Music Review Round-up

Here some recent albums that have been on the top of my playlist lately:

Matisyahu- Live at Stubbs

Matisyahu is a Hassidic Jew Reggae Musician with a capable band that has a diverse repitoire of musical genres that I would summarize as jam rock reggae. This album is a live concert from Stubb's in Austin, Texas. He is a rising star in the music world, making a great presense in the commercialized music scene. He is talented and deserving of the accolade. We will have to see if he can maintain his humble spiritual roots or lose control through the attractions of fame.

Old Crow Medicine Show - OCMS

Old Crow Medicine Show are present-day folk and mountain music revivalists. With clever lyrics and on point renditions of traditional folk music tunes, this album will definitely grow on you. It's range of slow ballad to upbeat allows one to more fully appreciate OCMS's skill.

Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke - Sixty Six Steps

This is the album I drove into work today listening to. It has a calypso feel to it (it was recorded Costa Rica). It is a fun, unique album with some exceptional guitar work by Kottke complimented by perfect rhythms prepared by Mike Gordon (formerly of Phish). Read the reviews on Amazon though, there is a great debate about copyright protection on the CD that consumers have complained about.

The Flamings Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

If you don't know about this album, get it! I saw the Flaming Lips live and they are show stoppers! They are playful, joyful, and often come through with profound lyrics. I suggest this album because it is the most recent and compared to it's predecessor album (The Soft Bulliten) it has a greater selection of compelling songs.

If you want to hear these musicians before buying an album, you can find downloadable concerts (legal and free) from places like archive.org or bt.etree.org. Using these services may require some software downloads and investigation, so if you need help, let me know.