Searching for Sugarman - Soundtrack

As the sixties came to a close in 1969 Mexican-American singer songwriter, Sixto Diaz Rodriguez was on the verge of something great. Following a brief and unsuccessful stint with local label Impact Records, the Detroit native had signed a new deal with fledgling Sussex Records and was about to release his debut record Cold Fact. Despite the initial promise of greatness and the quality of the record, Cold Fact was a commercial failure on its release in 1970. When his 1971 follow up record, Coming From Reality also failed to connect Rodriguez left Sussex Records and returned to family life in Detroit working in construction, teaching and even a career in local politics. It seemed as though Rodriguez and his music had disappeared in to obscurity. Thankfully this is just the first chapter in his remarkable story. A few years later and unbeknown to Rodriguez, Cold Fact had become a word-of-mouth, cult classic in Australia and New Zealand. The renewed profile of his music resulted in a 1979 and 1981 tour of Australia supporting Midnight Oil, Men At Work and Split Enz. But it was to be South Africa and in the homes and hearts of the anti-Apartheid liberals that Rodriguez would really strike a chord and achieve the superstar status that alluded him on home soil. Amid wild and fantastical stories of his ‘disappearance’, some even involving an alleged on-stage suicide, two South African fans set out to find out what really happened to their hero, and their investigation led them to a story more extraordinary than any of the many myths they’d heard. Their story forms the basis of Searching For Sugar Man and one of the greatest accompanying soundtracks of all time.

 

 

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Citizen Cope - The Clarence Greenwood Recordings

Anyone whose CD collection is expansive enough to contain both Mos Def and Jack Johnson will easily find room somewhere between for the sophomore album from Clarence Greenwood, aka Citizen Cope. The singer-songwriter, who got his start playing DJ in the exquisitely laidback Washington D.C. hip-hop outfit Basehead, works hard to smudge the lines that separate genres, throwing together blues, beats and books in socially-conscious jams like "Bullet and a Target" and "D'Artagan's Theme." Meshell Ndegeocello helps out on the low-lit love song "Sideways," while Carlos Santana brings his usual fretboard fireworks to "Son's Gonna Rise."

Cope melds hip-hop with folk, soul & blues...and he feels this combination deeply...his uncommon chords & harmonies combine delicate dissonance with unexpected flashes of beauty." -ROLLING STONE "...Clarence Copeland Greenwood makes groovy, laid-back & sweetly romantic music that is filled with drama, love & cosmic questions." -THE WASHINGTON POST

 

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Jose James - No Begining No End

New York-via-Minneapolis singer José James was once comfortable being the oddball talent of the contemporary jazz scene, an unknown quantity in a world with plenty of known ones; “When it's all said and done, jazz with a capital J is where I'm coming from,” he told Billboard in 2010. “Dexter Gordon, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk-- that's what I really studied when I was a teenager and what really fueled my passion.” While that loyalty manifested itself in releases like 2008’s The Dreamer and 2010’s Blackmagic-- two albums that showcased James’ penchant for genre-stretching while sprinkling in more straightforward covers-- his sound has always been hard to peg.

For his new record No Beginning No End, he’s staying true to that wanderlust, enlisting musicians like bassist Pino Palladino (who famously helped construct neosoul gems like D’Angelo’s Voodoo as well as Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun) and contemporary jazz star Robert Glasper as well as Franco-Moroccan singer Hindi Zahra. While he’s always been one to try stuff out-- he successfully collaborated with Flying Lotus on Blackmagic--on No Beginning No End he finds a way to make an eclectic approach feel unified and whole.

James sings with a steely grace that does in fact recall D’Angelo, a quality only reinforced by Palladino’s fingerprint on songs like the grooving opener “It’s All Over Your Body” and the back half’s soul clap “Make It Right”. But James’ more detached voice isn’t the weapon that D’Angelo’s proves to be, if you’re looking at No Beginning No End as a spiritual cousin of Voodoo or Mama’s Gun. While James’ record prizes overarching vibe over song-to-song substance, it’s more subdued and, in a sense, more unpredictable: the opener cedes to the hand drum cool-out “Sword + Gun”, which builds to the straightforward pop reach on the record, the taut “Trouble”, which in turn slides into Robert Glasper and James’ capital J jazz tribute “Vanguard”, a tribute to the Greenwich Village institution where the song was devised.

Though that sounds like a lot of hopping around-- the poppy, percussive midalbum standout “Come to My Door” is another good example-- No Beginning No End works smoothly as a suite, which is a testament to James shape-shifting nature as well as the session musicians' willingness to stay in a support role. While one could see the temptation to push further into a pop crossover sweet-spot, No Beginning No End contains few heavy brush strokes. Though James’ meandering gets the best of him on the slow shuffle “Bird of Space” and the never-quite-gets-there “Untitled” echo “Do You Feel”, even when he misses his low-key restraint retains its charm.

Though No Beginning No End succeeds in its laid-back approach, make no mistake that James is seeking to bust out of the NPR Jazz world and into the ears of new audiences. In March, he'll play Music Hall of Williamsburg, Bowery Presents' Brooklyn hype thermometer (also playing that month: Sky Ferreira, How to Dress Well, Savages, Django Django), just a 20-minute train ride from the Village Vanguard but a world away. With previous releases, he's earned his heroic acclaim in the tough, tried-and-trusted lanes of contemporary jazz. With No Beginning No End, he's built his own road out.

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Cody Chesnutt - Landing One A Hundred

Universally hailed as a thrilling new figure in music for his edgy, lo-fi debut, The Headphone Masterpiece, back in 2002, Cody ChesnuTT is a soul troubadour whose frank, socially conscious ruminations on life continue to challenge popular notions of what modern soul music can look and sound like. Landing On A Hundred, Cody’s second full-length LP, marks his return to the music game after a period of family-man retreat and reflection that did a world of good for him after his meteoric rise to near fame. The title is a reference to the slang saying, “Keeping It One Hundred,” or telling the whole truth, and for lovers of true blue Southern soul this new album is a must-have- the rhythm tracks recorded with a ten-piece band in Memphis-based Royal Studios, the sonic birthplace of some of the deepest works by soul and blues luminaries like Al Green, Buddy Guy and Ike & Tina Turner. Topics on Landing On A Hundred cover lots of grown-folks business: a man’s road to redemption after years of womanizing and crack addiction, the power and labour of slow-burning marital love that eclipses mere material expressions of affection. Keeping it truthful is ultimately what matters most in Cody’s songs.

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Xavier Rudd - Koonyum Sun

Australian singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd has a voice that needs to be heard to be understood. Soaring, plaintive and deeply emotive, he sings every verse as if it were his last. There's a poignancy, intimacy and gravitas he achieves with each utterance and intonation that makes nearly every moment worth remembering. It's an achievement many artists can strive a whole career to achieve and never attain.

Rudd is fortunate enough to possess such a voice, but he is far from a one-trick pony. Having already garnered a sizable following for writing socially conscious songs that speak about pestilence, conservation and the plight of the Aboriginal people, he is also a favorite at music festivals for his multi-faceted live sets. It is widely documented that Rudd travels with a trunk full of instruments, including but not limited to: three didgeridoos, electric bass, banjo, stompbox, assorted percussion and an arsenal of Weissenborn slide guitars.

Returning to the blues and roots feel of his album White Moth, Koonyum Sun, his sixth studio album, marks his first studio foray with bassist Tio Moloantoa and percussionist Andie Nqubezelo. The album opens with "Sky to the Ground," a soaring, hypnotic anthem that is arguably one of the best songs he has ever written. That claim though is repeated nearly a half-dozen times before Koonyum Sun draws to a close. Though he's not the kind of artist to be pigeonholed, there's no denying Rudd's love of reggae. "Fresh Green Freedom," and "Time to Smile," are surefire proof of this, with the former drawing on a harmonica lick and a breezy swagger while the latter draws on banjo, bongos and a cresting chorus.

Diving into the Aboriginal landscape, he incorporates tribal chanting into the 1:40 acapella cut "Reasons We Were Blessed," and on the swampy title-track, which draws on a bellowing didgeridoo and the reedy vocals of a young child. For those that prefer music far more spartan and self-assured, look no further than the intimate reflection "Loves Comes and Goes," and the affectionate valentine "Woman Dreaming." While Vampire Weekend has drawn acclaim for drawing on Paul Simon's Graceland, it feels almost criminal to not lend some support and praise for Rudd, who seems to chase down the same thing.

There's an age-old adage that music is supposed to take you to a different place and make you feel better about the world, but what if music was trying to make the world a better place and make the world feel better about itself? That is the essence of what Rudd is trying to do. And thank the cosmos, he's here.

 

 

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Hindi Zahra - Handmade

Moroccan-born, but Paris-based, and singing mostly in English, Hindi Zahra is a kind of postmodern Billie Holiday, who tinges her wistful ballads with a hint of urban irony. If the melodies are a shade monotonous, the sultry, spaced-out feel and sophisticated rock touches give this the capacity to win fans way beyond the world music scene.

 

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Boozoo Bajou - Dust My Broom

The term 'Dust My Broom' is rooted in the blues music of Robert Johnson. In the figurative sense, among others, this term means to "make a clean sweep" and as such indicates the beginning of something new. It’s an appropriate title for the second album by Boozoo Bajou, two Nuremberg based producers Peter Heider and Florian Seyberth who have joined the !K7 Records family after years of collaboration with German independent label Stereo Deluxe. It’s also an appropriate term for a group that takes a huge amount of inspiration from the diverse musical landscape of the deep-south "Bayou" culture - from blues to country to soul.
Dust My Broom marks a fresh chapter in the sound of Boozoo Bajou. Their famous laidback sound has been extended into a broader territory that borrows from blues, jazz, reggae and soca rhythms. This new territory is deep, with wide, rejuvenating references that are multi-layered. Boozoo Bajou communicate different types of "roots" music and convey their intrinsic affinity to it. Blaxploitation style soul, deep blues, Southern folk, jazz and original R&B all combine with Boozoo Bajou dub to form a beautiful mosaic. The album features collaborations with UK based MC Top Cat (known for his work with Shy FX), country legend Tony Joe White, U-Brown, Joe Dukie, and soul crooner and voice of the infamous Foxy Brown film soundtrack, Willie Hutch. These highly impressive guest vocalists contribute to the overall impact of Dust My Broom which despite the German conception has its roots firmly planted in the USA. Both White and Hutch were recorded in their native Tennessee and it’s this TN feeling that sweeps through the album. Like taking a boat through the bayou, the Boozoo Bajou duo has created a captivating guide through exotic lands.

 

 

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Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets

South African native Dave Matthews formed his band in Virginia in the early 1990s, gaining a large fan base with constant college tours. Although musically rooted in live performance, the band's acoustic rock is colored with jazz and world-music influences, making for a mix that's difficult to pin down.
The Dave Matthews Band moves its music forward by increments on Before These Crowded Streets. While the album offers more of the folkish melodies and vaguely internationalist rhythms that made this Charlottesville, Virginia, group a major record and concert draw, it also finds them adding new colorings to the mix. Alanis Morissette guests on two cuts, "Spoon" and the disc's first single, "Don't Drink the Water," and banjo whiz Bela Fleck sits in, too. More interesting, though, is the modernist string arrangement played by the Kronos Quartet on the driving "Halloween." Matthews's obvious hopes to lead something other than a jam band are at least partly fulfilled here; at the same time, Streets should keep his customers satisfied.

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