16-07-2019 alter_MiX 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX

Priests

16-07-2019 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from the recent past] # Priests, The James Hunter Six, Niia, Eyes of Love, Le SuperHomard, Tallies, Pearl & the Oysters, The Heliocentrics, Bonobo, Cabbage, Juliana Hatfield, Dire Wolves

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

Frenetic post-punk quartet follows a long line of angular punk legends from its hometown of Washington, D.C. 
Priests
No Big Bang 2:48
Nothing Feels Natural 3:59
Pink White House 4:05
from Nothing Feels Natural 2017
The creative leap that Priests make from the Bodies and Control and Money and Power EP to their first full-length Nothing Feels Natural is reflected in the titles of both works: Bodies spelled out society's ills with literal (and literate) rants, but this time, Priests use a more poetic, existential approach to express these frustrations. When nothing feels right, change is a natural response, and the band uses the space afforded by a full-fledged album to introduce more sounds and moods to its music...

The gritty, passionate, longstanding backing band of British soulman, songwriter, and guitarist James Hunter. /English channeler of American soul from days of yore (Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, et al), cult following since the 1990s.
The James Hunter Six
If That Don't Tell You 2:34
(Baby) Hold On 2:45
A Truer Heart 2:38
from Hold On! 2016
Hold On! is the fourth album by the rocking soul man James Hunter and his stalwart sextet. Daptone's Gabriel Roth produced the excellent Minute by Minute in 2013, but this is the band's debut for the label. Hold On! was recorded live in the studio, but Roth and Hunter decided on mono to best capture the immediacy of the performances. The songwriter has recorded only original material since 2006, and these ten tracks are no exception. What separates this date from previous outings -- excellent though they all were -- isn't the mono production, but the diversity in songwriting, rhythmic invention, and arranging...

Singer and songwriter who broke through when featured on Wyclef Jean's "Sweetest Girl" in 2007 and went on to make her own jazz-inflected pop. 
Niia
Sideline 4:20
Nobody 4:08
Last Night In Los Feliz 5:55
from Niia I 2017
...Decay is the thing on “I,” Niia’s lavishly detailed full-length debut album, made in partnership with the producer Robin Hannibal. Together, they understand how to make songs melt, and how to make seismic shifts at a glacial pace. The result is trip-hop that strips away the pomp, leaving only the ooze...

Experimental pop band Eyes of Love are headed by New York-based songwriter Andrea Schiavelli. The group's 2018 debut album, End of the Game, features tightly wound, complex arrangements that are both playful and delicate.
Eyes of Love
Homeowners 1:36
Version of Tomorrow 2:39
Players of the Field 2:41
from End of the Game 2018
Andrea Schiavelli previously used the name Eyes of Love for a solo cassette in 2011, then debuted the band of the same name with a 7" EP of VU-indebted lo-fi rock songs in 2016. An entirely different lineup of the band recorded End of the Game, the first Eyes of Love full-length, and by this point the project had developed into a lushly arranged prog-pop unit. An entirely different lineup of the band recorded End of the Game, the first Eyes of Love full-length, and by this point the project had developed into a lushly arranged prog-pop unit. Joined by Palberta's Lily Konigsberg and two members of the Cradle (Sammy Weissberg and Paco Cathcart), Schiavelli pens soft, heartfelt semi-orchestral pop tunes with fractured rhythms and unexpected detours...  End of the Game is complex but not discordant; it never seems like Schiavelli is trying to out-weird anyone or attack the listener with an over-abundance of sounds. It could've ended up a jumble of an album if it wasn't so tightly composed, well arranged, and cleanly recorded.

French group who mix easy listening, '90s-style space age pop, and chamber pop into a frothy melodic concoction. 
Le SuperHomard
Door After Door 3:54
Meadow Lane Park 3:20
from Meadow Lane Park 2019
After releasing the very promising MapleKey EP in 2016, the French band Le SuperHomard were positioned as the next great band in the tradition of Stereolab, Broadcast, and the High Llamas. 2019's Meadow Lane Park makes good on that promise and should please anyone who ever loved the kind of retro-looking, futuristic-sounding pop those bands made in their prime. With songs written, played, and produced by Christophe Vaillant, then sung by Julie Big in breathlessly soft tones, the album is a gentle musical hug that plays on nostalgic strings, but also adds something special -- and perhaps left over from his days playing power pop in the Strawberry Smell -- to the template...

Possessing an extensive knowledge of early-'90s dream pop and the skill set needed to replicate the sounds they loved, the Toronto quartet Tallies balance nimble, effects-heavy guitars with extroverted vocals to craft songs on their self-titled 2019 debut album that wouldn't sound out of place on a mix tape between Lush and the Sundays.
Tallies
Trouble 3:32
Eden 3:58
from Tallies 2019
From the very first bars, the Tallies' self-titled debut album opens the young Canadian quartet to the slings and arrows of being written off as copycats; derivative at best, sonic bandits at worst. They sound so much like a note-perfect cross between the Sundays, Lush, the Smiths, the Ocean Blue, and other bands of that era that paired smeary guitar jangle with passionate reverb-drowned vocals that it's hard to believe the band isn't the offspring of those bands. Every note feels lifted directly from the past, every beat hits like nostalgia, and every word Sarah Cogan sings comes across like a voice beamed in on a distant college radio wave...

French duo living in Florida makes a breezy, uplifting pop music that draws from space age pop, novelty music, and the classic sounds of their homeland. 
Pearl & the Oysters
Water-Lily Waltz 1:46
I Fantasmi di Pompei 2:11
Girl on a Swing 2:32
from Canned Music 2018
Pearl & the Oysters' second album, Canned Music, combines the groovy sounds of '60s French pop, the zippy feel of '90s space age pop, the whimsical nature of the best novelty pop throughout the ages, and a joyful kitchen-sink approach to arrangements. The end result is a cheerful sonic treat that's frothy fun to the last bite. Multi-instrumentalist Joachim Polack and vocalist Juliette Davis may have deep musical training that includes degrees from the Sorbonne, but they aren't even the least bit interested in creating anything serious or important here. They'd rather make music that gives the sunshine in their adopted home of Florida a run for its money in the brightness stakes...

Eclectic U.K.-based ensemble blending influences such as hip-hop, jazz, soundtracks, Ethiopian funk, outré electronics, and more. 
The Heliocentrics
The Sunshine Makers 3:11
Sold Out 3:33
The Trip 3:22
from The Sunshine Makers (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 2017
Styled in some regards as a 'real-life Breaking Bad', the documentary The Sunshine Makers documents a partnership on a mission to expand the consciousness of the '60s set by means of a domestic LSD laboratory. Who better, indeed, to soundtrack such an affair than London-based synapse-shakers The Heliocentrics, whose irrepressible melange of psychedelia, rhythmic drive and third-eye-cleansing jazz unites the questing spirit of the '60s with the here and now. The evangelical zeal of the era's metaphysical crusaders may be viewed with some wistful nostalgia in the here and now, but their cultural legacy finds an uncanny parallel in this invigorating and addictive score from these modern visionaries.

Simon Green's eclectic electronic project, encompassing elements of jazz, house, soul, and various world music influences. 
Bonobo
Migration 5:27
Outlier 7:55
from Migration 2017
Following the release of his most successful album to date, 2013's The North Borders, as well as an even more triumphant world tour, British producer Bonobo (Simon Green) returned in 2017 with his sixth proper studio full-length, Migration. The album was partially inspired by his touring experiences, but also by the death of a relative. Green's family is spread out across the world, and they all reconvened in Brighton, England for the funeral. These types of experiences cause Green to question what identity means, and where a person is from if he or she is constantly moving. As with all Bonobo recordings, Green absorbs a multitude of cultural influences here, from the underground club sounds of London to American folk songs...

Crashing onto the hallowed Manchester, England scene in late 2015, Mossley quintet Cabbage injected a fresh dose of vitality into the local scene with their irreverent brand of humor, wild live shows, and scuzzy neo-post-punk. The loutish lads of Cabbage -- vocalist Lee Broadbent, guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Joe Martin, guitarist Eoghan Clifford, drummer Asa Morley, and bassist/producer Stephen Evans -- released their first single, "Kevin," a raucous blend of the Clash, the Fall, and early Nirvana. 
Cabbage 
Preach to the Converted 2:28
Molotov Alcopop 2:55
Subhuman 2.0 6:56
from Nihilistic Glamour Shots 2018
After years of solid single and EP output, Manchester, England upstarts Cabbage delivered their proper debut full-length, Nihilistic Glamour Shots... Taking cues from that band -- as well as a few from Kaiser Chiefs, the Fall, Gang of Four, and Iceage -- Cabbage packed Nihilistic Glamour Shots with devilishly catchy tunes that groove with elastic bass and jitter off the hinges with jagged riffs and manic drumming... Dark, dangerous, and addictive, Nihilistic Glamour Shots is a strong opening statement from Cabbage, jolting listeners with sly humor, anti-establishment sneer, and enough sonic variation to hypnotize and invigorate.

After Juliana Hatfield disbanded the jangle pop trio the Blake Babies in 1990, she launched a solo career, performing similarly melodic indie guitar pop. Singing in an endearingly thin voice, Hatfield married her ringing hooks to sweet, lovelorn pop and startlingly honest confessional songs...
Juliana Hatfield
Staying In 3:32
It's so Weird 3:16
Broken Doll 3:18
from Weird 2019
A year before Weird, Juliana Hatfield delivered an album-length Valentine to her childhood pop idol Olivia Newton-John. Appropriately, some echoes of AM pop linger on Weird -- it's there in the occasional wash of analog synth and the insistent hooks, and it's there in exuberant closer "Do It to Music," a love letter to the complex joys of pop -- but the album is barbed by design, a return to the ornery personal pop that's been Hatfield's métier in the 21st century. The album title alone hints at what Weird is about: the feeling of not quite fitting in with the world at large. Hatfield chronicles those twisted, contradictory emotions of ostracization not with a heavy sigh but defiance...

Exploratory psych-rock, cosmic drones, and pastoral avant jazz-folk from this San Francisco collective. / A spacy, experimental collective of musicians based in San Francisco, Dire Wolves combine free-flowing improvisation and exploratory psych-rock to create a cosmic sound that ranges from trance-like drones to colorful, swirling rock and avant jazz-folk...
Dire Wolves
I Control the Weather 6:52
Discordant Angels 4:36
Crack in the Cosmic Axis 8:00
from  Grow Towards the Light 2019
...While the band's intellect-driven improvisations come from the whims of the present, their mystic spirit feels deeply rooted in San Francisco's 1950s and '60s counterculture heyday. A former Deadhead taper back in the '80s (the band's name itself is most likely derived from the Grateful Dead's 1970 classic "Dire Wolf"), Alexander's career since then has been devoted to exploring various forms of out-there music, and this continues to be the case on Grow Towards the Light. The band here consists of Alexander on guitar and Moog synth, Georgia Carbone on vocals, Brian Lucas on bass, Sheila Bosco on drums and piano, Arjun Mendiratta on violin, and Taralie Peterson on saxophone. All are capable players with a good sense of space and of each other...

29-05-2019 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX

The Duke Spirit

29-05-2019 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from the recent past] # The Duke Spirit, Charlie Hunter, Jackson MacIntosh, Jack White, The Yawpers, Ultramarine, Anna Domino, The Limiñanas, Anton Newcombe, Peter Hook, Emmanuelle Seigner, Priests, Giorgio Tuma, Matilde Davoli, The James Hunter Six, Niia, Eyes of Love, Le SuperHomard

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 spirited melding of Northern Soul, garage punk, and noisy shoegaze. 
The Duke Spirit
See Power 4:48
Magenta 3:17
from Sky Is Mine 2017
Most of the Duke Spirit's albums are graced by only one or two of their stately ballads, but on Sky Is Mine, they're in the majority...  Indeed, the somber restraint they show on Sky Is Mine ends up feeling and sounding liberating, and the result is the band's most beautiful album yet.

Greatly talented jazz guitarist whose remarkably fluent style is suited to styles from early bop to fusion. 
Charlie Hunter
Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth 5:01
No Money, No Honey 3:52
from Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth 2016
Charlie Hunter's Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth is not only his first recording for a major label in nine years, but his first with a larger-than-trio-sized band since 2003. His personnel include drummer Bobby Previte, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes (who both played on 2015's Let the Bells Ring On and 2003's Right Now Move), and cornetist Kirk Knuffke. The album's title paraphrases a quote by former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. It's a metaphorical reference to the contrast between an envisioned plan for living and the reality that transpires later.
Hunter saturates his approach in blues and vintage R&B here. To get the vibe right, the band recorded live in a Hudson, New York studio; there are no overdubs -- everybody walked the tightrope. First single "No Money, No Honey" opens with a guitar hammer on, but the band quickly establishes a funky Meters-esque vamp that gets inverted by knotty jazz syncopation...

Charlie Hunter - 7-string guitar, Curtis Fowlkes - trombone, Kirk Knuffke - cornet, Bobby Previte - drums

Busy Montreal musician/producer known for running the Drones Club studio and fronting Sheer Agony, but also for his solo work. 
Jackson MacIntosh
Can It Be Love 2:40
My Dark Side 3:07
from My Dark Side 2018
... He decided to turn them into an album, and 2018's My Dark Side is the result. Digging into subdued '70s ballads like one might hear on a Todd Rundgren or Harry Nilsson record, dishing out heartbroken lyrics that were the result of two breakups in the span of three years, and keeping things sparse and simple, MacIntosh reveals himself as a very credible singer/songwriter in the classic sense. The record begins with a suite of slow, sad songs that showcase his aching, melancholy vocals and create a late-night, crying-in-a-drink mood that's hard to shake. Built around clunky drum machines, electric pianos, occasional guitars, and a thick coat of reverb, the songs come off like bedroom Memphis soul at times, only MacIntosh seems far too bummed to break a soulful sweat...

029 ALTER.NATiON: weekly favtraX 06-04-2019

ALTER.NATiON #29

Lady Lamb, Sara Bareilles, Priests, Dumb, Big Eyes, Datura4, Lee Fields & the Expressions, Jimbo Mathus, Ratso, Nick Cave, Kiefer, Rozi Plain, Kendrick Scott Oracle
 

weekly favtraX
06-04-2019

Beguiling and atmospheric blend of folk, pop, and indie rock from Maine's Aly Spaltro.  

Lady Lamb - Oh My Violence from Even in the Tremor

Lady Lamb (aka Aly Spaltro) lists her influences as “the universe” and “pecan pie.”

The great Stephen Hawking warned about sending space probes out into the stars with our specific zip code, because, well, aliens on the receiving end of our map might well have more sinister intentions beyond a weekend in Las Vegas, tickets to Disneyland, and a fifty-yard line seat to watch Super Bowl Halftime entertainment.

So, I think we should have just etched onto any deep space probe’s message that we are in the universe, and we also enjoy a good piece of pie. That may be all anyone needs to know. And then we should have included this record with our message to the stars.

California singer/songwriter who melds pop savvy with powerful pipes and an indie rock edge. 

Sara Bareilles - Armor from Amidst the Chaos

...Appropriately, Amidst the Chaos feels as if it was born from the turmoil left in the wake of the 2016 election, wearing its scars proudly even as it hesitatingly offers glimmers of hope. Bareilles doesn't address politics directly, preferring to rhapsodize about the Obama era in the guise of love songs and donning metaphorical armor to combat the age of Trump, and such skilled obliqueness -- where the audience recognizes what's being said, even if the themes are never spoken out loud -- are a reflection of how Bareilles has sharpened her songwriting by writing tunes for the stage during the bulk of the 2010s. There are hints of theatricality on Amidst the Chaos, particularly when the tempo quickens, but Bareilles opted to cut the album with T-Bone Burnett, a producer who specializes in analog impressionism...

Frenetic post-punk quartet follows a long line of angular punk legends from its hometown of Washington, D.C. 

Priests - Control Freak from The Seduction of Kansas

When Priests' Nothing Feels Natural arrived in January 2017 -- just in time for President Donald Trump's inauguration -- it felt like it was summoned by a collective need for its outrage and contemplation. Two years later, The Seduction of Kansas reflects the changes in the band, and in America, since the release of their debut album. With the departure of former bassist Taylor Mulitz to play full time with his other group Flasher, Priests became a trio, a reconfiguration that allowed Katie Greer, Daniele Daniele, and G.L. Jaguar to experiment on their second album. To that end, they worked with producer John Congleton and multi-instrumentalist Janel Leppin, who contributed some of Nothing Feels Natural's distinctive sounds and textures. Where that album practically leapt into listeners' ears, The Seduction of Kansas is slower and more polished, telegraphing that Priests are in it for the long haul... It's a sentiment that captures the essence of Priests' music on The Seduction of Kansas -- while they're too nonconformist to be a traditional punk band, they continue to define themselves as something more challenging and encompassing.

Sharp, arty, yet unpretentious Vancouver punk band whose music belies their name. 

Dumb - Club Nites

You don’t go to a club without a goal, whether you’re looking to hook up, blowing off steam, or seeking social validation. We conceal these basic desires throughout the day and let them loose at night, in the company of other anxious humans. Collective hedonism is the fabric of the club. On “Club Nites,” Toronto rock outfit Dumb frantically wade through the crowd.

Lead singer Franco Rosino offers flashes of the evening: trying to buy someone a drink, witnessing a public make-out, seeing an old friend, tolerating a douchey pseudo-intellectual. “I get it you’re an artist, yeah you’ve got so much to say about the world and how it got here,” he intones over gnarling guitars. “Until I catch you dancing shut your mouth and take a seat, buddy.”

Armed with swaggering attitude and crunchy riffs, Big Eyes deliver a modern take on punk rock and power pop.

Big Eyes - Try Hard Kiss Ass from Streets of the Lost

2016's Stake My Claim was the first Big Eyes album to feature two guitar players, and it changed the band's direction. Kait Eldridge's group had a sound that was tough-as-nails garage punk with a nasty edge and a nice line in hooky tunes. Her guitar playing was whip-smart and left a mark. With the addition of Paul Ridenour on guitar, the duo began to explore the possibilities of having two guitars trading punches and ending up in a tangled heap...  Other bands doing similar things with AOR and hard rock may get more press or hype than Big Eyes, but Streets of the Lost shows that this band deserves to be in the conversation when kick-ass, non-ridiculous rock & roll bands of 2019 are discussed.

Blues, boogie, and hard rock in the classic lysergic fashion from this band of Australian rock veterans. 

Datura4 -  Evil People, Pt. 2 from Blessed is the Boogie

Dom Mariani says the goal for his third Datura4 album was "to just keep improving, really." And the veteran Australian rocker can certain make that case for Blessed Is the Boogie, whose title track is premiering exclusively below.

"I think the third album in we're probably starting to get a bit more momentum, songwriting-wise," Mariani tells Billboard. "I approach it song by song; I don't say, 'We're just gonna go down there and play boogie.' For me it's about songs -- as long as there's a riff or a melody that kind of makes us feel good, that's how we work. We don't have a preconceived idea of how we want to sound or how a song should sound. These songs really just come and we just enjoy putting them together. We have broad, very eclectic kinds of tastes in this band."

Veteran soul and funk vocalist and songwriter backed by the original house band of Truth & Soul Records. 

Lee Fields & the Expressions - It Rains Love from It Rains Love

He first made his name as a James Brown-inspired soul shouter in the '70s, but since Lee Fields became one of the leading figures on the retro-soul scene in the 2000s, he's subtly been evolving into a more nuanced performer, one who can still sing with grit and force but also brings the heart and passion of a Bobby Womack or a Wilson Pickett to his material. 2019's It Rains Love shows just how good Fields has gotten at putting a thoughtful lover's heart behind the expressive fire of his delivery, and it ranks with his best work, a combination of great songs and sterling performances that bring out their best qualities...

Co-founder of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, this Mississippi guitarist, singer, and songwriter carries the torch for Southern music traditions. 

Jimbo Mathus - Incinerator from Incinerator 

"Introspective" is generally not the first word people think of when they talk about Jimbo Mathus and his music. Much of his best and best-known work has been dominated by a bluesy stomp and a willingness to throw caution to the wind, both musically and lyrically. Although the swampy grit that won Mathus his reputation can certainly be found on 2019's Incinerator, most of the time it's overshadowed by more thoughtful material, late-night laments in which he ponders love gone wrong or decisions made poorly. While Mathus has never sounded less than passionate on his recordings, this time he wears his heart on his sleeve in a whole new way... 

The New York author, songwriter, journalist, screenwriter, and cult figure became a recording artist at age 70. 

Ratso feat. Nick Cave - Our Lady of Light from Stubborn Heart

Who is Ratso? Why is Nick Cave on his debut album? Ratso is the nickname for author, journalist, screenwriter, songwriter, New York persona, and septuagenarian Larry Sloman. He earned his bones penning On the Road with Bob Dylan, which documented the Rolling Thunder tour (where Joni Mitchell nicknamed him). A close friend of Leonard Cohen, Dylan, and many other songwriters...  "Our Lady of Light," with Cave, is the set's finest moment, with pillowy guitars in a vintage rock & roll waltz; it could be a companion to one of Cohen's own songs of unattainable amorousness (think "Suzanne"). Alternating with Sloman's reedy nasal instrument, Cave's croon adds balance, poignancy, and emotional heft...

Los Angeles-based jazz keyboardist and producer with a hip-hop and R&B-influenced sound. 

Kiefer - Sunny from Bridges

Los Angeles beat music maestro, Kiefer, has delivered two worthwhile LPs in as many years. Now, to follow-up 2017’s Kickinit Alone and 2018’s Happysad, Kiefer has announced the April 5th release of Bridges through Stones Throw Records.

Whereas his first two releases consisted primarily of piano-driven improvisations, Bridges hears Kiefer incorporate several new instruments, including a range of analogue synth, while also focusing on a structured approach to composition and more intricately orchestrated moments, according to a press release.

Indie folk musician with an intricate, quietly off-center approach to her often collaborative electro-acoustic recordings. 

Rozi Plain - Conditions from What a Boost

Collaborative U.K. musician Rozi Plain finished writing her fourth solo album, What a Boost, during a yearlong world tour as bassist for like-minded collective This Is the Kit. The leader of that project, Plain's friend and longtime collaborator Kate Stables, appears on the record, as do guests including but not limited to Sam Amidon, Joel Wästberg (aka sir Was), and members of such experimental groups as Zun Zun Egui and the Comet Is Coming. It's Plain's second consecutive album to be recorded at Total Refreshment Centre, a London club and rehearsal/recording space popular with local jazz musicians at the time, and her intricate, folk-inflected indie rock has a more conspicuous, gentle jazz presence here...

The all-star drummer's longstanding post-bop-cum-spiritual soul-jazz-cum-contemporary jazz quintet that has appeared on all but one of his albums. 

Kendrick Scott Oracle - >>>>The Catalyst from A Wall Becomes a Bridge

The second offering from the Kendrick Scott Oracle on Blue Note may be motivated by a different inspiration than its predecessor, 2015's wonderful We Are the Drum, but shares its aesthetic. The "we" in the earlier album's title connects with Scott's motivation on A Wall Becomes a Bridge: his stated intention is to confront the fears and insecurities that hold us back individually and keep us from engaging collectively. In the run-up to the album, Scott was initially frustrated, unsatisfied with the dearth of ideas he had for new music. Producer Derrick Hodge, one of Scott's oldest friends and collaborators, cannily suggested documenting that struggle musically, confronting the subterranean emotional issues by creating art in direct response to them... "Catalyst" is melodic post-bop with Scott double-timing the band on snare and dropping breaks as Moreno delivers an elegant solo followed by the extrapolated, expansive chords of Eigsti, Ellis' tenor break, and a pulsing bassline. 

Lady Lamb, Sara Bareilles, Priests, Dumb, Big Eyes, Datura4, Lee Fields & the Expressions, Jimbo Mathus, Ratso, Nick Cave, Kiefer, Rozi Plain, Kendrick Scott Oracle