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Music Of The Moment – July 2017

July 6, 2017 - 3:36 pm

Summer in Seattle has arrived along with some great new music to add to your summer soundtrack and explore the Music of the Moment here and live at 91.3 KBCS.

Meklit Hadero – When the People Move, the Music Moves, Too

It’s not every day that mere mortals, such as ourselves, get to dance to the sound of binary star system KIC 12268220. Meklit gives us just such a chance on her latest fusion of Ethio-jazz. All of her strengths shine on this record – from her ability to take great covers and make them her own, as she does with the Roots’ song “You Got Me”, to her tribute to the musicians that inspired her on “I Want To Sing For Them All”, which acknowledges the wonder of such debts, but also imagines a moment, delivered with joyful bravado, of showing them what she can do. The collaborations with Andrew Bird and Preservation Hall Horns only add to the rippling energy and expansiveness of the album. Play it loud. – Iaan Hughes, Afternoons

Tape Stacks – Coastal Cities

What does it say about a band that they sell a logoed pillowcase? Perhaps they simply understand the connection between sleep and mental well-being. Maybe they recognize just how boring most pillowcases are and want to bring a bit of art to the usually drab piece of cloth. Such speculation is inspired directly by their new release Coastal Cities, a sweet, shimmering piece of pop music that sits somewhere between the jangle of Camera Obscura and the melodic charms of Belle & Sebastian, that is to say, quirky and intimate without being overly precious. – Iaan Hughes, Afternoons

Chastity Brown – Silhouette of Sirens

Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter Chastity Brown draws on folk, soul and other roots to create literate pop Americana. Her vocal style and texture, echoling a mix of Meshell Ndegeocello and Macy Gray, make her angst-filled songs all the more intriguing. She calls them “snapshots of memory, both lived and imagined.” As a biracial woman, she says she writes “for and from a marginalized experience. For the truly triumphant spirit that’s been through some s*** and has fought his/her way through it to maintain a sense of dignity and peace of mind.” –Gordon Todd, Shape of Modern Jazz, Afternoons

Marika Hackman – I’m Not Your Man

British nu-folkie Marika Hackman enlisted indie quartet The Big Moon to bring a sharp rock edge to her second album. I’m Not Your Man is lyrically bold, cycling through humor, bitter sarcasm, lust and savagery. A songwriter who works “entropy” into a pop song and rhymes “wreckless” with “feckless” is always worth some time. And with a voice that is haunting, swaggering, and world-weary all at once, Hackman is definitely an artist on the rise. –Gordon Todd, Shape of Modern Jazz, Afternoons

Holly Macve – Golden Eagle

Country-blues by the way of Galway and Yorkshire. Nothing particularly newsworthy about that, except when it’s simply done well. Holly Macve’s Golden Eagle is just that. At 21 years old she’s found just the right quiver in her voice to deliver sweetly sad songs that could only be inspired by young heartbreak. The hitch in her voice will be familiar to Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette fans, but it remains just this side of kitsch and is all the better for it. Her natural feel for melody helps, as the songs would likely be as strong with or without the country affectations. The album could have been titled Innocence Lost for its running theme and what is more universal than that? – Iaan Hughes, Afternoons