Best Albums of August 2024 Playlist
Amelia
LAURIE ANDERSON
feat. ANOHNI
Released 30 August 2024
Canal Street Communications / Nonesuch Records
*****
The avant-garde legend's moving album takes on a daunting task: to tell the story of Amelia Earhart, and her perilous attempt to fly around the world. Shaped by Anderson's personal response to the pilot's story, the album is a reflection on what our heroes reveal about ourselves.
"The idea? To fly from California back to California—to circle the world," purrs avant-garde composer Laurie Anderson in the opening of Amelia, a masterful, cinematic album charting the final voyage of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.
In 1937, Earhart attempted to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate Earth, reaching the final leg of her journey before her plane vanished over the Pacific Ocean—never to be recovered.
Anderson's spoken-word vignettes, delivered over haunting orchestral and ambient electronic arrangements, reconstruct the journey from the pilot's surviving letters and reports. When asked on BBC Radio 4 why Earhart's story appealed to Anderson, who first conceived Amelia as a stage performance 24 years ago, her answer is simple: "She was a bad girl pilot—and I liked that."
The album plays like an audio documentary, achieving an immersive experience by drawing directly from Earhart's writings.
Anderson's musical arrangements bring Earhart's 1937 flightpath to life, putting shaky, surround sound instrumentation in direct communication with her voice.
Featured artist ANOHNI contributes gorgeous, dreamy vocals on six of the albums 22 tracks.
Anderson's vocals as Earhart are distorted as if transmitted through a radio mic, reflecting the unreliable radio signals that her safety depended on. This brings urgency to her exasperated cry in "Fly into the Sun," fighting to be heard amid the tense arrangement of yearning, quickly bowed strings: "Where did I get this obsession to hurl myself against the sky?" That lyric is central to Anderson's approach to storytelling in Amelia, not only because of questions the album invites about Earhart's motivations, but also because it isn't actually something the pilot ever said.
This relationship between Anderson and her subject is what elevates Amelia from mere biography into an enormously moving, poignant creative triumph.
Read more ... Pitchfork, New York Times
No More Water
The Gospel of James Baldwin
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
Released 2 August 2024
*****
This is a work of complexity and depth, one that relies on repeated listens to gauge the many layers of its meaning but also one that can convey the sincerity of its instrumental ingenuity simply from its first sounds.
Marking the centenary of James Baldwin’s birth, Meshell Ndegeocello’s latest album for Blue Note, following 2023’s stellar Omnichord Real Book, takes the visionary black writer’s oeuvre as her inspiration. Across a sprawling 17 tracks, Ndegeocello draws on everything from Baldwin’s writings on race and the class struggle in America to suicide, sexual identity, Civil Rights and the artist’s responsibility to society. It is an involved and potentially overwhelming range of topics to improvise from, yet the strength of No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin lies in Ndegeocello’s capacity to subsume lofty ideas within the heartfelt thump of her groove.
While spoken word interludes from poet Staceyann Chin and critic Hilton Als take a more literal approach to Baldwin’s work, interpolating his writing into explorations of Black Lives Matter and contemporary politics, it’s in Ndegecello’s music that we get closest to the spirit of Baldwin’s urgency and vitality. From opener ‘Travel’, which weaves spoken word with syncopated funk, to the thundering hand drums and percussion of ‘Another Country’, the plaintive bass melodies of ‘What Did I Do?’ and the ecstatic West African polyrhythms of ‘Pride I’, Ndegeocello manages to instil each composition with a lively and emotionally-charged energy.
Read more ... Jazzwise
Kover, Other
ROSIE LOWE
Released 16 August 2024
Blue Flowers Music / [PIAS]
*****
This is a record that knows its history, but has an eye on the future too – but most of all, stylistic questions aside, it’s an individualist singer-songwriter stepping up to whole new levels of achievement.
Over the past decade, she’s shown a great amount of range, bringing experimental indie, post-classical composition and more into the mix – working with maverick talents like Little Simz, Jay Electronica and Duval Timothy – but always with soulful expression at the heart of everything. And on this, produced by Lowe with Harvey Grant and D’Monk, that’s come right to the fore for the most part. The opening salvo of the acapella “Sundown” and hazy, woozy “Mood to Make Love” rolling into the absolutely classic trip hop of “In My Head” is one of the most enticing album openers you’ll hear this year, for starters.
Head-nod tempo and velvety vocals predominate, but it’s not 90s retro by any means. Lowe’s production is done with the scientific precision of the greatest sampler-wranglers, bringing out both micro details of texture and a huge sense of space within her breakbeats and instrumentation. There are distinctly spicy moments too, like the jagged, panicky funk of “Berzerk” and the bittersweet Detroit techno-leaning chant-along “Something” but they’re so well placed in the mix that the underlying flow of the record continues inexorably.
Read more ... The Arts Desk
Amen
JOY GUIDRY
Released 10 May 2024
Whited Sepulchre Records
*****
Piercing and purposeful, raw and real, Guidry’s past and present music permeates with intelligence and openness. Sonically, the meditative pulses of ambient music blended with elements of jazz and soul, forming something new and true.
AMEN is the 3rd release by bassoonist / composer / producer Joy Guidry. Representing a major step up in her ability to fully realize and embody a sound and concept, AMEN moves from rousing, rafter-splitting spiritual jazz and gospel compositions to ambient compositions that create a powerful statement of communal healing and peace. The album features contributions by Niecy Blues, Kalia Vandever, Jillian Grace, and Jessie Cox.
Love is a verb. It is an action taken, one that must be renewed within the self. It is a process of learning, evolution, and the very nature of what it means to nurture ourselves and others. And few artists know this as intimately as Joy Guidry, the Texas-bred, California-based bassoonist. The fruits of her efforts can be heard through Guidry's latest album, Amen.
Recognizing her trans identity and embracing the need to make difficult decisions with the people in her life brought forth the heart of Radical Acceptance. “There's nothing wrong with us. There's nothing wrong with any of us, when we look in the mirror, and we see something wrong, that was purely taught,” Guidry says.
Amen is the next step forward, one that calls in the power of community when embodying our true selves.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Wild God
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
Released 30 August 2024
Bad Seed / Play It Again Sam
****-
Throughout Wild God, the rattling fire of Thomas Wydler’s drums and the rolling undertow of Martyn Casey’s bass keep up the heat beneath the gracefully meandering, melodic arcs of Cave’s piano, Ellis’s violin, synths, flute and loops, Jim Sclavounos’s spine-tinglingly resonant vibraphone, and George Vjestica’s tender guitar. Melodies flood through the music and then disappear like currents. Wild God can feel fathomless, but it leaves you buoyant
Punk-turned-prophet Nick Cave often describes music as “sacred”. Performance, for him, is an act of communion with the audience. But Wild God, his 18th album with The Bad Seeds, feels more like a baptism: an ecstatic immersion in the rushing, pooling waters of love and loss that the sexagenarian artist has experienced since the death of his sons Arthur Cave (15) and Jethro Lazenby (31) in 2015 and 2022, respectively.
Across nine swelling, sinking, swirling soundscapes, the album’s imagery plunges listeners into the lakes and seas of a “swimming god” before bringing us up for air to gawp up at the stars (“bright, triumphant metaphors for love”) and then grounding us on a warm Earth where “the country doctor whistles across the meadow” and rocking us to sleep with the muffled piano ballad “As the Waters Cover the Sea”.
Cave has described each song on this record as an individual conversion – one track is titled as such – but you don’t need to subscribe to any religious faith to buy into the transformative power of love that is hymned here.
Read more ... The Independent
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Sophcore (EP)
MOSES SUMNEY
Released 2 August 2024
TUNTUM Records
****-
Over Sophcore’s recombinant grooves, Sumney radiates a sense of fun. Confidence in his vocal talents doesn’t congeal into self-regard. Turns out he’s right: Trills and melisma suit arrangements that swell and contract like protoplasmic organisms.
When Moses Sumney sings, “I am not a woman, I am not a man” in something close to his speaking voice on “Hey Girl,” I thought, Right on. He is himself and his artistic forebears too - namely, the Prince who offered a similar affirmation in “I Would Die 4 U” Then the kicker: “I am an amoeba.” The San Bernardino native of Ghanaian parents sings over squishy, squirrelly tracks whose post-Maxwell R&B foundations accommodate damaged rock rifflets and modest gospel overtones; you might imagine him practicing vocal runs in the bedroom before church. The six-song EP Sophcore - a curriculum vitae outlining his robust laryngeal resources - recaps Sumney’s achievements and sets up what audiences might expect from a new full-length statement. It’s a tease in the best sense.
Trending Now
Read more ... Pitchfork
Nara
EMILY WURRAMARA
Released 23 August 2024
Emily Wurramara / Australian Broadcasting Corporation
****-
Emily Wurramara’s latest album, NARA, is a musical journey that defies categorization and blends a diverse array of genres and influences. From indie and alt-pop to RnB, rock, and ambient sound, Emily fearlessly explores the complexities of life, love, and identity.
NARA is a testament to her unwavering commitment to artistic growth and weaves together thirteen years of personal and creative evolution into a cohesive and compelling narrative.
NARA opens with “Midnight Blues,” a track that immediately draws one in with its haunting melody and introspective lyrics. The song sets the tone for the album. A tone that is balanced between ethereal and earth, Emily’s voice soars above a bed of lush music and her delivery is delicate yet powerful. Her voice reflects the duality of her experiences: joy and sorrow, hope and despair. As she says, “You need both to truly understand peace.”
Throughout NARA, Emily collaborates with a range of artists that add depth and variety to her sound. But what truly sets NARA apart is its authenticity. Emily’s lyrics are steeped in honesty and reflection. They offer a window into her soul. She does not shy away from the difficult moments, her struggles with mental health, the devastation of losing her home, and the pressures of her public profile are all laid bare. Yet, there is also a sense of triumph, a celebration of survival and the joy found in community, family, and Country.
NARA is a statement of intent from an artist who refuses to be confined by expectations. Emily Wurramara has crafted a body of work that is as expansive as it is intimate, as complex as it is accessible. It is a celebration of life’s highs and lows, and a reminder of the beauty that can be found in both.
Read more ... Amplify The Noise
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Family (EP)
JALGANY
Released 10 August 2024
Jalgany
****-
They are songs about love, loss, trauma, survival and strength in Aboriginal culture. They are also stories about the long and winding road that is the life we all live. These stories were written and recorded to be shared with your own families and friends.
Jalgany is fronted by Nola Lauch, a Kirrae-wurrung/Bundjalung woman who lives on the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria, Australia - south west of Narrm / Melbourne.
Nola is a visual artist, singer and songwriter who is committed to celebrating and sharing Aboriginal music, art and culture - in 2017 Nola received a regional NAIDOC Artist of the Year award in recognition of her songwriting and live performances.
Nola entertains audiences with her powerful and soulful vocal style. ‘Jalgany’ is a Yugambeh language word meaning Aboriginal woman.
The second Jalgany EP is a collection of five songs that talk about family. They are deeply personal stories from Nola about her brother, her mother, her aunts and uncles and her grandparents.
Read more ... Jalgany
Waku Minaral A Minalay
CHRISTINE ANU
Released 9 August 2024
Christine Anu / Australian Broadcasting Corporation
****-
The literal translation of Waku is mat. Minaral is colours and Minalay means the patterns.
"The fabric of this album weaves together the songs of my maternal grandfather, Nadi Anu," she says.
Christine Anu spent many "hot, balmy nights" on the verandah at their rental in Wooloowin, Brisbane before her family relocated to Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait where she spent much of her childhood. Anu's parents taught their children how to speak Kala Lagaw Ya, her Dad's language, and Kalaw Kawaw Ya, her mother's, through song. "It was shown [to us] that [music] could take up space in a room, fill it and really give joy to other people," Anu says, adding that music was handed down to her Dad too. "His mother was also a prolific composer in her own right."
Anu has been a household name since she released a cover version of the Warumpi Band's Island Home in 1995.
The song was the second single on her debut album Stylin' Up which was certified platinum.
Anu was "dropped" by Mushroom Records after her 10-year contract expired. "There was no email, there was no phone call, there was no card," she said.
Now with ABC Music, she says she couldn't have released Waku – Minaral A Minalay all those years ago anyway. The time is now.
"What's sprung forth is a beautiful ancestor that is exactly the second album that should come from a debut if you took out everything that happened in between."
The album Waku – Minaral A Minalay, also the name of the lead single, is produced by David Bridie, who produced Stylin' Up.There are soundscapes captured from Anu's visit to Thursday Island with Bridie, as well as traditional instruments from the Torres Strait on the album, but the primary instrument is Anu's powerful and euphonic vocals.
Read more ... ABC
Twentyfour
AL DIMEOLA
Released 19 July 2024
earMUSIC / Edel Music
****-
It’s good to have Al Di Meola back on the music scene and this album is a fine reminder of what a talented musician he is.
Twentyfour is yet another album whose roots lie in the Covid-19 pandemic era. Originally conceived as a reflective acoustic guitar project, it now includes electric guitar and orchestral parts and was recorded in several studios across continents. It’s a double LP/CD release featuring 15 tunes, all composed and arranged by Di Meola.
A typical Al Di Meola album will include jazz, rock and flamenco, along with some Latin and world music. This album is no exception, although the emphasis is very much on an acoustic guitar/jazz-flamenco sound. If you’re one of those Di Meola fans who enjoy lots of fast, scorching guitar lines and dizzying runs, then you’ll find little of it on this album. But if you prefer the softer, melodic, more meditative side of Di Meola’s playing, there’s plenty here to savour.
Read more ... Jazz Views
When I'm Called
JAKE XERXES FUSSELL
Released 12 July 2024
Fat Possum Records
****-
Like the old field recorders who went out a-huntin’ for the songs in the first place, Fussell is fueled by the sense of mystery these songs often bring; he certainly does his due diligence delving into the mysteries of the lyrics and trying to figure out what’s really going on.
With an upbringing in folk music, he’s always been able to pull out lovely, subtle versions of obscure folk songs, but with his new album, When I’m Called (out July 12 on Fat Possum Records), he’s paying homage also to the field recordings of his late mentor, Art Rosenbaum. A Georgia art professor (Fussell grew up in Georgia, too), Rosenbaum’s not as celebrated as his field recording peers like Alan Lomax, but he roamed nearly as far as Lomax and had a gentle touch with field recordings that brought out great performances.
Joined by fellow outsider folk singers Joan Shelley and Robin Holcomb, Fussell certainly fits into a wave of indie folk that has taken old songs out of their lands of origin, and placed them in elementally raw, quiet settings, making them just right for new audiences to love; Sam Amidon is a musician doing this, too. What’s impressive is that both Fussell and Amidon love and KNOW the roots of the music they’re sharing; their interpretations become celebrations of the musical past.
Read more ... Folk Alley
Olhos D'águ
Fabiano do Nascimento, Daniel Santiago
Released 1 August 2024
Nascimento Music
****-
Nascimento and Santiago have conjured an enchanting, minimalist set of Brazilian-tinged, acoustic guitar pieces, some featuring ethereal guest female vocals.
Los Angeles-based Fabiano Do Nascimento is a multi-string guitarist and songwriter who melds the traditional idioms of his native Brazil (i.e., samba, choro) with the more contemporary and experimental strains of jazz, pop, and electronic music.
Raised in Rio and São Paulo before eventually relocating to Southern California as a teenager, Nascimento’s approach to guitar and songcraft is informed by an adolescence enmeshed in Brazil’s exceptionally fertile musical environs.
Daniel Santiago is a composer, guitarist and music producer who for the past 20 years has been an active and key contributor to the Brazilian and world music scenes. Originally from Brazil, Santiago is deeply rooted in the traditional sounds of his homeland, and also cites English rock of the 1970’s and 80’s and the contemporary aesthetic and complexities of modern jazz as major influences upon his unique and diverse musical world. His work is characterized by the development and search for an original sonic language, and a remarkable ability to translate deep, resonant emotion through whichever musical medium he chooses.
Read more ... Bandcamp, Spotify
MoonDial
PAT METHENY
Released 26 July 2024
Metheny Group / Modern Recordings
****-
Metheny describes the album as having an overall vibe of "intense contemplation" and being "a dusk-to-sunrise record, hard-core mellow." Lyrical, nuanced and beautiful, as lovely as a flower, it is designed to make ears smile.
Pat Metheny has rung the changes in lineups, trajectories and collaborators—Ornette Coleman, Jim Hall, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Haden, Gary Burton and more—so skillfully that every new Metheny album is still an event. It is a talent he shares with Charles Lloyd, who has been on the road and on record for even longer than Metheny.
MoonDial is the third movement, with variations, in a sequence of albums that began with One Quiet Night (Warner Bros., 2003) and continued with What's It All About (Nonesuch, 2011) - a solo recording, with no overdubs, on which Metheny plays only a baritone acoustic guitar (on the 2011 album he did play other guitars on three tracks, but it was mainly a baritone affair). The variations come with the guitar itself, a custom-built nylon-string instrument made by the renowned Linda Manzer. Coupled with a new kind of nylon string made in Argentina, the guitar allows Metheny to use a novel tuning system with a range from bass to soprano, something that he has previously found possible only with steel strings.
The program is split half and half between Metheny originals, written on the road in 2023, and covers, the latter including Chick Corea's "You're Everything" (check the YouTube below), Lennon and McCartney's "Here, There And Everywhere," Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere" and Matt Dennis' "Everything Happens To Me" and "Angel Eyes."
Read more ... All About Jazz
Remembrance
CHICK COREA & BELA FLECK
Released 10 May 2024
Bela Fleck / Thirty Tigers
****-
With a mix of jazz and pop standards, crossing a myriad of genres, from jazz, bluegrass, rock, flamenco and gospel, this will be a casual, intimate evening with two legends from different musical worlds.
Chick Corea & Béla Fleck, two master songwriters, musicians, and band leaders meet in a historic duet of piano and banjo. The Grammy-winning duet combines Corea and Fleck’s most recognizable tunes with the music from their Latin Grammy-winning album The Enchantment and their extraordinary live set Two (originally released in 2015 and now available on vinyl as well).
Remembrance serves as a moving final document of the profound creative and personal rapport that banjoist Béla Fleck and pianist Chick Corea first showcased at album length with 2007’s Latin Grammy-winning The Enchantment. Featuring three previously unreleased Corea compositions as well as five short free improvisations, or impromptus, that Fleck has infused with written music. “We pushed this duo to a new place before we ran out of time,” says Fleck, who produced Remembrance. “We have here another cool look at Chick Corea, at the different ways that he can play that we wouldn’t have had. There’s a lot of great Chick Corea out there, and this is different.”
Read more ... Bela Fleck
Chiromancy
TIM ROLLINSON
TOBY HALL, BRETT HIRST