ALTER:NATiON
Neneh Cherry, Trending Tropics, Superhuman Happiness, Minus the Bear, Doe Paoro, The Last Hurrah!, Aaron Parks, Cave, Handsome Jack, Walking Papers, Cloud Nothings, Shopping
weekly favtraX
31-10-18
Neneh Cherry - Kong 4:24
Co-produced by Four Tet and Massive Attack’s 3D, “Kong” is anchored by low-gravity dub bass and a tinkling hi-hat; the effect is like a trip-hop song with the floor sucked out from under it. Cherry takes command through measured, rich vocals and empathic lyrics, a far cry from the boisterous, wisecracking 18-year-old on “Stop the War.” “Every nation seeks its friends in France and Italy/And all across the seven seas,” she sings in an ethereal upper register as an airy keyboard line fills in behind her, “And goddamn guns and guts and bitter love/Still put a hole in me.”
Trending Tropics - Silicon Love 3:56
For his first project since Calle 13 went on hiatus in 2014, musical director and producer Eduardo "Visitante" Cabra and Dominican singer/songwriter Vicente García collaborate on Trending Tropics. Cabra's manifesto for the album is: "Music without a face in the age of the selfie." Its loosely linked songs probe the dominant ways that technology interacts with reality in 21st century culture, and in some cases supplants it...
Superhuman Happiness - Bury Me (By Where My Baby Walks) 6:09
The indie collective's third full-length release, Beacon introduces Dia Luna as main vocalist and co-songwriter of a ten-piece Superhuman Happiness that also includes project leader Stuart Bogie and longtime members Eric Biondo and Sam Levin. Also featuring such noteworthy guests as saxophonist Colin Stetson and Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry, the album takes on a somewhat grayer hue than prior releases, particularly their effervescent debut...
Minus the Bear - Fair Enough 4:16
Shortly after the release of 2017's Voids, Pacific Northwest indie rockers Minus the Bear announced that they would be shutting down operations, closing the gate on a very respectable 17-year run. Unveiling a proper bookend with the four-song Fair Enough (they emerged in 2001 with an EP, also released via Suicide Squeeze), the band delivers an elegant farewell that befits its understated oeuvre...
Doe Paoro - Cruelty of Nature 4:17
Making an about-face from the cinematic synth textures of her two previous outings, Los Angeles' Doe Paoro aims for a classic singer/songwriter approach on Soft Power, her soulful third album. The New York native, whose real name is Sonia Kreitzer, has been somewhat of a musical shape-shifter over the years, initially adopting elements of dubstep, experimental folk, electronica, and even Tibetan opera into her work...
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| Maesa Pullman and The Last Hurrah! |
The Last Hurrah! - The Blues 4:55
Los Angeles marks the second album in a row -- the first was 2015's Mudflowers -- where Bergen's HP Gundersen's the Last Hurrah!! directly pay homage to the California city's musical heritage. The Vossajazz Festival commissioned him to prepare an evening of his musical discoveries and articulations from "over there" for a spring 2018 concert. For this date he brought back vocalist and lyricist Maesa Pullman, engineer/co-producer Jason Hiller -- who also plays bass and sings backup -- and multi-instrumentalist Kåre Sandvik. He also enlisted an international cast of studio aces who include Hammond organist John "JT" Thomas, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, drummer Bjorn Stæther, guitarist Henrik Paulsen, synthesist Sam Fossbakk, and violinist David Vogt. Where Mudflowers directly referenced L.A.'s historic country-rock scene of the last century wedded to elements of psychedelia, Los Angeles examines the colorful diversity of the sophisticated pop and production of the era -- think of the producers David Axelrod and Peter Asher with the Wrecking Crew and you get the idea...
Aaron Parks - Kid 7:21
In the decade between Invisible Cinema, his 2008 Blue Note debut, and Little Big, an intentional sequel, pianist and composer Aaron Parks has covered a lot of ground. He cut two leader dates for ECM (one solo, one trio), and two as a member of the active James Farm collective on Nonesuch. In addition, Parks has worked as a sideman too, playing live and on recordings with more than a dozen artists including Kurt Rosenwinkel, Yeahwon Shin, and Gilad Heckselman. Little Big is the self-titled debut from his electric quartet with guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist David Ginyard, and drummer Tommy Crane.. On opener "Kid," a relentless piano figure contrasts with Tuohey's (Parks' foil throughout) electric guitar in direct tension. He follows the motif with a melody of his own. Driving it all is a skeletal but propulsive bassline and a series of tight, fleshy hi-hat and snare flourishes that push at the seams in roiling tension.
Cave - San' Yago 5:58
...“San’ Yago” announces itself with a clattering polyrhythmic beat that rolls through the song like an uneven tricycle. Percolating rhythms and a perky guitar line run alongside. Cooper Crain patiently works his electric piano into the gaps, applying warm tones like a mason working mortar into a stone wall. But as the tension slowly builds, a keening synth line approaches like a sunrise, and for a moment everyone’s playing feels fuller, and the song’s colors become more saturated. Eventually it recedes, leaving just the steady prickling of that guitar line scuttling around like a crab in its wake. We’re right back where we started, but the lowering of the tide has shifted the entire landscape.
Handsome Jack - Keep On 3:55
Usually when a band goes from a quartet to a trio, that means their sound has thinned out just a bit. That's hardly the case with 2018's Everything's Gonna Be Alright, the second album for Alive Naturalsound Records from blues-rock combo Handsome Jack. With the departure of guitarist Phil Allport, lead singer and guitarist Jamison Passuite is now handling all the six-string chores for the group, accompanied by drummer Bennie Hayes (replacing previous timekeeper Chad Salmeri) and bassist Joe Verdonselli. However, while Handsome Jack's 2014 effort Do What Comes Naturally sounded loose but potent, with a clean and naturalistic vibe, Everything's Gonna Be Alright seems a bit more tricked up. These sessions find Passuite pushing the bluesy honk of his vocals a lot harder and the rhythm section adds a funkier undercurrent to the rhythms, and if the guitar work is more spartan, it's more decisive and pushed up higher in the mix...
Walking Papers - Somebody Else 3:42
Packed with enough dirty guitar riffs to fill a smoky roadside bar, Walking Papers' second album, WP2, is another dose of no-nonsense rock & roll from the Seattle-based group. Recorded in early 2015 -- shortly after wrapping up touring behind their self-titled debut -- WP2 arrived three years later in 2018, due to bassist Duff McKagan's obligations with his other band, Guns N' Roses. Improving upon their first with polished production and a livelier vigor, WP2 is blues-drenched rock that fans of Queens of the Stone Age and Screaming Trees should enjoy...
Cloud Nothings - Offer An End 4:08
...In spirit, Last Building Burning marks a return to the self-immolating intensity of their 2012 breakthrough Attack on Memory, yet it’s even more jaded than that record was. On Life Without Sound, Baldi dared to offer something constructive, an earnest commentary on our divided world and the value of looking beyond our self-imposed bubbles, but it didn’t resonate. So here, he takes a more nihilistic approach, retreating back into his head and indulging his ugliest thoughts...
Shopping - Overtime 3:53
Shopping's brand of post-punk has only grown more potent with each album, and The Official Body is no exception. Rachel Aggs, Billy Easter, and Andrew Milk sound more assured than ever, and more danceable, too. Working with producer Edwyn Collins, they slow their often frantic pace down just enough to show off the formidable grooves on songs...
Neneh Cherry, Trending Tropics, Superhuman Happiness, Minus the Bear, Doe Paoro, The Last Hurrah!, Aaron Parks, Cave, Handsome Jack, Walking Papers, Cloud Nothings, Shopping
