A CLOSER LISTEN weekly #81
Upcoming NYC trip, a mix from Yara Asmar, and the latest Reviews and Upcoming Releases
Dear Listeners, Joseph here with another bi-weekly digest of the best of A CLOSER LISTEN. I’m headed home to New York on Sunday, where I’ll be catching a lot of live music over the course of my trip, about which more in the next newsletter. (If anyone will be at Public Records for Jan Jelinek and Andrew Pekler on the 20th, please say hi. Likewise for Jad Atoui at the Stone, Saetia/OTMOP, Poison the Well/Glassjaw, and Tim Hecker [4/29].) So, I’m a bit behind on work and prep and life this week and will keep this installment relatively brief.
Just another reminder that I will also be performing in Brooklyn later on this month, on Saturday 26 April at Wavefield in Bushwick. Tickets and info available here. I’ll have copies of some recent tapes as well. It’s gonna be fun.
Earlier this year we launched an ACL internet radio show on CAMP, airing every other Sunday at 6pm CET and available on their Mixcloud soon after. I have three upcoming interviews with artists discussing their latest records, and will have mixes dedicated to each. The first mix, featuring the music of Riccardo La Foresta and other experimental percussionists, aired last Sunday; keep an eye out for a future newsletter with that mix accompanying an interview with La Foresta and a review of his new record, ZERO, 999…, to be followed by an interview/mix/review featuring Cole Pulice, and another with Ben Richter of the Ghost Ensemble.
Pre-orders are now available for Soundtrack to the Revolution: Free Jazz and Leftist Nationalism in Quebec 1967-1975 by Eric Fillion. Eric is a label curator and historian from Quebec, now based in Toronto, who ran the great archival imprint TENZIER, about which I’ve written previously. I suspect this book will be of great interest to many of our Listeners. Here’s a bit more about it:
In telling the story of Jazz Libre, Soundtrack to the Revolution reveals the meaningful role that the art of spontaneity played in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. It traces the path taken by Jazz Libre—a collective of improvisers who embraced free jazz to help legitimize the efforts of the Quebec left to situate its nationalist aspirations within global anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist movements. Their many initiatives (concert forums aimed at students and workers, a self-governing arts summer camp in Val-David, north of Montreal, a socialist commune in the Eastern Townships as well as an experimental cultural centre in Old Montreal) were all oriented toward the convergence of protest movements shaking Quebec. Jazz Libre’s fate was, as a result, irreversibly tied to the leftist independence movement—a hodgepodge of groups in search of possible futures during these pivotal decades.
Lastly, special thanks to Yara Asmar, who included a track from me and Stefan Christoff on this mix:
RECENT REVIEWS
Reviews are at the heart of ACL. Here are selections from a few of my favorite reviews we posted on the blog in the last few weeks.
Curve Ensemble ~ Towards the Light
Take a moment to consider the phrase, Towards the Light. Curve Ensemble’s artistic director allowed each composer, some from within the ensemble and others without, to interpret the phrase in their own way. This resulted in seven remarkable pieces that work beautifully as a whole. The pastel hues of the cover are redolent of Easter, a holiday that is all about light; it suggests a stunning sunrise, a physical phenomenon that is also an easy metaphor. The first piece is pensive and sedate, as if embracing the different lights visible in the night sky, or perhaps even the revelations that arrive in the dead of night. “Breaching” reflects the simple act of a whale rising to the surface, following the sunbeams glimpsed from below. Most creatures long for light, while some feel it is in short supply; Towards the Light is a reminder that we are bathed daily in sunlight, moonlight and the light of the stars, and that even our darkest corners may one day be illumined.
éric la casa ~ Zones Portuaires 2
As the news buzzes with updates on global tariffs, Zones Portuaires 2 lands with unexpected relevance. Maritime ports have been plunged into the headlines, their workers feeling the impact while having nothing to do with the decisions. Zones Portuaires 2 honors those caught in the middle while emphasizing free trade and the health of international relations. The first volume of Zones Portuaires was released in 2013, a double disc featuring éric la casa and cédric peyronnet. The recordings of harbors in France and Belgium highlighted the sonic wealth found at the intersection of nature and humanity. la casa’s follow-up, twelve years in the making, expands the project’s geographical scope: “the Gulf of Oman in Abu Dhabi, the harbour of Singapore, the Mediterranean shores of Beirut, at the meeting of the Douro and the Atlantic ocean in Porto, in Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait and the Sea of Marmara, and finally in Botany Bay and the Tasman Sea in Sydney.” la casa certainly did not set out to capture the zeitgeist, but Zones Portuaires 2 does exactly that, and as such becomes essential listening.
Jeremy Young ~ Cablcar
The press release for Cablcar celebrates its Canadian origins so much that US listeners will be hoping it doesn’t get a tariff slapped on it. Although Jeremy Young, based in Tiohtià:ke / Montréal, has released music through several labels – Beacon Sound, Eliane Tapes and Home Normal to name just three – this is his first album on a Canadian label. Halocline Trance is the Toronto-based label founded by Egyptrixx, for a range of artists that make hip hop, pop, and ambient music – and more – and call Canada home. What may seem like a limited approach to A&R has resulted in both off-kilter pop songs and experimental albums with one collective characteristic.
Olivia Font ~ Invictam
What are the feelings that follow a loss? Olivia Font uses Invictam as a study of aftermath. Although the subject matter is grief, the LP’s trajectory leans toward recovery and triumph, personified in the cover image and title, which means invincible or unconquered. Multiple guest stars flesh out Font’s vision, most notably Ana San Martín, who contributes soprano voice. The word invincible does not mean that one cannot be hurt; instead it means “too powerful to be defeated or overcome.” Olivia Font personifies this resilience, translating it into music. She is not defined by her losses; she integrates them into a tapestry of color and sound.
Scolpaig ~ Spaceport One / Will Parker ~ Red Lake, Black Mine
Difficult Art & Music has been having a wonderful three-year anniversary celebration. First there came the compilation I Only Like Difficult Art (and music), a double album (one CD, one LP) in which half of the tracks were taken from the back catalogue and half were unreleased. Now two of those unreleased albums are about to be unveiled in full. Scolpaig‘s Spaceport One is less a science fiction album than a protest album. It publicizes plans to build a “Sub-orbital vertical launch Spaceport on the isolated island of North Uist within the Scottish Outer Hebrides.” This would not only displace the local residents but threaten the endangered species who live there. Over the course of three weeks, the artist recorded the ins and outs of daily life: time and tide, birds and bells, conversation and kelp. These sounds represent the initial layers of the soundscape: (gentle) human sounds laid atop those of the land and sea. To these he added his own percussive and synthetic contributions, creating a sort of ode that is also a midpoint between the current biophany and the proposed cacophony. The album is both playful and sobering. Will Parker also has a shameful history to bring to light. Red Lake, Black Mine exposes the legacy of zinc, arsenic and copper mining in the Carnon Valley of Cornwall, which resulted in a strangely crimson lake. This release, which is both performance and physical artifact, is also available with a graphic score. The sounds, like the images, form a sort of collage: words and images jumbled and reassembled. Like Scolpaig, Parker visits the site, where he digs around and records pylons and other local resonances.
Shelf Nunny ~ I Think I’m Finally Happy
As we noted in our review of Pronoia, Shelf Nunny can’t help but make happy music, even when feeling unhappy; and now, finally, he may have reached that peaceful plateau. The unusual appeal of the last EP was that the chapters could be read in different order; the appeal of the new EP is that it has been chased by a remix EP, a parabolic reflection of how it feels to reassess one’s own circumstances or to listen to the feedback of others. To a greater extent than most artists, Shelf Nunny’s discography can be read as a sonic diary, a window into the artist’s soul. While composing Utangátta, Christian Gunning had been experiencing tragedy, difficulty and despair, and used his music to inch toward hope. The Pronoia sessions sprung from a new, more positive mindset, although the set contained the most forlorn piece in the artist’s entire discography, one that could be moved like a slide puzzle from the beginning to the end of the set, sparking dueling interpretations. I Think I’m Finally Happy began as a battle between two forces: one trying to tear Gunning’s life apart, and another showering him with goodness. Recalling the story of the two wolves, which would win? Having followed the shifting timbres of Shelf Nunny for a decade, we would have bet on grace; and as it turns out, we would have been right. The artist calls the EP “a chapter book that ends on a triumphant note,” a description honored by an extremely consistent set that acknowledges despair while underlining gratitude. And now we propose another way to play the EPs: sequenced together as a 41-minute album. In this incarnation, the narrative is extended; the joy not only flutters, but flies. The artist’s friends offer a feedback loop in which every hint of happiness is fanned into a fire and that triumphant note becomes a suite of songs.
V/A ~ 14 Soundscapes
An open call from Italy’s Biodiversità Records has led to an incredible array of soundscapes; the fourth in a biennial series, 14 Soundscapes takes listeners around the world to enjoy a variety of natural and composed biophanies, while raising awareness of their often precarious existence. Each selection is a generous ten to twenty minutes in length, allowing the listener to soak in the atmosphere and wander in the sounds. The quality of these selections is significantly high; the sequencing is to be complemented as well, leading to a fluid listening experience. Over the course of three hours, a wide angle story unfolds, concluding with church bells, a fitting end that lends itself to a wide variety of interpretations. To locate 13, 15 and 16 Soundscapes, simply click through the Bandcamp link below. Vast worlds of sound await: biophanies we have never heard, but have been there all along.
V/A ~ Fundraiser Compilation “24.2.25”
How does one even begin to comprehend a 5 hour, 40 minute, 68-track compilation? (There’s also a 3 hour, 48 minute mix.). A more pointed question to ask is “How does one even begin to comprehend a three-year invasion?” Ukraine is at a vital juncture, having lost much of its Western support due to a returning despot. The world’s attention is waning. Into this fray steps the ОЧІ label, which for the third year continues to raise funds for the cause; 57 artists in all responded to the call, most but not all artists from Ukraine, with proceeds benefiting those on the front lines. The listening process is daunting, but the rewards are great. As we’ve learned through Gianmarco Del Re’s Ukrainian Field Notes series, the Ukrainian music scene has blossomed under fire, every release an expression of life in the presence of death. How can we begin to comprehend a compilation like this? We can’t; we can only wonder that it exists.
V/A ~ Shorts
London’s Bigo & Twigetti label kicks off spring with two releases that each combine the talents of multiple composers. Shorts is an appetizer, nine tracks in mine minutes, while Towards the Light is the main course. How long is your attention span? Shorts honors the template of Minute Papillon and One Minute Older, while taking the concept a step further. Not only are the tracks brief, the release is as well. Belying the concept, great attention was paid to the thought of making each track complete in and of itself, rather than acting as a fragment. Nine composers answered the call, and some even went further, delivering tracks under a minute long, the briefest being Velt‘s forty-two-second “Lure.” A voice intones the title as the piano plays; the track is indeed a lure, and the listener is the fish.
UPCOMING RELEASES
(complete list with Bandcamp links here)
We’ve already previewed over 300 spring albums, but our Spring Music Preview was just the start! New announcements arrive daily, and new music is sprouting like daffodils and crocuses, bursting through the rain-soaked soil. We hope you’ll find your next favorite album right here!
Salmoni ~ CouCou (Esc.rec., 17 April)
Adventsong ~ Verdancy (18 April)
Ashtoreth & Penubral Aethyr ~ Naiad (Winter-Light, 18 April)
Christian Kleine ~ Electronic Music from the Lost World: 1998-2002 (Vol. 2) (A Strangely Isolated Place, 18 April)
Dag Rosenqvist ~ Tvåhundra ord för ensamhet (Dronarivm, 18 April)
Divide and Dissolve ~ Insatiable (Bella Union, 18 April)
Gryphon Rue ~ I Keep My Diamond Necklace in a Pond of Sparkling Water (18 April)
Luca Nasciuti ~ Bart Yakan (Flaming Pines, 18 April)
Odalie ~ Optimistic Nihilism (Mesh, 18 April)
Pure Altruism ~ Heart Circuitry (Hush Hush, 18 April)
Rindert Lammers ~ Thank You Kirin Kiki (Western Vinyl, 18 April)
Sieren ~ Emergence (Friends of Friends, 18 April)
thisquietarmy ~ Langue Hybride (A Thousand Arms/Consouling Sounds, 18 April)
Ursula Sereghy ~ Cordial (Mondoj, 18 April)
Zosha Warpeha and Mariel Terán ~ Orbweaver (Outside Time, 18 April)
Out of Context ~ Live at the High Mayhem Festival 2006 (20 April)
Conrad Praetzel ~ Angels Set In Motion (23 April)
Kuntari ~ Lahar (CLAM, 23 April)
Myriam Boucher, Gabriel·le Caux, Simon Chioini & Antonin Gougeon-Moisan ~ Montréal rivières (Label formes-ondes, 23 April)
Sinnway ~ Eon Step (23 April)
Andrey Kiritchenko ~ Ultra Marshes (Flaming Pines, 25 April)
Anzû Quartet ~ adjust (Cantaloupe Music, 25 April)
Ayane Shino ~ River せせらぎ The Timbre Of Guitar #2 – Rei Harakami (musicmine, 25 April)
Batu ~ Question Mark (Oath, 25 April)
Billow Observatory ~ The Glass Curtain (Felte, 25 April)
Gilles Sivilotto ~ handmade (Zeitkratzer, 25 April)
Gloorp ~ Gloorp ‘Em Up (Jolt Music, 25 April)
Lila Tirando a Violeta ~ Dream of Snakes (Unguarded, 25 April)
Lullatone ~ Music for My Friend’s Flower Shop (Mystery Circles, 25 April)
Michael Sarian ~ Esquina (Greenleaf Music, 25 April)
Michael Vallera ~ The Other World (Torn Light, 25 April)
Perrache ~ Mt. Rubble (25 April)
Poly Chain ~ Nemesis (Lightronics, 25 April)
Purple Trap ~ The Stone (Karlrecords, 25 April)
Robert Mills ~ Interior Music (Discrepant, 25 April)
Roberto Cassani / Graeme Stephen ~ Pictish Spaghetti (577 Records, 25 April)
SUMAC and Moor Mother ~ The Film (Thrill Jockey, 25 April)
Violeta García & Hora Lunga ~ I’ll Wait For You In The Car Park (~OUS, 25 April)
Web Web ~ Plexus Plexus (Compost, 25 April)
Will Graefe ~ Compositions for Guitar Vol. 1 (25 April)
Will Graefe ~ Compositions for Guitar Vol. 2 (25 April)
William Tyler ~ Time Indefinite (Psychic Hotline, 25 April)
wzrdryAV ~ Wave Resource (LINE, 25 April)
Adam Lion ~ When a Line Bends (27 April)
Ben McElroy ~ Elkwort (LAAPS, 28 April)
Urban Meditation ~ The Node Dreamer (Rednetic, 28 April)
Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet ~ HausLive 4 (Hausu Mountain, 29 April)
Danielle Nią ~ A New Light (i u we, 29 April)
Jules Reidy & Sam Dunscombe ~ Edge Games (Futura Resistenza, 29 April)
ILUITEQ + Eraldo Bernocchi ~ Fade, Remain (13/Silentes, 30 April)
Marc Kellaway ~ Most Visible (The Cat Box Corp., 30 April)
Conan the Accountant ~ Witch (1 May)
Lauri Supponen ~ Dwell (1 May)
Alex Marsh ~ Trellis (Not Not Fun, 2 May)
Asher ~ Untitled Fictions (Room40, 2 May)
The Balloonist ~ Dreamland (Wayside & Woodland, 2 May)
C. Diab ~ x-plored (Tonal Union, 2 May)
Celestial Trails ~ Observation of Transcendence (Fluttery, 2 May)
Eli Winter ~ A Trick of the Light (Three Lobed Recordings, 2 May)
Eric Shorter ~ Shorter Bendian Shields (577 Records, 2 May)
James Krivchenia ~ Performing Belief (Planet Mu, 2 May)
Kommun ~ Kalpa (thanatosis, 2 May)
Loscil ~ Lake Fire (kranky, 2 May)
Max Walker ~ Chronostasis (Orenda, 2 May)
Melia Watras ~ The almond tree duos (Planet M, 2 May)
Rapid Zen ~ Fried Brains (defkaz, 1 May)
Shine Grooves ~ Sequences for Fluttering (Not Not Fun, 2 May)
A Single Ocean ~ A Single Ocean (2 May)
Stefan Goldmann ~ Live at Borusan Muzik Evi (Istanbul) (Macro, 2 May)
Stereo Minus One ~ Dead Petals At The Other (Machine Records, 2 May)
Surgeon ~ Shell~Wave (Tresor, 2 May)
Tom Hawk ~ Watching Heat on Mute (Not Not Fun, 2 May)
Venus Red ~ In Limbo (2 May)
Tomo-Nakaguchi ~ Out of the Blue (Audiobulb, 3 May)
Bellucci ~ Seta (Vaagner, 4 May)
Michael Thieke & Beat Keller ~ Last Breath’s City Looks Kind Heart (4 May)
Bath Rooms ~ Hypnotic Pulsing Drone and Hum (5 May)
Pruski ~ Lark (IIKKI, 5 May)
Jacobo Vega-Albela ~ Un-Belonging (577 Records, 6 May)
Buildings and Food ~ Provincial Park (9 May)
Devin Sarno ~ Low Endings (Perceived Sound, 9 May)
Ināra Quartet ~ Diakron (Warm Winters Ltd., 9 May)
Jacobo Vega-Albela ~ Un-belonging (577 Records, 9 May)
Kara-Lis Coverdale ~ From Where You Came (Smalltown Supersound, 9 May)
Lars Fredrik Frøislie ~ Gamle Mester (Karisma, 9 May)
Luke Hess ~ Arkeo (DeepLabs, 9 May)
Miriam ~ Sing a Beast (DISSIPATIO, 9 May)
Octavia M Sheffer ~ Shivering; (Bezirk Tapes, 9 May)
Øystein Skar ~ Hem (Moderna, 9 May)
SIGILLUM S ~ Aborted Towns, The Deadly Silence Before Utopia (Subsound, 9 May)
Surface Detail ~ Marea Nera (9 May)
Tamir Barzlay ~ Phosphene Journal (Colorfield, 9 May)
Trem 77 ~ Blacklight Sunset (9 May)
Uwalmassa ~ EP3 (Sundial, 9 May)
The Vernon Spring ~ Under a Familiar Sun (RVNG Intl., 9 May)
Rumpistol ~ Nebula (The Rust Music, 13 May)
Alex Paxton ~ Delicious (New Amsterdam, 16 May)
Beatrice Dillon / Hideki Umezawa ~ Basho / Still Forms (Portraits GRM, 16 May)
Charles Chen ~ Building Characters (Cellar Music, 16 May)
David Handler ~ Life Like Violence (Cantaloupe Music, 16 May)
François J. Bonnet / Sarah Davachi ~ Banshee / Basse Brevis (Portraits GRM, 16 May)
Grails ~ Miracle Music (Temporary Residence Ltd., 16 May)
Jake Henry ~ Feelings (Amalgam, 16 May)
Makeshift Spirituals ~ Volume 1 (577 Records, 16 May)
Michelle Helene Mackenzie & Stefan Maier/Olivia Block ~ Orchid Mantis / Breach (Portraits GRM, 16 May)
Rolando René ~ Pra’ (Prata Veituriorum) (Torto Editions, 16 May)
Taz Modi ~ Involuntary Memories (Kartel Music Group, 16 May)
Zoo Too Trio ~ Poetry Legroom (Shifting Paradigm, 16 May)
Ali Balighi ~ Zone 19: An Algorithmic Journey Through the 19-EDO Soundscape (Post Orientalism Music, 17 May)
Midi Neutron ~ whosgonnafeedyou likeThis (18 May)
Michael Begg ~ WITNESS. Ambient Chamber Works 2020-2024 (Omnempathy, 18 May)
Ayman Fanous and Joe Morris ~ Zuhour (Infrequent Seams, 23 May)
Carla Boregas & Anelena Toku ~ Fronte Violeta (Other People, 23 May)
Casanora ~ The Year of the Jellyfish (Infinite Machine, 23 May)
Christian Winther, Anja Lauvdal, Espen Reinertsen ~ Night As Day Day As Night (Sofa Music, 23 May)
emptyset ~ Dissever (Thrill Jockey, 23 May)
Eva Novoa ~ Novoa / Kamaguchi / Cleaver Trio – Vol. 2 (577 Records, 23 May)
Herzog Muche Nillesen ~ anasýnthesi (thanatosis, 23 May)
Joke Lanz ~ Zungsang (23 May)
Novoa / Kamaguchi / Cleaver Trio ~ Vol. 2 (577 Records, 23 May)
Quelza ~ Pensa Poetico (Dekmantel, 23 May)
Tatsuya Yoshida and Martín Escalante ~ The Sound of Raspberry (Wash & Wear, 23 May)
Ilia Belorukov ~ NRD DRM TWO 2022-2024 (Cronica, 27 May)
Abul Mogard ~ Quiet Places (Soft Echoes, 30 May)
Bella Wakame ~ S/T (Umor Rex, 30 May)
CEE ~ Primary Forest 03 (30 May)
Christina Giannone ~ The Opal Amulet (Room40, 30 May)
Dickson and Familiar ~ All the Light of our Sphere (30 May)
Fredrik Rasten with Asterales ~ Fuse Modulations (thanatosis, 30 May)
Hari Maia ~ The Endless Hum (Room40, 30 May)
Laura Cannell ~ LYRELYRELYRE (Brawl, 30 May)
Samir Böhringer Sazzerac ~ Olympia (577 Records, 30 May)
Various Artists ~ Only Sounds That Tremble Through Us (Bilna’es, 30 May)
Elizabeth Klinck ~ Chronotopia (Hallow Ground, 6 June)
Exploding Skull ~ Coyote (Bad Channels, 6 June)
GPS ~ Directions + Destinations (577 Records, 6 June)
IDTIL ~ A Screensaver of Emotions (Machine Records, 6 June)
øjeRum ~ Til Vinden I Dine Øjne (Room40, 6 June)
Sequence of Events ~ The Art of Memory (Subject to Restrictions Discs, 6 June)
Wampís of Guayabal & Aboutface ~ Los Bosquesinos (6 June)
Salomé Voegelin ~ Cassette Album (Flaming Pines, 9 June)
Goldmund ~ Layers of Afternoon (Western Vinyl, 13 June)
Jun Seo, Latitude 49 ~ Obsolete Music (New Amsterdam, 13 June)
Lyra Pramuk ~ Hymnal (7K!, 13 June)
Wallace, Vazquez, Von Schultz ~ Siesta (577 Records, 13 June)
Elskavon ~ Panoramas (Western Vinyl, 20 June)
Julien Mier ~ Gradually (Lapsus, 20 June)
ZÖJ ~ Give Water to Birds (Parenthèses, 20 June)
Tropos ~ Switches (endectomorph music, 27 June)
Rival Consoles ~ Landscape from Memory (Erased Tapes, 4 July)