This week, new music from drummer, composer and producer Moses Boyd, American singer and songwriter Thao, and bass player and bandleader Christian McBride. Also, rapper Homeboy Sandman, composer and organist Kali Malone, and more…
This week, new music from drummer, composer and producer Moses Boyd, American singer and songwriter Thao, and bass player and bandleader Christian McBride. Also, rapper Homeboy Sandman, composer and organist Kali Malone, and more…
Photo of Moses Boyd by Adama Jalloh
Moses Boyd Releases Songs For Sinners
English drummer and producer Moses Boyd released his second solo album today; Songs For Sinners has its roots in the Caribbean-influenced jazz that is such an important part of the London music scene, and in the sounds of gospel music. Boyd grew up in a Pentecostal church, and while there are several solo vocal features (Raelle, Shanteh, etc.), it’s the sound of the choir that makes this album… uh, sing. Leadoff track “Precious” offers an interesting twist on the old call-and-response form, as a solo sax and what sounds like a processed choir play off and around each other. After a false ending, the choir returns in its natural acoustic state, accompanied by some classic-sounding gospel organ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LHDC2T2UYU
Thao Goes Solo
Thao Nguyen made five albums with her indie folk/rock band Thao And The Get Down Stay Down, but now, after six years away, she has returned with a solo record called Show Me. Like most solo efforts, it is actually a group project, with production by Tune-Yards and guest appearances by them, the Linda Lindas, Neko Case, and Adrian Quesada. But the songs are definitely personal, and even when the sound is funky, anthemic, or silken – which the album is by turns – the lyrics wrestle with love and loss and the aftermath of both. This song, “Fossils,” is the sound of someone who makes a conscious decision to go for it: “Full embrace, kiss that face,” Thao sings, “Don't just handshake the body who loves you.” By the end of the song, she’s not only gone for it, but been joined by a whole community of very vocal supporters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nily45ivH9k&list=RDNily45ivH9k&start_radio=1
Christian McBride Unveils New Ensemble
Bassist, composer and educator Christian McBride has eleven Grammy awards and, it seems, almost as many bands. From his classic trio to his swinging big band, McBride has a group for almost every sound or occasion. But apparently, he wanted a band that could move freely among all those other bands’ sounds, and that is where Ursa Major comes in. This quintet sees McBride picking four rapidly rising younger musicians, and recording an album called Points of Light that encompasses several different styles of jazz, with a strong element of funk, and production from Terrace Martin, the jazz musician who works with hip hop acts like Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg. The album opens with a track called “Sakura,” the name of the famous Japanese folk tune about cherry blossoms. This track is not a cover of that old song, although it does seem to use some of the folk song’s melodic turns as a springboard for improvisation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOVwj6BrQ1M&list=RDiOVwj6BrQ1M&start_radio=1
Everything But The Girl Release New Song “Young And Dumb”
The British pop duo Everything But The Girl seemed like a piece of 90s music history until they surprised everyone with a new record in 2023. After nearly a quarter century away, singer Tracey Thorn and guitarist Ben Watt seemed to pick up where they left off; but last year’s run of shows at London’s Moth Club showed a more intimate side of the band. Less bangers, more balladry, perhaps. Now they’ve announced a new album, Blue Reservoir, due in February, and this week they released the single “Young And Dumb.” It clearly grows out of those smaller shows, and features a gentle bossa nova beat played on nylon-string guitar by Watt; meanwhile, Thorn’s vocals are in her lower, almost Nina Simone-like register, and speak to the duo’s moment (as a married couple now in their 60s). Yes, with age comes wisdom, she acknowledges; but oh, to be young and dumb again…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs-N7b3e6P4&list=RDZs-N7b3e6P4&start_radio=1
Homeboy Sandman Celebrates A Big Win: A Parking Spot
If you didn’t already know that rapper Homeboy Sandman is a New Yorker, his new single couldn’t make it any clearer: “Parking Spot” is a celebration of that most New York-ish of treasures – finding a parking spot “right on the block.” Sandman’s songs have always had a good-natured, low-key sound, so don’t expect big horn fanfares or a string of guest rappers to mark the occasion. Instead he offers lines like “when I pray I don’t make requests/all I do is give thanks.” What’s occasioned this gratitude? Why, finding a good parking spot of course – at 4:30 in the morning, “right in front of the building.” Any New Yorker will understand Homeboy Sandman’s conclusion that that’s “straight up proof of God right there.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp2-4gN6xmk&list=RDFp2-4gN6xmk&start_radio=1
Kali Malone Plays New Music On A Historic Organ
Kali Malone doesn’t write “songs” – her music tends to exist as blocks of sound, massive enough that when a chord changes, you feel it as much as you hear it. This is especially true in live performance, although the advantage of a recording, like today’s release Burning Song, is that you get to hear Malone on her favored instrument – the organ. And on this album, it’s not just any organ, but the one that J.S. Bach performed on for over a quarter century. She is the first musician to play new music on this historic instrument in Leipzig, which plays in a tuning slightly different from what you’d heard on a piano or a contemporary organ. This makes a difference with music that uses sustained tones, as Malone’s does, and she’s joined on this album by drone metal legend Stephan O’Malley of the band Sunn O))) (also Malone’s husband) on bowed guitar and Lucy Railton on cello. This piece, “Sounding A Void,” has a stately, processional sound, one that changes pitch in a gradual, but relatively straightforward way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNUF6tVd0JA&list=PLU6xEAwxvduA&index=6
A First Look At A New Flaming Lips LP
The Flaming Lips will be releasing a new album, The Teardrop Throbs, in January; it’ll be their first in six years, and this week they put out the single “God Will Control The Werewolves.” Typically psychedelic imagery abounds – on the one hand, it’s apparently safe to play hide and seek because God will, you know, control the werewolves; on the other, the chorus sound the alarm: “as the sun goes down/And the trees are black/Run to me/Before they attack.” The song builds from a ballad-like beginning to an orchestral climax that spawns a throbbing bit of feedback; and the track ends abruptly in mid-note. Perhaps it segues into the next track on the album – or maybe God has lost control of the werewolves?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIEU9qKbwQA&list=RDAIEU9qKbwQA&start_radio=1