Now
by Bhagavan Das
[Music CD]
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This is a very interesting recording. Bhagavan Das sings traditional kirtans and bhajans, or devotional songs, from India, and his performance shows his deep familiarity with these traditions while simultaneously embracing a very modern sound. This is in part due to Das’ collaboration with the album’s producer, Mike D of the Beastie Boys, who contributed samples and loops which give the album a very modern feel, but don’t, perhaps surprisingly, feel the least bit out of place. In addition, Das is accompanied by a wide range of musicains playing instruments from the east and from the west, traditional and modern. We hear guitars and ektar, drum sets and tabla, sarangi and synthesizers, harmoniums, organs, and conch shells. We can also hear the influence of the blues, the Beatles, and traditional Indian singing styles.
Every track on this album is powerful, energetic, and alive. Every word is heartfelt. I’ve only had a chance to listen to this album once so far—but I’m very much looking forward to listening to it again.
Reviewed by Ben
Tagged: Hip-Hop, Religion, Yoga
Exit through the Gift Shop
[DVD]
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What starts off somewhat conventionally as a documentary on street art culture and its biggest legend and mystery Banksy, is flipped into an scathing satire of the art world. The film, ostensibly created by and starring Banksy, Shepard Fairey and the ‘amateur documentarian’ Thierry Guetta , is a priceless document/depiction of street art’s journey indoors and its eventual corruption at the hands of those who seek to document, celebrate and endorse it. The films ability to keep the viewer questioning the authenticity and the reliability of the films guide/narrator/director, Thierry, cleverly parallels the art world’s desperate quest to identify Banksy and to own and define his work. In capturing both the rush and excitement of the creation of ‘street art’ and the vacuous dullness of those who seek to commodify and blandly reproduce it, Banksy has created an enthralling portrait of what happens when the lines between art and commerce, public spaces and private property, and documentary and mockumentary are blurred. Highly recommended along with the wonderful and more straightforward “B Movie” which documents much of Banksy’s legendary work.
Reviewed by Dylan
Tagged: Art, Documentary, Feature film, Graffiti
The Union
by Elton John & Leon Russell
[Music CD]
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The Union exists as one of the finest statements of friendship that the recording industry has seen. The origins of this album began when Elton John was listening to a vintage Leon Russell recording and burst into tears. The two hadn’t spoken since they toured together in the early 1970’s when John first came to America. Russell, being an early hero of his, had also become a nearly forgotten footnote in the history of popular music.
Leon Russell, a member of Phil Spector’s infamous Wrecking Crew, the pianist and arranger for the Concert for Bangladesh and critically lauded solo artist of the 1970’s, had been releasing music with little distribution or fanfare from his website for the last couple of decades. Elton saw it as his mission to reintroduce audiences to Leon’s brilliant catalog and release him from obscurity. He approached his childhood idol to work on some material together and also selected T-Bone Burnett to handle the production.
The result is a stunning collaboration drawing influence from New Orleans jazz and blues, gospel, soul, country and the Jerry Lee Lewis brand of rock n’ roll. The two piano men trade licks like they are dueling at a honky-tonk and modestly share vocal duties as much as two legends can. Though Elton certainly hasn’t sounded this good since his classic years, it’s Leon who steals the show. Russell’s “In the Hands of Angels”, a song about dying sung in his withered drawl, is by far the standout track.
I believe the saying is “you can take the man from the Lion King, but you can’t take the Lion King from the man”. Yes, there are those moments where Elton is delivering the soaring power ballad chorus, but these occasions are few. The Union feels at home alongside Elton’s Tumbleweed Connection and Leon’s spectacular self-titled record. It’s the 70’s… just forty years later.
Reviewed by Jason
Tagged: Buddies, Pop music
Black Dynamite
by Adrian Younge
[Music CD]
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Seeing that this is most likely my last post of the year 2010, the natural thing to do would be to compile a best of scroll displaying my favorite things (much like Miss O. Winfrey) from the last three-hundred and sixty some odd time tracking units we shall call “days”. My reply to the reader’s expectation will be as follows, “why, I’m an improviser… I don’t even bring a list to the grocery store!”
And so we raise our glasses to the great compromise. In an action packed year filled with exceptional new music, I will have to award Adrian Younge’s Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra for putting on the best concert of this year. It was a small, intimate show at Ars Nova that cooked and cooked and cooked… and then cooked some more. The band, decked in matching white tuxedos, was gracious enough to corral the audience upstairs for cocktails following their first blistering set. After meeting this very friendly group of musicians, I was invited to see the evening’s second show.
Before attending the concert over the summer, I was familiar with the record pictured in this post’s left hand corner and enjoyed the funky, dirty and melodic blaxploitation soundtrack stylings. I say “blaxploitation” because the album is a soundtrack to a new film that very successfully (in the most comedic sense) rubs elbows with the likes of John Shaft, B.J. Hammer and Dolemite films. Younge, composer/multi-instrumentalist/film editor, hearkens back to the music of these 70’s classics by working with vintage equipment and recording straight onto analog tape. While retaining the spirit of something like Mayfield’s Superfly with chilling vocals by many guest artists and tapping into haunting arrangements reminiscent of Ennio Morricone, Younge somehow takes this retro sound and genre and carries us into a completely new listening experience.
And so at the curtain of 2010, it is announced that Younge and co. are finishing up a follow-up and a release date has been set. It appears we have our first candidate to help keep the pace of this wonderfully musical year.
Reviewed by Jason
Tagged: Funk, Jazz, Soundtrack
The Pirates of Penzance
by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
[DVD]
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The movie adaptation of Joseph Papp’s Broadway production has everything: swordfights, love affairs, comedy, and the original brilliant lyrics and music. In updating Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta for a modern (i.e. 1983) audience, Papp cast the multitalented Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline in the leading roles. Ronstadt’s soprano is more than equal to Mabel’s vocal fireworks, and Kline embodies the over-the-top macho swashbuckler with panache. The sets are stylistically reminiscent of the stage rather than attempting realism, preserving the sense of watching a musical in the theater. The incomparable Angela Lansbury is featured as Frederic’s old nursemaid Ruth, and the rest of the cast isn’t too shabby either. A perfect introduction to G & S.
Reviewed by Faith
Tagged: Feature film, Musicals, Operetta
Cold Comfort Farm
[DVD]
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This witty satire is based on Stella Gibbons’s 1932 comic novel. It’s clever, charming, hilarious, and delightfully twisted in that inimitable British way. A large extended family of eccentric (not to say depraved) characters is brilliantly cast, featuring, among others, Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Fry, and Joanna Lumley. It milks every drop of humor out of its simple premise: a young woman, recently orphaned, goes to live with her relatives in the country and attempts to create order out of generations of chaos. The movie is remarkably faithful to the novel of the same name, which is hilarious too.
Reviewed by Faith
Tagged: Comedy, England, Feature film
A Portland selection
[Music CD]
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This CD is a companion to the very excellent tune book The Portland collection. On it you will find recordings of 36 of the tunes from that collection. The tunes are played simply with a small ensemble, but are full of energy; these recordings will be appreciated by all lovers of contra dance music, but especially by those who wish to learn and play the tunes themselves. George Penk is on fiddle, Clyde Curley on mandolin, octave mandolin, and tenor banjo, and Susan Songer on piano.
Reviewed by Ben
Tagged: Folk music
ATLiens
by Outkast
[Music CD]
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ATLiens is Outkast’s follow up album (1996) to their debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994). The title is a portmanteau which combines the ATL abbreviation for their beloved Atlanta with the term “aliens”. Outkast have always considered themselves outsiders in the world of hip-hop, geographically, stylistically and lyrically and on ATLiens these lyrical differences, with the emerging sound of production teams Organized Noize and Earthtone III set the album apart. ATLiens has the head-nodding beats, funky synth bass, rhymes about cadillacs and other trappings of typical mid-90’s hip hop but remains a cut above and hints at sonic revolutions to come. Recommended for fans of lyrical hip-hop.
Reviewed by Dylan
Tagged: Hip-Hop, Soul music
Celestial navigations : Short Films of Al Jarnow
[DVD]
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The first DVD release from Numero Group, known for archiving and resurrecting forgotten folk, pop and soul classics and private press musical gems on CD and LP. Beautifully restored 16mm short films and stop motion animation pieces from the brilliant mind of Al Jarnow will evoke memories of mornings and afternoons spent watching 3-2-1 Contact, Zoom, the Electric Company and Sesame Street for any child who grew up in the 70s and 80s. The fact that so many of these shorts, whose geometric shapes, imaginative leaps, and whimsical illustrations of letters, numbers, animals and the world around us were the work of one man is astounding and inspiring. Includes 45 of his award winning shorts and experimental films, including pieces now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, and a 30-minute documentary with Al explaining his creative process. Highly recommended for young and once-young audiences alike.
Reviewed by Dylan
Tagged: Documentary, Feature film
Nilsson Schmilsson
by Harry Nilsson
[Music CD]
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Though RCA records proudly proclaimed, “Harry’s Got a Rock Album” upon the release of 1971’s Nilsson Schmilsson, it’s safe to say Mr. Nilsson had dabbled in rock n’ roll previously. However, his output mostly belonged in the vaudeville and light psychedelic, Sgt. Pepper stratosphere. After his first album, the mysterious solo artist was cited as the Beatles favorite “group”. He followed with two strong lps; one includes his version of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’” (which wound up as the Oscar winning vocal performance for the film Midnight Cowboy). Next Nilsson jumped into an album completely of Randy Newman material (then a mostly unknown songwriter) just before releasing a story and song record that later became the animated classic The Point.
Producer Richard Perry, who had received critical acclaim for his work with Tiny Tim, assembled Klaus Voormann, Jim Price, Jim Gordon, Herbie Flowers, Jim Keltner and other notable session musicians for the London Nilsson Schmilsson sessions. The tracks proved to be heavier than what was expected from the Harry of old (see the seven minute “Jump Into the Fire”), but we still have the necessary ingredients for a classic Nilsson recording: his amazing three octave range, sense of humor and delightful arrangements. A cover of Badfinger’s “Without You”, the ridiculous one chord, beatnik jam that is “Coconut” and the dreamy “Moonbeam Song” help rank Nilsson Schmilsson as one of Harry’s most memorable.
Incidentally, the progression into rock n’ roll wasn’t Nilsson’s last metamorphosis. As the 1970’s trucked on, our hero dabbled in lush standards from the 1930’s and 40’s, steel drum music, comedy tracks and songs about… well, writing songs among other things. It was a career spent confounding critics and delighting fans. Well played.
Reviewed by Jason
Tagged: Rock music
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I have a friend who lives in Austin, TX who is constantly making me jealous. She likes to mention, with a trace of blasé, that she’s just seen some amazing rock, soul, blues, country or hip-hop artist perform just down the street from her house. Earlier this year, she recommended the Austin group Harlem (she had seen them perform live down the street!) and after listening to some songs online, I was hooked. I ordered the lp right away and suggested ordering a copy for Forbes.
Harlem plays straight, unabashed garage rock without any pretension whatsoever. Catchy melodies and the spirit of rock n’ roll dominate their debut full-length recording. I’ve deduced that this ramshackle trio loves the following: reverb, switching instruments, collaborating on songs and getting down.
Living in the Valley, we may not have the luxury to walk to Harlem’s next show, but we can certainly enjoy this recording from our living room.
Reviewed by Jason
Tagged: Music, Rock music
Songs of our fathers
by Andy Statman and David Grisman
[Music CD]
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This is a wonderfully joyful, sorrowful, simple, virtuosic, and just plain fun recording. Statman and Grisman, together with their very talented band (which includes Edgar Meyer on bass!) play traditional and original acoustic Jewish music with strong klezmer roots. Statman is a fine clarinetist, and both Statman and Grisman are masters of the mandolin; it’s a treat to hear them play!
Reviewed by Ben
Tagged: Folk music, Jewish music
