What's your latest "Discovery"
The Waifs - up all night, I had heard some other cuts before but did not care for them too much but I loved the many of the songs on this cd. The female vocals were very moving and the instrumentation was very good. Susan Tedeschi - just won't burn, I can not believe this was her debut, it rocked liked crazy and her voice was unbelievable, and on one track I thought I was listening to Janis singing. |
"Jubilee" -- Harry Manx & Kevin Breit An eclectic blend of blues, jazz, and folk; I bought it after hearing "Diving Duck Blues", then found myself playing the whole album over and over... heck, I thought I'd like their version of "Voodoo Chile", but never thought I'd like "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues"!!! |
For classical buffs, and for any who would just like an outstandingly beautiful, and very assessible violin concerto. Annie-Sophie Mutter performing Korngold's VC w/her husband Andre Previn conducting the LSO on DG. The ONLY criticism I have is that the Mutter's violin is very closely miked, but her tone is so beautiful who cares! The Tchaikovsky VC is different than the norm, not my fav. But the Korngold is now my favorite version. Very highly recommended. |
jonathan byrd and dromedary "the sea and the sky" maybe it's just me, but this is quite simply an excellent acoustic work on all counts--songwriting, storytelling, musicianship etc.....a real depth and breadth that seems to reveal something new with each listen. his (mr. byrd's) first two releases are pretty good, but this collaborative effort just hits it out of the park.... |
Some good friends invited me to see an outdoor performance by Kelly Joe Phelps. Since then his solo acoustic CD's have been making the frequent rotation on my player. Hot damn this guy has a way with the slide guitar! Raspy voice and down-home honest lyrics that touch the soul. My kind'of artist. Highly recommended if you are a fan of folk, blues, guitar, slide guitar. The three CD's in my order of preference (though they're all great) are: "Shine-eyed Mr. Zen", "Lead Me On" and "Roll Away the Stone". Can any fans comment on his other more recent albums, or offer further recommendations? Marco |
Howard (Boa2), that looks like a great recommendation. Any good suggestions where to get it? (Amazon did not come up with it.) Looking for the album, I found the following interesting review Saxophones I am not familiar with Pierre Favre, but I love the tuba player, Michel Godard, or at least what he does on Rabih Abou Khalil "Sultan's Picnic". I certainly have to check this one out. Nice. |
Hi Rene, http://www.jazzloft.com A fellow Audiogon member turned me on to some of the more eclectic jazz & improv, and it's downright addictive. There is so much great music of this kind. Enjoy! Howard |
I'm stuck listening to headphones while in abroad and it's an interesting way to get to know new material (and stuff you've listened to before, at that). I just got the complete Blue Note recordings of Grant Green with Sonny Clarke (a 2-disc set) and JESUS is it good (sorry for the blasphemy...I'm just in awe!). Love the CD release of Vashti Bunyan: Just another Diamond day. She has a beautifull, breathy voice that has a truly unique quality in the upper registers. True, the recording quality varies by track, but still, a lovely bit of music to have caress your eardrums. The new Sufjan Stevens is really nice, and the recording quality is stellar. Hamid Drake/Sabir Mateen: Brothers Together. For those of you who like more avant-garde jazz (but not totally inane/free) this is a really great disc. My friend turned me onto it and I can't thank him enough. Nice recording to boot! I just rediscovered Michael Gordon's: Weather. If you're into new composers it's worth listening to. Love the weird digital 3rd movement (maybe 2nd, can't remember...actually it's in the 2nd). I say rediscovered because I had listened to this a while ago in like 2000, but never heard it on a proper system. Now that I'm listening to it on my Grados, I can't wait to get it on my system when I'm back state-side And the best of all: Was digging in some crates at a vinyl shop with a friend and found the eponymous album by Cymande, which we bought back to his place and now I'm regretting not having a TT here even more. The cut, Bra (also on the second volume of the Crooklyn soundtrack, and sampled by De La Soul on their first album) is just a great funk track. I almost forgot Tom Harrell: Art of Rhythm. I've seen Tom at the Vanguard in NY a few times, and he was just here in London a couple of months ago. This guy can blow, and when you consider he's schizophrenic, you realize that bit about genius and madness going hand-in-hand is true. Sometimes through listening to so much great old vinyl I forget that people still made great straight-ahead jazz after the 60s. This album (1970s I think, so nothing really _new_) is great There's an EP by White Magic called Through the Sun Door which has a sort of Jeffereson airplane acoustic/on (even more) sedatives feeling. The (female) singer has a slightly smokey voice that reminds me of a clarinet somehow, but in a sexy way. God that doesn't sound right...or make sense, but that's all I got. You know this is new music, but it feels old. And lastly: Manitos De Plata:Feria Gitana is a classic bit of Flamenco which I didn't own (I'm ashamed to say) until a month ago, and bought into a local hifi here to listen to. All I can say is that it really revealing about treble weaknesses in systems, and the salesman couldn't believe it either. I came close to buying a system on the spot (Proac d38s, Pathos Logos, Audionet player) because of how good this sounded. And since it's come out like over a year ago I've been perpetually listening to a couple tracks (although I like the entirety) off of Enon's "Hocus Pocus". Seriously, even if you're not into indie music, everyone should buy this just to impress their friends with the track "Monsoon". My dad even plays it (along with "Everything in its right place" from Radiohead's Kid A) to impress people when they come over to hear his kit. The salesmen made me promise to burn him a copy. It's got this uncanny keyboard/bass interchange in the beginning that's much more on the digital than rock side of sound. It's just amazing, and the female singer's voice is great as well. So these are pretty much the only things I've been listening to for a long time now, and I need to mine the above recommendations before I go absolutely mad! Thanks for the recommendations everyone. If anyone wants more info on any of these groups (or to exchange other recs.) just email. |
I just picked up a CD by Amos Lee. He has a voice that reminds me of a cross between Stevie Wonder and James Taylor. Some great simple acoustic cuts with solid vocals and terrific lyrics. Recorded on Blue Note doesn't hurt either. See it here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00070G6Y2/qid=1122852680/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-9552292-7800905 |
One more... "Leaves of Grass" arranged by Fred Hersch and performed by Kurt Elling and Kate McGarry, words by Walt Whitman. This CD unfolds as if a play, moving from orchestral passages to spoken words to beautiful melodies. While not for everyone, the combination of Whitman's words combined with Elling's voice is breathtaking. Like no other CD I own. See it here. |
Michel Godard - Cousins German I just heard Michel Godard live in concert yesterday at the Bolzano Jazz festival. His mastery of tuba is unparalleled - the sounds and melodies he extracts from the tuba are incredible. His work with Pierre Favre (Souffles) and Rabih Abou Khalil (Sultan's Picnic) is little more oriented toward world music, but this piece of jazz is original and beautiful in very different ways. |
Here are three Mau Katche: Neighborhood...w/ Tomasz Stanko, Jan Garbarek etc. Just incredible music, etheral and romantic Stanko's trumpet, vivid Garbare's piano and endlessly imaginative drumming by Manu. Makes this hobby worthwhile. Novelle Vague: Punk rock gets bossa nova, lounge treatment. Bernard Allison: Live in Europe: smoking blues, SVR influence, funky as hell. |
I love these threads. So many great suggestions. Here are a few that I'm listening to a lot right now. Check out the Pete Bernhard Solo CD, Things I left Behind from CD Baby. I like it better than his stuff with Devil Makes Three. Howl, from the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Band of Horses, Everything All The Time, are a couple of others that I can't stop playing right now. Another discovery from CD Baby is from the Band May Pole. Progressive Pop that reminds me of a mellower Porcupine Tree. |
Ogsarg, CD Baby is great place to buy music. I had my first experience with them a couple of months ago and they are a pleasure to deal with. Just for fun an excerpt from their email:
Got to love that kind of service ;) By the way, I ordered both Todd Sickafoose CDs based on Boa2's recommendation - excellent Jazz and highly recommended. Enjoy! Rene |
I few new ones for me: Pink Martini - "Sympathique", and "Hang On Little Tomato" these guys defy categorization, a little Jazz, a little Latin, a little pop. Deadman - "Our Eternal Ghosts" Steve Tibbets - everything he's done. "Northern Song" is probably the best place to start. I bought "Exploded View" in 1976 and always liked it. Since It's on vinyl, I didn't listen to it for all of the '90s and up until 2 years ago when I bought a new turntable. I've since picked 5 more of his releases. Great, and unique combination of rythms (conga and tablas based percussion) and guitar. |
Checked out the corpse of Tower records and grabbed Korekyojin's Isotope (Live). Wild Guit., Bass, Drums instrumental trio. Kido Natsuki (guitar player from Bondage Fruit) and Yoshida Tatsuya (Ruins drummer). Just heard it in the car so far but it's obvious that this is up there w/ Who Live at Leeds or Inner Mouting Flame. The guitar rig this guy has couldn't have been arrived at overnight... it's just %$##!! gorgeous and MEAN!! some of the runs don't seem possible. It may not always be as mathematically dense as the Ruins, but it's one of the best instrumental rock fixes out there... (file under high quality brain fry poop) |
Antony - This guy (gal - he is transgender) must be channeling Nina Simone! He (physically she is a he) did a cover on the Leonard Cohen documentary, "I'm Your Man", of the song, "If it be Your Will". His voice is hauntingly beautiful. I picked up a couple of his CD's with his band, Antony and the Johnsons. The material is not for everyone, full of melancholy and longing. His voice is unfaultering and gorgeous throughout. The CD, "I am Bird Now" won the Mercury Music Prize for best album of 2005. Also, notably excellent in the Cohen film is Teddy Thompson (son of Richard and Linda). I picked up his first solo album and have been enjoying it very much. I actually was more taken by the two Cohen songs he performs in the film, which are great performances...actually only one song is in the film, but two are on the soundtrack, which is also a must-have Soundtrack album for any Cohen fan...an outstanding and diverse group of covers. Marco |
Time to dig out this thread - some new discoveries over the last few months. In the process of "becoming Canadian" I discovered some Canadian singers: Jill Barber - For all time (check out the song "Hard Line") Matthew Barber - Sweet Nothing Feist - The Reminder Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall 1971 I had the chance to listen to both Jill and Matthew (sister and brother) live at the Bookshelf in Guelph. Jill has an amazing voice - by accident I had listened to the song "Hard line" on itunes and it literally cought my ear. Some more good alums I picked up: Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball Eddi Reader - The Songs of Robert Burns Eddi remains one of my favorite female voices (ever since Fairground Attraction). This ones a very folky album with wonderful interpretation of the tradionals by Robert Burns. Emmylou's fragile interpretation of Neil Young's Wrecking Ball captured me. Enjoy! |
