Time Out provides an excellent introduction to Dhafer Youssef: “…the Tunisian vocalist and oud virtuoso juxtaposes the ancient, mystical, hypnotic music of Islamic Sufism with the textures of electric jazz.” While Dhafer Youssef’s electronic side is more evident in older recordings like Divine Shadows (2006) or Digital Prophecy (2003), the personnel he has assembled for the […]
voice
Antony and the Johnsons feat. Björk: Flétta
This exquisite collaborative track comes from Antony and the Johnsons’ 2010 recording Swanlights. The track was originally composed in 2006 during the recording sessions for Björk’s album Volta which includes two duets with Antony Hegarty. In “Flétta”, Antony and Björk sing to actual Icelandic words and interweave vocal lines over Antony’s original piano song. As Björk explains: We […]
Maja Ratkje and Frode Haltli: Vandring
Vandring This is a composition from Frode Haltli’s 2007 recording Passing Images featuring a vocal performance by Maja Ratkje and Arve Henriksen on trumpet. As the accordion player notes, the origin of this track is twofold: Vandring is based on “Jeg er på vandring gjennom livet” as it is sung by Elias Akselen (b. 1947) who […]
Gerry Diver: Music for tape loop
Multi-instrumentalist Gerry Diver based the “Speech Project” on several interviews of Irish musicians and singers such as Shane MacGowan, Christy Moore, Damian Dempsey, Martin Hayes and Danny Meehan. It also features archival recordings of Galway accordion player Joe Cooley. The various musical pitches of the musicians’ voices formed the basis for subtle musical arrangements. “Music […]
