Maybe it’s not saying much, as I feel like I have been coming to this conclusion often yearly, but there were some truly fantastic records released this year. It would be a bit dishonest if I didn’t mention that as someone who fell in love with music through hip-hop, the genre is definitely the one that I keep up with the most. Left-field hip hop - the more lyrically abstract an … [Read more...]
Anthony Dean-Harris’ Favorite Non-Jazz Albums of 2017
I'm not exactly sure how my favorite non-jazz album list comes together. My moods shift here and there in the moment or throughout the year. I have things that come in and out of rotation for various reasons. Yet, these are the things that somehow filled out those other ends of bike rides and assorted commutes. Lists like these aren't necessarily why you, dear reader, are here, … [Read more...]
Hiatus Kaiyote – “Shaolin Monk Motherfunk” (Stream)
We're steadily, almost impatiently, waiting for the upcoming sophomore release from Perth, Australia's Hiatus Kaiyote. Choose Your Weapon drops May 4 on Flying Buddha/Sony Music Masterworks. They've already dropped "Breathing Underwater" on us. Now they've released another song, "Shaolin Monk Motherfunk" (which they've played live plenty of times, so it's super cool to finally … [Read more...]
Hiatus Kaiyote – “Breathing Underwater” (Stream)
Our friends from Australia, Hiatus Kaiyote, are preparing to release their sophomore album, Choose Your Weapon, on May 5. Based on what the world has heard after their By Fire EP that they dropped last year, this next album should be a doozy, fully worthy of all the attention and praise their debut album, the Grammy-nominated Tawk Tomahawk, garnered. They just released the … [Read more...]
Anthony Dean-Harris’ Favorite Jazz Releases of 2014
As l look back at the albums I loved most this year, I realized the importance of being swept up. There's intellectual noodling and the need to keep attention; there's creating new ideas and reforming old ones; there's high and lows in energy, but what I loved the most this year wasn't just the creating of interesting artistic work but if that work is done so well, the music … [Read more...]