Good to Feel

The raw, beating heart of funk, soul, jazz and hip-hop—all of which the furious Sacramento five-piece known as The Gold Souls have incorporated into their style—has always been the blues. Blues and its far-reaching tendrils have defined pop music in the last century, but it is not of pop. It can make you dance, it can speak to your inner being, it can heal, but it always deals with pain on some level, existential or otherwise. Through the wide branches of its influence, it continues to speak to the artist’s eternal conflict between escaping and confronting the abyss, and although the layers of time have polished it and its offshoots with a mellower, safer reputation, there is always the yearning, fearless voice within it that dances along the dire edge of life. That’s where The Gold Souls come in, crafting good-time music while never losing sight of its implications about life, the self and the soul.

Sometimes, good rock’n’roll records are all about feel, and Philadelphia five-piece Sheer Mag‘s debut is a case in point. The first hint comes from its cover, an aeroplane heading through blackened clouds towards a faraway sun, with the band’s crudely drawn logo in the top left corner. It has the instant impact of a classic rock sleeve, the kind you’d see a balding guy who still maintains a straggly mullet sporting on a faded t-shirt.

The hottest Norwegian band, The Yum Yums, have been playing, released records, toured and basically been arrogant powerpop-stars since 1993. All of their releases are essential to everyone believing in pop music. Their sound can be described as part the Beach Boys, Barracudas, Real Kids, Paul Collins Beat and Ramones. Put them all together and you have a unique mix of bubblegum hot rod pop. Amazing infectious harmonies+ monstrous driving guitar sounds + godlike choruses = THE YUM YUMS.

Thirty-one years and 27 albums in (not including compilations), urban contemporary jazz unit Spyro Gyra are playing with the funky inspiration and clever melodic and rhythmic invention that have made them synonymous with the genre, but that they haven't displayed on their own recordings for some time. This is not to say the quintet have ever been completely off their game. They know what they do, and do it extremely well – they can make smooth and groove-oriented records all day long – but the sheer edge and shifty, even knotty melodic ideas on "Good to Go-Go" feel adventurous in contrast to the records they've made since the beginning of the decade where they've fused smooth jazz to some Caribbean, Spanish, and other kinds of world music as well as written and recorded with pop vocalists.

The latest in our popular Songwriters series puts the spotlight on the late Rod McKuen. A born outsider, Rod McKuen was embraced by millions of fans who connected with the expressions of desire, nostalgia and self-acceptance found in his songs and poems. In the early 1960s, he began to visit France and gain entry into Parisian songwriting circles. By 1964 he was co-writing with a host of leading French chansonniers, most notably Jacques Brel, resulting in such international hits as 'If You Go Away' and 'Seasons In The Sun'.

100 Super Oldies: Too Good To Be Forgotten is a 4CD box set compiling four different volumes from the 25 Super Oldies series of disc released in 1988. While the cover appears to give the compilations a unified feel celebrating the music of the 1950's and 1960's, it also includes a few songs from the 1970's, which at times does not make sense. This was released by the Happy Days label from Holland and it most likely means this was put together in an unauthorized manner.

Always one of the most interesting and creative Chicago bluesmen, Jimmy Dawkins rose to notice as part of the, then, newest generation of Chicago guitarists like Magic Sam, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush - with his stinging, emotion-laden guitar he was at least their equal. He is a serious blues artist who doesn't go in for crowd-pleasing histrionics. He excels in the recording studio where he is always focused, disciplined and supremely creative. Here, Jimmy plays tough and intensive guitar and allows himself just enough latitude to cut loose without descending into meandering. Also here are prime examples of his superb songwriting. And then there is his superb band. With completely remixed and remastered sound they have never sounded better.