Stop and Hear the Music

Baboon Strength is the latest release from Charlie Hunter. He recorded it with drummer Tony Mason, and keyboardist Erik Deutsch. This album, released on Hunter’s label, is a departure from what we’re used to hearing from him.

When I heard the first track, Athens, I started laughing. I just couldn’t contain myself. Baboon Strength isn’t what I expected at all. I have to admit at first I thinking, What the heck is this? But it definitately grew on me.

I love this crazy album. It’s inspired a dancing-good time in this household. It reminds me of sixties surf music recorded eighties style.

My favorite tracks are Difford_Tilbrook, Song for Karen Carpenter, and Porter_Hayes. Download a sample track from the CD below and check out the CD for a good laugh and some wild dancing.
Charlie Hunter
“Welcome to Frankfurt” (mp3)
from “Baboon Strength”
(reapandsow, Inc.)

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More On This Album

I bought this CD at the mall after seeing a movie. The movie and the CD are in no way related. I don’t even remember what the movie was, but I still listen to the CD all the time. On the way home a pelican pooped on the car. It was terrifying. We were grooving in the car to the CD when there was a sudden thud and the windshield was covered in thick greenish yellow stuff. We couldn’t see anything. That’s okay though. My husband is used to not being able to see while he’s driving. The whole front of the car was covered in it. We had to stop at a car wash before we went home.

Anyway, this CD has been one of my favorites ever since I got it. I haven’t written about it until now because I was afraid of getting sued. Apparently, Prince has been suing all of his fan-sites for using his image without his permission.

The best song on the CD in my humble opinion is Black Sweat. The best line from that song is “I don’t want take my clothes off, but I do.” Prince always wants to take his clothes off. I don’t know what a black sweat is. If your sweat is black, you should probably see a doctor. I’m listening to the CD right now and Black Sweat just came on. I have to stop writing because I must dance.

I usually listen to music when I clean. Saturday is my big house cleaning day. I stick in a good CD–something I can sing along too–and clean every inch of our apartment. We have a small apartment so it doesn’t take long. This past Saturday I listened to Jasmine Jamillah’s When Heaven Falls while I cleaned.

When Heaven Falls is a CD full of original songs written by Jasmine Jamillah. Her voice is soulful and breathy. Most of the songs are about heartache and love lost. Though these are common topics for songs, this album has a quirky likability that makes it stand out.

My favorite song on the album is The Happiest Days. Yes, it’s another song about a break-up but it’s a particularly moving one.

You can check out Jasmine Jamillah’s CD on her website or on her MySpace page.

My old college roommate got in touch with me through MySpace recently. I love hearing from old friends. I especially love hearing from old friends who are making good music. I just wanted to do this fast post so that you can hear some of her stuff.

The band is called Gamma, Like Very Ultra and I created a new category just for them. You can hear some of their music on their MySpace page. You can hear more of their music on this MySpace page too.

Sometimes all I want to do is sit and think about where I’m going and where I’ve been. Sometimes I need to close to close my eyes and be transported to another place. That’s what Ibrahima Faye’s Gudd Fann Live Long does for me.

Faye is heavily influenced by his Senegalese roots. He interweaves traditional and modern music in this album. His unique singing style has caused some controversy in my house. My husband and I are both very opinionated about music and sometimes we disagree. I have a weakness for unique gravely voices and that’s something I really like about the CD. The more I listen to the CD, the more I like it. The more I like it, the more it makes me smile.

I especially like the modern version Mame Boye. It’s reflective. Even though I have no idea what he’s saying, I’m sure it’s something really important. All of the songs sound like Faye is saying something very important.

Besides being a singer, poet and music Faye paints. Check out his paintings here. They are very good.

You can check out his CD here.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio – The Best Radio On Radio

The Half of It’s newly released self-titled CD has recently found its way into my CD collection. This Philadelphia based quartet’s brand of jazz fusion makes you sit up and take notice.

I’m a writer and I usually listen to music while writing. Some music is good for that. This CD isn’t and that’s a good thing. When I’m listening to The Half of It, I want to pay attention to what’s going on in the music. It doesn’t fade into the background. There is so much going on musically and I want to hear every bit of it.

This CD is full of original tunes. The rhythm section is tight and has a really good feel. My favorite track is D’faij. It’s really funky and has inspired some of my best chair dancing (dancing whilst remaining seated) to date.

Check out their website here and their MySpace page here. The CD is available for sale at CD Baby and can be downloaded from iTunes.

For a long time whenever I got into my husband’s car Right Now Move was playing. I like this CD so it made riding in my husband’s car more enjoyable. Normally I don’t like his car. I especially don’t like driving his car. I’m not saying that his car is any worse than my car. I’m just saying that I’d rather drive my car.

Anyway, Right Now Move brings me much joy. I often listen to it while I’m writing. I love hearing the saxophone, trombone and chromatic harmonica together. Most of the tunes are original. I especially like the groove on Oakland. I also like Changui. I wonder what Changui means. It’s a CD worth checking out.

I recently got a new CD and was playing it while writing one of my blogs. “What’s this?” my husband asked when he came into the room. “This is good. What is it?” he asked again.

I didn’t want to tell him. It is rare that I find music that he can’t identify, but thinks is good. After letting him ask a few more times I finally came clean and told him.

Soul Cycle is a New York based group that blows my mind. I’ve been listening to Urban Organics constantly for several days. Once I find a CD I like I listen to it over and over again for a month straight.

The funky rhythms make me want to get up and dance. When I’m driving they make me go a little too fast. I guess I can’t hold the band responsible for my speeding tickets, can I?

I’m partial to the saxophone, so the first thing that I noticed about the CD was that the sax playing is great. When my father heard the CD–he’s a jazz pianist–he kept saying, “Who’s that piano player? I really like what he’s doing.”

Usually, I write about my favorite tracks on a CD, but I like all of them on this one. I just went through all of the tracks again to find a favorite and I really can’t choose a favorite.

You can check out the band on their MySpace page. You can download their music on iTunes. You can buy the CD from CD Baby.

Cameroonian bassist and singer, Richard Bona’s CD Tiki is one of my favorites. It makes me feel great. He plays a lot of the instruments on it himself. The rhythms on the tracks are complex and exciting. The vocals are great.

The first time I heard this CD, I was sitting on the floor flipping through a catalog, wondering why everything in catalogs seem so expensive and unappealing to me. My husband was at the computer. He was going through a stage of searching out and listening to bass players he’d never heard of before, when he stumbled upon Richard Bona. When he played a sample of the first song on Tiki I wasn’t blown away or anything. Actually I don’t really like the first two songs on the CD. I always skip them. But after the first two songs, it’s great. My husband bought the CD and I promptly kidnapped it.

I own a few Cassandra Wilson CD’s and they’re all very good. She is one of my favorite modern singers. She delivers up a relaxed sound that can’t be confined by genre. Thunderbird is a great example of this. I love her smoky voice. I wish my voice sounded like that. I’m not willing to smoke all the cigarettes required to get that affect. Actually, I guess I’d need to have a good voice in the first place before I consider smoking. If I did smoke, it probably wouldn’t improve my singing, I’d just get lung cancer. If I did have a good singing voice, maybe I’d start smoking so that it could sound like that–nevermind the lung cancer.

My favorite songs on this CD include Lost which is a nice song featuring voice and guitar. I have a weakness for ballads. I also really like the interesting sounds on Go to Mexico.