2021-08-14

Best new artists of the past decade: Your picks (6)


 

Here are more of your recommendations for best new musical acts of the past decade. Leaning into soul and blues.

 

Lake Street Dive (suggested by Mark W.)  “What I’m Doing Here”

I didn't know about this group before, and now I'm wondering why.  A group of talented musicians, on the same wavelength, able to do a wide ranges of styles and moods, and featuring a great lead singer? That should be gold. They mix up funky beats, jazz instrumentation, and a variety of vocal stylings, but the one I picked is a bit different: a straight-up blues that just hit me right away. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcUeothSPyc



St.Paul and the Broken Bones (suggested by Mark W.) NPR Tiny Desk concert

Funniest comment I saw on this group: “Who seasoned this man’s chicken?” Seriously, in these days fraught with political sensitivities, is a group like this doing homage to the great blues and soul artists of yore, or merely engaging in "cultural appropriation"? Whatever they are doing, they're not faking it. What do you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vpXX5BjltM

 


Gary Clark, Jr. (suggested by Robert A.) “If Trouble was Money”

I was lamenting the passing of all the great old Black blues musicians, and Robert pointed me to a couple of younger ones who are still keeping the flame lit.  Here is Gary Clark, Jr. doing a cover of the Albert Collins classic, stripped down to its essentials. Eric Zapata adds an anguished, distorted solo that fits the song perfectly. It’s the most traditional of blues, and yet thoroughly modern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=xH_Z8xb2gvs

No comments:

Post a Comment