​frenz!

i hope you're all doing great and living your best lives.

first off, i apologize for two of these in such close succession. it shan't happen again. a bunch of great and exciting stuff has arisen and i'm too excited to keep it to myself. please read. won't you?

by way of introduction for new folks who've been added to this list without my asking here are a few points: 
1 - i send one of these about once a month.
2 - if you'd like to be removed from this list, simply ask. i'd be happy to oblige.
3 - i send these emails to promote my own projects, BUT ALSO to share other music that i've been listening to. often by my friends. sometimes by other people.

good stuff to listen to:
Star Rover :: I May Be Lost But I'm Laughing
gee whiz these guys are just so so so great. will graefe and jeremy gustin have been making music together for awhile and it is ALWAYS good. the album comes out October 19 and i've been listening to the three available tracks pretty much on repeat lately. tom-heavy grooves. guitar sounds ranging from spaced out echo to raw and crunchy to desert americana (is that a thing?). beautiful vocals blown out with tons of reverb. sounds like someone you love singing a song to you as you're waking up from a half-dream.
their previous album Western Winds Bitter Christians is also banana-nuts good.

Yang Jin :: Folk Music Master
i recently had the pleasure of meeting and performing alongside Jin in Ben Barson's insane climate change / migrant justice opera and i'm hoping to hear her up close a whole lot more. this recording of hers is beautiful and virtuosic and full of sounds that i think are familiar at first and then ... they aren't. really special recording by an amazing pittsburgh based artist.

Michael Azerrad :: Our Band Could Be Your Life
ok so it's not listening, but it's led me to tons of artists who i'd never heard before. i'm halfway through and even the bands that i'm not head over heels for musically have such awesome and compelling stories that i'm riveted anyway. granted, it's about the indie scene from 1981-1991, so it's super white-dude-y (and self-admittedly so), but damn there's so much good stuff. black flag, mission of burma, minutemen, hüsker dü... the list goes on. can't wait to read more and listen more.

Hannah Epperson :: Slowdown
hannah mixes violin loops, fragile vocals, poetic lyrical narratives, and electronics in ways that i really love. this new album always makes me feel like it's 2am. in a good way.

friends near and far!

i hope you're all doing so so great.

by way of introduction for new folks who've been added to this list without my asking here are a few points: 
1 - i send one of these about once a month.
2 - if you'd like to be removed from this list, simply ask. i'd be happy to oblige.
3 - i send these emails to promote my own projects, BUT ALSO to share other music that i've been listening to. often by my friends. sometimes by other people.

so here's my first pittsburgh edition.

Benji. :: Smile, You're Alive! 
i played a wedding gig a few weeks ago and Benji stepped in on bass last minute and totally crushed. turns out his new album is also crushing. i love everything about this recording. soulful melodies. clever and thoughtful lyrics. nasty grooves. go have a listen.

Devin Drobka's Bell Dance Songs :: Amaranth
devin has been a great pal for many years. we spent a hell of a lot of time together in my '98 honda accord between minneapolis, macon GA, boston, montreal, germany... every damn place. i'm incredibly proud of the work he did on this brand new record. his compositional vision is crystalized to a point i haven't heard before. and aaron darrell plays a solo version of "Being You" that literally made me weep when i listened back to it. i happen to be on this recording. but i never remember that when i hear it.

Paul Pinto / Erin Rogers (ThingNY) :: minis/Trajectories
i've had the pleasure of seeing Paul perform a few times in pittsburgh in the last few months. most recently in Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's 8 Songs for a Mad King (it. was. in. sane.). this recording features his compositions alongside those of Erin Rogers. the works and the performances on this recording are deadly serious in execution and somehow totally irreverent throughout. everything by this collective (thingNY) is worth checking out.

Five Dollar Ferrari :: Forgotten Cities
buddies Brad Henkel and Dustin Carlson have released a scorcher. this is not necessarily an easy listen but it is extremely rewarding. lots of quiet sounds. lots of loud sounds. lots of crunchy chords. some melody. all incredibly special and totally unique to these two wonderful weirdos.

Kim Anderson :: Yarrow :: sweet christ this album is bonkers good. it's brand new on Fabian Almazan's Biophilia Records and it is completely bananas how much i love this recording. kim's earthy-scratchy voice and slyly twisted songwriting are bolstered throughout the record by fuzzy/fluffy, groovy arrangements. her music goes from ecstatic to soul crushing sometimes in the same breath. completely. friggin. awesome. go buy it immediately please. it's worth it. thanks.

Dudu Pukwana :: In the Townships :: another completely bananas recording for completely different reasons. Pukwana was born in South Africa and seemed to gain some sort of notoriety after relocating to England (probably a good move for a black man interested in adventurous music). some of Dudu's records are freaky, swallow-the-mouthpiece noise fests. this one is SUPER FRIGGIN GROOVY and fun and happy and danceable throughout. i love it. 

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.

first, i've been more or less obsessed with the following (most of which haven't even been released yet).

Wadada Leo Smith America's National Parks :: 
whyyyyyy Wadada why are you so good?? my favorite trumpet sound in the world and one of my most favorite approaches to organizing sound compositionally and also such a brilliant bringer-together of the most perfect artists for the music. this album is often deceptively stark while still grooving like crazy and setting off a "grandpa on the roof with a pvc pipe" type of fireworks display in my chest and guts.
also, Cuneiform, the label that released this album 18 months ago has announced that they won't be putting out any new music in 2018. because nobody is buying stuff. LET'S FIX THAT SHALL WE.


Jean Rohe :: 
Jean's pledgemusic campaign is wrapping up (like in the next couple hours) and i can't believe i didn't send this message earlier. click the link to go preorder her record. i'm on it. but honestly who cares? Jean is just the greatest. and that's enough. unbelievable voice, incomparable storyteller, clever and funky and deeply moving songwriter. all this adds up to 100 as far as i'm concerned. BUT WAIT there's more. her commitment to social justice and the spread of joy and love and understanding is central to her music and her life ... i cry at literally every one of her concerts. click the link. buy the thing.


Subtle Degrees A Dance That Empties ::
i've spent a lot of time with Travis Laplante over the past few years. he's tireless in his pursuit of healing the world both through music and ancient eastern healing practices. i guess he decided he didn't have quite enough going on so he composed and learned to play the single most insane and impossibly moving and impossibly difficult piece of saxophone music i've ever heard anyone even attempt. this record comes out February 23 and features Travis duo with Gerald Cleaver, who is the best drummer. just the best. sweet christ. get this in your life immediately. 
their record release show is at Union Pool on March 4. cancel everything. go to it. NOT JOKING.


Erica Eso 129 Dreamless GMG ::
Weston Minissali and company have been doing this for a couple years and it's crystalized into the most awesome groovy gliss-synth un-pop-rock. their new record comes out on NNA Tapes on March 16 (clicky above) and their teaser track Gun-metal Grey makes me feel like i'm dancing with Sade in a lucid fever dream. they're touring, too. clickety click click.

​Henry Threadgill :: Dirt... And More Dirt 
this recording was sneakily released around xmas/new years and i'm grateful to Nick Dunston for bringing it to my attention. it's a 14 (or 15) piece group. two drummers. two pianists. 3 alto saxophones. and the most crystalized version of threadgill's language that i've heard. it's funky as hell and sometimes dark and sometimes very bright and sometimes all that stuff within the space of 3 or 4 seconds. i love this album a lot. it might still be available as a pre-pre-order if you're SUPER lucky. if not, come over and we'lll listen to it together. 

Krallice :: Go Be Forgotten :: Loüm :: Dimensional Bleedthrough - 
do you like metal? listen to these records. do you not like metal? listen to these records anyway. my god this band is awesome. they've been around for years and i've been snoozing on just how active and productive they've been. i find myself laughing out loud (my common "wtf is this and why is it so good???" reaction) at my favorite parts of these records and then upon realizing how inappropriate a reaction laughter might actually be i start to laugh even harder. i love this music.

Natalie Prass :: Natalie Prass - 
good buddy Adam Hopkins recently introduced me to Space Bomb Records out of Richmond, VA. they seek out their favorite artists and record them with the SBR "house band" and it comes out sounding like a 21st century Muscle Shoals. Natalie's eponymous record is groovy and thoughtful and precious and sad and fun. i've been listening to it a ton.

David Virelles :: Antenna - 
i mostly know David's playing through his involvement with Henry Threadgill's bands (see above). he's clearly a gifted pianist and improviser. this recording (not his first and not the only example of this) proves him to be a deeply inquisitive and dedicated composer as well. he mingles ancient sounding percussion with modern electronics and vocals and acoustic instruments. i'm realizing i don't really have the vocabulary to speak about this. BUT i know i like it.

​
i was talking to some dear friends the other night and they mentioned that they loved receiving these emails, which warmed my heart right up. if you don't love it, please let me know. i'll cease and desist of course.

we also talked about how much i enjoy writing these emails in large part because it encourages me to spend money on music that is new to me. i probably spend $50-100 a month on recordings by living artists. that might sound like a lot. or it might not. either way it's certainly less than i spend on booze. and probably less than you spend on booze, too (ASSUMPTION i'm an ass). also NO JUDGEMENT. i was just thinking about where my dollars are going. and i was thinking about how much joy it brings me to give some of my dollars to some of my favorite artists (many of whom happen to be pals) in exchange for something that i get to keep forever. or at least until the zombie apocalypse comes and my hard drive is rendered completely useless.

currently i'm scoping these crunchy crystals.
Andrew Smiley :: Dispersal      <------ click it
well damn, andrew. just. what the hell. i heard this piece many years ago in its infancy. it was a breathtaking experience then and it's only gotten better. there's something about the way that andrew pulls sounds out of his guitar... it almost feels like he's pulling those sounds out of my guts. and i like it. also, no effects pedals were harmed in the making of this recording. 


Vijay Iyer Sextet :: Far From Over
people love to hate on ... well ... other people. and i've heard dumpsters full of shade thrown at vijay. but you know what? i love his music. and i ain't scared to say it. his album Historicity is one of my all time faves. and this new jam is seriously nasty. the band is bonk bonk and they navigate a whole mess of territory with aplomb. i listen to this and i think, "yeah it makes sense that he's the director of the Banff jazz workshop and teaches at Harvard and won a MacArthur grant and and and and..."


Robinson and Rohe :: Hunger     <---- clicky clicky
uuuuuuuuughhhh whyyyyyy are you so good jean and liam? WHYYYYYYY? these two are a force for positive change. and their music makes me cry. and i love those things about them. sometimes the cry is a sad cry. sometimes it's an impossibly happy cry. either way i end up looking like this guy. give them all of yourself and you will be rewarded.


Kate Gentile :: Mannequins     <----- go on
damn kate (i know i started andrew's with "well damn" too. sue me). just. wow. my friends are making the best stuff. this album is crazy dense, features a TON of incredibly well thought out music that is really. REALLY. friggin hard. but if you listen to it without that in mind, it just sounds like a band of heady weirdos having THE MOST FUN. kate wrote the music, plays the shite out of the drums on the record, AND made the art (which i found out when i said "hey this art is great who made it?" duhhhh i should have known).

i haven't been listening to a ton of new music lately (that is, music that is new to me), but i have been listening to these two gems. and HOLY MOLY THEY'RE BOTH REALLY GOOD JUST BUY THEM AND LISTEN TO THEM NOW.

Craig Taborn Daylight Ghosts ::
WHAT?? HOW IS THIS SO GOOD? i mean, it's craig taborn and chris speed and chris lightcap and dave king. so there's that. and it's some of my favorite playing from each of them individually. and craig's compositions are perfect. seriously. perfect. worth many listens.

Aruna Sairam Yamuna Nathikarayil ::
this is a beautiful recording of an unbelievable concert. aruna sairam sounds like joy. there's not much else i can say right now. this is a very deep record and it has reached inside of me in the best way.

welcome to another edition of my "i talk about other people and then i talk about myself" newsletter.

i'm really excited to be listening to some awesome new music by pals and strangers both. to wit.

Harriet Tubman "Amarinta" - sweet jesus this band is unbelievable. Brandon Ross, JT Lewis, and Melvin Gibbs have been playing under this moniker for about 2 decades. and they've added Wadada Leo Smith for this album. so yeah. i've been listening a lot.

Lea Bertucci "All That is Solid Melts Into Air" - i don't know much about Lea Bertucci. what i know is that her new release on NNA Tapes is completely bonk-bonk. beautifully crunchy compositions for strings and tape collage. worth sitting still for.


GRID - buddies of mine Matt Nelson (Battle Trance) and Nick Podgurksi (Feast of the Epiphany) just released a slayer as a trio with bassist buddy of theirs Tim Dahl. also on NNA Tapes. people (writers) keep calling this album "angry" and "aggressive" and stuff like that. and while it's definitely not easy listening, if that's all they're hearing they're not paying attention. this record is really active but also quite patient. big sounds especially from highly processed saxophone and bass. 

grid and lea bertucci are having a joint record release party at Pioneer Works Tuesday night (like. tonight) in Red Hook. HOLY SMOKES.

Tyshawn Sorey "The Inner Spectrum of Variables" - this is a difficult recording for me to say very much about. other than the fact that it's mind bogglingly good and i'm going to be listening to it for a loooooooong time because there's so much to listen to! anyone who calls Tyshawn Sorey a drummer before they call him a composer isn't paying attention.

Cory Smythe "A U T O TROPHS"  - cory smythe is a truly gifted pianist who also works very hard. this recording was just released on friend (and former roommate!) Tyler Gilmore's label Not Art Records. compositions for piano and electronics. that sentence doesn't sound good. but the album does.

​Alash :: Tuvan throat singing. crazy deep. really beautiful and really fun. caught their set at Barbes last week and had a blast watching my wife's face as it went from "this is nice" to "wait what?" to "WAIT ACTUALLY SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL."
by the way. Tuva is in Russia. i'm told they'll get mad if you call them Mongolian. because they're not.

Bing and Ruth "No Home of the Mind" :: this is maybe cheating because i used to be in this band. and i LOVED being in this band. and now i'm not anymore. and so the tiniest part of me hoped that this new album would suck. that part of me is seriously disappointed. the REST of me, though, is psyched for my pals. this is a predictably gut wrenching album. listen to it. watch Seb's videos. and cry a little if you need to. really. it's ok.

Cuddle Magic "Ashes/Axis" :: a few of these folks are friends and neighbors. and everything they do is awesome. this brand new record is no exception. i've been spinning it constantly. you should, too. "voicemail" is my favorite. oh wait but also "kiss you." yeah. those and also "round and round" and also "spinning" and also "the first hippie on the moon pt. 1." you get the idea.

Balinese Gamelan "Pendet Penyambutan" :: i've been checking out Balinese music for the last couple years and loving all of it. last saturday i went to the Indonesian Embassy in NYC to learn from a master. he's starting an ensemble and we need YOU!! hit me up if you're interested in joining. saturdays at noon. we're currently learning this little earworm called "Pendet Penyambutan." above is a link to a video of it. played in Bali. by children.