New Music Revue 11/26/19

Written by Jim S.

Wherein I come out of my hippie cave every once in a while and realize, hey, Woodstock was SO long ago…

Some info on Shotgun Tori & The Hounds: “Out of Johannesburg, South Africa, Shotgun Tori & The Hounds are articulate and intelligent storytellers, able to combine humor, emotion, and beauty in an engaging new take on the indie-folk-and-country sound. The band’s self-titled album is a collection of tales and spirit.

Raw and melodic, the sound brings to mind Drive-By-Truckers if fronted by a combination of Amanda Shires and Martha Wainwright. Lyrically, the songs on Shotgun Tori & The Hounds follow Tori’s imperative that stories are to be shared and not left to whither quietly. The result is something at once powerful, vulnerable and defiant – all held firm by a production that draws as much from the Pixies and Radiohead as it does from the Beatles, Neko Case, and Richmond Fontaine.”

This tune, “Feels so Good,” makes me feel exactly that. This reminds me some of “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall:

Bandcamp link

From his website bio: “In the ’80’s, Lemoyne Alexander was front man and producer of the band The Fascination. In the ’90’s, he built a successful career as a producer, where he worked in several genres but primarily focused on rap. He founded the production team 3 da Hardway with rapper Mr. Lee on Jive Records.

3 da Hardway worked with Aaliyah, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, among others. In 2000 he was even named the Producer of the Year by the Chicago Sun-Times for his work with Doug E Fresh, DMX, Fat Joe, Twista, Layzie Bone, Scarface and Paul Wall.

The deeply personal title tune of his album Solitude is a dedicated to his father Oscar “Smitty” Smith who passed before the recording of the album and holds the distinction of opening the door with Isotopia Records.”

I dig this tune and hear a definite Lenny Kravitz groove here:

Spotify link

From their Facebook page: “Sheridan is a creative project based in Dublin and led by Guitarist/Songwriter Gavin Sheridan. Featuring some of the best up and coming session musicians in Dublin, Sheridan are in the process of writing and releasing new material with live performances planned for early 2020.

Sheridan’s debut single ‘The Hits Keep Comin’ was released on the 18th of November on all platforms. Recorded and mixed by Stuart Gray of Jealoustown Studios in Meath, “The Hits Keep Comin’” features a powerful performance by chief vocalist Joanna Burns.

Propelled by driving riffs and an unrelenting rhythm section, Burns leads the chorus in a tribal chant certain to catch the ear of an unsuspecting listener. In the vain of early White Stripes or Black Keys numbers, this song would not be out of place in any gritty film or TV series, it sets a tone early and holds it till the end.”

Yeah, this has got that funky, bluesy thing happening. Joanna nails it with her ballsy singing:

Spotify link

Wikipedia: Scott Tixier is a GRAMMY award-winning French jazz violinist and a recording artist. He is professor of jazz violin and alternative styles at the University of North Texas. He’s worked in many genres, in the theater, film scoring, Broadway shows, He has performed and recorded with a wide range of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Roger Waters, John Legend, Chris Potter, Joss Stone, Greg Phillinganes among others.

He has a hot new album called Cosmic Adventure which features the aforementioned Chris Potter on tenor sax. This is a tasty number called “Beam Me to Mars.”

Spotify link

And now for something completely different. “Hope In High Water are a duo from Milton Keynes, UK whose distinctly British take on acoustic Americana has captivated audiences across the UK since early 2014.

An unlikely pair to be pushing the frontiers of the Americana/folk scene, both Josh and Carly started out in the punk scene, churning out high-energy performances and angry, politically charged music night after night. This sometimes comes as a shock to those who have come to know the pair for their intense and authentic brand of folk.

Hope In High Water’s splendid new album Bonfire & Pine is a story of healing. It tells of the joy and freedom found in the time between their two albums. The duo left their full-time jobs and moved to the country to live in a caravan and pursue a freer and more fulfilling way of life.

I had to listen to this tune, “Alone” a few times to get into it as it’s way outside my wheelhouse. But it stayed with me and I found it haunting. And beautiful.

Spotify link

 

 

12 thoughts on “New Music Revue 11/26/19”

  1. Some really good stuff here, Jim. I can hear the KT similarity on that Tori tune, too… I’m not completely taken by it, but I’ll check out some more and see what I reckon. And you’re spot on with the Lenny vibes in that Lemoyne Alexander tune. Very Kravitz. Again, I’ll check more of that out.

    Sheridan reminds me of The Duke Spirit and The Dead Weather (not a bad thing) and I’m quite taken by Hope In High Water – that’s definitely up my street.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Something for everyone here. As to Hope, yeah they’ve been around a while. The irony is that they are not “up my street” per so but the more I listened to that tune the more I liked it. A UK band but hard to pin down exactly where they’re from.

      Liked by 2 people

        1. Huh! How about that? That tells me they’re on a mad publicity spree. They’ve been around since 2014 so I guess it’s time to raise the profile

          Liked by 1 person

    1. I figured Tixier might catch your ear. That is some smokin’ jazz. Hearing the relatively rare violin is a treat. I gotta give that album.a spin

      Like

      1. I have a lot of jazz violin and another rare one, flute. When played in the right vein it works for me. I might even have a “Flute” album coming up.
        Good to hear people are still making good music.

        Like

        2. I’m listening to Tixier’s ‘Cosmic Adventure’ as I type this and I highly recommend CB give the whole album a spin on Spotify. It is really good and even has something you don’t hear that often- a guy playing jazz harmonica. The song I’m listening to is a violin-led (not all of them are on this album) song called Troublant Bolero. I screwed up, BTW, and found out that this is not a new album but was released a few years ago.

          Liked by 1 person

        3. I was going to get back to you on that. I’ve been listening to it also. Right up my alley and again there are people still making good music Doc. If you’re looking for it in the mainstream, not for me. And yes the harmonica is another different choice. The Toots Thielemans thing. Lots of good players with him.

          Like

Comments are closed.