Abstract Index Playlist - December 16/09

As readers of this blog know, I shed few tears when Michael Jackson died. But my eyes were welling up the first time I listened to Ms. Georgia Anne Muldrow's deeply soulful tribute to the King Of Pop. It's the title track to her forthcoming album on Ubiquity Records, due February 9.

Muldrow's soul music is from another dimension. In raving about this album to my friends, I've compared her sound to both Sly Stone ("Kings Ballad"'s bassline in particular) and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. But name dropping from the past only gets you so far with this decidedly modern talent.

Muldrow has absorbed a wide spectrum of music from America and around the world, plus she has a genuinely quirky approach to harmony and dissonance which creates a sound which, as the cliche goes, is all her own. These are more pop-friendly songs than Umsindo (which I'm happy to say topped Exclaim's Groove critics poll this year) and definitely, as she says in the bio: "much mo' funky!"

Her lyrics, melodies and delivery are astonishingly assured, whether singing or rapping. She also plays all the instruments herself, which combine with her vocals in strange and beautiful ways. Though this is a profoundly abstract record, it's often playful and loose. Best of all, this profoundly optimistic record continues her collaborations with husband Dudley Perkins. They have intense chemistry together for the best reasons: they're in love, and they don't hesitate to big up each other's talents as they travel the spaceways together.

I won't say too much more about the album - I'll leave that for February, but keep your eyes peeled for one of the early standouts of 2010: funk into the future.

Podcast

three continents - jimi tenor & tony allen (strut)
hotel alyssa soussie - sabu martinez (mr. bongo)
festival - le simandou de beyla (syllart)
1974 - d-sisive (urbnet)
world won't rest - black blondie (no label)
fading world - malakai (domino)
dystopia suite - nicole lizee (musicworks)
indeed - georgia anne muldrow (ubiquity)
stash - joker (hyperdub)
ohun oju ri laiye - chief commander ebenezer obey (shanachie)
untitled - sarah peebles/evan parker/nilan perera (no label)
turkish gypsy - abaji (absilone)
the tiger - bei bei & shawn lee (ubiquity)
baltimore - nina simone (columbia)
humbleness - alborosie (greensleeves)
love is a radiation - the black seeds (easy star)
red hot - jahdan blakkamoore (i grade)
no more peace - lenn hammond (no label)
crisis dub - roots radics & king tubby (greensleeves)
black liberation dub - mad professor (ariwa)
en route - dub rocket (no label)