Livin' on a High Note, Mavis Staples

It's Black Music month!

Livin' on a High Note, Mavis Staples, 2016, :38

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Mavis is an American treasure. She was 77 when she recorded this amazing album and still shows the energy and urgency of many of the young people. Still testifying that bluesy spiritual soul with lung power to rival any of the classic belters.  And she still has a smooth croon, as well.  What's more, these songs are important — they're about freedom and history and rising up and conquering hate. Favorites: "Love and Trust," "Tomorrow," "History, Now."

Phone Power, They Might Be Giants

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 2016.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Phone Power, They Might Be Giants, 2016, :45

I have been a devotee of the Church of They Might Be Geniuses for a long, long time.  The mid 1980s probably.  Maybe longer even than I've worshipped at the altar of the Unblemished Bob.  Anyway, that's a way of saying my assessment of this album is perforce a bit biased.  As it's a Dial-a-Song compilation of 18 tracks, it's definitely going to be a mixed bag.  But the high points of TMBG are high indeed.  I like that one song, "Got Getting Up So Down," began life as a Dunkin' Donuts commercial ("left sock, right sock / T-shirt, wristwatch / bus pass, laptop... I got gettin' up so down, I could do it in my sleep").  It says something either about me or about what the Johns are best at writing about that my favorite tracks all seem to be narrated by an insane person who's hallucinating things: "Apophenia," "Sold My Mind to the Kremlin," "It Said Something," and "Shape Shifter."

City Sun Eater in the River of Light, Woods

It’s What-the-Hell-is-This-Wednesday! Wherein I listen to something I know absolutely nothing about.

City Sun Eater in the River of Light, Woods, 2016, :42

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 

Odd album name, impenetrable band name, and primitivist drawing of a skull on the cover?  I'm in!  I'm not sure what to call this music.  Maybe psychedelic-folk-funk?  At times it approaches blue-eyed soul.  At times it's sort of druggy and spaced out.  At times it's even eerie, in a laid-back, hippie kind of way.  Some, like "Sun City Creeps," showcase reggae beats.  This array of styles is cohesive, though, with pop hooks and skilled instrumentation; it all sounds confident and assured, not like dabbling or dilettantism.  The falsetto singing lends the whole an unearthly quality, but I did find myself wishing there was another voice or two to give a vocal range to match the musical innovation.  A very pleasant discovery.  Favorite tracks: "Hollow Home," "Creature Comfort."

Spacedust & Ocean Views, Anders Osborne

Spacedust & Ocean Views, Anders Osborne, 2016, :58

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I picked this for its intriguing combo of Louisiana-themed song titles and Swedish artist.  Quite good modern blues-pop.  Osborne has a pleasant, strong voice.  Favorite tracks: "Life Don't Last That Long," "Lafayette."

Gotta Get O’Raggednized, Clover’s Revenge

Gotta Get O’Raggednized, Clover’s Revenge, 2016, :26

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Sanitized Celtic rock, mostly covers.  A mini-album, or EP as we old people say.  A little too polished for the material.  There's something sad about vicious Irish rebel songs sung with a fruity, shiny, pop-perfect voice.  Favorite songs: "Little Beggar Man," "Waxie's Dargle."