Charlie Hunter's 'Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You Will Not Be Getting Paid'

So here’s something for those out there who prefer something with a groove and no lyrics. It’s a strange and exotic style of music that requires the composers and performers to actually really know what the hell they’re doing on their instruments. It hardly seems to get much attention anymore, but it’s called…..JAZZ!

Jokes aside, Charlie Hunter is probably one of the coolest artists in any genre currently performing. At some point in his 20’s, it seems that he sold his soul to the devil to gain the ability to play his custom-made 8 string guitar, which features 3 bass strings on the bottom and 5 strings on the top. As one can imagine, this allows him to be the guitarist and bass player at the same time. Combined with hours of practice and a skill for both improvisation and composition, Hunter has been creating some really exciting sounds for almost two decades because of his sheer versatility as a musician. He was a member of the jam band/jazz group Garage a Tois before recently leaving last year, and has also collaborated with drummer Bobby Privette in their on-and-off again group Groundtruther (my favorite being their super-weird record with DJ Logic). As a bandleader he has released around 15 albums, ranging from more straight-ahead modern jazz on Blue Note Records (like Ready, Set...Shango! and his 1993 debut Charlie Hunter Trio), to funk (a trio record called Return of the Candyman featuring one of the coolest covers of ‘Fly Like an Eagle’ featuring a vibraphone, bassguitar, and drummer you can imagine) and more recently a blues/rock oriented sound (his last two records Mistico and Baboon Strength especially). My favorite record of his was one of the earliest, a track-for-track jazz interpretation of Bob Marley’s Natty Dread. If you haven’t heard it, go out and get it. Now.

A fine example of the scary stuff Hunter can do. He's said that one of his goals was to imitate the sound of B3 organ on the guitar, and I think he more then does it here.

His most recent release, the fantastically titled Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You Will Not Be Getting Paid sees Charlie return to his roots as a jazz player with serious chops and a love for writing great arrangements. The album was recorded completely live to two-inch analog tape and was not mixed or overdubbed whatsoever. Together with some incredible playing and a nice batch of new tunes, this record sounds like something that could have come out of 1960. The first track, ‘You Look Good In Orange’ could have been on a George Benson or Grant Green record. The addition of a horn section allows Hunter and his powerhouse rhythm section to do what they do best: groove like there’s no tomorrow. The slower ballads like ‘High and Dry’ and the achingly gorgeous ‘Everyday You Wake Up New York Says No’ show that the band can do something other then just groove and treat all tunes with the same amount of reverence and top-notch work. The live-feel of the record is no better summed up then on the final/title track, where Charlie Hunter lets his inner blues man come out and start kicking ass and taking names. Overall, this record is awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys their music with a large dash of soul.

CD release residency week

Dirty Projector's FREE new single 'Asending Melody'

Hey everyone. For those that haven't already heard about, here's a link to a new single from one of last year's break-out stars, Dirty Projectors. It looks like they had such a good year, in fact, that they're giving these 2 new songs out for FREE on their website. As a treat for the vinyl-heads out there, they're also releasing it as a 7-inch single through Domino Records.

The two tracks highlight the best of what has become the DP sound: a tight rhythm section plays behind bandleader Dave Longstreth's schizophrenically jangly guitar while the female vocalists provide an incredibly unique texture to even uniquer lyrics. Last year's fantastic LP 'Bitte Orca' was the tightest record the band had ever put out, which is why the jam-session like vibe of this new single (complete with audible instructions being spoken in the background) is a welcome treat. The 'bridge' section of the new tune is also a bit of a return to the ambient parts of one of their earlier LP's 'Rise Above', which was one of the coolest and strangest bits of music I think I've heard in awhile. And I think that's the beauty of this band- they manage to be completely out there and yet somehow familiar at the same time.

The B-side is a slower and tighter-arranged song called 'Emblem of the World'. All in all, it was very cool of the band to release this free on their website and I can only hope that we hear more new material soon (these songs were outtakes from an EP released late last year of songs that were left off of 'Bitte Orca'. I wonder how much more material from that time might surface).
For anyone who hasn't heard Dirty Projectors, this is a really great introduction that will let you know if you might like a full LP of their fairly polarizing sound. For those like me that are already fans, this is a great new addition to a increasingly solid discography.

http://www.dirtyprojectors.net/

The Top 50 Songs of 2009

A few weeks ago, I got together with my good friends Matt Rothstien and Sam Walker and we came up with our collective top 25 songs of last year (how weird is that? it's already last year). After all agreeing that #1 was definitely Animal Collective, we then each picked one draft-style.

A week or so later, Matt and I were recovering from New Years Eve together when we decided to round out the last 25 in the same format.

I really thought that I had a pretty good grasp on all the great new releases that came out in 2009, but sitting down with my friends proved to me that I really didn't have it together at all. I found out about so many new bands that have since become new favorites of mine, including Yeasayer (whose new album will most certainly be reviewed here in the next few weeks), Florence and the Machine, Phonenix, St Vincent (who I now have an insane celebrity crush on) and the mash-up insanity of The Hood Internet, just to name a few. Doing this directly influenced the creation of this blog, because I realized that as varied as my music tastes are, my friends actually have me beat. And that's an incredible thing.

So here it is. Joyful Noise's Top 50 songs of 2009. Agree? Totally hate it? Let us know.

1. My Girls – Animal Collective
2. Dog Days Are Over- Florence and the Machine
3. Two Weeks- Grizzly Bear
4. So Insane – Discovery
5. Coffee- Motel Motel
6. Anonanimal – Andrew Bird
7. Heaven – Midnight Masses
8. Jimmy Dove- Blind Man’s Colour
9. Born on the Day the Sun Didn’t Rise – Black Moth Super Rainbow
10. Wetter and Jeffer- The Hood Internet
11. Let’s Go Surfing- The Drums
12. Everyone is Guilty- Akron/Family
13. Ambling Alp- Yeasayer
14. Loved Up- Korallreven
15. Useful Chamber- Dirty Projectors
16. Summertime Clothes- Animal Collective
17. Beach Town- Le Loup
18. Laundry Room- The Avett Brothers
19. Havin’ My Baby- Think About Life
20. The Whale Song- Modest Mouse
21. Treat Me Like Your Mother- The Dead Weather
22. You’ll See It- Washed Out
23. Mtn. Song- Evening Hymns
24. Small Deaths- Dodos
25. Empire State of Mind- Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys
26. Impressions of the Past – Megafaun
27. Floating Vibes – Surfer Blood
28. On the Vista (ft. Mos Def) – Blackroc
29. Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors and David Byrne
30. Ain’t No Friend of Mine – Mason Jennings
31. Love Like A Sunset (Animal Collective Remix – Deakin’s Jam) – Phoenix
32. Angelika – Devendra Banhart
33. Warm Heart of Africa (ft. Ezra Koenig) – The Very Best
34. In This Light and On This Evening – Editors
35. Cold Outside (ft. Ghostface Killah) – Raekwon
36. Moth’s Wings – Passion Pit
37. Daylight – Matt & Kim
38. Actor Out Of Work – St. Vincent
39. Bicycle – Memory Tapes
40. The Rain – The Swell Season
41. What Would I Want? Sky – Animal Collective
42. The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid – The Decemberists
43. Seasun – Delorean
44. While You Wait For The Others – Grizzly Bear
45. Lust For Life – Girls
46. Woods – Bon Iver
47. 11th Dimension – Julian Casablancas
48. Dear God – Monsters of Folk
49. Deadbeat Summer – Neon Indian
50. Happy Endings – The Wearings
(I hope that this one isn't too narcissistic of me. I had one pick left and this was, honestly, one of my favorite songs of the year. I certainly can't put my band next to anyone on this list, but it's like a parent being proud of their child. Or something like that.)

Hello, interwebs!

Hi everyone. Hope you've had a great start to your year, from wherever in the world you happen to be reading this.

In the past month or so, I've been turned on to a variety of incredible music-related items from various people whom I have hung out with in New York and Colorado. Naturally, many of these have been bands that have filled my ear-cavities with enlightening and exciting sounds. However, I've also started to get hip (or at least more hip) to various websites that review and distribute music, from blogs like NYC Taper (http://www.nyctaper.com) to major sites like Pitchfork. What has struck me so about these sites is that they are not only acting as critical outlets that provide a perspective on trends in music and the music industry as a whole, but really act as way for people to find out about music that they wouldn't have come across any other way.

Personally, I tend to get my new music suggestions from friends whose tastes I trust. Being a college music student, I'm blessed to be surrounded with a group of friends who have extremely eclectic tastes that spawn every genre imaginable. Additionally, being home for winter break has allowed me to catch up with people I haven't seen in quite awhile. Conversation often seemed to turn to what new music we'd been listening to, and before long I had a ton of names to go check out.

When I find out about a new band whose sound I really love, I usually can't stop listening to it and get so excited that I've found something fresh. I start telling my friends around me about it and might post a Facebook status, but it usually stops there. There is so much new music being produced today that it is nearly impossible to keep up with everything that is coming out, and I know that I'm not the only one who would like to say they try.

This led me to an idea- what if there was a way for friends to keep each other updated on new thing that they find out about? Sites like ilike.com have obviously already beaten me to this idea, but those only really provide names and numbers and not actual opinions. It is with that in mind that I introduce to you this blog, Joyful Noise- a way for friends to show each other their new and favorite discoveries.

Articles won't just come from me, but from many of my friends whose opinions I trust. Not only will this mean that there will be more posts then usual for a blog like this, but it means that you the reader will be getting many different perspectives. These people and their views will be introduced in the coming days, and I hope that the list will grow over the next year. It is my hope that we will not only spread word of the best new acts today, but also encourage people to get out and find it themselves.

Stay tuned........