Issue #022
Featuring Cymande, Queens of the Stone Age, Polo & Pan, Cartola & Sonny Rollins
1. CLASSICS: Cymande by Cymande (1972)
Cymande were nine self-taught musicians from the Caribbean who met in London in the seventies. All that afro-caribbean energy mixed with British cultural and musical influences resulted in a sound they called “Nyah-Rock”, but “psychedelic reggae funk” probably describes it bit better. After its release the album was barely noticed in the UK, but it did well enough in the US that Cymande became the first British band to headline the Apollo Theater in Harlem. It had a revival decades later through film, when Spike Lee used “Bra” in his film Crooklyn, and through Hip-Hop when Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul and Fugees all sampled it. If you want a starting point to ease yourself in, “Dove” is a good one.
2. ROCK: …Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stone Age (2013)
This album almost didn't happen. After six years away from the studios, Queens of the Stone Age finally got together at Pink Duck, Josh Homme's own recording studio in Burbank. Then, drummer Joey Castillo left the band midway through the sessions. So Josh Homme called up his buddy Dave Grohl, who had already played drums on "Songs for the Deaf" a decade earlier, to step in and finish the album. And since we're on the topic of famous friends, Elton John, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) all sang parts on it. Released in 2013, it became the first number one album of their career. If you like slightly heavier rock, but with good songwriting behind it, this one's for you.
3. UNCHARTED: Caravelle by Polo & Pan (2017)
Polo & Pan are French DJs Paul Armand-Delille and Alexandre Grynszpan, who met in Paris around 2012 and started out mixing other people's records before writing their own. Caravelle sounds warm, fun and tropical and every song has a slightly different influence. From Giorgio Moroder and the composer Maurice Ravel all the way to Brazilian samples like Edu Lobo on "Zoom Zoom" and Os Tincoãs on "Nanã". If you don't have any tropical holidays planned, this album is a pretty decent replacement.
4. MADE IN BRAZIL: Cartola by Cartola (1976)
Cartola, seen here with his wife Dona Zica, helped found Mangueira, one of Rio's most famous samba schools. He wrote and played samba his whole life, but only recorded his first album shortly before turning 66. This one came two years later, in 1976, and Rolling Stone ranked it 8th among the best Brazilian albums of all time. It's simple, poetic and melancholic old-fashioned samba about everyday life, born in Rio's favelas and sung in Cartola's low, calm voice.
5. JAZZ: Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins (1957)
There's a chance you already know the opening track of this album without knowing you know it. "St. Thomas" is a calypso that Sonny Rollins turned into a jazz melody. He grew up around that music and kept returning to caribbean rhythms in other albums. When he recorded "Saxophone Colossus" in June 1956, he was only 25 and the tenor player in the Clifford Brown Quintet, one of the great bands of the era. Backed by Tommy Flanagan on piano, Doug Watkins on bass and Max Roach on drums, the whole thing was recorded in one day. If you skipped the Jazz section until now, this is a pretty safe bet to get into it.