SIDE A | by Alejandro Silva
1. The-Dream | Playin' In Her Hair
My favorite song off a record with hooks that I still find myself returning to at least a few times a week, even in the two or so years since I first heard it. I love The-Dream's production, particularly how he puts his vocal harmonies so directly into every part of the mix. I love how thick and playful they are, or just plain catchy. I also like how often he returns to the idea of messing with a girl's hair as a true sign of intimacy, it really pops up a lot. He rocks.
2. Elliot Carter | Changes (David Starobin Version)
This might have been the piece to make me fall in love with Modern Concert Music. Something about hearing Carter's style and energy - at first a little disorienting if you've never heard anything like it before - mapped onto my instrument (guitar) I think was what did it, what really allowed me to hear the immediacy and potency of this kind of Music.
3. Robyn | Stars 4-Ever
A great ass-shaking anthem of our time. Whenever I need to step up and be man in a situation this song helps me get there.
4. Julius Hemphill | Dogon A.D.
My buddy and I were driving across the US and found ourselves driving through the Arizona Painted Desert. Everywhere we'd park to wonder one of the vistas, these enormous, outsized crows would be at your thigh trying to get scraps from you. Dogon A.D. became the soundtrack to a quick home movie we made of this particularly aggressive crow's trot as it patrolled our car waiting for us to emerge. If you haven't heard the piece, I think this image helps to give a sense of its broken, otherworldliness. Or you could gaze at Julius Hemphill with his sax and pierced nipples.
5. Steve Lehman Octet | Alloy
I would love for our culture to evolve to a weird point where rappers or R&B artists start to sample really out, knotty, and complex Contemporary Jazz in their music, or better yet have them as supports on stage. I think it would be really chaotic and overwhelming, but possibly amazing. Steve Lehman would definitely get my vote for providing the foundational example, laying one of his pointed, labyrinthine sax lines in a really long loop for Nicki Minaj to flow over, with Tyshawn Sorey scuttling underneath.
6. Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges | San Vicente
One of the most delicate and pretty voices I've heard on record. Milton is a true bard, with a big, strumming hand and wide ranging falsetto, and his songs are great.
7. Corey Dargel | Twelve-Year-Old Scotch
Before I heard this record, I kind of detested Chamber Pop as a signifier, which just seemed to me to stand for Pop Music which trumpeted its use of charted-out instrumentals. For me, it would conjure visions of songs with bright, jangled voices and guitars, singing about sunshine or what-have-you, with these sudden moments of grafted string arrangements or horn section blasts. Corey's music really redeemed this idea for me in so many ways, just because it's so incredibly HQ. The arrangements are tightly woven tapestries, perfectly meshing a Rock/Electronic sensibility with all the devices and abilities of a chamber ensemble. And then the lyrics are so dark and funny and unique (this one is about alcoholism). It's a song I want to hear when I'm feeling smart and sad.
8. Tony Rice | Church Street Blues
Great road tripping song. A friend who's a genius Blues Grass guitarist introduced me to him and I really feel in love with the style, the smoothest picking I'd heard with really great spins on old standards. He has an amazing broken nose too that's almost parallel to the surface of his face.
9. Feudal Soul | Now
Both hilarious and dead-serious, this group puts everything I want in a Pop song: exaggerated pathos, booty-shaking beats, pleading falsettos, and technical command. They rock my world everyday.
10. Mahmoud Ahmed | Aynotché Tèrabu
I found this song in high school off one of the Ethiopiques compilations (I encourage everyone to check out that series). It was the first time I heard singing like that, incredibly joyful and super in control and able to hit all these notes between the melody, and the band is so groovy and Lo-Fi.
SIDE B | by Coleman Moore
1. Kate Bush | This Woman's Work
The melodies are declamatory, the harmonies are sensuous.
2. M83 | Raconte-Moi Une Histoire
The sentiment is overwhelmingly sincere.
3. Sparks | Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
The message is ominous and the music is bold.
4. Beyoncé | 1+1
The passion is electrifying.
5. The Smiths | Wonderful Woman
The lethargy is disturbing.
6. Sonic Youth | Flower
The force is just and the obscenity is purifying.
7. Björk | I See Who You Are
The meaning is coiled and complicated by the music.
8. The Cranberries | Dreaming My Dreams
The mood is peaceful and the lyrics are selfless.
9. The Weeknd | The Morning
Articulates a vision and Cali is the mission.
10. Kreayshawn | Rich Whores
The attitude is vicious and the intention is monstrous.
1. The-Dream | Playin' In Her Hair
My favorite song off a record with hooks that I still find myself returning to at least a few times a week, even in the two or so years since I first heard it. I love The-Dream's production, particularly how he puts his vocal harmonies so directly into every part of the mix. I love how thick and playful they are, or just plain catchy. I also like how often he returns to the idea of messing with a girl's hair as a true sign of intimacy, it really pops up a lot. He rocks.
2. Elliot Carter | Changes (David Starobin Version)
This might have been the piece to make me fall in love with Modern Concert Music. Something about hearing Carter's style and energy - at first a little disorienting if you've never heard anything like it before - mapped onto my instrument (guitar) I think was what did it, what really allowed me to hear the immediacy and potency of this kind of Music.
3. Robyn | Stars 4-Ever
A great ass-shaking anthem of our time. Whenever I need to step up and be man in a situation this song helps me get there.
4. Julius Hemphill | Dogon A.D.
My buddy and I were driving across the US and found ourselves driving through the Arizona Painted Desert. Everywhere we'd park to wonder one of the vistas, these enormous, outsized crows would be at your thigh trying to get scraps from you. Dogon A.D. became the soundtrack to a quick home movie we made of this particularly aggressive crow's trot as it patrolled our car waiting for us to emerge. If you haven't heard the piece, I think this image helps to give a sense of its broken, otherworldliness. Or you could gaze at Julius Hemphill with his sax and pierced nipples.
5. Steve Lehman Octet | Alloy
I would love for our culture to evolve to a weird point where rappers or R&B artists start to sample really out, knotty, and complex Contemporary Jazz in their music, or better yet have them as supports on stage. I think it would be really chaotic and overwhelming, but possibly amazing. Steve Lehman would definitely get my vote for providing the foundational example, laying one of his pointed, labyrinthine sax lines in a really long loop for Nicki Minaj to flow over, with Tyshawn Sorey scuttling underneath.
6. Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges | San Vicente
One of the most delicate and pretty voices I've heard on record. Milton is a true bard, with a big, strumming hand and wide ranging falsetto, and his songs are great.
7. Corey Dargel | Twelve-Year-Old Scotch
Before I heard this record, I kind of detested Chamber Pop as a signifier, which just seemed to me to stand for Pop Music which trumpeted its use of charted-out instrumentals. For me, it would conjure visions of songs with bright, jangled voices and guitars, singing about sunshine or what-have-you, with these sudden moments of grafted string arrangements or horn section blasts. Corey's music really redeemed this idea for me in so many ways, just because it's so incredibly HQ. The arrangements are tightly woven tapestries, perfectly meshing a Rock/Electronic sensibility with all the devices and abilities of a chamber ensemble. And then the lyrics are so dark and funny and unique (this one is about alcoholism). It's a song I want to hear when I'm feeling smart and sad.
8. Tony Rice | Church Street Blues
Great road tripping song. A friend who's a genius Blues Grass guitarist introduced me to him and I really feel in love with the style, the smoothest picking I'd heard with really great spins on old standards. He has an amazing broken nose too that's almost parallel to the surface of his face.
9. Feudal Soul | Now
Both hilarious and dead-serious, this group puts everything I want in a Pop song: exaggerated pathos, booty-shaking beats, pleading falsettos, and technical command. They rock my world everyday.
10. Mahmoud Ahmed | Aynotché Tèrabu
I found this song in high school off one of the Ethiopiques compilations (I encourage everyone to check out that series). It was the first time I heard singing like that, incredibly joyful and super in control and able to hit all these notes between the melody, and the band is so groovy and Lo-Fi.
1. Kate Bush | This Woman's Work
The melodies are declamatory, the harmonies are sensuous.
2. M83 | Raconte-Moi Une Histoire
The sentiment is overwhelmingly sincere.
3. Sparks | Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
The message is ominous and the music is bold.
4. Beyoncé | 1+1
The passion is electrifying.
5. The Smiths | Wonderful Woman
The lethargy is disturbing.
6. Sonic Youth | Flower
The force is just and the obscenity is purifying.
7. Björk | I See Who You Are
The meaning is coiled and complicated by the music.
8. The Cranberries | Dreaming My Dreams
The mood is peaceful and the lyrics are selfless.
9. The Weeknd | The Morning
Articulates a vision and Cali is the mission.
10. Kreayshawn | Rich Whores
The attitude is vicious and the intention is monstrous.
