@amclark2: not the one you recommended, but I still think you deserve credit for getting me to explore Hawai'ian music more seriously.
The four-year old loves this. I dl'd it while doing some "taxing work" (trying to find what I wanted from Guvera). He woke up in the middle of the night with a cough. I sat in bed with him, each of us sharing one earbud while we listened. He was absolute rapt.
If I listened to this everyday of my life I would never get bored of it. Just got an email from Amazon UK and they are offering it as a download for £2.99. If you live in the UK and do not have this, download now. You will not regret it. Unlike the various versions on emusic in the UK, it has the additional alternative take of Flamenco Sketches, so worth the Amazon download. In my opinion one of the three top recordings of the entire C20th, if not the top record.
If only I could play the Kora! Or anything else come to that. From trips to West Africa, especially The Gambia, I've grown to really appreciate kora based music, both traditional and from more contemporary artists. It's a great sound, with superb technical skills from the best players like Mamadou Diabate and Toumani Diabate (don't think they are relatives - maybe wrong though)
The CD just arrived. Together with Two Lakes by Seaworthy and Matt Rösner, which just joined the slender ranks of things I bought on MP3 and then bought the CD as well. And downloading Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra on Guvera. A sublime evening of profoundly differing aesthetics ahead.
[Edit] Ahead of listening to Tasogare I would have predicted that I would like the Solo Andata and Taylor Deupree tracks the best. And I would have been right. Lovely.
@elwoodicious. Yes you should! Living in a small country, it is much easier for us to develop a travelling 'bug'. From where I live, 45 minutes north of London, I can be in Paris by train in about three hours - which is so different from here. I remember standing in a queue to visit the White House, talking to the people behind us. Our flight to Washington was actually shorter in time than theirs from the West Coast. So I do see why it is so easy not to have a passport there - but for me, going to both North Africa and West Africa has opened my mind so much in so many different ways, including music.
Must have been recommended here - sorry I can't remember who, but thanks.
Edit - Jonahpwll, it was you! Many thanks. I'll try some of the other recommendations in the thread
Formerly guitarist with the Pretenders. This folk-rock album reminds me of early 70s British artists like Lindisfarne but with more guitar, with even an element of early Beatles in some tracks. Jim Keltner,session player with artists such as Bob Dylan and the Beatles, plays the drums.
As the emuisc review says
James Walbourne has earned his stripes as an instrumentalist, first as a member of Bap Kennedy's band and, more recently, as a formidable guitar slinger with the Pretenders. It turns out he's also a talented songwriter, a skill he showcases on The Hill, an album that ably mingles power pop with roots rock. At times, such as on "Road" and "Songbird," he comes across like Neil Finn's redneck cousin, mixing up superbly-crafted melodies with twangy, greasy guitar. The slide work and chord changes on the ballad "Fool" are straight out of the Badfinger songbook not a bad inspiration. On "Never Going to Leave," he raises a few, fleeting XTC ghosts before banishing them with a powerhouse chorus and some sterling lead guitar.
Walbourne also makes sure no one forgets his love of roots, airing some convincing blues on a couple of cuts, notably the acoustic stomper "Cocaine Eyes" that plays to his masterful picking strengths. "Sailed The Seas" veers towards Nashville, showing some powerful mandolin chops on the journey; the doomed unrequited love of "Northern Heights" puts a pair of cowboy boots on a Celtic tune and takes it out on the dancefloor. It's an album of two halves, that's for certain, yet somehow it all works. About the only problem with this release is that it's too short. More of James Walbourne would only be a good thing.
Comments
(url=>bandcamp)
One of my favorites of this year, again, thanks to all of you.
@amclark2: not the one you recommended, but I still think you deserve credit for getting me to explore Hawai'ian music more seriously.
The four-year old loves this. I dl'd it while doing some "taxing work" (trying to find what I wanted from Guvera). He woke up in the middle of the night with a cough. I sat in bed with him, each of us sharing one earbud while we listened. He was absolute rapt.
If I listened to this everyday of my life I would never get bored of it. Just got an email from Amazon UK and they are offering it as a download for £2.99. If you live in the UK and do not have this, download now. You will not regret it. Unlike the various versions on emusic in the UK, it has the additional alternative take of Flamenco Sketches, so worth the Amazon download. In my opinion one of the three top recordings of the entire C20th, if not the top record.
* * * * *
Thanks, Guvera.
Happy Anniversary, Johnny and June!
They got married in a fever, you know. One that was hotter than a pepper sprout.
Craig
Just one track at the moment - the rest of the album is due out in about a month, NYOP at http://music.oneworkingmusician.com/album/five-leaves-left-a-tribute-to-nick-drake
Guvera and Amazon tracks: couldn't take the chance on UMG at eMu.
(url=>amz)
New on emusic today
Craig
(url=>amz)
(url=>amz)
Wishing for summer.
One of my all-time favorites, forgot it was on my iPod. A real ear-opener for me many years ago when I ran across it in a used CD store.
There is a guy asking $999.00 for a new copy of the CD, even used copies are +$40.
(url=>amz)
The CD just arrived. Together with Two Lakes by Seaworthy and Matt Rösner, which just joined the slender ranks of things I bought on MP3 and then bought the CD as well. And downloading Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra on Guvera. A sublime evening of profoundly differing aesthetics ahead.
[Edit] Ahead of listening to Tasogare I would have predicted that I would like the Solo Andata and Taylor Deupree tracks the best. And I would have been right. Lovely.
$3.99? Yes, please.
Craig
Kollaps Tradixionales by Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Great stuff - shambolic, wistful, rocking, whimsical grandeur. Should have got this sooner. Thanks, Guvera.
- Hungry Freaks, Daddy !
Must have been recommended here - sorry I can't remember who, but thanks.
Edit - Jonahpwll, it was you! Many thanks. I'll try some of the other recommendations in the thread
Formerly guitarist with the Pretenders. This folk-rock album reminds me of early 70s British artists like Lindisfarne but with more guitar, with even an element of early Beatles in some tracks. Jim Keltner,session player with artists such as Bob Dylan and the Beatles, plays the drums.
As the emuisc review says
You can listen to a stream of four tracks from the album at http://www.myspace.com/jameswalbourne