four Tet - Something in the Sadness
3. Populous - Out of Space
4. Emancipator - Dodo
5. Ital Tek - Diamond Child
6. Cmon - Dreamfucking
7. Jackie Lynn - Diamond Glue
8. Maserati - Killing Time
9. Nathan - Eris & Dysnomia
10. Yves Tumor - Asteroid Blues
11. Activity - Auto Sad
12. The Orb - House of Narcotics (Opium Wars Mix)
13. The Wants - Hydra
14. Lorelle Meets the Obsolete - (Cc Crain Remix)
15. Helen Money - Brave One
16. Ultraista - Tin King
17. Sam Gendel - In a Sentimental Mood
18. CocoRosie - Where Did All the Soldiers Go
19. Islet - Good Grief
20. Phantogram - Mister Impossible
21. Caribou - Like I Loved You
22. Daniel Avery / Alessandro Cortini - Illusion of Time

"We Were Kings" > 080 ALTER.NATION.MiX weekly favtraX 05-04-2020

ALTER.NATION #80

Hollow Ship, The Claudettes, Melkbelly, Warm Digits, Avishai Cohen / Big Vicious, Melt Yourself Down, James Elkington, Wilma Archer, Maserati, CMON, Ringo Deathstarr, Born Ruffians

weekly favtraX 

0 5 - 0 4 - 2 0 2 0

"We Were Kings"

ALTER.NATION #80 on DEEZER

A groove-driven psychedelic combo from Gothenburg, Sweden, Hollow Ship meld the progressive influence of bands like Pink Floyd and King Crimson with funky Afro-pop rhythms and a host of modern sounds. They made their debut in 2020 with the full-length Future Remains LP.
Hollow Ship - Future Remains / We Were Kings
Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, Hollow Ship are a psych-rock combo with a progressive edge and a penchant for big, ferocious grooves. The project stems from a collaboration between bandleader Thomas Frank (vocals, guitar) and Vincent Vensal (guitar) whose loose improvisations came to life over a two-year period with the addition of an agile rhythm battery in bassist Johannes Cronquist and drummer Mårten Magnefors. On their debut album, Future Remains, the group invests in the exploratory spirit of psych, jam, prog, and art-rock without necessarily bowing to each tradition's expected tropes. In fact, their bold, rhythm-heavy attack and warped fusion of contemporary and vintage studio manipulations comes across as quite modern in approach...

The Claudettes fuse Chicago piano blues with the full-throttle energy of rockabilly and punk and the sultriness of ’60s soul to write a thrilling new chapter in American roots music. Johnny Iguana pounds the piano alongside seductive singer Berit Ulseth, bassist/guitarist/singer Zach Verdoorn and drummer Michael Caskey. 
The Claudettes - High Times in the Dark / 24/5
High Times in the Dark opens with an ornate piano run from chief Claudette Johnny Iguana, a flourish that brings to mind Steve Nieve's work with the Attractions, particularly on Elvis Costello's Trust. It's a dramatic progression from the gleefully grimy blues-and-boogie that characterized earlier albums by the Claudettes, a bit of flair that brings the group's self-definition of "garage cabaret" into sharp relief, and that's even before vocalist Berit Ulseth has sung her first note... High Times in the Dark is filled with clever, soulful rock & roll that's rooted in blues, jazz, and R&B but veers toward classic pop: music that's designed to be played in the heart of the night but is snappy and catchy enough to shine brightly during the day...

Chicago-based quartet whose energetic noise rock is spiced with poppy grunge, math rock, and the occasional experimental freak out. With a sound that meets in the middle of a collision between experimental noise rock, pop grunge, math rock, and classic indie rock, the Chicago quartet Melkbelly utilized well-worn sounds of the past and transform them into something fresh, thanks to the energy and skill they apply to the process.
Melkbelly - PITH /  Kissing Under Some Bats
Melkbelly's debut album, Nothing Valley, gave notice that the Chicago foursome had an encyclopedic knowledge of noisy, heavy indie rock both past and present, while also impressing with the ability to stitch it together in ways that made it all seem fresh. The noise-damaged guitars, math rock drums, sticky-sweet pop melodies, and songs that seem naggingly familiar in a very good way are all back on PITH, only ramped up in ways that matter...  on "Kissing Under Some Bats" they spread across the speakers in an slowly unspooling hissy hum that would make Sonic Youth proud...

Retro-futuristic English duo whose motorik-powered music explores nostalgia and technology... Blending high-concept songwriting with inspirations spanning Can, Neu!, and Kraftwerk, My Bloody Valentine's dense sonic layers, and Brian Eno's wispy analog melodies, Warm Digits are multi-instrumentalists Andrew Hodson and Steve Jefferis. 
Warm Digits - Flight of Ideas / Frames and Cages
On Wireless World, Warm Digits' Andrew Hodson and Steve Jefferis took inspiration from the pros and cons of progress and technology; on Flight of Ideas, they explore the ramifications of outdated ideas and mental disorders. The title comes from a psychological term describing a state of overloaded thought, and while it's a concept that's all too relevant to when the album was released, it's rooted in decades of psychology...  On "Frames and Cages," their juxtaposition of dense, ominous beats with airier passages provides an apt musical metaphor for how an idea can imprison or enlighten someone based on their perspective...

“Cohen is a multicultural jazz musician, among whose ancestors is Miles Davis. Like Davis, he can make the trumpet a vehicle for uttering the most poignant human cries.” Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes
Avishai Cohen / Big Vicious - Big Vicious / King Kutner
On his fourth date for ECM, trumpeter Avishai Cohen leads a band he formed with friends after returning to Israel in 2013. The electro-acoustic ensemble includes guitarists Uzi Ramirez and Yonatan Albalak (also on electric bass) and drummers Aviv Cohen and Ziv Ravitz (who also did the live studio sampling); they deliver a program of nine originals and two covers. It is easily the most accessible album of Cohen's career thus far, in that it will likely appeal to listeners not normally drawn to jazz. There are several reasons for this. First is that Cohen's writing is songlike. The melodies are often hummable and there are many different stylistic forays into psychedelic rock, R&B and funk, Hebrew folk, and sound system electronica. It was cut over three days at Studios La Buissonne in France and produced by Manfred Eicher... "King Kutner" is a rock tune with bluesy lead guitar and a popping bassline framed by snare breaks and a punchy kick drum.

An intense Afro-jazz-punk sextet featuring members of acclaimed U.K. acts Acoustic Ladyland and Sons of Kemet.
Melt Yourself Down - 100% Yes / This the Squeeze
After two justifiably lauded albums, Bristol's Melt Yourself Down lost two of its founding members. Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and drummer Tom Skinner both play in Sons of Kemet, as well in several as other groups. MYT bandleader Pete Wareham (Polar Bear, ex-Acoustic Ladyland) wasted no time recruiting saxophonist/keyboardist George Crowley and drummer Adam Betts full-time. This new version played a slew of gigs to acclimate their new members, then enlisted co-producers Youth and Ben Hillier when they entered the recording studio... 100% Yes is the band's third album proper and contains those tracks and seven others. Their sound has shifted a bit; it's more inside, funkier, and dirtier. The frenetic dance music that sits at the core of the band's sound attack is ever present, but the out jazz takes a bit of a back seat to brittle, punk-inflected cosmic funk, Latin and Afro-Cuban rhythm...

British-born, Chicago-based guitarist and vocalist James Elkington writes introspective, harmonically nuanced songs heavily informed by traditional and progressive folk of the '60s and '70s. After establishing himself as a staple sideman of Chicago's indie scene, he worked as a collaborator with artists like Jeff Tweedy and Louisville guitarist Nathan Salsburg before making his own debut with 2017's Wintres Woma and its 2020 follow-up, Ever-Roving Eye.
James Elkington - Ever-Roving Eye / Ever-Roving Eye
Prior to stepping out as a solo artist with 2017's woody folk-rock gem Wintres Woma, British-born guitarist James Elkington had carved out an impressive career as a spotlight-adjacent collaborator, playing in numerous bands around his adopted hometown of Chicago, recording a pair of acclaimed folk guitar duet albums with Nathan Salsburg, and working with a range of acts from Tortoise and Eleventh Dream Day to his guitar hero, Richard Thompson. His behind-the-scenes work has continued in the years since with forays into production and arranging for artists like Nap Eyes, Joan Shelley, and Steve Gunn. With Ever-Roving Eye, the reluctant frontman returns to solo work, offering another beautifully understated collection full of stark introspection, stylistic nuance, and elegant guitar craft...

Exquisitely arranged fusion of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop from a British producer and composer previously known by the moniker Slime. Wilma Archer's music is an ambitious, exquisitely arranged fusion of orchestral jazz, alternative R&B, and underground hip-hop, among other genres. The British producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist has collaborated extensively with artists including Sudan Archives, Nilüfer Yanya, and George Maple, in addition to forming the left-field rap duo Wilma Vritra with producer/emcee Vritra
Wilma Archer - A Western Circular / Scarecrow
For much of the 2010s, British musician Will Archer made dusky, candle-lit music under the somewhat misleading name Slime. His curious, unassuming grooves recalled the 1990s trip-hop/downtempo aesthetic more than anything else being produced at the time, but with slightly more abstract beats and odder arrangements...  A Western Circular is his long-in-the-making first full-length as Wilma Archer, and it's far more organic and introspective than his previous work. Shining a greater spotlight on his skills as a composer and arranger, the album is a mixture of orchestral jazz with subtle electronic touches, and a few ventures into R&B and rap.  "Scarecrow," previously issued as a single that provided a taster for Archer's drastic shift in direction, is a flowing mini-suite with a softly gliding rhythm, tasteful electric guitar lead, shimmering organ, and a slightly knotty web of horns....

Post-rock unit from Athens, Georgia dealing in the same eclectic blend of ambience and experimental rock as Tortoise or Macha.
Maserati - Enter the Mirror / Welcome To The Other Side
Marking their 20th year as a band, Maserati returns with their first new album in five years. Produced by the band and mixed by Grammy-winning producer, John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Swans, Angel Olsen), Enter The Mirror is Maserati’s most compelling mélange of triumphant guitar hooks, abstract synth-pop, and Wax Trax-inspired noise anthems. The gated drums of Phil Collins and chorus-drenched guitars of INXS were prominent influences on Enter The Mirror, paired to magnificent effect with the increasingly dystopian lyrical themes (which, ironically, were also massive influences on popular music in the 1980s, and feel ever more relevant now). In addition to longtime members Coley Dennis, Matt Cherry, Chris McNeal, and Mike Albanese, Maserati are joined by friends and collaborators, Bill Berry (R.E.M.), Owen Lange, and Alfredo Lapuz Jr...

New York's Josh da Costa and Jamen Whitelock were doing pretty well for themselves as Regal Degal but were preferring the after show dancing to the actual performances so they aligned their music accordingly, made a swift name change to CMON.
CMON - Confusing Mix of Nations / Mindblogging
Confusing Mix of Nations is the debut album from CMON, the Los Angeles pairing of Josh da Costa and Jamen Whitelock. Each of the ten tracks reads like a postcard from a different aesthetic era, from the heavy atmospherics and melancholic soul reminiscent of Regal Degal, the duo’s prior project, to the four-on-the-floor EBM rhythm grids and sublime AOR guitar lines picked from pop’s outer limits. Confusing yet contagious, this an album of pop ambition that understands “pop” to be a state of mind, not a state of sales.

Shoegaze revivalists from Texas who play it pretty straight, but aren't afraid to add extra noise to the mix.

Ringo Deathstarr - Ringo Deathstarr / Once Upon a Freak

Since they began in the late 2000s, Ringo Deathstarr have been one of the finest exemplars of blown-out shoegaze and amped-up dream pop. Their albums are home to an unbroken string of memorable songs delivered with just the right blend of noise and melody, all driven home with a heavy dose of glitter and feedback. It's good to see that after taking a few years off from issuing records, 2020's self-titled album finds the band doing the same thing they've always done. Almost... "Once Upon A Freak" is loping, Medicine-esque, and has giant smears of guitar obscuring the melody...

Clever and tuneful Canadian indie rock band fuses hooky guitar jangle with moody, folk-influenced melodies.
Born Ruffians - Juice / Dedication
Canada's Born Ruffians continue to hone their exuberant sound on their sixth album, 2020's punchy and inspired Juice. Produced by Graham Walsh, who has previously worked on similarly inventive efforts by Alvvays, !!!, and Holy Fuck, Juice is a live-sounding album, full of hooky shouted choruses, and tactile, analog instrumentation. Once again featured here is the core Born Ruffians power trio of guitarist/vocalist Luke Lalonde, bassist Mitch DeRosier, and drummer Steve Hamelin. It's the second album the group has recorded since the return of Hamelin, who left after 2013's Birthmarks and returned in time for 2018's equally inspired Uncle, Duke & Chief...  It's an absolutely bashing way to start the album, and perfectly sets the tone for the organic sounds to come as they dig into an angular post-punk rhythm on "Dedication,"...

Hollow Ship, The Claudettes, Melkbelly, Warm Digits, Avishai Cohen / Big Vicious, Melt Yourself Down, James Elkington, Wilma Archer, Maserati, CMON, Ringo Deathstarr, Born Ruffians