These are videos that I like

Jan 16 2020

These are videos that I like: Mats Eilertsen “Tundra”

 

One of my favorite albums of 2019 was Reveries & Revelations by Mats Eilertsen.  It’s got plenty of tranquility for when I need something soothing late at night or first thing in the morning, but it’s got just the right amount of edge and liveliness to sit down with the album smack dab in the middle of the day.  And it’s on one my favorite labels, Hubro Music, which specializes in the this kind of music, along with the kind of music that is so strange and yet so melodic and eludes any attempt to classify it with our better known genre tags.

This video is from the album track “Tundra,” put together courtesy of Jenny Berger Myhre.

You can expect to be reading more about this album as we ramp up for the Best of 2019 reveal (which, by the way, starts tomorrow night with the introduction!)

Listen to more of the music on the artist’s Soundcloud page.

If you don’t want to wait for my Best of 2019 list and just want to purchase the album right this instant (and you should), it’s available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Jan 13 2020

These are videos that I like: Camila Meza and “Waltz No 1”

 

Some musicians just aren’t easy to cover.  Some immeasurable synergy of distinctive sound, personal aesthetics, and singular gravitas makes it nearly an insurmountable task at honoring an original song by these musicians while simultaneously making the song anew.  Elliot Smith was one such musician.  Not unlike his predecessor and equally depressive songster Nick Drake, Smith brought a tunefulness to a state of sadness like being able to whistle the melody to your own funeral’s soundtrack.

Camila Meza is a ridiculous talent, as vocalist and as composer-arranger, and that she is able to create an inspired rendition of Eliot Smith’s “Waltz No 1,” with her Nectar Orchestra no less, is Exhibit A for proof of that talent.  Here’s the official video of that song, which appears on her 2019 release Ámbar.

You will be reading more about Ámbar in the upcoming Best of 2019 reveal.

In the meantime, if you can’t wait to buy the album so that you can hear the whole thing, Amazon is waiting for you.  I wouldn’t blame you.  It’s a gorgeous recording.  You should go buy it right now.

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Jan 12 2020

These are videos that I like: Minua and “Mumuration”

 

Minua‘s Still Light is one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard all year long.  I said as much when I recommended this album a year ago for Bandcamp, and I said it as much again for my 2019 Bandcamp wrap-up column.  The trio of bass clarinetist Fabian Willmann and guitarists Luca Aaron and Kristinn Kristinsson tap into a vein of tranquility, and just let it flow.

And if you want another video from this trio, then, by all means, follow this link to another track from their 2019 release.

You can give the album a listen, and purchase it, on the artist’s Bandcamp page.  It’s also available at Amazon.

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May 26 2019

Winter came and went, but your Sunday still aches for some Game of Thrones action

 

Since HBO has left a void in your Sunday nights by ending Game of Thrones far too quickly, here’s some videos to dull the pain.

First up is from saxophonist Andrew Gutauskas.  He’s got an album out sometime later in 2019 on Outside In Music.

Your song personnel:  Andrew Gutauskas (soprano sax), Josh Paris (bass), and Chris Smith (drums).

Until that new album is released, in the meantime you can check out his 2017 release Look Up!.

And just in case you, like me, dies a little death every time the syrupy melody of the GoT theme accompanies that cool show opening of the clockwork castles of Westeros, here’s a respite from that banality.  The song “Arya” was inspired by the show’s character, but doesn’t sound like anything that would ever make an appearance in the soundtrack.  It’s by the Philippe Lemm Trio, from a 2017 performance at Jazz Club Paradox in Tillburg, Netherlands.

Your video personnel:  Philippe Lemm (drums), Angelo Di Loreto (piano) and Jeff Koch (bass).

The piece also makes an appearance on their 2018 recording City Birds, which, coincidentally, was also released by Outside In Music.  You can listen to that album at the artist’s Soundcloud page.  It’s available to purchase at Amazon.

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Apr 14 2019

Because today is what today is, I’m just gonna re-post this mash-up of Brubeck’s “Take Five” and the Game of Thrones theme song

 

I still think this is brilliant.  Be sure to check out my write-up of Big Pocket Orchestra‘s self-titled album.

Tyrion will save us all…

…with some help from Dave Brubeck and the Big Pocket Orchestra.

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