Liars, WIXIW Otis Hart of NPR Music wrote that "WIXIW may just be the best Radiohead album since Kid A." I could not agree more. But Liars is not a Radiohead knock-off band. This trio has been producing some of the most creative, interesting, and experimental rock out there since their 2004 release They Were Wrong So We Drowned. For me WIXIW is by far their most successful album to date and brings a new level of sophistication and control to their creative process. No. 1 Against The Rush
The Tallest Man On Earth, There's No Leaving Now
Kristian Matsson, who performs as The Tallest Man On Earth, is right up there with Josh Ritter as being one of the best singer-songwriter's of their generation. Since discovering Matsson in 2010, I have continue to be amazed by his output of near perfect songs and albums, one after another. There's No Leaving Now is yet another sublime collection of songs that only help reinforce Matsson's place as one of today's most special musical artists. 1904
Melody Gardot, The Absence I have been impatiently waiting for Gardot's follow album to My One And Only thrill, since 2009. Finally, Melody Gardot has returned with a wonderful collection of new songs. Over the past few years, Gardot spent time traveling the globe, experiencing and absorbing the music of the many stops she made along the way. On The Absence, Gardot strays into new musical territory as she draws inspiration from three of the countries she spent time in; Brazil, Morocco, and Portugal. These influences have helped Gardot produced some of the richest and most sophisticated songs that she has released to date. Lisboa
How a singer with a single album could get so under my skin might be a mystery, if I was talking about someone other than Kat Edmonson.
Back in 2010, Edmonson, with her beautiful voice, enchanted with her debut album Take To The Sky. On that album she took classic standards and contemporary songs and reworked them just enough to build bridges between songs that spanned decades. It was a very special album in part because of her voice and because of her song choices and arrangements. It quickly became one of my favorite albums of the year and Edmonson, one of my favorite artists.
Now, finally, Kat is back with her follow up album Way Down Low. To say that I am excited about this album is an understatement. Having said this, in full disclosure, I will admit that Edmonson could be singing the dictionary and I would be excited. Her voice is that good.
On Way Down Low, Edmonson takes a bit of a departure from her first album. Gone are the reworked standards and contemporary songs, like the Cure's Just Like Heaven. Instead a perfect blend of Edmonson's self-written and purposefully chosen songs meld together to produce what she has described as a kind of 'breakup record.' Having this central theme, based on a breakdown in a relationship and her move from Austin to NYC, gives the album a more immediate purpose than her first album and it provides the listener with a direction and journey to follow through her songs.
As on Take To The Sky, Kat's voice shines like no contemporary female artist of her generation. There is a timeless quality to her voice. As she weaves her stories and songs of love and loss, Edmondson's vocal style can sound at once like it fits in quite nicely with a bevy of mid-century female recording artists, and contemporaries who have the best of today's pop sensibilities.
What Else Can I Do
Mostly, Kat has just an amazing natural gift for filling the musical space that her voice occupies with warmth, grace, restraint, and subtlety. It create an emotional tie to her songs and lyrics that grabs a hold of the listener and simply won't let go. While this is not a completely lost art today, there are simply fewer and fewer artists that transcend today's musical trends and styles and own their own unique space. Edmonson is certain one of them and one of my favorites. I absolutely love Way Down Low and I am once again glad to be bewitched by her.
Mogwai, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will On their seventh release, and first with with Sub Pop records, Mogwai once again give us an incredible musical landscape to explore. Mogwai, who hail from Glasgow, Scotland, know how to create musical themes and then build them up over the course of six or more minutes like most bands can only dream of doing. The ten guitar driven songs here are meant to be savored and revisited over and over again. It was only after my third listen that I really began to hear the full extent of what Mogwai has created with this album. How To Be A Werewolf
Tommy Guerrero, Lifeboats and Follies Tommy Guerrero is a multi-instrumentalist, with a cool and laid back musical style that I just love. On Lifeboats and Follies, Guerrero's latest release, relaxed, jazzy, latin groove-filled songs rule the day. Anchored by swinging drums and smooth bass lines that Dave Brubeck would love, Guerrero is sure-footed as he plays with guitars, horns, and keyboard. While I am not familiar with all of Guerrero's albums, this stands as one of his best of what I have heard. Yerba Buena Bump
My mother would tell you that I came to my love of music by way of classical. My house, as well as that of my Grandma Lil, was always filled with the sounds of Schubert, Chopin, Dvorak.....really the list is endless. I love my mom, but she is not always right. My love of music came by way of Jazz. I remember as a kid my Grandma Lil playing Scott Joplin on the piano. I loved ragtime and was fascinated by the timing, tempo, and structure of each song. I could feel my heart rate go up and down depending on the tune. Joplin, opened a door to musical exploration for me. I spent time listening to ragtime and jazz recordings that my folks had, and finally made my first jazz album purchase when I was 14. The album was Hot House Flowers by Wynton Marsalis. To be honest, I knew nothing about Marsalis; I just thought that he looked so cool on the cover. While the reason for the purchase was misguided, the result was magical. I remember the first time that I heard When You Wish Upon A Star. The composition was a revelation for me. As a 14 year old, I had never heard an interpretation of a song that I knew. I just knew the song and expected to hear it as such.
When You Wish Upon A Star
This song opened another door for me. And exploring I went. This happened again and again over the years as I explored the jazz greats and some great unknowns. My journey continues with Jason Moran's album Ten. Jason Moran has made a very strong name for himself over the past ten years as his interests and intellect have taken him on his journey of musical exploration. Draw to and inspired by history, art, movement, sound, and of course music, Moran has produced albums that balance the pure joy of listening and the requirement of the listener to pay attention and think.
Listening to Ten for the first time brought me genuine excitement...and then made me step back and put on my thinking cap. Each of the compositions on this album operates on a number of levels. Take the opener, Blue Blocks, for example. Blue Blocks is a composition, inspired by the quilters of Gees Bend, Alabama, which was commissioned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This Gospel-esque composition acknowledges the racial tension of the past in Gees Bend and the existing tension that Moran still sees today in Philadelphia. It does this while musically interpreting Gees Bend quilts through interweaving patterns and tempos.
Blue Blocks Throughout the album, Moran continues to explore his interests. RFK In The Land of Apartheid was inspired by Robert Kennedy's 1966 trip to South Africa. Gangsterism Over 10 Years, sees Moran's continued exploration of the speech patterns and rhythms of rap and hip hop. Pas De Deux - Ballet Lines was part of a collaboration with choreographer Alongzo King for his Lines Ballet Company. Feedback Pt. 2 was inspired by Jimi Hendrix's performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
Pas De Deux Moran also tackles the work of other musicians that have inspired and influenced his music and career. I loved what Moran does with Thelonious Munk's Crepuscule With Nellie. And while I am not very familiar with American Composer Conlon Nancarrow, I was intrigued with Moran's two interpretations of Nancarrow's Study #6. I also loved the playfulness of To Bob Vatel Of Paris, which was often performed by Jaki Byard who has been very influential in Moran's life.
To Bob Vatel Of Pasis Holding all of the compositions on this album together is Moran's trio The Bandwagon. After ten years together, the interplay that can be heard between Moran, bassist Tarus Mateen and Drummer Nasheet Waits is truly amazing. It is obvious that the connection that these three musicians share is something very special.
In September, three months after the release of Ten, Moran was named as one of the MacArthur Foundation's 2010 genius grant recipients. In receiving his Fellowship, the foundation noted "Through reinterpretation of jazz standards and new compositions of his own, Moran is expanding the boundaries of jazz expression and playing a dynamic role in its evolution in the twenty-first century." Tall praise, but well deserved. Even if one is not a 'jazz fan,' I would encourage folks to check out Ten and really spend some time listening to it. It really is remarkable and quite an achievement.
I have loved the Twin Cities for a long time, going back to when my wife was going to Macalester College. One of the aspects of the city that I have always appreciated has been the music scene. So many great artists/bands have come out of the Twin Cities.
Cory Wong
Cory Wong is one of these artists. Wong is one of those rare guitarists who seems to have no bounds in terms of his comfort and ability to play across many different musical styles. From jazz, to rock, to classical, to folk to....Latin...which brings me to Peña.
Earlier in the year, Wong set out for Peru to immerse himself (though briefly) in the traditional Afro-Peruvian music of the country. In October, Wong released Peña, which captures his musical journey. When I first heard and learned about Peña, I wanted to dig a deeper into the Wong's project. Last week, I had an opportunity to talk wit him about it.
The history of this traditional music is quite fascinating. As Wong has explained, in the mid 1500's, Spanish conquistadors brought African slaves with them to Peru. One of the many restrictions placed on the slaves was that they were not allowed to own or play instruments. In time they began using fruit boxes and dresser drawers as drums. This innovation became formally known as the cajón (large box) and it was the central component in fusing African rhythms with Spanish music.
Manuel Vasquez
After slavery was abolished in Peru (1856), Afro-Peruvian culture slowly withered away. By the mid 1900s the music had almost completely vanished. In the 1960s, a small handful of black Peruvians in Chincha (3 hours south of Lima) started a revival of sorts. It quickly grew and before long the people of Peru were rediscovering this lost music. Today, traditional Afro-Peruvian music can be found being played throughout the country, but few recordings have made their way to North America. Enter Cory Wong.
When Wong headed to Peru with Eric Foss, with whom he co-founded Secret Stash Records, he did not go with a set agenda. They had no meetings or gigs lined up with musicians or clubs. Wong had only decided 3 weeks earlier to actually make the trip to Peru. For the 10 days leading up to trip, Wong spent every waking hour listening to recordings, transcribing songs, and writing some of his own compositions. By the time he landed in Lima, he had written 18 original instrumental pieces and transcribed another 15 traditional songs. Wth sheet music in hand, some field recording equipment, a room at a local hostel, and one contact in Lima, Wong and Foss set out to meet, play, and record music on the fly with musicians that they met along the way.
Through introductions and literally walking the streets, Wong, met a number of musicians who were eager to join him and help share their musical heritage. Over 7 days, Wong, Foss, and his newly formed friends recorded some 50 songs. They recorded where they could, in some cases, the very, very modest homes of the musicians.
Larry and Alberto are Street musicians that
Wong met while walking through a plaza
When I spoke with Wong, I asked him if the making of this album impacted him like he thought it would when he was conceptualizing it. It was eye opening he said. "It was such a significant experience for me, not only as a writer and musician, but especially as a producer and an engineer. Just knowing that if you have decent gear and can just set up some good mics in front of musicans that are really good and are really passionate, it doesn't matter what you do as an enginer. A great performance is a great performance and a greatly portrayed and emotional performance is a greatly portrayed and emotional performance."
To his credit, Wong simply got out of the way and let the music unfold in an organic manner. To drive home his point, Wong explained that of the 17 song on the album, 9 were spontaneous recordings that were done when the more planned out songs had been recorded and the mics were still live.
Cuando Liora Mi Guitarra is one such performance
It is obvious from talking with Wong, and listening to this album, that the making of Peña was a labor of love. When I asked Wong about the widespread attention the album is receiving, he responded by saying that he was totally surprised and very flattered by it. "It's just been really surprising to see what kind of response we are getting from the Album. Hopefully people are taking it for what we wanted it to be and will really explore Afro-Peruvian culture and Afro-Peruvian lifestyle....and what the music is all about. Hopefully they just don't stop at our record. We truly want people to be exposed to all of this music and culture."
Quizas Un Dia Asi
El Mayoral
I think that Wong has accomplished his goal. Peña is a wonderfully rich and fully realized album and it has definitely piqued my interest in Afro-Peruvian music. I found this traditional music to be at once both familiar and unknown. While the rhythms and tempos are fairly straight forward, the timing of the beat on the drums is sometimes hard to figure out, which just keeps the music that much more interesting. I look forward to hearing the follow up album which will feature more songs from these sessions.
A girl tries out for American Idol. She makes it to the Hollywood round of 48 only to be told that she was not 'commercial enough' and 'didn't look like a star' and gets cut. Thank goodness. Who knows what musical path Kat Edmonson would be on had she gone further on AI. Over the past 6 years, Edmonson, a native of Austin, TX, has become a standout in the world of young, up and coming, jazz vocalists. Some refer to her as the Billy Holiday of her generation. While that is certainly a tall order to fill, I for one, find her captivating.
On Edmonson's only album to date, Take To The Sky, she shows off what she does so well. On it, she has taken classic standards and contemporary songs, and reworked them just enough to build bridges between songs that may span decades. Yet, she and her pianist/arranger, Kevin Lovejoy, have given each song the respect they deserve by holding on to the essence what what makes them great. But in the end, it is with her beautiful and easy sounding voice, that Edmonson creates classic sounding phrasings that make each song her own.
Two songs that stand out on her Take To the Sky Album are Cole Porter's Night and Day, and the Cure's Just Like Heaven. With Night and Day, Edmonson takes this classic song and gives it a contemporary edge by throwing down rhythmic patterns with the drums, while the piano sits back in half time, and the base adds a little funk. On Just Like Heaven, Edmonson reinterprets the song as a bossa nova. Here her voice just simply floats over the music and takes the listener to that far away place that she sings about running away to. Honestly, this song has never sounded better.
Edmonson has been busy touring and a few new songs have popped up on her site. I can only hope that this all means that a new album is not too far off in the future. In the mean time, you can also check out her single Lucky. It is an original song that she sort of re-released back in September with a new video. While it strays further away from what she does on her album, it is a simple and beautiful song.
What I love about music is its power to transport me. Sometimes it’s unexpected, sometimes it’s exactly where I want to be. A single melody can unlock memories I didn’t realize I still carried, while certain chords or lyrics take me to another time or place. Some songs feel like home, offering shelter, while others deliver me to an unknown place or space, stirring emotions I can’t quite name. In this way, music isn’t just sound—it’s a sonic subway, delivering me to a station of refuge or one I never knew existed.
Music has always been an important part of my life. My family and friends knew this well, often asking me what I was listening to and what I liked. It was always humbling to be asked, and eventually, I gathered the courage to create this music blog—to put into words what draws me to certain music and why.
Over the years, my passion for writing has grown, along with my excitement for sharing musical discoveries. I hope your time here sparks excitement and leads you to a musical discovery of your own. More than anything, I hope your visit brings a little joy to your day.
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