Translating the lilting rhythms of the essayist Marilynne Robinson before skirting the scattered fragments and billowing torrents of language like Nimrod tripping through his Tower of Babel headlong, this week Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet introduce their upcoming album Evergreen with the first movement from Three Essays. The suite is one of three pieces for string quartet which will feature on the record alongside ‘And So’ from the Is A Rose song trilogy, ‘Other Song’ from Shaw’s solo vocal debut Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, and an interpretation of the twelfth-century French poem ‘Cant voi l’aube doujour venir’ by the trouvère Gace Brulé.
Performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conducted by Susanna Mälkki, the first recordings of Runner and Music for Ensemble and Orchestra by Steve Reich also approach the finish line on Nonesuch. The German-Brazilian vocalist and visual artist Gloria de Oliveira and frequent David Lynch collaborator Dean Hurley draw from the unfinished Jeff Buckley and Elizabeth Fraser demo ‘All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun’. Carlos Niño expands the spiritual space collages of Actual Presence, Makaya McCraven lingers in dreams in the company of friends, Lucrecia Dalt dabbles in mineral timelessness, and Hyuna soars on butterfly wings.
The composer Bridget Ferrill and clarinettist Áslaug Rún Magnúsdóttir of the Icelandic electronic group Samaris weave sonic fragments from synth patches, solar-powered Tocante Karper, harp, banjo, and their colleague Liam Byrne’s viola da gamba. The producer Waleed draws from his Puerto Rican and Iraqi heritage on his debut twelve-inch for City Slang. Arthur King explores the depths of a copper mine in Chile, from the Big Apple the beat scientist J. Albert lays out his third Good Music Mixtape of the year, Zella Day cuts through swathes of radio silence, plus tracks by Alister Fawnwoda, Zombie-Chang, Xenia Rubinos, El Individuo, and Enumclaw.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
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Steve Reich, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Susanna Mälkki – ‘Runner: I. Sixteenths’
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Caroline Shaw & Attacca Quartet – ‘Three Essays: First Essay (Nimrod)’
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HyunA (현아) – ‘Nabillera (나빌레라)’
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Gloria de Oliveira & Dean Hurley – ‘All Flowers in Time’
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Carlos Niño & Friends – ‘Actually’ (feat. Deantoni Parks, Jamael Dean, and Nate Mercereau)
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ZOMBIE-CHANG – ‘T’inquiète pas’ (feat. Agar Agar)
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Bridget Ferrill & Áslaug Magnúsdóttir – ‘Metal Slug Sings’
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Alister Fawnwoda – ‘Car Dates’ (feat. Tyesha Blount)
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Zella Day – ‘Radio Silence’
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Xenia Rubinos & El Individuo – ‘Dia Libre en el Yanky’
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Makaya McCraven – ‘Dream Another’
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