Another opportunity to share some music, and an honor to be doing so for Hannah McKittrick's SOAK, on what was a wet and cold winter day in Melbourne town. Two sets of music that I reckon blended well, here's the playlist.
Beginning tonight with a track from local composer, Joanna Selleck's recent cd release titled Becoming. Becoming is a composition that explores Japanese poetry forms and renders them into a contemporary, operatic song cycle, sung in French, Tibetan and English. In keeping with oft explored themes of people observing seasons ( often as mirror of self ) in Haiku, there are four seasons represented as movements, and a finale. The album features 3 vocalists and 5 musicians: Merlyn Quaife - soprano; Dean Sky-Lucas - countertenor; Jerzy Kozlowski - bass; Adam Simmons - shakuhachi; Lynette Rainer, Zachary Johnston - violin; Barbara Hornung - viola and Caerwen Martin - cello. It is interesting to behold the explosive passion in the delivery of some songs, challenging notions of interiority that I assign to haiku. The track I played tonight was an instrumental passage that better suited what I was trying to convey in tonights broadcast - Interlude, played by the string section. You know what, this album piques ones bias.
Then, the softly sung Anne Garner, with a track titled All Wounds, lifted from her current release, Dear Unknown, through Slowcraft Records. I'm enjoying this album, and have enjoyed Anne since first listening to her on a benefit album released by Hibernate and Dronarivm for the people of Yemen, Salaam For Yemen, in 2018.
Mindy Meng Wang released Phoenix Rising in 2021. Mindy plays the traditional Chinese instrument the guzheng, a kind of horizontal zither - akin to the koto. Although trained within Chinese classical tradition, she takes the guzheng into modern realms. Its so good to hear this innovative, hybrid ancient/modern music coming out of Australia. Sometimes the music leaves one hanging on the edge of your seat with it's sparse economy and use of space, accompanied with warm resonances and gravitas. Sometimes it rumbles and crunches, not so kindly. Like the passage from cocoon to chrysalis. I chose a solo piece, Ferrofluid - it contains suspense within superb poise.
In 2016, UK born, former Australian resident Susheela Raman got together with co-founder of 80's gamelan influenced post-punk outfit 23 Skidoo, Sam Mills. They got together with contemporary Indonesian gamelan composer and musician Gondrong Gunarto, and recorded Ghost Gamelan. Released in 2018, the album is a tour de force of hybrid gamelan/post-punk/down tempo sonic wow. In 2019, the musicians on the album toured selected states in Australia and lucky enough to catch it, I have to say, this was easily a musical highlight of the that year. Tonight I played a downtempo masterpiece I'm Going Down.
Then, NTsKi singing Orca an accapellaesque exit from the first bracket - taken from ORCA through EM Records. I'm new to NTsKi, she resides in a kind of musical realm similar to Bjork and kindred artists. Plenty of tech, crisp production, anchored in warm, human, analogue wonder.
The second set opens with Chris Rainer. Chris is a really interesting musician - check out his website. His album, Man and the Echo, features (equally interesting) local musician and producer Adam Casey (photo(sphere), Boy Who Spoke Clouds, Trappist Afterland) along with Nat Grant. Really, that's a formidable lineup of visionary, multi-disciplinary composer musicians. We heard, Fast Fourier Transfom - kinda Tom Carter territory.,
Then, a stunning cover of Take Care, the Alex Chilton/Big Star classic by the ever great Rivulets, featuring Jessica Bailiff. I reckon it equals the original's desolate beauty, adding just that little touch more, and in doing so making this their own. This song features some lovely static sound ephemera which segues well with the following track by Gamardah Fungus and Endless Melancholy, Dirty Ocean. To me, Dirty Ocean has a dystopian feel to it, although the humanity still sounds from within the ruins through a yearning, gliding guitar solo.
Musician and broadcaster, Peter Hollo then adds his signature extended technique, electro-tweaked cello on A Naive Playthrough. Peter, a long time fan and supporter of Dutch musician Michel Banabila, donated this track to the Banabila curated and created compilation benefit album, To Yemen With Love.
Composer musician (why isn't he better known?!) Joe Frawley, closes the bra withcket with Some Kind of Womb - a retreat into peace. Released on the superlative bespoke editions label, Time Released Sound, the track comes from Joe's 2012 13 Houses and the Mermaid album.
To fare-you-well, Landtitles (James Murray) with Recovered Distances from the 2021 release Your Voice In Pieces. Apologies, I had to fade this. Do get along to Slowcraft Records, they are releasing some truly fine ambient music including the music of Anne Garner played earlier in the program.
 |
| Mindy Meng Wang - Phoenix Rising |
No comments:
Post a Comment