Kate Tempest, "Tunnel Vision" (Fiction). I'll admit, my knowledge of white female British rappers is lacking. And I'm not sure why I clicked on the link to Kate Tempest's "Tunnel Vision" out of the hundreds of e-mails that flood my inbox daily. But I did, and my whim paid off. It says here that Tempest's 2016 LP Let Them Eat Chaos has been nominated for a Mercury Award, so it demands attention. She's also a poet, playwright, and spoken-word artist, so, you know, she has serious verbal skills. Thankfully, Tempest doesn't try to sound like a black American MC, like a lot of UK artists do. Instead, Tempest's thick British accent rings loudly and proudly; her flow is smooth and emphatic, her words trenchant and urgent. "Tunnel Vision" strikes stealthily like a low-key anthem for millennials seething over the world their elders have extravagantly fucked up for them. This artfully stark electro track is a two-fingered salute to every motherfucker who thinks "social justice warrior" is a clever slur. "Atomized, thinking we're engaged when we're pacified/Staring at the screen so we don't have to see the planet die" = truth bomb.
Funkadelic, "Cosmic Slop (Moodymann Mix)" (Ace). My Detroit pride got the best of me, so I'm sliding this one in here. Hope you don't mind. Honestly, though, it's always a good idea to expose folks to old Funkadelic classics, in no matter what form they come. And when you have a house-music legend like Moodymann tweaking the contours of a transcendent funk jam like "Cosmic Slop," well, you need to pay respect and sweaty up your headphones. Moodymann spiritualizes this slinky, libidinous epic, and you can visualize all the raised hands on the dance floor for its entire nine-plus minutes. This remix appears on Funkadelic - Reworked by Detroiters, which you should put on your want list. Warning: If your mother has passed away, you will cry hard to this song.
Kyle Craft, "Something on Your Mind" (Sub Pop). Karen Dalton covers aren't too plentiful these days, so when one comes along, we should celebrate it. Hence, this blurb about Kyle Craft's rendition of "Something on Your Mind," which is respectful and so tailored for Craft's angelic male voice, it's scary. Dalton was a special folk/blues singer whose woody timbre is instantly recognizable and gratifyingly warm. "Something on Your Mind" is one of those rare tunes in which elation and deflation coexist in ideal harmony, and Craft nails its grandiose ascents and graceful descents. Let's hope this version stirs more interest in Dalton's small but excellent catalog, which Light in the Attic has reissued. (This song comes from Sub Pop's "Girl Crazy" series of covers; the other side features Craft doing Patti Smith's "Distant Fingers.")
New Age Healers, "Another Side" (via Bandcamp). Based in both Minneapolis and Seattle, New Age Healers purvey a distinctly '90s shoegaze-rock sound with aspirations for big-festival appearances. Think Failure divided by the square root of the Jesus and Mary Chain. Leader Owen Murphy has a deft hand and foot for slyly catchy melodies and occasional anthemic flourishes. "Another Side" is the most tintinnabulating and poignant song on New Age Healers' recently released Where the Tragic Happens album. The Swervedriver-esque undertow of moroseness and sighing chorus contrast with lyrics about Molotov cocktails and reasons to fight and die. It all sounds so swooningly romantic, even as Murphy sings about a "cesspool that will possess you." New Age Healers perform tonight at Lo-Fi with Black Nite Crash and Blackpool Astronomy.
Larry Conklin & Jochen Blum, "Water & Time" (Tompkins Square). Some unearthed Seattle music history right here... Twelve-string acoustic guitarist/Army veteran/Bert Jansch disciple Larry Conklin recorded and self-released the Jackdaw album in 1980 (which includes violin duets with Jochen Blum), and now the esteemed Tompkins Square label is reissuing it on October 6; you can pre-order the LP here. Conklin unspools gorgeous cascades of tranquility over "Water & Time's" seven minutes; anyone into John Fahey's Takoma Records roster should investigate. (Trivia: Conklin's "The Diamond Cutter" was used as a campaign song by mayoral candidate Charles Royer in 1985; he won the election.)
Noteworthy September 15 album releases: Gucci Mane, Mr. Davis (GUWOP Enterprises/Atlantic); Foo Fighters, Concrete and Gold (RCA); Gary Numan, Savage (Songs from a Broken World) (BMG); 4AD); Hundred Waters, Communicating (OWSLA); Lee Ranaldo, Electric Trim (Mute); Open Mike Eagle, Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (Mello Music Group); Prophets of Rage, Prophets of Rage (Caroline); Ringo Starr, Give More Love (Universal); Yusuf, The Laughing Apple (Cat-O-Log); Emily Haines/Emily Haines & the Soft Skeletons, Choir of the Mind (Last Gang); Myrkur, Mareridt (Relapse); Antibalas, Where the Gods Are in Peace (Daptone); Mike Gordon, OGOGO (ATO).
