New music: Boy Golden, Ice Spice, The Messthetics, Harmonia Mundi

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This article was published 02/08/2024 (712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ALT-COUNTRY

Boy Golden
For Eden (Six Shooter)

Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter-producer Liam Duncan earned himself a sizable group of congregants with Church of Better Daze, his 2020 debut album, which introduced Boy Golden as a millennial, Lebowski-ish, folk-roots Dude whose vibes are mellow, whose melodies flow like honey and whose worldview is peaceful and loving in the face of a lot of ugliness. The album pricked up ears across North America, and Boy Golden’s shows became hot tickets for their musicality and the authentic joy of Duncan and his band of merry musical pranksters.

For Eden dates back to the earliest days of the Boy Golden project, a 10-song analogue recording which, in keeping with Duncan’s earthy esthetic, is comprised of easy-flowing, mostly acoustic tunes rooted in acoustic guitar, mandolin and banjo, anchored by gentle bass and drums and augmented with occasional piano, keyboards, harmonica and percussion. The songs themselves are paeans to a seeker’s journey, one which finds its most sacred moments in recognition of life’s small pleasures.

These are tales of allegorical stolen lighters; of bands that jump onstage and burn it down; of loves lost, won and longed for; of the simple beauty in writing songs; and of beloved old automobiles that take us right where we ought to be.

While each of these songs is a gem, the best of them may be Mesmerized, in which the Boy tries to hang on to the fleeting bliss of childhood, friendship and the dizzying heights of love; then there’s the loping country-folk of The Way, a wonderfully tender tale of love and friendship; on album closer Untitled, Duncan hits upon a couple of lines which succinctly summarize his ethos: “Music before language, love before profits / I’ll take my wide-eyed optimism in the face of all of it / Just gotta remember what’s important.”

This Dude abides. You should, too.

★★★★1/2 out of 5

Stream: Mesmerized; The Way; Untitled

— John Kendle

POP

Ice Spice
Y2K! (10K Projects)

Virality, it could be assumed, is a gift and a curse.

Ice Spice, the laidback Bronx rapper born Isis Naija Gaston with the too-cool-for-school, lackadaisical flow and the bright orange curls knows a thing or two about the topic. First came the raunchy Munch (Feelin’ U), with its delightful dismissal of “You thought I was feeling you?” Then there was the effortless, SpongeBob SquarePants-referencing Bikini Bottom.

Her 2023 debut EP, Like..? only further confirmed her talents; Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2 became the song of the summer. Even Taylor Swift tapped her for a remix of her hit Karma. Ice Spice, in two short years, has become a four-time Grammy nominee before she even released an album.

Y2K! is Ice Spice’s first full-length project, but don’t expect an introduction. At the core of Y2K! are her immediately quotable — and let’s be honest here, meme-able — booty-shaking bars, ripe for internet consumption. And so are the cheeky hooks that made her household name.

Across the release’s 23-minute run time, drill is still a priority, as she mentions on Gimme A Light: “Let’s talk drill / Who bigger than she?” she posits. Brevity is also a strong suit of Ice Spice’s — she understands modern attention spans and she cuts the fat across the album.

The 10-track release uses collaborations sparingly: the self-referential, trap Oh Shhh… with Travis Scott, nods back to Deli in certain lyrics, the hard-hitting Bitch I’m Packin’ with Gunna, and the infidelity-revenge anthem Did It First, brings the hottest contemporary rapper, Central Cee.

Across Y2K!, Ice Spice flexes her lackadaisical flow and traverses new territory, pushing her voice in subtle moments — if only there were more. If anything, this is the New York rapper further manicuring her distinctiveness, offering listeners a hot, short and sweet album.

★★★★

Stream: Gimme a Light; Think U The Sh*t (Fart)

— By Maria Sherman, The Associated Press

JAZZ

The Messthetics
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (Impulse)

At first glance, this might seem an unusual jazz review. The Messthetics is a trio formed from the rhythm section of the punk band Fugazi. Bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty added guitarist Anthony Pirog to form the trio. What might seem unusual is that descriptors of the trio range from “jazz punk jam” to “experimental or progressive rock, art punk, post-hardcore or jazz fusion.”

Ah yes, but add James Brandon Lewis and you have all those descriptors, whatever they mean, augmented with one of the best current jazz saxophonists.

The music here is a terrific meander through hard-edged tracks and ballads that retain a rockish style with fine melodies. While the drums and bass are full participants, Lewis’s sax and the extraordinary guitar of Pirog carry the heaviest responsibility. Lovely ballads such as Boatly combine with flat-out heavy tracks such as That Thang, which gives Pirog full rein to blast and squeal alongside Lewis’s driving solos before settling into unison melody moments.

The Messthetics has always underplayed any effort to accept a label for its music. The combination with Lewis simply underlines how pointless categorizing is.

The writing is fascinating throughout. The music can sound hard-edged but the integrity of the melody and mood are unfailing. The track Railroad Tracks Home, for example, uses a walking rhythm that fits the title beautifully while each member adds haunting solos. Asthenia slows the pulse and offers a gentle retreat. There are terrific surprises in a setting that is undeniably (an irrelevant) “hardcore” something.

Duke Ellington once said there are only two types of music – good and bad. This is good. Very good.

★★★★1/2

Stream: Three Sisters, Fourth Wall

— Keith Black

CLASSICAL

Haydn Paris Symphonies
Violin Concerto No. 1 (Harmonia Mundi)

At the height of the Olympic games being held in Paris, Harmonia Mundi re-visits an apropos encore recording of Haydn’s Parisian symphonies as well as his Violin Concerto No. 1 in C Major set for release next month.

The ever-popular composer penned a set of six symphonies in 1785-86; regularly featured in concert organization, the Concert Spirituel programs that established the French capital as the European epicentre of instrumental music during the 1780s.

William Christie sprightly leads Les Arts Florissants throughout the two-CD set comprised of Symphonies No. 84, 85, 86 and 87, with violinist Theotime Langlois de Swarte also conducting his own performance of the violin concerto.

The maestro is particularly adept at navigating the emotional range of “Papa’s” music, ranging from Symphony 87 in A Major that bursts out of the gate with ebullient spirits to the more languorous movements, including the Adagio of Symphony No. 87 in D major.

The violin concerto is another treat, with the soloist bringing to life the three-movement work with grace and charm, from its opening I. Allegro moderato, through to the III. Finale: Presto, as optimistic as a summer team of athletes in the City of Lights.

★★★★

Stream: Symphony 87 in A Major, Vivace; Violin Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob. Vlla:1; Adagio

— Holly Harris