New Music Musings

It’s Saturday and I’d like to welcome you to another installment of my weekly feature taking a look at developments on the new music front. All four picks are from albums that were released yesterday (October 27).

The Third Mind/Groovin’ Is Easy

The Third Mind are an experimental group blending rock, blues, psychedelia, jazz and improvisational music. Dave Alvin, co-founder of roots rock band The Blasters, envisaged a Miles Davis approach to “gather great musicians in a studio, pick a key and a groove and then record everything live over several days.” Davis and his producer Teo Macero subsequently edited and shaped the improvised material into compositions. After their eponymous debut album from February 2020, The Third Mind are now out with their follow-on, The Third Mind 2. Apart from Alvin (guitar), they include Jesse Sykes (vocals, acoustic guitar), David Immerglück (Counting Crows, Cracker, Monks of Doom) (guitar, keyboards, vocals) Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker) (bass) and Michael Jerome (John Cale, Richard Thompson, Better Than Ezra) (drums, percussion). Here’s Groovin’ Is Easy – intriguing stuff!

Video Age/Better Than Ever

Video Age are a band from New Orleans formed by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli, who AllMusic notes make mellow synthesizer pop that touches on ’80s pop, new wave, AM pop, and other adjacent styles. Starting with their 2016 debut Living Alone, they have released four albums to date. Off their latest, Away From the Castle, here’s Better Than Ever, co-written by Farbe and Micarelli. The song’s upbeat vibe drew me in.

Black Pumas/Angel

Black Pumas, who I first featured in July 2020, are a partnership between producer and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Quesada and singer-songwriter Eric Burton, who according to AllMusic fuse cinematic neo-soul, light psychedelia, and a touch of urban grit. Formed in 2018, they released their eponymous debit album in June 2019. They are now out with their second full-length album, Chronicles of a Diamond. Here’s Angel, a great-sounding song that gives me chills!

The Gaslight Anthem/Little Fires

The Gaslight Anthem are a rock band from New Brunswick, N.J., which is right in my neck of the woods. Currently featuring Brian Fallon (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Alex Rosamilia (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alex Levine (bass, backing vocals) and Benny Horowitz (drums, percussion), they have been together since 2006 and put out six studio albums to date. In 2015, the band went on an indefinite hiatus from which they emerged in March 2022. Off History Books, their latest and first new album in 9 years, here’s Little Fires. In the past, the group’s sound has often been compared to Bruce Springsteen, who apparently not only encouraged their reunion but also is featured on the album’s title track. I included it in the Spotify playlist below. Here’s a nice rocker called Little Fires.

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; The Third Mind website; YouTube; Spotify

Little Steven Captures 2017 Tour In Great Live Album

Today, I coincidentally came across this great new live album from Steven Van Zandt and his excellent Disciples Of Soul backing band in Apple Music. I had completely missed Soulfire Live! when it appeared on April 27 on digital platforms for streaming and downloading. According to an announcement, the “surprise release” came just before Little Steven and the band embarked on a new tour through the U.S. in late April, which will last through May and be followed by dates in Europe in late June and July.

Recorded at 2017 shows in Europe and North America, the 24-track collection features original tunes by Little Steven and covers. It includes various tracks from his excellent last studio album Soulfire from May 2017, his first new record in nearly 18 years and one of my favorite albums from last year. I previously wrote about it here. And since I really dig the music, I also decided to catch Little Steven and The Disciples at one of their U.S. gigs in September last year. I also had something to say about that show here.

Soulfire Live! nicely captures the concert atmosphere. At least as intriguing as the music are some of Little Steven’s announcements, during which he provides his perspective on music and shares anecdotes from the past, reminiscent to what he does on his excellent Underground Garage radio show. But the highlight of the talking undoubtedly is Mike Stoller, who the introduced the band at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles last October – yep, The Mike Stoller who together with Jerry Leiber wrote numerous legendary tunes for artists like Big Mama Thornton (Hound Dog), The Drifters (Fools Fall In Love), Ben E. King (Stand By Me) and of course Elvis Presley (Jailhouse Rock, King Creole, Treat Me Nice, etc.).

Stoller notes he was an usher at the theatre 67 years ago until got into an argument with his boss and was fired. After that he says he decided to team up with his friend Jerry Leiber to write songs, dryly adding it worked out pretty good. Listen for yourself – it’s priceless!

On to some music. Here is one of my favorite covers from this collection, which also appeared on the Soulfire studio album: Blues Is My Business, a tune co-written by Kevin Bowe and Todd Cerney and sung by Etta James on her 2003 blues record Let’s Roll. The band is just killing it!

One of the original Little Steven tunes is Angel Eyes, which he recorded for his 1982 solo debut record Men Without Women. That tune has a nice soul groove.

Standing In The Line Of Fire is another song by Little Steven. He wrote it for Gary U.S. Bonds, and it became the title track of a studio album Bonds released in September 1984. Little Steven also co-produced the record. I like the song’s Hank Marvin-style guitar intro.

Another superb cover is the blaxploitation tune Down And Out In New York City. It was written by Bodie Chandler and Barry De Vorzon, and recorded by James Brown for Black Caesar, a soundtrack album for the motion picture of the same name, which appeared in February 1973. The track was also included on Soulfire, though the live version is extended.

The last tune I’d like to highlight is another cover, Groovin’ Is Easy, by American blues rock and soul band The Electric Flag. The song was written by the band’s guitarist Nick Gravenites and appeared on their debut album A Long Time Comin’ from March 1968. Based on some of their music I’ve heard, I have to check out these guys more closely.

Soulfire Live! was produced and arranged by Van Zandt, and appears on his rock and roll label Wicked Cool Records. It was mixed by heavy hitter Bob Clearmountain, who has worked with artists like Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and The Who, among many others. The album will also become available on CD, Blu-ray and vinyl editions this summer.

Sources: Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) press release, NJArts.net, Wikipedia, YouTube