A beautiful week, is what it is! Hope the sun in shining in your sky, as I impart some musical love in your direction. I have eight new titles you can sink your teeth into. Or you can just suck on it. That’s not what I meant.
When my wife and I were married, back at the turn of the century, we went for our honeymoon to the west coast of Canada and the US. As we were sitting while the plane was taking off, the Alternative station on the in-flight entertainment played the current Canadian hit Come For A Ride by By Divine Right (which included Leslie Feist on rhythm guitar and vocals). We felt that the serendipity of the moment was special, and it became, for a time, Our Song. During that trip we made our way to Whistler, BC and playing in The Boot Pub that very night was By Divine Right. Of course we went to the show and it was great. The next morning we drove down to the ferry to go to Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Can you imagine who I locked eyes with while on the ferry, in recognition of each other? Leslie freaking Feist! You can imagine how happy I was to see her solo career take off. Her voice is magical, and she has a profound point of view, as demonstrated by her most recent album, Multitudes. She really is brilliant.
Die Letzen Ecken is an Experimental Post-Punk trio from Berlin. Led with bubbling synths and angular rhythms, their second album Talisman is confidently cool and charismatic.
A vocalist from London who is beginning to make a name for herself has released her debut EP. Across the five tracks of We Meet At Last, Kay Young introduces herself as a bold and captivating new voice who deserves all the flowers.
Joshua Abrams is a multi-instrumentalist from Chicago who has been releasing collaborative Jazz albums as Natural Information Society for over fifteen years. His latest, Since Time Is Gravity, features ten additional artists, including Ben Lamar Gay on Cornet, and living legend Ari Brown on saxophone. Enjoy the journey!
A brand new collaboration between New York’s producer and multi-instrumentalist Leon Michels and legendary MC of The Roots Black Thought has been unleashed. Along with the Philadelphia lyricist, El Michels Affair’s Glorious Game brings twelve tracks of fire.
Prof is a rapper and producer from Minneapolis that looks uncannily like Music Reviewer Anthony Fantano. Maybe Fantano will take note of Horse, which is a fancy-free and fun release that contains features from both Method Man and Redman. I’m feeling a Solid 7.
Montreal’s Kid Koala is probably my favourite turntablist. Between his solo work and with Deltron 3030 and Gorillaz he has always been consistently innovative. His new album, Creatures of the Late Afternoon, infuses a more Rock attitude to his Hip-Hop template, across twenty tracks.
I confess that I got into a bad habit of skipping over certain genres of Music that haven’t been paying off for me. An artist that taught me to do my due diligence is knocking my socks off this week. Joe Young is a Reggae singer from Bristol, UK. His high tenor voice is truly out of this world, and ranks with the best. His new album, with backing band The Co-Operators, A Distant Beat, showcases Young’s voice with winning production that tastefully incorporates Electronic elements. My Feature Pick for the week.
HR tells me that I should apologize for my choice of words, but you know what? They can suck on it as well. It’ll serve them well.
Be good to yourself!
New Music Jason’s Picks 