I couldn't come up with ten. I blame myself, living out in the woods with tenuous internet and not seeking out as I should have new sounds this year, at least not with the usual amount of diligence. I know there were things I missed, which this year's staff lists revealed to me. I was aware that I should be hip to Solange's new one. I wasn't even thinking about Thao & the Get … [Read more...]
Nextbop’s Favorite Non-Jazz Albums of 2016
It was difficult to find engagement in this year's music. This was a year of loss, of disappointment, of scattershot feelings and even moreso scattershot expression. This isn't to say there want immense work of quality, which makes discovering it even more intriguing. There wasn't a lot of overlap in our staff lists this year, which made for a group of rather exciting … [Read more...]
DD Horns – “Salty Salty” (Video)
Chris Schlarb continues to do great things out of California's BIG EGO Studios. The Psychic Temple leader produced the upcoming debut album from trumpeter Danny Levin and tenor saxophonist David Moyer. The pair have been a part of the Psychic Temple for many years and now they are set to release their own project, DD Horns, this coming March. The group -- which features Blake … [Read more...]
Psychic Temple ‘Plays Music for Airports’
Brian Eno's 1978 album Ambient 1: Music for Airports is Capital "I" Important. It's a landmark album for what was at the time a fledgling genre, ambient. It's an album open to contemplation. It settles on the ear and has done so for almost forty years, so it's understandable that it's an album apt for reinterpretation by a certain brand of musical weirdo. Chris Schlarb is that … [Read more...]
Psychic Temple – ‘III’
I was worried a couple years ago when Chris Schlarb, the band/cult-leader of the Psychic Temple, told me he was going in a more folk/pop direction in the next album. I was doing a lot of juggling of balls back then when I was hosting Schlarb's show in San Antonio in 2014 in support of his solo album, Making the Saint, but I'm not sure if Pet Sounds entered into the conversation … [Read more...]