Lots of options for best of 2023, but Mabe Fratti (and her group Titanic) were the things I found this year that I came back to over and over again that felt new and different for my musical tastes. The full KEXP performance by Fratti that this is excerpted from is pretty cool as a full show.
Tag Archives: cello
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Tong Poo
This loss hits a lot of circles. Truly a legend.
Andrew Yee – Music for Transitions
The video trick is fun here, but I really like the piece too.
Allison Russell – All Of The Women
She's quite a talent.
Kelsey Lu – let all the poisons that lurk in the mud seep out
Now this is interesting...
Elizabeth Chung – Dam Mwen Yo
The staggered rhythm really gets me in this piece. The cello is gorgeous (cellos always are), but putting it over the rhythmic voices and the just a little bit not steady beat makes this a piece I always instantly recognize and am excited to hear again.
Notes from the composer, Nathalie Joachim:
Dam mwen yo in Haitian Creole simply translates to “they are my ladies.” In Haiti, the cultural image of women is one of strength. They are pillars of their homes and communities, and are both fearless and loving, all while carrying the weight of their families and children on their backs. As a first generation Haitian-American, these women—my mother, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins—were central to my upbringing and my understanding of what it means to be a woman. In Dantan, Haiti-Sud, where my family is from, it is rare to walk down the countryside roads without hearing the voices of women—in the fields, cooking for their loved ones, gathering water at the wells with their babies. This piece and the voices within it are representative of these ladies—my ladies. And the cello sings their song—one of strength, beauty, pain and simplicity in a familiar landscape.
DakhaBrakha – Monakh
This is something, all right. I really dig it.
Nirvana – The Man Who Sold The World
Nirvana has been slowly releasing remastered and unedited versions of songs from Unplugged (as well as some unreleased rehearsals). It's bringing back some strange memories for me.
Michael Gordon – For Madeleine
I may never use the double bow tag again, but here's one with a tag DG probably never thought would be used again.
Ashley Bathgate – Ley Line
I'm guessing I will never use the "double bow" tag again.
h/t DG