Listening to Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion's *Rectangles and Circumstance* record, released earlier this year... the whole record was wonderful.
This is the closing piece and it's splendid: wordless, both sparse and lush at the same time. Cinematic but subtle... it feels like the final retrospection of a life, or a struggle, or a party... the long tail of denouement.
Feeling a bit aimless and having trouble getting to work, so why don't I make this an ongoing thread this morning --- a Sunday morning playlist, edited from the "raw" listening of the morning (which is itself usually full-length albums chosen through a combination of shuffle/randomization and following where my ears take me).
Feel free to mute!
Good follow-up to the Shaw::
Haco - "A Fragment (Live)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkjISRPjVxc
From the reissued version of their eponymous album, originally issued in 1995 but reissued this year. The track is a bonus.
I love the slow build on this one: built largely out of simple, repetitive layers of synth-strings and guitar, and an ethereal vocal line floating among it all. Like the Shaw, it has that combination of sparseness and lushness that I just love.
I don't remember at this point how I found #Haco, but I've loved everything I've listened to from her.
Two tracks from a new release on International Anthem by an artist named #Tomin:
"Come Sunday Bass (for Ellington and Dolphy)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TDFfVlPRoE
"Naima"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuHK3GuU9nw
The album is called *Flores para Verene / Cantos para Caramina*. About half of the album are miniatures like this, sketches of standards, or tunes that should be standards, set for small reed/brass ensemble played entirely by Tomin himself.
These are quiet takes on these tunes, even of the more ebullient songs, and the recordings are close enough to catch breath. Very warm and intimate.
Read more about the album here:
https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/flores-para-verene-cantos-para-caramina
About 3/4 of the way through Hayden Pedigo's brand new "Live in Amarillo, Texas" --- which is exceptional. So the next track on my morning playlist in the making:
Hayden Pedigo - "Nearer, Nearer/Tints of Morning"
https://haydenpedigo.bandcamp.com/track/nearer-nearer-tints-of-morning
Fans of "primitive" fingerpicking a la #JohnFahey or, more recently, folks like #BillMckay or #NathanSalzburg should enjoy, but really anyone who likes instrumental guitar work.
As Pedigo says at the start of his album, the pieces feature a lot of "long pauses." If that perks your ears, like it does mine, check out the full album.
#HaydenPedigo #SundayListening #NowListening #ImpromptuPlaylist
from the album Live in Amarillo, Texas
Van Hunt - Hopeless (penny witta hole in it)
https://vanhunt.bandcamp.com/track/hopeless-penny-witta-hole-in-it
Need to pick up the pace just a bit this morning. Last week I listened several times to Sunny War's *Anarchist Gospel*, which includes a cover of "Hopeless," which Van Hunt originally gave to Dionne Farris.
I could write a novella's worth of thoughts on #VanHunt, but for now I'll just share his own recording of the tune from 2020, alongside his "Teach Me Your Language," from his 2015 lp, "The Fun Rises, The Fun Sets." That lp, sorely overlooked, includes some great tunes and truly funky guitar and bass work, some of which is on display here.
"Teach Me Your Language" - https://vanhunt.bandcamp.com/track/teach-me-a-new-language
track by Van Hunt
Trevor Burrows