A CLOSER LISTEN weekly #5
Spring Music Previews
Welcome back, Listeners! Joseph here with your bi-weekly roundup from A CLOSER LISTEN, everyone’s favorite blog dedicated to instrumental and experimental music. Hopefully everyone has checked out Gianmarco Del Re’s Ukrainian Field Notes, which was published late last week. More dispatches in that series will be coming soon. Also still fresh, the latest episode of the Sound Propositions podcast, featuring Patrick Shiroishi. Next week, another new episode with the great Maria Chavez.
It’s Spring! The snow is melting here in Montreal, and while it’s bound to get cold again next week, and will surely snow at least once or twice before, the end is in sight. Richard has put together a suite of Spring Music Previews. Here’s a taste. As always, head over the site for the full lists.
Pictured above: Kelly Emrich’s cover image for Freya Lily’s single “Reaching (Part Two),” the first taste of upcoming EP Disconnect.
Spring Music Preview 2022 ~ Ambient and Drone
Little darling, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter, as epitomized by the cover of Graziano Tassi’s album Blue. But now spring is upon us, and we’re watching the buds of hundreds of new albums as they get ready to bloom! This is the music that will accompany us as we emerge from our physical, social and emotional cocoons. In a metaphorical sense, we may have just endured the longest winter of our lives. As we look back over the season, we are grateful that yet again, the music helped see us through.
On the other hand, as a season of disease has begun to wane, we have entered a season of war. Brand new anxieties have supplanted the old. Many artists and labels have expressed mixed feelings about releasing music during the siege of Ukraine. Our response is that we need music now more than ever. We need to know that people are still creating art, filled with beauty and life ~ that there’s something worth looking forward to and a reason to go on. We hope that wherever your body, heart and mind may rest this season, we’ll be able to help you find the music you need ~ over 275 albums over the course of the next five days, starting with today’s preview of ambient and drone.
Ambient
Rich’s Pick: Sontag Shogun x Lau Nau ~ Valo Sirotuu, (Ricco/Beacon Sounds, April 8)
This stellar collaboration brings out the best in each artist, creating a sound akin to pixie dust. There’s something for everybody here, from crinkling texture to bilingual voice. Recorded on a Finnish isle, the album translates geography into sound, embodying the title, translated as The Light Scatters. Even the release is a collaboration between labels Ricco and Beacon Sounds.
Spring Music Preview 2022 ~ Electronic
The news dropped like a glowstick last month: clubs are reopening in Europe. We expect spring to be the season of dance music, as two years of tracks compete for hearts and feet. Should we dance or should we not, given the global situation? The answer is, we have to dance, to vent our feelings in a healthy way. We dance so we don’t have to cry, punch or scream. And after we let it all out, we may remember joy.
This is a transitional time for club music, as nostalgia became a driving force for so much of the electronic music released during the pandemic. Will IDM, jungle and breakbeat continue their resurgence, or cede the space to the intensity of newer subgenres? We can’t wait to find out!
Rich’s Pick: Field Works ~ Stations (Temporary Residence Ltd., April 1)
Temporary Residence is pulling out all the stops for the tenth entry in the Field Works series. The latest installment features seismic captured by EarthScope scientists, “dueting” with a wide array of artists including Masayoshi Fujita, Qasim Naqvi and convener Stuart Hyatt, plus a bonus album of reinterpretations from Amulets, Ben Chatwin, Olga Wojciechowska and others. But wait, there’s more! Stations: Listening to the Deep Earth is also a book, adding yet another sedimentary layer to the already-engaging project.
Spring Music Preview 2022 ~ Experimental
Robot-human love, Sasquatch, the quetzal bird, astrology, earrings and Sophie the Giraffe ~ you’ve arrived at our Experimental section, across which the normal rules no longer apply. We’ve all been pent up and stir crazy lately, and this music is in some ways an expression of our acquired peculiarities. As for global crossover success, it probably won’t happen for any of these albums, but the performers don’t care; they are more concerned with originality and self-expression. So feel free to dive in; the artists below have already tested the waters and found them swimmable.
Rich’s Pick: Širom ~ The Liquified Throne of Simplicity (Glitterbeat, April 8)
This Slovenian trio has always defied categorization, and continues to shapeshift on their latest album. Folk, rock, drone and an avid experimentalism come into play, thanks to a wide array of instrumentation, including found objects, frame drum, balafon, ribab and mizmar. And Walken will be pleased with the cowbell! The music is anything but simple, producing a feeling of awe.
Spring Music Preview 2022 ~ Modern Composition
For the past two years, we’ve all been going through the same emotions, which has nudged the artists and audiences even closer together. This season’s crop of modern composition looks forward and back at once: to the lifeline music provided during the pandemic to the hopes of dreams of a populace yearning for good news. While most of these recordings are peaceful, a few are turbulent, a reflection of hearts and minds in motion and the shifting currents of the sociopolitical climate. These releases sound genuine, honest, and true to life: as mirror-like as they are opaque.
Rich’s Pick: Luke Howard ~ All of Us (Mercury KX, April 29)
Like many artists, Luke Howard saw his album pushed back to a new season due to vinyl delays, but we’re happy to double down on the beauty of All of Us, now scheduled for April 29, because now we can make it our top pick. Howard’s launching point is piano, but Ben Lukas Boysen and the Budapest Art Orchestra help to make this one of the highlights of any season. And be sure to check out Howard’s World Sleep Day Release, “A Bad Dream That Will Pass Away” as well!
Spring Music Preview 2022 ~ Rock, Post-Rock, Folk & Jazz
From melodic guitar to rhythmic drums to blistering distortion, this blended slate runs the gamut ~ a little like what the world has been going through in early 2022. Sometimes we want to wail and scream at the world; other times we want to retreat. The loudest albums are like the music of siege and defense, the softest like reflection and resolve.
We’re glad to see the rock arena waking up from its long winter nap. Numerous artists around the world are announcing tour dates while getting their buses serviced for the road. For those about to rock, we salute you! And now to the last of our five seasonal previews; be sure to check our Upcoming Releases page for new additions as they arrive!
Rich’s Pick: birds in the brickwork ~ Recovery (Wayside & Woodland, April 1)
Back injuries can be debilitating, and rehabilitation extensive. While recovering, epic45’s Ben Holton used the recording regimen as part of his healing process. Perhaps as a result, the album feels unhurried and hopeful, an acceptance of conditions as they are, but with a sense of forward progress. We love the recommendation to “fans of the instrumental post-rock side of epic45,” because yes, that’s us! The early editions contain a 32-page photo book.
UPCOMING RELEASES
Head over to the site to access this list complete with Bandcamp embeds.
Andrew Weathers ~ Sciatic Assemblage (Flaming Pines, 15 April)
Carmel Smickersgill ~ We Get What We Get & We Don’t Get Upset (PRAH, 15 April)
City of Dawn ~ As the Universe, So the Soul (Somewherecold, 15 April)
DIMWIND/Breaths ~ Seasons (Trepanation Recordings, 15 April)
Earthen Sea ~ Ghost Poems (Kranky, 15 April)
High Pulp ~ Pursuit of Ends (Anti-, 15 April)
James Krivchenia ~ Blood Karaoke (Reading Group, 15 April)
Noémi Büchi ~ Hyle (~OUS, 15 April)
Isobel Bess ~ Light Play (Grimalkin, 15 April)
Matthew Shipp, Chad Fowler ~ Old Stories (Mahakala Music, 15 April)
Gaf & the Love Supreme Arkestra ~ Garden Island (Keroxen, 16 April)
Jörg Zemmler ~ Piano Bar (16 April)
Sebastiano De Gennaro ~ Musica Rationale (19’40”, 17 April)
G Clef Fusion ~ QB1-OS (19 April)
Annea Lockwood & Maze ~ Bayou Borne / Jitterbug (Moving Furniture, 21 April)
Glassmasterer ~ Kaossteedeethree (22 April)
James Heather ~ Invisible Forces (Ahead of Our Time, 22 April)
John the Silent ~ Mungo Sessions (Somewherecold, 22 April)
Jon Porras ~ Aroyo (Thrill Jockey, 22 April)
Noorvik ~ Hamartia (22 April)
Ohyung ~ imagine naked! (NNA Tapes, 22 April)
Instruments of Happiness ~ Slow, Quiet Music in Search of Happiness (Redshift, 23 April)
Antoine Chessex, Francisco Meirino, Jérôme Noetinger ~ Maiandros (Editions Cave12, 24 April)
Shonky ~ On the Run (Third Ear, 25 April)
Gintas K ~ Lėti (Cronica, 26 April)
Audio Obscura vs. Black Sonar ~ A Scream from Outer Space (Subexotic, 29 April)
Civilistjävel! ~ Järnnätter (FELT, 29 April)
Federico Mosconi ~ Air Sculptures (Lost Tribe Sound, 29 April)
Hans Kjorstad ~ Avkjølingshistorie (Motvind, 29 April)
KHOMPA ~ Perceive Reality (Monotreme, 29 April)
Lydian Dunbar ~ Blue Sleep (Room40, 29 April)
Safa ~ Ibtihalat (UIQ, 29 April)
Soñder ~ Broken in Place (Somewherecold, 29 April)
William Basinski & Janek Schaefer ~ “…on reflection…” (Temporary Residence, 29 April)
ξόρκι/ουλφαάμ/αθούρα ~ ΘΕΜΕΛΙΑ (Λα Μουρμίντζ, 1 May)
Beneather ~ S/T (2 May)
Adrian Copeland ~ If This Were My Body (Lost Tribe Sound, 6 May)
Floating World Pictures ~ The Twenty-Three Views (Floating World Pictures, 6 May)
Kalia Vendever ~ Regrowth (New Amsterdam, 6 May)
Reyes/Stokowy Duo ~ Northern: Ashroud Is My Country (American Dreams, 6 May)
Robert Takahashi Crouch ~ Ritual Variations (Room40, 6 May)
Rubin Henkel ~ Restless (7K!, 6 May)
Stefan Goldmann ~ Vector Rituals (Macro, 6 May)
TONED ~ S/T (6 May)
Zimoun ~ Guitar Studies I-III (Room40, 6 May)
Manel Fortià ~ Despertar (Segell Microscopi, 12 May)
The Corrupting Sea ~ Talking to Trees (Histamine Tapes, 13 May)
India Galley ~ to you through (Redshift, 13 May)
Martin Küchen ~ Utopia (Thanatosis, 13 May)
Brandon Seabrook ~ In the Storm (Astral Spirits, 20 May)
Joe Rainey ~ Niineta (37d03d, 20 May)
Matmos ~ Regards/Ukłony dla Bogusław Schaeffer (Thrill Jockey, 20 May)
Peter Coccoma ~ A Place to Begin (Whatever’s Clever, 20 May)
Zoh Amba feat. William Parker and Francisco Mela ~ O Life, O Light Vol. 1 (577 Records, 20 May)
Timothy Fairless ~ Rising Water (Flaming Pines, 27 May)
Giacomelli ~ Return of the Return (Somewherecold, 28 May)
Spacepilot ~ Hyaena Worlds (577 Records, 31 May)
Ralph Heidel ~ Modern Life (Kryptox, 3 June)
Yamila ~ Visions (Umor Rex, 10 June)
Black Sky Giant ~ Falling Mothership (Made of Stone, 30 July)