Here they are! More tunes for your brain to groove on. Shake it!
‘Half Moon’ by Blind Pilot
Blind Pilot not only makes ethereally poetic music that speaks to the soul, but they’re also seriously cool people. In 2008, the band toured the west coast of the U.S. on bicycles fitted with homemade instrument trailers. Founding members Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski met as students at the University of Oregon and are now joined by four additional bandmates to create a full, deep, uniquely beautiful sound. Drummer Ryan also does the artwork for their albums (two full-lengths and one live EP). ‘Half Moon’ is the song I can’t stop listening to, but their entire 2011 album We Are the Tide is full of lovely songs. After a tour last year through Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, and an appearance at Lollapalooza in Chicago in August, let’s hope they hop on their bicycles again and bring their tunes east, and soon!
‘Banda A Gui Koua’ by Bibi Tanga & The Selenites
Yet another great NPR find! Bibi Tanga & The Selenites are everything from Afropop to 70s funk. Bibi, originally from the Central African Republic, was born to a family of diplomats. He subsequently spent his youth travelling the world and has been heavily influenced by a number of different genres. Out of the band’s many wonderful songs, ‘Banda A Gui Koua’ is so far my favourite. A happy, upbeat track sung in Sangho about a traditional, extremely spicy dish of the CAR. How can you not be in a good mood after listening to this?
‘She’s So Scandalous’ by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
I picked up this album at the library because of the album cover. I had never heard of Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears before, and I figured they’d be an act from the sixties or seventies, judging from the album’s art direction. I put it on and was instantly blown away – I can’t remember the last time an impulse decision based purely on aesthetics worked out so well! I was partly right – the band’s sound comes straight out of the sixties and seventies, mixing blues, brass, and soul – along with some very impressive James Brown-like howlin’ and yowlin’. But dig this, they’re a contemporary act, and they’re just really good at what they do.
