Straight up 2020

Straight Round is the ninth studio album by electro-jazz group Four80East. With an eclectic mix of neo-jazz, STRAIGHT ROUND serves up a infectious mix of soul, funk and jazz groovers to follow-up their 2019 Billboard #1 single, Cinco Cinco Seis , from their Ep release, Four On The Floor. Four80East is a Toronto-based electro-jazz duo that’s all about the groove. Drawing from their diverse musical influences, Rob DeBoer and Tony Grace have created a signature sound that combines electronic production with live instrumentation.

As chart-topping multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Brian Culbertson crafts his 20th album, the aptly titled "XX".Culbertson's catalogue includes recordings of jazz - contemporary and straight ahead - as well as R&B, funk, instrumental pop and New Age. "XX," which drops April 10, reflects his remarkable diversity. "It's a mix of things that I've done throughout my twenty records. There's a lot of funky instrumentals, some pop-sounding tracks, a couple slow jams, straight-ahead jazz, gospel, some vocals, lots of horns and some straight-up FUNK! The album is very much a mixture of some modern sounding programming along with live instruments, too. Real drums on almost everything mixed with programming. Definitely a cool sound," said Culbertson.

New compilation of the Pooh Sticks hits and misses. Straight Up: Noise Pollution C88-90 is a selection of some of the most loved / despised / ignored tracks released by The Pooh Sticks on however many records it was before it all went wilfully ‘American’ sometime around dotted-line’ing for BMG mega-corp in 1991.

Traditional Techniques, Malkmus’ third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement), is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. It’s packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed in his singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove Denied (2019). Taken together, these three very different full-lengths in three years highlight an ever-curious songwriter committed to finding untouched territory.

Madison Square Garden, NY, late 2019. A packed house. We see a stage, empty save for Woody Goss at the keys and a lone clarinetist serenading us with an exotic melody. Cheering erupts as band leader Jack Stratton emerges, crawling onto the stage and putting on a show of immense physical effor…