Here is part two of our new music picks for March. You can catch up with Part 1 here. Do we actually know anything about new music? Or, are we just too old to understand what most of this is banging on about? Read on to find out.
[Ed: Neil was busy this week preparing for his CubaDupa exhibition at Thistle Hall, so you have to suffer through Mark’s reviews without any sensible counterpoint…]
I don’t know a thing about love : Willie sings the songs of Harlan Howard / Nelson, Willie
Mark: Willie Nelson is back with this tribute to songwriter Harlan Howard, a well known Country songwriter, that was released a few weeks before Willie turned 90! Over the course of 6 decades Harlan Howard primarily penned Country songs, but they were so popular and enduring, that each of the big hits has a list of multiple cover versions, that stretch across decades, sexes, and genres (‘Chokin’ kind’, for example, was originally recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1967, but also by Joss Stone in 2003, and the wikipedia entry for the track ‘Streets of Baltimore’ lists no less than 20 different cover versions). Harlan is so revered as a songwriter that both Waylon Jennings & Buck Owens also released tribute albums based around his songs. Willie is very much in his comfort zone here, but that’s a good thing as he brings his expressive, yet mellow vocals, to these classic tracks. Weather breezy, melancholy, sad or reflective, Willie’s years of wisdom imbue these tracks with a lifetimes of emotional shading.
Heavy heavy / Young Fathers
Mark: Young Fathers are an Edinburgh-based trio who won the 2014 Mercury prize for their debut album, Dead, along with Scottish Album of the Year award twice. ‘Heavy heavy’ is their 4th full-length album, following on from 2018’s Cocoa sugar. The sound of this album immediately made me think of Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ album that fused of Western Pop & mbaqanga, South African street music. However, Young Fathers extend this further, adding layers of Hip-Hop, R&B, gospel, rock, electronics, experimental noise, and just general exuberance. Huge tracks reverberate with euphoric choruses, warmth, optimism and a pulsing rhythmic energy that seems to reach out from the speakers to embrace you. Truly a unique sounding band, and I fully expect this to make many Best of 2023 lists.
Electrophonic chronic / Arcs
Mark: Arcs are the side project of Black Keys guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach. ‘Electrophonic chronic’ is only their 2nd album, following on from 2015’s Yours Dreamily. These tracks are culled from the original sessions for their debut album, as well as follow up sessions while they toured their debut, a wealth of 80-100 songs that sat unreleased after the sudden passing of band member Richard Swift. These easy going beats send out surprisingly positive vibes, despite the somewhat bittersweet nature of this release. Neo-psychedelic, jazz, soul, blues, funk & space-pop, all blend into a mix of the modern and the retro, as Auerbach’s elastic & soulful voice wanders through the surprisingly emotional layers at play here.
Anarchist gospel / War, Sunny
Mark: Sunny War is Nashville born-LA based folk-punk-Blues musician Sydney Lyndella Ward, and ‘Anarchist gospel’ is her fourth studio album, and first for prominent Americana imprint New West Records label. Her music draws on a variety of seemingly diverse influences from 70s So-cal songwriters, to hardcore punk, Delta Blues, Gospel, straight folk and more. Her beginnings as a street busker and early albums gained her a following and opening slots for everyone from Valerie June to Keb’ Mo’, but ‘Anarchist gospel’ has been universally acclaimed as a career highpoint. It’s easy to see why, as this is an incredible synthesis of all her influences, full of emotional depth and weight. Produced by Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes) the album focuses on the dissolution of a relationship, but also digs into social issues, inequality, mortality, grief, anxiety and her past addictions.
An album that cements the arrival of a genuinely original voice in Americana roots music. Allison Russell lends harmonies on a couple of tracks & David Rawlings plays guitar on 3 tracks.
I will not be sad in this world ; Moon shines at night / Gasparian, Djivan
Mark: 2014 reissue containing the first two albums from Djivan Gasparyan, an Armenian musician and composer who passed away at 92 in 2021. An acknowledged master of the duduk (a double reed woodwind instrument similar to the oboe) his music featured on numerous soundtracks soundtracks in the 90’s & 2000’s, and he collaborated with many artists, including Sting, Peter Gabriel, Brian May, Brian Eno, David Sylvian, and Hans Zimmer. ‘I Will Not Be Sad In This World’ was his debut, released in 1983 on the Soviet state label Melodiya, then reissued by Brian Eno at the end of the decade. ‘Moon Shines At Night’ followed in 1993. These Middle Eastern songs performed by Gasparian and 2 other musicians, see him soloing over the foundational ‘drone’ of each track. Truly unique music that embraces the minimalist side of World music. Haunting, ethereal, forlorn.
Portrait of a dog / Yano, Jonah
Mark: Japanese-Canadian songwriter Jonah Yano makes dreamy smooth, adult soul-pop, with distinct Jazzy touches, along with electronic & Hip-Hop influences. His debut album Souvenir dealt with the emotions around the reconciliation with his father, following a 15-year separation. New album ‘Portrait of a dog’ also focuses on family history, dealing with the deteriorating memories of his grandparents, as well as a relationship breakup. Stylistically the album leans further into Jazz, due to being produced by Toronto Jazzers BADBADNOTGOOD. The guitar, piano, upright bass, and drums combo is augmented by sweeping melancholy cello, and really adds a free-form dimension to the ghostly, impressionistic and ethereal folk songs that float through memories, shifting into long instrumental Jazz jams and back. A languid, minimal album, that hides a deeper emotional core.
Marshall Crenshaw / Crenshaw, Marshall
Mark: Marshall Crenshaw’s 1982 debut, gets an expanded reissue for it’s 40th anniversary. Crenshaw fused Buddy Holly & early Beatles, mixing in the emotional shadings of the 80s New Wave. A joyous, melodic album of perfectly crafted and produced pop, with a set of endlessly catchy tracks & his double-tracked vocals. If it sounded somewhat of a throwback at its release, that’s probably why it remains a classic album of timeless pop. Crenshaw would go on to make other fine albums, and is still going strong, but this remains an artistic peak. Music guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
I play my bass loud / Birch, Gina
Mark: Punk pioneer Gina Birch co-founded The Raincoats in 1977, an all-female British band whose D.I.Y. approach and experimental sound would prove to be a massive influence on scores of bands of different genres who followed in their footsteps. Surprisingly, this is her debut album as a solo artist after some 40 plus years making music. In 2021 UK’s Third Man Records celebrated the opening of their new London store by releasing Gina Birch’s “Feminist Song” as a 7-inch single, which set this debut in motion. Produced by Youth, it’s a great modern update of The Raincoats sound, with prominent basslines, processed vocals and pulsing synths, shifting genres with ease. You can hear the influence on everyone from The White Stripes, to The Breeders & Sleater-Kinney. Birch herself described the album as a distillation of her years of musical, political and artistic life, and it’s obvious that she sees many issues that existed when she made music with The Raincoats equally as relevant today, as they were then.
Could we be more / Korokoro
Mark: 2018’s We Out Here was the definitive compilation on the burgeoning London Jazz scene at the time (featuring Ezra Collective, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia & Shabaka Hutchings among others) and the track ‘Abusey Junction’ by London jazz collective Kokoroko, an octet that incorporate Afrobeat & Caribbean influences, racked up an impressive number of streams. They are the last of the artists from that primer to release a debut and it’s perhaps easy to hear why, as ‘Could we be more’ sounds like it has been polished over a number of years for maximum commercial potential. Founder and leader, trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey, spoke of being keen to broaden the appeal of the music outside of Jazz circles, and that is definitely achieved with this super slick album of smoothly blended Nigerian Afrobeat and Ghanaian highlife sounds, Jazzy lines, and soulful vocals. This may seem like a deliberate attempt to end up on the playlists at trendy cafés and restaurants, and purists make decry the lack of any real edge here. But music that can function as something in the background to other things, can also be interesting, musically diverse and well crafted, as this album proves.
In Embudo / Remington, Mary Elizabeth
Mark: Raised in a log cabin in rural Massachusetts Mary Elizabeth Remington continually composed and sung vocal melodies to herself. Currently a ceramicist and teacher her past jobs have included stone-carving and farming, and she was inspired to finally record her debut after long-time friend Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief) wanted to make an album together once she heard Remington’s songs. Recorded live to 4-track in the New Mexico hamlet that gives the album its name, Remington’s husky voice and melodies combine with Lenker’s guitar and harmony vocals, along with Big Thief drummer James Krivchenia and multi-instrumentalist Mat Davidson (Low Anthem & Twain). The album’s sparse and intimate live sound suits the casual deep-folk ruminations on the magic of nature, spirituality, family & perseverance. Raw storytelling that sounds old fashioned and out of time, humble and unpretentious, and brings a simple comforting charm.
