Tag: 2010s
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U2; Another Time, Another Place: Live at the Marquee London 1980, 2015 on Island
2×10″ album originally produced exclusively for u2.com subscribers – fantastic find if you can get it for a reasonable price. I’m not as much of a fan of side 4, a spoken word interview – but the live set is cracker. They played the Marquee Club seven times in 1980 (per u2tours.com) – this set…
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Norah Jones, Day Breaks, 2016 on Blue Note
Sixth studio album from Norah Jones, and the only one so far I’ve managed to locate on vinyl (I’ve been looking). Produced by Eli Wolf and Jones, and recorded in Brooklyn, this LP has Jones going back to the piano driven vocal-centric approach of Come Away With Me. Wayne Shorter shows up on four songs…
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M. Ward , A Wasteland Companion, 2012 on Merge.
M. Ward’s 7th studio album, including a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Sweetheart.” He’s joined by Mike Coykendall, Mike Mogis, Jordan Hudson, Adam Selzer and others, including vocals from Zooey Deschanel. M. Ward produced. I just love M. Ward’s voice and his approach to songwriting and production – across his solo work and She & Him.…
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Lee Hazlewood, 400 Miles From L.A. 1955-56, 2019 on Light in the Attic
Recorded in 1955 and 1956 but not released until 2019 by Light in the Attic, the second LP here includes a draft of what became Trouble is a Lonesome Town, Hazlewood’s debut album from 1963. Most know Hazlewood from his Nancy Sinatra collaborations which came from the mid-sixties, so interesting to get these earlier recordings.…
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Joy Division, Substance, 1988 on Factory
Posthumous collection of Joy Division singles put out in 1988 as a 1xLP and reissued in 2015 as a 2xLP by Rhino (a digital remaster). Substance was also used at the title for the New Order singles collection that came out in 1987 (with “1987” added). Still looking for a good clean copy of Unknown…
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Ambrose Akinmusire, When the Heart Emerges Glistening, 2011 on Blue Note
Akinmusire is an avant-garde jazz trumpeter from Oakland by way of the Manhattan School of Music, USC, and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in LA. This was his second album (first on Blue Note) with Walter Smith III on sax, Gerald Clayton on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass, and Justin Brown on drums. “My…
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Sia, 1000 Forms of Fear, 2014 on Monkey Puzzle / RCA
I first heard (at least consciously) Sia on the beautiful “I Go To Sleep” from her appearance on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic in 2006, which then appeared on Sounds Eclectic – The Covers Project in 2007. (I also now know she was a massive fan of the reality TV show Survivor, appearing on some of…
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Various Artists, All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman, 2014 on Rounder
A tribute concert to Gregg Allman with a star-studded set of guests, recorded January 10th, 2014 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, and put out on Blu-Ray, DVD, and CD by Rounder. Allman faced significant health issues in the 2010s, including hepatitis c, liver cancer, and a lung transplant – it’s great they were able…
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Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, Ella & Louis: Complete Studio Small Group Recordings, 2015 on Waxtime
Waxtime is sometimes a controversial label. Based on some differences between US and EU copyright law, they’re releasing classic jazz recordings without explicit access o the source material. This means they might be working from a CD, or even a needle-drop on a good vinyl copy- but the source material is more or less unofficial.…
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Peter Buck, Warzone Earth, 2015 on Mississippi Records
This is the third solo album from the former R.E.M. guitarist, all on Portland OR’s Mississippi Records. Frequent Buck collaborators present here include Scott McCaughey, Kurt Bloch, and William Rieflin. Buck’s wife Chloe Johnson adds harmony vocals on “Saturday Sunday Monday” and Jeff Tweedy guests on “World Spins Around You.” It’s a mixed bag –…
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The Waterboys, Out of All This Blue, 2017 on BMG
Mike Scott, the creative force behind The Waterboys, has continued to make interesting music and evolve their sound – here incorporating more contemporary pop sounds. It’s a double album, with a third record of “blue variations.” Some of the tracks have lots of instrumentation (strings, brass, overdubs) and some seem to be recorded on the…
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David Bowie, The Next Day, 2013 on ISO Records / Columbia
Bowie’s penultimate release, coming three years before Blackstar and a decade after Reality. Produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, and recorded at The Magic Shop in New York City in 2011-2012. Musicians include Earl Slick, Gerry Leonard, Sterling Campbell, Zack Alford, and Gail Ann Dorsey. I love the cover, which starts with the cover of…
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John Grant, Pale Green Ghosts, 2013 on Bella Union / Partisan Records
In the US on Partisan Records, elsewhere on Bella Union, this was John Grant’s second solo album, recorded in Reykjavik, with backing vocals from Sinéad O’Connor (credited as Mrs. John Grant). Grant is one of my favorite artists of last 15 years. He was in a band called the Czars in the 90s and first…
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David Byrne & St. Vincent, Love This Giant, 2012 on 4AD
Two of the most creative and eclectic artists and musicians collaborate here on a brass-band heavy record. (St. Vincent also contributed to Here Lies Love, Byrne’s collaboration with Fatboy Slim – a concept album / rock musical about Imelda Marcos). The Dap-Kings and the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra join on “The One Who Broke Your Heart”…
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David Bowie, Blackstar, 2016 on ISO Records / Columbia
Wow, what a final album. So much to say about Blackstar, recorded more or less in secret in New York with Tony Visconti and some local jazz musicians, and released two days before his death. My copy, like many I’ve seen in the used market, has a tear in the die cut cover which is…
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Leonard Cohen, Songs From The Road, 2010 on Columbia
Leonard Cohen’s output is nothing short of spectacular, across studio albums and live recordings. These songs were recorded on tour in 2008 and 2009 when he was in his mid-seventies. The liner notes catalogue in detail why each performance was selected from across a lengthy tour. He sounds great, as does the band. In Europe…
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Neil Young, Bottom Line 1974, The Radio Broadcast, 2018 on Parachute
Although this claims to be a radio broadcast (likely to make it appear legit under EU copyright laws which treat broadcasted material differently) it’s likely actually an audience recording, with a few additional tracks of unknown recording date attached. This 1974 Bottom Line show has been bootlegged many times, but is also now an official…
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The Decemberists, I’ll Be Your Girl, 2018 on Capitol
The Decemberists is one of my top twenty bands of all time – I could leave their discography on repeat all week and never tire of them. That said, I mostly discovered the Decemberists in the era of digital: CDs, downloads, and streaming – I’ve had very little on vinyl. So I was excited to…