Every month the lanky bastards like to share some of their music highlights with each other, which is resulting in our monthly LBMF blog post and playlist!
First of all, sorry for the long delay. It’s been some rough and busy couple weeks. Fortunately, for you and me, good music doesn’t go bad, which is why we’re still going to present you some of the finest music we have found in the month of May! Check it out below or in our regularily updated playlist.
Linkwood, Greg Foat – Linkwood & Foat (2020)
Interesting collab, a good listen for ambiant beats.
dumama + kechou – buffering juju (2020)
Lush cyclical polyrhythms, whispered clicks in Xhosa, and free jazz on a bed of soft hiphop-inspired electronic loops.
Kit Sebastian – Mantra Moderne (Deluxe Edition) (2020)
This debut album rejects all boundaries to fuse Tropicalia, jazz, psychedelia, Turkish instrumentation with a smattering of delicious vocals in Turkish, French, and English. This album is darkly groovy.
Leong Lau – That Rongeng Sound (1977/re-issued 2015)
Smoth, smoth, smoth jazz funk from Australia. Released in the 1970s, this record was a well kept secret Down Under and sought after record for people in the know.
Hate to see you go – Little Walter (1969)
Funny enough I was actually looking for Hank William’s Lovesick blues (dont judge me 👀) and mistyped to lonesome blues, and boy am I happy to stumble this album. I have never heard of Little Walter before, but who doesnt love a good post war Chicago style blues album. I guess I’m a fan now.
Chet Baker – Chet Baker Sings (1956)
For a while I have been in a rut with Jazz music. I’ve listened to most of the big acts and really enjoy them and I’ve found my favorite niches in the genre but sometimes it just gets boring and too much. Chet Baker’s 1956 s/t album has helped me enjoy Jazz a little bit more lately due to the beautiful simplistic approach he takes to the sound.
You’re Getting Better: The Word Jazz – Dot Masters – Ken Nordine (2005)
I found the first two albums in this series at a thrift store the other day. I wasn’t sure what I thought it would be, but I was instantly intrigued a few seconds after dropping the needle. Ken Nordine was a voice actor in the 50’s who started reading poetry at jazz clubs in Chicago. This is a compilation of his albums on Dot records. These recordings are all stream of conscious poertry most over a jazz backdrop.
Dollar Brand, Don Cherry, Carlos Wand – The Third World-Underground (1974)
So glad this record from 1974 is available on Spotify now. Brand (later known as Abdullah Ibrahim), Cherry and Ward deliver some soulful free jazz. Jabulani (the 4th track) is an undeniable Ibrahim classic. But make sure to listen to the whole concert, which, thanks to seemless transitions, sound like one big piece rather than multiple tracks.
Archie Shepp & Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath – En Concert A Banlieues Bleues (1989)
A great live recording from a concert in Seine-Saint-Denis by the legendary Archie Shepp. While the first half is mostly traditional african music, the second half features more contemporary, bluesy big band jazz. I just really like the mix.
Santrofi – Alewa (2020)
A fresh new imagining and revival of the sound of Ghana’s highlife of the 1970s. Santrofi is a “four winged bird” from Akan mythology, rare as a phoenix – notoriously hard to find, but good luck if spotted. Don’t kill the birb, that’s bad luck.
Guedra Guedra – Son of Sun E.P. (2020)
Bass heavy North African electronic dance from Morocco. Frantic and frenetic, watch out for dust devils.
Laurence Guy – Saw you for the first time (2017)
A great album for those like me who are just starting to get into house.
Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now (2020)
I like pop music.
Evil Elephant – Ttrruuces (2020)
Modern psychedelic pop, that’s never enough.
Ka – Descendants of Cain (2020)
Ka’s latest album is his best work yet with it incorporating his signature minimalistic production and slow paces rhymes. He has also honed his rhyming skills to the best they’ve ever been to the point where most of them just go over my head and I have yet to decipher most of them after multiple listens.
Lifa – Heilung (2018)
So this is a bit of a curve ball that I didnt think i might be into. Heilung is an Experimental folk band from Dermak . Their songs are written in Runic, Germanic, Old norse and old English. It’s amazing. Their simple and rhythmic songs really intensifies that tribal imagery, kinda makes you want to drop the things that you do and hunt a deer or something haha and I really love that.
Blato Zlato – In The Wake (2019)
Ever since discovering ‘The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices’ I’ve been kind of fascinated with traditional balkan, more specific bulgarian music. New Orleans based Blato Zlato is one of these bands. I guess you need to have a little bit of a thing for traditional music like this, but if you do – listen to the whole thing!
Put It On Paper – Ann Nesby
This track is gospel perfection. It feels like a song that must already be well known and popular. Just no one ever got around to telling me. Well I’ve finally crawled out from under my rock and have to say this song blew me away.
I’m Not Ready for Love – Promise (1975)
This delightful soul jam, recently re-released by Numero Group, showed up in a recent Spotify Discover Weekly of mine. Apparently the group was based around my area, the swampiest swamp of them all…D.C. 👀
Do You Remember the Days in New York? – MonoNeon (2020)
MonoNeon is an undeniably funky bass player. While I can’t always keep up with his sonic experiments, this track jams. Feeling Prince vibes, in particular, from this one.
JK Group – The Young Ones (2020)
Josh Kelly of 30/70 drives this fantastic jazz/electro group, one of my favourite jazz albums of 2020. Some killer uptempo tracks interspersed with some laid back spiritual jazz interludes.
Spirit Fingers, Judi Jackson, Greg Spero – Goodbye (2020)
Just my favorite jazz-of-the-moment.
Golden Retriever – Capablance (2017) EP
Perfect sounds when youre weak and feel like laying down on a raft and letting yourself drift on a calm lake.
Again, sorry for the long delay. We hope that in the last couple weeks you stayed safe and stood up for what is right and continue to do so! ✊🏿✊🏽✊🏾
