Damn, I love this holiday CD. It’s my favorite because it swings so nicely. (Second favorite is The Christmas Album by Nat King Cole).
Only Live Performance of A Love Supreme
The sonic genius of John Coltrane (via openculture.com)
Great, dark, happy song
This song by Foster the People is so infectious.
Love the lyrics and the happy contrast to the dark theme in the arrangement.
Absolutely Essential Listening
In my humble opinion, A Love Supreme by John Coltrane is one of the most soul-stirring recordings ever made.
The haunting modality of the songs, the melodies, the unexpected moments that feel as much like sermon as song, all combine to create a masterpiece that is one part opus and another part offering to God by Coltrane.
It’s also essential listening for creatives.
Rumor has it that critically acclaimed indie pop artist Dan Wallace will be releasing Verbum Sap, his unreleased demo CD from early in his career. I’ve heard it and it’s fantastic.
Now Hear This: Den of Maniacs by Dan Wallace
Just a quick mention: Den of Maniacs is out. Dan Wallace’s newest CD is filled with more great songs, interesting arrangements and tremendous performances including more guitar shredding than Dan has shown on previous releases.
Also of note for Dan Wallace fans is the new arrangement for his popular song, Fell. It’s one of the highlights of a CD with lots of really good moments.
This release is a bit more bold and experimental. But, anyone familiar with Dan’s music will be acquainted with the style and dynamics of the overall vibe of the disc. One particular mention goes to Morceau, a fun and oddly infectious song that reminds one of earlier pre-Pindrops days.
If you haven’t listened to any of Dan’s music yet, do so. He is one of the most innovative indie artists currently making music. His influences are vast and if you pay attention you can tease some of them out of the various songs.
Dan’s also an amazing guitar player. Look At Me, the discs first track, should demonstrate this quite clearly.
You can find this CD via Dan’s website.
Discover Kirtan
Among yoga people, Kirtan–which is a mantra or chant based call and response style of music–is immensely popular. And, if you’ve ever been to a yoga class, unless you were at one of those ultra-hip modern flavored yoga classes with reggae and finger food, you’ve probably heard Kirtan at some point.
There are some amazing artists (Jai Uttal, Krishna Das) in this genre. But of the major Kirtan performers, David Newman (aka Durga Das) is my favorite.
Newman’s most recent album is wonderfully accessible and beautifully recorded, the voices are incredible and the songs will having you singing them even off the mat.
Give this record a listen.
From the Vault
I worked on this a few years ago with my friend Vic Donati. He was comissioned to create a gig poster for the Tapes N Tapes show and we were kicking around a couple of ideas.
At some point, we began reminiscing about vintage rock and a few of its more iconic elements.
One of the first things that came to mind was Eddie Van Halen’s classic red guitar. We both remarked how it looked like he had simply covered it with tape and more tape.
Music & Musings
Dan Wallace, a recording artists, songwriter, producer, composer, writer and all around super smart guy has a somewhat-new blog that he’s using as a sounding board for a range of philosophical discussion, criticism, commentary and storytelling. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Dan is best known for his music – putting out 7 CDs both as a solo artist and with his previous bands IZIS and the Pindrops (both of which he founded and fronted) – and developing a sizable following as an indie artist who has successfully bucked convention and eschewed the mainstream, while still drawing rave reviews and critical success for his innovative sound and adventurous recordings (I’d argue he’s one of the best under-the-radar artists in the world).
Dan’s a really smart guy with interesting ideas on pretty much everything. It comes out in his music and now it comes out in his blog which covers music, the music industry, composers, philosphy, writing, pop culture and more.
Give it a read. Leave a comment. Engage in the discussions over there.
And, if you haven’t listened to Dan’s music. I’d recommend that too. It’s fantastic.
American Artifact : Rock Poster Doc
Anyone seen this movie? I knew it was coming out but I hadn’t had a chance to check it out yet. However, my friend and favorite musician Dan Wallace has two songs in the film – this alone is worth the rental. Dan blogs a bit more about this over at his excellent site.