Monday, November 30, 2009

The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

In 2009, the band performed at South by Southwest, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury Festival and the Newport Folk Festival. Their album Oh My God, Charlie Darwin was named Album of the Month by Uncut. They are nominated for the 2009 Uncut Music Award

Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

1. Charlie Darwin

2. To Ohio

3. Ticket Taker
4. The Horizon Is A Beltway
5. Home I'll Never Be
6. Cage The Songbird

7. (Don't) Tremble
8. Music Box
9. Champion Angel
10. To The Ghosts Who Write History Books
11. OMGCD
12. Ohio Reprise

The Decembrists - The Hazards of Love

Rolling Stone
The Decemberists are devoted anachronists. So with the pop album completing its evolution into iPod shuffle–mix fodder, it's the right time for the Portland, Oregon, band to release an old–fashioned prog concept record. True to form, The Hazards of Love brings the glorious excess: There's strummy British folk rock and heavy–metal thunder, orchestral strings and a children's choir. Guitarist Chris Funk, like Yes' Steve Howe, deploys every stringed instrument in the showroom, from mandolin and autoharp to pedal steel.






The Hazards of Love

Trilok Gurtu - jazz percussionist

Wikipedia

Trilok Gurtu (born in Mumbai) is a percussionist and composer, who has also "crossed over" into jazz-rock fusion and world music genres.

He has released his own albums and has collaborated with many artists, including Terje Rypdal, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul, Bill Laswell, Maria João & Mário Laginha, and Robert Miles.

His web site is here







Massical

Nellie McKay: The Dog Song

Nellie McKay singing "The Dog Song".





Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day

Click image



Nellie McKay @Amazon.com

Sunday, November 29, 2009

TrioVD - Fill It Up With Ghosts

Review from the Guardian 2008
Most of the groups operated at the extreme edges of improv, noise, experimental funk and mind-bending volume, but the Leeds-based trioVD - guitarist Chris Sharkey, saxophonist Christophe de Bezenac and drummer Chris Bussey - offered some of the most focused and intricate yet thrilling music. They specialise in a fast, tight and awesomely expert conjunction of staccato and spiky high-energy compositions, uninhibited sax and guitar improv and machine-gun drumming. Sharkey (who also plays with Acoustic Ladyland saxophonist Pete Wareham in the Final Terror) is at the cutting-edge of contemporary improv-fusion guitar technique, colliding headlong free-jazz phrasing with roaring thrash metal riffs and ghostly electronics.


Newest Album - Fill it with Ghosts
1. Returns
2. Kesh
3. Sixes and Sevens
4. To Whom-
5. Fill It Up With Ghosts
6. Rash
7. Cow Dun

Few videos about but these give a taste





Fill It Up With Ghosts

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Ceu - Vagarosa

A reviewer at Amazon is very articulate in his/her comment -
Ceu is one of the new wave of Brasilian female vocal talents and two years after her 2007 debut comes another collection of well-crafted, lazy, occasionally edgy, soulful grooves. The album title actually translates as `slow, easygoing and leisurely' so you get the idea, it's more sofa than party time.

The album kicks off in mellow acoustic style with Ceu extolling the joy of the invisible chemistry of love accompanied only by the distinctive Brasilian sound of the cavaquinho before the mood darkens slightly with `Cangote', her sweet vocals sitting on a jazzy dub reggae rhythm as turntable scratches, melodica and organ snippets swirl around the song's extremities to great effect giving us our first hint of Ceu's adventurous musicality.








Vagarosa

Friday, November 27, 2009

Mick Flannery - White Lies

Stan Tracey Quartet: Senior Moment

Guardian
This album is dedicated to 82-year-old pianist Stan Tracey's wife, Jackie, who died in August. She helped guide his career and anchor his sometimes unstable life, so it's fitting that this album both revisits past compositional landmarks and presents his family-­celebrating Grandad Suite for the first time.




Senior Moment

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Spiritualised - Ladies and Gentlemen

Their vision was to release this album as medication. Packaged as a giant pill in its own foil bubble-pack, with accompanying instructions about how to take the medication, the packaging - all too often missing these days, but still seen in Spiritualized's records - immediately told us what to expect: here was an album about swamping the harsh realities of life, about escaping from the day-to-day humdrum, about getting out of it to escape the pain.


Originally released in 1997 it is being re-released in the UK this month



1. Space (I Can't Help Falling In Love)
2. Come Together
3. I Think I'm in Love
4. All of My Thoughts
5. Stay With Me
6. Electricity

7. Home of the Brave
8. The Individual
9. Broken Heart

10. No God Only Religion
11. Cool Waves
12. Cop Shoot Cop




Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space

Monday, November 23, 2009

Colour me Free - Joss Stone

She ticks my boxes in so many ways - comes from Cornwall for one







Colour Me Free

Colour Me Free

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Steve Martin - The Crow

Actor and comedian Steve Martin, known for his films including Roxanne and Father of the Bride, is also a long time fan of bluegrass music. First seen with his banjo in his early 70s stand up shows, this year Steve has released his first album. The Crow is a collection of songs for the 5 string banjo which features among others Dolly Parton and banjo maestro Earl Scruggs. He is making his UK TV debut as a musician with his band The Steep Canyon Rangers.







This will be on my Christmas List
The Crow

The Temptations and The Funk Brothers



Notes from YouTube;
Given the fact that Motown had not been conducting Live sessions with the vocalists and instrumentalists recording at the same time since at least 1963, this session was clearly staged for the CBS News cameras that were doing a brief piece called The Motown Sound. Pictured in the studio are songwriters Lamont Dozier (Standing on the steps at the back of the studio), Brian Holland (The guy who cuts in on the band), Ivy Jo Hunter (Does the countdown), Russ Terrana (The engineer standing up), James Jamerson on Bass, Earl Van Dyke on piano, Bobbye Hall on congas, and from left to right on guitars Robert White, Joe Messina and Eddie Willis. The arranger, wearing headphones and conducting the band, is William Witherspoon. To the best of my knowledge this incredibly rare piece of film is the only one of two pieces of footage ever shot at a session inside the studio known as the Snakepit.

Thanks to their fine-tuned choreography — and even finer harmonies — the Temptations became the definitive male vocal group of the 1960s; one of Motown's most elastic acts, they tackled both lush pop and politically charged funk with equal flair, and weathered a steady stream of changes in personnel and consumer tastes with rare dignity and grace. The Temptations' initial five-man lineup formed in Detroit in 1961 as a merger of two local vocal groups, the Primes and the Distants. Baritone Otis Williams, Elbridge (aka El, or Al) Bryant, and bass vocalist Melvin Franklin were longtime veterans of the Detroit music scene when they joined together in the Distants, who in 1959 recorded the single "Come On" for the local Northern label. Around the same time, the Primes, a trio comprised of tenor Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams (no relation to Otis), and Kell Osborne, relocated to the Motor City from their native Alabama; they quickly found success locally, and their manager even put together a girl group counterpart dubbed the Primettes. (Later, three of the Primettes — Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard — formed the Supremes).


The Temptations @Amazon.com

The Funk Brothers @Amazon.com

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, A Paris - Martha Wainwright

Very good album of Piaf tracks







Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, A Paris. Martha Wainwrights Piaf Record

David Archuleta: Christmas From The Heart

Christmas From The Heart

Please click image


According to a reviewer at Amazon.com;
I just purchased and listened to Christmas from the Heart by David Archuleta and I am overwhelmed with the emotion I feel. David brings out the true meaning of these classic Christmas Carols and makes you feel every note of every song. I had tears in my eyes listening.This is sure to be a classic Christmas album and a standard in my house for sure! From Joy to the world to I'll be home for Christmas to Pat-a-Pan and the spanish Riu Riu Chiu to the beautiful Ave Maria and to the Original New classic Melodies of Christmas penned by David every single song on this album is pure joy to listen to. this is the perfect Christmas Eve album to share with family and friends, but do your self a favor and take time to just sit and listen alone with not TV ,no computer no distractons just you and David and the miracle of Christmas!

1. Joy To The World David Archuleta 4:19
2. Angels We Have Heard On High David Archuleta 3:36
3. O Come All Ye Faithful David Archuleta 3:18
4. Silent Night David Archuleta 4:49
5. The First Noel David Archuleta 4:32
6. O Holy Night David Archuleta 5:55
7. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas David Archuleta & Charice Pempengco 4:36
8. I'll Be Home For Christmas David Archuleta 3:01
9. Pat-A-Pan David Archuleta 3:25
10. What Child Is This David Archuleta 4:45
11. Riu Riu Chiu David Archuleta 3:53
12. Ave Maria David Archuleta 5:42
13. Melodies Of Christmas David Archuleta 4:34

Friday, November 20, 2009

Songs with vim - Little Richard

A Google definition of vim is
energy: a healthy capacity for vigorous activity; "jogging works off my excess energy"; "he seemed full of vim and vigor"
My Daily Newspaper has created a wonderful and varied playlist including







Michale McDonald: This Christmas

This Christmas

Please click image


A fan of McDonald at Amazon.com had this to say;
Michael McDonald's latest holiday CD has nothing but great music; but it becomes a mixed bag because so much of this has been released before. This CD has quite a few of its twelve tracks from Michael's past holiday releases "In the Spirit" and "Through the Many Winters." If you have these two CDs and you don't want the extra numbers on this album, then this is not for you. This album is really best geared at diehard Michael McDonald fans who want everything by him and/or people who are rather casual fans and who don't have the previous two CD releases.

1. That's What Christmas Means To Me 3:11
2. This Christmas 3:46
3. White Christmas/Winter Wonderland 3:33
4. Wexford Carol 5:05
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 3:40
6. Peace 3:24
7. On This Night 4:31
8. Children Go Where I Send Thee 6:06
9. Every Time Christmas Comes Around 3:38
10. Come, O Come Emanuel/ What Month Was Jesus Born 4:13
11. I'll Be Home For Christmas 3:23
12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 2:34
13. Christmas On The Bayou (Live) 3:06
14. Peace (Live) 3:30

Thursday, November 19, 2009

tUnE YaRDs



An amazing voice



BIRD-BRAINS

Bob Dylan: Christmas In The Heart

Christmas In The Heart

Please click image


A reviewer at Amazon.com had this to say;
My first impression? So warm, so comforting, so nostalgic. And not just in a "it's getting to be late Fall, so let's get in the mood for Christmas" way. No, in a pure Americana kind of way. This is a Rockwell painting come to life, it is not some kind of ironic commentary on the past... it is a memorial to the past. Dylan does this perfectly. It baffles me, but I really think this will turn out to be one of his most memorable records.

1. Here Comes Santa Claus 2:35
2. Do You Hear What I Hear? 3:02
3. Winter Wonderland 1:53 $1.29
4. Hark The Herald Angels Sing 2:30
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas 2:54
6. Little Drummer Boy 2:52
7. The Christmas Blues 2:54
8. O' Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) 2:48
9. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 4:06
10. Must Be Santa 2:48
11. Silver Bells 2:35 $1.29
12. The First Noel 2:30
13. Christmas Island 2:27
14. The Christmas Song 3:56
15. O' Little Town Of Bethlehem 2:17

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The new Kate Bush? - Marina and the Diamonds

Sandy Denny - Where does the time go?









What a well covered song

Sting: If On A Winter's Night

If On A Winter's Night

Please click image



A reviewer at Amazon.com says;
The liner notes are really good. Sting explains that winter is his favorite season and he deliberately stayed away from holly-jolly merry Christmas songs. The photos are also awesome, particularly a scene of all the musicians gathered around a bank of candles playing their instruments. That sets the mood of the piece - rather quiet, introspective and kinda gloomy. Also on many of the numbers Sting does this really weird thing with his voice, like he stayed up all night smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey.


1. Gabriel's Message 2:33
2. Soul Cake 3:27
3. There Is No Rose Of Such Virtue 4:03
4. The Snow It Melts The Soonest 3:43
5. Christmas At Sea 4:37
6. Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming 2:41
7. Cold Song 3:16
8. The Burning Babe 2:42
9. Now Winter Comes Slowly 3:05
10. The Hounds Of Winter 5:49
11. Balulalow 3:10
12. Cherry Tree Carol 3:11
13. Lullaby For An Anxious Child 2:50
14. Hurdy Gurdy Man 2:49
15. You Only Cross My Mind In Winter 2:35

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Bonnie Raitt & Norah Jones: Beautiful & Talented

An excellent track



Wiv Keef



Bessie Smith

Andrea Bocelli: My Christmas

My Christmas

Please click image



A reviewer at Amazon.com says;
Andrea Bocelli's first-ever Christmas album was worth the wait! These songs stun me with their beauty and natural charm. Bocelli is in excellent form here and the duets are equally beautiful. The songs on this album are all nothing short of perfect; and Bocelli's ability to perform a wide variety of holiday music impresses me even more. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is very nicely done.


1. White Christmas / Bianco Natale 3:59
2. Angels We Have Heard On High 3:53
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 3:32
4. The Christmas Song 4:33
5. The Lords Prayer 4:25
6. What Child Is This 4:31
7. Adeste Fidelis 3:33
8. O Tannenbaum 4:18
9. Jingle Bells 3:35
10. Silent Night 4:36
11. Blue Christmas 4:18
12. Cantique De Noel 4:34
13. Caro Gesu Bambino 1:43
14. I Believe 4:24
15. God Bless Us Everyone 3:15

Bob Dylan: Must Be Santa

Check out Bob Dylan's new Christmas video
"Must Be Santa".

Monday, November 16, 2009

Bon Jovi: Superman Tonight

Bon Jovi performing "Superman Tonight" from their album The Circle from 2009.




The Circle

It's the Birthday of Diana Krall

According to Wikipedia;
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC (born November 16, 1964) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian jazz pianist and singer. She is known for her contralto vocals.

Diana Krall playing and singing "Fly me To The Moon".




Quiet Nights

Ella or Marvin?: Sunny

A dilemma - which is the better and why?



or

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Lou Rhodes - Beloved

Her 2006 debut solo album entitled “Beloved One” was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize. Rhodes’ second album


Lou Rhodes - Beloved One

Gabriele | MySpace Video






Amazon UK Beloved One

Michelle Williams: The Greatest



According to Wikipedia;
Tenitra Michelle Williams (born July 23, 1980), commonly known as Michelle Williams, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is better known for being one-third of the successful R&B girl group Destiny's Child, the best-selling female group of all time according to the World Music Awards and Sony BMG.



Unexpected

I Feel Like Going To Church - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Up Above My Head

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Up Above My Head

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Rodrigo y Gabriela Superb

I have posted about these before but Wow!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Beards

I was watching Sting on Jools sporting an amazing beard



This of course got me thinking ZZ Top



Jim Morrison, John Lennon


Willie Nelson


must be loads more

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Congratulations to Taylor Swift

For being named the 43rd CMA Entertainer of the Year.



Taylor Swift @ KK&R Music Blog

Taylor Swift @ Amazon.com



Darius Rucker Fist African American CMA Best New Artist

Country singer Darius Rucker not only has hits as the front man for Hootie & The Blowfish but now as a country singer he made history by being the first African American man to win the "Best New Artist" award on the 43rd Annual Country Music Awards (CMA) in Nashville.

Congrats go out to him and all the other Country Music Award winners.

Check out Darius Rucker's Amazon.com Store for (CDs, MP3s, Vinyl).

Erik Mongrain: Air Tap

Excellent

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Shawn Corey Carter

Jay-Z, 39, married to Beyonce Knowles, has won five Grammy Awards, sold 30 million albums and is said by Forbes to be worth $150 million.

I must be too old for this - can't get it, I'll have to listen to more

“Show Me What You’ve Got.”


“Empire State of Mind” I definitely liked the woman singer here



Glastonbury

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tommy Guerrero - Soul Miner

Excellent Jazz Guitar - Kurt Rosenwinkel

Paraphrasing Last FM

Kurt Rosenwinkel is a jazz guitarist who was initially influenced by guitarists such as Pat Metheny and John Scofield, but has emerged as an individual stylist recalling Lennie Tristano in the 1940s and 50s. His chordal language is amongst the more advanced for a guitarist, touching on ideas from George Van Eps and Ben Monder. ..... one of the leading jazz guitarists of his generation by performing with the Human Feel, Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band, Joe Henderson Group, and the Brian Blade Fellowship.


This is a wow track


Minor Blues


Use of Light

Monday, November 9, 2009

JJ Cale: Where does your power lie?

J.J. Cale has recorded over 14 studio albums. He released his last studio album, Roll On, in the spring of 2009, while his previous release, The Road To Escondido, was recorded together with Eric Clapton and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album



Remastered James Brown



very very good

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Billie Holiday: What a little moolight can do

Possibly the most charismatic performer ....?

Melody Gardot - "Your Heart Is as Black as Night"



Notes from YouTube: Tuesday@8 plays 'Your Heart Is as Black as Night', composed by Melody Gardot.

Henriëtte van Dijk - vocals; Frits de Lange - guitar; Frits Colenbrander - bass guitar; Harry Hoyting - drums.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

The Unthanks: Superior Folk Group

"They might not end up being the best-selling British all-girl group of all time, but they’re well on their way to being the most charismatic and imaginative." Paul Morley, Sunday Telegraph

They were on Jools Holland and I just stopped and gave my full attention



They have proper Northern accents - their second performance included clog dancing - charming.



Beatles Cover



Amazon UK
Here's The Tender Coming

Friday, November 6, 2009

Lisa Stansfield - Change

Uber sexy

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Funk/Soul revival

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a funk/soul band. They are signed to Daptone Records, where the Dap-Kings are the house band. They are widely thought to be spearheads of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. Part of the way this is achieved is to shun modern digital recording methods in favour of using traditional analogue recording equipment. The type of instruments used by the band may also be considered limited to those that would have been available up until the mid seventies.





Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Jimmy Scott is Dynamite

Scott has Kallmann’s syndrome, a genetic condition which stunted his growth at five feet and prevented him reaching puberty, leaving him with a high, boy-like voice. However it was his phrasing and romantic feeling that made him a favorite singer of fellow artists like Billie Holliday, Ray Charles, Dinah Washington, and Nancy Wilson.

Imagination


I cried for You



Sycamore Trees

Susan Boyle: Wild Horses



Sung with feeling!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Beautiful

What a rather pleasant way of spending a few minutes of one's time watching and listening to Alicia

84 million views to No One

Superwoman

With Jack White

Monday, November 2, 2009

Crazy Love

I have liked Michael for years - excellent voice and a seemingly modest man.



A fantastic version


Crazy Love

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Gypsy