Best of Studio 1A from October 2016
10.11.16 – Kandace Springs – “Soul Eyes”
America’s jazz royalty has dwindled over the past decades with the deaths of such icons as Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, but Nashville’s Kandace Springs is keeping that traditional sound very much alive. Brought to the attention of the recording industry by her father, a session musician himself, Springs’ immense vocal performances were soon noticed by the legendary jazz label, Blue Note Records. Eventually, even music icon Prince took note, inviting her to perform with him at Paisley Park for the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain. With the help of Rihanna producers Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, and most recently Herbie Hancock producer Larry Klein, Springs fleshed out her now-distinctive artistic traits, uncovering her full potential as a jazz singer.
Listen below.
10.06.16 – Band of Horses – “Laredo”
Ever since their first project in 2004, Band of Horses have continuously developed their sound. This is especially true for vocalist and guitarist Ben Bridwell, whose previous project Carissa’s Wierd featured a more stripped down emotionalchamber rock sound. Band of Horses takes this core sound and evolves it to greater heights, creating an uplifting listening experience. The cynical remnants still remain, but the folk and traditional indie rock components that have been added to make this sound more dynamic and fluid. Their latest album Why Are You OK sounds like a folk soaked summer album, but one that still has just the right amount of edge.
Listen below.
10.03.16 – The James Hunter Six – “(Baby) Hold On”
It’s been nearly a decade since Englishman James Hunter burst onto the scene with the U.S. debut, People Gonna Talk (2006), an album that earned him Grammy nominations and the affections of critics and fans including Van Morrison, Sharon Jones, and Allen Toussaint. The man delivers heavy hitting, tight, taut rhythm and blues like few can do, with every bit of fire as the greats Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, and Jackie Wilson… this Brit can belt. And now The James Hunter Six are back with a fourth album Hold On!, their debut record with American label Daptone Records and an instant classic that was recorded on an 8-track console.
Listen below.
10.11.16 – Keeper – “Dock”
Vocalists Erin Jantzen and Yadira Brown debuted their “synth-soul” sound under the name Keeper in 2013, collaborating with Austin’s BoomBaptist on the singles “Bad Doctor” and “Happy To Be Sad” (the latter ended up on the TV show Broad City). Two years later Keeper released a full-length, another subgenre – exploring collaboration with San-Antonio-based producer MoonDoctoR. The latest collaboration, “You Ain’t Hittin,” (produced by Houston’s Sines) lyrically captures a shift in personal value and power within a relationship over time. A plethora of reverb and delay effects sit comfortably behind lush harmonies, all evoking the overarching tone of Keeper’s latest EP, Corners.
Watch here on VuHaus
10.03.16 – Lincoln Durham – “Beautifully Sewn, Violently Torn”
Lincoln Durham describes his music as a “Southern-Gothic Psycho-Blues Revival-Punk One-Man-Band”. We might go for Bayou-Noir Gutter-Blues Roots-Punk One-Man-Band, but that’s just us. The point is that Durham’s sound is almost impossible to nail down. Songs like “Bleed Until You Die” are able to combine the best kind of White Stripes guitar and drum freakout and seriously scary spoken word poetry in a way that leaves you deliciously uncomfortable. That prevailing sense of discord permeates more than just the lyrics, his ability to play familiar instruments with such ferocious energy, not to mention seriously funky tuning, creates a sound that seems to wrestle with the shadows that surround him.
Watch here on VuHaus
10.11.16 – Luisa Maita – “Around You”
Brazilian singer Luísa Maita’s voice has recently gone global, popping up at the closing ceremonies of the London Olympics in 2012 and in promos for Rio de Janeiro’s Games while also appearing on the soundtrack to Richard Linklater’s brilliant Boyhood. Her music works at these two levels, perfect for both big stages and subtle explorations. Maita’s second album, Fio da Memória, exists somewhere between these poles. Here, traditional Brazilian art forms like samba get a 21st century update. On the title track, the beat is more anxious than joyous, undercutting a throbbing electronic pulse. “Fio da Memória” translates to “thread of memory,” and that succinctly expresses what Maita is doing here: anchored to the past, but jumping off into the unknown.
Watch here on VuHaus
10.21.16 – Robert Randolph & The Family Band– “Got Soul”
Randolph’s unprecedented abilities on the steel guitar garnered him a spot on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list, as well as the attention of artists like Eric
Clapton, Dave Matthews, The Roots, and Jack White– who have since collaborated with Randolph on stage and in the studio.
Watch here on VuHaus
