“Tap into the future!”

If you know where that quote’s from, you get 10 points. But I digress. The subject is Carlos Vamos, whom I discovered while surfing the net. I really don’t know a thing about him, I just know he’s an astonishing guitarist from the tapping school. I posted another tap style guitarist, Erik Mongrain a while back, who’s equally talented. I’d have to say Erik is the McCoy Tyner of guitar, while Carlos would have to be the Bill Evans of said instrument. His playing is precise yet delicate. My one question is, why is this guy not a household name?

K’Naan is O’Kay

I normally don’t listen to much hiphop, but in the case of K’Naan, I’ll make an exception. He was born in war-torn Somalia but moved with his family to Harlem when he was 13. He eventually settled in Ontario. K’Naan performed at the 50th anniversary celebration of the UN in Geneva, where he chastised the world community for not doing more to stop the violence in his homeland. It was at this performance where he was discovered by Youssou N’Dour. His music is very melodic and he has a distinctive voice. Most of his songs have a strong African tinge to them, and include an appeal for peace.

The Old Vic

I wasn’t familiar with Vic Chesnutt before I heard he was to perform here in the Detroit area. So I got on line to sample some of his music and was totally blown away. He’s a singer/songwriter from that hotbed of new music, Athens, Georgia. Vic was in a serious car accident 18 years ago, which rendered him partially paralyzed from the neck down. He’s a wonderful guitarist, but it takes a great deal of effort for him to play. His current group consists of Guy Picciotto, Fugazi’s guitarist along with members of A Silver Mt. Zion and Godspeed You Black Emperor. If you’re familiar with these groups you might not think they’d blend well with Vic’s style. But they compliment him perfectly. His music is dark at times and full of joy at others—and his lyrics are quirky and offbeat. He’s got quite an interesting voice and attending one of his shows is almost like a religious experience. I’ve included a clip with a group that’s close to his current band as well as a 26 minute solo performance that’s part of the “Tiny Desk Concert” series on NPR. Over the years, Vic has recorded with everyone from Lambchop to Bill Frisell to Elf Power.

It’s a Bear!

It’s a real bear finding any information on the group(?) Pandatone. After searching the net, about all I could find is that Pandatone is a project of Trevor Sias and that he lives in New York. His music mixes found sounds, electronica, acoustic guitar and occasionally, voice. The singer Julianna Barwick has a soft, understated voice and adds to the relaxing, quiet atmosphere of the CD “Happy Together, Pandatone’s latest release. The music is perfect for a late-night conversation over a glass of wine. Everything I’ve heard from Pandatone is gentle, smart, and lush. If you could describe it in one word, I guess I’d call it folktronica. While it's slow triphop, it’s also very organic.

P.S. If anyone has more information on Pandatone, please let me know.

A Magical Experience

The group Here We Go Magic is the concept of Luke Temple and is definitely hard to describe. Musically, the New York based quartet is all over the map—from Afro-Pop to Trance to Psychedelia to Indie-Rock. Despite the wide-ranging influences, all the songs on their self-titled debut album have one thing in common—they all have a hypnotic edge to them. The vocals are superb and uniformly beautiful. The guitars are repetitive which adds to the hypnotic effect. I must say, these songs are very addictive. On first hearing, you might find them boring. But give them a couple listens and I think they’ll make their way into your current play list.

Attention Nick Drake Fans

Did you ever wish he were still alive? Or at the very least, someone would discover a huge cache of his unreleased music? Well, I recently made a great discovery. I was watching the film “Away We Go” and noticed a blurb on the DVD box that read something to the effect of, you’ll enjoy the beautiful, original soundtrack. As I listened I thought to myself, hey, all they did was lift a bunch of Nick Drake tunes. How the heck is that original? Well, lo and behold, after doing some research, I found out the soundtrack was actually by a newcomer, Alexi Murdoch. The Scottish folky has a soft, tender voice and his songwriting reminds me of where Nick Drake would be if he were still around. He only has two releases, “Time Without Consequence” and “Away We Go.” They’re both excellent.

These Guys Are Nuts!

I discovered the Canadian indie group, The Acorn, about a year ago and I just love their sound. Their music sounds like what the Talking Heads would be producing, if they were still around. The Acorn is very percussive and features excellent, slightly off-beat vocals. The title of their first full-length recording, “Glory Hope Mountain” is an approximate translation of the singer Rolf Klausener’s mom’s name--Gloria Esperanza Montoya. Several of the tunes including “Flood” have a definite Honduran influence. But, uniformly, the whole album is outstanding. I’d have to give it a five out of five star rating. If The Acorn was an American group, I’m sure they’d be riding the charts.