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Max de Castro "Balanco das Horas"
DustyGroove Wrote:
Max De Castro is easily one of the most exciting artists to come out of Brazil in the past decade or so -- one of the few that we follow eagerly with each new record, never to be disappointed! This set pushes Max into some newer territory than before -- work that's a bit more focused, sometimes more funky, and certainly to help him capture a larger global audience. Much of the instrumentation has roots in older samba -- including the percussion, guitar, and trombone used on the set -- but as with other De Castro albums, there's also some careful use of keyboards and electronics to slightly spice things up. But overall, there's almost a more "live" feel to most of the tunes on this record -- especially the more groove-centrist numbers -- and Max himself seems to respond to the setting by stepping forth a bit more strongly with his vocals, and rocking his guitar a bit louder than usual on a few tracks. Titles include "Se Nao Tem Remedio Esta", "Balanco Das Horas", "Candura", "I Remember Fela", "Sly Stone Is Playing In My House", "Doce Deleite", "E O Caso De Perguntar", and "Samba Joia".
Here's a video for the title track
RIYL: a bunch of brazilian artists you've never heard of, Prince, Stevie Wonder (although it won't be obvious from the title track)
Warren Zanes "People That I'm Wrong For"
AMG Wrote:
his second solo set, People That I'm Wrong For, which is a slightly more streamlined but equally satisfying set. Zanes has a knack for writing smart but bracing pop tunes which have enough force to make them connect but plenty of open melodic space at the same time, and the mind-body balance of "Things Nobody Named Yet," "Ella's Arms," "Carrying Me/Carrying You," and "Fool the Moon" is impressive indeed. Zanes writes about relationships with the wisdom and experience of an adult, but his passion for the subject hasn't changed much since his days in the Del Fuegos, and his musical partners help him deliver the goods on this material (especially guitarist Daniel Tashian, bassist Brad Jones, and drummer Bryan Owings). People That I'm Wrong For was recorded in a mere five days, but you'd never guess that listening to it — the songs are superbly crafted, the playing is tautly energetic and expert, the production is polished without sounding overly slick, and Zanes sings with commitment, authority, and heart
RIYLl: Smart Pop, eg Jules Shear, the poppier side of E. Costello, Jon Brion, Rufus Wainwright, etc.
You can dl or stream songs at his
myspace pageThis is also available on emusic.
Jane Birkin "Fictions"
AMG Wrote:
Brit-born actress and recording artist — and longtime French resident — Jane Birkin may have gained fame and fortune as being the protégé — and the greatest love — of composer, director, and national French hero the late Serge Gainsbourg, but her long reign as cultural heroine and quirky pop vocalist has been the result of her own toil and sweat....on Fictions, she's gone to another level. Along with Svengali engineer, arranger, and producer Renaud Letang — who has worked with everyone from Birkin (on Rendez-Vous), to Björk, Mocky, Gonzales, Jean Michel Jarre and Alain Chamfort — she's solicited (in the same way Marianne Faithfull has in the past) original songs form a slew of contemporary artists and recorded a few well-chosen covers to create an album firmly stamped with her heart's seal of tenderness and desperation. Beth Gibbons of Portishead (who appears as a backing vocalist here on her track), Neil Hannon of Divine Comedy, Gonzales, Rufus Wainwright, and Kate Bush, along with the crop of new French chanson writers, Dominique A., Cali, and Arthur H., Birkin also covers Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan's "Alice" and Neil Young's "Harvest Moon." Former Smith Johnny Marr plays guitar and harmonica on select cuts, drummers Mocky and Regis Ceccarelli contribute as well, with most of the instruments being played either in the flesh or via sampling by Gonzales, and string arrangements by Stephane Moucha. Fictions is a warm, somewhat lush and quietly dramatic recording. There is the bittersweet decadence in Hannon's "Home" that sounds like it was written for Birkin's quirky expressiveness. The reading of "Alice" here is far more shocking than on the Waits' version from the album of the same name. Birkin seems to offer her throat to the blade as an expression of her devotion. Conversely, she treats Young's "Harvest Moon" as a cabaret song. The glockenspiel bells and country loops are absorbed inside a piano and a bit of distorted reverb, with the guitar being used merely for atmospheric pleasure. Gibbons' "My Secret" is the finest song here; it is the hinge the album turns on. It's a deeply devotional, slightly twisted, and skeletally arranged song of lost love, and Gibbons backing vocal adds depth and balance to Birkin's high-pitched reediness. The French chansons are just gorgeous, particularly Cali's café ballad "Sans Toi" with a beautiful arrangement that includes a well-placed clarinet and a single guitar note played in every refrain. Dominique A.'s house-fueled "Où Est la Ville?" is a song of amorous violence where Birkin speaks and sings with a guitar loop, a cello, and handclap backbone to propel her through the spoken verses, and when she breaks loose and sings on the chorus, the comfort and daring in her voice transcend the arrangement.
I'm surprised no one has been talking about this one. I think its quite good and suspect that others here would like it more than I do.
I'll do more later
