#9. 12 March 2018

this is it. my last missive as a New Yorker. come March 30th, Jamie and i will have moved into our Pittsburgh Palace (complete with vinyl siding) and will have begun... not a new life... but a new chapter in this one. we're incredibly excited for what the future holds and we hope to keep all of you in our lives. 

that being said, i'll continue to send these because people seem to enjoy the music recs. but if for some reason you don't want to be included in the future, just let me know. no hard feelings.

before i get into the deets of my final 2 gigs as a Brooklynite, i'm excited to share some sounds that have been tickling my malleus and incus and stapes.

Bedouine Bedouine :: jamie was so excited to share this recording with me and i immediately loved it. and then realized i had heard it before. it's another brilliant recording from Spacebomb records out of Richmond, VA. from her bandcamp page "Azniv Korkejian, born in Syria to Armenian parents, spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia, and moved to America when her family won the Green Card lottery." pretty awesome story and absolutely enchanting music delivered with the nonchalance of a ninja assassin. understatedly groovy and perfectly crafted. i'm listening to this a lot.

Ben Gerstein is an enigma to me. i know him only as an acquaintance and as a creative person worthy of great admiration. i was talking to good buddy flin van hemmen about broadening my listening in the global sense and he hipped me to ben's website and blog. in addition to his mountainous output, ben also curates a blog where he dumps field recordings and recordings of musics from literally friggin everywhere. they're up there for free btw. my favorites right now:

:: Flutes of Rajasthan (search "flutes" on this page) :: whaaaatttt is even happening on this record?? lots of singing and vocalizing into the flute. just super raw and deeply moving.

:: Music and Songs of the Hmong in Vietnam (search "Hmong" on this page) :: this recording reaches inside my guts. especially the songs. some are solo voice. some are two voices weaving pieces of the same melody into impossible tapestries. actually the voices and the reedy instruments (i think they're reeds??) have a similar pointed astringent quality that is incredibly deep.

Erica Eso 129 Dreamless GMG :: i know i wrote about this last month. but i'm really excited for it. and it's coming out in 4 days. and if you wanna hang before i leave town, i'll be at their record release on THURSDAY AT ALPHAVILLE. also wtf they're playing with Horse Lords and also The Dreebs this will be so so so so good please join me.