For this week’s offering, Juni Habel‘s Stand So Still sets the temperature from the off – She says “I don’t think this song ever decided whether standing still is good or bad. And I don’t know myself!”
We’ve a double-helping from Joshua Burnside, whose new album, It’s Not Going to be Okay, is out now – Thomas Blake writes: “As Burnside walks home through Belfast, and we go with him, we realise that if his friend is still there in any way, he’s there in these songs, and that alone makes them worth writing and worth hearing. The meaning of this album may change over time for Burnside: as he moves away from grief, it may move with him. But it will remain a stunning, haunting evocation of personal loss to anyone who hears it.”
Also featured are new tunes from Marisa Anderson as well as a track from the beautifully poignant Fly The Ocean In A Silver Plane, the new album from Pan American aka Mark Nelson, who melds Americana-tinged guitar with ambience. Of his record, Mark says;
The music on this record is a reflection of journeys and travel. The real world kind and the metaphorical ones as well. Having experienced the arrival of my children, the decline and departure of my parents, and the many years of venturing out and returning home in my own life, travel feels like the perfect tropology to consider the mysteries we inhabit.
Taken from their new album (News from Planet Zombie), The Notwist appear twice — Red Sun and Like This River — threading a melancholy experimentalism through the centre of the running order.
If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember Macie Stewart, whose When the Distance is Blue we reviewed last year. This time, she joins Whitney Johnson and Lia Kohl on burning | counting (sleeping), from BODY SOUND—a powerful debut full of depth, melancholy, and triumph from three of Chicago’s most interesting experimental artists. It’s out now on International Anthem.
The playlist also explores collaborations, each bringing a sense of warmth. Tracks like Shabason, Krgovich, Tenniscoats’ Our Detour, whait & Cole Pulice’s Over and Over (available via Residence – from the creator of the excellent Longform Editions – find out more here: Bandcamp | Substack), and the final pairing of Félicia Atkinson & Christina Vantzou all share a gentle, thoughtful flow.
Playlist
00:00 Juni Habel – Stand So Still
03:15 Joshua Burnside – With You
07:20 Marisa Anderson – Sarvi Simin
11:30 The Notwist – Red Sun
15:34 whait & Cole Pulice – Over and Over
19:51 Kasumi Trio – Persian Rug
22:58 more eaze – sentence structure in the country
29:41 Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart – burning | counting (sleeping)
32:05 Shabason, Krgovich, Tenniscoats – Our Detour
36:51 The Notwist – Like This River
41:06 Joshua Burnside – Remake
44:53 Pan•American – Death Cleaning
48:22 Félicia Atkinson & Christina Vantzou – Shines for Eternity