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Personal Picks: Kelly's Best of 2012 Year-End Recap

Posted by Kelly S. Osato, December 31, 2012 02:30pm | Post a Comment

flinstones record player stane age bird beak turtle vinyl turn table cartoon hanna barbera
Well, here we are. We weren't thrust into a new dark age oblivion, the world didn't end and neither did my workaday quest for the best music for the day. This year was rife with records that just had to be snatched -- reissues, compilations, and a fair few newbies too.

Here follows my personal, "show and tell" style best-of list for 2012:  the year that didn't stop the big wheel a-turnin'. Rather than just dicing up a list of cold-cut favorites, I've included personal events and trends herein that shaped the music I sought and gravitated towards within the past year.


BEST NEW ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Jessica Pratt - JP. No contest. I have naught but the best of things to say about this disc of spun gold and I'm not alone. It seems every Barry, Rob, and Maurice in the blogosphere has been falling all over this record like autumn leaves in the rain. If you really want to know my take check out my real talk review of JP here, otherwise please do enjoy the album's opening track, "Night Faces" below.





 
BEST 2012 REISSUE: It's a tie between two (Numero related) comps: WTNG 89.9FM: Solid Bronze and & Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974 - 1984. Both platters piled high with private press oddments and rarities one could hardly go more wrong than to miss out on these two exemplary feats of the compilation arts. The former being a point of revision for many in that it is essentially a mix of largely unheard "yacht rock"/AOR triumphs of seventies song-writing sensibilities (man, is it ever sensibly sensitive) that confronts one's moral definition of guilty (listening) pleasures. The latter comp, Personal Space - a seemingly dark horse among the usual reissue fare fleshing out the the tom findlay groove armada late night tales music for pleasure yacht rock am gold smooth music sailing soul comps shelf space, made the rounds among Amoeba staff regularly thus enjoyed a healthy amount of in-store play as well. Chock full of rhythm-box workouts a la Sly Stone, Timmy Thomas and Shuggie Otis, it's a far-out soul/funk excavation of the highest order. Both of these are solid front-to-back listens for the home vinyl library/curio corner.

Strange Talk Live in SF and LA This Week

Posted by Rachael McGovern, October 11, 2012 12:10am | Post a Comment

Strange Talk

My favorite new Aussie dance-pop band Strange Talk is doing a small US tour this week, with two dates in California and a few dates in New York around CMJ.

The band, which formed after a former classical violinist (Stephen Docker) and a DJ/Producer (Gerard Sidhu) met at a house party in Melbourne, released their self-titled debut EP on Neon Gold in 2011 and is working on their full-length album which is due out in 2013. In the meantime, they have released a few singles, most recently "Cast Away," and have been busy remixing tracks for other artists, including Foster the People, The Naked and Famous, and The Temper Trap. They also found time to record a pretty amazing version of "Roxanne" by The Police (listen here).

If you're in San Francisco, you can catch Strange Talk tonight at Rickshaw Stop (get tickets here). Or join me tomorrow in Los Angeles at The Echo (get tickets here). Don't forget to bring your dancing shoes!

They'll be in New York for a few dates too:

October 17 - Mercury Lounge (CMJ Windish Showcase)

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Don't Dream It, Be It: Jero's Enchanting Enka Legacy

Posted by Kelly S. Osato, February 1, 2012 11:33pm | Post a Comment
In Japan, you'd have to living under a rock to not know Jero (or ジェロ) and prior to 2003 an event listing like the concert poster pictured below might have drawn attention for all the wrong reasons (see: Other).

enka singer jero african american history month japan jerome white

There is certainly nothing inherently other about Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native Jero, né Jerome Charles White, Jr., but he stands apart from the pack in that he has, before the age of thirty, achieved living his dream of becoming the first successful African-American Enka singer in Japanese music history.

jero jerome charles white enka singer japanese pop vocals black history month african american mixed heritage jero enka singer grandmother takiko japan american back history month african mixed heritage traditional pop vocals

Jero grew up among a strong influence of Japanese culture and began singing Enka at an early age due to his Japanese grandmother Takiko's enthusiasm for the genre. She had met Jero's grandfather, an African-American serviceman, at a dance in Yokohama during World War II. They married, had a daughter - Jero's mother Harumi - and eventually moved to Pittsburgh, his grandfather's hometown. Though his parents divorced when he was still very young Jero was reared under the cultural influence and familial guidance of his Japanese grandmother and his Japan-born mother in a mixed-heritage household.

On the 3rd Day of *J-Pop* Christmas: Puffy's "R.G.W."

Posted by Kelly S. Osato, December 23, 2011 10:33pm | Post a Comment
This next addition to the 12 Days of J-Pop Christmas list comes color-coded and choreographed for high-impact holiday fun. Put on your boogie shoes, here comes Puffy in decked out in red, green and white with their music video for "R.G.W." Only two more days 'til Christmas! 

On the 4th Day of *J-Pop* Christmas: Halcali's "Strawberry Chips" lift some tree skirts!

Posted by Kelly S. Osato, December 22, 2011 12:00am | Post a Comment
Today's addish to the 12 Days of J-Pop Christmas countdown is a special one for the holiday hams in my house as this video for Halcali's hip-hoppin', bottle-poppin and pillow-fightin'  Christmas hit "Strawberry Chips" directly influenced the design and style of the Tree Skirts - that loveable duo that brought a little naughty but nice Christmas cheer to this years' Amobepalooza/holiday party jam (if I do say so myself). Anyhoo, if you find yourself short on the sort of girlish charm and whimsy that makes one want to have a post-shopping spree sleepover pie-toss then this is a visual experience to revel in.

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