Blood Harmony Volume 23: Winter Mix 2023

Shawna

Feb 5, 2023

Oh hey. I didn’t see you there.

People, it’s even cold here in North Carolina! Let’s listen to some music! And for my YouTube folks, here we go!

COME ON THROUGH by Eamon, No Matter The Season, 2022, Now-Again Records.

From his label’s page: I’ve been singing since I was a tike, promoters used to call me ‘the boy wonder’, but with this record it felt new, almost like I was singing every note as if my life depended on it,” says Eamon from his home in Southern California, a far cry from his native Staten Island, New York City. But you wouldn’t know his birthplace from the way he sings, especially on No Matter The Season, where Eamon put a new spin on vintage samples from the Now-Again catalog, crafting beats from various African rhythms such as Amanaz’s Zamrock, the Hygrades Nigerian funk, and Ayalew Mesfin’s Ethiopian tezetas.

GORILLA by Little Simz, No Thank You, 2022, AWAL Recordings, Ltd.

Little Simz was in Venom: Let There Be Carnage! I just wanted to point that out. From Will Pritchard’s Pitchfork review of the album: Childhood friend and longtime collaborator Inflo is at the helm across all 10 tracks. His deft touches were threaded through Sometimes I Might Be Introvert and 2019’s GREY Area, and he had a brush with the spotlight’s glare when he was tapped to work on Adele’s 30, but he’s generated the most intrigue for his work at the center of the mellifluous—and mysterious—musical collective SAULT, who have captivated an increasingly cultish audience with their run of rangy R&B albums and apparent willingness to discard industry playbooks (dropping five free, password-protected LPs with no more fanfare than a tweet being just the latest example). Often, NO THANK YOU sounds like a SAULT record fronted by Simz—see the gospel swells on “Broken,” or the slick, cool-as-fuck, plucked-bass bop of “Gorilla”—not only because of the palette of satin strings and funky drums, but because of the charming confidence and faith in collaboration that seep through, as they do on all of SAULT’s transformative records.

FANCY by Bobbie Gentry, Fancy, 1970, Capitol Records, Nashville.

Here’s a little country soul from Bobbie Gentry who kicks serious ass.

BEEN TO THE MOUNTAIN by Margo Price, Strays, 2023, Loma Vista Recordings.

And here’s some blues rock from the great Margo Price! “Used to be a waitress but now I’m a consumer.” Great line. Can’t wait to read her memoir!

POURQUOI FAIRE AUJOURD’HUI by Lisa LeBlanc, Chiac Disco, 2022, Bonsound.

From the Canadian Encyclopedia, chiac “is a specific type of discursive switching between French and English among individuals who are highly bilingual and have Acadian French as their mother tongue but Canadian English as their first or second language.” That’s Lisa LeBlanc! I believe the title roughly translates into “why do today what you could do tomorrow?”

Sunset by The Midnight, Endless Summer, 2019, The Midnight Music, LLC.

American synthwave band writes best 80s song never made! The band's motto is "mono no aware", a Japanese phrase that loosely translates to "a sense of nostalgic wistfulness and the awareness that nothing lasts forever". It’s true.

Oh baby by LCD Soundsystem, American Dream, 2017, Columbia Records.

I was re-watching a delightful rom-com the other day called “Set It Up” and this song was on the soundtrack. That’s the story.

Kill Bill by SZA, SOS, 2022, Top Dawg Entertainment.

I love SZA.

Addictions by Brent Faiyaz ft. Tre’ Amani, Wasteland, 2022, Lost Kids, LLC.

Faiyaz is currently a LA artist but he’s originally from Maryland like his collaborator Tre’ Amani. This album is very good.

20/20 by Rimon, Digital Tears, 2021, Alle$ Recordings/Empire.

Eritrean born, Amsterdam-raised Rimon writes beautiful, evocative music. This song soothes me.

Other Things:

The preview for Daisy Jones & the Six dropped and it looks great. I would watch Riley Keough do anything but I’m very excited for her to do this.

As always, thanks for reading and listening! If you are looking for more music, check out The B-Sides playlist which is full of tracks I love but can’t make fit into a mix.

*There are no examples of blood harmony in this season’s newsletter as far as I know. Please listen to the Louvin Brothers episode of Cocaine and Rhinestones for more info.