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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Flute, Church Organ, African Drums and Rock Guitar | Flute, Church Organ, African Drums and Rock Guitar |
| (21 days later) | |
| Nicole Mitchell | Nicole Mitchell |
| ENGRAVED IN THE WIND | ENGRAVED IN THE WIND |
| It’s good to hear a musician get entirely inside the sound of her instrument — not just to play it, but somehow to embody it. Roughly, that’s what Nicole Mitchell, a Chicagoan improviser relocated to California, has done with “Engraved in the Wind” (Rogue Art), a record of unaccompanied performances on the standard concert flute and alto flute. Most tracks are her own work, though some were written for her — and this record in particular — by the flutists and composers James Newton, Renée Baker, Aaya Samaa and Yung Wha Son. Some are spare and monophonic; some are multitracked. Some are very short, and the longest runs to a doable seven and a half minutes, full of action. | It’s good to hear a musician get entirely inside the sound of her instrument — not just to play it, but somehow to embody it. Roughly, that’s what Nicole Mitchell, a Chicagoan improviser relocated to California, has done with “Engraved in the Wind” (Rogue Art), a record of unaccompanied performances on the standard concert flute and alto flute. Most tracks are her own work, though some were written for her — and this record in particular — by the flutists and composers James Newton, Renée Baker, Aaya Samaa and Yung Wha Son. Some are spare and monophonic; some are multitracked. Some are very short, and the longest runs to a doable seven and a half minutes, full of action. |
| Ms. Mitchell starts from melodies but gets quickly into sound, making tones seem heavy and watery, light and thin, thick and slightly hoarse, chopping the air stream with quick fingering. She’ll investigate sounds intensely for a while, then slow down and settle back into the theme or the core idea. It’s a laboratory of texture and timbre, this record, but she’s into the job 100 percent. It’s always urgent, never dry. | Ms. Mitchell starts from melodies but gets quickly into sound, making tones seem heavy and watery, light and thin, thick and slightly hoarse, chopping the air stream with quick fingering. She’ll investigate sounds intensely for a while, then slow down and settle back into the theme or the core idea. It’s a laboratory of texture and timbre, this record, but she’s into the job 100 percent. It’s always urgent, never dry. |
| Anna von Hausswolf | Anna von Hausswolf |
| CEREMONY | CEREMONY |
| The young Swedish singer-songwriter Anna von Hausswolf has a rock band, but her instrument is a church organ, the playing of which depends on unaccompanied sections and decay time, the sound of notes receding into silence. There’s a stillness and reflection on “Ceremony” (Other Music Recording Co.), her second album, especially when she’s playing alone; but there’s also a lot of straight bombast. She has a will to sing of cosmic desire in a Kate Bush-like voice that isn’t quite as big as she wants it to be, and her own instrumental writing is simple and limited, leaning too heavily on rolling arpeggios and gothy triads. | |
| Her best tracks may be the ones on which she tries to bend an essentially religious instrument toward pop practice, playing smart pop tunes with eighth-note riffs (as in “Mountains Crave”) and spare arrangements. The record is awkward and seriously pretentious at times, but you can’t miss the heat of its ambition. | Her best tracks may be the ones on which she tries to bend an essentially religious instrument toward pop practice, playing smart pop tunes with eighth-note riffs (as in “Mountains Crave”) and spare arrangements. The record is awkward and seriously pretentious at times, but you can’t miss the heat of its ambition. |
| Jeri-Jeri | Jeri-Jeri |
| NDAGGA VERSIONS | NDAGGA VERSIONS |
| The Senegalese percussion group Jeri-Jeri is the heart of “Ndagga Versions,” a collaboration with the producer Mark Ernestus that combines several kinds of drums: the traditional sabar, the drum of traditional Wolof griot culture, played with one stick and one hand; the talking drum; and the drum set. The sabar drummers form tight, complex patterned polyrhythms; the talking drums open up those weaves, making them breathe; the drum set moves the whole mix toward a river of funk, a cross between Senegalese mbalax and Nigerian Afrobeat. | The Senegalese percussion group Jeri-Jeri is the heart of “Ndagga Versions,” a collaboration with the producer Mark Ernestus that combines several kinds of drums: the traditional sabar, the drum of traditional Wolof griot culture, played with one stick and one hand; the talking drum; and the drum set. The sabar drummers form tight, complex patterned polyrhythms; the talking drums open up those weaves, making them breathe; the drum set moves the whole mix toward a river of funk, a cross between Senegalese mbalax and Nigerian Afrobeat. |
| “Ndagga Versions” (released on the Ndagga label) is the all-instrumental half of a pair of albums Mr. Ernestus made with the band. The other is “800% Ndagga,” with some famous Senegalese musicians and singers, including Baaba Maal. They’re both excellent records, but I prefer the instrumental one, to focus better on what drummers are doing collectively: it’s the heart of the project, its treat and its constant surprise. | “Ndagga Versions” (released on the Ndagga label) is the all-instrumental half of a pair of albums Mr. Ernestus made with the band. The other is “800% Ndagga,” with some famous Senegalese musicians and singers, including Baaba Maal. They’re both excellent records, but I prefer the instrumental one, to focus better on what drummers are doing collectively: it’s the heart of the project, its treat and its constant surprise. |
| Deafheaven | Deafheaven |
| SUNBATHER | SUNBATHER |
| Deafheaven, from San Francisco, makes a sort of postrock, black-metal dream-pop with the conviction of having invented it. It didn’t, of course: “Sunbather” (Deathwish), its second album, is the latest version of a mongrel idea: soft textures mixing with hard, serene ballads with violent affect, romance with hopelessness, that works backward in rock through Jesu, Nadja, Mogwai, Slint, Slowdive, the Pixies, My Bloody Valentine — and probably back to Dick Dale. But “Sunbather” is done so well, with so many surprising turns — sound collages and black-metal flash floods, strummy acoustic sections, indistinct screamy vocals and constantly changing guitar sounds (airy, blobby, needling, synthetic, organic), that it accomplishes the trick of sounding new. | Deafheaven, from San Francisco, makes a sort of postrock, black-metal dream-pop with the conviction of having invented it. It didn’t, of course: “Sunbather” (Deathwish), its second album, is the latest version of a mongrel idea: soft textures mixing with hard, serene ballads with violent affect, romance with hopelessness, that works backward in rock through Jesu, Nadja, Mogwai, Slint, Slowdive, the Pixies, My Bloody Valentine — and probably back to Dick Dale. But “Sunbather” is done so well, with so many surprising turns — sound collages and black-metal flash floods, strummy acoustic sections, indistinct screamy vocals and constantly changing guitar sounds (airy, blobby, needling, synthetic, organic), that it accomplishes the trick of sounding new. |
| Since the band’s last album, the singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy — the core of the band — hired the drummer Daniel Tracy, who’s the right man for the job: he can stamp blast beats all day long, but also play soft and syncopated details. It’s an extremely seductive album, and it doesn’t fit into boxes built for it. | Since the band’s last album, the singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy — the core of the band — hired the drummer Daniel Tracy, who’s the right man for the job: he can stamp blast beats all day long, but also play soft and syncopated details. It’s an extremely seductive album, and it doesn’t fit into boxes built for it. |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: July 2, 2013 | |
An earlier version of this article misidentified the label that put out “Ceremony” by Anna von Hausswolf. It is Other Music Recording Co., not Fat Possum, which is distributing the album. |