Gerald Albright, Sax for Stax (Peak)
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He’s become known mainly for his smooth jazz sides, but Albright’s chops are too big for any single genre — and this collection, which finds him tackling Stax classics like “Cheaper to Keep Her,” “Knock On Wood,” and “Who’s Making Love,” promises to be at least twice as interesting as anything he did for Atlantic in the ’90s. Of course, this is still Gerald Albright we’re talking about, so don’t go into Sax for Stax expecting anything approximating actual grit, but it’s hard to mess up these songs too badly. Stream tracks from the new album at Albright’s MySpace page.

Deborah Bonham, Duchess (Rhino/Atco)
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In which the littlest Bonham cuts out on her own with a stack of sides influenced by classic soul and British Invasion rock. She doesn’t stand a chance of emerging from her dad’s shadow, but given that her big brother is drumming for Foreigner now, odds are it’s Deborah who will be sharing the best press clippings at the Bonham family table this Christmas. Listen to the album at her MySpace page.

Ry Cooder, I, Flathead (Nonesuch)
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Cooder’s crazy-ass California trilogy, which started off promisingly with Chavez Ravine before plummeting into the kooky depths with My Name Is Buddy, reaches its conclusion here, in a song suite about…well, who knows, really, but there is an appearance by an “alien who races around in a souped-up flying saucer on the desert salt flats.” Dear Lord. This time around, Cooder has penned a 104-page novella to go along with the music; some of us liked it better when he just played guitar.

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Once again kids, yours truly is handing over the mixing duties to Jack Feerick — who brought us a mix that “gave the drummer some.” This week’s mix celebrates a season that, at least for me in the Bay Area, lasts from May to October. I’m talking about summer, and all the good (and not-so-good) things that go with it. See ya next week!

–Ted (AKA Py Korry)

DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX HERE

There’s a website I like, called One-Minute Vacation. The content is simple enough—an ever-growing collection of digital field recordings donated by the site users themselves—but even more than the clips themselves I love the idea; that sound alone, even out of context, can transport us, can take our heads somewhere else in space and time.

It’s not just ambient sound that does this. We’ve all got our personal pantheon of “summer songs,” and it’s about this time that the blogs and the corporate sites start running polls about our favorites. (Not so long ago, it would have been the radio stations doing that.) But what’s a “summer song,” anyway? Is it a song that sounds best when you hear it in the summertime? Or is it a song that, whatever time of year you hear it, reminds you of summer? Or is it a little of both?

Try this; download this mix, and wait a while. Wait until winter comes to your hemisphere, for a day when the sky is the color of slate and the wind is rattling around your windows. Then listen. Close your eyes, as appropriate; where do you end up?

Open on the sound of the Campo del Principe in Granada, Spain, on a sunny day in May. You’ve got the morning free and you’re meeting your best friend at the café across from the park. She’s got a table on the terrace; the day is already hot, and she’s already ordered you iced coffee, sweet and creamy. (more…)

Hiya kids! This week I have a guest DJ mixin’ it up for you. Jack Feerick wrote a great Popdose Guide to Traffic and, unsatisfied with lack of music love drummers usually get, has put together an eclectic Mix Six featuring some very imaginative rhythms. Before we get started, an obligatory drummer joke:

A man walks into a shop and says to the shop assistant: “Excuse me, I’d like to buy a guitar pick, and some strings.”

The shop assistant looks uncomprehendingly at his customer, and says “Pardon?”

“I’d like a guitar pick please, and some strings.”

The shop assistant thinks on this for a while, and then turns to his customer and says “You’re a drummer, aren’t you?”

“Yeah! How did you know, man?”

“This is a fish and chip shop.”

And now, on with the show! Take it away, Jack.

–Py Korry

DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX HERE

I’ve played with a lot of drummers, and they’ve all had a drum key — but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one actually using it. Good tuning, though, can turn a well-played drum part into not just a hook, but a melodic hook. To wit, here are six tunes where the drums sing.

A note: I’m disqualifying Phil Collins from this list, because (a) everybody hates Phil Collins, and (b) despite his considerable flaws as a songwriter, personality, and human being, he is an absolute ace at making the drums sing. And, truth be told, his hateful earworms would utterly dominate this list if steps are not taken to prevent it. I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise I will be completely successful.

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I’m a fan of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and feel that it’s important in preserving the history of the art form and recognizing important musical artists. However, they don’t always get it right. I mean, ZZ Top? Bob Seger? Whatever. Here are two that should be included and, with any luck, will be soon.

PAT BENATAR
There’s a moment in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) where a character points out the various girls at school who dress like rocker Pat Benatar. It’s a funny joke, but there’s also an important point being made: Benatar was so influential in the early ’80s that girls wanted to be her. Moreover, her brand of mainstream rock had crossover appeal, with her records and concert tickets selling equally well among men and women. While Heart’s Wilson sisters, Fleetwood Mac’s Nicks and McVie, and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders — all important female artists — did their work within the confines of a band, Benatar has always been front and center bearing the success or failure of her music on her shoulders.

Independent, smart, and one of rock’s most powerful voices, she was able to take on the male-dominated AOR radio world and succeed time and again; “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Heartbreaker,” “Fire and Ice,” and her pointed, angry anthem against child abuse, “Hell Is for Children,” all continue to receive heavy airplay on the radio. When MTV suddenly ruled the universe, Benatar seamlessly made the transition to videos with hits like “Shadows of the Night,” “We Belong,” and, of course, “Love Is a Battlefield.”

Madonna, one of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees, receives a lot of credit for her determination and ability to change her musical approach throughout her career, but Benatar was doing it long before the Material Girl and was kicking ass in the process. (She even expanded her sound on 1991’s True Love to explore her love of the blues.) To this day, Benatar tours extensively (with Neil Giraldo, her guitarist for the past 29 years and husband for the past 26) and continues to prove that rock and roll isn’t just a man’s world. (more…)