02/25/22: Intimate and Electronic
Featuring Shuta Hasunuma, U-zhaan, Per Nørgaard, and Machinefabriek
Welcome to Keeping Score. This week I have three new releases.
The Music
Something Pleasant
Japanese composers Shuta Hasunuma and U-zhaan released Good News, an instrumental album with a blend of genres, from Indian music to to ambient to techno. Each piece is its own, but there’s a pattern of harmonic consonance and fun rhythms that make this a really enjoyable album.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music, etc.
Something Short
Danish choir Vox Mariæ released Danish composer Per Nørgaard’s song Himmelkim (Heaven germ). Slow and beautiful, with great uses of polyphony and unique melodies, Nørgaard has composed a really interesting album that Vox Mariæ executes perfectly.
Listen on Spotify or Qobuz, or watch on Youtube below.
Something Physical
Dutch composer Machinefabriek released Our Arms Grew Together, music for a performance by Dutch and Norwegian dancers Marta & Kim. Machinefabriek writes:
The starting point was a series of home recordings that Marta and Kim made on my request. As the performance deals with their (romantic) relationship, it made sense to incorporate their daily lives in the music somehow. There’s the purring of their cat, a boiling coffee-pot, the chickens they keep, their wind chime, and much more. These intimate sounds are paired with glowing synth pads and vintage rhythm boxes.
This blend of intimate and electronic makes a really unique album, which I highly recommend.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music, etc.