Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

This week brought a wealth of new music (and there'll be even more once I bring in a "wealth of new money"; fiscal discipline kept me from buying all the new things I wanted). Here's the latest:

• MONDAY: Kurt Rosenwinkel, Heartcore. Guitarist's '03 effort is often called his "electronica album." Also features the great Mark Turner, a frequent collaborator, on tenor sax.


• TUESDAY: Quebec Antique, The Abbey Tapes. British/Canadian duo mixes electronica with organic sounds a la The Postal Service. (The Canadian half is Michael Blake, whose controversial song made of Pi is the subject of Monday's post.)


• WEDNESDAY: Haftor Medbøe Group, "A Box of Monkeys." Scottish guitarist mixes jazz with pop/club styles on a 5-song EP. His truly international band features a frontline of trombone/tenor; vocalist Anneke Kampman joins for two tunes, and effects are added by a programmer who goes by the handle "Babyshaker."


• THURSDAY: The self-titled debut EP from Recess, a Brooklyn hip-hop, melodic pop group featuring a horn section of UNT expats, trumpeter Jay Jennings and my fraternity brother Sylvester "Sly" Onyejiaka. The EP can be downloaded for free here.


• FRIDAY: Gorillaz, Plastic Beach. Undoubtedly the best band ever assembled that's made up of animated characters. This album is all over the map, style-wise, and includes guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Bobby Womack and half of the Clash.


• SATURDAY: Jonathan Kreisberg, Unearth. The guitarist's first quintet album after years of trio-ing (that was also the title of one of the trio albums!), and his first one of all original compositions. Saxman Will Vinson wasn't on board yet, but Scott Wendholt provides excellent stuff on trumpet. (BTW, while Googling info for this album, I discovered that Jonathan and I share a birthday!)


• SUNDAY: Big Audio Dynamite II, "The Globe." I dug this out after hearing Mick Jones' guest stint with Gorillaz; still holds up pretty well despite being nearly 20 years old. (And I discovered while getting this entry together that the band has reunited and will perform in the U.K. starting next month!)