First, as I've written about my enjoyment of the History of Rome podcast, let me add a new one: Norman Centuries, looking at the rise and fall of the Vikings, and in particular Normandy. It's by Lars Brownworth, whose 12 Byzantine Rulers I also enjoyed very much.
Also, before getting to all the new music that's come my way since the New Year began, let me state that I'm still finding the time to listen to Mos Def's The Ecstatic on a fairly regular basis.
January was dominated by the complex and enjoyable free-form rambling of A Silver Mt. Zion's latest album, Kollaps Tradixionales.
I also picked up the latest from Basia Bulat, who sort of occupies a similar, but more country-ish space as Sarah Harmer and Orenda Fink, both of whom I really like. Heart of My Own however, was something that I really couldn't get into.
The big story for January of course was Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers, Wu Tang vs. The Beatles. (Can't seem to find an active link for it, so perhaps like the Jay-Z/Beatles Grey Album mash-up, it was just too beautiful for this world)
The latest release by local group turned happy globe-trotters Woodpigeon fell into my hands in February. Die Stadt Muzikanten continues to showcase Mark Hamilton's strong songwriting as the "band's" musical kaleidescopic folk sound evolves beyond what any of us anticipated oh so many years ago.
On a different note, I also managed to pick up last year's Radio Retaliation from Thievery Corporation and spent a couple of solid days with it on repeat, though I must say that I'm tempted to give Black Sands, the new Bonobo album a slight edge.
Finally, the legendary Gil-Scott Heron released the captivating I'm New Here, the gives a raw edge to his spoken word pieces concentrating on growing up and growing old.
