Regularly, The Book Los Angeles picks a selection of notable releases from some of the most progressive labels in the US and the rest of the world. Click on the links to access artists and labels web sites, where you will find complete merchandise, pictures and biographies.

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Artist: VARIOUS
Title: CONCERT FOR GEORGE (DVD)
Label: WEA
Link: www.concertforgeorge.com
Root: Various/ Rock
On November 29th. 2002, a year to the day after his passing, friends of George Harrison gathered at the Royal Albert Hall in London to celebrate is life and music. Under the musical direction of Eric Clapton, musicians who collaborated to the various eras of his musical career, from the Beatles to the Traveling Wilburys, to his Indian influenced solo projects, rehearsed for over 3 weeks before the show, dedicated to get it right, discovering the enormous complexity of what the ordinary listener would simply describe as beautiful melodies.. The DVD, filmed in High Definition, is a generous offering, providing both scope through sweeping camera moves across the majestic architecture, down to heart wrenching close ups on the performers whose palpable grief brings intimacy to the monumental event. The concert comes into two formats, a theatrical release with a narrative bringing insight through behind the scenes segments and interviews. Additional features document the coming together of George’s Band, featuring, to name a few: Eric Clapton and many regulars from his band, Jeff Lynne, Joe Brown, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Preston, the two remaining Beatles, Sir Paul and Ringo Starr, and last but not least Dahni Harrison bearing a surreal resemblance to his late father. Other special features reveals the painstaking process of rehearsal of the Indian Orchestra opening the show with an homage written by Harrison’s musical and spiritual mentor Ravi Shankar. Adding western orchestral strings to his creation, Eastern and Western musicians struggle to find a common musical language beyond their cultural boundaries. Last, a backstage look into Monty Pythons intermission performance, a tribute to Harrison’s lesser known wisecrack side, brings comic relief with a very big Hollywood surprise.

The other format features the whole concert in chronological order, two hours and 26 minutes of bliss, starting with the lighting of ceremonial incense on stage by Harrison’s widow Olivia, while a gigantic portrait hangs high above the stage. Humble introductions by both Eric Clapton and Ravi Shankar precede the massive Indian ensemble’s overture, soaring under the direction of Anoushka Shankar (Norah Jones half sister), whose masterful sitar solo performance is only rivaled by her grace and beauty. With music so pure, the devotional anthem reaches a peak of exaltation and splendor, a Nirvana bubble which soon deflates as Monty Pythons higher-selves take the stage for a “revealing” intermission, with Tom Hanks replacing John Cleese next to Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam.
The rest of the evening is filled with George Harrison’s music, as performed straight from the heart by his friends, family and collaborators. McCartney and Ringo Starr both get standing ovation, but it is Clapton who brings everyone to their knees by packing all his pain, grief and anguish into an unforgetable guitar solo for “while my guitar gently weeps”. This isn’t the nostalgic reunion of aging rockers on their way to Vegas. Around him the stage is filled with drummers, guitar players, percussionist, strings, brass and more musicians than the eye can count in any single shot, who are all coming to the realization that they are experiencing one of the greatest moments in Rock’n’Roll history. For George.

Artist: AIR
Title: TALKIE WALKIE (Limited Edition )
Label: Astralwerks
Link: www.intairnet.org
Root: France/ Electronica
It’s not that the French can’t rock. It simply isn’t a cultural tradition. There’s a heritage of street folklore dating back to the medieval minstrel, who found a new voice in the pop culture explosion of the sixties. Air’s third album claims this heritage also, echoing the nostalgic voices of Francoise Hardy and Serge Gainsbourg through songs like “Cherry Blossom Girl” and “Surfing On a Rocket”. Becoming the band apart in the ebb and flow of the electronica thing, the French duo has created a niche for itself, blending melancholic guitars and moody keyboards into cinematic pop songs. Leaving the gothic splendor of 10.000 Hz Legend and the Virgin Suicides soundtrack behind, Talkie Walkie reconnects with the organic simplicity of Moon Safari, their first album, but the lush mix and depth of sound informs the listener on the journey traveled and the maturity that comes from experience. Nicolas Godin and JB Dunckel’s sing for the first time on most songs, giving the album an emphasis on songwriting, while treating their voice as just one more textural element that can be altered and harmonized at will. Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich put the final touches on an album void of hype where only talent speaks and mystifies. Alone in Tokyo, featured in Sofia Coppola’s film “Lost In Translation”, closes the album with an instrumental worthy of a Ryushi Sakamoto tribute. The limited edition companion DVD entitled: “Electric Performers”, follows Air in a 4 live songs and behind the scene documentary journey during their 2002 European tour.

Artist: VAN HUNT
Title: VAN HUNT
Label: Capitol Records
Link: www.vanhunt.com
Root: US/ Rock-Soul
Grit and romance make nice bedfellows on the debut album of Atlanta newcomer Van Hunt. The new funk brother steps in where Maxwell and D’Angelo stepped out, but rocks his R&B joint with mad flavor, entangling blues chords with sexy grooves that hit below the belt. The 12 tracks reconnects with the old glory of Curtis, Stevie, Sly and Marvin, still floating above the mud of commercial hip hop. Personal relationships animate the heart of Van Hunt’s lyrics, creating an experience for each track which is both personal and universal. Free of format, the pace between ballads and upbeat numbers stays smooth and the production exercises a great restraint, a maturity rarely found on a debut album. This understated musicianship forces the audience to lean forward, meet the artist half way, and ultimately get sucked in to taste both the sweat and perfume.

Artist: THE CRYSTAL METHOD
Title: LEGION OF BOOM
Label: V2 Records
Link: www.thecrystalmethod.com
Root: UK-Various/ Eclectic Groove
When speaking of California awaiting the Big One, one should consider Legion of Doom, the third breakbeat opus unleashed by the boys from Vegas Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland. The Crystal Method aren’t shy about dropping bass lines so low your hair stands straight up on your skin, while your organs get rearranged. Guitar riffs and keyboard hooks slice through beats with punk crass, meshing together a dance album exhibiting a serious Rock’n Roll complex. The sure fire hit “Born too slow” puts Axl Rose to shame, courtesy of John Garcia’s blistering vocals, who makes it hurt where it counts, while former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland shreds his cords with the subtlety of a wood grinder. There’s much Method at play here, and the duo has gained knowledge through live shows and DJ gigs on what button to tweak to lead the legion into a frenzy. Get your Boom on!

Artist: ENNIO MORRICONE
Title: REMIXES 1 & 2
Label: Compost Records
Link: www.compost-records.com
Root: Various/ Eclectic Electronica
If Sergio Leone put the Spaghetti into Western, Clint Eastwood brought the meatballs, but it’s Ennio Morricone who gave the dish its incomparable flavor. The Maestro turns 75 this year, looking back at a career filled with Academy Awards, Golden Globes, television jingles and pop tunes driven by unforgettable hooks where whistles, harmonicas, surf guitars, and every possible sound effect would conjure emotions ranging from camp to epic on the grandest of scales. To a new generation of producers, Morricone’s radical experimental approach to composing makes him the godfather of all knob tweakers. Recording a patchwork of disassociated elements into melodies now embedded in the popular subconscious, he sampled a vast array of musical influences from every aspect of life, mixing tradition with pop culture. In a time of uninspired remixes, this massive collection is a superb homage, gathering 43 tracks by the most creative producers around under the guidance of Compost Records, a label known for its high standards and discerning taste. The result is eclectic, running the full gamut of styles, from ambient, downtempo, progressive jazz, house, with an occasional psychedelic number, which like the source material, escapes genre definition, transgressing into the sublime. The label’s website offers detailed biopics and commentaries on the project.

Artist: NOISESHAPER
Title: THE SIGNAL
Label: EFA/Different Drummer
Link: www.noiseshaper.com
Root: Germany / Downtempo-Dub
Austrian born, Berlin based duo Noiseshaper perpetuate the infatuation with all things dub started by Kruder and Dorfmeister. But on the Signal, the emphasis is placed on songwriting, introducing a pop element with soulful dreadlock crooners like Spikee Tee and Juggla who turn up catchy songs ranging from smoky folk ballads to funky dancehall anthems, with the occasional house bounce tossed in for good measure. The lush production is a departure from the tweaked dub style of contemporaries like Tosca, Bouzoo Bajoo, and Waldek, raising the temperature high enough for dance floor consumption, but keeping the vibe on the chill side, making The Signal an essential accessory for any horizontal activity.

Artist: VARIOUS
Title: REWIND 3
Label: Ubiquity
Link: www.ubiquityrecords.com
Root: Various/ Various-Electronica
When digging for hip, sophisticated tunes that live up to the highest standard of production and musicianship, the search ends with the latest Rewind collection from Ubiquity. In a tribute to classics both obscure and notorious, the third installment in the series showcases a choice roster of international producers/remixers who passionately rework the source material to new levels of originality. Quirky combinations pair up the knob tweaking dexterity of Louie Vega (Masters At Work), John Arnold, P’Tahh, Nobody and 11 others, with compostions by the likes of Herbie Hancock, Johnny Cash, Gil Scott Heron and AC/DC. The result is a rare mix bag of soul, jazz and warm blooded grooves for connoisseurs, adding up to a lot more than the next run off the mill remix collection.

Artist: VARIOUS
Title: OM LOUNGE 8
Label: OM Records
Link: www.om-records.com
Root: Various/ Downtempo
Beyond the velvet rope, the post modern interior provides a lavish background against which martini guzzling urbanites collide with one another in a great Gucci vs. D&G showdown. As the liquor flows and the body heat rises, the downtempo grooves of Om Lounge 8 ooze from the speakers, intoxicating the crowd with deep, sexy vibes. The same collection of tunes now playing in your car covers the engine’s purr with smooth bass lines. City lights stretch in an infinite perspective following the pace of exotic rhythms, while the most attractive person imaginable sinks comfortably in the leather seat next to you. At home with Om, smoke swirls in the dim light over a deep couch, the mood is perfect and the night still young. Better keep the rest of your lounge collection handy. Om Lounge: providing the soundtrack to your cosmopolitan adventures since 1998.

Artist: LFO
Title: SHEATH
Label: Warp Records
Link: www.warprecords.com/lfo
Root: UK/ Electronica
Between the headphones lives the mind of an architect whose medium is sound, building complex landscapes for the wandering mind, harvesting magnetic fields with industrial mayhem, filtering technology into a new organic reality. This unapologetic Modern Art proposition is the work of Mark Bell, operating here under the moniker of Low Frequency Oscillation, whose production and remix work for Bjork, Depeche Mode, Radiohead and Kraftwerk have helped him gain notoriety as a man whose ear knows the devil is in the details, carefully crafting noise origami where less is more, more is more, more or less. With no commercial agenda, Sheath is a record for purists that others should approach with an open mind.

Artist: WAX POETIC
Title: NUBLU SESSIONS
Label: Ultra Records
Link: www.waxpoetic.net
Root: US/ Neo Soul-Jazz-World
Opening the Nublu Sessions, “Tell me” melts the speakers like candle wax, as Norah Jones drops her blues-bar persona to pour her sultry self on the smoothest funk joint heard since the Brand New Heavies. One of many eclectic pieces in a downtempo jam inspired by the Lower East Side NY club, Nublu is a place where music isn’t planned, but happens around Ilhan Ersahin, a gipsy soul whose international roots have bestowed him with a true sense of a world without borders. Kindred wandering spirits like spoken word activist Saul Williams and neo-soul diva N’dea Davenport drop by at random, hanging long enough to record a track, others such as singer Norah Jones and Maria Turner find a point of anchor and a family. With a hip hop foundation, Wax Poetic takes a bohemian stylistic approach, collecting too many influences at the crossroads to fit one category.