Weekly Music Roundup: Kishi Bashi, J. Period, and The Hot Sardines

Week of March 11: This week, new songs by The Hold Steady and The National, a new Kishi Bashi record, and a Neil Young classic in a new setting.

A Dark Moment In History Inspires A Song Full of Light

Violinist, singer, and composer Kishi Bashi is the son of Japanese immigrants, so when he felt the need to address a rise in white nationalism in this country, he turned to another time of xenophobia and mistrust in America. The internment of Japanese-Americans in camps during World War II becomes the metaphor he uses in his forthcoming record, Omoiyari, which is due on May 31. The first single is “Summer of ’42,” referring to 1942, the first year of the internment camps, and is built around a virtual orchestra of strings that support Kishi Bashi’s beautiful, joyous tale of love found in a dark place. But an uncertain ending, with dramatically reduced sonic forces, suggests that in the end, love does not always conquer all. 

The album’s cover art, by the way, is a photo of a carved bird made of scrap wood by two artists who were interned in the camps during (and even more shamefully, sometime after) the war. 

Echoes Of Neil Young And The Isley Brothers In J.Period’s New Song With Dead Prez

DJ/producer J. Period (best known for the Hamilton mixtape) has teamed up with the veteran hip hop duo Dead Prez and two younger MCs, Sa-Roc and Maimouna Youssef, on a new song called “Soldiers.” The title comes from the “tin soldiers” of Neil Young’s “Ohio,” written after the killing of student protesters at Kent State in 1970, and “Soldiers” is built on the Isley Brothers’ urgent remake of that iconic protest anthem. The members of Dead Prez take the opportunity to draw parallels to the shootings of young black men by police (while also making room for their usual call to healthy lifestyles). The song is part of a project called RISE UP, funded by a large grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, that features a stellar lineup of hip hop artists working “to create unique spaces for performance, discussion and engagement with young people around arts and activism.” 

The Hold Steady Release First New Song Of 2019

Fans of the reliable indie rockers The Hold Steady may have begun worrying when lead singer/storyteller (he doesn’t always sing) Craig Finn started doing solo albums, but the band has proven to be in fine form recently. They’ve been releasing a steady stream of singles over the past year or so, the latest of which came out on Friday. It’s called “The Last Time She Talked To Me,” and it has a classic Hold Steady sound: Finn’s speech/singing, the subtle but crucial addition of keyboardist Franz Nicolay, who’s back with the band, and the Springsteen-style guitars. The story is typical Craig Finn: a tale of apparent misbehavior and evident missed connections. It’s full of tiny, telling details, like trying to find a cash machine that won’t hit him with a surcharge, or remembering the date because people were throwing out their Christmas trees; and strange, surreal ones, like the armies massing in the streets or the sounds coming from speakers up in trees. 

This makes 9 singles now – at some point, you have to expect there’s another album on the way, although the band has said nothing about it. Meanwhile, they will be playing at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City on May 16. 

Not To Be Outdone, The National Release A New Song Too

Like The Hold Steady, The National belong on the top shelf of American rock bands. They too have released a new single, only they’ve gone ahead and announced a new LP. Not only that, they’ve collaborated with film director Mike Mills and Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander on a related short film. Both will be called I Am Easy To Find. The album, co-produced by Mills, features a number of guest singers, and on the first single, “You Had Your Soul With You,” the vocalist joining frontman Matt Berninger is Gail Ann Dorsey, best known for her work with David Bowie. The song also features some digitally sliced and diced guitar sounds, as if they’d given the tracks to Carl Stone before using them, and it’ll be interesting to see how they play this one live. Their Beacon Theater show on April 22 is sold out, but they’ve also announced a show at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Bandshell on June 12. I Am Easy To Find, both the film and the album, are due out on May 17.  

A Jaunty “Caravan” from The Hot Sardines

Brooklyn’s The Hot Sardines are an octet that specializes in early swing jazz; they’re led by singer Elizabeth Bougerol and pianist Evan Palazzo. They are committed to playing this music live – so their forthcoming album, Welcome Home, Bon Voyage, was recorded at concerts in NYC and Toronto. It’s full of old favorites like “After You’ve Gone” and “Everybody Loves My Baby,” and includes an extended journey through the Duke Ellington/Juan Tizol classic, “Caravan.” Give it a minute (actually, about 50 seconds) before the familiar tune begins to appear. The song is usually heard as an instrumental, but the band resurrects the lyrics, and offers a wandering improvisation that briefly visits the old “Tiger Rag” and “Sweet Georgia Brown.”

The Hot Sardines album comes out on April 19 (though a vinyl version will be released on Record Store Day, April 13). And they’ll be playing at Joe’s Pub on April 26 and May 26.