What are you streaming tonight?

Black Pumas - Black Pumas. Funky R&B duo.

I'm still working out my future streaming strategy so tonight it is low-fi iTunes.

Listening to Ted Hawkins' "The Next Hundred Years" his third and last studio album and the only one with good backing players. Hard to describe Ted's music. Blues based but unique.
Some country sounding stuff too. Amazing voice. If interested start with the song "The Good and the Bad." That's what hooked me. Will look for CDs on eBay tonight.

uberwaltz, that is what I suspected but don't have enough experience to say so. Will continue trial and error! Its painless when its cheap. ;-)

Traffic: Far From Home. Only a couple of songs in but so far I like it. Production quality (Winwood) seems top notch.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

uberwaltz, Soul Cages is my favorite of Sting's solo stuff. A fine album and the CD with "Q Sound" has exceptional sound quality.

Tonight I'm listening to Vintage Trouble - 1 Hope St. Very bluesy and soulful. Been discovering a lot of these young newish bands doing R&B they way it should be.

@reubent Good tip on the Trews. I'm giving them a listen now and like what I'm hearing.

@uberwaltz, I get some of the Struts energy in the Trews. (I'm a big Struts fan, seen them once, will see them twice in May). But the Trews don't seem as catchy or as polished....which are not bad things. Some of the Struts hooks are a bit recycled. The Trews sound to me a little more real and rough around the edges in a good way.

Definitely more (North) American and on this Hope and Ruin album I'm hearing maybe a little Son Volt influence?

@reubent  said:

We're living in the golden age and most folks don't even know it......

I would have disagreed with this not long ago because it has been my opinion that rock and roll is pretty much dead. But that opinion was mostly based on the fact that in most average American cities you're not going to hear good new rock on local radio stations. I used to live for that ah-ha moment when you heard that awesome new rock song on the radio for the first time. 

It has taken me a while to learn that that is no longer the paradigm for rock. If you want new rock you're going to have to look for it and find it. Its there, and a lot of it is really good, you just might have to spend some time searching your streaming service, listening to focused internet radio or getting tips on Audiogon.

Having said that, I still miss good, old fashioned local rock radio and mega bands releasing mega hits. That world seems to be dominated by pop and pop-country now. And in that sense I still believe rock is dead.

What remains might be as good or probably even better but still not the same.

JD McPherson - Let the Good Times Roll. Trying to like this. He seems very 'authentic' from an Americana standpoint but maybe a little too rockabilly for me.

Trigger Hippy. Pretty good stuff. I might buy this one.

Finlandia-Sibelius London Symphony

Don’t listen to this much. Years ago at a friend’s wife’s funeral our superb organist played the hymn "Be Still My Soul" which is based on this piece. It is a heart breaker.

uberwaltz, I'm not deep into classical music and don't know lots about it. I tend to favor less classical/baroque and more romantic era stuff (less Bach, Mozart, Hayden....more Beethoven, Brahms and on into Dvorak and Mahler.)

I also pretty much stick to the symphonic works of these composers and don't know much about concertos and music for specific instruments.

Having said that, I look at the various symphonies in one or two different ways. One is to listen to them like a movie score. The second, and maybe better approach, is to listen to them the way you'd listen to prog rock. Think Rush of Floyd. Albums like 2112 or Wish You Were Here are just modern pop symphonies.

And make no mistake, a good rousing symphony like Beethoven's 9th or Dvorak's 9th will exercise your speakers and your walls/windows.

Tedeschi Trucks - Signs

Not grabbing me like their first album but definitely deserves a few listens before I pass judgement.

Carolina Confessions - Marcus King Band

Good roots/blues rock by local South Carolina fellow. Not bad. I can hear a little Chris Stapleton influence but this is not as country as Stapleton.

Bishop Gunn - Natchez

New band from Natchez, Mississippi. Based in Nashville now. Blues based roots rock.

I'm only in a few songs deep but I like what I'm hearing.

So happy to see so many young artists getting back to basics....the blues.

I found an interesting ’documentary’ on the band on YouTube. It is obviously promotional but it is well done and worth a look.

https://youtu.be/FVb8WTEqTbk

I like to go out to Mississippi and travel up and down highway 61 (New Orleans to Memphis) for blues and food. Natchez is an interesting little town right there on the river. Depressed like most of small town Mississippi but nice views of the river from the high bluff the town sits on. I recognized a lot of the scenery in the documentary.

You should at least travel with some headphones!

Leon Bridges - Good Thing

Don't like it anywhere near as much as his first album - Coming Home. This one is less retro sounding but it is also less soulful and a little more pop sounding to me. A little hip-hop. A little cruder too content wise. He does not seem to use his vocals to maximum effect either. It is a shame because the first album is fantastic!

@uberwaltz : I regret that I never saw Styx or REO Speedwagon. Foreigner was a good show but of the ’guitar bands’ Journey was the best. Steve Perry had some pipes.

Tonight:

The Civil Wars - eponymous

Listened to "The Best of Everything" last night. I’ll probably buy it at some point. Everyone has that one song they wish they’d put on it. Mine would be "Born a Rebel". Not very PC these days, but a fine song.

JD McPherson - Let the Good Times Roll

Morning Phase - Beck.

Popped up as a recommendation in Amazon HD. Not what I was expecting. Never listened to Beck and know nothing about him other than the one song he had on the radio years ago.
This is a nice album. Seems well recorded.

JD McPherson - Let the Good Times Roll

This one did not hook me on the first or second listen but now it has really grabbed me. Great voice. Retro sound with a new edge to it. I think I'll buy the CD. 

The songs I really like are : Let the Good Times Roll, It Shook Me Up, You Must Have Met Little Caroline and especially Precious.

Little Walter - His Best - The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

Hate to See You Go is probably my favorite blues song. The Stones cover it on their recent blues album Blue and Lonesome and they do a pretty good job of it.

@bdp24 : Will look up Gary Smith. Really into the blues these last few days.

Streaming tonight: Not blues but blues based JD McPherson, Let the Good Times Roll and bits of his other albums. Playing it for my wife and she likes it. He is coming to a really small venue in Asheville in late May and she wants to go so will try to make that show. If any of you are interested, look into the songs: Let the Good Times Roll, Precious, Its All Over But the Shouting, You Must've Met Little Caroline, Jubilee. These are a good introduction to him and show the range of his stuff.

Ruth Moody - These Wilder Things. I really like her voice most of the time. There are times when she uses that breathless sort of slurred enunciation that was so popular in female vocalists a while back and is still emulated on the singing/talent competition shows that I'm not all that fond of. When she sings and enunciates clearly it is beautiful.

JD McPherson - Undivided Heart and Soul. Some good songs. Not as good an album as Let the Good Times Roll but still very good.

From what I can tell he is serious about recording. Appears to use older analog equipment and records on tape for whatever that might be worth.

JJ Grey and Mofro - Orange Blossom. First time hearing these guys. Southern, bluesy, soulful. Not blown away but enjoying it.

I use Amazon Music for streaming. It has a "Recommended" section based on your searches and your library. I wasn't all that impressed with it but have to admit that I'm finding some decent stuff. 

Amazon is low-res of course but my streaming set up is low end anyway. I mostly use it to research and discover what I might buy next.

I'm also reading Robert Palmer's (not that Robert Palmer) classic book called Deep Blues. It has been handy having Amazon music because I have been able to find all of the old blues songs he describes. Very nice to be able to hear it and read about it at the same time.

Most everything else I find is here on Audiogon. Just today @slaw posted he was listening to JJ Grey on vinyl.

I hear that Amazon is coming out with a new Hi-Res option for $15. This will undercut Tidal significantly. I will consider it if I can find a cheap way to cut Apple TV out of my streaming set up. Cash is short. Employer reset my deductions without notifying me and the tax man has taken me to the cleaners.

JD McPherson - Let the Good Times Roll

With two fingers of Blanton's on ice and a couple of Oreo thins.

Next:

JD McPherson - Undivided Heart and Soul. Favorites on this one are Jubilee, Style and Crying Is Just a Thing You Do.

Marcus King Band- Carolina Confessions. New band out of Greenville, SC.

The song Goodbye Carolina is quite good.

Checked tour dates. Only going to be near here once in the next 6 months. In Greenville, his home town. Sold out already even though it is in July.

Lots of dates in Europe. I think the Europeans have an insatiable appetite for American blues and roots music. Maybe more than us.

I got home from work. Mowed and edged the yard. Cooked dinner for my wife and cooked the meal for tomorrow night with my daughter and her husband.

Wife is happy.

Felt like I earned this little indiscretion.

I'm talking about the Oreos of course. ;-)

Really liking this new JD McPherson album.

Best of the Outlaws

JD McPherson videos - YouTube

The Whippoorwill- Blackberry Smoke. Its okay.

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram - Kingfish. His first album. Saw him several years ago at a blues festival. Playing in an old empty bank in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Technically talented then (he was about 18) but now he's got some maturity and some soul about him. Album is pretty good. Straightforward blues.

He was as amazing to watch as listen to. Mesmerizing.

JJ Grey and Mofro - The Choice Cuts. They’re growing on me.

Check out the song "Brighter Days".

Marcus King Band - Carolina Confessions. Check out Goodbye Carolina and Homesick.

Tash Sultana - Flow State

Anyone seen this one? She(?) is a one person act. Kind of techno-reggae-rap-stoner-DJ music.

Not to sure about this studio album or the music but she(?) is fun to watch. Check out her(?) live performances on YouTube. Plays multiple instruments...all with a prominent echo effect. Kind of compelling.

https://youtu.be/joq114XAPM8

And an interesting song on the 12 string:

https://youtu.be/DnGPxmxVTuE

Found her(?) because I was looking for tour dates for the Teskey Brothers who are also from Australia and they are opening for her at the Orpheum in New Orleans. 

Wouldn't go all the way to N.O. just for the Teskey Brothers. Would I go out there to see them and her(?)? I don't know. 

Why all the question marks? She(?) does not identify as a gender and prefers the 'they' rather than she or he.

Leon Bridges - Good Thing. Amazon Music. Trying to like this album but just not feeling it.

Coming Home, his previous album, is a masterpiece. Disappointed in this album.

He seemed to leave his roots and his strengths. I have no problem with him trying new stuff but I hope he finds his way back to the basics.

@uberwaltz : "On the plane to Fayetteville NC."
Condolences.  ;-) They used to call it Fayett-nam. They still might.

Right now: The Meters - The Meters. Good stuff.

@16f4, if you like accordion check out some of Mark Knopfler's later work. Several tracks on his album Tracker  feature accordion rather heavily. Really well produced stuff to.

@16f4, I've only been a member for a few years. I'm in and out of the forums. Not a big vinyl guy but did spend some time in the "what's on your turntable" threads in the past.

@16f4, I was a little disappointed with Down the Road Wherever. I’d say that Tracker is my favorite. I also like Get Lucky, the first CD of Privateering and I’m warming up to Kill to Get Crimson.

All of his stuff is very well produced and engineered.

Black Pumas - Black Pumas. Good so far. Psychedelic soul.

Marcus King - El Dorado.

He's a local fellow. Greenville, SC. Good bluesy stuff.

Pedal Steel Guitar - Will Van Horn

Steel guitar elevator music? I don’t know. But kind of getting sucked in in a mindless sort of way.
Amazon Music HD

Graceland - Paul Simon


Amazon HD. For the most part I have not been able to tell a great deal of difference between HD and standard def Amazon Music. Probably a limitation of my gear but for whatever reason on this album it actually makes a noticeable difference.

I can see Chevy Chase dancing to You can call me Al.

@ovinwar, I have found some of U2's later recordings to be that way, in particularly Achtung Baby. Sounds fine in the cars or MP3 w/ ear buds. Can hardly listen to it on my main system.
Right now, listening to Art Blakey - Moanin'

A thought about this thread: I check here often to look for new music to listen to. I like Qobuz but it sucks when it comes to recommending stuff based on your previous listening. As far as I can tell it does not have that feature at all and I might drop it for that reason.

But, it would be nice if folks would put a brief description of what they're listening to and why they like it, especially if it is less popular/more obscure type stuff. Just seeing the name of an artist and the album does not help much when looking for new music.


I'm also guilty of just listing what I'm listening to without any editorial content so I'm not criticizing. I just think this would be a more useful thread with some description, etc. If I'm out of line just ignore me and apologies to the OP (uberwaltz) if that is the case.

Khruangbin - Mordechai, good stuff. Style/class of its own. But I like their middle album, Con Todo El Mundo, better.

Also listened to The Black Keys Delta Kream recently. That stuff is right up my alley since I’m already a Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside Fan. They also used two guest musicians who played with Junior and RL. Also love the Eggleston cover art. Ironic that it is the "Delta" Kream since the music on the album is hill country, not Delta blues. Anyway, the Black Keys do a heck of a job on this one. Great stuff. The CD is on the way.