8 albums, songs worth hearing in August
The summer music season unlike any other is coming to an end.
While there was very little live music to enjoy in the Milwaukee area — or anywhere — local artists continued to release quality albums, EPs and songs during the warm weather months.
The thing is, local artists in particular count on shows to make money, where they typically sell most of their music. So instead of merely streaming Milwaukee music, buy it if you can from their Bandcamp page.
And here are my eight favorite new releases you can check out, listed in alphabetical order.
‘Born 4 This,’ Twan Mack
Hip-hop has generally been a young man’s game, although that’s definitely changed in the last few years. And that’s a refreshing perspective on veteran rapper Twan Mack’s latest track, where he defies the expectations that he should be out of the music game, playing with grandkids and concerned with his 401(k). Mack still takes care of himself — giving a shout-out to kombucha tea — but he expresses his commitment to keep expressing himself through hip-hop as an elder statesman. “If those are your dreams,” he says, “you’ve got to go after them.”
‘Heartfake,’ Collections of Colonies of Bees
Knowing the backstory of “Heartfake” is a bit of a heartbreaker. The experimental rock group finished this song over the winter, with plans to record and play new songs during the summer festival season. Here’s hoping we’ll hear those songs and see those shows next summer, because “Heartfake” carries on the intimacy and grandeur of CoCoBees’ latest album “Hawaii.” The band is donating proceeds from the song’s sales to local nonprofit Leaders Igniting Transformation.
‘Meat & Potatoes,’ Pete Freeman
We lost a songwriting giant in John Prine to this horrible pandemic, and there’ll never be another quite like him. But it’s assuring to see Prine’s wise and wry, slice-of-life songwriting continue to influence fellow Midwestern singersongwriters like Pete Freeman, who juxtaposes the simple beauty of kite flying with the internal turmoil of life’s anxieties on “How to Fly a Kite,” and writes a cute story of a small-town Wisconsin guy falling for an international lifeguard on “We Found Love (in the Wisconsin Dells).”
‘Nectarines,’ Melvv
The momentum definitely slowed for Milwaukee-born, New York-based Melvv’s budding music career, but after a few months of silence the producer paired up with fellow Atlantic Records artist Royal & The Serpent for his stickiest earworm to date. “Nectarines” would have really ruled across a crowded festival field. Until then, enjoy blasting it from your speakers.
‘Say It,’ B~Free and Quinten Farr
The husband and wife singer-songwriters have made plenty of music together and in their separate projects, but this is the first single attributed to both of them. And hopefully there’ll be many more to come, because there’s a natural chemistry here that takes this love song to another level, from the lovely blend and juxtaposition of their voices (with Farr purring through a talkbox), to the relaxed, alluring assortment of keys, chimes, hand drums, flute and gentle guitar.
‘Sc2,’ Yo Dot
Yo Dot was a dominant player in the Milwaukee hip-hop scene from the early-to-mid 2010s, then more or less retreated from the spotlight. He bounced back in a big way with last year’s comeback EP “Self Checkout.” Here, we have the rare case of a sequel improving upon the first installment, with Dot’s commanding flow and magnetic rhymes enhanced by Plaga’s production, which finds the right balance of channeling pre-trap era beats while sounding fresh.
‘Stop and Listen,’ Abby Jeanne
‘60s rock has long been one of Abby Jeanne’s key influences, so on her latest single, she goes straight to the source, covering a 1967 track from psychedelic Milwaukee rock band the Shag, a song she’s loved since she was 14. That admiration is crystal clear on this spirited rendition, and infectious.
‘We Get What We Deserve,’ Guerrilla Ghost
It’s hard to fathom many people living through the pandemic agreeing with the logic behind the rap-rock duo’s second album. But Guerrilla Ghost makes a case of sorts rallying against society’s many sins. Led by Bad Graphic Ghost’s furious delivery, “Deserve” decries inhumane detention of migrant children on “The Immigrant Song,” racial profiling and black people killed by police on “In Memory Of” (with top Milwaukee rapper Armstrong Ransome), and features noted New York rapper Kool Keith on “Algorithm Nation 1814,” a condemnation of mob mentality in our social media era.
“Must-Hear Milwaukee Music” runs on or around the first of every month in the Journal Sentinel and at jsonline .com.
If you have a new album, EP or song coming out, contact Piet Levy at plevy@journalsentinel.com for review consideration. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.