Hi everyone, here are our six musical recommendations for the week; five streaming suggestions and one recommended album on CD.
(Click on the photo to stream or request the album)
Freegal Streaming Suggestions*
Imagination by Gladys Knight & The Pips (Genre: Soul, R&B, Pop):
This album by the family group Gladys Knight and the Pips, which consisted of Gladys Knight her siblings and assorted cousins, is one of their best. The album was originally released in 1973, showcases their talents at their youthful but seasons best and contains four top ten hits: Midnight Train to Georgia, Perfect Love, I Can See Clearly Now and I’ve Got To Use My Imagination.
Other songs on the LP include: Storms of Troubled Times, Once in a Lifetime Thing, Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me and Where Peaceful Waters Flow.
Autumn by Don Ellis & His Orchestra (Genre: Jazz, Easy Listening):
Don Ellis was a versatile trumpeter who was known for work with his orchestra from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies and for film score work which included scores for the hit films The Seven Ups and The French Connection. He unfortunately, died young in 1978, age only 44, but he left behind some great music including this upbeat, and aptly titled for our time of year, LP – Autumn.
Songs on the album include: Scratt and Fluggs, K.C. Blues, Child of Ecstasy and Indian Lady.
String Theory by Brentano String Quartet (Genre: Classical):
This album by the group that recently played a concert as part of the 2017-2018 Corning Civic Music season features music composed by Steven Mackey.
Songs include: I’ve Grown So Ugly, Troubadour Songs, on All Fours, Physical Property and Silver Spheres.
Tell the Devil I’m Gettin’ There as Fast as I Can by Ray Wylie Hubbard (Genre: Roots Rock, Rock, Country)
I can’t sum up this album any better than does Mark Deming in his AllMusic review — so I’m not going to try — instead – here is his review of Hubbard’s 2017 LP:
You’ve got to be a pretty great storyteller to set the Old Testament version of Creation to music and put so much of yourself into it that it sounds like you made it up. Ray Wylie Hubbard does just that on the first track of 2017’s Tell the Devil I’m Gettin’ There as Fast as I Can, in which he recasts the tale of Adam and Eve in his rough but compelling Texas drawl, with guitar and foot stomps transforming the story into a swampy hunk of country blues. That may be the boldest gambit on this album, but the other nine tracks are every bit as strong and engaging as the opener. Hubbard is one of the best lyricists working in America today, capable of spinning tales that draw in listeners with their vivid characters and details, and his vocal style, rough but alive, only adds to the power of his words. The arrangements on Tell the Devil work beautifully with Hubbard’s performances; this album sounds spare and smoky, like it was recorded spontaneously at 3 A.M. with bourbon and cigarettes close at hand, and the atmosphere is potent throughout. Whether he’s singing about his favorite guitar tuning, a renegade folk group from the ’60s, the wild ride of an aspiring songwriter, a night out at a dive bar, or his own colorful journeys, Hubbard makes music that’s cinematic in its depth and unique in its ability to get under your skin. At the age of 70, Ray Wylie Hubbard is making music that’s tougher, more effective, and better crafted than most artists a third his age, and Tell the Devil I’m Gettin’ There as Fast as I Can is yet another striking example of his casual brilliance. AllMusic Review by Mark Deming
Songs on the LP include: Spider, Snaker and Little Sun, The Rebellious Sons, Old Wolf and In the Times of Cold.
A Long Way From Your Heart by Turnpike Troubadours (Genre: Country, Roots Rock)
Turnpike Troubadours hail from Oklahoma and consists of Evan Felker on Vocals, Kyle Nix on fiddle, R. C. Edward on bass, Ryan Engleman on guitar and Gabe Pearson on drums.
This is the band’s fifth and it includes the songs: The Housefire, Unrung, A Tornado Warning, Pay no Rent and The Hard Way.
CD Suggestion of the Week:
Synthesize the Soul Astro-Atlantic Hypnotica from the Cape Verde Islands 1973-1988 by Various Artists
Through 18 diverse tracks, this compilation reveals how immigration from the Cape Verde Islands to Europe and the United States gave us an alternate history of the electronic music that dominated hearts and minds across the world in the late 1990s. But the story doesn’t start in a major Western cultural hub, rather in the small cluster of islands 400 miles off the Senegalese coast, and offers an unparalleled insight into the long-term cultural splendor catalyzed by migration. Largely overlooked outside the Lusophone realm, Cape Verde’s Astro-Atlantic gumbo of instrumentation and rhythm offers a timely lesson of migration’s power to produce cultural innovations ahead of it’s time. This unknown, ultra-progressive sound could not have been perfected without the induction of Cape Verde’s artistic human capital into the West.
Songs/Artists Include: NHÚ de Ped’Bia by NÓS Criola, Pedrinho by Nand, Tulipa Negra by Corpo Limpo, Manuel Gomes by Jelivrà Bo Situaçon, Val Xalino by Dança Dança T’manche and Jovino Dos Santos by Bo Ta Cool.
Videos of the Week:
Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight & The Pips
Wide Open by Don Ellis & His Orchestra
A Late Quartet by The Brenato String Quartet
Something to Hold On To by Turnpike Troubadours
Tulipa Negra by Corpo Limpo
References:
Artist Biography & Discography Information:
http://www.allmusic.com/
The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)
Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL
P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713
*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!
Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.
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