Fantastic mixtapes compiled by Stockholm producer Johan Cederberg, aka HNNY. Classy vintage soul and easy-going jazz — with a dash of cocktail lounge and exotica — shaken and stirred with slices of dialogue from schmaltzy Hollywood films.
You can listen to the latest compilations above or download Music For Listening in its entirety here.
Documentary (screening in US) about Kathleen Hanna, fearless lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill. Directed by Sini Anderson (trailer above, website).
CFCF, Beyond Light, 2013. Video directed by Derrick Belcham and Ruby Kato Attwood.
Creative director Derrick Belcham and artist Ruby Kato Attwood concocted the sequence of textures and colour effects for the video ‘Beyond Light’ (latest sonic release from Canadian electronic producer Michael Silver, aka CFCF) above, entirely from chemicals, household objects, toys and a scrupulously aligned light source. The imagery is wonderfully biotic. And the music itself isn’t half bad.
‘Beyond Light’ is a track from CFCF’s forthcoming second album ‘Outside’ (iTunes, Amazon), due out 21 October on Paper Bag Records.
(via)
Punctuated by the predatory rhythm of a steam locomotive picking up speed, the atmosphere of 1976 single ‘Station to Station’, Bowie’s longest studio recording to date, is distinctly portentous. In this live performance recorded in Tokyo on the final night of the 1978 ‘Low and Heroes’ World Tour, the opener’s frenetic pace and high-note wails feverishly keep going for an ear-pounding six minutes — stopping the moment Bowie, adopting the shadowy, Oxford bagged persona of the ‘Thin White Duke’, announces his arrival. Goose bumps.
And now for some jazz …
Listen to ‘Daybreak Express’, ‘Mystery Pacific’ and ‘Take the A Train’ — musical depictions of train rides during the swing era. Stellar recordings by Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt and Clifford Brown below. Nice.
Duke Ellington, Daybreak Express – Take Two, 1933 (…)
Django Reinhardt with Stéphane Grappelli, Mystery Pacific, 1937 (…)
Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Take the ‘A’ Train, 1955 (…)
Full-length version of Ron Hays’ 1979 Odyssey above: a 45-minute compilation of cutting edge (for the time!) music visualisations created with analogue computers. Music by Frank Serafine.
Thanks to username italonuts, who stumbled across the original Laserdisc — apparently, fifteen years ago in a second-hand shop in Tokyo.
Julianna Barwick at rehearsal in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. (Photo by Shawn Brackbill)
Indie ambient goddess Julianna Barwick releases her third LP, Nepenthe, this week. Thanks to GvsB, the album is being streamed for a limited time on the web … you can listen here.
Track ‘One Half’ from Nepenthe below (via SoundCloud) is heavenly.
‘Nepenthe’ (Dead Oceans, 2013), Julianna Barwick. Vinyl or CD (Amazon); digital download (emusic and iTunes).
In this music video, digital artist Takeshi Murata has arranged uncanny simulacra of everyday objects to embody the weird, unearthly sound of Oneohtrix Point Never’s ‘Problem Areas’, a track from the forthcoming album, R Plus Seven, on Warp Records.
French guitar virtuoso Biréli Lagrène was 15 years old when he performed at the Antibes Jazz Festival in 1982.
Check out the half-hour of concert footage on YouTube — it's breathtaking.
Laura Marling performing live on BBC Two, 23 April 2013. (via YouTube)
Music fans can listen to Laura Marling’s fourth album, Once I Was An Eagle, ahead of its release next Monday.
For a limited time, all 16 tracks are being streamed for free. Head on over to Guardian Music or listen here using the SoundCloud widget. The recent single ‘Once’, below, is a taster.
‘Once I Was An Eagle’ is out 27 May in the UK (Amazon) and 28 May in the US (iTunes).
A spine-tingling, theremin performance by Carolina Eyck.
(via richhickey)
Grouper (Liz Harris), Brisbane, October 2012. (via Flickr)
Liz Harris has a knack of creating stripped-down, unpretentious music that is hauntingly beautiful. Put it down to her mastery of music self-restraint and to her ear for minimalist compositions that sound wistfully summoned rather than achingly abandoned.
Grouper’s The Man Who Who Died In His Boat is eleven tracks of stark guitar riffs, somnolent piano, and devastating, glossolalic vocal performances by Harris.
Listen to a sample track from the album (via SoundCloud).
‘The Man Who Died In His Boat’ by Grouper (Spotify, Amazon, iTunes).
