Missioned Souls are a family band whose videos have gathered more than eight million views on YouTube, and their latest, a cover of Led Zeppelin’s classic Whole Lotta Love, finds Stacey (12 years old, rhythm guitar/vocals), Neisha (14, lead guitar), Naces (15, bass) and diminutive drummer Ice (10) capturing the sound and spirit of the original with youthful zest and no small amount of precision.
Look out, Bob, Arnel‘s cousins are coming for your job!
I got turned on to Jensen’s trumpet playing in the early 2000s, around the same time I got turned on to Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (or as he was known at the time, Christian Scott). Up until that point, I think it’s fair to say that just about any trumpet player in any genre I listened to on a consistent basis had been playing before Jensen or Adjuah were born. At least these days, I can say I listen to as much Maurice Brown or jaimie branch (Rest in Power) as I do Miles and Chet.
Invisible Sounds is a tribute album but I’m woefully ignorant of Kenny Wheeler’s music (or Steve Treseler’s for that matter). Jensen and her Freddie Hubbard-like playing is the draw for me here, though. So I’ll educate myself later, after I’ve worn the album out.
Filsonhas blown my mind with how much they exceeded my expectations! It took the better part of a month, but last Wednesday I got my Filson briefcase back from the their HQ where it was patched up for free, just like their guarantee says.
But they didn’t stop there. They went and patched up and reinforced bits I didn’t even realize needed fixing!
This was NOT the lining that came with my bag originally. I love how you can still see a chalk mark they left behind. I’m never taking that off!
And they clearly replaced some leather bits. Notice how the leather cross-pieces securing the handle in the first picture, despite having some small scratches, is so obviously not the same age as the leather cross-pieces in the second pic.
In 2018, I bought the last EDC bag I’m sure I’ll ever need, the currently archived Filson 258 computer briefcase. It’s survived plane, bus, and car travel to say nothing of my daily grind. The only time I carry an alternative is when I’m making a conscious effort not to be like the guy in the Etgar Keret story “What Do We Have in Our Pockets”.
I’ve been told that I’m hard on bags, which I never really believed. And yet, here’s the evidence of what I’m able to do to a Filson bag in a mere 6 years.
Thanks to Filson’s famous guarantee, I’ve shipped it over on their dime for an evaluation and, hopefully, a free repair. Of course I’m obsessively tracking it, and I wasn’t happy to find that it ended up sitting in a UPS facility in Hodgeson, IL for a full 24 hours before moving on to its next destination on its way to Filson HQ. But it finally moved on this morning toward Filson HQ. Needless to say, being without it has not been any kind of load off.
I’ve waited years for this follow-up, and now I’ve gotten to marinate in it for the past month. Totally worth the wait!
Anderson .Paak is a monster and his Malibu is easily in my top 5 favorite albums of the last 10 years. Also on that list is his work with NxWorries, his collaboration with Knxwledge which I keep coming back to. Yes Lawd! is also on heavy rotation for me.
Favorite track so far (and not just because of the retro sound and video)…
Take a listen to the rest of it. Hey, if it’s good enough for Variety, it’s good enough for you!
Every family has its crucial sentences: things it loves saying about itself.
Elizabeth Tallent wrote one of my favorite short stories ever, “No One’s a Mystery” (paywalled pdf from HARPERS). I figured since I know Tallent’s work and am very familiar with the subject matter, this memoir would be right up my alley.
It’s kind of scary how right I was, which is why I can recommend this before I’m even halfway through it.
It’s fall, and around these parts that means the October Friends of the Library Book Sale. It’s where I was last weekend instead of writing this. I always find a treasure there. Always. And it’s probably one of the few places I’ll buy a dead tree book–not because I have anything against dead tree books. We just don’t have the space, and ebooks are the only way I can practically read in the interstices of an otherwise busy life.
I usually focus on two sections before I start wandering around the place: the science-fiction/fantasy section and the literary short story section, which is where I scored what I discovered was the inaugural issue of the lit mag NOON, edited by Dianne Williams and Christine Schutt. Then, I’ll wander around the other sections and finish off at the CDs. The big score here was a recording from Return to Forever’s 2008 RETURNS tour, the first album from this classic jazz fusion band in over 30 years. I remember freaking out when I first saw the YouTube videos of the Montreux part of the tour. They didn’t lose a step, that’s for sure!
I picked up a copy of the HEAVY METAL soundtrack as a lark, and the interaction I had with the older volunteer who sold it to me made it totally worth the price. She goes, “Great soundtrack! Blue Öyster Cult… I was actually listening to them before I came here today.” Rock on, auntie!
There are two other conditions where I’ll buy a dead-tree book: (a) When I want something that’s only offered in that format and (b) I want it right the fuck now and don’t care if it’ll end up in an ebook later on. That doesn’t happen very often and when it does, I tend to forget when I pre-order them. So this week I got, not one, but two pleasant surprises from past me.
I guess if I go another month between Weeknotes, we’ll know why.
New school yacht rock meets old school yacht rock!
How could I not love Benny Sings’ vibe? Dutch guy putting a modern spin on Yacht Rock, singing like Barry Gibb on lo-fi tracks? Yes please. I got a couple of his albums, and that was before I knew he was hanging out with bands like Free Nationals. If he’s hip enough for them, he’s hip enough for me.
And to top it off, to get a hold of a Christopher Cross demo to put it on the B-side? :chef’s kiss:
