Lost Highway Suite
Olga Neuwirth
Born in Graz, in 1968, the Austrian modern classical composer Olga Neuwirth began to play the trumpet at age seven and later studied composition at the University of Performing Arts Vienna, as well as the Electroacoustic Institute. She went on to work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders and, also as Composer-in-Residence, at the Lucerne Festival, followed by a long list of other noteworthy academic achievements. The present composition is basically cheerful, it certainly knows many moments of humor and occasional outbursts of warmth and joy, but it leaves me nervous and confused as to its direction. Have I been here before, is this a refrain, a parable for our disoriented times? Incredibly dense, monotonously electronic, mildly threatening, this impressive work of contemporary music combines an endless variety of musical styles and directions. Eminently worth listening to in these dramatic times! (sgs)
Lost Highway Records, 2008
https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead
The Grateful Dead internet archive – gives you access to the recordings of hundreds of their concerts, including rehearsals. If there is an intrinsic order to this treasure trove of information, I have not been able to discover it: concerts as early as 1966 mingle freely with much later dates to provide us with a mosaic of unsuspected dimension, not only taking us all across California but across the entire US, as well as around the world, including legendary venues such as the Fillmore Theater and the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. There is much more: Live at Madison Square Garden, New York City, on 15 September 1990, for instance, gives us twenty-three tracks; Live at the Parc des Expositions, Paris, on 18 September 1974, boast twenty-six, entirely different tracks. (sgs)
Internet Archive
Was It Not
Marian Hill
The American singer-songwriter duo from Philadelphia met in high school. Both went on to study music. Their distinctive sound makes them stand out, the clear and concise voice of the versatile Samantha Gongol meanders over the rich carpet of ideas introduced by producer Jeremy Lloyd. Marion Hill have been covered an inordinate number of times over the last few years so that they have not been forgotten. The title song of their new album, their first in four years, “was it not” tells the story of a love that happened too long ago to be accurately remembered. It’s a melancholy song for melancholy times. Samantha Gogol brings to it the purity of her voice, sounding sweet and capable of expressing a wide range of emotions. (sgs)
Self-Released, March 2020
Light of Love
Florence and the Machine
The proceedings of this song, on outtake from their High as Hope album, go to the British Intensive Care Society. This is the acoustic version, rendered by Florence Welch with natural beauty while in self isolation in her home. For me this song also stands for all the performers who have had to perform without an audience lately. Performing out of your home is much more intimate than standing on a stage supported by the energy of hundreds or thousands of people merging into one big mass. You can’t hide who you are, you can only hide a little where you live, everything happens right in your face. In that sense, the camera was not too persistent in the case of Florence, and I hope it made it easier for her to bare her soul, which is what singers do in moments like this. Thank you! (sgs)
Virgin, June 2018/ April 2020
Persuance: The Coltranes
Lakecia Benjamin
“New York City altoist Lakecia Benjamin has assembled an intergenerational cast of all-stars for this tribute to John and Alice Coltrane.” (Thomas Rees, Jazzwise)
The dynamic young saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin delivers her masterwork, a cohesive walk through the lineage of the jazz artform and her third full-length release. As Abiodun Oyewole said about the legendary album A Love Supreme: “Coltrane was a vessel, taking us to the house of god, he spoke to god in the language god knew, in the language of sound.” With this release, Benjamin opens herself up as such a vessel, speaking timeless truths through her horn over the medium of Coltrane’s classic compositions alongside elders of this artform who bore witness to the conception of this material. Three generations of musical titans gathered to celebrate and further the message of the great maestros of this improvisational artform, John and Alice Coltrane.
Ropeadope Records, March 2020