Encanto: We Don’t Talk About Bruno
Disney Original Score
In case you have small children, you can’t have missed it. Disney’s new movie Encanto, with songs by Lin Manuel Miranda, has turned from an underground hit to a full-scale invasion! Gone are Baby Shark, obviously for babies, or Elsa, tucked away in her Nordic village. Here comes as good a story as Disney hasn’t produced in many years. In Encanto we meet the multigenerational Columbian family Madrigal, each of whom possess an exceptional magical gift, except for Mirabel Madrigal, the heroine of the story. This gift seems threatened, Has the family Madrigal and their little house been bewitched by the prescient Bruno Madrigal? This is for Mirabel Madrigal to find out with the help of her sisters Isabel and Luisa. The music – a madrigal, of course – is a sensation! (sgs)
Vevo | December 21
African Shabtay
Marbin
Marbin is a progressive jazz-rock band based in Chicago, IL, with a unique story that stads out in today’s music world. With a do-i-yourself approach, Marbin started touring extensively in 2011, bringing their original instrumental music to every part of the United States. Through word of moths, Marbin has gained a multitude of devoted fans all over the world and has sold tens of thousands of records. Marbin has released eight albums so far, the last being Shreddin’ at Sweetwater (2021). Danny Markovitch (saxophone, Everette Benton Jr. (drums), Dani Rabin (guitar) and Jon Nadel (bass) regularly play in clubs and in jam and jazz festivals around the world. Markovitch and Rabin are originally from Israel and met shortly after Markovitch completed his military service and Rabin had graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Multi-National | October 21
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You: Change
Big Thief
Big Thief is a rock band from Brooklyn, New York, with roots in folk music. «Its members are Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). All four members attended the Berklee College of Music, but only formed a group after each had graduated.» (Wikipedia) Dragon New Warm Mountain is their fifth album, a double pack and best of the past two years. It «is a ninety-minute meditation and answer. An album about cosmic timings and earthly connections, weaving deftly between the themes explored in their twin albumsU.F.O.F and Two Hands released in 2019. More than any other band, Big Thief’s music represents an ecosystem.» (Sophia Zu in Cherwell) Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You conveys a great sense of intimacy – music from the heart!
4AD | February 22
LUX – Remake 2022
PJ Wassermann
LUX by Schaltkreis Wassermann was a big hit in the 80s Italian cosmic scene dominated by DJs Beppe Loda and Daniele Baldelli. LUX, with its overlays of three and four beat rhythms, continues to fascinate music lovers. On average, the track is googled five-hundred times a week on Shazam. I’ve produced a remake of LUX using analogue synths ARP 2600, ARP Avatar and Roland 100M, adding modern synthesizers. Several remixes of LUX will be released in the coming weeks and months – stay tuned. PJ Wassermann is a musician, performer and composer who has been into electronics for more than forty years: «Playing live is one of my passions. I perform to visuals by Asteriza and often jam. With my looper, I create ambient musical spaces, and I have a loose band project called Spacebike.»
schaltkreiswassermann.com | February 22
Di Giaches de Vvert. Il Primo libro di madrigali a quatro voci. Renaissance for steel guitar: Che Giova Posseder Cittadi (Prima Parte)
Noël Akchoté
Noël Akchoté (1986) is a French guitarist active in various experimental fields between drone, rock, jazz, and contemporary classical music. Also music journalist and author as well as founder (together with Quentin Rollet) of the French avantgarde label Rectangle. At fourteen he was performing day and night in bars and restaurants. He dropped out of school and learned to play drums and bass.
Akchoté has played with every great name. Starting on guitar at when he was eight years old, he received lessons in classical guitar in school.«French guitarist Nöel Akchoté has confounded critics since his earliest releases with his blend of swinging jazz, free improvisation, and art-song sensibilities.» (Thom Jurek, ‘Soundpage(s)’
Rectangle | February 22