Silk Sonic’s Retro Roller Jam and 12 More Songs


With his new single “Skate”, it is becoming clearer than ever that Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s collaboration Silk Sonic is an ancient reverse-engineering project that found and recreated the sounds and structures of the 1970s spirit-melted era. . disco. “Skate” – reminiscent of old discos – features scrubbing rhythmic guitars, glockenspiel, Latin percussion, a backspeaking string section, and a towering bridge of late 1970s hits. Can the young listeners of the 21st century feel nostalgic for a while before they are born? JON PARELES

Bomba Estéreo’s new single “Conexión Total” is an effervescent mix of pan flute, marimba and drum loops featuring Nigerian Afropop idol Yemi Alade, whose 2014 song “Johnny” remains the anthem of the genre. The Colombian duo’s maneuver adds to the growing list of collaborations between African and Latin American artists, a much-needed reminder of the connections between Afro-diasporic voices and their origins. Lead singer Li Saumet’s exuberant lyrics and carefully placed layers of air horn merge into a prismatic summer jam, like a cool, fizzy drink bubbling to the surface. ISABELIA HERRERA

You’d be forgiven for assuming that the looped, airy voice at the center of Saint Etienne’s new song belongs to the band’s lead vocalist, Sarah Cracknell – but it’s actually a sample of Natalie Imbruglia’s 2001 song. “Beauty on Fire.” British pop icons’ upcoming “I’ve Been Trying to Tell You” (their first sample-driven album since 1993 classic “So Tough”) is a collage of sounds sorted from 1997 to 2001; they have specification It’s like a concept album about the optimism of the late ’90s and the collective dreams of pop-cultural memory. As impressive and thought-provoking as it may sound, “Pond House” is a steady, aquamarine underwater current that is as gentle as a sea breeze, immersing you in its hypnotic atmosphere. LINDSAY ZOLADZ

Throughout forty years of recording, Los Lobos has always instructed the occasional cover version. During the pandemic, the Beach Boys released their new cover album, “Native Sons,” filled with songs from Los Angeles bands like War, Buffalo Springfield, and Thee Midnighters, along with one new Los Lobos song. “Los Chucos Suaves” originally released in 1949 Lalo Guerrero and Shush Cinco Lobos (!) recognizes a burgeoning Los Angeles pachuco culture, where graceful, zoot-appropriate Mexican Americans have extended their tastes and dance moves to Cuban music. Los Lobos’ version puts Cesar Rosas’ rasp on top of a web of cumbia and mambo, with broken guitar, brawny baritone saxophone, and crazy timbals celebrating an early Latino cultural alliance. PARELES

Collaborating with jazz musicians and following the African roots of the banjo, banjo innovator Béla Fleck’s September release album is “My Bluegrass Heart,” billed as a return to bluegrass. “Charm School” uses a classic bluegrass quintet, Fleck on the banjo, Chris Thile on mandolin, Billy Strings on guitar, Billy Contreras on violin and Royal Masat on bass. But “Charm School” is by no means a traditional bluegrass tune; It’s a fast, ever-changing suite that switches between keys, measures, and tempos. The quintet lands in a seemingly familiar area of ​​bluegrass, only to be repeatedly blasted off to another place entirely. PARELES

Barry Altschul’s drumming, and especially his crazy riding cymbal, is a work of more than contrast: He knows how to skip the surface of a beat and at the same time give it serious weight; The pocket is magnetic, but it will immediately tear it apart or tear it apart. During his nearly six-year career in jazz, he’s played both sides of the aisle, avant-garde and straight, and plays the lasso in the running trio — 3dom Factor, saxophone player Jon Irabagon, and bassist Joe Fonda. all together. “Long Tall Sunshine” is the title track of 3dom Factor’s new live album and the classic Altschul: a harmonically resonant song that fills and charges but also holds back (especially thanks to Fonda’s bass), preparing Irabagon for a mushroom-free solo. with melody. GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO

London band Dry Cleaning fused post-punk rhythms with the dead style of frontman Florence Shaw, a sharp, dryly comic observer of the absurdities of modern life, on their extraordinarily bizarre debut album, “New Long Leg,” released earlier this year. But half of the band’s double-A-side single, “Tony Speaks!”, released this week, is their most thorny and political track ever. The song is a frustrating meditation on the banal but heavy impact of systemic problems on individual souls: “I’m sorry for the collapse of the heavy industry, I’ll be fine soon.” But Shaw’s most compelling thoughts come when he widens his lens and reflects on climate change; its reflections were in the delicate balance between comedy and tragedy. “I’ve always thought of nature as something dead and unattractive,” he mutters, “but there used to be a lot. more from him.” ZOLADZ

From Montreal-based singer-songwriter Ada Lea, “Damn” unfolds like a silent manifestation: a gradual buildup of emotion and disappointment that suddenly turns into abrupt clarity. Over a stark arrangement of guitar and percussion, Lea (real name Alexandra Levy) sings to slowly slip into a sentimental mood: “Every year it gets a little darker, then darker and darker,” Drawl says in a low, throaty voice, “then dark as hell.” But in the closing moments of the song, Lea recalls herself and calls out all her energy into a bold, defiant rejection of everything that went wrong: “Damn the work, damn the music, damn the lost fun.” Bottoming sound but don’t look up at the end. ZOLADZ

Ekyu, a songwriter from Benin, sings about destructive jealousy in “Oh Dje”: “When someone goes up, we want to bring them down/When someone moves forward, we want to stop it.” His voice is muffled and melancholic, with an electronic veil; The rhythm ticks through, cramming Afrobeats-trap-trap as guitar licks and manipulated vocals ripple in the distance. Beneath it all, they have bass, dizzying synth tones and, as the lyrics suggest, threaten to drag everything down. PARELES

“Hope will come someday soon,” British songwriter Nao (Neo Jessica Joshua) promises on his helium soprano in the title song of his next album, “And Then Life Was Beautiful.” To get out of the “Change has come like a whirlwind” pattern in 2020, he advises self-preservation, patience, contemplation, and gratitude amid uplifting triplets, ascending chromatic chords, and airborne sound harmonies. It is determined to evoke a sense of elevation. PARELES

Silvana Estrada’s voice is filled with quiet anger. An attribute that connects her to a long line of women in Latin America whose voices are almost synonymous with the experience of suffering and abandonment: icons like Chavela Vargas and La Lupe. But unlike some of his ancestors, the 24-year-old Mexican artist’s pain is so quiet, so raw it burns in his chest, smoldering below the surface. In “Marchita,” the rolling melody of Estrada’s voice floats over the warmth of a Venezuelan cuatro, morphing into waves of violin and cello strings. “Me ha costado tanto y tanto/Que ya mi alma se Marchita,” she cries. “It cost me so much that my soul is drying up,” she says. It’s the kind of slow-burning despair that steals life from you. HERRERA

Grouper, aka Liz Harris, effortlessly transforms the toughest emotions into simple jolts of grief. Although best known for his hypnotic tape loops, breathtaking whispers, and quiet piano arrangements, in “Unclean Mind” Harris replaces the familiar, dour piano keys of previous releases for the sound of the acoustic guitar. His harmonic vocals are weightless, almost imperceptible, but the emotion is transparent. “I tried to hide you from my dirty mind,” she sighs, “Put it in a costume/Turn the layouts in a perfect line.” We may not know what kind of relationship he’s talking about, but the enigmatic beauty of Grouper’s music is gripping without being obvious, so powerful it needs little explanation to convey the most elusive emotions. HERRERA

Starting in the 1990s, Scottish songwriter and singer Dot Allison has recorded as a leader and collaborator with such flamboyant musicians as Kevin Shields, Massive Attack and Scott Walker. Her new solo album “Heart-Shaped Scars” is her first album since 2009. It’s largely acoustic and minimal, with songs meditating on the unhurried growth of plants. “Long Exposure” intertwines Allison’s voice with a selection of fixed guitars, single piano notes, and a chamber-pop string section, but it’s far from serene. It’s an indictment of a partner’s slowly emerging infidelity that gathers the pain and wrath of realizing it’s taken this long. PARELES





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