On The Monthly: February 2017

Best of February. No Particular Order.

Sampha-Process

Sampha has been lurking in the shadows for years as a songwriter and collaborator; Kanye, Frank, and Solange look good on a resume, but this album was Sampha’s chance to jump out into the spotlight.  On all accounts, Process is a victory.  Perfect instrumentals fill every corner of the work from modest piano/voice tracks to risky drum charts and sweeping backing vocals.  Sampha’s words are heartfelt throughout, addressing everything from the importance of his mother, to the tough aspects of relating to one’s family members and a few tunes about overcoming heartbreak.  It’s an emotional journey that also happens to include some early contenders for best single of the year.

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Priests-Nothing Feels Natural

Stormzy-Gang Signs & Prayer

Stormzy will tell you himself that this debut record was a long time coming.  Since gaining recognition as best grime act in the 2014 MOBO awards, he’s been a bit aloof, releasing only singles, mixtapes and music videos.  The air gets cleared quickly on Gang Signs & Prayer as each of the first three tracks hit hard and emphasize—convincingly—that there’s nothing to worry about—Stormzy is clocked in a ready to go.  He also quickly convinces us that he’s not one dimensional with a gospel number and later features offered by Kehlani and Nao.  Perhaps the album is a bit of a mixed bag and perhaps a few too many tunes gush with excess, but this record showcases a dynamic songwriter who commands each and every minute with his striking personality.

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Julie Byrne-Not Even Happiness

There are certain formulas that have stood the test of time and the folk singer/songwriter equipped with acoustic guitar is clearly one of them.  Although the pillars of the 1960s and 70s—Dylan and Mitchell—might still be the ones truly at the tip of your tongue when the topic is brought up, Chapman, Elliot, and Sufjan have carried us on to modern day.  Aided by some blissfully subtle decisions from producer Eric Littman, Julie Byrne has carved out a nice niche for herself on Not Even Happiness.  The album’s transient landscape effortlessly maintains a natural sensibility, while also tapping into some gorgeous electro-acoustic findings.  Byrne’s lyrics are beautifully introspective and focused so the album reads as a personal journey with words of wisdom for all people.

Full Review

Lisa Mezzacappa-avantNOIR

On AvantNOIR, Lisa Mezzacappa showcases a knack for achieving a great overall ensemble sound in an aesthetic that strikes a balance between noisy avant-garde jazz and more straight-ahead materials.  Beginning with a quirky three-minute tune, diving into some ambient realms in the middle, and ending with a floating, back-beat jolt, this album truly offers seven contrasting tunes, yet there’s a moody quality that connects each number.  Mezzacappa has been around the bay-area jazz scene for quite some time now, but this is my personal introduction to her music and it’s clear that she will become a staple of my jazz listening for years to come.

Review

Thundercat-Drunk: Album Review

We’ve always been living in a world where bass master Thundercat gets to do whatever he wants all the time.  Past albums haven’t taken themselves all that seriously—as exemplified by his ecstasy anthem “Oh Sheit It’s X”—and his features have popped up all over the place, entirely dependent on where Thundercat’s computer took him that day.  But Drunk is peak random and takes the album experience to astoundingly sarcastic heights.  It’s an album where falsetto oohs and ahhs suddenly turn into raucous be-bop lines, with 60 seconds about Japan and anime here, a 20 second instrumental there and a Wiz Khalifa drinking tune for kicks.  The result is unfortunately far too choppy of an experience that also somehow attains the same general aesthetic throughout, making for a bit of a dry addition to the catalogue.

Save standouts like “Show You the Way” and “Friend Zone,” the first three or four tracks are pretty much all you need to hear to know what happens on “Drunk.”  Opener “Rabbit Ho” is 39 seconds long and comprised of one jazz motive, then “Captain Stupido” follows with lyrics about waking up after leaving your wallet at the club over a quirky bass melody.  Thundercat then trades off solo ideas with a pianist on “Uh Uh” before singing about the addicting nature of cell phones in a quasi-reading-rainbow style on “Bus in These Streets.”  Each of these tracks are just so short and underdeveloped that it’s hard to really grasp anything and even though Thundercat is offering a lot of different musical ideas in the short spurts, his vocal capabilities just aren’t versatile enough to really alter the impact from track to track.

“Show You the Way” shows that Thundercat is at his best when he’s working in something of a pop-music format.  Sporting awesome features from Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald (yes, you read that right), the tune has clear verses tied together by a catchy chorus and a fun, danceable bass line.  The lyrics are poetic and a bit undefined, but they’re focused.  In the refrain, Thundercat asks for trust in an upcoming journey: “Let me show you the way/A burning light on the edge of dark/We’ll live with dark, just take the ride.”  Then, each verse talks about how love can carry us through whatever lies ahead: “Wake up and dream, tear down the wall/Of all you believe that might not be true/Long as love lies waiting there.”  The track also has the perfect balance of personality and legitimacy as Thundercat semi-ironically introduces each feature with a lounge-singer tone followed by light-clapping—it’s a tune that doesn’t take itself seriously, but it’s still a TUNE.  It’s just unfortunate that it took nine half-assed tracks to get to a well put together composition.

Immediately following is a Kendrick Lamar feature that goes wasted as the track is far too mellow, to the point of being bland.  “Tokyo” is a hilarious ride through fandom that again suffers from bland delivery and “Jameel’s Space Ride” is fun, but simply far too short for notoriety.  By track 14—“Friend Zone”—we finally hear another focused pop tune, however, it’s tainted by the shitty lyrics (I thought the stupid concept of the “friend zone” ended in 2014).  Past that there’s little to talk about besides the demo quality of the Wiz Khalifa feature and the slow decay of all that could possibly be considered interesting in the last five tracks.

At 16 minutes in length, The Beyond/Where Giants Roam—Thundercat’s last offering—got away with the same whispery mood on each of its four short, fleeting numbers and pulled together two memorable stand-out tracks with the help of Kamasi Washington and Herbie Hancock.  “Drunk” is 52 minutes long and delivers roughly the same amount of memorable material—including a repeat performance of “Them Changes”—over 23 tracks with far too many mellowed-out, two-minute-or-less gusts of wind coming in between.  Perhaps if lyrics like “I’d rather play Mortal Kombat anyway” or “gonna blow all my cash on anime” came with a bit more of an inspired vocal delivery, the album would be more fun and energetic but, the over-arching impact falls completely flat.

-Donovan Burtan

5/10

If this is harsh it’s because I really love Thundercat and felt really let down by this album.

The Uncoverables Podcast: Ellwood Epps Interview (Togetherness)

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Ellwood Epps is a versatile Montreal improviser and trumpet player.  Togetherness is his new project, which began with some collaboration with Cape Town’s own Rus Nerwich in the summer of 2016.  Throughout Febuary and March, the group is playing–with new saxophone player Eric Hove–in various Montreal venues, including a show this very evening at Cafe Resonance.  Topics of discussion include groovin’, collaboration, and historical potency.

Playlist

Abdullah Ibrahim-“Calypso Minor” from Sotho Blue

Togetherness-“Togetherness” and “Angel Nemali” from Secret Live Bootleg

Trouble Kaze-“Part II” from June (brand new release!!)

 

 

Stormzy-Gang Signs and Prayer: Album Review

Stormzy will tell you himself that this debut record was a long time coming.  Since gaining recognition as best grime act in the 2014 MOBO awards, he’s been a bit aloof, releasing only singles, mixtapes and music videos.  The air gets cleared quickly on Gang Signs & Prayer as each of the first three tracks hit hard and emphasize—convincingly—that there’s nothing to worry about—Stormzy is clocked in a ready to go.  He also quickly convinces us that he’s not one dimensional with a gospel number and later features offered by Kehlani and Nao.  Perhaps the album is a bit of a mixed bag and perhaps a few too many tunes gush with excess, but this record showcases a dynamic songwriter who commands each and every minute with his striking personality.

“First Things First,” “Cold” and “Bad Boys” are for the haters and the doubters.  After dramatic, stormy sound effects, Stormzy’s voice comes in over the sluggish, subdued beat with words about how he’s been out of the studio for a minute, but he’s nonetheless one of the best in the game.  It’s impressive how Stormzy conjures such an intense impact without an overbearing beat.  Even though “Cold” follows with a bit more activity—in the form of icy, circulating synths and bouncing electronic horns—Stormzy’s passionate, blistering flow remains the centerpiece.  “Bad Boys” finishes off the banging trilogy with a return to a slow tempo, this time with a bit of smoldering, dark church tones from organ and choral vocals.  We also get our first real taste of singing here in the autotune/reggae hook.  The first leg of the album flies by with hard-hitting, quick material, silencing any doubt in Stormzy’s conviction.

“Blinded By Your Grace Pt. 1” beckons in a bit of a change of pace in the record. Even though the more heartfelt tunes are broken up by high intensity singles “Big For Your Boots” and “Mr. Skeng,” tracks four through ten are much more contained then the ravenous beginning.  First Stormzy sings with a few backup voices over soulful chords.  Then, on “Velvet/Jenny Francis,” Stormzy takes an awesome second look at the intro track from Nao’s For All We Know from last year.  Chipmunked reinterpretations of Nao’s already high voice complement Stormzy’s slow flow, before another chorus from Nao really blows everything out for a rousing finale.  “Cigarettes and Cush” operates similarly with Kehlani offering some heartfelt words beside another touching pair of verses from Stormzy.  A second look at “Blinded By Your Grace” notches up the gushiness once again for the climax of the album with seemingly every gospel singer on the planet in tow.  The last five tunes on the record sort of peter out into the ending, but “100 Bags” and “Shut Up” are worthy highlights.

Stormzy’s lyrics aren’t all fun and games.  Take this sweet as hell refrain from “Velvet” for example: “But loving you is easier, the simplest/Running through the world you’re my princess girl/I grow fonder, girl I grow fonder/I grow fonder, girl I grow fonder.”  Still, he’s not one to aim for an extensive narrative or complex metaphors and his greatest attribute is likely his personality and sense of humor.  Between trying to tell older rappers to give him the throne and young guns to shit the fuck up, Stormzy shouts out the one and only Adele: “Try tell me I’m way too big to rebel?/Nah, man, you’re never too big to rebel/I was in the O2 singing my lungs out/Rudeboy, you’re never too big for Adele.”  Stormzy also hilariously mentions twitter beef at every turn: “Man try say he’s better than me/Tell my man shut up/Mention my name in your tweets/Oi rudeboy, shut up.”  Of course, there are some dull offerings like the somewhat lacking rhyme scheme on “Cigarettes and Cush:” “Cause I fucked up badly/All I did was push/Now there’s no more weed/No more cush,” but the album is fun and the lyrics never take away from the experience.

Sonically, as mentioned, Stormzy’s voice is the soul purveyor of impact, but the record is also notable for its masterful switches between traditional grimey electronics to more pop sensibilities and gospelly, chipmunk hip hop.  Combined with Stormzy’s infectious personality and solid feature list, the record is a fantastic debut with many different songwriting skills on display.  Perhaps more focus on a narrative or one particular aesthetic could make a follow-up shine a bit more, but Gang Sings and Prayer is clearly one of the best debuts of the year.

-Donovan Burtan

8/10

 

Astvaldur-At Least: Album Review

On his debut record At Least, Icelandic producer Astvaldur paints a grim industrial picture that never really reaches the level of violence that the anticipatory tones allude to.  Instead, the tunes play with the listener’s ear, holding a cloud of approaching danger over every musical decision.  Aesthetically, the work features constantly shifting sands that pass key musical themes and motives through different contexts and instrumentations.  To some degree this results in a bit of a mixed bag as it can a bit difficult to grasp the individual songs, however, the variety of sounds presented makes for striking textural explorations and an especially dynamic overall sonic portrait.

“Hark” kicks things off with an almost incomplete sounding rhythmic motive that obsessively repeats itself.  Following the anxious pulses that begin the track, the motive is first uttered in the high range by this icy keyboard sound, before getting transferred to a more mellow instrumental sound.  Tense machinery sounds surround the action constantly from metallic quarter notes to more pressing, arpeggiating synths.  This track perfectly exemplifies the anticipatory nature of many of the tracks on this album.  The whole thing feels like a build-up, making for an almost off-putting emotional affect as we’re never treated to a stagnant dance beat.

Following is “Rotary Credo” with a more acoustic-sounding opening provided by circulating violin samples.  Popping surface noise enters, serving a bit of a rhythmic function as tense countermelodies building up the anxious nature of the track.  Here, we get an example of Astvaldur’s skill of changing the context of a melody.  At the beginning of the track, the aesthetic is especially human-sounding, but by the end the song is more metallic and sterile.  Rather than building layers and layers in a traditional dance way, the track takes one set-up and puts it through a different lens.

“Flesh” is perhaps the most traditionally contrived song structure.  Opening with non-specific robotics, the track eventually dives into an almost hand-drum patterns with quick, subdued rhythmic sounds.  This becomes the foundation for the track as sweeping electric sounds develop over top serving a quasi-melodic role.  Still, there’s a bit of a detached mood to the track, but this would probably be the tune most worthy for the trance/dance setting.

The last major accomplishment of the record is probably the intriguing textures that Astvaldur is able to put together.  This is something that’s achieved over the course of the whole picture.  It’s not just that Astvaldur achieves a unique sound-space and works with it on each track, it’s moreso that he’s consistently able to offer new musical findings.  From the scratchy acoustics of the beginning of “Rotary Credo” to the swirling candy of “Mother” that gets bottomed out by pressing piano pulses and even the plucked electronics of “Punture”, At Least proves that Astvaldur’s bag of sounds is especially large and unique.

At seven tracks, the album is certainly a quick listen and the slight lack of standout singles makes it a bit forgettable.  In the future, it would probably be best for Astvaldur to focus his energy on structured pieces, but his ability to play with anticipation and conjure unique sonic spaces is clear and his work could offer a nice balance between dance-able and violent experimentation with a bit more focus on songwriting down the road.

-Donovan Burtan

7/10

Classic Album of the Week: Roscoe Mitchell Sextet-Sound (1966)

On his first album as a band leader, Roscoe Mitchell gave the world a first glance at the music that the Art Ensemble of Chicago–of which Mitchell and a few of these musicians were a part of–would be enamored with throughout their illustrious career.  Coming seven years after Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come, Sound extended Coleman’s message with a more collective playing style and further dives into experimental textures. The aptly named opener Ornette follows the same melody-improvisation-melody formula that Coleman used so often, but The Little Suite follows with great deal of components, each of which tested limits of aesthetic and timbre with harmonicas and other texturally driven instrumental sounds.  At 20-minutes long, title-track Sound was certainly one of the most rebellious offerings of the 1960s.

Chicago was a town that always held an influence on jazz history as many New Orleans-born heroes had to flee to a less racist part of the country late in their careers.  The Art Ensemble of Chicago proved the importance of the city’s art music scened by pushing the idea of improvisation further than it had ever been with each performance.  Sound was the start of their rise and without it the fundamental ideas of free improvisation would not be where they are today.