The difficult "sophomore" edition of 10 Bands

Why I listened to reggae for most of the week, and some funky other things.

Hello all. Welcome to the difficult “sophomore release” of 10 Bands.

Thanks for reading, subscribing, etc.

What a week, eh? Woke up on Wednesday, had this stuck in my head. It’s a classic:

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PART ONE

I had a confluence of ‘Lovers Rock’ related content drive most of my musical discovery this week.

Inspired by a listen to Sade’s 2000 album, Lovers Rock, and watching the absolutely mindblowing, and transfixing Lovers Rock episode of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, I plunged head first into the sounds of Studio One, Trojan Records, and various reggae sides for a good portion of the week.

Here’s 10 songs for you, 9 of which were featured in McQueen’s short film.

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PART TWO

Bonus tracks: here’s 4 new faves for the week

This vibey stunner from Jenny Kern, New York based SSW, originally from Toronto.

Old, but new to me: Nemours Jean-Baptiste was a Haitian saxophonist, bandleader, and songwriter who was hugely influential in the origins of Haitian kompa music. For a new documentary that we’ve produced at WXPN, and premieres on February 1st, Kanaval: Haitian Rhythms and the Music of New Orleans, I discovered his music and have been obsessing over his album, The Sensation of The Day, released in 1961. Have a listen:

Madeline Kenney has a delicious, dreamy new EP out, whose title song is a serving of longing Cocteau Twins-ish vibes. You can melt easily into this song, and EP.

Finally, here’s a tasty cover of Kendrick’s “How Much A Dollar Cost” by R+R=NOW, from a live album by Robert Glasper, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Terrace Martin, Derrick Hodge (Philly represent), Taylor McFerrin & Justin Tyson from a live show they recorded, coming out on Blue Note Records on 2/12/21. Damn, I wished I would have been in that room for this.

These songs and other awesome jawns are on my super blazing hot 10 Bands Spotify playlist that if you follow you’ll never miss tomorrow’s now music today.

That’s it for this week, hope you dig into some of these tunes.

As Low Cut Adam says “keep punchin’ pals.”