Hey there, lovelies. Welcome to this HEAR THIS quick hit.
Click the link to find and follow my HEAR THIS playlist and let’s get you started with a sample of this week’s players:
Raleigh Ritchie – “Bloodsport”
Apparently Grey Worm is less the eunuch than we thought if the R&B/sexytime charm of his debut album, You’re a Man Now, Boy (released in February), is an accurate gauge. Yes, I’m talking about Jacob Anderson who portrays the handsome, stalwart, fierce, stoic, honorable, loyal unto death commander of the Unsullied on Game of Thrones. Obviously The Mother of Dragons, Daenerys, knows a good thing when she sees it.
Making his musical mark under the name Raleigh Ritchie, Anderson mines the solid and even elegant paths of modern R&B, tinged with neo trip hop. The actor/musician-thing can be a perilous road, yet as Raleigh Ritchie, Anderson pulls it off deftly. Today he released a new single, “Unicron Loev” – and no that is not a typo – but the song “Bloodsport” is a damned sweet intro to what this gentleman has to offer. Perhaps Daenerys also keeps Grey Worm around to sing to her during these stressful times because the quest for the Iron Throne has been the bloodiest sport of them all.
Lo Moon – “Loveless”
It’s not every day that a debut single 7 minutes in length (how ballsy is that?) can utterly capture and shroud a listener in a sweeping and ambient sonic cocoon…and then make you want to press “PLAY” again. Matt Lowell, Sam Stewart and Crisanta Baker did that thing with “Loveless.” But as stellar as the Los Angeles trio is in recorded form, nothing prepared me for, A) how well they would bring their cinematic sound to life live and, B) the impressive stack of songs in their arsenal like “Wonderful Life” and “This Is It.” They played their final show of 2016 at Bootleg Theatre and when you walk away annoyed that there isn’t more music available to listen to at your leisure, you know that was a damned good show. But they are working on a full album with Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla so 2017 should satisfy the needs of the many fans that Lo Moon has already hooked with 7 majestic minutes of sound.
Dionysia – “Glory”
There’s much to appreciate about what Garrett Brown (vox/guitar), Alex Myers (drums), Will Kiernan (bass) and Julien Vandal (sax/keys/vox) have to offer. As Dionysia, the Burlington, VT band enrich a rock foundation with funk, blues and a deeply soulful maturity and “Glory” is a fine representation of it. Yes, another Vermont band that has caught my ear. Who is the other? That would be Madaila.
Also joining my playlist today: The Rolling Stones are back and have gone honky tonk blues, Imagine Dragons continue their dive into movie soundtrack territory, NYC’s Oxymorrons…just go there, the Soft White Sixties, an acoustic version of the return of JoJo and more. So dig into my HEAR THIS playlist (seriously, it’s really deep) and I hope you find something that musically turns you on.
Til next time…love, @dharma69.