Casual Listening 8-24-07

Casual Listening

a review of cool new music

by Jeff Pinzino

August 24, 2007

! Galactic – From the Corner to the Block (funk)

Galactic is proof that New Orleans has a musical future. A brilliant mix of jazz and hip hop, with guest rappers on every track. Rump-shaking funk, with additional background provided by mardi-gras style horn players. Did I mention funky?

* M.I.A. – Kala (world)

Revolutionary dance tracks that draw influences from all over the globe. Snippets of Bollywood, Jamaican dancehall, Techno, and Dijeridoo, to name just a few. Music twenty years ahead of its time.

* Caribou– Andorra (rock)

Sergeant Pepper’s nerdy young Canadian cousin. Fuzzy, psychedelic canvasses glow under gauzy vocals. Dense arrangements augment guitar and drums with flute, tuba, and jingle bells as well as plenty of electronic ear candy.

* The Everybodyfields – Nothing is Okay (country)

Achingly bittersweet Americana accompanied by fiddle and pedal steel guitar. Introspective ballads with gorgeous vocals evoke a late-night loneliness that appeals to both the coffeehouse and the honky-tonk.

S.K.I.P. – Autobiographicology (rap)

A fresh re-envisioning of hip hop with drum & bass electronic backdrops and intelligent lyrics that are equal parts personal and political.

Poets & Pornstars – Poets & Pornstars (rock)

Classic rock revivalists that really rock. Great songs played on screaming guitars. Mullet optional.

* highly recommended

! highest recommendation

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