I wanted to kick off December and the weekend with a free-to-all feature. Get ready for a doozy of a true crime piece next week. It’ll be for subscribers-only, which is currently $5/month or $50/annually. Consider supporting and endorsing Zellomania.
People ask me, “You write about music groups, but what do you listen to?” It might surprise that, though I love music, I’m not a person who has to have it on all the time. If an introduced sound can’t top the tone of quiet and stillness, then why bother? Music definitely serves a purpose, though, whether it’s soul-lifting or mood-shaping.
It’s telling that for the first time in my end-of-year list, I have a strong amount of New Orleans musical artists. This is in part because I was sleeping on a couple piano men, and another one came on strong this year, but, without question, it’s also due to the high level of range and quality right now.
Here we go. What blessed me most in 2023, in no particular order:
People Museum, Relic. I was unfamiliar with this band before doing an Offbeat cover store on them. They quickly became a favorite, and their new album is still holding firm on-repeat. They’ve brought an unexpected joy to me in the latter part of 2023 with a fresh sound & energy, great songs & lyrics, and four solid individuals who come together as an incredible whole. Their November album release show at the Marigny Opera House was a highlight of the year. No other band sounds like this or compels me to dive into their other projects quite like People Museum.
P.J. Morton, Watch The Sun & everything else. For years, I’d kept to a lot of 70s music, because of the mistaken assumption that no one wrote lyrics like those of that era anymore.. But then I heard P.J. on Robert Glasper’s song “Forever” and had an “Ohhhh” conversion moment. The songs, the musicianship, and the general sense of what this man is about has truly blessed my soul. His Orpheum show was a definite highlight of 2023.
Jon Batiste, World Music Radio & everything else. Speaking of great energy and chops, what can’t J Batiste do? If there is a New Orleans renaissance man loved by the world right now, it’s him. It’s fully well-deserved. His music is both idiosyncratic while always in the pocket. And he has a lot of pockets too. Jon Batiste’s music is wholly one with his spirit, and it never fails to lift me.
Adrian Younge, anything and everything. Adrian is not only a man but an ethos and an aesthetic. A music lover and DJ who taught himself to play multiple instruments? Check. Records via analog for the sound and specific years of the 1970s sonic period he’s seeking? Check. Crafted soundtracks for movies that didn’t exist (he’s an in-demand composer now)? Check. Created a project called Jazz Is Dead with Ali Shaheed Muhammad to collaborate with music legends like Roy Ayres, Lonnie Liston Smith, Tony Allen, and many more? Check. I could keep going, but his output is too immense, so I’ll finish by praising his fly fashion style too.
Victor Campbell, pick a live version--solo, quartet, Timba Swamp, sideman, or anywhere. The most beautiful thing I’ve heard a musician say is when Victor announced, “I don’t play music, I pray music,” to an entranced Snug Harbor crowd at his unveiling as a band leader this summer. If you see his name on a flyer for an upcoming show, get there by any means necessary, and you will be transformed. The range of his talent is so immense, it’s only topped by the sound of his soul. Although Victor’s incredible in any setting, the consummate showman, risk taker, and generously giving, I will always remember fondly when he played his version of Professor Longhair music for Fess’ daughter, Pat Byrd.
Ambient music—Brian Eno, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Laraaji, William Basinski, Pauline Oliveros, Olafur Arnalds, et al. I listen to a lot of ambient music, either while working or to actively listen. Japanese ambient, with its focus on nature, has been of growing interest. It’ll be interesting to see if the Andre 3000 album (an ambient record marketed as “a flute album”) will cultivate a growing interest in chill contemplative music. In the modern world, we need it. He definitely woke me up to Laraaji’s prolific output. I didn’t even speak of the ECM label’s ambient jazz or…
Electronic music—Cluster, Klaus Schulze, Harmonia, Odesza, Tokimonsta, Solar Fields, et al. I’ll state right off that Odesza’s arena show for The Last Goodbye this year was hands-down the best I’ve seen, and I’m not sure how it could be topped. Great songs, choreography, video, pyrotechnics, drum line, and the overall sweep. An electronic mix is often my jam while driving to set the tone in a completely different way in an old city that’s so far behind, it might turn out to be ahead. The jury’s still out on that. Literally. How do I differentiate ambient from electronic? Usually bpm, and I know it when I hear it.
FIP station. The Sonos station FIP out of Paris has the craziest DJs in the world. Not only do they have deep international music knowledge, but they also show a musicologist’s playful insight in cleverly linking which song should follow the other. I only know this based on the 1% of the time that I’m familiar with the particulars of two back-to-back songs and am left smiling or with my mouth dropped. The rest of the time I’m just vibing or hitting Shazam to learn the name of my new favorite groups.
Kid Cudi. I stumbled on Kid Cudi’s music as my preferred workout soundtrack back in 2021, steps from Miami Beach. It still hits, especially since the songs from Entergalactic thicken the mix. Whether striking with a hint or a hammer, Cudi takes me to Collins & 77th St. whether I’m in the gym or the woods doing fitness and martial arts.