Friday Feedback 2/25/22 (my latest, new releases, etc)
My podcast is up + thoughts on new music from Del McCoury, Elles Bailey, Robert Glasper, Tears For Fears, Homebody Sandman, and Immolation
Podcast:
The first episode — where I discuss the music review that changed my life — is up, along with some other goodies I posted with it.
My latest writing:
Del McCoury — Almost Proud album review for Holler Country:
As much as we should all see it coming, age has a way of sneaking up on people. Of course, countless songs have reminded us not to take youth for granted, but if bluegrass giant Del McCoury’s new album Almost Proud is any indication, there are benefits to aging too. [KEEP READING HERE]
Elles Bailey — Shining in the Half Light album review for Holler Country:
It goes without saying that England has offered its fair share of musicians who built their sound on the foundations of American roots music. The landscape, of course, has changed dramatically since groups like The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and their peers effectively converted the blues into classic rock almost six decades ago. [KEEP READING HERE]
Robert Glaser — Black Radio III album review for Paste:
It should come as no surprise to fans that Black Radio III exemplifies Glasper’s knack for eliciting creative fireworks out of other musicians while also keeping the mood really laid-back. Eight of the 13 tracks feature multiple guests—including India.Arie, Q-Tip, Meshell Ndegeocello, Esperanza Spalding, Common and Ty Dolla $ign, to name just a few—seemingly mashed together, as if Glasper loves to push contrast to the point where he flirts with, but never quite allows things to tip over into chaos. Ten years after breaking barriers with Black Radio, Glasper’s vision of jazz, hip-hop and R&B as mutually sustaining forms remains as vital and promising as ever. [READ FULL REVIEW HERE] Excerpt from 10 New Albums to Listen to Today (Paste)
You might also enjoy my piece In its new, remixed form as the companion album Drank, Thundercat's Drunk gets a radical overhaul by DJ Candlestick and OG Ron C of the Houston DJ collective The Chopstars (Billboard, 2018)
Thoughts on some other new releases:
Tears For Fears — The Tipping Point (Concord)
I wonder what the business model is these days for legacy acts like this. What are the goals for bands that have had smash success in the past? How do they define success now? Is it in sheer numbers of streams? Obviously, there’s more to how it all breaks down, but I began wondering about this when AC/DC rolled out the campaign for their new-ish album Power Up at the height of the pandemic — and then started topping all the charts.
I need to ask people about that ASAP, but it’s amazing how Tears For Fears’ music marks time so well. Maybe I feel that way because I lived through their heyday, when their Songs From The Big Chair-era material had completely conquered American radio in the mid-’80s, but the sound, cadence and overall vibe of this new title track just seems to line right up with the present day. Good on them!
Big Chair, btw, is one of my all-time favorite albums. When I worked in a recording studio 20 years ago, I used to scare the metal bands by holding up that album as an example of production and I’d be like “I’m not showing it to you for the style — you can set that aside — but for the way they use reverb. We can try to do that!”
Read my review of the recent Seeds Of Love reissue here.
Homeboy Sandman — There In Spirit EP (Mello Music Group)
If I were reviewing this release, I’m not sure I could say anything that isn’t already said in this verse from The Only Constant:
Aside from analyzing being a twin
I fantasize about different chicks I see at the gym.
Now you can go on Spotify and listen to Prince,
at least that’s what scientists are teachin’ the chimps.
I mean, what can anyone add to that?
Immolation — Acts of God (Nuclear Blast)
For my money, you’d be hard-pressed to find a death metal band that’s more adept at writing songs that rise and fall. Plenty of these bands are great at writing epic, complex music that requires chops and endurance — death metal has been a haven for incredible musicianship for 30 years at this point — but Immolation’s music has an emotional arc that I find exceptional. It’s almost “symphonic” in terms of the composition, but without actually being symphonic style-wise.
Read my review of their previous album Atonement here.
Photo of the week:
Parenthood, re-imagined as the back cover of an early-'90s industrial metal album, like the ones Earache records put out by groups like Scorn and Godflesh back in the day…