#4313: The Top 10 of 2019

For this New Sounds, John Schaefer presents his annual highly-opinionated top 10 list of notable new music releases from 2019. Hear music inspired by penguins and the Antarctic, music that sets a Nina Simone arrangement of a Gian Carlo Menotti opera aria, poetry set to music by both an American composer and a London-based rapper, and an intense work by a Pulitzer Prize winner inspired by the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

Listen to composer, saxophonist, and mixed media artist Matana Roberts’, and the latest installment of her Coin Coin project: Memphis - a feat of musical storytelling, encompassing race, and place, and identity, told through the lens of her own family history. Then, listen to Christopher Cerrone, the American new music band Wild Up, and a vocal octet, from Cerrone’s song cycle set to the poetry of Pulitzer Prize-winner James Wright - The Branch Will Not Break.

There’s also music from Penguin Café, who blend of chamber-rock with elements of minimalism and occasional echoes of electronic dance music. It’s from the record album, Handfuls Of Night, which started as a Greenpeace commission to write four pieces, one for each species of penguin native to Antarctica, and subsequently expanded.

Then there's the art-pop chamber music by violinist, vocalist and producer, Emily Wells from her record This World Is Too _____ For You, which was commissioned by Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series and arranged for chamber ensemble by composer Michi Wiancko. Hear “Stay Up,” which brings Metropolis Ensemble together with synths and hip-hop production in elegant layers to support her singular and dramatic vocals. Also, listen to music from American guitarist, composer, and curator Bryce Dessner (of rock band, The National) and his rhythmic nod to Steve Reich in the work, “Haven” for the two pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque and two guitars - featuring Bryce himself and fellow guitarist David Chalmin.

Listen to collaborative music from Award-winning singer, banjo player and violinist Rhiannon Giddens and the Italian-born, Irish-based multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi from their incredible record, there is no Other. For this selection, Giddens reworks Nina Simone's arrangement and revision of Gian Carlo Menotti's aria from The Medium. Then, hear work from Kate Tempest, a London-based spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright. It’s from her album, The Book Of Traps And Lessons, a powerful sound experience with a physicality of emotions, spoken-sung, as “the stump speech, the poem, the magic spell, the rap verse, the protest chant” (NPR Music’s First Listen.)  

There’s also music from the impressive record by the Dublin-based group Lankum, a quartet “born of years criss-crossing the folk, squat and experimental scenes.” They plunge into deep darkness, ramp up drone, and rework traditional folk songs so that they are infused with an electric vitality. Plus, hear music from Twin Cities-based singer and rapper Dessa from her live concert record with the Minnesota Orchestra. (- Caryn Havlik)

John’s most notable pick is from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe, and her "stunning work" called Fire In My Mouth, based on the notorious Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, in which 146 people, mostly women who’d immigrated from Eastern Europe or Southern Italy, lost their lives Using texts from witnesses, survivors, and labor activists, Wolfe wrote for the NY Philharmonic and music director Jaap Van Zweden – and incorporates electric guitar, Polynesian slit drum, and over a hundred pairs of scissors. She also included the women’s voices from The Crossing, a top-shelf choir from Philly, and the girls of the Young People’s Chorus Of New York, for a total of 146 female voices. (- John Schaefer) 

Program #4313: John Schaefer's Top 10 of 2019 (First aired 1/03/2020)

10. ARTIST: Matana Roberts
WORK: her mighty waters run / wild fire bare / fit to be tied [2:39]
RECORDING: COIN COIN Chapter Four: Memphis
SOURCE: Constellation Records
INFO: matana-roberts.bandcamp.com

9. ARTIST: Christopher Cerrone, Wild Up
WORK: Christopher Cerrone:The Branch Will Not Break - “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” [3:16]
RECORDING: The Pieces That Fall to Earth
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records 
INFO: cerrone.bandcamp.com

8. ARTIST: Penguin Café
WORK: Winter Sun [3:58]
RECORDING: Handfuls of Night
SOURCE: Erased Tapes
INFO: erasedtapes.com | penguincafe.bandcamp.com

7. ARTIST: Emily Wells with Metropolis Ensemble 
WORK: Stay Up [3:47]
RECORDING: This World is Too _____ For You
SOURCE: Thesis & Instinct
INFO: emilywellsmusic.com

6. ARTIST: Katia & Marielle Labeque, Bryce Dessner and David Chalmin, guitars
WORK: Bryce Dessner: Haven [8:02]
RECORDING: El Chan
SOURCE: Deutsche Grammophon 
INFO: dgfrance.lnk.to/ElChan

5. ARTIST: Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi
WORK: Black Swan [4:11]
RECORDING: there is no Other
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: nonesuch.com

4. ARTIST: Kate Tempest
WORK: Three Sided Coin [4:02]
RECORDING: The Book of Traps and Lessons
SOURCE: Fiction 
INFO: shop.fictionrecords.co.uk

3. ARTIST: Lankum
WORK: The Young People [7:03]
RECORDING: The Livelong Day
SOURCE: Rough Trade
INFO: lankum.bandcamp.com

2. ARTIST: Dessa and the Minnesota Orchestra
WORK: The Chaconne [5:26]
RECORDING: Sound the Bells: Recorded Live at Orchestra Hall
SOURCE: Doomtree Records
INFO: dessa.bandcamp.com

1. ARTIST: NY Phil, Jaap Van Sweden, cond.; The Crossing, Donald Nally, cond and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, directed by Francisco J. Núñez.
WORK: Julia Wolfe: Fire In My Mouth, excerpt [2:28]
RECORDING: Julia Wolfe: Fire In My Mouth
SOURCE: Decca Gold
INFO: https://deccagold.lnk.to/Fireinmymouth | nyphil.org