Arthur Wachnick and Let Us Run (before God in our Linen Ephod) review by Kirk

ARtist: Arthur Wachnik

Album: Let Us Run

(Limited Time Noise Trade Download)

released 4/11/2014

Mano Mano… another Noisetrade home run.

I love the happiness my ears feel when they discover something new,  and (given the dynamics of a marketplace without center)  might not ever encounter-- Then (given the magnetic super talent collecting arms of Noisetrade)  I am floored by artistry that is just part of another planet.

This week’s hyper-delicious  serendipitus astonistastic release belongs to Arthur Wachnik  -- and like I said, I've never heard of the guy.

But I will now.   A lots.

In as much as you can listen to the samples just like I did, and determine if this feeds your ear and heart, I won't wax extravagant except to say… Let us Run is an audio playland and a living Psalm.

For just a quick sample check out "Selah" on the Noisetrade link.

As it is, I keep thinking... Hmm.  I have heard this voice.   Sounds like something my daughter owns.  Then I read another review, and they intimated "Ben Folds" and I thought, yup.  Getting close.   Same kind of zinninesss and vocal dexterity.   (and if it looks like I cannot spell, or that I am making up  words, I am, because this work just has that kind of flexiness.

I am hearing Broadway, Gypsy, zydeco, grunge, 80s titan-voice punk  jazz, swing, Klezmer, and Gospel themes all rolled into one swagwanimous-phantom opperatus volley of praise.   There are times when Arthur's voice sounds modern (ie, kind of nervy),  then other times smooth as glass, yet other times like a Vaudeville singalong.

I don’t know how Arthur is making this music (how much is synthesized, how much of it is session players, how much is talented friends, or  how much he plays himself  but I am hearing loads of instruments, and all kinds of audio experimentation with nods to eastern Europe.   (Third listen in ... man, the strings are so smooth and shadowy like rainbow colored smoke... or something like that.)

But most of all, I am hearing creative abandon as Arthur – like David – dances in his *underwear" before the Arc. 

So, give this a listen, and see if you too are not blown away by the sheer fun of lifting hands, swaying, or jigging it up before the throne of God.

Thank you Arthur!

Ps.  You can parts of Arthur’s first album here.

Jacob Montague: All Creatures V 1 - review by Kirk

Artist: Jacob Montague
Album: All Creatures (V1)
Genre:  Indie, instrumental, psychedelic, improvisational city of God space folke rock - or something like that.   Whatever this is, it is simply fantastical.   (Shares traits in common with Sufjan Stevens and Josh Garrels.)

Noise Trade: Free Download, fully worthy of a major tip.

Something is amiss - or a stir in the Cosmos.  This will be the second album of chilling Psalmadic beauty that I have discovered in a couple of days through Noise Trade.  This is the second album where I want to run out into the streets, grab folks by the collar and yell: 'Listen to This NOW."  A couple of days ago I discovered the gorgeous voice of Liz Vice, today I discover the otherworldly harmonies, soaring textures, and audio imagination of Jacob Montague.

Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me.

It probably isn’t much of review to say: Read this review (Paste Magazine), but I am listening to the NPR temporary “free-listen” of Joanna Newsom's new release "Have One on Me" and am kind of blown away by her and the whole process. Who ever heard of harp-based grunge-hyper femme folk? Sure, it sounds like a kind of two hour mono-song experimental car sing*.. with chamber orchestra (the kind of stuff you sing when you are driving alone in your car.), but the textures, ad lib, audio dallies, and poetry are like the ramblings of wonder drunk faire. I wonder how much of it written down, and how much she is just singing as she goes?   I don't know much about her, or those things that push her heart, but am her newest fan.