The wonderful first album from Madeleine Peyroux, a jazz singer whose music and voice sound somewhat like Billie Holiday. This is very well-recorded and engaging music. Her two subsequent albums are also good. I like this for dinner parties, in … [read more]
This is simply incredible music. I dearly love really old, pre-bebop jazz, and Louis Armstrong invented much of it. More than a trend-setter, he was an inspiration to generations of musicians (of any genre). These British remasters of the early … [read more]
I think I’ll start a new type of post on this blog – “Today’s Desert Island Disc”. They’ll be short because I just want to quickly point out a much-loved, much-returned-to record in my collection without providing a full review. I’ll … [read more]
It’s odd – sometimes there’s an artist who, despite my best efforts to take an inclusive view, slips through my fingers for years. I may know about them but – for whatever reason – I’ve never really listened to them. … [read more]
I built a Chinese Buddhist temple out of Lego yesterday. It’s not based on an actual temple and it’s pretty free-form. It’s fun to see what you can make out of a limited assortment of bricks… I’m particularly fond of … [read more]
In conversation with a customer last week, I was struck by how complex and confusing records management projects can be. Even for larger organizations that have invested in records management professionals, understanding the business, technology and legal factors involved in … [read more]
Reggae from Germany. Why not? Is it surprising that Germans can get their groove on and sound indistinguishable from Jamaicans? Francophone Europe has a long tradition of embracing reggae, particularly reggae from Africa (Alpha Blondy, Lucky Dube, etc.). Germany has, … [read more]
This is a really great little compilation that neatly summarizes an era and a particular sound. Compass Point was Island Records’ founder Chris Blackwell’s studio in Nassau in the Bahamas. It was a very popular recording studio in the early … [read more]