Music Media Monthly

It’s been a rough few years for the CD marketplace, and I don’t think it’s going to get any better anytime soon.  Yet against all odds, top-quality recordings keep being released—not in the numbers we used to see, but still more of them than most of us can afford to buy or make space for on our shelves.  Here, in no particular order and placing no restriction whatsoever on genre, are some releases that have knocked my socks off recently:

In the Weird Electronica Department we have the reissue of a 2006 recording by Markus Reuter titled, charmingly enough, Trepanation (Lotuspike LS-0010). Technically, this album would have to be characterized as “ambient music”—it’s beatless, generally consonant, and mostly quite easy on the ear.  But pay close attention and things get a bit more complicated: the nature sounds are as often disquieting as they are soothing, and those chords, pillowy as they are, often harbor hidden spikes of discord. But the music is consistently beautiful—not just pretty in a wimpy, New Agey way, but in a deeper and much more rich and evocative sense.

For sounds of a more organic but no less luscious nature, check out the Emerson String Quartet ‘s new three-disc set of Dvorak string quartets, titled Old World-New World (Deutsche Grammophon B0014106-02). It includes quartets numbers 10, 11, 13, 14, the “American” quintet, and a rather strange suite for quartet titled Cypresses. Very few ensembles can match the Emersons for both tightness and soulful virtuosity, and Dvorak’s chamber music is especially well served by this group’s particular skill set.

If it’s music from the really “old world” you’re interested in, then consider picking up on the East Meets West Music label’s new series of archival Ravi Shankar recordings. The series is called Nine Decades, and the first volume (EMWM1000) gathers a quirky but useful trio of recordings onto a single disc: first, a live outdoor performance by sitarist Shankar of the raga “Gangeshwari.” The recording was made with a single microphone (and not a very good one, judging from the sound quality) under less-than-ideal circumstances, but it still provides a thrilling example of Shankar’s playing at its finest. The other two tracks consist of interviews with audience members following the performance, and a recording of liturgical singing by temple priests in Allahabad, India.

Jumping back to the Western hemisphere, we have the continuation of a brilliant series of discomix compilations from the Jamaican studio of Joe Gibbs, one of the most accomplished producers of reggae music’s roots-and-culture period (roughly 1970-1985).  At various times he played host to such A-list singers as Junior Murvin, George Nooks, Dennis Brown and Junior Byles, and his house band included the absolute cream of the session-player crop. The Joe Gibbs 12” Discomix Showcase series (on the 17 North Parade label) now numbers five volumes; each compilation features extended mixes of classic Gibbs singles, each with a dub remix appended, often featuring the prototypical rapping of Jamaican “deejays” of the period. If you want a perfect introduction to the music of reggae’s classical era, start with the first or second volume; if those pique your interest, then keep exploring (though the last couple of volumes will be of more interest to period completists than to those with a casual interest).

Of course, the 1970s was also a golden era of soul music in the U.S.A., and if you miss that period and style, then you’ll be happy to hear about the latest album from soul revivalist Sharon Jones and her band the Dap-Kings.  I Learned the Hard Way (Daptone DAP-019) sounds vintage partly because it was recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine, and partly because Jones and her band have an absolute lock on their chosen style—not just its characteristic horn charts and guitar licks, but also its carefully-contained passion and exuberant funkiness.

If you want funkiness of a jazzier nature, check out drummer Stanton Moore’s new release on Telarc Records: Groove Alchemy (TEL-31890-02).  It finds him working in an organ-trio format, with Hammond B3 mastr Robert Walter and guitarist Will Bernard (organ trios typically omit a bass player, as the organist plays basslines with pedals while simultaneously supplying chords, melody and solos). This album is actually designed for pedagogical as well as pleasure-listening purposes: Moore intends with this release to provide something of a master class in the history and rudiments of funk drumming, and a companion book and DVD are to be released simultaneously with it. But you don’t have to want to learn in order to enjoy; it’s a wonderful program of jazz-funk in a variety of styles.

– Rick Anderson

This entry was posted on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 12:31 PM and is filed under Recordings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.