Staves, Timo Andres, Ringdown, Big Ears, Vagabon, Tigran Hamasyan News and More
New Staves, Timo Andres albums; Ringdown song * Big Ears weekend * Vagabon at KCRW * Tigran Hamasyan's Nonesuch Selects and more
New This Week
The Staves: All Now
The Staves' All Now, produced by John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen), marks the band's debut album as the duo of Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor, following their sister Emily's departure. "There was a delayed reaction to trauma and these big changes out of your control," Jess says of the period after the February 2021 release of their album Good Woman, as the band—like everyone—was forced to sit with their thoughts. Struggling after two years of deep solitude and pain, The Staves did what they know how to do best: they got back to writing with the idea of going back to basics and focusing almost solely on each other and their guitars as a starting point."
Timo Andres: The Blind Banister
Timo Andres' The Blind Banister comprises three works by the composer/pianist: the piano concerto The Blind Banister (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2016), with Andres as soloist, and Upstate Obscura for chamber orchestra and cello, with soloist Inbal Segev—both of which feature Metropolis Ensemble and conductor Andrew Cyr—and the solo piano piece Colorful History, also performed by Andres.
Ringdown: "Two-Step"
"Two-Step" is the debut Nonesuch single from Portland-based cinematic pop duo Ringdown, featuring creator-musicians Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee. With strings, keys, and synth melodies rippling around a crisp beat and Danni Lee's vocals, "Two-Step" channels the technicolor rush of falling in love. "'Two-Step' is about letting go of your inner critic and trusting your own intuition," the duo says. "It's about forward momentum toward things that feel good and trusting that sometimes what may seem like a wrong turn at the time, ultimately could be the best route you've ever taken. Also dancing. It's about dancing."
News from the Nonesuch Journal
Big Ears Festival Weekend
Big Ears Festival has arrived! Events in Knoxville began last night and, per map above, continue through Sunday with more than a dozen Nonesuch artists past, present, and future there as part of the label's 60th anniversary celebrations, with performances by Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Darcy James Argue, Tyondai Braxton, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Halvorson, Robin Holcomb, Wayne Horvitz, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Ringdown, Davóne Tines, and Yasmin Williams; conversations with many of the above; and an exhibit by photographer Michael Wilson of some of the many Nonesuch artists he has captured over the past 25 years.
The Staves Talk with BBC
"In making this album, I've realised the value of re-evaluating your life regularly," The Staves' Camilla Staveley-Taylor tells the BBC in a feature on their new album, All Now. "Sometimes you need to shake off the excess baggage and enjoy the moment," her sister and bandmate Jessica confirms. "And I think that's what happened in the making of this record."
Timo Andres Talks with Adventures in Music
"The title of the piece, The Blind Banister, comes from a poem in five sections by Thomas Tranströmer, the Swedish poet, called Schubertiana, which is about the different ways in which Schubert’s music can be contextualized in different lives, in different contexts and in different situations," Timo Andres tells Adventures in Music about his new album: "the idea that this disembodied thing, this music that was written hundreds of years ago, can have such different meaning to different people simultaneously … To me that idea of the incomplete being made real or seeming real was the guiding idea for the piece, and it describes very much how I feel about Beethoven’s music and Schubert's music—as well as Brahms, Schumann, Bach, Sibelius and Ives, so much music of the past that is important in my life that I feel to be this reference point that will always be there, acquiring new meaning for me as I lived my life."
Watch: Vagabon Performs Live at KCRW
"Tamko is a first rate singer-songwriter, parsing interpersonal relationship dynamics with frankness and a dry wit," writes KCRW's Marion Hodges of Vagabon (aka Laetitia Tamko), who stopped by the studio to perform a set of six songs from her new album, Sorry I Haven't Called, as well as "Water Me Down," from her 2019 self-titled album. Tamko also spoke about the new album and more.
Watch: Tigran Hamasyan Shares Nonesuch Selects
Tigran Hamasyan, who is currently touring the US, stopped by for the Nonesuch Selects video series, in which artists visit the Nonesuch office, pick some of their favorite albums from the music library, and share a few words on their choices. He chose music by Brad Mehldau Trio, Richard Goode, Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau, Kronos Quartet, and Fleet Foxes.
Listen: Ring in Spring
Happy spring to our fellow Northern Hemisphereans! Celebrate with our newly updated Ring in Spring playlist of songs by Hurray for the Riff Raff, Yasmin Williams, Molly Tuttle, Yussef Dayes, Carminho, Caroline Shaw, Cécile McLorin Salvant, The Staves, Mary Halvorson, Sam Amidon, The Magnetic Fields, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, The Black Keys, k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris, Chris Thile, and more.
Nonesuch Events for the Weekend Beyond Big Ears
John Adams conducts LA Phil in Timo Andres's new concerto and his own City Noir at Disney Hall, where SF Symphony performs his Naive and Sentimental Music. Richard Goode plays Beethoven in Michigan. Tigran Hamasyan tours California. Emmylou Harris is in Pennsylvania and Boston, where The Magnetic Fields start their 69 Love Songs anniversary tour. Mandy Patinkin is in Portland, OR. Sarah Kirkland Snider's Mass for the Endangered is performed on Prince Edward Island.
David Byrne's Grown Backwards at 20
It was 20 years ago: David Byrne's Nonesuch debut album, Grown Backwards, was released. Five years ago, the album was first released on vinyl, in a two-LP set of the original album plus six additional tracks, including a duet with Caetano Veloso on their song "Dreamworld."