A Reader staffer shares three musical obsessions, then asks someone (who asks someone else) to take a turn.
Arabrot, Who Do You Love Led by Norwegian singer-guitarist Kjetil Nernes, avant-noise weirdos Arabrot suck you into a surreal world with depraved takes on religion, literature, and politics. Following 2016’s The Gospel, written in part during Nernes’s fight with cancer and saturated with WWI-era imagery, Who Do You Love digs into the murky lines between good and evil. Recorded at Electrical Audio and at the band’s studio in a rural Swedish church, it’s open-ended in its textures, with more of singer-keyboardist Karin Park and a petrifying version of the spiritual “Sinnerman.”
Astor Piazzolla, “Finale (Tango Apasionado)” I discovered the dramatic, nostalgic, and emotional tangos of Astor Piazzolla while watching Wong Kar-Wai’s 1997 film Happy Together. During some of its most heart-wrenching moments, you can hear Piazzolla’s mesmerizing tunes, whose melodies almost seem to weep—they perfectly complement Kar-Wai’s story of helplessness, loneliness, and being forced to leave your life in the hands of fate. In this hyper-technological age, the earthy, raw moods of this music are a special comfort.
Holy Family, The Many Splendored The Holy Family project of Chicago multimedia artist Will McEvilly presents an expansive vision of ambience. Imagine waking up in a Japanese botanical garden manipulated via modular synthesis and blurry granulation. Sequences manifest in chimelike plucks, enveloping digital strings, and modulated flutters. McEvilly’s greatest achievement is his restraint in executing his dense soundscapes. The tracks move constantly but maintain structure, walking a line between engagement and meditation.
