by Steve Earle and The Dukes
Steve Earle and The Dukes So You Wannabe an Outlaw (PBS Feature Record)
Steve Earle returns to his outlaw roots on album number 16, after a foray into blues on 2015’s Terraplane. Backed again by long-standing band The Dukes, So You Wannabe an Outlaw is dedicated to Waylon Jennings, though Earle himself is now no doubt as much a legend of outlaw country as the late Texan. Earle completes the circle by enlisting the other great Texas outlaw Willie Nelson, who contributes vocals on the title track, which opens the album. Another essential entry in Earle’s long and diverse discography.
Noga Erez Off The Radar (featured on The Breakfast Spread)
For NOGA EREZ, there was never any doubt that, whatever music she chose to make, and whatever she felt about her homeland, she could never ignore her surroundings. After all, even escapism acknowledges there’s something to escape from, and at times – like many who’ve grown up in Tel Aviv – Erez has wanted to shut herself off from a world rendered beyond comprehension by forces beyond her control. But if there’s one thing Erez isn’t – and sometimes it’s easier to say what artists as complex and fresh as her aren’t than are – it’s naïve. And what this means is simple: her work reflects the manner in which she’s learned to live. As she puts it, “I have this idea of giving people moments of thought and inspiration, and at the same time offering escapism and fun."
It’s not the easiest of goals, but few succeed as well as Erez. While the music she makes in collaboration with her partner and co-writer, composer and producer Ori Rousso, exploits many of the more physical, dynamic elements of electronic music, it also embraces a cerebral sensitivity that’s made her one of her home city’s most exciting, idiosyncratic artists. As inspired by Björk, M.I.A. and fka Twigs as by Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean, the grainy textures and potent atmospheres forged with her synths and ingenious beats bravely straddle genres, energised further by the environment in which she’s grown up.
Consequently, another of Erez’ goals is, as she puts it, “to process the world, and deliver ideas on how to process it. If you're able to create a musical context that captures the state you were in when you were writing it, that can potentially bring someone closer to understanding their own world.” In her case, this means articulating the fierce anger that lies behind the hypnotically percussive “Dance While You Shoot”, about the realisation that “you can’t live without the government that ensures your basic needs, but at the same time takes your money, keeps you in the dark about the real, important matters that affect your life directly, while drowning you in manipulative media, ignorance and bureaucracy.”
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