On Our Minds in 2017: Music Makes Us Whole
As we at To the Best of Our Knowledge start off a new year, we wanted to talk about some of the books, movies, music, games and other media that we think might play a role in shaping the ideas that find their way onto the show in 2017. Since that list was massive, we’ve chopped it up into a few core themes that emerged from our collective media diet.
We love music on this show, and we often wear our influences on our sleeves. Steve and Anne are avid jazz fans — we even had a whole show about it — and our new technical director Joe Hardtke submitted an overstuffed list for this series with the caveat: “When not making my own noises, I spend most of my free time listening to the noises of others.” In that spirit, we’ve assembled a playlist to showcase the sonic inspiration running through our headphones as we assemble the show each week.
The Avalanches, “Wildflower”
The best comeback this year belongs to the sample-crazed Australian group The Avalanches. Their second album, Wildflower, has all the strengths of their legendary debut, Since I Left You, only with added experience. This time the samples are employed much like the pulled focus of a camera. The rhythm on “Subways” is introduced at a distance. Equalization is gradually adjusted until it blooms into full-spectrum sound at just the right moment. Lost voices linger in the background, making commentary on the foreground. It’s a rich tapestry and proof that samples are like any other instrument, rewarding years of practice and mastered technique.
–Joe Hardtke
Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith, “A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke”
Vijay Iyer (VID-jay EYE-yer) is one of today’s most celebrated jazz musicians. He’s also a Harvard professor with a Ph.D. in music cognition and a voracious appetite for music across cultures. On this album, Iyer has teamed up with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, whom he’s called a mentor and an inspiration. This album, dedicated to the late Indian artist Nasreen Mohamed, mixes experimental jazz with soulful and often mesmerizing riffs. Vijay has an incredibly fertile mind, so I’m always fascinated to learn about each new project he takes on.
— Steve Paulson
David Bowie, “Blackstar”
The Thin White Duke was a master at hiding messages in his work for us to find later and David Bowie’s farewell album is no exception. Casual listeners may find it anguished, a writer unraveling death with dark metaphors. For me, revisiting the record often has revealed something surprising: There’s laughter below the surface. Puns, invented language and a gleeful embrace of the profane like nothing since Aladdin Sane. By the end, we hear sly, comforting echoes of “A New Career In A New Town.” David Bowie’s alright, winking at us from wherever he is. And I’m smiling.
–Joe Hardtke
Keith Jarrett, “A Multitude of Angels”
I’ve been a huge admirer of Jarrett’s music for decades, so it’s wonderful news to discover this newly-released 4-CD set of piano recordings from a series of solo concerts in Italy in 1996. If you’re a Jarrett fan like me, you’ll take special pleasure in his extended improvisation on these recordings.
In the liner notes, he says this music was partly inspired by the mystic Gurdjieff, and you definitely get the sense that Jarrett is tapping into some other dimension of consciousness during these concerts.
— Steve Paulson
Mitski, “Puberty 2”
Confessional albums about broken relationships often pull from arrangement and lyrical clichés. Not Mitski’s Puberty 2. Jerusalem, cookies, crushed stars and a white button-down make memorable appearances, along with raging guitar tones that don’t bury the feelings, they amplify them to ridiculous volume.
Heaven forbid we allow our emotions to take over, right? Bull.
It helps that Ms. Miyawaki wrote a stellar collection of songs that live long after the white noise has died down. “I am a forest fire. And I am the fire and I am the forest and I am a witness watching it.” This arson still feels good after ash is all that’s left.
–Joe Hardtke
Special Joe Hardtke Video Speed Round
I wish I could make this list longer as I could name several music videos that encapsulate 2016 for me, Gruff Rhys’ “I Love EU,” Bad Lip Reading’s “Seagulls! (Stop It Now).” So there, I made my list longer and included all three.
At the top of my list extension: DJ Shadow’s short film for “Nobody Speak.” Never mind that the track is incredible, featuring diss after incendiary diss from Run The Jewels. Setting this throwdown at a political assembly speaks loudly to the ludicrous nature of election year trash talk. By the end of the melee, we’re the janitor, casting an incredulous glance, knowing all that we’ll have the privilege of doing is cleaning up the mess.
–Joe Hardtke
