#4579, Staff Picks of 2021
It’s the Staff Picks show for the best New Sounds of 2021 featuring Tuareg guitar wizard Mdou Moctar, Pakistani-American vocalist/composer Arooj Aftab, Korean duo dal:um, French group San Salvador, London-based Sons of Kemet, and Virginia-based guitarist Yasmin Williams. [Producer's note: Host John Schaefer's mysterious weighting system ranked the choices made by WQXR Music Coordinator Emma Bauchner (who helps our New Sounds Radio Stream), Senior Broadcast Engineer and Tech. Director of the Soundcheck Podcast, Irene Trudel, and the New Sounds All-Purpose Assistant / Associate Producer, Caryn Havlik. No cage matches were held in the making of this show.]
By unanimous vote by both staff and host alike, there’s music by Virginia-based musician Yasmin Williams who plays the guitar by laying it on her lap and hammering the strings with both hands. Listen to one of her songs without words from Urban Driftwood. Also, hear music from the record Uneasy, by pianist, composer, and professor Vijay Iyer together with two outstanding musicians and collaborators, the drummer and composer Tyshawn Sorey, and bassist Linda May Han Oh.
Virtuoso Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar released an album with that fuzzed-out overdriven Agadez sound, called Afrique Victime, addressing colonialism with lyrics from the title track of ”Africa is a victim of so many crimes / If we stay silent it will be the end of us.” The Staff also admired music by Brooklyn-based Pakistani-American singer and composer Arooj Aftab, who weaves together sounds of Western instrumentation with texts from Urdu and Farsi poetry on her 2021 album, Vulture Prince.
The Staff Picks also include Brooklyn producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter L’Rain’s exquisite album, Fatigue; Seoul-based musical duo Dal:um extending the sounds of Korea’s traditional string instruments, gayageum and geomungo; songwriter/guitarist Adrian Crowley, French vocal and percussion outfit San Salvador, and South African guitarist Guy Buttery in collaboration with Indian musicians Mohd. Amjad Khan and Mudassir Khan.
The NSAPA cannot recommend enough the joyous and fiery record, Black to the Future, by SONS OF KEMET – it’s like a dance party within an uprising. – Caryn Havlik
Program (First Aired 1/07/2022)
10. ARTIST: Guy Buttery, Mohd. Amjad Khan, Mudassir Khan
WORK: Kya Baat [2:37]
RECORDING: One Morning In Gurgaon
SOURCE: Riverboat Records
INFO: guybuttery.bandcamp.com
9. ARTIST: L'Rain
WORK: Find It [2:37]
RECORDING: Fatigue
SOURCE: Mexican Summer
INFO: lrain.bandcamp.com
8. ARTIST: Adrian Crowley
WORK: Northbound Stowaway [6:18]
RECORDING: The Watchful Eye of the Stars
SOURCE: Chemikal Underground
INFO: adriancrowley.bandcamp.com
7. ARTIST: dal:um
WORK: TAL [4:00]
RECORDING: similar & different
SOURCE: Glitterbeat Records
INFO: dalum.bandcamp.com
On-Demand Music In-Between
ARTIST: Upper Wilds
WORK: Love Song #9 [:40]
RECORDING: Venus
SOURCE: Thrill Jockey
INFO: upperwilds.bandcamp.com/album/venus
6. ARTIST: Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Linda May Han Oh
WORK: Touba [6:51]
RECORDING: Uneasy
SOURCE: ECM 2692
INFO: ecmrecords.com
5. ARTIST: Sons of Kemet, ft. Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid
WORK: Pick Up Your Burning Cross [3:44]
RECORDING: Black to the Future
SOURCE: Impulse!
INFO: sonsofkemet.lnk.to/blacktothefutureIB
4. ARTIST: San Salvador
WORK: Fai Sautar [3:00]
RECORDING: La Grand Folie
SOURCE: Pagans
INFO: san-salvador.bandcamp.com/album/la-grande-folie-2
On-Demand Music In-Between
ARTIST: Upper Wilds
WORK: Love Song #5 [:30]
RECORDING: Venus
SOURCE: Thrill Jockey
INFO: upperwilds.bandcamp.com/album/venus
3. ARTIST: Yasmin Williams
WORK: Swift Breeze [3:02]
RECORDING: Urban Driftwood
SOURCE: Spinster Sounds
INFO: yasminwilliams.bandcamp.com
2. ARTIST: Mdou Moctar
WORK: Afrique Victime [3:00]
RECORDING: Afrique Victime
SOURCE: Matador Records
INFO: mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com
1. ARTIST: Arooj Aftab
WORK: Mohabbat [7:42]
RECORDING: Vulture Prince
SOURCE: New Amsterdam
INFO: aroojaftab.bandcamp.com
