Best of What’s New

It’s Saturday again, which means time to take a fresh look at newly released music. All picks appear on brand-new albums that came out yesterday (October 14). Let’s get to it without further ado!

Miko Marks & The Resurrectors/Feel Like Going Home

How many Americana and country artists can you name who are women of color? I’m thrilled to feature for the second time in Best of What’s New Miko Marks, an African-American singer drawing from both genres, as well as blues, soul and gospel. Born in Flint, Mich., she currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2005, Marks released her debut single Freeway Bound, which also was the title track of her first studio album that appeared in September of the same year. In 2006, she was named Best New Country Artist by U.S. trade magazine New Music Weekly. Marks has also won various music awards and was included in this year’s Country Music Television’s “Next Women of Country 2022” class. Feel Like Going Home is the excellent title track of her fourth and latest studio album. Initially, the tune appeared as a single back in March. As was the case for her previous album, Marks is backed by The Resurrectors, the house band of Redtone Records. I absolutely love her soulful sound and want to further explore this artist!

Souad Massi/Dessine-moi un Pays

Souad Massi is an Algerian Berber singer-songwriter and guitarist, my first such artist on the blog. From her Apple Music profile: Displaying influences as disparate as birdsong, American folk rock, Spanish flamenco, tablas from Pakistan, and Arabic lutes, all held together by a cool, sad-edged voice, Algerian singer-songwriter Souad Massi possesses one of the most unusual stories and sounds in the pop universe. Born amidst civil-war-torn Algers, her penchant for Westerns, particularly of the Sergio Leoni variety, prompted a specific interest in country music and cowboy culture. Massi joined Atakor, a rock band named after an Algerian mountain range, and in 1997 released a cassette of her own songs backed by Atakor entitled simply Souad. The cassette’s popularity brought death threats in her home country and when invited to play a festival in Paris, she chose to remain in France, where she released critically-favored records like Raoui and Deb. This brings me to Massi’s new album Sequana and the opener Dessine-moi un Pays (“draw a country for me”). While I admittedly don’t understand the lyrics, I find Massi’s music and singing really beautiful.

Enumclaw/Jimmy Neutron

Enumclaw are an indie rock band from Tacoma, Wash., named after a city located about 30 miles east of Tacoma. According to a profile on the website of their record label Luminelle Recordings, the group includes Aramis Johnson (lead vocals, guitar), Nathan Cornell (guitar), Johnson’s younger brother Eli Edwards (bass) and Ladaniel Gipson (drums). Here’s a bit more from their profile: Even though they hail from the home of grunge, their influences stretch a bit further; the group is already well on their way to becoming “the best band since Oasis,” their earliest motto. Aramis says the band led by the Gallagher brothers is a clear inspiration, given their rise from a working-class background, and not just because his own brother is in the group as well. Enumclaw are now out with their full-length debut album Save the Baby. Here’s Jimmy Neutron penned by Johnson. I like the rawness in their sound.

Red Hot Chili Peppers/Tippa My Tongue

Only six months after Unlimited Love, their international chart-topper, Red Hot Chili Peppers are back with a new album, their 13th. Just like its predecessor, Return of the Dream Canteen was produced by Rick Rubin, who also had also served in that capacity for six albums in a row released between 1991 and 2011. The current members of the Chili Peppers, who have been around since 1983, include co-founders Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals) and Michael Peter Balzary, known as Flea (bass, trumpet, piano, backing vocals), along with John Frusciante (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) and Chad Smith (drums, percussion). Here’s Tippa My Tongue, the cool funky opener. Apart from Flea’s bass-playing, I dig the guitar work on this tune. Check it out!

As usual, following is a Spotify playlist with the above and a few additional tracks by the featured artists.

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; Luminelle Recordings website; YouTube; Spotify

Best of What’s New

Another week has flown by, which means it’s time again to take a look at newly released music. After some digging, I think I’ve found a decent and diverse set of tunes. This installment of Best of What’s New features a great Hammond B-3 jazzy rendition of a popular Donovan song, melodic indie rock, pop folk-oriented alternative country and soulful Americana. All tunes appear on albums that came out yesterday (March 26). Sounds intriguing? Let’s get to it!

Dr. Lonnie Smith/Sunshine Superman (feat. Iggy Pop)

An artist calling himself Dr. Lonnie Smith who teams up with the godfather of punk Iggy Pop to cover a great Donovan tune was sure to get my attention. Born in Buffalo, N.Y. in July 1942, Smith is a jazz Hammond B3 organist who first came to prominence in the mid-60s when he joined the quartet of jazz guitarist George Benson. After recording two albums with Benson, Smith released his solo debut Finger Lickin’ Good Soul Organ in 1967. Twenty-six additional records have since appeared under his name. According to his website, Smith has recorded everything from covers of the Beatles, the Stylistics and the Eurythmics, to tribute albums of Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane and Beck-all by employing ensembles ranging from a trio to a fifteen-piece big band. He also appeared on close to 80 albums by other artists, such as Lou Donaldson, Marvin Gaye, Jimmy Ponder, Ron Holloway, Eric Gale and Nora Jones. His artist profile on Apple Music notes Smith at some point became Dr. Lonnie Smith (for “no particular reason,” the same reason he gives for why he always wears a traditional Sikh turban). His rendition of Sunshine Superman, the title track of Donovan’s third studio album from August 1966, is the closer of the doctor’s new album Breathe. Iggy Pop provides vocals on this tune, as well as album opener Why Can’t We Live Together. This is just cool stuff!

Real Estate/Half a Human

Real Estate are an indie rock band from Ridgewood, N.J. According to their artist profile on Apple Music, Real Estate’s core members were childhood friends, but the band didn’t take shape until 2008, after they’d all completed college and returned to their hometown of Ridgewood, New Jersey. Arriving in 2009, the group’s self-titled debut album earned a Best New Music tag from Pitchfork—a distinction that was also given to their next two LPs. Days, their 2011 sophomore LP, hit No. 11 on  Billboard’s Alternative Albums chart, and 2014’s Atlas did even better, reaching No. 7. Following the departure of guitarist Matthew Mondanile in 2016, lo-fi pop specialist Julian Lynch—another childhood friend from New Jersey—took his place in the band. In addition to Lynch, Real Estate’s current lineup includes co-founders Martin Courtney (vocals, guitar) and Alex Bleeker (bass, vocals), along with Matt Kallman (keyboards) and Sammi Niss (drums). Half a Human, co-written by Bleeker, Lynch, Courtney, Kallman and the band’s former drummer Jackson Pollis, is the title track of their sixth and new album. The melodic and laid back sound of this tune drew me in right away.

Esther Rose/Songs Remain

Esther Rose is a country artist from New Orleans, La. She began her career by collaborating with her then-husband and guitarist Luke Winslow-King. In 2017, Rose released her solo debut album This Time Last Night. Songs Remain is a track from her third and latest album How Many Times. On this record, Rose expands her alt-country sound into a blossoming world of folk pop and tender harmonies, notes her website. A collection of complete takes recorded live to tape with rich instrumentation, soul-tugging hooks, and resonating vocal melodies, How Many Times carries you into the room in which it was made. There to help realize this was co-producer Ross Farbe of synthpop band Video Age, who Rose also credits for bringing a stereo pop glow to these new songs. I like what I’m hearing here!

Miko Marks & The Resurrectors/Ancestors

Let’s wrap up things with African American country singer Miko Marks who was born in Flint, Mich. In 2005, she released her debut single Freeway Bound, which also was the title track of her first studio album that appeared in September that year. The sophomore It Feels Good followed in August 2007. In 2006, Marks was named Best New Country Artist by U.S. trade magazine New Music Weekly. She also won various awards at the Independent Music Awards in 2006, 2007 and 2008. After a pretty successful looking early career, it appears things slowed down for Marks. Ancestors is the opener of Our Country, her first album since It Feels Good. She’s backed by The Resurrectors, the impressive sounding house band of Redtone Records. Well, it may have been more than 13 years since Marks’ last release, but it surely looks like the wait was worth it. I just love the soulful southern rock sound of Ancestors, which first appeared as a single in December 2020.

Sources: Wikipedia; Dr. Lonnie Smith website; Apple Music; YouTube