pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

Nine Stories!

In this episode: The new Masada Quintet with special guest Joe Lovano, the Jenny Owen Youngs‘ video that I somehow missed, Nellie McKay‘s Election musical, Fanfarlo for $1, the deaths of JazzTimes & Jeff Hanson, the resurrection of Futurama, a new Wussy video, and Asthmatic Kitty’s most excellent Library Catalog Music Series…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The new Masada Quintet with special guest Joe Lovano just came out for June on Tzadik Records.  It’s the original Masada Quartet (John Zorn on alto sax, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass & Joey Baron on drums) plus pianist Uri Caine… plus special guest tenor sax Joe Lovano.  Holy cow!!!  It’s the first official studio release from the Masada Quartet since 1999’s י [Yod] (or 2005 if you count the unreleased/rarities compilation Sanhedrin).  This album is bound to be at the top of my “best of” list for 2009.

This video from Jenny Owen Youngs came out in September 2007.  How did I miss it?  It’s a brilliant singer-songwriter cover of rapper Nelly‘s “Hot in Herre” (so take off all your clothes).  I bought the iTunes single… great stuff:

Nellie McKay is writing a musical based on the book/movie Election.  Read more about it over on Brooklyn Vegan blog.

Fanfarlo just put on their debut album, Reservoir, for $1.  Fanfarlo is a London-based band founded by Swedish musician Simon Balthazar.  Nice textured indie pop… think Sigur Rós meets Sufjan Stevens.  The album, in full, is available for only $1.00 until July 4th, 2009 at http://www.fanfarlo.com/.

The economy took another print-media victim.  This time it’s the death (or “temporary suspension”) of JazzTimes magazine.  The 38 year old magazine couldn’t maintain readership in the new era of online content.  It’s a sad day, as it was a great magazine.  I hope it’s able to come back later in some form or another under new ownership, as mentioned in the Howard Mandel article.

Whispy singer-songwriter Jeff Hanson died last Saturday (6/5) after an accidental fall on his cement-floored apartment in St. Paul, MN. Jeff was known for his feminine vocal style and songwriting/sound similar to late indie rocker Elliott Smith (who also died young).  He had three great albums out on Kill Rock Stars.  I hate to sound selfish, but I’m bummed I missed him when he recently came through Portland.  We lost another one, far too young…

In “Oh Sweet, Futurama’s On” News, the resurrection of Futurama is eminent.  Much like Family Guy, the popularity soared even after being originally canceled.  Futurama had some straight-to-DVD movies recently, and it will return with new 26 episodes on Comedy Central in the winter 2010.

A favorite band of mine from Cincinnati, Wussy, has a new “acoustic from an RV” video of “Maglite.”  They recently put out their 3rd full length album, and it lives up to the quality and momentum in their prior two albums (plus 1 EP).  Check out the video and then check out the album at Shake It Records:

Asthmatic Kitty’s most excellent Library Catalog Music Series just came out.  The naming of the series sounds… boring.  However, it’s really great instrumental music.  There are three issues thus far: 900X: Music for Lubbock 1980, Law of the Least Effort: Music for Measurements, and Casey Foubert/James McAlister: Music for Drums.  My favorite is the 900X one.  Really, really good electronic, post-rockiness. If you liked a more “sane” version of Sufjan Steven’s Enjoy Your Rabbit, I bet you’d like the LCMS. Check it out at Asthmatic Kitty Records.

~Dan – np: Fanfarlo – Reservoir