My Quick View of a Great Sound (Parov Stelar's "The Princess")

Taking a break from pontification to share a little music.  This post features one of the best musicians to come along in a very long time.  Producing music under the name Parov Stelar, Marcus Fureder, of Austria  is known as the founder of Electronic Swing.  His compositions utilizing old swing recordings have brought back the fun, foot-tapping sound of the 1920s.  But as with many great musicians, his music has evolved over time.  His latest album is The Princess.  While cuts like All Night and Silent Shuffle jazz along to his early electro-swing sound, he manages to display some deeper, rather obscure influences, including the Roberta Flack-tinged Nobody's Fool and This Game's driving piano which I would swear is channeling Bill Conti.  Lilja Bloom returns to add her haunting vocals to several cuts, recreating more of her magic from Parov Stelar's 2007 album Shine.   All of it includes an atmospheric, moody backdrop that is perfect for cranking up the stereo and turning down the lights.  Kerry Livgren, the genius behind the epic band Kansas, said in his autobiography Seeds of Change that as a young music-lover, he built a box with mirrors and lights and speakers into which he would stick his head for an enhanced music experience.  If there were ever an album worth Livgren's headbox, it would be The Princess.
Two cuts from the album can be heard here.  If you are tired of the same old music coming out of the United States, be sure to snap up this truly amazing album.  (It is a double album, with extra cuts on the second CD including live recordings.  You can listen to it free on Spotify.)
To download the album, or buy the CD, just use this link:


Two cuts from the album can be heard right here:
The Beach, from Parov Stelar's The Princess (2012)

Nobody's Fool, featuring Cleo Panther, from Parov Stelar's The Princess (2012)