fourth world
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“Now and again, we meet for tea. This is our universe: cups of tea. We have a beautiful cosmos, you and me.” It’s not often that we’re confronted with the secrets of life. It’s not often that we’re presented with such revelation (laced with equal parts comedy and profundity). A zen kōan said with a…
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If you can imagine, imagine what it is to be a woman. For those already identifying as one, venture onwards. Then, compound that. Imagine yourself as a trombonist. It’s that choice: to pick up one of music’s longtime bit players — and actually do something meaningful with the instrument — that informs just how interesting…
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Who knows where the time goes? Because, apparently, lately it’s me. Through some fated collusion of circumstance and consequence, both personal and external, I’ve spent most of my day tied to a phone, tied to things out of my control. With the holidays – at least in America – upon us, what precious moments I…
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I’ll be one of the first to admit this: intriguing album designs draw me in. Even in the age of digital artwork, nothing quite says “listen to me” than a singular, creative, point of view. I mean, what else would explain how I stumbled upon Miguel Braga’s haunting nocturnal ambient jazz album, Ritual?
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It’s such a cliche but it’s one that bears repeating: sometimes music just speaks to you. While listening to Chyi Yu’s wonderful covers album, 1987’s Stories, I discovered her interpretation of Don McLean’s little-remembered “Castles In The Air”. Myself in an autumnal-kind of mood, as Chyi sang every lyric, I listened ever closely, and piece…
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She didn’t have to do this, yet, nevertheless, she persisted. That’s the refrain bopping in my head as I go through Anna Banana’s past, looking to shed any more light behind the creation of this album: 大きな絵 (Big Picture). It’s about a hafu (and worse, a nisei), barely making any kind of ascent into stardom,…
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There’s a reason that art can transcend time, space, and vocabulary. It does so because it can speak to something innate born within us. Perhaps, it’s that ability to empathize, to experience shared emotion through song. It’s what feeds any musician to put their thoughts on instruments and express themselves to others. And, as shown…
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Six years. Has it really been that long? Yes, it has been nearly six years since I first wrote about the late, great Masahide Sakuma. It was back in 2016 when all we’ve ever experienced from Masahide came from a certain light. And now, I feel it’s time to share with you something just as…
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Charming, breezy, and wonderfully multi-layered, those are a few of the many adjectives one can use to describe the sole work by Korean art folk trio: 새바람이 오는 그늘 (who I’ll refer to as “The Shade With New Wind from now on). On their debut, 1990’s 1집, one can hear another defined turning point in…
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Forgive me if I’m repeating myself, but if I haven’t said it bears I’m saying it now: sometimes I (just like each of us) is just a vessel for the greater good. In this case, it’s facilitating keeping a bit of music history alive. So, a huge thank you to both Victor Hsu Jui-Ting (who’s…
ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental folk-rock fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic