The Menahan Street Band is one of a crew of performers -- Sharon Jones, The Budos Band, Antibalas, Sugarman 3 to name a few -- who record on the Daptone Label out of Brooklyn. The Daptone artists as well as a bunch of other musicians are leading the Nu-Soul movement.
Tribute albums are a dicey thing and usually don’t work. “Beat the Retreat” (tribute to Richard Thompson) & “Timeless: A Tribute to Hank Williams” come to mind as ones that really work. This one is equally well done.
Mark it down, guys: October 19th, the day KVNF started getting in Christmas albums. Not to worry, the airwaves won't be jingling for at least another month, I imagine. But with NPR's piece, New Holiday Songs: A Smart Career Move, we can ponder just why it is so attractive for every man, woman and child with access to a mic (read: every man, woman, and child) to record a bit of their own xmas cheer.
In the malevolence of Ty Segall's 2012 album onslaught (this is #4 if you include his tasty, old-time-high-fi collaboration with White Fence), Twins is the most organized- like a less-severe natural disaster. As the cover depicts, we're still in for a mind-bend, but it's as if some of the sheer fuzz was combed & suited by NASA in preparation for a space launch.
