Blood Harmony Volume 10: Spring Mix
So Done by Alicia Keys ft. Khalid, ALICIA, RCA Records, 2020. We’ve been listening to a lot of Foxy 107 at work (The Real Sound of The Triangle). It’s a really good station that plays a lot of old school and contemporary R&B. This song came on one day and just blew me away.
Fight For You by H.E.R., Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album, RCA, 2021. San Francisco artist H.E.R. plays tribute to Marvin Gaye and Sly and The Family Stone with this great track. Oscar nominated!
Lockdown by Koffee, Single, Promised Land Recording, 2020. Straight from Jamaica, Koffee is the youngest (AND ONLY FEMALE EVER) Grammy winner for Best Reggae album. This super catchy track explores the ups and downs of dating during COVID.
Love All Night (Work All Day) by YOLA, Walk Through Fire, Easy Eye Sound, 2019. Spotify has a new podcast called Duet that brings together two artists (musical or otherwise) to pick songs around a theme to listen to and discuss. It’s a lovely show and the episode with YOLA and Mavis Staples is probably the best one so far. YOLA is a British artist whose parents emigrated to the U.K. from Barbados. She makes country soul music and this album is just great. I missed it the first time around so this is catch-up.
Yak Sher by Farhot, Kabul Fire Volume 2, Kabul Fire Records, 2020. German-Afghani producer Farhot has produced music for Talib Kweli and Nneka. According to an interview with Megan Iacobini de Fazio on Bandcamp, he was planning to make a second volume of hip hop beats and musical influences changed direction after spending hours at home during COVID watching YouTube. “With the time to research and dive into different aspects of Afghan culture, what was supposed to be a mixtape of ‘leftover’ beats became a highly personal journey of discovery, an exploration of his own heritage through the songs, film, and art of a country he hadn’t been to since he was a baby. Kabul Fire Vol. 2 is a rich, nuanced collage of samples from Afghani films and documentaries, Dari poetry, and Pashto song, entwined with Farhot’s hip-hop beats, dramatic piano, and lush string orchestrations.”
Dirty Harry by Gorillaz ft. Bootie Brown, Demon Days, Parlophone Records, 2005. This came on KEXP recently and I remembered how awesome it is. I looked up the sample and it’s “Baby Hya” by The Lafayette Afro-Rock Band. Here’s a very cool article about that band and the different hip hop artists who have sampled them.
Dial 7 (Axioms of Creamy Spies)/NY 21 Theme by Digable Planets, Blowout Comb, Capitol Records, 1994. Digable Planets are one of my favorite hip hop groups of all time. They made two brilliant albums in the early 1990s and then went their separate ways, unfortunately. This track is so funky.
Feels Right by Biig Piig, Single, Sony Music, 2020. Irish artist Biig Piig made this bouncy, joyful tune.
Turnmills by Maribou State, Kingdoms in Colour, Counter Records, 2018. Also hailing from the U.K., Maribou State are an electronic duo and this song is named after a famous (now closed) club in London.
Don’t Judge Me by FKA twigs, Headie One and Fred again.., Single, Young Turks Recordings, 2021. More Brits! This is a haunting and beautiful collaboration between singer FKA Twigs, rapper Headie One and producer Fred again.. It’s about racism and struggle and it’s just gorgeous. I highly recommend the video as well.
Other Things:
Between Hit Parade and Switched on Pop, I recently learned that the majority of my favorite music was either made by or heavily influenced by the classic 70s band Chic (specifically guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards) all the way up through Dua Lipa’s awesome dance album from last year, Future Nostalgia. The Switched on Pop episode featured guitarist Cory Wong from Vulfpeck and it turns out he has a really great YouTube variety show. I loved the sketch in this episode about genre so much. “Let’s not talk about genre at the dinner table.”