HIGHLY RECOMMENDED W/ HEZEKIAH JONES
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is Hezekiah Jones— a group of music-makers out of Philadelphia who recently dropped a lovely new track called ‘Kings of People’ (which you can also catch in the HI54 Mix CD ‘MORNING VIBES’).
#1 - WHAT IS THE ONE ALBUM (OR EP OR SONG) THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE THE VERY NEXT MUSICAL THING THAT EVERYONE PRESSES PLAY ON THE NEXT TIME THEY FIND THEMSELVES THINKING “WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NOW”?
Kiley Ryan (Kiwi Jones): Les Filles de Ilighadad (Record: “Eghass Malan”) are a Nigerian desert blues trio. I don’t remember how I first heard about them, but their songs just hit in a way that’s both deeply grounded and hypnotically transcendent. They’re the first & only women to play this traditionally male-led style of music, but I think the music stands alone as something really pure & special, regardless of their historical significance.
Philip D’Agostino (Pepe Jones): I love the Bonny Light Horseman record that came out a year or so ago. (I’ve lost track of time of course, so maybe it was 5 years ago, maybe it came out 3 months ago.) It’s like a half traditional/half new music interspersion from Anais Mitchell, Eric D Johnson and Josh Kauffman. Also, I know there are quite a few saxophone haters in the indie/folk/songwriter world and this is perhaps the most beautiful use of saxophone by Michael Lewis on a folk record that I’ve heard so far.
Raphael Cutrufello (Hezekiah Jones): Paleo did a song diary in 2006 and 2007. If you aren’t familiar with his music or this particular project that he did, you might really enjoy it. Here is the link to all of his songs from that diary. Spend the rest of the year listening through these tracks. Feels endless.
Alex Luquet(Peter L.V. Jones): The new Low song ‘Days Like These’. I feel like I’ve never heard something like it.
Bradeley Hinton (Pcono Jones): The album I think everyone should hear is The World We Built by the Wild Reeds. This indie band from Los Angeles features three lead singers/songwriters with sublime three part harmony. This album is on constant rotation at the Hinton house. Powerful stuff.
Daniel Bower (ROY G BIV Jones): Stop Making Sense / Talking Heads: I love David Byrne's vision & follow through in the art of performing. He speaks to a specific style of audience, writes for a specific style of venue & then seamlessly works into a specific style of media all while making it look & feel so easy & fun. That is not easy. Talking Heads rule!
#2 - WHAT IS THE ONE MOVIE OR TV SHOW THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE NEXT IN EVERYBODY’S NETFLIX QUEUE (OK, DOESN’T HAVE TO BE NETFLIX, WE’RE ALL INTERNET ADULTS HERE AND KNOW HOW TO FIND ANYTHING ONLINE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER)?
Brad: My wife Andria and I like to watch heart-warming tv shows that show the agony and redemption of what it means to be human. There’s no better show that hits the mark than After Life. Ricky Gervais writes and directs this Netflix series and as usual, delivers a charming, thoughtful and delightful show.
Daniel: Mare of Easttown. I'm from Delco so... it hit close to home. Closer actually... What I love is how it captures not only the roughneck style of Delco but also the underlying emotional depth one might be surprised to find in a simple Upper Darby dreamer drummer like me... or Raph... or you.
Raph: If you have spent any time in your life watching Saved by the Bell you will probably enjoy Zach Morris is Trash on Amazon. They basically do a quick synopsis of episodes pointing out all the shitty things Zach Morris did and why he is an awful example of a human.
Alex: ‘What We Do In the Shadows’ makes me wish I had some vampire friends.
Phil: “I Know This Much is True” is a wonderfully heartbreaking mini series that deals with mental illness and family trauma on several different levels. Tough to watch at times but in my opinion and in my reality, needed.
Kiley: “Pretend It’s a City” It’s a beautiful & hilarious three-plus hours of Fran Leibovitz (who I really didn’t know before this doc) saying everything “rude” & true about people & places & situations that I’ll probably always be too annoyingly nice to admit. Ha! So her sharp wit, firmly-rooted stances & honesty are pretty cathartic & encouraging for me. It felt like listening to great jazz, the way her & Martin Scorsese would riff on different topics and egg each other on, and it put you smack-dab in the heyday of New York in the 70s (which just adds to my constant daydream of being alive for any brief moment of music/art scene back then).
#3. I (AND BY “I” I MEAN “THE PERSON THAT IS READING THIS”) AM GOING TO THE LOCAL BOOK STORE (OK, MAYBE THE LOCAL LIBRARY FIRST) TO FIND THE VERY NEXT BOOK THAT I WILL BE PUTTING SOME EXTREMELY VALUABLE ‘ME-TIME' ASIDE FOR. WHICH BOOK WOULD YOU GET, IF YOU WERE ME (AND, I SUPPOSE, YOU HADN’T ALREADY READ WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SUGGEST)?
Daniel: ‘Satan is Real’ the Louvin Brothers Story. WHAT A SHIT SHOW!!! So, reverse my Mare of E.town sentiments here. The Louvin's wrote the book on blood harmony. Amazing, beautiful, heavenly music radiated from those two brother's. But, holy crap - what a total fuck up Ira was behind the scenes (and sometimes ON the scene, smashing his mandolin on stage in anger...) Poor Charlie. Great book.
Brad: The next time I go to a bookstore I will be looking for Buck 'Em: the Autobiography of Buck Owens. I have heard lots of good things about this book, and it is right up my alley.
Raph: So many great reads to pick from here. Here are a few book related things I really enjoyed and/or feel are worth recommending. Please forgive me if it’s too much.
For Fiction - I fell in love with Jeff Vandermeer’s writing through the The Southern Reach Trilogy which includes the books Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance. Modern fiction at it’s poetic best. Very original story and style, really hard to put down.
For Non-Fiction - The Case Against Reality by Donald Hoffman. Guaranteed to be your favorite book by a cognitive psychologist. This is a fascinating take on the ways we are wired to take in, filter, and process all of the different kinds of information we are bombarded with. I think there are some Ted Talks or interviews out there with Donald Hoffman if you don’t have time for reading these days that can give you some insight into his wonderful insights.
Kiley: “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. It’s long-been one of favorite books. I think I have 5 or 6 extra copies that I’ve picked up from thrift stores over the years to hand out to friends who’ve never read it. From the opening line, “Ships at a distance have every man’s wishes on board” all the way until the last chapter, her story reads & sings like a song, achingly poetic and earnest, and I just love it so fucking much.
Alex: ‘Parable of the Sower’ by Octavia E. Butler let me know how unprepared I am for a the end of the world.
Phil: Jeff Tweedy’s autobiography (I forget what it’s called) was wonderful. Lots of music philosophy from a business, interpersonal and artistic perspective. And if you’re a Wilco/Uncle Tupelo/Sun Volt fan it’s a fun read.
#4 - WHAT IS THE ONE WEBSITE (OR JUST ANY OLD INTERNET THING: APP, GIF, SERVICE, WHATEVER) THAT YOU WOULD GET REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS ABOUT IF IT WERE TO SUDDENLY GO AWAY?
Alex: Bandcamp has become my buddy this year, especially the front page articles. I’ve found so much music there.
Kiley: While there’s a lot of good & connection & interesting stuff to be found on the worldwide web, I don’t think I’d care too much at all if most everything having to do with the internet & apps just black-holed one day. I’d maybe miss rhymezone.com & thesaurus.com ‘cause I love finding new words for words.
Phil: Rukind.com is probably my most used website. As much as I’m not a proponent of learning music on the internet, every Grateful Dead song and every song they ever covered or falls under the umbrella is here. And almost all the changes and riffs are correct, at least that I’ve seen. The Dead aside, the site is the best I’ve come across with being actually musical while still being easy and internetty.
Daniel: Cocaine & Rhinestones. Again, driven by my affection for all things old & twangy, this podcast by country music history idiot savant Tyler Coe (David Allen's kid) goes deeeeeeeeeeep. Listen to the episode about the Louvin Brothers if you don't wanna read the book. He covers it all. Blood Harmony. Some mystical shit going on there, boy. But, my favorite episode breaks down Okie from Muskogee (Merle Haggard aka my Spirit Grandpa)...
Brad: the only sites I consistently have open in my browser are email, calendar, and google drive. I will say that google drive has made it very easy to store files (like song charts), home recordings and set lists. I think the best use of drive is the ability to collaborate on recordings by being able to easily upload home recordings into a shared folder. It's really streamlined my musical process.
#5 - AND FINALLY… PLEASE GIVE ONE COMPLETELY UNAIDED RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD START DOING / USING / WATCHING / EATING / THINKING / QUITTING / ETC-ING TO MAKE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE BETTER AND/OR BEARABLE.
Phil: Good coffee is difficult to find, especially in certain pockets of the country. Make yourself a small travel rig. Aero press or a small pour over and a little electric tea kettle or something like that. Find a small bag or something that it all fits in.
Raph: Spending time with your family while eating tomato salads.
Brad: Something to add to your life to make it better: At the start of this month, two friends and I started a sort of song writing challenge. We picked a word and gave ourselves a month to complete the song. ps- you don't have to be a musician to be a songwriter. I found myself thinking about the song and it's possible story lines during those 'in between moments' where I would typically be checking social media. I completed the song today, and now I can't wait till next month.
Daniel: Meditation. I call it sit & hit. I sit for 5 minutes & meditate (still body, breathing without judging my thoughts) then I hit my practice pad for 5 minutes. Somehow the effect of this simple 10 minute practice validates my existence... Everyday?? Absolutely. Except the days I don't.
Kiley: In 2021, I learned two peach wisdoms:
1. You can slice around the belly (instead of vertically) for a supremely smooth pit removal.
2. White peaches are sweeter than yellows. Even so, there’s no bad peach in my book.
Podcast: “Floodlines” Man, this was illuminating and heartbreaking- it recounts our government’s repeated lack of response to Hurricane Katrina victims…specifically in predominately Black neighborhoods. Through personal & big-picture stories of folks who survived and perished in the too-long aftermath, it’s yet another chilling reminder of how easily our humanity is lost, and hopefully, how to revive it. (Sidenote: I’ve only recently started getting into podcasts, but so far, ones produced by The Atlantic really do some deep dives with quality, well-sourced journalism.)
Alex: I’ve stopped mincing garlic, I always slice. That way you can eat around it if you aren’t into it, or seek it out if you’re very into it.
OK folks, there you have it. Things that Hezekiah Jones thinks you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go eat a tomato salad with your peach loving family, make sure to follow Hezekiah Jones on the Facebook / Instagram / Twitter and then also give ‘Kings of People’ a listen below…
