Topic: The Music Thread

@nessisonett I could definitely get on board with that. Wooden boards mandatory?

@TheBrandedSwordsman I don’t know the ins and outs of hip-hop as a genre so bear with me. I’ve always really enjoyed Swollen Members. They blew up huge here in Canada but don’t seem to be doing much as of late, presumably due to Prevail and Rob the Viking’s latest project, XL The Band, which I highly recommend checking out. I’ll post a song here. I also like Mighty Mystic and Classified. That’s probably good for now 😄

@Jimmer-jammer I'll check that out soon. Already saved an XL The Band album to my Spotify library so likely that'll get a listen tomorrow morning. Now here's one for you since you mentioned you were familiar with Wu Tang

@Jimmer-jammer Really like the Opus No 1 album by XL The Band - have you ever met any of them, like Mitch Davis? How did you hear about them? Do they have other albums or is that just the only one available on Spotify? Added them to my Hip Hop playlist.

Edit: I really like the female vocals on the album as well.

@TheBrandedSwordsman I heard of them as I’m a fan of Swollen Members and half of XL The Band is made up of 2/3rds of Swollen Members. I don’t know any of them at all but it’s an absolutely brilliant project. That said, a childhood friend of mine who tours extensively in Europe with his project Ghost Woman might actually be to your liking if you can get out to see them. Very cool project also.

I don’t have Spotify but I gave a few songs on that Masta Killa album a listen. Really enjoyed it! Thanks!

@TheBrandedSwordsman I thought it might be appropriate to move this over here.

I’m always open to some recommendations, especially within a genre so vast as jazz!

A few names I’m digging that i can throw out there are, Art Blakey, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Miles Davis, Bobby Hutcherson, Charles Mingus…

A few modern ones are Yussef Dayes, Moses Boyd, DoomCannon, Kamaal Williams, Nubya Garcia and Alfa Mist

I quite like some more Jazz adjacent stuff like Surprise Chef and Mildlife too

@AgentCooper Haha, yeah good idea to move it over here. Depending on which period of Davis you like, his former sideman, a certain John Coletrane might be up your street. If you prefer his classic period then 'A Love Supreme' is a must-listen, if you prefer his electric stuff and like the Mingus album 'Charles Mingus Presents' (which is also great if you haven't heard it) then his free-er stuff like 'Ascension' and 'Live in Seattle' are also great albums.

You might also want to check out the Live: Cookin' at Blue Note at Montreux' and 'Kofi' by Donald Byrd as a gateway into the great man's music. Other great albums from that period are 'Quartet' by the legendary Herbie Hancock with Wynton Marsalis (another amazing trumpeter) as his sideman, the only horn man, on that record. 'Red Clay' by Freddie Hubbard and 'Soul Station' by Hank Mobley are musts as well.

With regard to the modern stuff, I am most familiar with Nubya Garcia out of the names you mentioned, and her work with the collective 'Nerija' and the jazz ensemble 'London Brew' (one self-titled album, loosely inspired/an homage to 'Bitches Brew' by Davis) are albums I'm sure you will dig as well, especially the latter.

If you like that guitar on 'London Brew', may I also recommend the album 'Knopperz' by another modern jazz player, Dave Okumu, who plays guitar on 'London Brew' it's more of a jazz/hip hop mashup (but completely instrumental) though, that last one, but so much of modern jazz is inspired by hip hop anyway. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah's album 'Axiom' is great modern jazz as well.

Right I think that's enough for now, and all I can think of anyway!

Hopefully you'll report back on which ones of those you enjoy the most.

Good luck! ,

TBS

Edit: Just remembered some more modern jazz: 'Omega' and 'The 7th Hand' by Immanuel Wilkins, and 'Beauty is Enough' (solo saxophone record) by Ambrose Akinmusire.

@Jimmer-jammer Tagging you in this post now as I said I would.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Thanks friend! You've given me plenty to explore, though it make take me some time to get through/source a lot of this. I've recently cancelled my apple music sub so looking to seek my music from other, more deliberate sources, which may help me combat the sense of being overwhelmed I was feeling and be more focused with my music listening.

Quite familiar with John Coltrane as it were, though I still went back and (please forgive me) streamed A Love Supreme on youtube and it truly is a fantastic record. I particularly love Resolution and Psalm

EDIT: I actually forgot about a record by Coltrane, I was listening to recently called Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album it came out in '18 and is very good

I'll have a proper think when I get the chance about other artists and records I can recommend in reciprocation.

Hope you're well, friend 👍

@AgentCooper Good luck on your listening journey and I hope my recommendations bring you much pleasure.

@Voltan I recently discovered Black Classical Music by Yussef Dayes, amazing album. Heard that one?

@TheBrandedSwordsman I have not, will check out
Edit: oh, this is very good so far

@Voltan Cool man, glad you like it. How's things going with the band(s)? Since we last spoke.

New favourite song that I discovered through John Wick: Chapter 4:

So good.

@Jimmer-jammer Hey man, I liked Ghost Woman but music with vocals outside of hip hop isn't generally my thing. I think it might have had something to do with being in a couple of rock and metal bands as a teenager and doing lead vocals in two of them, something about that just put me off I think. It's hard to explain. Now limiting myself to the guitar feels more organic.

Anyway, I gave a long list of jazz albums to @AgentCooper, so I'll tag you in that post as well and then hopefully it will show up in your notifications. If you can't find it feel free to just scroll through, hopefully there'll be something in there that you like, and please feel free to report back on your favourites. Saves recommending stuff for a while. Good luck, and happy hunting!

@TheBrandedSwordsman Fair enough! Thanks, looks like a pretty comprehensive list. Still need to check out the last one you recommended. As you know, rock is much more my wheelhouse in general but I’ve enjoyed branching out here and there. I’ll let you know my thoughts!

Excellent hip hop album, probably the best I've heard this year. The Elephant Man's Bones by Roc Marciano x The Alchemist deserves an honorable mention too, though.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Thanks buddy! Haven’t had much time to listen to music recently but I did go to an Alfa Mist gig on Sunday and it was incredible, and his own guitarist did a supporting set if his own material 👍

@AgentCooper I'm glad you enjoyed the gig man, I just checked out the first track on Resynthesis by Leeming, it was quite pretty. I prefer tracks with guitar solos in them, from jazz guitarists, though.

Jazz recommendation this time, contemporary jazz, excellent work.

Listening to a lot of Black Thought recently. This is one of his better works, although all his output is high in quality.

How do you embed a spotify playlist on this thing? I'm a peabrain and don't know how to do it and I like to share my best of the year playlists so it feels like I've accomplished something.