Sal Kimber – Sounds Like Thunder
Australian singer songwriter Sal Kimber’s debut album was given to me by a friend, who says Kimber did work experience with his parents. Frankly she should stick to her day job as a musician because Sounds Like Thunder is such a more than strong debut album, showing maturity and musicality in its song writing that is so often lost on a lot of new artists today.
Her songs never get stuck on the same theme, and the production is a constantly well judged balance of stripped back acoustic work, and full on honky tonk show down.
Annoyingly she doesn’t have any songs up on youtube, so here’s her myspace.
The Roots – Do You Want More?!!!??!
There’s an amazing live sound to the Roots first three records, and Do You Want More?!!!??! (the second of the three) sits right in the middle. It’s dominant Jazz influences combined with rap and hip-hop, create a sound that is immensely satisfying to listen to, with rhymes that extend beyond repeated statement that the voices we hear are indeed members of The Roots (something the early Jurassic 5 material could at times take lesson from (and thankfully did for Power in Numbers)).
There’s something about the mix on this record that just really stands out over the later work released by the group that’s considerably more produced. Once DYWM is playing, the whole album flows to the end like one stripped back jazzout session, and it sounds great!
Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
My housemates don’t understand why I like Flying Lotus so much, and when I try and explain I never quite voice it properly.
The music of Cosmogramma is so layered and detailed, it simply warrants listen after listen. Once you’ve unlocked it, it’s difficult to not be into it (from what I found). His selection of sampling, pulls together such an eclectic mix, ranging from classical music to recorded sounds from computer parts that just makes such original and interesting music to listen to, and also impossible to put into a genre.
Well worth listening to on good speakers every time or otherwise doing the album a great disservice. It’s definitely not for everyone, but for those willing to take the dive it won’t disappoint.
Ryan Leslie – Transition
Transition was the second album released by Ryan Leslie, in fact the same year his first solo album was put out. A well known Hollywood music producer I’d never heard of, I think what really sticks out for me about this record, is just how accomplished and polished it is. It definitely shows that the man has been a producer for a good long while.
The sound of Transition really taps into what Justin Timberlake started with FutureSex/LoveSounds, with a lot of added influence from Michael Jackson’s Thriller era, perhaps also overlapping into Bad a little bit. Both great influences to have when making great pop music, which Leslie achieves with seeming effortlessness.
FunkyDL – Classic Was The Day
Classic Was The Day is a strange beast, but it’s real merits lie in its production. <pretentious>As weird as it sounds my access route into rap and hip-hop is stemmed from Jazz music, with the likes of Roy Hargrove’s the RH Factor and Nujabes’ production work paving my way in</pretentious>. FunkyDL’s album is one that is so influenced and referential to jazz and jazz sampling, that it’s melodies often stand out much more than the wordplay itself.
The rhymes and lyrics of DL to be honest aren’t that great. One song sees our protagonist spend the entire song searching for his microphone, only to realise it was in his hand the entire time… However it doesn’t matter, he remains fun enough, and the music remains engrossing enough, to the point you end up with a worthy record on your time and radar. These beats are dope.
Angus & Julia Stone – Down the Way
Angus & Julia Stone had been long on my list of ‘people I should really get round to listening to’, the excuse to actually do so being a show they played in Falmouth.
Down the Way is a record which seems to constantly balance its two extremes. At times intense and experienced, and at other points naively innocent in its writing. Musically full then at other times not at all. Then with vocals either from Angus or Julia, and sometimes both.
It’s an album that knows when to build you up and then bring you down, and I found myself attached and invested in it soon after the first listen.
2010 Music Roundup - Nobody cares about my opinion
I’m away for a few days, so as long as the Tumblr queue system holds up, here’s some coverage of the albums that have seen some serious airplay this year (though not necessarily released this year) I thought might be fun to share. No particular order.
They’ll be posting over the next few days, but here’s the tag page.
This photo is not my head…
Just came across the trailer for animated film ‘Paths of Hate’ written and directed by Damien Nenow. Not so sure on the title, but the animation had me sold.
I’ve never seen such dynamic, smooth motion across such a frantic flight sequence done well, and done in such a visually captivating way.
Watch the trailer here.
Vogue on Vogue on Vogue etc is an interesting observational piece.
All the covers, from every edition of Vogue released in the world this year, have been layered on top of each other in order, highlighting the different design trends of each edition.
See the whole series here.
One of my Christmas presents to myself this year was the Masters of Cinema Bluray remaster of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Steelbook editions are usually horrible, but this one makes quite an exception…
The cover artwork presents the original 1927 film poster on the metallic case, and it’s one of the nicest things I’ve held in a long while. Inside is a Bluray and DVD edition of the film, as well as a 64-page booklet with information about the film’s history, the restoration of the film, and various additions that can be found on the disc.
Thankfully, a man on the internet has taken photos and posted them online of what the set looks like. See what’s inside here.
Here’s the Masters of Cinema listing….
There’s great creativity to this business card, designed by RethinkCanada, for Norburn Model Aircraft Supply, which can be taken apart and assembled into a little Model plane.
See a video of it in action here.
Neil Gower is one of the four illustrators who worked on the Penguin Boys’ Adventure series released at the start of this year (or nearer the end of last year I think).
Very keen on his cover art for The 39 Steps, which I’ve spent about an hour scouring the internet for a high resolution image of. I couldn’t find one, so instead here’s a slightly pixelated version that doesn’t do the image any justice.
See more of his work here.
The Lure of the Underground by Alfred Leete (1927)
I’m a bit keen on this poster. Has a bit of a Richard Scarry feel to it…
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