Monthly Archives: May 2022

VIA PRESS RELEASE | The official trailer for Mixtape Trilogy: Stories of the Power of Music is out now, featuring Talib Kweli, Indigo Girls and composer/pianist Vijay Iyer. The film has been selected as the closing night film at the Richmond International Film Festival June 12, with additional festivals to be announced.

Mixtape Trilogy: Stories of the Power of Music is an entertaining, impactful documentary that explores the unifying power of music and examines the relationship between musical artists and their fans. Featured artists include Indigo Girls, Vijay Iyer, and Talib Kweli. The film is written and directed by Kathleen Ermitage and is her directorial debut. Previously, she was an associate producer on Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary; Sergio Mendes: In the Key of Joy; Herb Alpert Is; and the forthcoming What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?

Amy Ray of Indigo Girls said “It is an absolute honor to be part of this poignant film that truly shows the power of music through the eyes of the artist and the receiver of that art. It sheds light on the alchemy that happens when music enters the public space and is a catalyst for healing, spiritual connection, activism and creative growth.”

The Indigo Girls generously share details about their creative process and work which, in turn, sparks the imagination and changes the life of arguably their biggest fan. Jazz and classical musician Vijay Iyer expertly questions issues of immigration and race while inventing a life in music for himself; his work touches the heard of a “man of the streets” from Kingston, Jamaica.

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Celebrating Pete Townshend, born on this day in 1945. —Ed.

When it comes to grandiosity, Pete Townshend takes the cake. He’s always had huge ambitions, as his numerous concept albums—both with The Who (Tommy, Quadrophenia, the abandoned Lifehouse, and The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether–wait, that one was by The Alan Parsons Project) and on his own—demonstrate. And I suppose I always took it he had an ego as big as his ambitions. But what is one to make of his 1972 debut solo album, Who Came First, on which he turns things over on two of the LPs nine tracks to other people? And performs a third song he didn’t even write? Certainly that’s an act of humility, if not abject self-abasement.

And Who Came First isn’t particularly ambitious, either: he throws on a song that would later appear on The Who’s Odds and Sods, along with a prayer set to music for his spiritual guru Meher Baba, and so on. But there’s something becoming about Pete’s laid-back approach on Who Came First—he’s not trying to conquer the world for once, just to be content in it. And the LP includes a cool bunch of tunes that you’re guaranteed to love, even if “Parvardigar” (his salute to Meher Baba) isn’t one of them.

Pete isn’t entirely without ego. While he admirably declined to fill the studio with a star-studded cast of ringers, he went too far in the other direction, recording almost the entire LP all by his lonesome. The great Small Faces/Faces bassist and singer Ronnie Lane makes a cameo, as do musical gadfly Billy Nicholls and percussionist Caleb Quaye, best known for his work with Elton John and Hall & Oates, and that’s it. Townshend even plays the drums, adequately if not inspired, and who knew? I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he also took charge of mopping the studio WC.

Opener “Pure and Easy” is real pretty, lovely actually, but it doesn’t measure up to The Who version on Odds and Sods, with its powerhouse closing and great drumming by Keith Moon. But Pete’s take is still quite nice, and well worth a listen, for his guitar solo, his equally cool keyboards, and the song’s takeout, which features some nice drumming and Townshend repeating, “There once was a note, listen,” which may be cooler on The Who version, but still packs a punch here.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Brothers Adrian and Paul Gurvitz were responsible for some of the most progressive hard rock sounds of the late ‘60s and ‘70s, first in The Gun, and later with Cream drummer Ginger Baker in The Baker Gurvitz Army.

In between those two bands, though, was the one that was perhaps the best of the bunch; Three Man Army put out three records from 1971 to 1974 that would nestle nicely in your heavy British rock collection next to, say, Cactus and Jeff Beck’s Truth and Beck-Ola records. 1974’s Two was, confusingly, their third album, and it’s safe to say they saved their best for last. “Polecat Woman” kicks off the record with a Led Zep-like boogie stomp, “Today” is very Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, and “Flying” almost sounds like a harder version of Badfinger.

But the highlight might be “I Can’t Make the Blind See,” which, with its orchestration and soulful vocals, almost sounds like a power ballad done by Traffic. This overlooked ‘70s hard rock platter gets a long-overdue vinyl reissue with a cobalt blue pressing limited to 1500 copies.

Those alive and listening to commercial radio in 1968 almost certainly heard Jeannie C. Riley’s crossover smash “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” the song’s lambasting of small town hypocrisy resonating far and wide and for long after. Unsurprisingly, the song provides her debut album with its title. Surprisingly, said LP, which has just been reissued by ORG Music for Record Store Day, is something of a concept album. To swing back to the unsurprising side of the spectrum, Harper Valley P.T.A. falls a little short of top tier, but it thrives on ambition and endures as a crucial artifact of its era.

One could say (and indeed, people have) that Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson, better known as Jeannie C. Riley never repeated the success of her second single, but that’s frankly setting some unrealistic expectations, as only one other woman has managed to do what Riley did. Specifically, she (and Dolly Parton, after) placed the same song at number one at the same time on both the country and pop singles charts.

To understand how monstrously, lingeringly large this song was, please contemplate that they made a movie based on the song…ten years after it was released…and then a TV show in 1981. Barbara Eden played Stella Johnson in both the film and the show, which made it hard for young ears to shake the idea that it was Eden who actually sung the song as it continued to receive airplay on radio stations two decades later.

Recorded by noted producer Shelby Singleton and released on his Plantation label, “Harper Valley P.T.A.” was written by Tom T. Hall, with the single’s success surely playing a significant part in that laid back C&W raconteur’s career longevity. It’s a pretty terrific single, with Riley, whose singing is limber and just a notch or two short of husky, handling the narrative with uncommon assurance given her level of experience at the time.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The legacy of Frank Sinatra—one of the world’s most enduring singers—includes a studio album no one anticipated: Watertown. Recorded in 1969 and released in 1970, the concept of Watertown unfolds as a personal tragedy about a working man with children whose wife suddenly leaves him. Sinatra’s performance elicits sadness, defeat, and forlornness. Ultimately, as Sinatra so wonderfully expresses, it’s also a story about one man’s resilience.

On June 3, Frank Sinatra Enterprises and UMe present Watertown, newly mixed and remastered from the original Reprise session tapes resulting in superior sound quality. The original album sequence will be available on vinyl, while the CD and digital editions will feature eight bonus tracks, including alternate takes from the recording sessions, two radio ads, and “Lady Day,” which was not part of the Watertown concept. Charles Pignone produced the updated edition from the new mixes created by longtime Sinatra engineer Larry Walsh—the team behind recent FSE/UMe releases Sings for Only the Lonely and Nice ‘N’ Easy.

Now appreciated as a masterpiece of drama and heartbreak, Watertown will also feature, in addition to a recreation of the original packaging, new liner notes, a track-by-track breakdown from songwriter and album producer Bob Gaudio, quotes from Sinatra, plus essays by Frankie Valli, co-writer Jake Holmes, among others who were involved in the original project. All three formats—Watertown [LP] and Watertown: Deluxe Edition [CD + Digital]—are available for preorder here. Siriusly Sinatra (SiriusXM Ch. 71) will air an exclusive Watertown special in May.

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There was a time in popular recorded music history when certain record labels had a clear artistic vision or were a home for true artists. These labels—Blue Note, Sun Records, Atlantic Records, Motown, and Stax to name five—became the home of some of the most groundbreaking talents of the post-war era, primarily in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Later, labels like Reprise, Warner Bros., A&M and others became a place where musicians could begin their careers and slowly develop, eventually becoming the blockbuster artists of the vinyl album heyday of the 1970s. There are certainly many others worthy of mention here.

One of the keys to the success of these labels was the men and women that ran them or, in some cases, also owned them. Elektra Records, founded by Jac Holzman, must be mentioned. The label began primarily as a folk label, was significant in the development of world music through its Nonsuch imprint, and then became a defining label of ’70s popular album music. Independent Jazz, R&B, and folk labels in their heyday often released albums that transcended music and became culturally significant in the development of the rapid social and political changes of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Along with Elektra, Smithsonian Folkways was a major label releasing folk music.

A label that has been one of the most important and longest-lasting folk and roots music labels is Vanguard Records. Any record collection that includes a healthy amount of seminal folk music would include plenty of releases from Vanguard. Begun in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York, early on the label was the home of Eric Anderson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Richard and Mimi Farina, Cisco Houston, Ian & Sylvia, Phil Ochs, Paul Robeson, and Tom Paxton, among many other artists.

Vanguard also released classical music, blues, country, and music from such undefinable artists as Sandy Bull, John Fahey, and Bert Jansch. Even as folk music waned in popularity in the mid-’60s, the label still released albums that redefined popular music from such artists as Country Joe and the Fish, Jim Kweskin, Patrick Sky, and Jerry Jeff Walker.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Summer is coming and that can only mean one thing, Indie labels all over London will be gathering together their finest musical fare for Independent Label Market: London!

The annual Summer Market is in the calendar for Saturday 16th July at Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross with a super hot line up of labels including [PIAS], 4AD, BBE, Bella Union, Big Dada, Brownswood, Dirty Hit, Erased Tapes, Ghostly, Heavenly, Late Night Tales, Matador, Mexican Summer, Mukatsuku, Mute, Ninja Tune, Nonclassical, Partisan, Rough Trade, Secretly Canadian, Sunday Best & many more. This year ILM will be introducing stalls from artists and makers including Colourbox Studio, Dan Jamieson, East London Printmakers, Hand Jazz and Kam Creates.

As always, ILM will be joined by the excellent London Brewers’ Market showcasing the best of London’s lively, diverse and exciting independent brewing scene including Against the Grain Cider, Brick Brewery, Five Points Brewing Co, Friendship Adventure, Gosnells Mead, London Beer Lab, Old Street Brewery, Standard Brew Co plus more to be announced! Sign up via this link to get a 10% discount on all drinks at the London Brewers’ Market throughout the event.

Partnerships & Initiatives | The summer event will be soundtracked by ILM curated DJ sets from artists, labels and friends throughout the day culminating with a special after party at Spiritland. For the ILM Summer event, the wildly popular Spiritland Soundsystem will be making its return. An imposing presence inspired by the heavyweight UK funk and soul soundsystems of the 1980s, the system is a mix of vintage speakers and modern digital amplification.

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Wonderful are the releases that come out of nowhere to serve as doorways into sounds from distant, often secluded cultures. Living Legend of the Ayacucho Guitar, a new cassette featuring Gustavo Yashimura on the titular instrument in the regional Andean style, is one of those. It features Yashimura solo on nine tracks with accompaniment on four by second guitarist Luis Sulca Galindo and vocalist Greys Berrocal Huaya. Produced by the Sounds of the Andes label under the direction of Hankel Bellido, the set, rich in tradition but infused with contemporary vitality, is out now on cassette and digital through Hive Mind Records.

As Living Legend of the Ayacucho Guitar begins, Gustavo Yashimura’s mastery of the guitar quickly comes into focus. Furthermore, it’s easy for a non-expert to ascertain that his command of the numerous styles of his homeland, that’s specifically the Ayacucho region of the Peruvian Andes, reaches far above the competent.

Info on the artist isn’t exactly free flowing, but Hive Mind does offer that Yashimura began playing guitar in 1987 and two years later was studying music at La Casa de la Guitarra in Montevideo, Uruguay. At some point after that, he ended up in Japan, where he played classical guitar for a few years before returning to Peru in 2004 to commence a deep-dive into the music of his home region.

This included receiving tutelage from the 80 year old guitarist Don Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú, who is also known under the more succinct sobriquet of Rahtako, and whose knowledge of various Andean songs and styles is immense, if not unparalleled. Of course, this is something of a well-grounded supposition on my part, since background info on Rahtako is even less prevalent than it is for Yashimura.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Sting’s latest album, The Bridge showcases the 17-time Grammy Award winner’s prolific and diverse songwriting prowess, with an array of songs representing styles and genres explored throughout his unrivalled career. Written and recorded in the early stages of the pandemic, the eclectic collection, produced by Sting and Martin Kierszenbaum, features Sting’s quintessential sound as he takes listeners on a musical journey.

To celebrate the release, Sting performed a private concert at the Panthéon in Paris as part of FIP’s 50th anniversary, under Foucault’s pendulum (pendulum installed in evidence of the earth’s rotation). Now, a Super Deluxe version of The Bridge will be released on June 17th and will include six tracks recorded at the Pantheon, as well as “Por Su Amor,” the Spanish version of his song “For Her Love,” in duet with Latin American singer/ songwriter KURT. The new collection was mixed by Grammy Award winner Robert “Hitmixer” Orton.

This new edition will be available in 2CD and 2LP formats and released in advance of Sting’s “My Songs Tour” European summer leg, including various music festivals, followed by the newly announced Fall dates. Complete tour itinerary can be found here.

To date, “Sting Live At The Panthéon” program, was exclusively available on Arte Concert’s website and garnered more than 5 million views since its release. This 30-minute acoustic concert will once again be promoted by Arte Concert with additional broadcasts scheduled on Arte in France and Germany, beginning May 30th.

On his latest solo record, multi-instrumentalist Jon Porras offers four tranquil, contemplative pieces that fall solidly, but gently, into the wide-open and increasingly crowded category of ambient. Featuring guitar, piano, Hammond organ, and Yamaha DX7, the music is warm and organic as it avoids the insubstantial, its atmospheres relaxing without ever succumbing to mere background fluff. A trim, rewarding excursion, Arroyo releases May 20 on crystal clear vinyl and digital through Thrill Jockey.

Of groups, Jon Porras has been in a few, but by far the highest profile of the bunch is Barn Owl, which put out a slew of records from roughly 2007–2013, largely by the duo of Porras and fellow multi-instrumentalist Evan Caminiti, the music released by a handful of labels including Not Not Fun, Blackest Rainbow, Important, Root Strata, and Thrill Jockey.

Porras and Caminiti have both been busy as solo artists, so one shouldn’t assume that Barn Owl is a done deal. Possibly, it’s just a back-burner situation. And it’s worth noting that Barn Owl is best described as a psychedelic-drone-experimental endeavor, a style that contrasts pretty significantly from the sound(scape)s heard across Arroyo.

In fact, the scoop is that Porras’ latest is a bit of a departure from his prior solo work, a claim I was intending to verify, except that I just kept playing Arroyo over and over. Obviously, this should be considered a mark in the music’s favor; at just short of 34 minutes, the record is built for repeat spins, but that’s also the sorta scenario that can quickly amplify a record’s shortcomings and flaws.

But listening to Arroyo, I’ve yet to perceive any glaring missteps or deficiencies, which isn’t to suggest that Porras has made a perfect record. But a remarkably assured one? Yes. And more to the point, Porras’ strong suits are just consistently in the foreground. It’s all doubly impressive given the substantial prettiness that’s on display in opener “Flower in Hand.”

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