May 2013 Mixtape

Well, well, welcome to the first day of Summer if you're in the northern hemisphere, or the first day of Winter in your south of the Equator. The first day of winter here today is quite mild but they tell us it won't last long.

Despite the doom and gloom predictions, here's a heap of great music compiled lovingly over the last month for you to get down and dirty with.

This month we start with a few leftovers from April, but in addition we feature:

• New tracks from Kurt Vile, Frank Turner, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Kasey Musgrave, Thee Oh Sees, Holy Ghost, Atoms for Peace, Jinja Safari and more
• Memories of stars passed, in memoriam of Ray Manzarek (The Doors), Alvin Lee (Ten Years After), Daddy Mac (Kris Kross)
• Classics from Ray Charles, Counting Crows, Dave Dobbyn, Cold Chisel, Metallica, Elvis Costello, Wilco, Bob Dylan
• Aussie legends from Grinspoon, The Fauves, The Mavis's, Baby Animals, Kisschasy
• and some of the songs I'm debating voting for in the 20th Anniversary of Triple J's Hottest 100 by the likes of King Missile, US3, Neneh Cherry, Groove Armada, Lard, Ash, Supergrass and more...

as well as songs from all the artists we have featured on the blog during the month.

Cue it up, put it on random, turn it up and, most importantly,

ENJOY!

Sunday Sessions: Jazz goes to Africa

This week with the Sunday Session I've decided to share some of the most sublime and beautiful music with you, and you also get to watch the players create it out of thin air.

The piece is "Ocean Wave" by West African Kora player Foday Musa Suso and jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette.

The Kora is a stringed instrument, kind of like a thumb piano, originating from Ghana. It can have anywhere up to (and in some cases beyond) 21 strings, all plucked with the thumbs. It is a beautifully resonant instrument that is capable of some gorgeous melodic and harmonic textures.

Jack DeJohnette is of course well known for playing on Miles Davis' legendary LPs "Bitches Brew", "Live-Evil", "A Tribute To Jack Johnson" and "On The Corner".

These two players start with a basic structure - a drum rhythm and a simple melodic figure - and then they improvise and bounce melodies and rhythms off each other. It is truly wondrous to watch musicians improvise in performance like this, inventing new music as they go. As a result, this piece is never played the same way twice. It is an unusual combination of instruments but it is joyous and exciting. You'll never hear anything like this again.

Enjoy!