Sounds and Zounds

Looking for some Brazilian beats that slide nicely threw the day. Well, then “Forro in the Dark”, is the NY based band for you. The CD “Bonfires of Sao Joao” has all the nice South American happy pop, folk feeling without going so far to make the listen feel like a foreigner. For Talking Heads fans there are two tracks that feature David Byrne, “I Wish (Bundle of Contradictions)” which seems more souther than south, but very enjoyable (er, not completely kid safe, regretfully). File under: Saturday morning breakfast music.

Called it retro or modern, but, it is highly modernized funk that at times reminds me of James Brown. Quantic, a UK DJ, created this band “Quantic Soul Orchestra” to explore the funk and fusion in a live envorment and has follow it up with this studio album “pushin on”. The disc includes the vocal of Alice Russell, that gives the tracks a timeless feel with a modern backbone. Bring on the traffic…

Sometimes the second or third CD from a artist disappoints, they get trapped in what got them there. This is one of the times that I really feel like I am listening to the artist grow, and I like what I am hearing. On “Until We Felt Red” Kaki has a band, and the sound and power bring me into a great moments of highs and lows with power and grundge and picking and peace. Kaki pulls on some of the more intriguing parts of her past CD’s her sultry vocals and masterfull guitar work. I have not had the time to dig threw the lyrics but so far I think they are a hit. At one point I would describe Kaki King and a Michael Hedges like musician, I can no longer say that with this CD. Kaki King is Kaki King.

When serching for summer music it is hard sometimes to find something upbeat and summer soaked. I have been spending the last month listen to large amounts of Afro-pop in the relization that this might be my new summer sound. Extra Golden is a enjoyable selection of tunes that have the repetitive noodling guitar nature of the Afro-pop but gives you great pop transions and drive. The tracks are long OK-Oyot System but I find this lends to the nature of listening. It’s great backgrond music to enjoy a summer night, but hard music to listen to in traffic…

There are albums (in this case) and cd’s that somewhere in you have impacts that are hard to determine when you are listen to them. Robert Fripp’s Exposure was a tide change in my musical listening. The reality was that I was listening to the artist around him, Bowie, Eno, Gabriel and Belew but when Exposure happened it changed everything. This album, released in 1979, was for me the begin concepts of sampling, experimenting and thinking creatively about music. The song water music is a fripptonics based song with a John Bennett lecture (the fourth way teacher) sampled above it all. It is followed by Peter Gabriel’s Here Comes the Flood and at times brought me to tears. These two songs became the subject of one of my first films and sit well in that place in history for me. The reissuing of this disc with the lost vocals that have been long rumored and spoken about, but never heard brings light to what it was like to be in NY in 1979. It is a great edition.

Magnet is the Norway born Even Johansen and the work consists of a folk, pop modern music feel. The new cd Tourniquet is a non interruptive disc of pleasantly constructed tunes. There is a mix of modern sampling and textures, but its weight hangs with its natural instruments and vocals. The disc consists of close felt songs that Mr. Johansen seem to have expressed his emotions and experiences in a very balanced, pleasant composition.

French born, Jean-Philippe Verdin aka Readmade FC, is know by some David Sylvian fans for his collaborations on songs including “Sugar Fuel” and the remix of “A Fire in the Forest” . Though his music has been laced into our culture for years with TV soundtracks in the US and Japan for Coca-Cola advertisements. With the knowledge of his music and remembering his first CD Bold, which was a darker urban set of tracks, I was surprised to find Babilona in a retro, playful almost circus like tone of music. The reality is at first listen I did not like it. But, I found myself waking up in the morning with the tracks going threw my head. Regretfully, thought the CD did not stand the test of time and got put aside a week later.

I have come to realize that I have entered into a new style of music. David Sylivan started me down this road with his CD Blemish, which I penned at the time as a CD of near misses, but really the first time I started hearing it was with some soundscapes works that were being done by Fripp and Eno. Thought unexpectedly this Sylivan CD started me down a path of these modern music sounds that musicians like Christian Fennesz have been bathing in for 10 plus years. It is a sound that is hard to explain, it is some times noise and sometimes lullabies of static and harmony. I have come to this realization after downloading the newest Ryuichi Sakamoto. That this sound is a style that is take off. Sakamoto’s ability of painting with sounds and voices on the CD Chasm leave me emotionally to find the answers to the questions being asked and rolling threw the sounds and sonic tones. The songs feel fresh and new, and personal.

Much has been said about this new CD by Cat Power. Is it a sell out? Is a transaction in her sound? Does it really matter? Because this newest set of songs bring a fantastic blend of organic music with a bluesy and sometimes reverb sound track of a sightly sad winter. The Greatest is recorded in such a way that at times makes me feel like she is sing in the other room. For the people that real need to know if she has sold out. They have missed something, the music. Yes, it is different and yes it is great to see the growth and desire to move into other worlds in her music. Stop expecting and start listening, and we can only hope for more music from Cat Power.

My Irish soul enjoys the ballad from the the islands of the celtic world. Thankfully I have a good friend that keeps me up to date with this music and one of his suggestions was The Landing Step by Dublin’s own Gráda. This CD has great songs full of stories like “Tread Softly” and “Isabelle” plus includes a few jigs to keep the forward motion going. This group is very talented in there craft and have shown great growth since there first CD “Endeavour”. To any listener of the Celtic works of Altan would find great pleasure in this disc and to the listener looking for a ballad and jig to get them threw the day this is one of the best works that I have heard in many years. It is fresh with story and is also like listen to a old friend.