Alific Sirt Echoes From The Soul

Alific are easily the most unassuming reggae band I've ever run across. Nothing about their album Echoes From The Soul would seem to indicate these guys are on the ragga tip of things. Yet here they are with a unique blend of reggae and pop music. Imagine UB40 if they were more modern and dubbed out to the far reaches of the galaxy and you kind of have an idea where Alific are coming from.

Echoes From The Soul is an instantly memorable album and it's songs are so sticky it's like getting maple syrup in your ears. Dubbed out vibes cast a laid back, tripped out vibe with just enough sugary sweet pop to make the concoction almost too easy to digest. This is fantastic reggae that's artistic, chilled out, and very well played. Alternating between atmospheric excursions and pop tinged songs the band strike this balance between rootsy stuff and mainstream song structures that just clicks. They clearly have the knack for songwriting and over the course of the fourteen songs here Alific take you on a grand circle tour of reggae, dub, and pop with the expert knowledge of a local. They might be from DC but these guys sound as if they've lived their entire lives in Kingston.

Echoes From The Soul is a fantastic reggae record that both dedicated fans and casual fans will find entertaining. It's got Frat Boy appeal and rude boy vibes and the songs feel so authentic and easy on the ears you'll swear you're on a beach somewhere. Alific might be completely unassuming but something tells me that Echoes From The Soul might just force them to not be; it's too good to ignore.

Kitsune Maison Turns 15

It's truly hard to believe that Kitsune has released fifteen versions of the Kitsune Maison compilation! That's an amazing amount of music spread out across a ridiculously prolific discography and a brief history of dance music in the 21st century. If you've read this blog at all over the years you know my feelings about this label and the compilations that they release. If you don't here's a brief summary...they're just about perfect.

Volume 15 is yet another bumper crop of massive tunes but this marks the first time that some of the tunes are just ok. Hard to believe I know, but there's a slight chink is Kitsune's armor here and as the album draws towards it's close this usually flawless compilation starts to lose steam. Denitia and Sene's, "Casanova," for example, feels like a chillwave by numbers single lost in a Target ad. Still, fifteen compilations in and this is an essential source for amazing tunes. If you're too lazy for Hype Machine or hate reading Pitchfork Kitsune Maison is your go to guide to all the latest and greatest indie/electro crossover tunes. It's everything you need to know on one disc that might occasionally hit a snag of mediocrity but is still consistently brilliant and regularly released.

From the chilled, "Voices," of Go Wolf to the absolute floor devouring, "Moonshine," from Jake Bullitt most of volume 15 is solid gold. Even the worst tunes here are better than 99% of everything else out there. No one else on the planet blends indie, electro, and house like these guys and they never ceases to leave me in awe. I can't say enough about how Kitsune finds talent, releases amazing records, and leaves you wanting more. Having spent tons of quality time with this compilation I can't wait for volume 16.

At the Grand Bazaar With Bombay Dub Orchestra

Bombay Dub Orchestra's latest album Tales From the Grand Bazaar is music to align your chakras to; it mystical consciousness expanding music that was created over several years and throughout five countries. Originally started after a trip to Bombay, India ten years ago Andrew T. Mackay & Garry Hughes were so enamored with their experiences and working with Indian orchestras that they decided to pursue their own brand of the same. The result is an album of midtempo electronica dubbed to perfection.

Atmospheric and modern as well as rich and traditional this is the sound of old colliding with new to create beautiful results. Tablas, sitars, and dubbed drum machine beats intermingle in this musical marketplace, hypnotizing listeners and cleansing their souls. Tales From the Grand Bazaar creates a scene, sets the stage and then lets your mind run free within it; Bollywood or pre-colonial India the choice is yours. This is a record as vast as the Sahara and just as gorgeous. Intricate, layered, and filled with an array of sound Tales From the Grand Bazaar is a rich tapestry of influences that meet in the mystical Grand Bazaar like much of the east and west have been doing since 1461.

Tales From the Grand Bazaar is a very visual album and The Bombay Dub Orchestra do a fantastic job at creating the world it lives in. One can almost see and hear the bustle and noise of a busy market and the various experiences in each song. They do such a great job at creating this imaginary world that one would swear you could almost smell and taste the world in which these songs inhabit. Difficult to walk away from Tales From the Grand Bazaar is the kind of record that's relaxing, imaginative, and only gets better with repeated listens. With your imagination set free the Bombay Dub Orchestra takes you on a trip through the ancient and modern streets of the Grand Bazaar and you may never want to leave.

Peru Maravilloso Digs Deep For Vintage Treasure

Tiger's Milk Records presents Peru Maravilloso, is the direct result of many years of obsessively collecting Peruvian music. With a focus on 60's and 70's Latin and tropical sources this album features a selection of vintage cuts and unknown treasures from one of Peru's most exciting musical periods. This is a crate digging dream come true for rare Peruvian tunes and the album is teaming with vintage energy, vibrancy, and beauty.

While undoubtedly rooted in cumbia, guaracha and chicha Peru Maravilloso is also clearly influenced by soul-jazz, Latin-jazz, rock and psychedelia; you can hear this in just about every song here. It's energetic rhythms and endlessly fascinating structures are simply captivating. Multiple listens work their magic and reveal details and rhythms missed the first few go arounds; Peru Maravilloso reveals it's relevancy to the time by even including a Beatles cover. This is truly essential stuff for anyone who enjoys Latin-jazz or any of the other eight million other influences scattered throughout Peru Maravilloso. It's a wondrous experience to just sit and listen how sounds and influences convene in these songs from around the world; it truly proves that music is a global community and sounds from anywhere can be found everywhere.

Remastered from their original 7" and 12" formats the songs sound fantastic and this record marks the first time much of the material on Peru Maravilloso has been heard outside of Peru. This is classic and awesome stuff that's atmospheric and as vibrant as the era it came from. Well researched and pieced together with a lot of love and dedication Peru Maravilloso is a brilliant investigation into the sounds that steered a nation nearly fifty years ago.

Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs Romp Through The 90's

Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs are a blast from the 20th century rammed straight through to the 21st. This female fronted band smashes pop punk, glam, metal, and hard alternative into something that sounds like it would have been gargantuan circa 1993. Their album, Girl, is a huge affair with gargantuan hooks, upbeat tunes, and a ton of fun.

Scary Cherry looks the part, her band sounds the part and whatever you're thinking about them is exactly what you would expect of a band named Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs. Slightly over the top in all the best 90's ways the band is sonically the real deal with songs that are big, catchy, and filled with an excess of pop energy they're just about unstoppable. The band seems to have an overabundance of those qualities and it makes for one entertaining album that's a fun throwback to when alternative broke. The whole things feels overly familiar and comfortable in that sort of you already know these songs the first time you hear them way. Girl isn't overly complicated or pretentious, it is, however, a rush of blood to the head and it's the sort of thing that probably translates so well live that it could be dangerous.

They may have stumbled in from the past but they've done it so convincingly well that Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs will leave you homesick for simpler times. Girl is a campy, lively, and hyperactive romp through every three chord progression you've ever heard. It's not unique or challenging but it doesn't need to be, this is the sort of record that clobbers you over the head with massive hooks and choruses you'll never forget. It's simple but a riot to listen to and there's nothing scary about that!

Lizzie Davis Navigates Latitudes

After years and years of just really horrible, cliche, moaning singer songwriters and really boring folk music the cream of the crop has slowly risen above the fray and survived the battle for originality in a sea of triteness. Among the more pleasant surprises of this group is Midwesterner Lizzie Davis. Her album, Latitudes, is filed with lilting melodies, warm guitars, and stirring keyboard work. It's those elements that makes Latitudes far from the ordinary acoustic record and Lizzie clearly has the knack for writing songs that stick out.

Sounding like Kate Nash if she were lost in a Target ad, Latitudes is nice stuff that rolls over you in a sensitive wave of gorgeousness that's both creative and captivating. Lizzie's unusual voice is her ace in the hole as it has this sort of creaky, cute, on the verge of tears thing that lends itself to rainy days, love letters, and romantic hugs in the electronics department. The melodies she manages with her voice are riveting and it all sounds so emotive and compassionate you'll find yourself clinging to the record cover in a slightly creepy way. The songs on Latitudes are mesmerizing without being overly complicated and when you combine all that with unique spin on vocals the results are a stellar effort that's far from the norm.

Latitudes is a heavenly effort that's well worth searching out. Lizzie Davis is a unique talent that has the gift of a voice most singer's would die for. It's timber, pitch, and brokenness sets it apart; the second you hear her you're caught in her web of emotion and off kilter melodies. Having spent time with this album I'm left wondering why, oh why, can't more singer/songwriters be like this? A world of Lizzie Davis' would truly be a wonderfully romantic (and potentially gut wrenching) world.

Toy Soldiers May Be Boys

Toy Soldiers are an unassuming bunch, and judging by the cover of their album The Maybe Boys you'd never know what was going on in the inside. The Maybe Boys looks like it walked straight out Margaritaville and is ready for a little pick up basketball game. Complete with banana palms, guys in shorts, and the aforementioned basketball this doesn't even look like a record cover! But as the saying goes, you can't judge an album by it's vacation photo-like cover. What Toy Soldiers hide underneath this weekend trip picture is an album of swampy boogietastic blues and Delta influenced rock and roll that rocks incessantly up and down the Mississippi River.

Rooted in the blues this is the sort of thing you'd expect to hear all along Old Man River. It's truly amazing that these five unassuming guys are able to so easily create authentically awesome music. Put it this way, they don't even look old enough to find New Orleans on a map much less play music straight from Bourbon Street. These kids are impressive and the tunes they write feature everything from piano to accordion and harmonica to just about everything in between. The Maybe Boys as a result has this deep home, born on the bayou feel that's as tasty as a big bowl of Jambalaya! If you could imagine the Strokes in a bar fight with the Black Crowes on a paddle wheel boat lost in a swamp you have exactly where Toy Soldiers are making this brew of brilliance.

The Maybe Boys is a blues record for people who don't even know what blues records are about. Toy Soldiers rock, roll, get down and dirty and bring it all back to the sound that they love. This is a fun listen that features great guitar work, loads of organ goodness, and melodies that leave their mark. They may not look the part but Toy Soldiers sound the part and The Maybe Boys is probably the most unassumingly unhindered awesome blues rock record I've heard in a long, long time.