RecommNeds | Four New Music Recommendations

Words By: Aaron “Neddy” Stein

---

Conceptually speaking

---

Public Service Broadcasting: The Race for Space

Are you savvy to Public Service Broadcasting yet? I just became hip to their unique spin on electro-indie rock. They sample audio clips and construct musical pieces around them. Their newest album, The Race for Space, is built around the space race of the ’50s and ’60s with songs like “Sputnik,” “Gagarin” and “E.V.A.” telling the history of space exploration through primary sources such as TV reports or ground control audio recordings. Basically these recordings are the “vocals.” The music is perfectly matched to the situation, ranging from floating, ambient to spacewalking groove. I must admit, I got the chills a few times listening to this album the first time. Outta this world.

Rdio: http:// www.rdio.com/artist/Public_Service_Broadcasting/album/The_Race_for_Space/

Spotify: Public Service Broadcasting – The Race For Space

Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/public-service-broadcasting/album/the-race-for-space

---

Erik Deutsch: Outlaw Jazz

NYC-based musician Erik Deutsch is one of those guys that’s tough to pin down in a sentence. His last album, Demonio Teclado, was a super-groovy funkgasm that earned it a slot in an early RecommNed column (you should definitely check it out if you haven’t already). His newest release, Outlaw Jazz, takes the keyboard player in another direction. The concept of the album, as its title alludes to, is essentially the marriage between country and jazz. Each track seems to take a different approach to this ideal: jazzed-up covers of the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” and Waylon Jennings mixed in with original material that evokes images of a dance party breaking out in a saloon. Deutsch employs a big band here, with horns and pedal steel and guitar, as well as guest vocalists Shooter Jennings and Victoria Reed, giving the production a big, warm sound.

Rdio: http://www.rdio.com/artist/Erik_ Deutsch/album/Outlaw_Jazz/

Spotify: Erik Deutsch – Outlaw Jazz

Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/erik-deutsch/album/outlaw-jazz

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/erikdeutsch/sets/outlaw-jazz

---

Andrew Bird: Echolocations: Canyon

Andrew Bird is not the type of musician I typically feature in this space, but somehow he seems to pop up here regularly, putting out something that’s a little bit out of the ordinary. That’s definitely the case with this newest project, Echolocations: Canyon. For this recording, Bird ventured into the Coyote Gulch canyons in Utah discovering spots that gave interesting and unique acoustics. He then performed improvised pieces on violin (and whistling of course) recording them in situ. At times, you can hear Bird splashing as he stands barefoot in a pond while he plays and almost feel the reverberations of the music around you. The cover artwork nearly takes you there, but you can watch a bit of the filmed version of this experiment here. This is the kind of thing that only a guy like Andrew Bird can pull off, and the result is mesmerizing and beautiful.

Rdio: http://www.rdio.com/ artist/Andrew_Bird/album/Echolocations_Canyon/

Spotify: Andrew Bird – Echolocations: Canyon

Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/andrew-bird/album/echolocations-canyon-wegawam-music-co

---

The Fresh Cut Orchestra: From the Vine

Finally, we have the debut album from Philadephia jazz ensemble The Fresh Cut Orchestra, From the Vine. Seven of the nine tracks are dedicated to “The Mothers Suite” written by bassist Jason Fraticelli upon the birth of his first child shortly after the death of his mother-in-law. As you might imagine from that inspiration, the songs range over multiple overlapping styles and moods, capturing joy and despair, mixing elegiac and groove. The ten-piece band ably captures each emotion and manages to really swing in the process. It’s quite a debut for the young band.

Rdio: http://www.rdio. com/artist/The_Fresh_Cut_Orchestra/album/From_the_Vine/

Bandcamp: http://freshcutorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/from-the-vine

Spotify: The Fresh Cut Orchestra – From the Vine

Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/the-fresh-cut-orchestra/album/from-the-vine