Our WQXR Music Coordinator (and former Intern), Emma Bauchner, weighs in with the records that have impressed her most this year, with things that have been aired on the show, and not. Emma's curious and deep-listening ears have contributed to THIS show, #4565, and suggested some unexpected gems for New Sounds 24/7 Radio.
Here are some of Emma's notable music finds for 2021:
Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince (New Amsterdam)
Arooj Aftab’s music is infused with the kind of quiet power and intimate beauty that instantly demands your full attention. On Vulture Prince, an album dedicated to the memory of her late younger brother, the Brooklyn-based Pakistani composer-vocalist effortlessly floats between chamber jazz, minimalist folk, and Hindustani classical music, carving out a musical space entirely her own as she documents her emergence from grief.
Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime (Matador)
A Niger-based Tuareg guitarist and songwriter who first came to prominence through cell phone memory card music trading networks across the southern Sahara Desert, Mdou Moctar has gradually grown into something of an international rock star. On his latest album, Moctar and his electrifying band deliver a collection of rollicking desert blues jams with politically-informed lyrics that are sure to energize and inspire listeners across borders and generations.
Floating Points, Pharaoh Sanders, The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises (Luaka Bop)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: an electronic music producer, a legendary free jazz saxophonist, and a world-class symphony orchestra walk into a recording studio…
L’Rain - Fatigue (Mexican Summer)
Under the moniker L’Rain, Brooklyn-based artist Taja Cheek layers a plethora of instrumentals and synths, ethereal vocals, and field recordings to create kaleidoscopic soundscapes that burst with life and color. Her sophomore album, a meditation on the human capacity for change, takes the rich sonic palette she established on her debut in exciting new directions, ranging from tuneful art-pop to blurry sound collage.
San Salvador - La Grande Folie (Pagans)
Named after the small village in central France the band’s members grew up in, San Salvador is one of several groups carrying Occitan music into the 21st century (see also: Cocanha, La Mal Coiffée). Their invigorating debut album La Grande Folie (translation: “The Great Madness”) showcases six powerful voices, twelve-hand percussion, complex polyphony and polyrhythms, all pulsating with both regional heritage and the influence of global traditions.
Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood (SPINSTER)
A 24-year-old from Virginia, Yasmin Williams is one of the most innovative fingerstyle guitarists of her generation. On Urban Driftwood, she incorporates kora, kalimba, and even tap shoes into her recordings, alongside extended techniques that include tapping, hammering, and bowing. But her impressive technical abilities are all in service of something even more striking: the warmth, timelessness, and beauty of her compositions.
claire rousay - a softer focus (American Dreams)
The San Antonio-based sound artist claire rousay weaves together field recordings and sampled sounds to create intimate portraits of daily life. a softer focus zeroes in on the smallest of details—the clicking of a typewriter, the cries of children at play, the ringing of windchimes—against a palette of warm synths and subtle auto-tuned vocals, resulting in an album as texturally rich as it is uniquely personal.
Lingua Ignota - SINNER GET READY (Sargent House)
As Lingua Ignota, artist Kristin Hayter has carved out a powerful presence in the world of heavy music, subverting the genre’s hypermasculine tendencies to create intense, visceral, and deeply cathartic projects that grapple with trauma, abuse, and survivorhood. Inspired in part by a move to rural Pennsylvania, SINNER GET READY explores these same themes against a backdrop of the folk instrumentation, religious fervor, and sound bites of Appalachian Christianity.
Lost Girls - Menneskekollektivet (Smalltown Supersound)
Lost Girls is the duo of Norwegian singer-songwriter Jenny Hval and longtime collaborator Håvard Volden, though Menneskekollektivet (which translates to “human collective”) is their first full-length album together. While sonically similar to Hval’s previous work—synths, techno beats, spoken-word, and Hval’s light, airy vocals prevail—the duo’s organic, improvisatory process contrasts with the formal and highly conceptual nature of her past projects, resulting in an album that feels wide open with possibilities.
Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8 (Warp)
An up-and-comer in London’s ever-exciting jazz scene, 25-year-old Nala Sinephro composes and improvises on pedal harp and modular synths. On her debut album, Space 1.8, Sinephro and her collaborators (including Nubya Garcia and James Mollison) create a sprawling ambient jazz soundscape reminiscent of the likes of Alice Coltrane, along with the frequencies of space itself.
Not as New Sounds-y (but still great!!!):
Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (Ba Da Bing!)
Created in the wake of a disorienting tragedy—the sudden death of Silver Jews and Purple Mountains frontman David Berman, whom Jenkins had been set to join on tour—An Overview on Phenomenal Nature finds the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter reflecting and healing, turning inward while continuing to record the stories and observations of those around her. Hushed guitars, synths, and even saxophones flutter in the background of her meditative folk songs, crafting a soothing ambience for her lyrics to take center stage.
Spellling - The Turning Wheel (Sacred Bones)
The third album from Oakland-based artist Chrystia Cabral brings her experimental pop music to soaring new heights, swapping out gothic darkwave for progressive orchestrations, thrilling vocals, and more than a touch of melodrama. A gesture of myth-making and worldbuilding both sonically and lyrically, The Turning Wheel sweeps you off your feet from start to finish.
Emma Bauchner is Music Coordinator at WQXR. She loves listening to, performing, broadcasting, and writing about all kinds of music. She is on Twitter at @EmBauch
Year in Review 2021 Part 2 (NSAPA Caryn Havlik)
Year in Review 2021 Part 3 (Sr. Broadcast Engineer Irene Trudel)
Year in Review 2021 Part 4 (Host/Exec. Producer/Overlord John Schaefer)