Category Archives: Brook Reeder

by | May 15, 2016 · 9:00 am

Did You Hear? Really Love & produk 29 [101]

Here are a couple of tracks that are all about finding that pocket in a non-obvious way.

The first is organic soul music from D’Angelo and the Vanguards’ Black Messiah, recorded by musicians in the same place at the same time, all onto analog tape (you may remember an earlier post from these guys).

The second is manufactured with bleeps and blorps from the genius mind of Aphex Twin on his latest album Syro. For a deeply layered and satisfying listening experience, I can’t recommend either of these albums highly enough. Both go deeper and deeper, and both understand the importance of that pocket…

Brook Reeder

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by | May 8, 2016 · 3:22 pm

Did You Hear? The Sweetest Gift

This one goes out to all the mothers (especially mine who is obviously the best, and will definitely love this track). Happy Mother’s Day!

It’s amazing that these three voices-Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris-each iconic in their own right, blend so incredibly. One of the hallmarks of great artists, as distinct from just great performers, is that they can leave enough space for one another to be an equal part of the sound.

Brook Reeder

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by | May 1, 2016 · 9:00 am

Did You Hear? Every Girl

This sounds like Bob Dylan channeling Jonathan Richman while sitting in with the Velvet Undergound. It’s awesome! This is some true garage/surf rock, from an LA band comprised of a bunch of Amoeba Music employees who got together and started playing to critical acclaim, like some kind of Cameron Crowe fantasy come true.

Brook Reeder

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by | April 24, 2016 · 9:00 am

Did You Hear? Adam Ben Ezra’s Upright Bass Solo

“And the Dog Gave No Fucks About the Man in the Hat.” That’s the title I would give to this song, anyway.

If this performance doesn’t draw you in, then I guess you just don’t like bass playin’ dog owners.

Brook Reeder

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by | April 17, 2016 · 9:00 am

Did You Hear? Hip Hop

What do we really know about DJ Jazzy Jeff? My knowledge used to stop at the cartoon character of a man attached to the Fresh Prince in the ’90s. But as it turns out, he’s pretty legit. I saw him perform at a Fourth of July celebration in downtown Philly a couple years back. It was humid as hell, Boyz II Men were there, I was eating a cheesesteak and TastyKakes, and DJ Jazzy Jeff spun old-school funk and R&B for an hour or two… so it was pretty much the ultimate Philadelphia experience. I was amazed at how solid he was. No one else seemed to be all that surprised.

Check out the album of instrumentals he released in 2007 called The Return of the Magnificent-especially this really smooth track simply called “Hip Hop.” (Or try it with lyrics. Or hear the whole album.)

Brook Reeder

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by | March 6, 2016 · 7:00 am

Did You Hear? ¡Cubanismo!

New music! Sometimes old music. Music that we love!

Let’s keep going with some more great Latin music this week. There are a ton of amazing moments and solos in this Cuban jazz piece, but the real star of the song for me is the feeling itself. Incredibly tight and unbelievably loose, it’s impossible not to move along with. There’s something great about a group that knows exactly where the beat is supposed to land, so they can casually ignore it. Check out 3:20 when the pianist decides to briefly enter an alternate universe, requiring you to keep track of two entirely separate rhythms. So good!

And if that’s not quite enough for you, try this:

When it was originally released by the Eurythmics, this song was so far ahead of it’s time that we’ve still barely caught up. This version, however, is… questionable. It’s like an old jacket you’d find in a thrift store-it’s either incredibly cool or horribly awful. But it’s a pretty killer horn arrangement.

Brook Reeder

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