San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Listen: Popstars globetrot on ‘Coming 2 America’ album.
The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Ian Sweet, “Show Me How You Disappear” (Polyvinyl):
It feels like it was only yesterday when Jilian Medford rocked the stage at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, on the heels of her breakthrough 2018 album, “Crush Crusher.” You wouldn’t know it from how deftly the Los Angeles singerguitarist performed, but she was on the brink of severe panic attacks that would lead to an outpatient program with daily sixhour therapy sessions. After taking time away from music to reflect and recenter, “Show Me How You Disappear” is the result of Medford affording herself a fresh outlook on life. Introspective songs like “Get Better” and “Sword” show a songwriter in tune with the ills of their past and easing into the future. Menahan Street Band, “The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band” (Daptone):
Bandleader and guitarist Thomas Brenneck not only helped cultivate the sound of late soul singer Charles Bradley, he also helmed the Menahan Street Band that backed both Bradley and legendary singer Sharon Jones. Now for the first time in a decade, the Brooklyn group has released an album of original compositions featuring an elite cast of modern soul musicians, including members of the DapKings, the Budos Band, the Roots, and Lee Fields and the Expressions. The horns, guitar and congas on the cinematic “Starchaser” come across like a funkified Ennio Morricone soundtrack, and “Devil’s Respite” is a smoldering throwback groove.
Painted Shrines, “Heaven and Holy” (Woodsist): The new project of Woods’ Jeremy Earl and Glenn Donaldson of San Francisco’s Skygreen Leopards, Painted Shrines slots nicely among the highbrow folk sounds of Earl’s Woodsist label. Initially recorded in 2018, the album came out of a trip Earl took from his home in New York to Donaldson’s rural Northern California studio. Where the title track is filled with experimental psychpop guitar, the upbeat air of “Gone” picks up where Earl left off on Woods’ “Strange to Explain,” one of our standout albums of 2020.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Adrian Younge, “The American Negro” (Jazz Is Dead):
One of today’s most prolific musicmakers, Younge has produced music for JayZ, Kendrick Lamar, Ghostface Killah and Oakland’s Souls of Mischief. Plus his eponymous label’s “Jazz Is Dead” revivalist series with Ali Shaheed Muhammad brings in great musicians like Roy Ayers, Marcos Valle and Doug Carn. Now, Younge’s powerful new album is a meditation on systemic racism, a combination of spoken word and uncompromising soul compositions that he recorded with a 30piece orchestra in his Los Angeles studio, playing every instrument in the rhythm section. The album released in conjunction with “Invisible Blackness,” an Amazon Music podcast featuring episodes with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Ladybug Mecca of Digable Planets, as well as the short film “TAN,” due this month.
SONG OF THE MOMENT
Bad Bunny x Rosalía, “La Noche de Anoche” (Rimas Entertainment): If there’s a recipe for vaulting a 3monthold song back into global relevance, Spanish flamenco pop singer Rosalía and Puerto Rican reggaeton rapper Bad Bunny have got it down. First they released a fiery and passionate video for the tune “La Noche de Anoche” on Valentine’s Day, then a week later, Bad Bunny surprised millions of viewers by bringing Rosalía on stage with him to perform the duet on “Saturday Night Live.” The sweeping reggaeton love songfrom Bad Bunny’s 2020 album, “El Último Tour del Mundo,” sleekly pairs two global megastars and brims with crosscultural appeal.
LOCAL RADAR
#BakaryBeatChallenge: Oakland hiphop producer Bakary Burner issued what seemed like a casual Beat Challenge contest via his Instagram page in February, offering three exclusive beats to the winner. But the #BakaryBeatChallenge has blown up. Aspiring, hungry and established MCs from the Bay Area and beyond have been submitting short videos on social media, rhyming over Burner’s spedup dancehall beat, which rides a sample of “Ghost Town” by the Specials. It’s become the best kind of internet wormhole, because it illustrates the power of hiphop to unite different communities.
Check out entries from surging Oakland rapper Guapdad4000, Oakland poet Porsche Kelly and San Francisco battle rapper Frak, whose hilarious callout of the city’s gentrified culture drew attention on Twitter from R&B star Kehlani and Golden State Warrior Juan ToscanoAnderson. Alex Bleeker, “Heaven on the Faultline” (Night Bloom): As the bass player of New Jersey band Real Estate, Bleeker toured the world many times over with one of the most consistent bands in indie rock. Now a Bolinas resident, Bleeker helped start the indie label Night Bloom Records and has released a delightful solo album. Marrying jangly West Marin folk with psychedelic instrumentals, “Heaven on the Faultline” is an easygoing listen that feels like the unique natural embrace of Mount Tamaplais and the Bolinas Lagoon.
SOUNDTRACK
“Coming 2 America” Original Soundtrack (Def Jam): The globetrotting sequel about an African king (Eddie Murphy) touring the U.S. stays true with a soundtrack that includes American and African pop stars. Rappers Bobby Sessions and Megan Thee Stallion team up on the braggadocious single “I’m a King,” and the most notable songs include Harlem R&B singer Teyana Taylor, NigerianAmerican sensation DaVido and legacy rap acts IceT and Chuck D. The title track is just as ambitious, performed by John Legend, Nile Rodgers and Burna Boy.