Found this one on NPR last week and this is probably my album of the month. Linying is a young Singaporean singer-songwriter, playing around with pop, R&B, and classical. It's very much in the world of Francis & The Lights, Kacy Hill, and Bon Iver. Heavy vocoder/vocal production, grand arrangements, impressionist lyrics, and pop rhythms. Pretty amazing, I think. This is one to listen to with headphones to capture the production details, playing it in the background doesn't do it justice.
Ok, so it's not like this is "new music", and the comp is basically a brick (I think it's about 4.5 hours), but this is unquestionably the definitive works of Xenakis. It'll be in my top 100 of all-time (once I make it public again). The remastering on the project is sublime... everything sounds colossal. It's not that gritty, flat, scrunched sound I've heard with some of his work previously. The textures are super clean and big and sharp... recordings from the 50s sound like they were made today. The mixing job on the grumbling, glass-like soundscape is phenomenal, and it makes the version of Persepolis on here pop like never before.
It's not for everyone, I get that— it's several hours of avant-garde electroacoustic done-like compositions— but if you've ever wanted to jump into his work, there's never been a better time. Xenakis has inspired me whoknowshowmanytimes in the last few years. And despite this comp coinciding with his 100th birthday, these compositions push the boundaries the same today as they did in the 50s/60s/70s.
Dark, unsettling, growling— his landscapes just keep twisting and squeezing and crumbling... yet, it's very natural. Freeing, enveloping, bottomless... the soundtrack to the depths of the darkest cosmos. _________________ Submit Your List for BEA's 2023 Film Poll!
I spoke too soon, this is my record of the month and will almost certainly be a top of the year. Fucking incredible record by Punch Brothers, reimagining Tony Rice's landmark bluegrass record Church Street Blues. They made the album as a gift to him just before he died last year. It's filled with the upmost respect, tributing Rice and the songwriters that he himself covered for Church Street - Dylan, Lightfoot, Blake, etc. The new arrangements fire out like a cannonball and they rip and roar through the tunes, basking in the storytelling of these folk ballads. It sounds so gorgeous too, Thile's voice is at its peak. Reminded me why Thile + crew are some of the most talented musicians out there. This one is not to be missed.
Whole bunch of albums were announced the last few days too. New releases from—
—Alex Cameron
—Destroyer
—Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear)
—Melody's Echo Chamber
—Hatchie
—Aldous Harding
—Denzel Curry
—Ibibio Sound Machine
—Ghost
—Jenny Hval
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