Fusion
I Kept These Old Blues
Douban
Muireann Bradley genre: 布鲁斯
release date 2023-12-08 publisher: Tompkins Square
The teenage Irish singer turned to her guitar during Covid, and this album of traditional blues tracks showcases her dexterity and elegance
Putumayo Presents: Paris
Douban
Various Artists genre: World Music
release date 2006-03-07 publisher: Putumayo
Following the successful French Café compilation, Putumayo here updates the French sound, but in a tricky way. The sound on this album is again chanson, the music of the French café culture. Now though, it's the core of la nouvelle scène instead: younger, more world-influenced artists performing chanson with their own touches and flair. The sound is an excellent one. While many of the males evoke Serge Gainsbourg and the females Edith Piaf to some degree, there's a contemporary feel. The samba is more prominent, with lilting acoustic guitars and the occasional homage to Astrud Gilberto. The sounds — once epitomized by Georges Brassens — are given a less folk-inspired feel in favor of a more urban one, but the emotions are similar. There's weariness, heartbreak, longing, and occasionally outright madness inherent in the lyrics and the emotive qualities of the vocals. While chanson is perhaps one of the best examples of a dated music (if one hears chanson, it's obviously in a period format, on a scratchy record, etc.), this compilation shows off what's new. While entirely deferential (and referential) to the old masters, there's just enough updating to create that contemporary aspect, but not so much as to destroy the simple pleasure of French café music. An excellent introduction to the field of French music at large, but especially chanson.
Ulaan
Douban
★ 8.3 9 ratings
Enji genre: Jazz
release date 2023-07-28 publisher: Squama
Enji begins her third album with a stark reminder of her own humanity. “I am Ulaan,” she utters plainly in her native language of Mongolian, referring to a nickname affectionately given to her by her family. “I have to remember who I am,” she says, explaining her choice of a spoken monologue. “It empowers me.” Throughout Ulaan, Enji continues to find new ways to bring out those affirming expressions of herself. Drawing on the elegant blend of jazz and traditional Mongolian song on her previous album Ursgal, she leans into her strengths while breaking into bold new directions. With trusted collaborators Paul Brändle on guitar and Munguntovch Tsolmonbayar on bass at her side once again, she expands the band to include Mariá Portugal on drums and Joana Queiroz on clarinet—and her creative process expands along with it. “They have such deep feelings and such deep love of music,” Enji says of the group. As a result of these new partnerships, the compositions have opened up, bringing in lusher textures, more rhythm, and more interplay between musicians. Enji pushes her voice to new heights, too, effervescently fluttering over each track and moving in perfect lockstep with her band. Songs bubble up from spontaneous moments of inspiration. With “Zuud,” the imagery came to Enji in a melancholic... dream. On “Uzegdel,” she evokes the feeling of a breathtaking view she saw from the window of an early Autumn flight on her way home to Mongolia. “Vogl” comes from her experience visiting the peaceful village of the same name, tracing the shape of the natural vista with her vocals. In some cases, she described these scenes to the band and worked out the feeling together. In others, the songs crystallized from reading out the lyrics. “I find my mother tongue in Mongolian is such a rhythmical language,” Enji explains. “So the melody just came out.” As Enji continues her journey of self-discovery, she continues to grow and adapt into new roles. With Ulaan, she bares more of her heart than we’ve seen from her yet, but she’s still got more to give—as a vocalist, a bandleader, and most importantly, as a storyteller. - shy thompson Performed by Enkhjargal Erkhembayar (vocals) Joana Queiroz (clarinet, bassclarinet) Paul Brändle (guitar) Munguntovch Tsolmonbayar (bass) Mariá Portugal (drums) Trumpet on *Taivshral* by Matthias Lindermayr Composed by Enkhjargal Erkhembayar and Paul Brändle *Encanto* by Joana Queiroz *Temeen Deerees Naran Oirhon* by Adarsuren P., Sergelen H., Shagdar J. Recorded by Jan Krause at Mastermix Studio. Mixed by Martin Brugger. Mastered and cut by Andreas *Lupo* Lubich. Produced by Martin Brugger. Creative Direction and Design by Maximilian Schachtner. Video-/Photography by Lara Fritz and Hanne Kaunicnik. Styling by Laura Fries and Carolin Tušl at FRECK. Supported by Initiative Musik gGmbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.
Volta
Douban
★ 8.7 6 ratings
Boogie Belgique genre: Electronic
release date 2016-09-23 publisher: Cold Busted
“Nostalgic, soulful and, of course, boogie-woogie.” That’s how Belgian DJ producer Boogie Belgique (AKA Oswald Cromheecke) describes the enticing combination of styles and sources from different decades that make up his music. Taking vintage inspirations, most notably from swing and jazz eras, and merging them with contemporary beats and textures is the young producer’s forte. This is pleasingly evident on Volta, the latest Boogie Belgique album for the Cold Busted label. “Jungle Law” gives a glimpse into Boogie Belgique’s sonic palette. Tough hip hop beats and funky live guitar follow an intro of jungle ambience as a trumpet presents the melody. Soon some swingy big band jazz enters the song in an almost ghostly manner, while the insistent beat keeps the dance floor moving. Album opener “Go Slow” shows a different side to the coin giving the listener an uptempo broken beat rhythm, some bouncy bass guitar, snippets of string loops, and a lovely, forlorn vocal line that echoes the past. It’s a beautiful concoction, and Boogie Belgique delivers on many aspects of this style throughout his eleven track album. Volta is a satisfying trip in an aural time machine.
Ursgal
Douban
★ 8.6 17 ratings
Enji genre: World Music
release date 2021-01-01 publisher: SQUAMA
On her second album Ursgal Mongolian singer Enji creates a unique blend of Jazz and Folk with the traditions of Mongolian song. Currently based in Munich, her lyrics tell personal stories about unbearable distances, the oddness of being on earth and the simple truths in life. She’s accompanied by Paul Brändle on guitar and Munguntovch Tsolmonbayar on double bass. Born in Ulaanbaatar, Enji grew up in a yurt to a working-class family. Having always been drawn to music, dance and literature, she initially wanted to become a music teacher with little ambitions to compose or be on stage. A program by the local Goethe Institute sparked her passion for Jazz and eventually led her to become a performing artist. Inspired by the music of Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson, Enji started writing songs of her own, cherishing this newfound means of expression. Ursgal is the first record featuring her original compositions.
Could We Be More
Douban
★ 8.1 12 ratings
Kokoroko genre: Jazz
release date 2022-08-05 publisher: Brownswood Recordings
Today sees the phenomenal, London based 8-piece band Kokoroko anounce their long-awaited debut album Could We Be More via Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings. Could We Be More is an expansive and ambitious album that speaks to the force of Kokoroko. Each song possesses the energy which so naturally underpins the heartbeat of Kokoroko’s identity - deftly moving through afrobeat, highlife, soul, and funk across the album’s 15 tracks and taking inspiration from a plethora of other influences from within the West-African and Caribbean communities that the band grew up listening to - the album gifts the listener feelings of homecoming and joy. Speaking on the origins of Could We Be More, band members Sheila Maurice-Grey and Onome Edgeworth explain: “I think home has hugely informed the way we write and play our music. Everyone comes from different backgrounds but the thing that unites us in Kokoroko is that we all have a similar love and appreciation for afrobeat and highlife, whether that’s Ebo Taylor or Pat Thomas,” Sheila says. “It’s that feeling when you’re younger and you hear something and you feel some ownership over it. For me, Nigerian music and soul was played in the house a lot so I felt I had ownership over it so when I heard it elsewhere, there was a certain pride and energy filled with it. Recreating a piece of music that fills you with pride, ‘this is a piece of me and this is what I came from,’” Onome adds. Kokoroko have come to represent all that is blissfully sweet about London’s improvised music scene - an echo of the past that has taken on new forms while still sounding new and entirely original. The band are a vibrant example of the shape of things to come for British music: having released just 7 tracks (1x EP and 3x singles) in their short career, they have quickly developed a huge cult following with 60Million+ Spotify streams to their name and a classic record already under their belt in 2018's intimate viral masterpiece ‘Abusey Junction’. As they release their similarly immersive debut album, Kokoroko’s return feels particularly poignant. The collective are already winners of ‘Best Group’ at the Urban Music Awards 2020 and the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2021, have been lauded in the NPR Austin 100 list, been crowned One To Watch by The Guardian, played across the globe at the likes of Glastonbury, Meltdown Festival, Elbjazz, Jazz a la Villette, We Out Here, SIM São Paulo and BBC6 Music Festival (to name a few), performed a raucous session for Boiler room and made their BBC Proms debut in the Royal Albert Hall; all up front of their debut record, which is as, progressive and musically versatile as you would expect from the eight different personalities within Kokoroko. With equal support across BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, Jazz FM, CLASH, Crack, The Observer, Evening Standard, Mixmag, Trench, gal-dem, Loud & Quiet, Rolling Stone, NATAAL + many more - what Kokoroko have achieved in the past four years is nothing short of remarkable. credits releases August 5, 2022 Musicians: Sheila Maurice-Grey - Trumpet, Vocals Cassie Kinoshi - Alto Sax, Vocals Richie Seivwright - Trombone, Vocals Onome Edgeworth - Percussion Ayo Salawu - Drums Tobi Adenaike-Johnson - Guitar Yohan Kebede - Synthesizers, Keyboards Duane Atherley - Bass, Synthesizers, Keyboards
BLUES CREATION
Douban
★ 8.7 12 ratings
カルメン・マキ/ブルース・クリエイション genre: Pop
release date 1993-11-21 publisher: コロムビアミュージックエンタテインメント
Japanese rock musician and vocalist. Born May 18, 1951. Her father was American and her mother Japanese.
Al Azraqayn
Douban
KARKHANA genre: Electronic
release date 2021-07-09 publisher: Karlrecords
The furious double LP “AL AZRAQAYN” documents KARKHANA (with members of KONSTRUKT, THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA, LAND OF KUSH, PETER BRÖTZMANN CHICAGO TENTET, “A” TRIO) at their very best and intense: live on stage. Consisting of seven of the most adventurous and innovative artists from the Middle Eastern experimental scene (and a veteran jazz percussionist from Chicago), KARKHANA are surely among the most unique and interesting ensembles around. When MAURICE LOUCA (THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA), SAM SHALABI (LAND OF KUSH, THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA), UMUT ÇAĞLAR (KONSTRUKT), MAZEN KERBAJ (“A” TRIO, JOHNNY KAFTA ANTI-VEGETARIAN ORCHESTRA), MICHAEL ZERANG (PETER BRÖTZMANN CHICAGO TENTET), SHARIF SEHNAOUI (“A” TRIO, ORCHESTRA OMAR) and TONY ELIEH (ORCHESTRA OMAR, JOHNNY KAFTA ANTI-VEGETARIAN ORCHESTRA ) come together to perform and / or record, the result is as diverse as their individual musical backgrounds. The septet’s sound is neither retro nor avantgarde, not folklore nor jazz or rock – it’s an astonishing blend of all these different styles and elements where seductive oriental melodies can intensify and turn into a psychedelic freak-out, fuelled by reeds, guitars and electronics, only to re-start again from quiet sounds till the ensemble seeks catharsis in a collective improv outburst! Defying simple categorization, and in lack of proper terms for the intense experience of KARKHANA’s music (as well as the member’s other projects mentioned before), someone labelled it “free Middle Eastern music”. And it’s not surprising that these skilled musicians are at their best live on stage – as documented on this live recording from a furious, highly energetic concert at Bimhuis / Amsterdam!
Hamt Zamin Hümüs
Douban Spotify
★ 7.9 11 ratings
NaraBara genre: World Music
release date 2023-06-19 publisher: NCR游牧城市
无言地(Üg Hürhgüi Gazar)至萨玛地(Samadhi) 0 - 1 - 0 向内,观自己原生的力。向外,融合世界冲破边界。 NaraBara乐队四人,化作草原的小马驹。 穿过混沌,任音乐游牧天地;采样情感,让爱与信念回归自己。