San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Listen: Lil Nas X, Vijay Iyer Trio and more new releases.
The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Vijay Iyer Trio, “UnEasy” (ECM): While the New York jazz pianist and composer’s projects have had many iterations, this is his first album leading a trio since 2015’s forcefully enacted “Break Stuff.” Joined by drummer Tyshawn Sorey and Linda May Han Oh on bass, “UnEasy” sees three players at the top of their game. Their connectivity is uncanny, finding harmony in avantgarde improvisations at every turn. Oh and Storey especially shine on a version of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day,” and Iyer is at his finest on the dazzling keys of “Configurations.”
Always socially conscious as a composer, Iyer dedicated the single “Children of Flint” to the children of the predominantly Black Michigan city whose water supply was poisoned with lead, and “Combat Breathing” was written to soundtrack the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Black Lives Matter activity in response to the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice.
Jordan Rakei, “Late Night Tales” (Night Time Stories): For 20 years, the “Late Night Tales’’ series has featured artistcurated compilations from some of the most influential artists from across the globe. Notable previous editions have focused on the selections of Groove Armada, Thievery Corporation, Arctic Monkeys and San Francisco native Tommy Guerrero. Now the first release of 2021 comes courtesy of New Zealandborn modern soul and jazz fusionist Jordan Rakei.
A perfect soundtrack for the intimate gatherings that we’ll soon be able to host safely indoors, Rakei’s mix features tracks from Canadian vocalist Charlotte Day Wilson and London jazz keyboardist JoeArmon Jones and also includes some of his own creations like a hypnotic cover of Jeff Buckley’s “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” and the cinematic “Imagination.” Rakei has continued to push the envelope on contemporary music, and this album is an excellent representation of the diverse sounds in his universe.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Roger Fakhr, “Fine Anyway” (Habibi Funk): Despite being one of Lebanon’s most celebrated musicians, the lack of a music industry infrastructure in 1970s Beirut never allowed a proper release of any of the singersongwriter’s work. Fakhr’s sprawling Lebanese folk was in line with the sound of ’70s greats like Graham Nash, Gordon Lightfoot and Paul Simon, so it was a travesty for it not to be heard by new generations.
Enter Berlin’s Habibi Records, which specializes in reissuing Arab music ephemera, who connected with Fakhr (he now lives in Richmond) to release “Fine Anyway,” the first collection of songs from the musician to have global distribution. Half of the songs on the album are previously unreleased, and the other half were only available on laughably small runs of cassettes given to friends in Beirut. Fakhr is as captivating on guitar as he is on the microphone, and funky Rhodes piano is strewn throughout as well as bohemian percussion. Start at the upbeat “Gone Away Again” and the somber “Fine Again” before relishing in the breadth of this incredible new discovery.
SONG OF THE MOMENT
Lil Nas X, “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” (Columbia): It feels like an eternity ago when Lil Nas X released the countryrap masterpiece “Old Town Road” in December 2018. The song soared to the top of every imaginable chart and stayed there longer than anyone else’s song ever had before reaching 14time platinum status.
Six months later, the rapper came out as gay and subsequently cemented himself as a queer icon. A number of lackluster yet surely moneymaking releases followed before late this March when Lil Nas X effectively set the pop music world on fire again with “Montero’’ and its equally bombastic video.
A love song set to a dancefloorready Middle Eastern-influenced cowboy beat, the song sees the rapper at his most forwardly queer thus far. The video is also a digitized poke at religious iconography and ends with the star sliding down a stripper pole to hell, only to give a CGI Satan a lap dance. This is the best type of sensationalism, and Lil Nas X can finally claim a worthy followup hit to “Old Town Road.”
LOCAL PICK
Mae Powell, “F— I.C.E.” (Park the Van): A regular in San Francisco’s folk music scene before the pandemic, Powell would fill rooms like Hotel Utah and Amnesia with her swell vocals and matter off act lyrics. Now fresh off an appearance at South by Southwest’s digital event in March and recently signed to Park the Van Records, Powell has released the single “F— I.C.E.”
She comes off tongueincheek at first but has a clear message in the song that calls attention to ongoing injustices and racist practices at the U.S.Mexico border. “You can’t fight hate with hate, it’ll only make it grow,” she sings over a lovely guitar.
All proceeds from the song are being redirected to people affected by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.