San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Listen: Uncovered Joni Mitchell demos, and more new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Joni Mitchell, “Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes)” (Rhino Records): June 22 marked the 50th anniversary of Mitchell’s undisputed classic album “Blue.” Now, in the leadup to October’s fivealbum “Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (19681971),” a digital EP of original recordings of demos and outtakes from the “Blue” sessions, is out and it’s marvelous. Hearing the rawness of Mitchell’s vocals on an early version of “A Case of You” or how deliberately she strums the guitar on the demo for “California” will make you feel like a fly on the wall at Hollywood’s A&M Studios for this early moment in music history. Listen to the full EP at Datebook online. Various artists, “Red Hot + Free” (Red Hot): The Red Hot Organization is known for its activism and fundraising for HIV/AIDS, namely via the 20 benefit albums it has released since 1991. The album series began with the popular “Red Hot + Blue” album, a collection of Cole Porter reinterpretations by artists like U2, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop and David Byrne, and in 2016, the “Day of the Dead” tribute to the Grateful Dead. Now on the 30th anniversary of the first release, the globally minded dancemusicfocused “Red Hot + Free” is the latest effort from the series, which to date has raised more than $15 million for charities around the world.
Led by producer Bill Coleman, tracks like Sofi Tukker and Amadou & Mariam’s intercontinental “Mon Cheri” and Billy Porter’s modernized rendition of Juliet Roberts’ explosive ’90s club classic “Caught in the Middle” are very clearly constructed to ease the world back into celebrations, parties and global unity after the pandemic.
SONG OF THE MOMENT
Diplo featuring Damian Lazarus and Jungle, “Don’t Be Afraid” (Higher Ground): Summer vibes are in full effect on this single from megaproducer Diplo, featuring British stars in producer Damian Lazarus and the distinct vocals of Jungle’s Josh Lloyd and Tom McFarland.
Released on Diplo’s house and classic dance Higher Ground label — as opposed to the more arenaready EDM of his longtime Mad Decent label — “Don’t Be Afraid” has a similarly polished anthemic energy as his 2018 megahit “Electricity” (with Silk City), but with a more relaxed aesthetic. The song’s gripping drums and bass transmissions are primed to be blasted on the speakers at Diplo’s headlining show at the Midway set for Oct. 16.
LOCAL PICKS
Ricky Lake & Stoni, “Brand New Feeling” (Text Me Records): The latest cut from the Mission District’s tireless Text Me Records collective is a rhythmic rap track that feels like it was made for strutting down the reopened Valencia Street on a sunny Sunday.
A love song at heart, the pair deliver the hook as if they’re smiling through gold teeth: “When I feel what I know what you thinkin’, what I feel when it’s near that we healin’, what I feel when it’s clear what you doing in my life (every day in the sunshine).” The San Franciscobased Lake fits right in as a core Text Me artist, and Oakland’s Stoni has a flow that’s incredibly gravitational for an artist appearing on just her second official release.
Dawn Riding, “The Light” (The Long Road Society): The second album from the Oakland folk trio is a welltraveled journey through dimly lit spaces, mildmannered places and hardened faces. Growing up in her father’s bar, primary songwriter and singer Sarah Rose Janko tells stories that feel like they came from the toughminded folks that walked through the door.
On “Love Song,” Janko’s acoustic guitar sits gently alongside Hall McCann’s electric guitar and Jasmyn Wong’s sweettempered drumming. Then on a reinterpretation of Utah Phillips’ “The Telling Takes Me Home,” Janko and McCann harmonize beautifully as they sing of “the wide crimson deserts where the muddy rivers flow.”
Janko, who said she learned a lot about the folk music tradition from Phillips’ music, told The Chronicle that her songwriting is rooted in her memories.
“I try to get to the meat of the emotional truth of the (experiences),” she said, “not because I think my life is so interesting or my feelings so important, but because I believe it’s an important practiceto tell your stories, interrogate them and create a narrative.”