{"id":19893,"date":"2020-11-21T05:30:10","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T10:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=19893"},"modified":"2020-11-21T13:31:26","modified_gmt":"2020-11-21T18:31:26","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-for-november-2020-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/21\/hundred-word-reviews-for-november-2020-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews for November 2020, Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s five more quick reviews. Powerpop, ambient, jazz and more.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nick Frater \u2013 <\/b>Fast <\/b><\/i>&<\/b><\/i> Loose<\/b><\/i>
\nThe title might lead the uninitiated to suspect that Nick Frater\u2019s album is something along the lines of the Stooges. Well, it\u2019s not. Instead, it\u2019s melodic, tuneful and highly appealing rock that has the best elements of subgenres (classic-, power-) but doesn\u2019t fit neatly into any of those boxes. The album opens with an instrumental theme that has the cool swagger of Paul Weller. The rest of the album is just near-perfectly crafted music that is sure to please anyone who thinks that rock peaked with Rubber Soul<\/i>, Straight Up<\/i> and Fresh Raspberries<\/i>. But it doesn\u2019t sound<\/i> like those records!<\/p>\n

\"\"Raed Khashoukgi \u2013 Twilight<\/i><\/b>
\nIf you\u2019re the sort of listener who appreciates the lush, evocative soundscapes of Brian Eno\u2019s instrumental tracks like \u201cIn Dark Trees\u201d and \u201cSombre Reptiles\u201d on 1975\u2019s Another Green World<\/i>, here\u2019s a brand-new album that you may find of similar interest. But there\u2019s more than classic ambient (so to speak) going on here; Twilight<\/i> also explores world music textures (\u201cJupiter\u201d), electronica (\u201cUnder Control\u201d), synthy krautrock (\u201cDinner With Mono\u201d) and more, sometimes simultaneously. Khashoukgi plays everything, and it\u2019s heady stuff. The wordless tunes are impressionistic, and you\u2019ll likely develop mind-pictures of your own as you spend time with this beguiling, intriguing collection.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Foreign Films \u2013 Ocean Moon<\/i><\/b>
\nBill Majoros is the Ontario musician who is, in fact, The Foreign Films. The new album is subtitled New Songs and Hidden Gems<\/i>, but the CD booklet doesn\u2019t elaborate on the origin of the nine songs, all penned by Majoros. He consistently writes finely crafted, moody, memorable midtempo music that bears the influence of Pet Sounds<\/i>, but with a more rockist sensibility. While quite good, Majoros\u2019 vocals nearly always seem to come from the same emotional place, imparting a slight samey-ness to the tunes. Reminiscent of the Hudson Brothers, \u201cDown on the Boulevard (Pinball Kid)\u201d is a notable, welcome exception.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"Erk \u2013 When Night Meets Day<\/i><\/b>
\nI know, I know: Never judge a book (or an album) by its cover. Keeping that in mind, I popped When Night Meets Day<\/i> into my CD player. The music is way better than the cover art. \u201cLiving My Life Without You\u201d perfectly evokes the \u201850s nostalgia of some \u201970s music, if you follow where I\u2019m going. If you dug TV themes, The Motors\u2019 \u201cThat\u2019s What John Said\u201d and John\u2019s \u201c(Just Like) Starting Over,\u201d you\u2019ll thrill to this album. If we\u2019re calling it powerpop, then Erk\u2019s album is one of the best I\u2019ve heard in quite awhile. Most enthusiastically recommended.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jim Waller Big Band \u2013 Bucket List<\/i><\/b>
\nAnyone with the persistence of vision to organize a big band in 2020 deserves praise, if only in recognition of the challenges they\u2019ve certainly faced and overcome. But Bucket List<\/i> earns my admiration because it\u2019s a fine album as well. With a mix of originals (by saxophonist and band leader Waller) and classics (by Hoagy Carmichael, Gershwin, Billie Holiday etc.) it\u2019s a delight start to finish. There\u2019s Latin-flavored material (\u201cSamba for Suzell\u201d), but most of Bucket List<\/i> is uptempo, brassy, sexy stuff. Even the vocals and occasional scatting \u2013 characteristics I don\u2019t usually enjoy in this context \u2013 are top-rate. Great stuff.<\/p>\n

More to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s five more quick reviews. Powerpop, ambient, jazz and more. Nick Frater \u2013 Fast & Loose The title might lead the uninitiated to suspect that Nick Frater\u2019s album is something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,42,49,51,55,62,65],"tags":[4355,4353,1259,3631,4354,4352],"class_list":["post-19893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ambient","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-pop","category-powerpop","category-rawk","category-review","tag-erk","tag-jim-waller","tag-kool-kat-musik","tag-nick-frater","tag-read-khashougki","tag-the-foreign-films","cat-5-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-55-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19893"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20219,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19893\/revisions\/20219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}