It’s that time of year when I share my top six music discoveries of the
year. As usual, I’d be surprised if many readers are familiar with more than
a couple of these, and expect most readers to not know of any of them. It
was also, as usual, very difficult to pick out only six. So I broke down and
extended my selection to eight – after all I didn’t sign any contracts for
the album count.
I first discovered The Olllam (note the 3 l’s) when I acquired their
first album in 2014 and loved their blend of traditional Irish pipes with groovy beats
from jazz and rock. As the years passed, I sadly accepted they would be a one-album
band, and was delighted to find my error with their second album this
year.
Ao Mar by Ão
sample track: Mulher
Ão is a four-piece band from Belgium that have blended the otherworldly
vocals of Brenda Corijn with trip-hop electronica. Corijn comes from
a Mozambican-Portuguese background and fronts the band with vocals that bring to mind
fado-inspired sounds (such as Madredeus). The rest of the music is part
guitar, electronics, and imaginative percussion. The overall effect has
that haunting, melancholic sound which I associate with Portugal.
Iceland has given the world a few quirky musical innovators, unafraid
to push into new territories. Here Jakob Magnússon combines a crew of such
characters with a rhythm section from the royalty of American Jazz-Fusion.
The result has the driving drums and imaginative bass of Weather Report
injected into a 2020s setting. It’s rather unhinged and a lot of fun.
Lope and Anitlope by Get the Blessing
sample track: Corniche
Get the Blessing describes this album as “The culmination of 4 days of
recording, 3 years of gigging and 12 years of drinking tea and gin.” It’s
one of the most distinctive sounds I’ve heard recently, layering a couple
of horns routed through electronics, layered over foundation of rhythm
sections and more electronics. The result is distinctly a horn-led jazz
sound, inspired by Ornette Coleman, with solid melodic sense and a finish
that’s vaguely unsettling.
Out of the Blue by Las Lloronas
sample track: Au Revoir
The over-reaching feeling I get from this album is playfulness, three
women from Brussels taking a delight in gentle music that blends vocal
harmonies, guitar, accordion, silky clarinet, and a dash of slam poetry. It’s full of little
surprises, like a walk though a cheerful, yet unknown city, smiling at the
oddities we bump into.
Indian classical music has an eminent lineage, which I’ve dabbled with
listening but usually without any great excitement. I’ve enjoyed it more
Indian musical traditions mesh with western ones, and I’ve found several
good examples of that in jazz. This time it’s a classical mix as a sitar and sarod
interplay with a string quartet, urged on by the beat of energetic tabla players.
Emel is a Tunisian singer whose fame rose from her protest songs during
the Arab Spring. Her work adopts many mainstream musical
elements, complementing her haunting voice (singing in English, Arabic,
and French) with danceable beats, electronic funk, and rap. She strived to
make this album with an entirely female team and their concoction takes
those mainstream elements into an adventurous package.
A mesmerizing jazz album that entangles me in the interaction of bass,
sax, guitar, and vibes. Carlos Bica is an established Portuguese bass
player, and formed a quartet with three younger musicians. I enjoy music
that’s about texture, and this quartet weaves a delightfully soft sound
playing around and accentuating the warm resonances of the vibraphone.
I ran into this music following the tracks of two main sources. Dave Sumner’s column has led me into many
less-travelled corners of Jazz where gems like this have been lurking. Songlines has been the return of an old friend,
casting a wide net of the landscape of World Music. (And I still enjoy leads
from OK Jazz, although that podcast has been sadly
quiet this year).
