Blog Posts by Dave DiMartino

Apologies for being a day later than usual: I've just finished the second day of a planned three-day, work-related seminar that involves note-taking, PowerPoint slides, role-playing, and an endless supply of Diet Coke!

Yes, as you may suspect, it's been a virtual paradise!

Still, my chosen role as arbiter of good taste--the human whose sole role is to list the week's most interesting new album releases and often, for kicks, write something relevant about them--continues!

And so it is that I will now list 10 new releases--all of them equally exciting, emotionally compelling, and, in an odd way, sexually attractive--and appraise them not only for their cultural worth but for their physical appearance and relevance to you, my faithful readers!

I like the ones I listened to the best!

Norah Jones: ...Little Broken Hearts (Blue Note) That Norah Jones still releases albums on the esoteric and much-admired Blue Note label still says much about her artistic intent: She's quite good, focused on art, and apparently only mildly interested in selling oodles of records! And while she was once the bees knees sales-wise, and a Grammy

There's an interesting scenario that often emerges as a hypothetical talent gauge these days, especially when so much contemporary music emerges via studio and electronic means: Take a performer and plop him or her on a desert island with a crew of castaways and just one music instrument. How will that work out?

In the case of England's Michael Kiwanuka, the answer may be almost laughably obvious.

Staggeringly well.

With just a guitar in hand, and his strikingly soulful, emotive voice, Kiwanuka could likely entertain anyone anywhere. On a desert island, or in a makeshift studio in Austin, Texas during this year's South By Southwest music conference.

Consider this a welcome early preview of Kiwanuka, who's already been on the receiving end of a whirlwind of raves overseas. His first full album, Home Again, is slated to receive its American debut on July 31st at the moment, and it's every bit as good and soul-searing as the performances you can witness below. We all have a lot to look

Every South By Southwest conference typically features more than a handful of bands whose ascent to the top of the pop charts seems potentially likely if not exactly a certainty.

Having seen the New Cassettes in full live-and-electric mode, I'm inclined to count the Northampton, England band among them.

A five-piece of young, enthusiastic rockers with a powerful live set and a crackling new album in Winterhead, New Cassettes have garnered significant critical acclaim in the homeland and have made significant Stateside inroads as well: there music has already been heard on Grey's Anatomy, Jersey Shore, I Just Wants My Pants Back and much more. And in 2012, those sort of breaks may be even more significant than limited play on radio's tired rock 'n' roll formats.

All this being said, here's a treat: An early morning private performance during Austin's SXSW conference by just two of the band's members, unusually in a raw acoustic performance. Though they were a tad nervous in this

If looked at purely on a genetic basis, how in the world could Dedicated be anything but a very fun listen?

The latest album by Wilson Phillips--the well-known pop trio who swiftly rose to fame with their 1990 debut album--could not come with a better pedigree.

The singers? Carnie and Wendy Wilson, daughters of Beach Boys' founding legend Brian Wilson, and Chynna Phillips, daughter of the Mamas & Papas' celebrated John & Michelle Phillips. The songs? Some of the most famous in pop history--which just happened to be penned or made famous by the singers' celebrated parents. Among the highlights are memorable versions of "California Dreamin'," "Don't Worry Baby," "Monday, Monday," "Fun, Fun, Fun" and the thematically relevant "Dedicated To The One I Love."

The trio brought their warmth and good humor to the Y! Music studios recently and offered up several memorable live renditions of those tracks and an enormously entertaining interview--spilling the details on the new album, their

Hi! I don't want to bore you with moronic First World problems, but I write about music for a living--and I just spent about 15 minutes trying to remember the name of an album I've been listening to off and on for the past month or so and...I couldn't do it!

Here's all I knew: It was an album made by a dude who used to play keyboards in Stereolab or something. Had absolutely no idea what name it was recorded under, but I recognized it when I saw it on my car's iPod, and I used to play it a lot. I remembered the name of the publicist who'd sent it, but after searching for his name I still didn't see anything recognizable. Still, I'd ripped it--and added the cover art manually, since iTunes didn't help-- but I couldn't remember the name of the album or artist.

So I shifted my home computer into iTunes'  "album art display" mode, fanned everything back and forth a few times, and finally found it.

All this for an album I like.

My plan is to write about it now--so later I can Google "Stereolab," "keyboards," my name, Yahoo, and, I dunno, "Aunt Jemima," and remember its name later by entering data! Unless I'm watching a good TV show or something! Then I may simply forget all about it!

Incidentally, I like that detective show with that chick in it!

Jack White: Blunderbuss (Third Man) Would love to say that I've been totally enraptured by the recorded works of Jack White from Day One, but why lie? He sounds like a guy with pretty good taste but, sadly, second-tier talent--and when you strip away the hypothetical excitement surrounding his former band the White Stripes,

Bahamas is the name under which which Toronto-based singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen performs--which, all things considered, is a tad easier on the tongue than Madagascar or Rio De Janeiro--but the music he creates does not exactly seem geographic in origin. Instead, it offers up a mixture of coolness, emotional warmth, and, most notably, space. Space between notes, space between phrases, and, on occasion, space between people.

Sophisticated stuff, all of it, and it's amply on display via Barchords, the new Bahamas album on Brushfire Records.

The final session Y! Music would record while in Austin at this year's South By Southwest music conference, Jurvanen's performance was delightfully informal, featuring the guitarist, a percussionist (take a look at his instrument!), and two superb backing vocalists whose overall contributions were a wonder to hear.

Jurvanen is sharp--an interesting interview with an equally interesting musical pedigree--but above all else, his music is one

Though it's not as easy a drive for music fans in the contiguous United States as, say, the current Coachella festival, the Kokua Festival in Hawaii may be equally as memorable an event.

The creation of singer-songwriter Jack Johnson and now in its eighth year, the festival has consistently featured an interesting array of internationally acclaimed artists, all for the benefit of the Kokua Hawaii Foundation--a nonprofit foundation founded by the singer and his wife supporting environmental education in Hawaiian school and communities.

Those who've heard of the event but have never managed to attend will thus be enlightened--and quite pleased--by the newly released Best Of Kokua Festival: A Benefit For The Kokua Hawaii Foundation album.

A live anthology featuring some of the most memorable musical moments from the festival--featuring Johnson and a number of acclaimed guests--the album boasts the same warmth, precision and musicality that pervades all of Johnson's music and, cliché as it

One of the most talented and adept singer-songwriters out there working, blending humor, pathos and superb musicianship, Todd Snider is a wonder to behold.

At this year's South By Southwest music conference, ostensibly to promote his latest album Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables, the East Nashville-based Snider stopped by Y! Music's makeshift recording studio and proceeded to delight the entire crew both with his delightful performance as well as the warmth and personal candor displayed during his ensuing interview.

Snider's skills have long been evidenced by his consistently wonderful, occasionally deliciously quirky albums, but for those who haven't managed to catch a peek of him until now-you're in for a serious treat.