19-12-2021 FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 2002-2006 (2h 45m)

HAPPY WiTH WHAT YOU HAVE TO BE HAPPY WiTH FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 2002-2006 (2h 45m)  >>King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, King Crimson, Steve Winwood, PJ Harvey, Califone, Cowboy Junkies, Adrian Belew, Ali Farka Touré, The Black Keys<<

 M U S I C  (2h 45m)

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2002-2006

If there is one group that embodies progressive rock, it is King Crimson. Led by guitar/Mellotron virtuoso Robert Fripp, during its first five years of existence the band stretched both the language and structure of rock into realms of jazz and classical music, all the while avoiding pop and psychedelic sensibilities. The absence of mainstream compromises and the lack of an overt sense of humor ultimately doomed the group to nothing more than a large cult following, but it made their albums some of the most enduring and respectable of the prog rock era...

King Crimson 

Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With (Adrian Belew / King Crimson) 3:54

Potato Pie 5:03

from Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With 2002

The relationship between this EP and King Crimson's Power to Believe (2003) long-player mirrors that of the six-track Vrooom (1994) sampler and subsequent full-length release Thrak (1994). The music perfectly contrasts the primarily instrumental and live Level Five (2001) EP by honing in on the latest lyrical contributions from Adrian Belew (guitar/vocals)... This slams headlong into the thrashing title track, which is not too far removed from the angst-ridden alternative metal from the likes of Therapy?, Tool, and Rammstein. In true Belew style, he incongruously twists the subject matter into a sonically aggressive backdrop, cleverly dissecting his craft as a singer/songwriter, exemplified in the lyrics: "And when I have some words/This is the way I'll sing/Through a distortion box/To make them menacing."... This is without a doubt one of the most lyrically poignant and musically refined tunes in the King Crimson repertoire, taking its rightful place alongside tracks such as "One Time" or "Frame by Frame." Belew's vocals hang ethereally over the languid, inspired instrumentation. "Potato Pie" is a moody and dark blues containing angular chord structures as well as some symbiotic fretwork from Fripp and Belew... 

As the leader of Genesis in the early '70s, Peter Gabriel helped move progressive rock to new levels of theatricality. He was no less ambitious as a solo artist, but he was more subtle in his methods. With his eponymous debut solo album in 1977, he explored dark, cerebral territory, incorporating avant-garde, electronic, and worldbeat influences into his music. The record, as well as its two similarly titled successors, established Gabriel as a critically acclaimed cult artist...

Peter Gabriel 

Darkness (Peter Gabriel) 5:51

Sky Blue (Peter Gabriel) 6:37

I Grieve (Peter Gabriel) 7:24

from Up 2002 

Ten years is a long time, especially in pop music, but waiting ten years to deliver an album is a clear sign that you're not all that interested in the pop game anyway. Such is the case with Peter Gabriel, who delivered Up in 2002, a decade after Us and four years after he announced its title. Perhaps appropriately, Up sounds like an album that was ten years in the making, revealing not just its pleasures but its intent very, very slowly... Really, there is no other choice for an artist as somber and ambitious as Gabriel to craft an album as dense as Up; those who have waited diligently for ten years would be disappointed with anything less and, frankly, they're the only audience that matters after a decade. And they're not likely to be disappointed, since this album grows stronger, revealing more with each listen. Initially, it seems to simply carry on the calmer, darker recesses of Us, but this is an uncompromising affair, which is to its advantage, since Gabriel delves deeper into darkness, grief, and meditation... But those serious fans who want to spend time with this will find that it does pay back many rewards.

Radiohead is an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK which formed in 1985. The band is composed of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, beats), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboard, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion).

Radiohead 

2 + 2 = 5 (Radiohead) 3:19

Sail to the Moon (Radiohead) 4:18

There, There (Radiohead) 5:23

A Punchup at a Wedding (Radiohead) 4:57

from Hail to the Thief 2003 

Radiohead's admittedly assumed dilemma: how to push things forward using just the right amounts of the old and the older in order to please both sides of the divide? Taking advantage of their longest running time to date, enough space is provided to quench the thirsts of resolute Bends devotees without losing the adventurous drive or experimentation that eventually got the group into hot water with many of those same listeners. Guitars churn and chime and sound like guitars more often than not; drums are more likely to be played by a human; and discernible verses are more frequently trailed by discernible choruses... At nearly an hour in length, this album doesn't unleash the terse blow delivered by its two predecessors. However, despite the fact that it seems more like a bunch of songs on a disc rather than a singular body, its impact is substantial. Regardless of all the debates surrounding the group, Radiohead have entered a second decade of record-making with a surplus of momentum.

030 ALTER.NATiON: weekly favtraX 13-04-2019

ALTER.NATION #30

Norah Jones, Bruce Hornsby, PJ Harvey, Gillian Anderson, Lily James, Chris Forsyth, Shovels & Rope, T-Bone Burnett / Jay Bellerose / Keefus Ciancia, The Budos Band, Glen Hansard, The Leisure Society, Patio, Men I Trust

weekly favtraX
13-04-2019

Pianist who sold millions with her beguiling vocals and a musical blend featuring jazz, traditional vocal pop, bluesy country, and contemporary folk. 
Norah Jones - Begin Again from Begin Again
During 2018, Norah Jones concentrated her creative endeavors on a series of digital singles that found the singer/songwriter stretching herself stylistically. Usually, she pushed herself by teaming with new, unexpected collaborators, including Wilco's Jeff Tweedy -- a tactic that guaranteed a variety of sounds and songs, a practice put into sharp relief by the 2019 release of Begin Again. This brief LP collects the seven songs recorded for this project -- all but one released beforehand -- and while they're a disparate batch, they nevertheless cohere thanks to their elegant, elastic experimentation.

Singer/songwriter and pianist whose breezy, nonchalant style made his numerous hits of the 1980s instantly recognizable. 
Bruce Hornsby - Fractals from Absolute Zero
The Noisemakers, Bruce Hornsby's regular backing band since 2002, aren't credited on 2019's Absolute Zero, which should be an indication that the album is a bit of a departure from the other records he's made during the 21st century. While the Noisemakers haven't avoided adventure, Absolute Zero feels as if it was made without any regard to boundaries, either in terms of style or approach. Such fearlessness is evident from the outset, when the record kicks off with a dexterous rhythm suitable for a vintage post-bop session, but it's too reductive to call Absolute Zero an odyssey into straight jazz.

The most challenging singer/songwriter to emerge in the '90s, her brutally honest lyrics match well to a progression of raw musical styles. 
PJ Harvey feat. Gillian Anderson  - The Sandman from All About Eve
PJ Harvey feat. Lily James  - The Moth from All About Eve
PJ Harvey wrote the score for a stage adaptation of All About Eve, the classic 1950 film about an aging Broadway star and a young fan who finagles her way into becoming the next big thing. The adaptation, which stars Gillian Anderson and Lily James, debuted in London earlier this year. The score that Harvey wrote for it is mostly instrumental, though there are two songs that feature Anderson and James.
Here’s what Harvey had to say about the score in a statement (via Pitchfork): I have always loved stories, and so to compose music to support and enhance a story being told is a challenge I enjoy. I also love the freedom that working instrumentally can give me without the constraints of song form.

Guitarist/songwriter Chris Forsyth got his start in Brooklyn's experimental circles in the early 2000s and slowly grew into a masterful technical player. As the bandleader of Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band, he composed mostly instrumental pieces that channeled both the psychedelic jamming of the Grateful Dead and the precision of art-punk guitar acts like Television.
Chris Forsyth - Tomorrow Might as Well Be Today from All Time Present
...The sprawling double album All Time Present is a sampler pack of Forsyth's strongest impulses, offering up just eight mostly instrumental pieces but stretching out in different directions over the course of its hour-plus playing time. Though All Time Present is the first work billed as a solo album since 2013's Solar Motel, Forsyth is bolstered by various players on every track. Most notably, bassist Peter Kerlin (also of Sunwatchers) and drummer Ryan Jewell add weight to tracks like album opener "Tomorrow Might As Well Be Today"...

South Carolina duo channeled country, bluegrass, and blues through a nervy indie rock prism. 
Shovels & Rope - I'm Comin' Out from By Blood
Shovels & Rope open By Blood, their fifth album of original material, with "I'm Comin' Out," a stomping, fuzz-drenched rocker that serves as a statement of purpose: the duo is indeed moving from the shadows into the light. "I'm Comin' Out" pulsates with vivid primary colors, a distinct switch from a band who previously specialized in shades of grey. As such, it's a fitting keynote for By Blood, which is by many measures the boldest record Shovels & Rope have made. Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst accentuate By Blood with an impressionistic flair that is far beyond drums and guitar...

Despite critical acclaim as a performer, the rootsy singer/songwriter T-Bone Burnett earned his greatest accolades as a multi-Grammy-winning record producer and Oscar winner. 
T-Bone Burnett / Jay Bellerose / Keefus Ciancia - Anti Cyclone from The Invisible Light: Acoustic Space
The Invisible Light is Burnett's first album in 11 years. It's a futurist, avant-industrial companion to a 5,000-line poem he's been writing for years now. Its companion volumes will be released at six-month intervals. Burnett's themes illuminate his notion that for 100 years, electronic programming (and in turn, technology) has caused humans to lose capacity for distinguishing truth from fiction, and has gone a long way to transforming us into hybrid beings. (Google claims the transition will be complete within 20 years.) He is joined by drummer Jay Bellerose and sound sculptor, composer, and keyboardist Keefus Ciancia. There are few acoustic instruments here. The songs follow even fewer conventional traits: Burnett talks more than he sings and he pays attention to interplay, texture, and dynamic, not songwriting norms. In his liner essay he calls this "electronic music" and "trance music," but it doesn't resemble EDM. He juxtaposes ecumenical spiritual themes and propaganda, philosophy and emotion, and the pursuit of truth and the current cultural celebration of mendacity from the mouths of the powerful... "Anti-Cyclone" begins as a sung tango before morphing into a tarantella with spaghetti western overtones mashing together a lovelorn ballad with insidious Machiavellian political psychology: "If you tell people the things they already believe/They will believe you/It doesn’t matter what you say…."

Progenitors of "Staten-Island Afro-Soul," the band channel funky African jazz rhythms, hardline vintage-style horn-driven R&B, and psychedelia. 
The Budos Band - Old Engine Oil from Budos Band V
In 2015, Staten Island's Budos Band surprised fans with Burnt Offering; their first non-numbered title, it delivered a shift in musical direction. In addition to their trademarked fusion of Mulatu Astatke-inspired Ethio-jazz, Afrofunk, and hard-swinging R&B, they indulged a collective love for darker, '70s-era hard rock and psychedelia. With V they have fully integrated the latter aesthetic with the former. The hard rock dimension of their musical persona now exists in an unholy balance with the groove elements of their first three recordings. The set also reflects a new Budos reality: Guitarist Thomas Brenneck and baritone saxophonist Jared Tankel relocated to California, and other members became parents. Budos became a bi-coastal outfit whose Thursday night rehearsals and writing sessions were jettisoned in favor of periodic get-togethers when members could travel East. They wrote and tracked V at the same time in their new Diamond Mine recording studio, all within 72 hours. Brenneck took the tapes back with him to L.A. where he and Daptone's Gabriel Roth mixed the 34-minute set.
This fifth outing showcases a more aggressive and inventive Budos Band than the one heard on Burnt Offering. Opener and single "Old Engine Oil" commences with a "Whole Lotta Love"-inspired guitar vamp before cracking snares and kick drums enter alongside horns. The sound is ragged and immediate, charged with energy, fury, and soul. The horn lines marry Muscle Shoals-styled charts to driving hard rock via electric guitars, wah-wah, breakbeat drumming, and a wrangling bassline

With a host of real-life songs and lilting vocals that reflect a passion for his influences (particularly Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan), Glen Hansard is best known for his work with the Frames and the Swell Season.
Glen Hansard - I'll Be You, Be Me from This Wild Willing
The opening track on 2019's This Wild Willing, "I'll Be You, Be Me," begins with a fuzzy rhythm track and a bass patiently thumping over a clanky rhythm machine as Glen Hansard delivers his lyrics in an ominous murmur. Four minutes later it snowballs into a massive tower of cacophony with guitars, keyboards, and strings united in a howling frenzy of sonic force. It's a powerful way to start an album, and while it's easily the set's boldest departure from the introspective but passionate indie folk that has been Hansard's trademark, it sets the stage for a set that finds Hansard pushing his stylistic boundaries. This Wild Willing was primarily written during a four-week working holiday in Paris, and Hansard received input and inspiration from a wide variety of fellow artists, running the gamut from Irish traditional folk instrumentalists to experimental electronic musicians...

Folk-inflected British indie pop outfit led by singer/songwriter Nick Hemming. 
The Leisure Society - There Are No Rules Around Here from Arrivals & Departures
A decade into their recording career, England's amiable chamber pop specialists, the Leisure Society, return with their first double album, a deeply personal self-exploration from frontman Nick Hemming, whose breakup with bandmate Helen Whitaker lies at its thematic core. There has always been an earnest sensitivity to Hemming's songwriting which the group then trims in garlands of wistful strings, horns, and woodwinds so that even at their most melancholic, there remains a feeling that hope does indeed spring eternal. Such is the case on Arrivals & Departures, where over two discs, the band serves up themes of regret and dramatic life changes atop puffed clouds of bittersweet melody and orchestral grandeur with occasional stabs of angry lightning...

Patio - Endggame from Essentials
In 2014, Patio was the fictitious brainchild of Loren DiBlasi, then a music journalist who fancied bass guitar but had yet to pick one up. Linking with guitarist friend Lindsey-Paige McCloy, DiBlasi learned bass by replicating Pavement and Blink-182 licks. College friend Alice Suh, who’d just taken up drum lessons, completed the trio. Mitski accepted an invitation to their first show, and nearly five years later, Patio are a frequent opening act on the Brooklyn DIY scene... The sprightly post-punk of Essentials commands attention, not because it’s overzealous or hyperbolic, but because of the vigor Patio bring to their songs. Their attitude recalls predecessors like Dig Me Out-era Sleater-Kinney, but Patio inject the final product with enough modern indie-pop influence to clear them of imitator status....

Montreal self-recordists mix dreamy atmospheres, wistful extended chords, and funky, low-key dance grooves. 
Men I Trust - Numb
Men I Trust have a new album ready in the wings, Oncle Jazz — it was originally supposed to come out in February, but it’s been delayed... The dreamy Montreal trio have just released a new song called “Numb,” with a hazy synth and bass groove. “Numb, is how I feel deep inside my soul,” lead singer Emma Proulx sings softly. “Need to feel that I am on the line / I’m sorry that I dragged you down my way.”

Norah Jones, Bruce Hornsby, PJ Harvey, Gillian Anderson, Lily James, Chris Forsyth, Shovels & Rope, T-Bone Burnett / Jay Bellerose / Keefus Ciancia, The Budos Band, Glen Hansard, The Leisure Society, Patio, Men I Trust

27-11-2018 ˙ FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 2002-1997

David Bowie

27-11-2018 ˙ FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 2002-1997  >>David Bowie, Jazzanova, 16 Horsepower, Dead Meadow, PJ Harvey16 Horsepower, Boss Hog, The Greenhornes, Wilco, Tom Waits, Suzie Higgie & Conway Savage, Mick Harvey<<

M U S I C

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2002-1997

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
5.15 the Angels Have Gone (David Bowie) 5:02
Sunday (David Bowie) 4:46
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...

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
The One-Tet (Alexander Barck / A. Judson Green / Stefan Leisering) 3:51
L.O.V.E. and You & I (Alexander Barck / Stefan Leisering) 7:48
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...

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 /
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...

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<<

M U S I C

favtraxmix label The player always plays the latest playlist tracks. / A lejátszó mindig a legújabb playlist számait játssza.   

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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...

26-08-2018 10:47 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from the recent past]

Belle and Sebastian

26-08-2018 10:47 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from the recent past] # Belle and Sebastian, Chicano Batman, PJ Harvey, Moon Duo, Samara Lubelski, ShadowParty, Prettiest Eyes, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Cigarettes After Sex, Halo Maud, Palm, La Luz

M U S I C

pres_perf_mix # The player always plays the latest playlist tracks. / A lejátszó mindig a legújabb playlist számait játssza. 

LISTEN THE PLAYLIST ON DEEZER.COM

A band that takes its name from a French children's television series about a boy and his dog would almost have to be precious, and to be sure, Belle and Sebastian are precious. But precious can be a damning word, and Belle and Sebastian don't have the negative qualities that the word connotes: they are private but not insular, pretty but not wimpy; they make gorgeous, delicate melodies sound full-bodied. Led by guitarist/vocalist Stuart Murdoch, the seven-piece band has an intimate, majestic sound that is equal parts folk-rock and '60s pop, but Murdoch's gift, not just for whimsy and surrealism but also for odd, unsettling lyrical detail, keeps the songs grounded in a tangible reality.
Belle and Sebastian
I'll Be Your Pilot (Belle and Sebastian) 4:15
Best Friend (Carla Easton / Belle and Sebastian) 3:41
from How To Solve Our Human Problems (Parts 1-3) 2018
On the eve of launching Belle and Sebastian's project How to Solve Our Human Problems, leader Stuart Murdoch explained his band's decision to release a series of three interlocked EPs instead of a long-player with this: "I think these days when an LP comes out, it's kind of disappointing. Nothing seems to happen, and I thought, 'We've got to do something different.'" Murdoch's way to combat the digital grind harks back to Belle and Sebastian's earliest days, when the group released a series of three EPs between 1996's If You're Feeling Sinister and 1998's The Boy with the Arab Strap, but those releases were spaced out over the course of 1997, where each of the installments of How to Solve Our Human Problems arrived in succession in the first months of 2018. Consequently, all three Human Problems EPs feel cut from the same cloth, all buzzing to a stylish good vibe pitched halfway between '60s modernism and '70s disco...

Alternative Latin band with a psychedelic hybrid sound who have opened for Alabama Shakes and Jack White.  Chicano Batman source their high-spirited alternative Latin synthesis from tropicália, West Coast psychedelia, and late-'60s/early-'70s soul, among other styles. Eduardo Arenas (bass, vocals), Bardo Martinez (lead vocals, organ, guitar), and Gabriel Villa (drums, percussion) made their recorded debut in 2009 with a self-released, self-titled album.
Chicano Batman
Passed You By (Chicano Batman / Bardo Martinez) 3:27
Freedom Is Free (Chicano Batman / Bardo Martinez) 4:03
The Taker Story (Chicano Batman / Bardo Martinez) 5:27
from Freedom Is Free 2017
Hitting the good groove may seem like a simple thing, but it's not. (If it were, anyone could have been James Brown, and a quick spin through his catalog confirms that's impossible.) And the ability to move the crowd can be used to say any number of things. Musical shape-shifters Chicano Batman have drawn from a rich variety of sources for their third album, 2017's Freedom Is Free -- Brazilian Tropicalia, Latin funk, vintage American soul, and R&B, shades of Afrobeat, and psychedelia of all sorts. But the way the band gracefully navigate the nexus between the passionate and the laid-back sides of their musical personality is what makes Freedom Is Free stand out. Just as Funkadelic's classic early albums indelibly merged rock guitars with funk grooves, Chicano Batman make music that makes your hips sway, but with a purposefully easy tempo. They give their music a vibe that's powerful and sensual all at once, merging their influences in a way that doesn't cancel out any of the elements...

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
The Community of Hope (PJ Harvey) 2:23
The Orange Monkey (PJ Harvey) 2:47
The Wheel (PJ Harvey) 5:38
from The Hope Six Demolition Project 2016
On 2011's Mercury Prize-winning Let England Shake, PJ Harvey connected World War I bloodbaths with the 21st century world in harrowing, moving ways. Its follow-up, The Hope Six Demolition Project, feels like a companion piece with a wider focus and more urgent mood. For this project -- which also includes the 2015 book of poetry The Hollow of the Hand and a film -- Harvey and her Shake collaborator, war photographer Seamus Murphy, emphasized documentation: The pair spent years researching in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington, D.C.; later, Harvey was literally transparent about the recording process, making Hope Six at a recording studio behind one-way glass for public audiences at London’s Somerset House. Befitting its origins, the album's sound is blunt and raw, mixing rock, blues, jazz, spirituals, and field recordings into the musical equivalent of photojournalism...