Music Discoveries March-April 2024 #31

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Incredibly I realized this month that Tom Petty and Tom Waits were two different people. Honestly I had no idea. Whenever I heard either name, I would think, “Oh, that’s the Free Fallin /Living like a Refugee Guy.

I put my emusic subscription on hold for 3 months — pretty much because I thought I wanted to cancel, but wanted to give them an extra 3 months to collect more albums (if that were even possible). 3 months later, I started looking through the catalog. There’s so much garbage; is it really worth all my investigation? I’m leaning towards leaving.

Last week I did something unthinkable; I went to a live music concert. I learned that one of my fave singers, Jade Bird would be singing in Houston. She was doing a midweek concert at the Heights Theater in Houston, with Aubrey Hays opening for her. A few superficial remarks:

• Heights Theater was such a wonderful venue especially for acoustic pop/rock. Tickets were reasonably-priced, the schedule had a lot of distinguished performers, but parking was on the street. The only drawback was that it took an hour to get there during rush hour, but I wanted to be there good and early.
• Aubrey Hays was a treat to hear. Lots of slow wistful introspective songs. Kind of folk, kind of mumblecore, but she did remarkable things with her voice.
• Jade Bird was one of the most energetic performers I’ve seen. It’s exhausting. My neighbor in the audience said that Jade Bird has a lot of rage inside of her, which is a funny thing to say, because Jade Bird has a goofy presence and is really hilarious onstage. (It’s even funnier that she’s from UK and living in Austin). She was only 26 — holy cow, born in 1997! But she had entered the music biz very early in life

Articles and Interviews

Here’s a nice Interviews with rock legend Patti Rothberg (whose Between the 1 and 9 album is among my all-time favorites). Here’s the video for Treat Me Like Dirt . Rothberg still performs regularly on the East Coast at smaller gigs. Most of her albums are at the major distributions, with the latest collaborations on Bandcamp here, here and here. It’s a combination of punk rock, easy pop and acoustic stuff.

Emusic Purchases

For this emusic credit, I’m going to focus on jazz albums (in the broad sense). I’ve been leaning on Provocateur Records which is run by jazz band leader Colin Towns. (Here’s a profile of Colin Towns). For simplicity I am using an asterisk to indicate albums from Provocateur.

1. VA Compilation by ANMA Records. Outlines. 4.49 for 57 minutes. Electronic Jazz compilation. Quirky, definitely more electronic than jazz, but still fun.
2. At the BBC: On Air Performances 2000-2005 by Laura Cantrell. 58 minutes for 6.49. Cantrell is a Nashville-born country singer. So rare to have an American singer on emusic!
3. Bedsofaland by 9 Lazy 9. 7.49 for 45 minutes. 2000s album by a tranquil jazz group also on bandcamp
4. 2 jazz albums by Phronesis: Organic Warfare (4.99, 54 min) and Green Delay (3.99 for 58 minutes)
5. s/t by The Bloody Norahs. 36 minutes for 4.00. Australian alt country/indie rock.
6. * 2 Jazz Collaborations by Alan Skidmore’s Ubizo: Ubizo and 50 Journeys. Alan Skidmore is a noted British tenor saxophonist, and in these two albums he collaborated with a South African percussion ensemble called Amampando. (See this review of Ubizo). Lively and energetic with a strong beat
7. * Still Life by Colin Towns Mask Quartet sung by Italian singer Maria Pa De Vito. 4.49/59 Min. 1997
8. * Nowhere and Heaven by Colin Towns Mask Orchestra. 11.49/149 min 1998
9. * Stand Well Back by Blue Touch Paper. 5.99/70 min 2012. A later iteration of Colin Towns.
10. Best of Stelvio Cipriani. 6.49/90 min. Compilation of music that Cipriani wrote for various Italian movies in the 1970s and 1980s. I’m sure a lot of good stuff didn’t make the collection, but still sounds lovely. Most are slow and romantic.
11. s/t by Ken Laszlo. 3.49/43 min. 80s Eurodisco dance songs. I have a weakness for Eurodisco, the sappier, the better.
12. The Hunt by Jungle by Night. 4.99/43 minutes. Dutch jazz band which is strongly influenced by Afrobeat. Also s/t 2.49/36 min
13. * Two by saxophonist Andy Sheppard: Learning to Wave 4/64 min. and PS by Andy Sheppard and John Paricelli. (4.49/53 min). These are very easy listening/Kenny G sound, but they still can be intensely focused,sophisticated interpretations and almost cerebral.
14. Kafiqawwalinight by Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn 1/115 min. What a bargain!
15. Narrada by Jim Hart’s Gemini. Excellent kooky and zippy jazz . 5.50/61 minutes
16. 10 years (2009-2019) by The Casino Royale. Lounge music with rock elements.
17. Serenata del Campo, 60 Años de Éxitos by El Dueto de Antano. 4.99/36 min. Classic Columbian guitar group which sing serenades.

Bandcamp Purchases

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Youtubey Things

.IRISH HOPES AND DREAMS: Here’s a great live version of that iconic Irish Cranberries song, Dreams. You can’t do better than their early album EVERYBODY ELSE IS DOING IT, SO WHY CAN’T WE? P.S. All the other live versions of “Dreams” on YT really suck!

Freegal and Library CDs

I’ve been listening to Eumir Deodata, a Brazilian music arranger and producer who did these amazing jazz arrangements. Probably the most famous was his version of Also Sprach Zarathustra, which reached the #2 spot on the pop charts in the USA in the 1970s. Memorably it appeared in the Peter Sellars movie Being There where Chance wandered out into the city streets for the first time in his life.

1. Toquinho, a Brazilian guitarist who was most known for his collaboration with songwriter Vinicius de Moraes
2. El Dueto de Antano — classic Columbian guitar groups
3. Osvaldo Pugliese — classic Argentine tango musician.
4. Urinetown Original Broadway recording. Music to a cynical political satire. The songs are downright Brechtian and masterpieces. I saw it staged in Houston and was wowed.
5. Jain. Wonderful African dance pop singer who is heavily influenced by African music.
6. Quarteo em Cy. Long running group of young female singers from Brazil who often collaborate with well known samba and bossa nova artists.

Reviews (Rateyourmusic /Personal Reviews, etc)

See also my rateyourmusic profile and my review spreadsheet.in Google Docs.