A playlist featuring Arca, Kronos Quartet, Akira Kosemura, and others
Our new weekly top 10 of "moody and groovy curiosities" with tracks from #Arca, #KronosQuartet #RyuichiSakomoto, #AkiraKosemura, #YvesTumor, #SergeiProkofiev, #Fink, #Bach and #Björk. As always something worth discovering and sharing.
Some comments on this week’s new “Top 10 of mood and groovy curiosities”. When putting a playlist together I always try to build a coherent sonic landscape, with individual pieces forming some sort of synergy, like individual cells forming a new complex life form. I love to connect pieces of music from different genres that complement each other well.
For this week’s playlist I’ve chosen some of my regular musical “center points” and some rather new discoveries which worked well in the mix.
The underlying theme of this mix is the human voice and the “physicality” of musical expression.
Voice and physicality of the sound environment are the crucial part of the tracks included in this mix.
Let’s go through the tracks one by one:
Arca-Piel
Arca has left a mark in modern popular music especially through his cooperations with the likes of Björk, Kanye West, FKA Twigs etc. whose records he produced. And it was Björk who suggested to Arca to try singing again over his mesmerizing instrumental electronic tracks, something with the Venezuelan musician who ones won a teenage music contest, tried to avoid for the rest of his live due to his insecurity over his voice and singing in his native Spanish language.
Kronos-Aheym
The Kronos Quartet has been a force in the classical genre for years, pushing the boundaries of traditional chamber music to new frontiers of musical expression through their cooperations with musicians/composers from the non-classical sector.
I only recently discovered their 2013 released performance of Bryce Dessners- guitar player of the National and classical composer in one- contemporary piece “Aheym” which is a furious and haunting tour de force. A late discovery of mine, but better late than never.
Arca-Extent
Before Arca felt confident enough to use his voice again to lift up his game, he excelled with his marvelous instrumental record “Mutant”. The Track “Extent” left me speeches when I first heard it, and it still does. It complements this mix very well.
Akira Kosamura- Inside River
Akira Kosamura offers an appealing way of piano playing and physicality to the sound recording that is very attractive. I like it when the surrounding noises of the recording process are audible on the final mix of a track.
Yves Tumor- Limerence
This track caught my interest because of the emotional female monolog which was seemingly mixed into the ambient vibe of the music.
Ryuichi Sakomoto- The Revenant
I love Sakomotos approach to the physicality of the sound. How he depicts not only the instruments and the noises the players make, but how the sound resonates within his environment. It’s similar to the sound approach of Andrej Tarkowski in his movies. The sound played a vital part in the creation of the mood, the perception of the individual characters and the stories red line.
The Revenant is an outstanding cinematic experience on its own account, but Sakomotos soundtrack lifts the bar way higher to unknown heights.
Sergei Prokofiev- 5 Melodies, op 35 bis: No.5,Andante non troppo
Slowly, but actually not too slow- nice guidance from the composer on how to perform this piece.
I always felt very attracted to this particular piece of Prokofiev for the beautiful melancholic melody that resonates with my inner turmoil sometimes.
Fink- Covering your tracks
Fink- fell in love with this band- and especially with Fin Greenall’s voice, vibe and groove- and its music in 2012 during a long evening after a gig in Czech Republic. The promoter of the concerts at whose house we slept kept us drinking and smoking while introducing us to some cool new music. Included in this mix - apart of some cool new Aphex Twin stuff at that time- were Finks “Sort of Revolution” and “Perfect Darkness” records which we listened couple of times that night (Sort of Revolution, Move on me, See it all from the “Sort of revolution” record as well as “Honesty”,” Warm shadow” (you might now this from the Walking Dead…) and particular mindblower “Berlin Sunrise” from the “2012 release Perfect Darkness are worth to be checked out) . Bought all of their records afterwards and went to some shows in Prague since. Fin Greenall is an amazing songwriter and it’s good to see how they are taking the bar one step higher with each new release. Their latest record “Resurgam” shows also a significant “physicality” of the sound that was not so clearly visible/audible in the previous releases. My favourite track remains “Covering your tracks” with its great vibe and groove.
Bach- Prelude in c-minor BW 847, The Well Tempered Piano
Ah, Bach- how I loved studying this in my early years. No further explanation needed, fits well. Cannot stop admiring Bach. Part of my personal classical Troica Bach- Beethoven-Mahler.
Philipp Glass, Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt being my modern classical Troica.
Björk- Vokuro
At a time when Björk was one of the biggest music stars of the 90s she took a creative challenge and released a (at the most part) vocal only/a cappela record. If I remember correctly than the idea for that record came from Björks experiments in local pubs where she “conducted” the locals to sing along with her ideas.
The choir song “Vokuro”- originally an Icelandic folk song- shows Björks remarkable and deep musicality. This piece of music stands the test of time. And it rounds off the mix which started with Arcas first vocal track “Piel” (on Björks recommendationsJ) perfectly.
