All Hands_Make Light – Darling the Dawn: After eating what were arguably the most delicious donuts ever, I asked the two women working at General Porpoise in Seattle’s Pioneer Square for recommendations on record stores. One of them suggested Sonic Boom in Ballard because she not only found an obscure album from one of her favorite singers there, but it was on sale. Of course, I asked which singer, and after a quick conversation peppered with Google searches, we discovered that her singer (Ariel Engle) and one of my favorite singers (Efrim Menuck) just released an album together. It was one of those serendipitous moments that happen when people who love music talk to each other, and Darling the Dawn filled my ears for most of my final 24 hours in Washington.
Lauren Bousfield – Salesforce: My reaction to Salesforce reminded me of the first time I heard Pretty Hate Machine back in the fall of 1989. Both albums show what can happen when an artist combines a commitment to experimentalism with solid musicianship and a great ear for pop hooks. The album is all over the place, but it’s compelling enough that I listened to it multiple times while exploring Seattle.
John Coltrane – A Love Supreme Live in Seattle: What better time to listen than in the city where it was recorded? Sadly, I wasn’t in the mood for Coltrane, but it’s clearly an amazing performance.
Rich Ruth – I Survived, It’s Over: I was in a dark mental place one morning so I put this on and walked around the waterfront. Ruth’s journey through EMDR treatment helped me break out of my own head.
Pantha du Prince – Garden Gaia and Elements of Light: I walked into Chihuly Garden and Glass and realized I wanted a soundtrack to enhance the beauty in front of me. This fit perfectly.
Tony Allen – JID018: Years ago, I read an article by some pretentious ass on how he didn’t read good books when so many great books exist. Now I feel like that pretentious ass, because even though this album is good, I kept wondering why I wasn’t listening to Allen’s work on an album like Gentleman.
Old friends who made it into rotation this week: Tim Hecker: No Highs; Caterina Barbieri: Myuthafoo; Kolsch: Fabric Presents Kolsch.