RUGUS WAINRIGHT, OUT OF THE GAME

Rufus Wainwright has been an artist that I have admired from afar for many year. I say afar, because while I have always appreciated him as an artist, I have not always cared for his art. That all changes for me with Out Of The Game, Wainwright's most straightforward effort to date. For almost two months now, I have been relishing every song on this album. Sounding like someone who's been spending time listening to classic mid-70's pop-rock albums by artists like Billy Joel, Wainwright has crafted a collection of timeless pop songs that are just so good. This is one of my favorite albums of the year so far.
Out Of The Game   

Michael Kiwanuka, Home Again

A few months ago, British soul singer Michael Kiwanuka's debut album, Home Again was released in the UK. The album's release had been highly anticipated, with Kiwanuka having won BBC's Sound of 2012 poll for best new artist. With critics and listeners hot for his album, it quickly jumped to #4 on the album charts. 

Fortunately for you, the album was finally released in the states last week. And as someone who has been listening to it for a few months now, let me just say that it is fantastic. 

I first heard the title track to the album back in January and I was immediately taken by the song. Kiwanuka, who has named Bill Withers, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, and The Band amongst his influences, definitely has a retro soul sound. But he also has a keen sense of just how much to draw on these influences and how much to just be in the moment as a current songwriter. It makes Kiwanuka's songs and his new album feel current and timeless. 

Tell Me A Tale  

The son of Ugandan parents, Kiwanuka spent his early years in and around London absorbed in the music of bands such as Nirvana and Radiohead. When he was in his mid-teens, he stopped listening to guitar based bands when he heard Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. In an interview with the Liverpool Daily Post, Kiwanuka said that it was the first song that made him want to be a musician. "I might not sound like Dylan, but as soon as I heard that, I switched from electric to acoustic guitar, and really starred thinking about the structure of my songs." As he began writing his own songs, his concern was whether there was a place for the type of music that he wanted to write in today's music industry. 

In an interview with Sabatage Times, Kiwanuka explained, “I didn’t know if people would take me seriously....I like a lot of soul but I also put a lot of folk into what I do, and with modern music the way it is I used to think people would just expect me to be a modern R&B singer, because I just can’t do that.” But he went on to say, “When I started going back and listening to older music and discovering artists again, seeing that people like Al Green played guitar, Curtis Mayfield played guitar, it made me think, you know, this can be done. It really encouraged me to keep pursuing it.”

Kiwanuka's pursuit has lead him all the way to this debut release which was produced by Paul Butler of The Bees. Staying true to his singer-songwriting approach to music, his songs are built around Kiwanuka's guitar and lyrics. Given this, the opening song, Tell Me A Tale, is not necessarily the best indicator of what to expect with the rest of his album. But the song pays tribute to the music and artists that most influenced Kiwanuka and it sets the tone for Home Again nicely. What follows is a quieter, soulful album that beautifully blends the older musical style of artists such as Withers with his own. Having come back to Home Again many times over the past few months, I will say that continues to be one of my favorite releases of the year.  

Home Again

ON ROTATION

I wish I could say that there is a good reason why Scatteredbaw has been kind of lying dormant for the past month. But there really isn't any. We'll just call it spring fever and the need to be outside.....but with lots of great music! So here is some of that music that has kept me company.

THEESatisfaction, awE naturalE
Being from Seattle, I try to keep my finger on the pulse of local music. How I had missed the duo of Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White, better known as THEESatisfaction, for so long is beyond me. Having met at the University Of Washington, Irons and Harris-While have been writing, producing, and playing together for a number of years now. On their new release, awE naturalE, the hip-hop duo more than impress with their unique mash up of soul, funk, rap, and jazz. This album is very creative and satisfying as they continually shift and blend rhythms, sounds, and beats.
Queens  

Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls

Alabama Shakes' Boys & Girls has been getting a lot of attention since its release, and rightfully so. Boys & Girls is a very strong debut album and one of best that I have heard so far this year. Behind the amazing, huge, and soulful voice of Brittany Howard, the Alabama Shakes whip up rich, soulful, and groovy southern rock, that is just so good. While their are aspects to the band's sound that seem so familiar, the band is stepping on fresh ground by adding a Motown twist to their southern sound. 
Hold On   

Electric Guest, Mondo
Any album with Danger Mouse attached to it can only be good. Don't ya think? I do. With Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton producing, Electric Guest have released one of the cooler albums that I have heard this year. The band has a strong affinity for the many sides of R&B that have come and gone over the decades. With Mondo they pay a kind of tribute to its many sounds and styles from those of the Supremes in the'60's to Michael Jackson in the early '80's to today's more electronica infused sound. I guess you might call it contemporary reto. I just call it a smart and entertaining musical journey.
This Head I Hold  

De La Soul, Plug1 & Plug 2 Present...First Serve
When De La Soul's new album came up on my radar, I found myself reflecting fondly on their debut album, 3 Feet High And Rising. It was such a classic hip hop album, but 1989 was a long time ago. For better or worse Dave, Maseo, and Posdnous, have been having to try and live up to that album for decades now. Perhaps that is why De La Soul has not released an album for 8 years. Fortunately for us, Dave and Posdnous (not sure where Maseo went..he was not involved with this new project) are back with a wickedly entertaining album that they quietly released last month. Conceived as a movie not on screen, First Serve is a concept album that tells the fictional story of two childhood friends who dream of making it big as a hip hop duo. I loved the two characters and the storyline that Dave and Pos have created. They had me completely engaged from the opening credits to the ending credits. I just loved this album.
We Made It (explicit)  

Kat Edmonson, Way Down Low

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. 


Lucky

ON ROTATION

M. Ward, A Wasteland Companion
I almost forgot that M. Ward had a solo career, which seems absurd considering that A Wasteland Companion is his ninth outing. But that happens when an artist has had so many successful collaborations over the past few years. Now Ward is back in his own space and I found his new songs to be very absorbing. Striking a nice balance between quieter moments, which occupy most of the album, and a few upbeat sing-alongs, Ward narrates these songs and stories about life's moments and time's passing with a gentle touch.   
The First Time I Ran Away  

Heartless Bastards, Arrow

Last year I fell hard for Drive-By Trucker's Go-Go Boots. As a pick of the week, I wrote "Sometimes I don't want a high concept album.....I just want to hear great straight-forward songs with great songwriting." Heartless Bastards' fourth album, Arrow, fits that need to a tee. With Erika Wennerstrom's great skills as a singer, songwriter, and guitar player, the band lays down ten solid songs that combined to make a winning album. Just don't get too caught up with thinking all the songs are going to sound the same. They don't. This is an eclectic mix of songs, but each one is so good that you'll be happy for the many change ups that show up throughout Arrow.
Parted Ways   

Of Monsters And Men, My Head Is An Animal
Last year I became very interested in Of Mosters And Men when KEXP broadcast from Iceland and featured the band. At the time they were just releasing this debut album in their home country. They sounded great live and had an wonderful energy, one that I was not sure could be translated well in a studio recording. So I waited. Now, finally, the album is making its debut here and I am so glad that the album captures the essence of their live performances. My Head Is An Animal is a fun and lively album. I love the interplay between Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson who share vocals. You can tell that they, along with the rest of the band, had a good time making
                                                        this album. And you will have a great time listening to it.
                                                        Little Talks  

Lee Fields, Faithful Man
While I can't say that I have followed Lee Fields' career very closely, I am certainly familiar with him as recording artist who has been singing his brand of soul and funk music for forty years. That kind of longevity is rare these days and hard to maintain. But Lee Fields does it, and he does it with power, grace, style, and maturity. It makes an album, like Faithful Man, something out of the ordinary. There is a lot of living in these songs. Fields' with his band, The Expressions, have it all going on, all through this album, and it was a joy to experience.
Your The Kinda Girl 

Miike Snow, Happy To You

Back in 2009, I often frequented My Space's Transmissions. Transmissions was a great series of studio sessions by various bands. Unfortunately, Transmissions is no longer being produced. One great discovery for me through those sessions was my introduction to the Swedish band Miike Snow. At the time, Miike Snow had just released their self titled debut album. It was a great album, but one that I really appreciated after watching them perform live.

Miike Snow, the self described "Three Headed Band with the One Man name," has said that the studio is their home. On their first album, you could certainly tell that this was the case. As a band with a strong electo-pop, dance music sound, the songs felt more constructed than created. While they were very successful and engaging, they sounded fairly sterile and lacked what I can only describe as a heartbeat or warmth. Then I saw the band perform a handful of their songs on their Transmissions' session. Same songs, very different feel. In this live session, the songs popped, and took on a completely different life. I was hooked. That was two years ago.

Now after more than a year in the studio, the band is back with their second album, Happy To You. From the opening moments of the first track, Enter The Jokers Lair, one gets the sense that this is going to be a very different album from their debut. The band had said that writing and recording their debut album had come in fits and starts. Lead singer Andrew Wyatt said "Nobody really had any expectations with the first album, We knew we wanted to make a record but we didn’t know anything beyond that." In order to ensure that their second album was not simply an "accidental album," the band moved to Stockholm and into their own studio to focus on the creative process. 

Once in the studio the band said that the songs came thick and fast as they worked together, and alone, and in rotation. Band member Christian Karlsson said "We passed the torch in a different way this time. We were working on more than one song at a time, and working together on everything. I liked that – then you’re able to experiment when no one else is around. I’d get there in the morning and Andrew had been there all night, and I could continue. Then when I leave he comes back… It definitely changed the dynamic of the songs and the songwriting.” 

Another change in both the songwriting and recording process was the inclusion of an arsenal of instruments and musicians, including string, brass, and woodwinds. The result of experimenting with new sounds and instruments created what the band called a "ceaseless sense of adventure" to the album. "Organic meets electronic, whistling meets raving, and no guitars allowed." 

 Enter The Jokers Lair   

Getting back to the band's Transmissions' session....what I loved about that session can be felt throughout this new album....there is warmth...and depth. Happy To You is a fully realized creative achievement for the band with songs that are big, bold, playful, and sonically expansive. It not only makes for a wonderful listening experience, it make me really exciting to see what the band will do next. This is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year to date.