Archive for December, 2010

Vinyl

Black Dub, featuring Danois Lanois – Black Dub (2010)

Densely layered, with an elegant construction, Black Dub doesn’t start out all that much differently from your average recording by uber-hip producer Daniel Lanois. Then something welcomely dangerous, almost feral, happens. Lanois — famous for his work with U2, Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel, among others — is the firstRead More

Vinyl

Half Notes: Bill Frisell – Beautiful Dreamers (2010)

Back in the late 80s-early 90s, Frisell had a cellist by the name of Hank Roberts in his band. The combination and contrapuntal flow between the two helped define Frisell’s sound at the time, and he’s periodically returned to a light helping of strings throughout his career after that era.Read More

Vinyl

Buddy Guy – Living Proof (2010)

by Nick DeRiso News this week that Buddy Guy had been Grammy nominated for best contemporary blues album had me revisiting the scalding blisses of Living Proof. I loved it from the first solo, this sharp outburst of gnarled sexuality on “74 Years Young”: “There ain’t nothing I haven’t done,”Read More

Vinyl

The Friday Morning Listen: Regina Spektor – Far (2009)

by Mark Saleski Lots of review sites have already posted their best-of lists for 2010. We here at SomethingElse! are still in heavy consideration mode. Every single evening for the past couple of weeks we have been locking ourselves into the SomethingElse!Study™ with our slippers, smoking jackets, top-shelf brandy, andRead More

Vinyl

Jason Robinson – The Two Faces Of Janus (2010)

by S. Victor Aaron I’ve always had a hard time distinguishing West Coast jazz from East Coast jazz by ear. I mean. I know it’s supposed to be a more smoothed-out “cooler” variant of the vigorous, sometimes jarring jazz that comes out of NYC and I know that guys likeRead More

Vinyl

Tony Savarino – Guitaring (2010)

by Nick DeRiso The worry, with any rock-guitar virtuoso’s recording, is that it will quickly devolve into onanistic noodling. But Tony Savarino’s Guitaring adroitly sidesteps the problem with a keen eye for variety, and a welcome sense of unselfishness in the studio. The Boston-bred musician is a dabbler, with aRead More

Vinyl

Carolina Chocolate Drops – Genuine Negro Jig (2010)

by Mark Saleski Sometimes, the history of music is full of surprises. Another way of looking at it: I’m surprised by my own ignorance. When I think of the South and old-time music, the blues, whites, and blacks, I tend to think of the musics as being mostly separated, withRead More