I haven’t posted for a while about the last interesting stuff I have listened to in the last time. Some great CD’s and DVD’s, all in one post.

Gotan Project – Lunatico

Something completely new for me, the second album of the Gotan Project, Lunatico. Refreshing and excellent!

Skillfully mixing the heated passion of tango with the cool insistent beats of dance music, the group kept the best of both genres as it offered up an unheralded fusion. This time around, the production team delves further into the tradition, cutting down on the dub production filigree and overarching electronic programming–now sexy grooves often come on the back of organic beats and an unprocessed sound captured during live studio sessions in Buenos Aires. This new focus is furthered with conventional bandoneon soloing as well as acoustic piano and string section backing.

Placebo – Meds

I have already posted in 2004 about Placebo concerning their CD Sleeping with Ghosts and the corresponding DVD live Soulmates never die, both totally great.

Placebo released thir new CD – Meds – for a while (it was funny because the CD was released 4 days earlier in Switzerland than in France…). There is a Limited Edition CD/DVD, with some interesting bonus on the DVD:

• a good documentary about the band
• 3 demos
• some video live (with The Cure, at Live8, at Wembley, etc)

Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris – All the roadrunning

In a complete other style, Mark Knopfler and Emmylous Harris have published together a marvelous album called All the roadrunning.

For several years, the iconic Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris have been quietly recording a remarkable collection of duets whenever the Grammy winning artists could steal away from their own illustrious careers. The extraordinary result is All the Roadrunning. The songs from their Nashville sessions, all originals, while undeniably modern, have the appeal of classics, whether country, Celtic flavored or gently soulful. All the Roadrunning is Knopfler & Harris making music and, as the lyric for “This is Us” puts it, making history.

Herbie Hancock – Possibilities

That is another great experience from Herbie Hancock, at the same time incredibly complicated, groovy and wonderful. Surely not “pure jazz”, but who cares? *Very* exciting!

“Possibilities” is the musical event of the year. The album is a series of inspired encounters between Herbie Hancock and world-renowned musicians – including John Mayer, Sting, Trey Anastasio, Annie Lennox, Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan, Santana and Angelique Kidjo, Paul Simon, Christina Aguilera, Jonny Lang, Joss Stone, and Raul Midon. Herbie Hancock describes “Possibilities” this way: “This is a real collaboration that we’re doing here. It’s all been decided at the session, a record without borders, woven like a tapestry with many colors. The possibilities are endless”