good to hear – Page 8 – gaiamedia english

march 2020 – good to hear

The Plant Medicine Podcast (MAPS)
Shannon Carlin
Shannon Carlin is the associate director of training and supervision at the MAPS Public Benefit Corp. In this role, she oversees the development and implementation of the programs that prepare mental health and medical professionals to deliver MDMA assisted psychotherapy in approved clinical settings. Today Shannon is sharing what the clinical and legal landscape currently is for MDMA trials. The discussions with the FDA are currently evolving, but Shannon is very optimistic about the direction things are going in. She also talks about the current model of trials that they are conducting and how this promises to yield innovative and tangible results.

Daweena
Abu Obaida Hassan
The tambour of Abu Obiada was famous throughout Sudan and beyond before the dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir drove the musical superstar underground and into obscurity. “In his 70s heyday, Abu Obaida travelled from Merowe, the home of the Shaigiya people and a centre of Nubian culture, to Khartoum, finding fame as a renegade player of a local stringed instrument known as the tambour.” The music of the Shaigiya people uses call and response to let the audience participate in grand tales of the vicissitudes of love. As his unique style became known around the world, Obaida became an ambassador both for his music and for his people, Read the fascinating article about a man rumored to be dead before a younger generation came to his rescue here.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/feb/18/how-sudans-star-of-the-tambour-defied-death-and-dictatorship
Ostinato Records, March, 2019

Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Un bel di vedremo
Ermonela Jaho
Is she the best soprano the world has seen since Maria Callas (without the drama)? The exceptional Albanian singer lives her roles fervently and with much nuance, lending her characters a new dimension. Now resident in New York, Ermonela Jaho was born in Albania and first began to take singing lessons when she was just six. At fourteen, she was taken to the Tirana Opera House for the first time where she heard La traviata and decided to become an opera singer. In demand across the world, Ermonela Jaho is particularly recognised for her portrayals of Violetta (La traviata), Madama Butterfly and Suor Angelica (Il trittico). Puccini drew on Japanese folk melodies for the score, one of his most evocative and atmospheric.
The Royal Opera House, London 2019

Eden
Anna Calvi, featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg
Anna Calvi has announced a newly released version of her Mercury Prized third album from 2018, Hunted, featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Julia Holter, Courtney Barnett and Joe Talbot (of Idles). Of the rack with Charlotte Gainsbourg, the English singer-songwriter says: “Charlotte Gainsbourg has taught me so much as a singer, in how the most quiet of utterances can be the most dramatic and powerful of all. When I was writing ‘Eden’ I had Charlottes’s voice in my head – there’s a secrecy and quiet power to this song that has always made me think of her. It’s a dream come true to have collaborated with her.” Anna herself was famously hailed as “the best thing since Patty Smith” by Brian Eno.
Domino, March 2020

We Are Sent Here by History: Go My Heart, Go to Heaven
Shabaka and the Ancestors
Shabaka Hutchings was born in London but moved to Birmingham at the age of two. From the age of six he was raised in his parents’ native Barbados. There as a nine-year-old he picked up the clarinet and practised along to the hip-hop verses of Nas, Notorious Big and Tupac as well as the rhythms of Crop Over. He returned to England to receive a classical-music degree on the instrument. In London he joined the Tomorrow Warriors programme, a blues workshop led by expat New Orleans trumpeter Abram Wilson, where Hutchings met many of his future collaborators in the burgeoning South East London jazz scene, where he has established himself as a central figure over the last five years. (Wikipedia)
Verve, March 2020

february 2020 – good to hear

Haverford College 1980 Solo Piano
Sun Ra
American jazz pioneer Sun Ra (1914-1993), whose legal name was Le Sony’r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount) was a composer, poet and bandleader. He played piano, organ, keyboards, Minimoog, percussions and synthesiser, as well as being an enthusiastic vocalist, and he was famous for his prolific experimental music, his wild performances and his esoteric philosophy. “Decades after his death, the Afrofuturist pioneer’s influence is popping up everywhere, from Solange gigs to the underground.»“ (Rolling Stone) The meditative concert covers Ra’s customary approach to solo outings: original Ra crowd pleasers (Space is the Place , Love in Outer Space); standards (St. Louis Blues, Rhapsody in Blue, Over the Rainbow); and untitled improvisations (here assigned the titles “Haverford Impromptu” numbers one and two.)
Enterplanetary Koncepts, December 2019

The Neon Skyline
Andy Shauf
Born in Saskatchewan, Andy Shauf lives in Toronto. His parents ran an electronics and musical store, giving him access to a variety of instruments, of which he plays drums, guitar, keyboard and clarinet. Before starting a solo career, he was a drummer in the Christian punk band Captain, having been introduced to Christian music by his parents. The Neon Skyline is his seventh album. The LPs eleven interconnected tracks follow a simple plot: the narrator goes to his neighbourhood dive, finds out his ex is back in town, and she eventually shows up. A great storyteller, Shauf sets a familiar scene of inviting friends for beers on the opening track: “I said, ‘Come to the Skyline, I’ll be washing my sins away.” While the arch of its narrative captivates our imagination, the real thrill of the album comes from how Shauf finds the humanity and humour in a typical night out and the ashes of a past relationship.
Anti- Records, January 2020

Simmer
Hayley Williams
Known as the singer-songwriter and keyboardist of Paramore, Hayley Williams, a soprano with a four-octave range, is producing her first solo album. Born in Mississippi in 1988, she moved to Tennessee at age fifteen. There she met her future bandmates. In 2015, along with co-writer Taylor York, Williams won the Grammy Award for Best Rock as well the APMA (Alternative Press Music Award) for Best Vocalist. In December 2019, on her 31st birthday, Williams announced she would be releasing solo music in 2020, with a “taste” of it to come in January. Flyers consisting of a picture of Williams under the title Petals for Amor began appearing in several US cities and abroad. She released her debut solo single “Simmer” with its accompanying music video. That same day Williams announced that her debut solo album would be released in early May.
Atlantic Records, January 2020

Fender Sessions
Black Pumas
Made up of singer Eric Burden and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada, the Black Pumas are a funk and soul duo with strong Latin influences, based in Austin, Texas. They have been nominated for this year’s Grammy Awards as Best New Artists. Dominating their local music scene, the group was recognised as one of the breakthrough artists at SXSW (South by Southwest, an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences in Austin) last year and took home the Best New Band trophy at the 2019 Austin Music Awards. Each month, Fender Sessions, a new YouTube performance series and deep dive into the creative process, features a live performance by a band or artist as well as a panel discussion moderated by another artist or industry veteran.
Fender Sessions, January 2020

Suite for Max Brown
Jeff Parker
«Jeff Parker (born April 4, 1967) is an American guitarist and composer based in Los Angeles. Born in Connecticut and raised in Hampton, Virginia, Parker is best known as an experimental musician, working with jazz, electronic, rock, and improvisational groups. Also a multi-instrumentalist, Parker has been a member of the post-rock group Tortoise since 1996, and was a founding member of Isotope 217 and the Chicago Underground Trio in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and has worked with George Lewis, Ernest Dawkins, Brian Blade, Joshua Redman, Fred Anderson, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joey de Francesco , Smog Carmen Lundy and Jason Moran. A prolific sideman, he has also released six albums as a solo artist: Like-Coping, The Relatives, Bright Light in Winter, The New Breed, Slight Freedom, and Suite for Max Brown.” (Wikipedia)
International Anthem, January 2020

janaury 2020 – good to hear

Making Sense: Psychedelic Science
Sam Harris speaks with Roland Griffiths, Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and founding Director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. He is author of over three-hundred-and-eighty journal articles and book chapters and has trained more than fifty postdoctoral research fellows. Griffiths has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, to numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs, and as a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Dependence for the World Health Organization.

Outside/In – Chasing the Light
Transformed tree in Aviva Rahmani’s Blued Tree Symphony
From the ancient charcoal animals of France’s Chauvet Cave to seventeenth century windmill paintings, art history can tell us a lot about our evolving view of the natural world. In this episode, produced Taylor Quimby (a self-descried art-world neophyte) searches for the individual works and genres through history that reveal something interesting about human society and the outdoors. Outside/In is a show about the natural world and how we use it. You don’t have to be a whitewater kayaker, an obsessive composter or a conservation biologist to love it. It’s a show for anyone who has ever been outdoors. In short, it’s a show for almost everyone. Outside/In is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio.

Romances inciertos, un autre Orlando
Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris, 20 December 2018
Here, choreographer, dancer, historian singer François Chaignaud and director Nino Laisné offer their very own interpretation of the legendary Orlando figure. Gender and epoch boundaries blur in an imaginary Spain between dream and tradition. In each of the three acts François Chaignaud shows himself in a new guise: As Doncella Guerrera, a woman who goes to war disguised as a man and would rather die than be married against her will, as San Miguel, a provocative archangel on stilts with a winking reference to the religious processions in central Spain, and finally as Tarara, a gypsy in flamenco costume, torn between gender ambivalence and religious fervour. François Chaignaud is accompanied by four musicians playing bandoneon, viola, theorbo, viola de gamba and traditional percussion instruments).
ARTE Concert, available till 14 January 2020.

Charles Lloyd Quartet – Montreux Jazz Festival 1967
Charles Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, Ron McClure and Jack DeJohnette
“This is the Charles Lloyd Quartet hitting the peak of its powers during its brief lifetime that had begun on record with Dream Weaver, recorder on 29 March 1966, and would end with its implosion in late 1968. It was recorded during their summer 1967 tour of Europe that had produced Live in the Soviet Union the previous month and through the Montreux set shares two titles with it: ‘Sweet Georgia Bright’ and ‘Love Song to a Baby,’ the extent to which the quartet had begun to make use if the kind of dissonance and abstraction associated with free jazz comes as something of a revelation.” Stuart Nicholson
TBS, December 2019

South of the Border
Ed Sheeran (feat. Camila Cabello & Cardi B)
In July, South of the Border was released on Sheeran’s YouTube channel, while the heavily styled music video by the same name was also released on Sheeran’s YouTube channel in early October. In the video Sheeran plays Teddy Fingers, Cabello plays Mariposa, and Cardi B appears as herself, alongside actress Alexis Ren as Scarlet Jones and actor Paul Karmiryan as Agent X. The play shows the stark contrasts between the rich gangsters who make big money in Mexico. With this parody, Sheeran has delivered a protest song was written for Generation Z. Only few can afford this level of perfection! Bizarre. (sgs)
Atlantic, July and December 2019

dezember 2019 – good to hear

Bird of Paradise
Dead Venus
Mike Malloth, the drummer on this piece, suggested I give you the link, and I am happy to oblige. Dead Venus was founded in spring 2015 by the Swiss singer & composer Seraina Telli as a solo project while she was still the lead singer of the German neo-prog band «Surrilium». Soon afterwards, however, she decided that she wanted to bring more musicians on board to develop her ideas and continue working collectively. On March 6, 2019, Dead Venus released their first self-titled EP, available through the band’s home page. It contains three songs and is a sampler of their first full album, Bird of Paradise, released on September 13, 2019. Mike Malloth lives in Lucerne where he teaches drums and digital management. He has been active with various groups, drumming and singing back-up.
Dead Venus, September 2019

Ghosteen
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
The Australian rocker has done it again. This is his 17th album, and one of his best. Lyrical, moving and somber, the music is brilliantly clear, the organ and the piano lure us toward celestial spheres where a fall from grace spells a broken heart or a troubled soul. Cave was born on 22 September 1957 in Warracknabeal, a small country town in the state of Victoria. There he lived as a child and then in Wangarata in rural Victoria. His father taught English and mathematics at the local technical school; his mother was a librarian at the high school that Nick attended. Cave’s father introduced him to literary classics from an early age. As a child, Nick was a big fan of the outlaw Ned Kelly, later played by Mick Jagger. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosteen)
Bad Seed Ltd., October 2019

It Might Be Time
Tame Impala
Also out of Australia, the psychedelic experimental music project Tame Impala soon found an international following. Led by multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker, they hail from southwestern Perth. «As a touring act, Parker (guitar, vocals) plays alongside Dominic Simper (guitar, synthesizer) and some members of Australian psychedelic rock band Pond – Jay Watson (synthesizer, vocals, guitar), Cam Avery (bass guitar, vocals), and Julien Barbagallo (drums, vocals).» (Wikipedia) On 2 January 2019, Tame Impala was announced as a headliner for the 2019 Coachella Festival.
Interscope Records, October 2019

Close to Me
Maria Mendes
This is the third album by the Portuguese singer Maria Mendes, having as guests the famous American producer/pianist John Beasley and the biggest symphonic orchestra of jazz in the world, Metropole Orkest. Maria Mendes has her heart and soul in Jazz. She studied in New York, Brussels, Rotterdam and Porto and her talent and work were praised by musical legends such as Quincy Jones and Hermeto Pascoal. However, for his new album, Mendes explored a musical genre completely different from her own, fado. The result is surprising and refreshing in adaptations of fados never before made to Jazz. «A jazzy and symphonic approach to fado,» is how the singer briefly describes the music on her new album Close to Me.
Justin Time Records, October 2018

The Sidewinder/The Beat Goes On
Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra featuring Inara George
Most famous for his acting in Jurassic Park (being only one out of more than seventy movies he played in), Jeff Goldblum is also a world-class jazz pianist. Accompanied by a varying cast of supporting female vocalists (noteworthy as always Haley Reinhardt), Jeff interprets a number of standards, sometimes singing them himself as well. «The Hollywood star imposes his inimitable personality on a set of jazz standards, silkily played in the company of the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.» (Guardian) He has released his first album at the age of sixty-six.
Universal, October 2019

Say I Won’t
Anthony Russo
Los Angeles-based singer, producer, and songwriter Anthony Russo developed his smooth blend of low-key electronic, sleek dance-pop, and playful romantic ballads in his native St. Louis. With his mix of rapped and sung vocals, he began to establish himself in 2016. «Seems like Russo’s taking it back a few decades and getting down with the retro vibes in his latest drop Say I Won’t! He’s testing his limits and daring everyone in this new song with a totally new attitude he’s adapted as well. We are so for this funky fresh new sound, and to be completely honest is came out of nowhere.» (Banger of the Day)
EP, Sewing Apples, RVG, November 2019

november 2019 – good to hear

Summer Girl
HAIM
«HAIM is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles. The band consists of three sisters: Este Haim (bass guitar and vocals), Danielle Haim (vocals and guitar) and Alana Haim (guitars, keyboards, and vocals). In addition to their primary instruments, each member is also proficient in several others. The group’s pop sound on their studio work stands in contrast to the more rock-based music of their live shows. The sisters grew up in a musical family, and began playing instruments from an early age in the cover band Rockinhaim, fronted by their parents, Moti and Donna. Haim has been compared to Fleetwood Mac though the group says they are ‚squeamish’ about this comparison and insist they are influenced by more recent music.» (Wikipedia)
Polydor, July 2019

Urkututu & Amor bo
Metsä
Used in Ayahuasca ceremonies by Shipibo and other shamans, traditional, magical healing songs from the Amazon called icaros cast their hypnotic spell through repetition and childlike singing patterns. These often ancient folk chanting songs deal with specific topics, designed to reconcile us with our world, and to retrieve parts of our soul that may have been lost in life events like accidents, falling in or out of love, birth, illness and social conflict. Credited to plant spirits, they can be sung using a high and a throat voice at the same time and bring negative energies to the surface, and working differently on each participant of a medicine circle. Metsa or Metsa Nihue is internationally renowned in hre field of Amazonian plant medicine. He calls himself a vegatlista due to his direct relationship with South American plants. Many call him shaman but it is a term he does not promote
Metsa Music, September 2019

Your Capricious Soul
Michael Stipe
After performing instrumentally, Michael Stipe, former frontman of R.E.M., has released a new song for the first time in eight years, hopefully the frontrunner of an album yet to come. „Available as a download on MichaelStipe.com, with proceeds going to the climate activism group Extinction Rebellion, the song signals this longtime environmental advocate’s support for a new generation’s protests. Co-written with Athens, Georgia-based producer Andy Lemaster, “Your Capricious Soul” is sonically dazzling if not necessarily groundbreaking, with droning low-end, jangling tambourine, crisp electronic beats, thrumming guitar, even a jubilant horn fanfare. Stipe’s tender vocals are in fine form, burnished with subtle vocoder-like effects, and he’s as oblique as ever.” (Pitchfork)
michaelstipe.com, October 2019

Two Hands
Big Thief
This indie band from New York is based in Brooklyn, New York and made up of Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass) and James Krivchenia (drums). If songwriting were a form of therapy, Adrianne Lenker would have a lot to do. Before shaping the music of Big Thief with her personal songs and fragile voice, she experienced a childhood that canot be called anything but «difficult». She grew up in a sect, lived in isolation, wrote her first song at age eight, and moved fourteen times within th space of a few years. Her parents separate when she is twelve, and she moves in with her father who tries to turn her into a TV pop star, something she does not want to be at all. She leaves home when she is sixteen and hooks up with Buck Meek. The rest is – music – history. Two Hands is Big thief’s fourth album, It is bound to meet the same kind of success of the first three to attain cult status within days of its release. (sgs)
4AD, October 1019

Trilogy 2
Chick Corea
Legendary pianist/composer Chick Corea likens the experience of playing with fellow jazz greats, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade, to “taking a stroll down the street and having a casual conversation.” Such is the level of familiarity shared between the three, who made their debut as a trio on the acclaimed 2014 record Trilogy, which immediately established them as one of the best groups of Corea’s unparalleled career. Now, they return for a second full-length outing titled Trilogy 2, which collects a number of energetic live performances culled from their recent world tour. The program features renditions of jazz standards, modern classics and favorites from Corea’s remarkable catalog.
Universal Music, October 2019

october 2019 – good to hear

And I Like Your Feathers
Binker Golding
London’s Binker Golding is a masterful saxophonist and composer. «Since 2015, Golding has shaken up British jazz with a series of wild and adventurous albums. Three of these were made with the drummer Moses Boyd in the semi-free duo Binker and Moses — Dem Ones (2015), Journey To The Mountain Of Forever (2017) and Alive In The East? (2018. Most recently, Golding tore the rulebook into even smaller pieces on Ex Nihilo (ByrdOut, 2019), recorded live with the keyboardist Elliot Galvin.» (Chris May) Binker knows the entire gamut of emotions involved in soulful and melodious jazz, a tradition recorded for over a century now, of which he is a worthy representative. Great stuff!
Gearbox Records, August 2019

Three Chords and the Truth: Dark Night of the Soul
Van Morrison
Van the Man is back once more: «Three Chords and the Truth… continues a particularly prolific period for Morrison, marking his sixth album in four years. Last year, he released two albums, The Prophet Speaks and You’re Driving Me Crazy, while he also released a pair of records in 2017, Roll With The Punches and Versatile.» (Rolling Stone) No doubt Van Morrison has written a slew of unforgettable songs that have won the hearts of countless fans, of which I have been one ever since Astral Weeks, Moondance, Veedon Fleece, Tupelo Honey and others among a total of more than 40 albums. Sir Van Morrison has one of the most unique voices in R&B and Soul. Follow the link and just keep on listening, they keep them coming. (sgs)
Exile/Caroline Inernational, October 2019

All Mirrors
Angel Olsen
Angel Olsen is a singer-songwriter and musician from St.Louis, Missouri. This is her fourth album. She has a great voice, loves fantastic and sometimes bombastic orchestrations, and her lyrics are something else! Her song «Windows» was featured in the final episode of 13 Reasons Why (Netflix), and she has collaborated with many of indie’s finest such as Bonnie «Prince» Billy, The Cairo Gang, Tim Kinsella of Capt’n Jazz, LeRoy Wilson of Wilco and others. As a young adult, Olsen turned to music via punk rock, noise music and Christian Rock. She began learning the piano and the guitar and writing her own music.
Jagjaguwar, October 2019

Colorado: Milky Way
Neil Young with Crazy Horse
Colorado was mainly recorded live in the studio in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It it the first album the «godfather of grunge» realized with Crazy Horse since 2012. As with every Neil Young release, the resulting audio quality is simply stunning and sounds like personally being in the studio with the band while recording. «Milky Way» ist he Lead single. The present members of Crazy Horse are: Neil Young (guitars, vocals, piano, vibes, harmonica), Nils Lofgren (guitars, vocals, pump organ), Ralph Molina (drums, vocals), and Billy Talbot (bass, vocals). The new single sounds exactly as one would imagine; the Canadian songwriter’s voice has aged amazingly well for a life on the road. (sgs)
Reprise Records, October 2019

Open Reduction Internal Fixation: All The Things
Blue Hawaii
Blue Hawaii are a Canadian electronic ambient pop music duo from Montreal, made up of Raphaelle «Ra» Standell-Preston and Alex «Agor» Kerby (also known as Alexander Cowan). They have released an EP, Blooming Summer (2010) and two studio albums, Untogether (2013) and Tenderness (2017. Both albums were nominated for the Juno Award for Eectronic Album of the Year. Arbutus Records is a cooperative label set up to promote members of a music and artistic community in Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood. The two musicians performed in Montreal, at times with other members of the collective. (Wikipedia)
Arbutus Records, October 2019

september 2019 – good to hear

Old Town Road
Little Nas X feat. Billy Ray Vaughn
Born in Lithia Springs (Georgia), Montero Lamar Hill (born 1999), professionally known as Little Nas X is an American rapper, singer and songwriter who garnered international attention for this country rap single. Nas X says he began to isolate himself from «outside-of-class-activities» during his teenage years, spending much time online in hopes of building a following as an Internet personality in order to promote his work. He landed on music as a path to success and started writing and recording songs in his closet. Late October 2018, he ran across the music that would be Old Town Road buying the beat for the sound anonymously from an online store an online store from Dutch produced YoungKio for $30! (Wikipedia)
Columbia, June 2019

The Git Up
Blanco Brown
Blanco Brown is an American singer, songwriter and record producer who has produced for Chris Brown and Pitbull, Brown’s debut single The Git Up has had over 50 million streams. He was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, listening to hiphop artists such as Outkast but whenever he stayed with his grandmother in Georgia during the summer months, he listened to country music and came to appreciate both forms of music. Brown posted «The Git Up Challenge» together with country artist Lainey Wilson to teach people how to dance. As a result, the song increased in popularity and soon reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Broken Bow Records, April 2019

Pretty Shiny Things
Kassi Ashton
The next big thing: «Born Kassi Meisenheimer in California (Missouri), Kassi was raised listening to country music and participated in musical theater, dance, and beauty pageants. Contemporary pop sounds of Adele and Amy Winehouse strengthened her desire to become a professional musician. Ashton began writing songs when she was fifteen, and after high school she headed to Nashville, enrolling at Belmont University’s School of Music.
UMG, July 2019

Highwomen
The Highwomen
Formed in 2019, the Highwomen are a country music group made up of Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires, all of whom already pursue solo careers. The band performed their first ever full live set at the 60th annual Newport Folk Festival, playing songs from their upcoming album. With If She Ever Leaves Me, described by Carlile as «the first gay country song,» LGTBQ came out of the closet for good in the American country scene. «With the name paying homage to the legendary Highwaymen – consisting of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson) the Highwomen were originally intended to leave the fourth spot in their line-up vacant to allow other female collaborators to join them.» (Wikipedia). Some have, including Cheryl Crow, Judy Collins, Dolly Parton, Jade Bird or Linda Perry. These ladies are here to stay.
Elektra, August 2019

You Need To Calm Down
Taylor Swift
Of course this song and has already been viewed more than 120 million times but it has a great message, is a lot of fun and shows us, again, that Taylor Swift is not the dumb blonde next door she was made out to be when she first burst out on the scene. This woman knows what she wants and has the means to get it. Next, she will cover or re-issue all of her own old songs – though it is not sure yet whether she can get the rights to them back this way. Here, Taylor stands up for her LGTBQ friends, and she does it with great wit. The video is a masterpiece of styling, choreography and performance (Teen Choice Video of the Year 2019 and nominated for just about everything else), always tongue in cheek, always a little cheeky. I am beginning to really like Taylor. (sgs)
Taylor Swift Productions, Album September 2019

august 2019 – good to hear

Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss psychedelics (and many other things)

TED: Rick Doblin on the future of psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy

Melody A.M.
Röyksopp
Svein Berge and Torbjörn Brundtland are from Norway. Their name is a pun on the mushroom called puffball. They come from Tromsø, in the North, a town of about 75’000 people warmed by the gulf stream. Röyksopp debuted in 1998 and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. «Nordic Chill’n’Groove with surprisingly beautiful, relaxed tracks that invite you to dream and linger, partly comparable to their last Lemongrass, cool enough to relax, deep enough to get under your skin. Strictly speaking one of the most atmospheric groove releases of the last six months! Extra gear for all light-eyed cloud walkers, time thieves and acrobats of life!» (Veit Staufer of Zürich’s RecRec Store) In 2009, Melody A.M. was named the best Norwegian album of the decade by Norway’s largest newspaper.
Wall of Sound, 2001

Africa Speaks: Yo Me Lo Merezco
Carlos Santana, ft. Buika
«The state of the world is so infected with fear and separation and disharmony, I know for a fact that the frequency of this music from Africa gives people hope, courage, and joy. The ingredients and the nutrients from everything that comes from African music makes people dance and rejoice like a revival.» (Carlos Santana) Afrika speaks is Santana’s twenty-fifth studio album played by an eight piece band, including his wife, Cindy Blackman Santana, on drums. Produced in Malibu in a matter of ten days, many tracks were recorded in one take to yield a unique fusion of rock, Latin and jazz. This project had been simmering ever since 1988, when Carlos starting buying all the great African music he could get his hands on when traveling in Europe. Featuring the Spanish vocalist Buika whose heavenly lead vocals cast a magical spell throughout the album.
Concord Records, June 2019

Little Fishes
The Clayton Lennon Delirium
Pretty trippy! The Delirium is made up of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool and guitarist/vocalist Sean Lennon. Formed in 2015, their music is inspired by psychedelic rock. «Over the course of six weeks, they wrote and recorded a total of ten songs with both of them sharing various vocal and instrumental responsibilities, going beyond their core instruments of bass and guitar, culminating in the release of their first studio album. The album debuted in the Top 10 of three «Billboard» charts: Top Vinyl Albums, Top Tastemakers Albums, and Top Alternative Albums.» (Wikipedia) Little Fishes is the opening track from the Claypool Lennon Delirium’s second LP, South of Reality, released last February. Self-taught animator Micah Buzan is inspired by psychedelic, electronic, and acoustic music. He has worked with The Flaming Lips (with whom Claypool/Lennon are currently touring the US) and provides free animation tutorials on YouTube.
Prawn Song Records, July 2019

Dream Shanti. Music in Our Dreams: Miles Meets the Mahatma
Jeff Coffins
«The genesis of this album was a jam session held between Coffin and virtuosic indian classical musicians Subrata Bhattacharya and Indrajit Banerjee in Coffin’s home studio in Nashville, TN. The musicians each brought in original compositions and taught the pieces to the others by ear. Coffin asked Bela Fleck, the Flecktones percussionist Roy “Futureman” Wooten and New Orleans-born pianist Chris Walters to join the ensemble in recording the final product. “I’ve been making music with both these guys for over 20 years and know they are adaptable and super open to challenging themselves.” Coffin said of Wooten and Walters. Together with Coffin’s Dave Matthews Band co-stars, friend Jordan Perlson on percussion, and wife Ryoko Suzuki providing harmonium, this album is bursting at the seams with raw, genuine talent.»
Ear Up Records, July 2019

Beats of Zion: Elevation
Rocky Dawuni
«Between me and you we shall rise above it all.» Rocky Dawuni is a Ghanaian singer, songwriter and record producer who performs Afro Root, a mixture of Reggae, Afrobeat, Highlife and soul music. Often called the African Bob Marley, Grammy nominated Dawuni currently lives between Ghana and Los Angeles. The musician and activist who is known to straddle the boundaries between Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. to create sounds that unite generations and cultures works to foster global peace. (Wikipedia) With an easy-going charisma and reputation as a dedicated champion of social causes, Dawuni’s infectious grooves and dance-inducing anthems have consistently excited fans across the globe. A galvanizing performer, Dawuni has shared the stage with Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Jason Mraz, Janelle Monae and John Legend, among many others.
Aquarian Record, Juli 2019

july 2019 – good to hear

Gris Gris
Dr John The Night Tripper
We mourn the loss of one of the most original and innovative musicians of the last fifty years, a man whose charisma, presence, voice and craftsmanship is unequalled. Even at his worst times, when he was so strung out that he travelled with a nurse, his shows were uniquely enthralling performances that held his audiences spellbound. He gave us a number of immortal songs and, likewise, he moves on to the next world, becoming one of the immortals himself. Malcolm (Mac) John Rebenack was born on 20 November 1941 into a musical New Orleans family of French descent and lived and breathed music since he was born. His inspirations were the local medicine shows, the Mardi Gras and the voodoo ceremonies, the Delta Blues as well the jazz records from his father’s record store. Dr John left us on 6 June 2019. Peace be with him. (sgs)
Atco Records, 1969

Fifity years of Trout Mask Replica: 10 Best Beefheart songs
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band
Another legendary singer and songwriter rooted in the Delta blues, as well as in free jazz and rock, Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet, was born 1941 in Glendale, California. A multi-instrumentalist and a bully, he was mesmerisingly chaotic and asked a lot of his audience. Don began to sculpt as age three, especially animals, and won several prizes and scholarships he wasn’t allowed to take up by is parents. Noted for his friendship with Frank Zappa, Beefheart started singing in 1967 and signed a record deal one year later. He and his changing band members, among whom Ry Cooder, recorded thirteen studio albums with various band combinations until 1982 when the genius of pop abandoned music for painting, a lifelong pursuit at which he also excelled. Suffering from multiple sclerosis from 1970 onward, Don van Vliet passed away in 2010 having influenced just about everybody from the Beatles to P.C. Harvey. He continues to be a great inspiration. (sgs)
Straight Records, 1969

We Get By
Mavis Staples (featuring Ben Harper)
Here we have one of the truly great voices of soul still capable of giving me the shivers. Mavis, one of the original members of The Staple Singers, was born in Chicago, in 1939. Led by family patriarch Roebuch «Pops» Staples on guitar and including the voices of Mavis and her siblings Cleotha, Yvonne, and Pervis, the Staple Singers were «God’s Greatest Hitmakers» in the late sixties. Having originally sung in churches, Mavis is known for her political activism as well as for her rousing voice. After the group’s fame faded in the 1970, Mavis Staples became a solo performer, as well as accompanying many greats such as Bob Dylan, Prince, Ray Charles or George Jones. Her voice has been sampled by Salt ‘N Peppa. Ludacris and Ice Cube. She has been the recipient of many awards and honours and is celebrating her eightieth birthday with a series of concerts and this new release. (sgs)
Anti-Records, May 2019

Atlanta Millionaires Club: Room Temperature
Faye Webster
Atlanta’s Millionaires Club is in Faye’s feelings, and that’s the way she likes it. The new record from the 21-year-old Atlanta-native opens with a sighing, unflinchingly honest admission: «Looks like I’ve been crying again, over the same thing.» The omnipresence of pedal steel eschews bluegrass trappings, flexible under Webster’s genre-bending direction. She says she didn’t set out to make her new album sound like anyone in particular – in fact, she says, the recording process was the opposite, trying to avoid sounding like any contemporaries – but she cites Aaliyah as her main musical inspiration. Pulling from a family lineage of folk storytelling and time spent in Atlanta’s hip-hop scene, Webster’s work is a study of duality, weaving through her own introversion and heartbreak, its beautiful sadness punctuated by an unexpected, sly sense of humour. (secretlycanadian.com)
Secretly Canadian, May 2019

june 2019 – good to hear

Natty Dread
Lieutenant Stitchie
The quality of the video is nothing to write home about but the music and the lyrics are so much fun! Cleveland (born c.1965), better known as Lieutenant Stitchie, is a Jamaican DJ who originally worked in the dancehall style but switched to gospel reggae in 1997 after surviving a car crash, thereafter working under the shorter name Stitchie. (Wikipedia) Teacher, father, author, honorary doctor, singer, performer… there are few things that this man is not. Enthroned and revered as the dancehall Governor, he has been one of the genre’s most acclaimed icons, his energetic and mesmerising live appearances, coupled with his message of Love, Peace and Righteousness, makes him one of the most sort after artiste in the Reggae Music Industry globally. (Reggaeville.com)
Orchard Music, 2007

Nuff Respect
Lady G
Janice Fyffe (born 7 May 1968), better known as Lady G, is a female dancehall and reggae deejay. She is best known for her song Man a Bad Man from the film «Third World Cop». Lady G’s other songs include Nuff Respect, Round Table Talk (with her mentor Papa San), Certain Friends, Breeze Off and Girls Like… Us as a featured artist. She records on the label Greensleeves. Lady G performed at Europe’s biggest reggae festival, Summerjam, in 2001. She has also toured the United States with Buju Banton. Typically, there is little info to be found about this fantastic lady artist.
Greensleeves, 2011

The Best of Dennis Brown
Dennis Brown
Dennis Brown was born in Kingston, on 1 February 1957, and began his music career at age nine, as a street singer. When he was eleven, he made a guest appearance with the Fabulous Falcons who asked him to join them as a vocalist. In 1972, he recorded his first album bringing him instant acclaim in Jamaica’s dancehall scene. By 1973, he had exhausted himself, stayed home and concentrated on his studies. He toured the United Kingdom in 1977, moving to London in 1978 to relaunch the DEB Music label with Castro Brown. He recorded many well-known artists of the day and also worked as a back-up vocalist. His own albums included Visions of Dennis Brown, So Long Rastafari and Josep’s Coat of Many Colours. In 1981, Brown signed a record deal with A&M Records, releasing a great number of songs during the 80ies. His 1994 Album «Light My Fire» was nominated for a Grammy Award, as was his posthumous album «Let Me Be the One» (2001). Unfortunately, his health deteriorated around the turn of the century. He contracted tuberculosis and died on 1 July 1999. (sgs)
EMI Music, 2013

1Xtra in Jamaica
King Jammy, Beenie Man, Lt Stitchie & Josey Wales at King Jammy’s studio
«Lloyd James (born 26 October 1947, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub master at King Tubby’s recording studio, being known for his clear sound and use of effects. After earning money from building amplifiers and repairing electrical equipment from his mother’s house in Waterhouse in the late 1960s, he started his own sound system. He also built equipment for other local systems. After a few years in Canada, he returned to Kingston in 1976 and set up his own studio. Jammy improvised Reggae and Dancehall, he digitalised old riddims, like Real Rock, and Far East. King Jammy then began working with top artists in Jamaica throughout the 1980s and 1990s such as Admiral Bailey, Admiral Tibet, Chaka Demus, Frankie Paul, Lieutenant Stitchie, Pinchers and even Dennis Brown.» (Wikipedia)
BBC Radio 1Xtra, 2017

Ricky Trooper Live & Direct @ the Maroon festival 2019
«The Jamaican DJ Ricky Trooper is a prominent dancehall selector. Despite the loss of his US visa, due to gun possession, Trooper frequently plays dates in Africa, Europe and the wider Caribbean area. Garfield McKoy (Trooper’s real name) says his interest in sound systems started when he was eight years old and living in St Mary. That fascination grew when he and his family relocated to Spanish Town where his neighbour, who owned a sound system, gave him his first opportunity to operate the turntables. While attending St Catherine High School in the 1980s, he and a friend started their own sound system called Ultimate Touch. Next stop was Kilimanjaro, the era’s top ‘sound’. It was not until 1995 that he got his big break.» (McKoy’s News)
Culture For more Quality, 2019

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