Writing about music in lieu of human interaction
Matt Dickun is a Pittsburgh composer--currently residing in Thailand--who leads the jazz outfit Dikon. Thommy Knoles: COPY CAT, one of Dikon's recently released EPs, was designed to sound like "Thelonius Monk, only with Bootsy Collins was playing bass and Madlib was the musical director." "Almost Blues" is a strong encapsulation of this ambitious synthesis; it's … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Dikon – Almost Blues
Kinetic are an ensemble, led by pianist Joe Sheehan, whose pieces weave together traditional Ghanaian folk songs and original chamber music. For Kinetic's most recent release, Dances of Lake Volta, Sheehan reworked a number of pieces from the group's 2018 album, Songs of Lake Volta, and then added several new ones for good measure. One … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Kinetic – Another Day
Big Blitz are a trio that specialize in high-octane jazz compositions; their latest album, Naturalized, came out in August. Big Blitz's songs often feature two dueling brass instruments intertwined over a kinetic drumbeat. One such track, "Squirrel Hill," is built around a disco-adjacent rhythm (albeit with more acrobatic fills than you'll find in your usual … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Big Blitz – Squirrel Hill
Helga Scheibert is a Transylvania-raised, CMU-affiliated pianist who released an album called "Mirror Image" in May. The album's music is an eclectic blend of classical, jazz, folk, and experimental piano stylings. While listening, you'll hear roiling low-note swells, jaunty, sophisticated bounces, theatrical flourishes, virtuosic runs, and a dash of field recording here and there. "Whale … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Helga Scheibert – Whale Song
Jazzy noise (noisy jazz?) outfit Skeletonized recruited multi-instrumentalist Nathan Berlinguette for their latest album, Future Shock. Berlinguette's contributions on guitar, synths, and electronics add a sense of creeping dread to Skeletonized's unhinged wallop. The swirling drones and spiraling shards of melody that underpin "Your Boring Life" elevate the song's gnarled thicket of squealing saxophones and … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Skeletonized Quartet – Your Boring Life
Simone Joy Jones (aka S!MONE) is a Pittsburgh-based artist whose debut EP, Divine Mistakes, contains seven lush, multilayered R&B tracks. "Jealous," the EP's most propulsive cut, rides a rhythmic backbone that splits the difference between trap and reggaeton, with rapid-fire cymbal hits fluttering over a tresillo base. Glistening, jazz-tinged guitars drip from all directions, creating … Continue reading Daily Yinz – S!MONE – Jealous
Afro Yaqui Music Collective recently released Maroon Futures, named in honor of both the maroons--enslaved peoples who escaped and created their own societies--and imprisoned activist Russell Maroon Shoatz. The album, in the collective's own words, seeks to unite "the sounds of Afro-Cuban culture, Chinese Opera, Indigenous languages, jazz, and hip-hop to say: our struggle is … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Afro Yaqui Music Collective – Insurrealista
Feralcat returns to his signature combo of windblown sax runs and power metal acrobatics with "Anselm the Wise." Just a few weeks ago, Feralcat brought us some jazz-tinged, lo-fi instrumentals to relax/study to in the form of the wavy waiting for waifu. "Anselm the Wise" (featuring the full Wild) plants its flag at the opposite … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Feralcat and the Wild – Anselm the Wise
Roger Rafael Romero's Feralcat tones down the prog metal pyrotechnics of his 2019 debut with waiting for waifu, a series of self-produced instrumentals. Wfw's 7 tracks, named after the colors of the visible light spectrum, draw from vaporwave's playing-early-2000s-computer-games-in-a-lounge aesthetic, with steady, clicking rhythms and placid synth tones creating a sleepy, nostalgic atmosphere throughout. "Pt. … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Feralcat – waiting for waifu pt. 4 – green
Chicago avant-garde flautist and composer Nicole Mitchell, who joined the University of Pittsburgh last year as Director of Jazz Studies, unites with Houston composer and multi-instrumentalist Lisa E. Harris for the album EarthSeed, inspired by the works of science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler. EarthSeed's music is a lively, freeform sprawl of jazz, chamber music, … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Nicole Mitchell and Lisa E. Harris – Ownness
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