Videos

McCoy Tyner Performs She's Leaving Home

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McCoy Tyner is one of my all time favorite jazz piano players – he is an absolute diamond in the rough. In a nutshell, McCoy Tyner cut his teeth in the jazz scene playing piano in Coltrane's band before a long and healthy solo career. My favorite of his solo albums is Nights of Blues and Ballads and I cannot recommend it highly enough if you don't already have this one in your collection. Regardless, I had a one of those transcendent moments this morning while drinking a cup of coffee and listening to McCoy Tyner perform his rendition of The Beatles classic, She's Leaving Home. 

I've already called Tyner himself a diamond in the rough, but more specifically, that's how I feel about his performance amongst a collection of thirteen other jazz interpretations of Beatles songs from the 1995 album (I Got No Kick Against )Modern Jazz: A GRP Artists' Celebration Of The Songs Of The Beatles. If you are curious, or would like to purchase just this track, the album is available on Amazon. The band is McCoy Tyner on Piano, Avery Sharpe on Bass, and Aaron Scott on Drums. Collectively, I enjoy the way they stay true to the original song and its emotional content, while speaking their own language. The best story tellers always manage to get the important parts correct, even if they change the details along the way.

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New Releases

Nicolas Jaar EP

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NICOLAS JAAR / Don't break my love EP by Clown & Sunset

Warning: Listening should occur on good headphones.

This is pretty different fare than you'll normally find on our humble little blog, and I am generally a non-believer in most of the output from the electronic music world. That being said I can't stop listening to Nicolas Jaar. I hesitate to even call his work "electronic" as it combines found sound and organic noises as well as bloops and blips. It comes across with a feeling akin to The Books.

I want to live inside the space in "Don't Break My Love". It's the absolute opposite of current electronic trends (read: brostep) in it's beauty, sparseness, and reliance on subtely and open space to breathe emotion and nuance. The song crackles and pops at a painfully slow speed in the beginning to the point of checking to even make sure the song is playing. As the sounds gradually unfurl themselves a melody and rhythym are established and the groggy bass brings you in. The hook doesn't even drop for a good five minutes.

You can download both tunes by clicked the downward arrow in the player. After hearing this track I immediately devoured Jaar's brilliant release from earlier this year Space Is Only Noise. I recommend you do the same.

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Gigs We Dig

hexaCollective: Winter Marathon Concert

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The hexaCollective is a relatively new project in the Balitmore/DC area. If you have not yet had the pleasure of getting to know them, let me introduce you. Dig Nation, this is the hexaCollective. hexaCollective, this is the Dig Nation. Let's be friends. You dig? 

hexaCollective is a group of singers and instrumentalists that works to fill the niche of diverse chamber and solo music programming.

The origin of the name hexaCollective draws from the six voice categories (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass). The collective also includes instrumentalists, composers and others collaborators.

This Baltimore/DC based group's foundation is centered on the desire to explore possibilities in new works, some commissioned specifically for the ensemble or rarely performed pieces, with the intent of premiering several such works. 

This consortium of talented and adroit musicians is gathering Saturday Dec. 10th at The Mt. Vernon Music Space, 1015 N. Charles St. for their Winter Marathon Concert. Like the collective itself, it will traverse time and genre with music from Xenakis, Ravel, Vivaldi, Boulanger, and Debussy. Tickets are $5 for children/students and $10 for adults.  The concert will begin with the vocal portion of the show at 6:15 pm before yielding to the instrumental serving at 7:30.

Read on for more information about the hexaCollective as well as a video of their delightful singing from a recent performance.

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Gigs We Dig

Atlantic Guitar Quartet Concert Update

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By now I don't think it comes as a surprise that I am living multiple lives as a blogger, teacher, and performer. My classical guitar quartet the Atlantic Guitar Quartet is a major focus of my creative energy and we have done extraordinarily well in our short life span as speaker heads for contemporary classical music. Currently, we are performing the music of Ron Pearl, Roland Dyens, and Olivier Bensa. The combined language of these composers makes for a concert experience that explores different techniques, sounds, colors, and offers the audience the visual intrigue that only contemporary concerts can. A recording of the work Paroles from Bensa is attached below which was from a recent AGQ performance at Salisbury University.

Our next performance is at the Jordan Faye Contemporary Gallery in Baltimore MD this December 10th at 7:30. Advance ticket sales can be found via Ticket Leap, and more information regarding the quartet and this concert can be found over at Facebook and Twitter. The quartet will also be recording this week so give the twitter account a follow for pictures from the studio!

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Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2011

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This Weekly Roundup is feeling a little bittersweet, as it is very likely the last installment of 2011. We need to pause it because we'll be busy with year-end features and so that we can prepare some changes to the Roundup format for 2012. Don't worry, it'll definitely be back in a few weeks and there is still one last great batch of songs and videos awaiting you once you click through!

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News

Vinyl Giveaway Contest – Saint Motel

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[THIS CONTEST IS NOW OVER. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED!]

Here's an exciting new thing for Those Who Dig. We have five copies of the new 7-inch record from Saint Motel to give away to five of you lucky readers! It's called 7"1 and features the songs "At Least I Have Nothing" and "Puzzle Pieces," both of which have been featured in Weekly Roundup (here and here, respectively).

All you have to do is send us (@ThseWhoDig) and Saint Motel (@SaintMotel) a tweet. Maybe tell us something you think is cool about the music. And why not like Saint Motel on Facebook? (Or Those Who Dig for that matter, wink-wink).

You can listen to "At Least I Have Nothing" below, but don't waste too much time before you tweet if you want some free vinyl! Good luck!

SAINT MOTEL – At Least I Have Nothing by saintmotel

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Unearthed Music

Plants and Animals – Lightshow

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Plants and Animals – Lightshow by SecretCityRecords

It's so supremely satisfying and comforting when you hear a song that just speaks to you, directly, at a certain time. It's like the artist reached in your brain and spilled your thoughts all over the recording studio. It's almost like you don't want to share the song with anyone else – after all it was made just for you, right?

Fortunately for you guys, I have a music blog and sharing great tunes is kinda what I do. I've been having a tough time lately finding the time/will/energy to post on TWD, but luckily the other Digsters are holding it down. I haven't given up on music or the site – just in a bit of a motivational lull lately and some major life changes have been brewing that tend to take up my thoughts. I needed a spark to light a fire under my ass and it came yesterday courtesy of Kyle the Music Savage (Gardener).

This new song from Montreal-based band Plants and Animals came through my speakers with a 2×4 in hand and whacked me right in the forehead. It starts out simply enough with a carefully strummed acoustic melody and clear vocals. It's when the drums kick in and I started to parse my way through the varying tempo that I realized I was listening to something special. That crunchy guitar breakdown in the middle is the release of every gnawing feeling that weighs on you in times of struggle. It's the aggression at your fingertips clawing for a way out. Shit, I love this song.

Plants and Animals release The End Of That on Secret City Records at the end of February, so be on the lookout.

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Label Year

Feist – Metals

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Last month, Feist released Metals, the long-awaited follow-up to her breakout album The Reminder. It was perhaps the most anticipated release of the year for Arts & Crafts from perhaps their most prominent artist. It is a great album and the subject of this installment of Label Year.

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