A Short List for 2015

Here are the most memorable new 2015 albums I heard and kept returning to (in no particular order):

Sleater-Kinney: "No Cities to Love"

Courtney Barnett: "Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit"

Alabama Shakes: "Sound & Color"

Father John Misty: "I Love You Honeybear"

Olafur Arnalds: "The Chopin Project"

Max Richter: "Sleep"

Gina Chavez: "Up.Rooted"

Kamasi Washington: "The Epic"

Others considered for the list:

Leon Bridges   "Coming Home"

Calexico  "Edge of the Sun"

Didn't listen to music as diligently this year as previous; probably for reasons like distractions by my returning obsession with photography; not so much opportunity to compare notes with my dancing, music-loving daughter as she transplanted to Seattle; and computer woes, ranging from a music server drive crash to the obliteration of a major music library by an errant Mac OS update.

By the way, I noted that Olafur Arnalds made my fav list in a previous year, and I also previously cited Courtney Barnett.

Gina Chavez

More here:http://ginachavez.com/

Allen Toussaint, R.I.P.

Yesterday, the legendary New Orleans R&B songwriter/performer passed on.  You may have seen his appearance in the great HBO series, "Treme".  Here is a sample of his stuff.


Bob Lefsetz has also compiled an excellent selection of Toussaint covers on Spotify.

Quiet

Do you ever just want quiet?  Even if you’re a music lover like I am, there is no substitute for quiet when it is wanted or needed.  Apparently, Microsoft has now cornered the market on that commodity with its Quiet Lab:

The Road to Hell

In 1989, English singer-songwriter-guitarist Chris Rea, put forth this album. In a rare cross-blog moment, I spotted in the album's title track vid a glimpse of my own car (well, one like my own -- an old Porsche 944) at about 3:30 in and then again at about 6:33. So, as well as cross-posting to my Porsche blog, I will present it here as well, as it is a good sound, indeed.

Vivaldi Via Accordion

Boo Boo Davis: If You Ain't Never Had the Blues (BLu ACiD remix)

This great music is used as the soundtrack on this remarkable drone video by Ian Wood:

Los Angeles from Ian Wood on Vimeo.

For more remixes by this pair of Dutch musicians, find some BLu ACiD remixes on SoundCloud.