Jimmy Johnson "Every Day of Your Life (Delmark)"
From Delmark:
Four decades ago, Jimmy Johnson permanently established himself as a front-rank Chicago bluesman with his unusually imaginative Delmark debut album Johnson’s Whacks (DE 644). Now he’s come full circle: Jimmy’s back on Delmark with this exciting release, which shows that he remains a vital blues force into his 90s. Johnson’s fluid, slicing guitar licks dart and spark with unpredictable elasticity throughout this set. His voice soars to the heavens time and again, never misplacing its melismatic passion no matter the tempo.
From the funky opening original “Every Day Of Your Life,” constructed around a wise lyrical message, to a churning “Down In The Valley” and exquisitely tailored revivals of the lights-out slow blues “Strange Things Happening” and a hard- driving “I Need You So Bad,” Jimmy is never less than masterful. Few contemporary bluesmen are so devastating when working in a minor key— witness Johnson’s personalized treatment of Fenton Robinson’s classic “Somebody Loan Me A Dime.” “My Ring,” another standout original, takes a swaying and unexpected reggae turn (pushing the stylistic envelope has long been one of Jimmy’s trademarks), and Johnson sits down behind the 88s for a solo reprise of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s uplifting “Lead Me On” to close the album in deeply moving style.
Funny thing is, Jimmy only became a full-time blues guitarist in the mid -1970s. Prior to that, he mostly traversed the R&B side of the tracks. Born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Johnson grew up along with another future blues luminary, Matt Murphy. “I picked up a guitar because Murphy had a guitar,” he says. Sacred and secular sounds competed for his attention. “My first time of singing in front of an audience, I was singing gospel,” notes Jimmy. “My uncle had a Victrola, the ones you wind up, and I got to hear John Lee Hooker, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, Sonny Boy Williamson.”
Check out the laid-back funk “Down In The Valley.”
Desire Marea "DESIRE (Mute)"
A new album by South African artist, Desire Marea.
Eluvium "Virga 1 (Temporary Residence)"
From Temporary Residence:
Virga I is the first album in a new ambient music series by Eluvium. Matthew Cooper, the composer behind the Eluvium moniker, explains: “I had recently been playing around with various forms of generative music and long-format looping – as well as practicing patience interacting with musical systems and recordings – hesitantly dueting with them, trying to keep things minimal while also encouraging as much depth as possible. It was really just something fun to privately experiment with for personal gain. Over time I’d created a group of pieces and had them on various mixes that I would make for myself, but I hadn’t really given them much thought. At some point, my evenings became very much about relaxing, stretching, and breathing to these pieces. They gradually fostered a very specific mood that I found intoxicating. The music seemed to enhance the soft orange glow in this small room in the dark of night, with the snow falling just outside. They also reminded me of some of my earliest works, those which were a bit less researched and considered. Perhaps they were simply more “felt” than anything. I decided it might be nice to start a series inspired by this setup. I titled it Virga, after the drifting of rain we sometimes catch drooping on the horizon, disappearing before it reaches the ground.”
Check out the title track “Virga I.”
Yann Tiersen "Portrait (Mute)"
It would be all too easy to fall down a rabbit hole of explanation when it comes to this new Yann Tiersen album Portrait (Mute)-which would explain why I’m about to do it (hey look! All my favorite rabbits are down here too! I see Bugs Bunny, Thumper, JoJo, Harvey, Peter, Roger… Oh no! I fell down a rabbit hole within a rabbit hole!) Portrait is a career-spanning retrospective of Yann’s immensely beautiful and important work. This is not a compilation of previously recorded work, as it’s all been rerecorded and rerecorded using analog recording equipment. The result is “a vital album that fizzes with the excitement and energy found at a live concert, but packed into a studio album.” Thanks Mute! Dip your toe in anywhere here and you are bound to fall in love, but if we must (and we must) start with the reworking of “Rue de Cascades.”