The Week UK - 04.04.2020

30

THEWEEK4April 2020

ARTS

The Week’s own podcast, The Week Unwrapped, covers the biggest unreported stories of the week (available on Apple and Google)

FieldRecordingsApple,Spotify

Ifyou’regoing“stir-crazyand

longingtobeoutside”,this

wonderfulnewpodcastcouldbe

theanswer,saysFionaSturgesin

theFT.DreamtupbyEleanor

McDowall–theBritishproducer

of“suchgems”asBBCRadio’s

ShortCuts–itwillhelpto“bring

theoutdoorsindoors”,andactsas

a“balmofthesoul”intesting

times.Ithasnointroductionor

narration:itconsistssimplyof

recordingsofeverydaysounds

ofnaturallife,fromaroundthe

world:cicadasandkookaburras

inAustralia’sGoldenGully;water

lappingontheshoresofPuerto

Rico;insectsandbirdswakingup

inatropicalrainforestinSri

Lanka,“theircallstakingontherhythmsofelectronicmusic”.

Ifoundittransfixing,“medicinaleven”.

Howto Fail with Elizabeth DayApple,SpotifyNow istheideal

timeto listentothis“brilliant”podcastby journalistandauthor

Elizabeth Day,saysLydiaWinterinTheIndependent.Each

instalmentfeatures aguestdiscussingthreeoftheirlife’sapparent

failures ortrials–and howtheycopedwiththem.Theiraccounts

aredeeplypersonal,eye-opening andoften uplifting. Recent

subjectshavebeen LisaTaddeo,authoroftheacclaimedThree

Women,and Alain deBotton,thephilosopherand founderof

TheSchoolof Life.Inparticular, lookforthe episodein whichthe

techentrepreneurMoGawdattalks

aboutsurvivingandeventhriving

followingthedeathofhisson–and

anewspecialepisodeinwhichDay

andGawdatexplorehowtocope

withanxietyduringthepandemic.

GabaAppleThis“highlyoriginal”

podcastisanenchantingmixof

meditation,soundscapeandsoul-

baring,saysMirandaSawyerin

TheObserver.Thewordsofour

“reassuring”host,AdamMartin,

hoverover“tweetingbirds,familiar

andunfamiliarmusicandsampled

speech”,oftentakenfromoldfilms

orsongs.Themostrecentepisode,

KeepCalmCarryOn,featuresa

mixtureofJoannaLumley,David

Attenborough,CharlesHawtrey

andTheLarkAscending.“Lovely.”

InWordsworth’sFootstepsBBCSounds“Sometimesyouhear

radiosogoodthatyouwonderhowonearthanyone wasallowed

to makeit,”saysCharlotte Runciein TheDailyTelegraph.

Lookingfor“thoughtfulconversation,beautifuloriginal music,

critical insightandanatmosphere that transportsyousomewhere

else”? Look nofurther than this sublimethree-part seriesin which

SirJonathan Bate explores Wordsworth’spoetry (readby Simon

Russell Beale)and the landscapes thatinspired him.This

“rejuvenating”series,first broadcast onRadio 4 earlier thisyear

“filledmy heartwith pleas ure”.

Calming podcasts for testing times

How to Fail with Elizabeth Day: eye-opening

Brian Eno and

Roger Eno:

Mixing Colours

Deutsche

Grammophon

£10.99

Fifteen years in the on-off making, this first

full album of instrumental collaborations

between Brian Eno and his younger brother

Roger–amodern classical composer and

experimental musician–isa“balm for

thes eanxious times”, said Kitty Empire in

The Observer. These “bejewelled” pieces

mainly begin with Roger’s slow bell-like

piano key strikes; Brian’s electronica is first

interwoven and then comes to the fore. The

sound they’ve created is reminiscent of “an

analogue record, each note havingafurry

aura”; the effect is of “slowly unspooling”

beauty–“meditative, sometimes more

austere, often less”.

The release of this wonderful record

could hardly be more timely, agreed Will

Hodgkinson in The Times. The instrumental

pieces that make upMixing Colours“are

the aural equivalent of abstract art”. There

is no clear narrative to the composition, but

the overall effect is contemplative and

calming. The Eno brothers’ collaboration

transports you to “an inner world you won’t

want to leave, especially while the outer

one is off-limits”.

Billie Eilish’s first single, 2015’sOcean Eyes,

was inspired byasong she’d heard in

school dance classes, said Ludovic Hunter-

Tilney in the FT. That song,Station,was by

another teenager–the York-raised

Live rpudlian Holly Lapsley Fletcher. But

while Eilish becameagloba lsuperstar,

Låpsley’s 2016 debut album–apromising

but overloaded blend of electronic

anthems, trip-hop and disco–was only a

modest success. Now, though, Låpsley’s

back withasecon drecord that is far more

“self-assured” and sophisticated.

Låpsley has “brushed away the lint left

by an excess of collaborators” and–acting

as her own writer and producer–isnow

making “outstanding” music, said Ben

Beaumont-Thomas in The Guardian. The

“brilliant” singlesWomxnandMy Love

Was Like the Rainhavea“subtle Latin

touch”. Supremely powerful piano ballad

Speaking of the Endis a“real Adele-grade

tearjerker, but played with the pointillist

quality of Ryuichi Sakamoto”. And the Kate

Bush-influencedLigne 3is the “intensely

poetic high of an often exceptional record”.

“Barbara Hannigan isatotal wonder,” said

Geoff Brown in The Times–but whic hof

the Canadian’s gifts “do you worship first”?

The strength and purity of her soprano

voice? The astonishing dexterity that lets

her sing and conduct at the same time? Or

her “flair for adventurous programming,

which makes unlikely connections between

music from different centuries”? All are in

play on this thrilling disc, where the “big

prize” is Gérard Grisey’s superbQuatre

chants pour franchir le seuil(1998). This is

death-haunted, mind-expanding, sonorously

imaginative music, “brilliant realised” by

Hannigan and her collaborators.

The disc presents Grisey’s work alongside

Haydn’sSymphony No. 49 inFminor

(which lends its nickname,La Passione,to

the collection), plus the “soaring”Djamila

Boupachamovement from Luigi Nono’s

Canti di vitaed’amore.Ihave reservations

about how they work asa“triptych”, said

Andrew Clement in The Guardian. But this

recording evokes Grizey’s “haunting,

unclassifiably expressive world more vividly

than ever”.

Låpsley:

Through Water

Banquet

Records

£9.99

Albums of the week: three new releases

Barbara

Hannigan/

Ludwig

Orchestra: La

Passione

Alpha Classics

£12.50

©J

ENNY SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY