Spoken word jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron has been an influence to many artists. I remember seeing him at Coachella '10 and then LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy dedicated Losing My Edge to him as we all screamed his name in unison. I will definitely cover his other albums down the line, but I wanted to talk about the RSD '14 release. Nothing New contains stripped down versions of his songs. It's a great intro album into his works, may he rest in peace.
The album is a XL Recordings release, the studio that put out Gil Scott-Heron's last studio album I'm New Here. It contains him doing re-recordings of stripped down renditions of his old songs with just him on the piano. It's hard to describe each song, as they are all soulful jazzier renditions of their original counterparts, filled with sorrow, pain, and beauty. Instead, I will go over the origins of each song. Opening is Did You Hear What They Said off the album Free Will. Better Days Ahead is from Secrets. Your Daddy Loves You is off of Winter In America. Pieces of a Man is off his debut album of the same name. Alien (Hold On To Your Dreams) is from a collaboration with Brian Jackson called 1980. 95 South (All The Places We've Been) is off Bridges. The Other Side is from Spirits and Blue Collar is from Moving Targets. Included are great little interludes of conversations between takes that make the album feel a little more alive. You can take this album almost as an Acoustic compilation that doesn't just focus on the greatest hits like The Revolution Won't Be Televised or Home Is Where the Hatred Is.
While this album was a Record Store Day exclusive, you can still find it various record stores and online. Amazon has it from unofficial (non-amazon) sellers for around $30 and also on eBay for around $24. This album is perfect for a rainy day or reading a book, and it's also a great intro into Gil Scott-Heron.
No comments:
Post a Comment