The Best Music of 2014

Roger Riddle's best of 2014

D'Angelo and the Vanguard - Black Messiah: D'Angelo snuck one in at the bottom of the 9th inning and hit a homerun. After 15 years gone, he releases my favorite album of 2014 in December. If you were more a fan of Brown Sugar than Voodoo, you may not like this album. However, if you enjoyed Voodoo, you will feel D'Angelo picked up right where he left off. While I am not ready to declare that it is a better album than Voodoo, I will say it is equally as good.

With lyrics contributed by Q-Tip, and Kendra Foster of Funkadelic, and Questlove, Pino Palladino, and James Gadson in session, there is a lot to like about this album.

DJ Fudge and Hallex M - Simpatico feat Omar: Technically this is a house tune, but Omar's vocals makes it a soulful number that you can dance around the house to.

I started off my July 2014 mix, "The House At the Intersection" with this track.

DJ Fudge (not to be confused with DJ Fudge of Atlanta) was born in France and now lives in Hong Kong. Hallex M is also based in Hong Kong and is the man behind United Music Records. You can hear mixes from both of these talented DJs through Hallex M's U-Entertainment Mixcloud page.

When you think soul music in the UK, the first name that comes to mind is Omar. Omar is to Neo-Soul in the UK as D'Angelo is in the States. He has been in the forefront in recent years with a string of well received cameos, and his 2013 album release titled, The Man.

Taylor McFerrin - Early Riser: Taylor McFerrin is the son of Bobby McFerrin. Yes, THAT Bobby McFerrin. "Don't Worry Be Happy" Bobby McFerrin. And Taylor McFerrin is quite the musician in his own right. He snuck on to the scene with his EP, Broken Vibes, and the underground soul community was instantly smitten. Early Riser is his second release and his first full length LP. It is a great mix of soul and electronic.

With guest appearances by Thundercat, Robert Glasper, Nai Palm, Emily King, RYAT, and a song which features his father and Brazilian pianist Cesar Camargo Mariano, the album is a mixture of vocal tracks and instrumentals. Personally, you don't see enough albums with instrumentals these days.

St Paul & The Broken Bones - Broken Bones and Pocket Change: don't you just love to love a Blue Eyed Soul song? St Paul & the Broken Bones hail from Birmingham, Alabama. They recorded their debut full length LP, Half the City, at Fame Studios - one of the two famous recording studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Lead singer, Paul Janeway, has a voice that can stand without shame when listed alongside other soul singers. My introduction to the band was a liver version of "Broken Bones and Pocket Change" and that's why I listed that particular song instead of their entire album. However, some notable names got behind this album. Along with the album being recorded at Fame, it was produced by Ben Tanner of the Alabama Shakes, and released on Single Lock Records which is owned by Tanner, Will Trapp, and John Paul White of The Civil Wars.

Swindle - Walter's Call: Electronic Jazz? This is some hard stuff. You could almost say it's Footwork, but there is no denying it is also Jazz. Swindle is from south London, so it is quite surprising to find that he is making this hybrid music that would be right at home in the underground clubs of Chicago and Detroit where the frantic footwork and jit dancing (respectively) is popular.

This is not the first time Swindle has combined his love of jazz with electronic music. In 2013 he released the brilliant Long Live The Jazz LP to critical acclaim. However, the Walter's Call EP is different. He stepped it up on the electronic side of things but still managed to keep the Jazz element intact.

Zara McFarlane - Angie La La: I am cheating on this one. Angie La La was a lead single released in Nov 2013. The original is beautiful, features a guy named Leron Thomas (talented in his own right). There is also a remix by Osunlade. I remember this because I played the remix in my December 2013 mix, It's Been A Long Time. You have to listen to both the original and the remix.

The only reason I am bringing up a song from 2013 in this list is because it was released again on her 2014 album, If You Knew Her. Zara McFarlane is an incredible vocalist. If you are a fan of the great female Jazz vocalists of the past, you will find an appreciation for this talented young lady.

Diggs Duke - The Upper Hand and Other Grand Illusions: Diggs Duke is so talented. I first got hip to him when he was self producing a series of Herbie Hancock covers. This guy does it all. He plays all of the instruments. He handles the vocal duties. He has great taste in music and puts together some very interesting mixtapes. And if you are as lucky as I was this summer, he told me where to hang out to hear some good music in Washington DC.

This EP is a short, jazzy, R&B number. It takes on the topic of relationships with style and class, out R&Bing all of today's most popular R&B.

Sonzeria- Brasil Bam Bam Bam: I have had dreams of having enough money to produce dream albums. Having some of my favorite artists work together to create something that wouldn't get done otherwise. My favorite DJ, Gilles Peterson, did just that with this album. Peterson used his influence as one of the most respected DJs in the world, his record label, Brownswood UK - for which I have to thank for a number of the releases on this list - and his love of Brazilian music to create his dream Brazilian album. Reaching across generations of musicians, he recruited Brazilian legends like Elza Soares and Marcos Valle, as well as popular current day musicians who have become Brazilian icons in their own right, like Seu Jorge and Emanuelle Araujo.

I can't say enough about this album. I took a train ride to Washington DC this summer and this album was one of the albums I purchased to listen to on the trip. The album stayed in my ears all summer long. I played "Summer Freeez" in my "When All That Matters" mix. I played "Bam Bam Bam" in my set for "The Over-Do" party. I think my favorite track may be "Brasil Pandeiro" which features Chico Chagas and Emanuelle Araujo. I could probably say something about each song on this album, however it is probably best if I just let you listen to it for yourself.

Electric Wire Hustle - Love Can Prevail: I ran across Electric Wire Hustle with the release of their self-titled first album. At the time, I remember thinking, "This is what Marvin Gaye would sound like if he was recording in this prime today." After three years of listening to that debut album and loving it, I was itching for something new. One day I did a search to see if anything had been released from them and there was a new single, "If These Are The Last Days". (I used "If These Are The Last Days" in my "Excited, I quickly bought it. Then I looked at the album art and said, "Hey...is that them? That can't be them. That must be some art they put together for the single." But now my curiosity was piqued. What DID they look like. So I looked them up and yep! That's them you see there on album art. The lead singer is a redheaded white guy. The band is from New Zealand. I was pleasantly surprised.
This new album is dark. There is a lot of commentary in the lyrics about the state of the world today. Listening to it you can feel overwhelmed and helpless. However, the title give you hope. I am on the same page emotionally as this new album, so I welcomed the expression from a group I admire so much. Plus the music is really good.

Andrew Ashong - Andrew Ashong EP: I find it really hard to describe Andrew Ashong's music. It to say it's soulful, funky, and jazzy is true, but that doesn't really get you near what's happening here. He is definitely channeling the great male soul vocalists, but there isn't anyone in particular I can say he harkens back to. It's like he is pulling on the collective of the styles as they were floating in the ether. One thing I can say is his songs stay in the pocket, sometimes repeating the same melodies or lines over and over. And that's not a bad thing. It never gets boring. It becomes almost hypnotic and puts you in a groove without you knowing it. Good stuff.

I used "Love the Way" in my "Atomic Number 79" mix.

Badbadnotgood - III: BadBadNotGood is a piano Jazz trio from Toronto, Canada. They are a jazz trio, right? I mean a lot of their stuff sounds like hip-hop, but the make-up of the group is piano, bass, and drums. There's no denying the Jazz here. I mean they met at school where they were studying Jazz. However, when they performed for a panel of their instructors with a piece they arranged based on an Odd Future song, the panel said it had no musical value. So based on that maybe it's not Jazz, or maybe the instructors were just pompous. I'm going with the latter. One listen of this album and you will agree that it is jazz.
The album opens with the cinematic "Triangle", which I used in my mix, "Reel Life (Cinema Dreams)" and it continues to deliver with instrumentals a jazz lover can enjoy or a hip-hop head can imagine their favorite MC rapping over.

A Race Of Angels - Just Begin / It's Just Begun: I'm not kidding when I say I can't find any information on this group. It's like they put out music and then go into hiding until their next release.

Just Begin and It's Just Begun are the same same song. The difference is that Theo Parrish produced It's Just Begun. I guess you can call it a remix but it's a completely different production.

I wish I could say more about this, but that's all I've got. Let the music speak for itself, I guess. It has a lot to say anyway.

Jazzanova feat Paul Randolph - Now There Is We: I hope I don't have to explain who Jazzanova is. If you are reading this blog you should already know. And just in case you a running a bit behind and need a quick lesson in Jazzanova, click here. So, since you are already familiar with Jazzanova, all I need to say is Jazzanova = the truth. Paul Randolph = the truth. Together? Just listen.
Oh, and I love this video. Great design work going on here.



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Posted with Blogsy

Fuzati - Jazz mix on Gilles Peterson's "World Wide"

Fuzati - Jazz mix on Gilles Peterson's "World Wide"

Fuzati is a Hip-Hop MC from Versailles, France. He's a co-founder of Klub des Loosers and a dedicated crate digger who happens to have an insatiable taste for rare Jazz. He dropped a mix of his Jazz selections on Gilles Peterson's "World Wide" radio show.

So sit back, relax, pour yourself a drink, and enjoy.

Record Collecting: Donald Byrd - Step High

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Donald Byrd - Step High
UpFront, 1976 (?)
Producer unknown

Features Bunky Green, Winton Kelly, Johnny Coles, Duke Pearson, Waler Perkins, and Bob Cranshaw

Not a whole lot of information on this album. I was confused by the fact that most of the info I could find said the album was released in 1976 but it sounded like Hard Bop era Byrd. What gives? By '76 he had already released Black Byrd, Street Lady, Stepping Into Tomorrow, and Places and Spaces, which all had his trademarked funky fusion sound. How did this album exist during that time sounding like something he would have done from the early 60s?

Well from what I could gather when Vee-Jay records filed for bankruptcy in 1966 they began licensing the rights to some of their masters. Springboard International bought some and released this material under a subsidiary label, UpFront. Think about it. Byrd had released four hit albums with this new sound he created. Black Byrd is Blue Note's biggest selling album of all time. Springboard International had some masters that featured Donald Byrd - probably hired as a side man for the session (the last song on the album is a piano solo. Byrd doesn't even play.) - so they slap his name on it and release an album during his peak. I bet many of the people who bought this were disappointed. But I like it. I happen to like both the bop and the fusion Donald Byrd.

Record Collecting: Gil Scott-Heron - Real Eyes

Gil Scott-Heron - Real Eyes
Arista, 1980
Produced by Gil Scott-Heron and Malcom Cecil

Went crate digging recently and this was the first record I ran across. I have never seen a copy of this one before, so while I wasn't happy that the first record I wanted had a $20 price tag, I didn't let that stop me.

I have been looking for this album for years now because of two songs. "The Klan", which was sampled by Little Brother for their track, "Make Me Hot", which was given a great re-edit by Yam-Who?, and "Your Daddy Loves You (For Gia Louise)". He re-recorded "Your Daddy Loves You..." as a live track, and then that live track was re-mixed by DJ Asparagus and Wipe The Needle. I've been playing that re-edit and the remix in mixes for years, but I had never heard the originals until I got this album home.

It was so worth the wait. I am blown away by how subtle, yet beautiful, the playing is on "Your Daddy Loves You...". "The Klan" was everything I expected it to be. The rest of the album is sold Gil Scott-Heron.

Record Collecting: Elton John - Friends

Elton John - Friends (Original Soundtrack)
Paramount Records, 1971
Produced by Gus Dudgeon

Technically this could be considered Sir Elton John's 4th album though a lot of times you won't find it on a discography list because it is a soundtrack. This album was released between Tumbleweed Connection, 1970, and Madman Across the Water, 1971 (That's if you aren't counting his live album 17-11-70, which was released in 1971 and before Madman.) So, if you think about it, this project came along before Elton John and Bernie Taupin became full blown superstars. 

There is nothing super exciting about the songs here. The title track was a minor hit reaching #34 on the Pop Chart. Personally, I really like "Can I Put You On" but as Elton John songs go, there are many better songs in his discography. There is not a thing wrong with any of the tracks on this album. It's just that you are comparing little known songs written to go along with a movie - that turned out to be a flop - to the well known rest of the career of a bona-fide superstar.

However, it is an interesting look at Elton John before the fame was fully realized. Also, this one can be found for pretty cheap. As you can see I paid $5 for mine. And on top of everything else you get some great album art to display!

Record Collecting: Maria Muldaur

Maria Muldaur - Southern Winds
Warner Brothers, 1978
Produced and arranged by Christopher Bond
Features Les Dudek on slide guitar

I was first introduced to Maria Muldaur's music through my Instagram buddy @minglewoodblues. She posted a picture of Geoff and Maria Muldaur's album Sweet Potatoes. Since my favorite dessert happens to be sweet potato pie, and I was getting ready to bake my first sweet potato pie of the season, I decided to listen to it. After telling @minglewoodblues that I really enjoyed it, she suggested I take a listen to this Maria Muldaur solo album.

She mentioned a track titled "I'll Keep My Light In My Window". I recognized the song from Quantic and Alice Russell's album, Look Around The Corner.I thought that Muldaur's version might be the original version of the song, however when I got my hands on this copy of the album I noticed the song writing credits went to Leonard Caston and Terri McFadden, names I recognized from Motown.Turns out the original was done by the little known Motown duo, Caston & Majors. Now my hunt continues to find that version.

But back to Maria Muldaur. Along with the Caston & Majors song, she covers a few songs by Leon Russell, and JJ Cale's "Cajun Moon". Her singing is strong, yet sultry, and still leaves room for a touch of playfulness. Her backing band is solid. This one is a treat that you can pick up at a cheap price.

DJ Roger Riddle - Unapologetic

Unapologetic
Mixed and compiled by DJ Roger Riddle

I am not the least bit sorry about playing these songs for you. I hope you enjoy.

Unapologetic by Roger Riddle on Mixcloud

New Dorp. New York by SBTRKT (feat Ezra Koenig)
Instead (Emanative Remix) by Collocutor
Say That by Toro Y Moi
If These Are The Last Days by Electric Wire Hustle
Shades of Jae by Moodymann
Opportunity by Brasstronaught
Personal Jesus (MKTL & Polyrhythm Bootleg) by Depeche Mode
Good Ol Love (Honeycomb Vocal Mix) by Honeysweet
Drum Skat (Skat That) by Marlon D
Decisions by Taylor McFerrin
A Night Out With Therese (Original Mix) by Anno Stamm
Evertrack by Rushmore
It's Serious by Cooly G, Karizma

Atomic Number 79

Atomic Number 79
Mixed and compiled by DJ Roger Riddle

This is definitely music for nighttime listening. But hey, if you're feeling spunky, be a gangsta and play it in the daytime.

Atomic Number 79 by Roger Riddle on Mixcloud

Baby (feat Dam-Funk) by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
The Love by A Tribe Called Quest
Flowers by Andrew Ashong
The Top by Francis and the Lights
Riding High by Faze-O
Rock With You (Daniel Crawford Midnight Remix) by Michael Jackson
Soul Glow by Fatima
Take It Personal by Gang Starr
W by Karizma
One 4 Teen (J-Dilla Remix) by Bahamadia
Southern Freeez (feat Emanuelle Araujo) by Sonzeira
Herione by Wildcookie
Start of It by Collective Efforts
Dirty Love by J Davey
Love the Way by Andrew Ashong
Average Fruit by Quadron