November 2024 Music Roundup: Julian Taylor, Banning Eyre, Dekel, FBR, Srikanth, Toc de Crida

 

I’m running out of superlatives for the amazing West Indian/Mohawk/Canadian performer Julian Taylor, he of the silky smooth but powerful voice and incisive pen. If you’ve not heard Pathways, by all means correct that oversight. That song alone is worth the sticker price. It’s a gentle and poignant look at moving through life. Who can dispute advice such as … be gentle, be kind be grateful, take time, remember we’re in this together/let’s just be who we are, follow our hearts, and dream that love is forever. Yeah, he’s that kind of performer–the sort who can make you weep, feel wistful, and occasionally sad or mad. “Love Letters” is a sweet waltz tempo song, but he even induce calmness by asking Do we even know what we’re doing to ourselves. “Ain’t Life Strange” implores us to look deep into ourselves, especially when we feel “numb.” Taylor even gives us a bit of achy breaky country in “Running Away,” but at least it’s more prairie country than another overly processed Nashville song. Once again Julian Taylor is my artist of the month.

 

 

Banning Eyre and I share history in that we both once wrote for Global Music Magazine and we both play guitar. That’s about where the similarities end, as Eyre in an amazing guitarist and I astound people with my ineptitude. Eyre’s Bare Songs 1 is a 14-track delight that highlights his bright and precise picking. It ranges from the dreamy “Fifteen Rounds and No Decision” to the Galician-meets-Ukraine “Portal 7 " to the rain-like “Kaku Hiva” to “Djelimady,” the latter reminiscent of Eyre’s forays into Afro Pop. This is a perfect album for serious listening or tasteful background music.

 

     

 

Dekel is an Israeli singer and composer. Her new record Starlings showcases many things, including her love of nature. The title track is a haunting song with near drone-like cello setting the beat. Her voice and the pacing are pop-like, but there is much more depth and, yes, it’s partly about the humble little bird, but listen and you’ll hear that the starlings are witnesses. “So Much Logic” has accordion and clarinet. Although the song dances, the vocal is darker, and it pops like a cross between klezmer and something from Zorba the Greek. “Meet Me Halfway” is klezmer with a hip hop beat and I’ll leave it to you determine if the song is religious or the starting point for negotiating a relationship. On “Sing With MeSisters,” Dekel sings in deeper, more mature tones. It's an unusual song in that it toggles between introspective and anthemic. Put directly, Dekel is hard to pigeonhole. She has a habit of never being quite what you think.

 

 

Tim Hunter (acoustic guitar, vocal, harmonica) and Malarie McConaha (electric guitar, vocals) of FBR describe themselves as “two hippies,” but their music within a band of six is more rock, blues, and country. If you’re wondering about the name, it’s shorthand for Leonard Cohen’s song “Famous Blue Raincoat.” I suppose FBR sometimes sings about dark subjects, but their vibe on Ghost is not much like Cohen’s. “Before I Drown” is wrapped in an electric mix that gets progressively bigger to build McConaha’s desperation as she tells of a doomed relationship marked by fighting and booze. “Rain On” has a big rock sound as well with McConaha muscular vocals and splash of blistering guitar. By contrast, “Bottle of Blues” is country blues with a roadhouse vibe. Another departure is “Skies of Donegal Blues,” but don’t expect an Irish tune; it’s more of a big-voiced wailer. And why not? McConaha can deliver.

 

Short Reviews:

 

 

 

 

If you’d like to sample music from South India, try Jyotsna Srikanth and her album Carnatic Nomad. Carnatic music is considered “classical music” in India, a term that bears little resemblance to Western connotations. It refers to its complexity and its place in tradition. Srikanth, who now lives in Britain, is grounded in Carnatic violin and vocals. Other instruments include various hand percussion, lutes, and the stringed tambura that often acts as a drone. Try “Manasa Sancharare” to appreciate her string prowess and “Tiruppugal” for something a bit livelier.

 

 

 

The island of Mallorca lies off the eastern coast of Spain and north of Algeria in the Balearic Sea. The six-piece trad band Toc de Crida features lightly modernized tunes from North Africa, Catalonia, and Valencia, with some departures across the Atlantic. Their self-named album is joyous. No matter where they land the music sounds like you’ve stumbled upon a celebration and have just discovered an amazing group you never knew existed. Try these two tracks.: "Jota de Son Pudol" and "Can Bou." FYI, a jota is a Spanish dance and if you listen to other tracks and hear unusual bagpipes, it’s the xeremia, an odd-looking instrument that’s like a watermelon-shaped sheep’s bladder with attached pipes.

 

 

A xeremia

 

 

Rob Weir