Larkin Poe – the GRAMMY® Award-nominated duo of Georgia-bred, Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell – have shared “Blood Harmony,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. Blood Harmony arrives via Larkin Poe’s own Tricki-Woo Records on Friday, November 11. Pre-orders are available now, including limited edition magenta colored vinyl, CD, cassette, and more.
Rebecca Lovell talks directly about the track, stating:
“‘Blood Harmony’ came together after Megan and our mom and I all read Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, which is about the ways we perceive the passage of time. There was just something about the sweetness of all three of us reading the same book, and then being able to talk about how it related to our love for each other and our love for music. Of all the songs I’ve ever written, I’m particularly proud of this one; I cannot wait to sing it loudly with all of our chosen family out on the road.”
On The Romance of Being is the second solo album from the South African artist Desire Marea as he uses his spiritual singing powers in front of a thirteen-piece experimental big band. Marea and crew go for it all throughout the album, at times things are too overloaded, at times too sparse and aimless, and other times just right.
The record opens strongly as "Ezulwini" taking the listener on a journey, building dramatically, then receding with grace before a big rock beat returns the energy as Marea repetitively sings that he wants to "See you Levitate"; it is a rewarding track. As is "Be Free" which starts with frantic bass work, moving to a modern afrobeat vibe while Marea sings in the Zulu language. A huge rock/fuzz/ electro passage kicks down the door before strings sooth to wrap up a highlight offering.
Sexuality pulses throughout "Makhukhu" as pianos, tense strings and fluttering trumpet set the scene. As the album progresses, layers of sound wash over the listener in sensual fashion. While "Mfula" uses driving drums and rock guitars, Marea's odd, throaty vocals take away from the tune while the shorter "Arrival" is clouded with odd electro blasts.
The albums centerpiece is "Rah (feat. Zoë Modiga)" yet the tune meanders in drawn out fashion, never fully coalescing even while ending on a high note with Modiga's operatic like vocals. Better is "Skhathi" which slowly swells and flows like a soothing river around the extended sounds as the spiritual healer enlivens the listener.
The album wraps up on a fever dream titled "Banzi", a nine-and-a-half minute workout that allows Marea and crew stretch out beyond the breaking point. Starting with unsettling strings and electronics the experimental offering continues to add sounds as rumbling drums push it forward and Marea experiments with all different vocalizations. The crashing horns, strings and cymbals swirl into a chaotic free jazz blend that works well to close an album that lays it all out there for the listener to experience as Desire Marea's On The Romance of Being searches, while exploring the soul.
Australian indie-folk artists The Paper Kites release their newest single "June's Stolen Car" ahead of the full length release this Friday of their newest live album, At The Roadhouse.
Check out the tune below and the album on Friday when it is released:
RtBE was never a huge fan of them back in the day, but we did see them a few times during their initial run. We caught them again recently when they opened forJack White in Brooklyn. This album is solid and the high points are really worth revisiting.
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by Nick Adduci playing "Subterranean Homesick Blues".
One of the most iconic songs from Dylan's most famous period and a very early showing of how powerful a music video could be. Dylan nods to beat poetry, current events, Chuck Berry's "No More Monkey Business", paranoia, and the Vietnam War all in around two minutes of linked lyrics over one of his earliest electric recordings. There is also the sly sense of humor which Dylan never gets enough credit for, while raging against the proverbial machine. A classic '60's tune in all respects and one non-Dylan fans usually love as well.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
This is the first time RtBE has come across Nick Aducci, a singer songwriter based in Youngstown, OH.
Thoughts on Cover:
A fun upbeat cover that gets a bit bluesy with Nick rattling off the song with energy and abandon.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Mastodon!
Festival's galore this summer, here is Mastodon from Roskilde Fest back in 2015.
Pro shot, pro sound, full setlist below:
This is Mastodon's performance at Roskilde Festival 2015 at Arena Stage on Thursday 2nd of July. The show experienced some sound diffculties but it is an awesome performance nonetheless, enjoy :-)
We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 and beyond era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.
Today is: Phish Live from SPAC Tomorrow and Saturday.
Phish is playing two fundraising show up in Saratoga, NY this weekend and you can stream them both over at Livephish.com. Please donate if you can.
To get in the mood, here is some recent live Phish.
During the pandemic Altın Gün where forced to record remotely with the bands members scattered all around Europe. The resulting Yol released in 2021 was a sleek, synth drenched, dance-leaning pop effort. Now with restrictions removed and the band all present Aşk, was recorded almost like a live album on vintage equipment, returning more to their roots with a 70's Anatolian folk-rock inspired sound
Starting with the pulsing "Badi Sabah Olmadan" the ominous textures come out as the band, Merve Daşdemir – vocals and keyboards Erdinç Ecevit – vocals, saz and keyboards Thijs Elzinga – guitar Jasper Verhulst – bass Daniel Smienk – drums Chris Bruining - percussion, state their intentions. All ten tracks are new readings of traditional Turkish folk tunes as the band digs into their countries sound and heritage, interpreting it for a new generation.
The grooving "Su Sızıyor" has light touches of reggae while the hard funk rock of "Çıt Çıt Çedene" lays down some chunky lines and swirls gloriously with electro keys and head bopping swagger. The band hasn't completely left their recent synth past behind as "Dere Geliyor" uses the layers of electro keys to revamp the Turkish folk tune.
The album highlight is "Leylim Ley" which warbles with distortion as snaking guitars and synths, lay down layers of sounds. The tempo and tone shifts throughout, keeping the listener on edge in winning fashion.
Less successful is the overloaded "Canım Oy" which tries to cram in to many musical ideas during the short tracks run time and "Kalk Gidelim" goes the opposite direction by sticking around to long without delivering any real punch. Album closer "Doktor Civanım" harkens back to Yol with mixed results as the icy electro dance party is a cool change of pace but not as funky, or dance floor inspiring as other outings presented here.
Better is the other album highlight, the spaghetti western tinged, deep bass bombing, hand drum laden, "Rakıya Su Katamam" which pumps up the energy and overarching sense of doom around the corner with almost head banging power.
Perhaps some of the lively energy and slick dance vibe has been lost as the band moves back to their roots, but the groovy, funky, rolling, Turkish folk-rock sounds keep flowing in a positive manner throughout Altın Gün’sAşk.
One of RtBE's favorites, Black Pumas have announced a new album and released a new single.
Black Pumas, photo by Jody Domingue
As it’s more than four years since their breakthrough self-titled album, Black Pumas are back with album number two, Chronicles of a Diamond. The Austin duo push their distinctive artistry with their new single, “More Than A Love Song (below). More Than A Love Song” is the first track to be unveiled from the Austin duo’s highly anticipated sophomore effort, Chronicles of a Diamond, set for release on October 27th on ATO Records. Pre-order the album HERE.
Co-written by singer/songwriter/producer Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada, “More Than A Love Song,” was produced by Quesada and co-produced by Burton, with additional production by Grammy-winning John Congleton. Explaining the lyrical content, Burton comments, “’More Than a Love Song’ is a message I borrowed from my Uncle Steve. As a songwriter and caregiver, he’d listen to me write songs from afar and if I were lucky he’d have a pointer or two for me. ‘Life is more than a love song.’
It is of the newest Jon Batiste release World Music Radio.
Coming on the heels of the Grammy winning WE ARE, which we rated fairly highly, this is even more of a pop move, shooting for huge mainstream success. To these ears it doesn't quite get there, but can't blame the man for trying.
This was the original final paragraph of the review that was edited out:
Back in the early 2000’s Michael Franti and Spearhead wrote a song titled “Taxi Radio” with the intention that everyone on earth could ideally sing along to those two widely known words. While that wouldn't exactly be the case, it was an admirable effort. Jon Batiste feels the same way, while at times he can play it a bit safe, his heart, mind, and the music is certainly in the right place, trying to unite instead of divide throughout World Music Radio.
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's it is Zimmy Van Zandt performing a live cover of "Most of the Time"
Thoughts on Dylan Original From our first cover take on this tune: One of the best songs in Dylan's repertoire from any of his era's and also one of the most important, "Most Of The Time" proved Dylan was far from done as an artist. Showing up on the return to form album Oh Mercy, "Most Of The Time" is a revelation with it's descending bass line and powerfully stark lyrics. There is a palpable sense of desperation, longing, sadness, a nervous sense of things are falling apart around me; this tune touches a nerve and makes you stand up and take notice.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist: This is the first time we have heard Zimmy Van Zandt who is a singer-songwriter who focuses on covers.
Thoughts on Cover:
A heartfelt, if slightly disjointed cover of a good Dylan song. While RtBE are never fans of the nasal Dylan impressions, Zimmy doesn't do it all song. His tempo, singing and strums start and stop a bit which is fine. The harmonica is a nice touch.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Beastie Boys!
The last show the legendary NYC based outfit ever played. Bonnaroo 2009.
Pro shot, pro sound, set list below. Enjoy!
One more for the ride home, lads... Credit goes to @kash12 for most of this setlist stuff.
Morning clip ft. Triumph: 0:00 Mix Master Mike intro: 1:03 Time For Livin': 3:43 Super Disco Breakin' 5:32 Sure Shot: 7:23 No Sleep Til' Brooklyn: 10:51 Shake Your Rump: 13:55 Gratitude: 17:41 Sabrosa: 21:21 Egg Raid On Mojo: 25:19 Body Movin': 26:41 Pass The Mic: 28:56 Root Down: 32:33 Too Many Rappers w/ Nasty Nas: 36:52 Paul Revere: 41:39 Ricky's Theme: 45:05 Something's Got To Give: 49:01 Tough Guy: 53:32 Remote Control: 55:21 So What'cha Want: 58:10 ENCORE Intergalactic: 1:05:13 Three MC's and One DJ (Opening Act): 1:08:58 thumbnail shot: 1:09:12 Three MC's and One DJ: 1:09:23 Heart Attack Man (Unplugged): 1:12:48 Heart Attack Man: 1:13:33 ENCORE Sabotage (false start): 1:16:46 Sabotage: 1:17:42 the end: 1:20:59
The Los Angeles, California based, multi-talented artist Lola Blanc has a new song out, "Trust Me".
Here is Blanc's statement on the song:
“Trust Me” is a song about anxiety. I wrote it after I'd had my first panic attack and went through a period of severe anxiety--anxiety about anxiety--that kind of came out of nowhere, and eventually led to me getting treated for OCD. And while I was still learning the skills in therapy, I was struggling with which thoughts and feelings were "real" and which ones were my anxiety misfiring, and I was just exhausted and feeling foggy all the time, which I now know is just derealization. But it really felt like I was broken. Like my body had betrayed me. So the song came when I'd started doing a lot of work on accepting some uncertainty, and becoming okay with the idea that I wasn't always going to do it right, shit was just gonna feel weird sometimes, and I needed to build trust in myself, trust that I could handle it, even if I did my recovery "wrong." Even if my worst case scenario happened. The song was basically a pep talk to myself that I could do this, and I was gonna be okay.
The fifth full length album from St. Paul and the Broken Bones was inspired by the impending fatherhood of front man Paul Janeway as lyrics speak directly to a child. The Birmingham, Alabama based outfit deliver their sounds with a mix of hope and fear as Angels In Science Fiction flows out around excellent production from Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price)
Recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee the band continues their move away from the retro soul of their debut and luxuriate in any sounds possible, expanding things, while also moving more to the middle of the road. There is no doubting Janeway's passion in falsetto vocals, but musically the band can come off as bland at times this go around.
Bookended with the piano ballads to his unborn daughter Janeway sets the scene and dominates as his vocals rise and soften with theatrical touches and flair. Both opener "Chelsea" and closer "Marigold" are simple odes to a child with strings and ivories twinkling. Things pick up on the funky swelling of "City Federal Building" as the orchestration swells and the thick, rich bass keeps things bumping.
The funky drumming and keys highlight "Sea Star" and "Wolf In Rabbit Clothes" has a distorted disco feel that works incredibly well, but the highlight of the album is "Magnolia Trees". The falsetto singing and slow soul, lead to a triumphant break through as Janeway jubilantly sings ""It won't last, but today I feel like a warm breeze through the magnolia trees". This joyous tune is the peak for the band on Angels In Science Fiction.
Outside of these efforts, things feel a bit restrained. The acoustic ditty "Lonely Love Song", the warbling guitar of the sparse "South Dakota" and the out of place ominous strings of "Heat Lighting" are all fairly forgettable. The orchestration gets overdone on the building title track and "Easter Bunny" is a rising pop song that could use a bit of a freak-out. All of these efforts are fine, but never hit home as particularly memorable.
St. Paul and the Broken Bones has been moving in this direction for a few albums now, starting with the excellent Sea of Noise and continuing with the strong Young Sick Camelliaand the scatteredThe Alien Coast. Angels In Science Fiction turns out to be the least adventurous musically, but perhaps the most emotional lyrically as Janeway in particular has found inspiration with new life.
The Argentine bagpiper and flutist Santiago Molina has released a new single "£50 Cashback" based on is a jig composed by Scottish bagpiper Fraser Shaw.
The NYC based guitar legend Mike Stern brought his band to the Bitter End stage on a summer Tuesday night as the crowd packed into the long running Greenwich Village room down on Bleecker street. Stern has only played the club a few times over his long career and mentioned before the start of the set what a fun place it is to play.
Backed by four other artists, Leni Stern (guitar/n'goni/vocals) Bob Franceschini (sax) and two Warren's (whose last names I missed) on bass and drums, Stern was beaming throughout the night, clearly having a ball with the band and the fans.
The quintet opened with "Like A Thief" as Leni sang the tune and played n'goni wonderfully. The track had a soft Caribbean feel as it breezed through the club with Stern's delicate runs up and down the scales as Franceschini's sax soothed. The opening number was a good way to ease into the set, but the follow up was what blew out the night.
Stern's original "Tumble Home" was next and the highlight of the whole show. Stern opened the effort with delicate jazz guitar to start, the most impressive thing with Stern is how soft he can play understated while still moving all over the place, and this really was on display to start. Then Stern turned up the volume and crunched out harder rock sounds as his long solo work weaved around. The song then dropped into a blues vamp as Franceschini's sax was the focus before each artist got a solo spotlight in this same vein as the tune wrapped up after an almost half hour of majesty.
After loud cheers the band started up "Ave B" which again starts with soft Stern solo's before delving into a cool hypnotic groove. The circular track had a downtown vibe with darkness lurking around the edges, this was juxtaposed with the follow up newer song that was upbeat and filled with sunshine as Stern added melodic vocal impressions.
At this point Stern stopped giving the song titles and the tunes moved more into a funky vibe with solos and grooves taking center stage as the restrained tone, yet fiery playing, coexisted on the Bitter End stage as the group got loose. The funky rock with jazz solo break dominated before the hour and a half set wrapped up with "Chromazone" which kept the same vibe pumping via heavy drumming, pushing the band forward as the group dropped some hard breaks around the grooves and solos.
The sold out house gave cheers to wrap up the night as the band mingled with the crowd post show, Stern and company delivered the jazz rock goods on this evening.
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Support the artists, peep some video below from his last show at The Bitter End with a different band. I will update this if videos surface from this show:
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