Each month we ask a member of the community to tell us what music they’ve been digging.
I have a three-and-a-half -year-old who’s deeply uninterested in anything beyond Disney soundtracks, so my personal listening habits are compromised these days. But I have moments to myself late at night, or on my weekly drives up to Restaurant Depot. My most-played record this year has likely been Tikiman Vol.1 by the long-time vocalist/producer Paul St. Hilaire. Deep, atmospheric electronic dub in the world of Pole or Rhythm & Sound. Really sonically complex, and also physically makes me feel very good. This past month, I’ve been enjoying Rectangles & Circumstance by Caroline Shaw and So Percussion. I’ve loved all their collaborations, which are full of constantly surprising and imaginative songs that are somewhere between modern composition and experimental pop.
I’m fortunate to be exposed to so much great music through running Avalon, and I’m often listening to artists who have recently performed or are about to. PG Six is playing next month, and I finally sat down with their wonderful record Murmurs & Whispers—harp-based folk songwriting with beautiful lyrics and inventive arrangements. Also on the folk kick, I’ve been listening to Allysen Callery, who is a massively under-appreciated songwriter out of Westerly, Rhode Island—great Nick Drake-/Sandy Denny-inspired stuff, but also dark enough that it works when she collaborates with the occasional metal band. She played Avalon recently, and I’m hoping to do a residency with her next year. Mark Trecka is a great musician who recently moved back to Beacon after spending some time in Paris. His work takes the tools and palette of experimental/noise artists (tape loops, pedal chains) and forms them into songs that coagulate and dissipate around his gorgeous vocals. He just put out a new album called Fool Signals, and that’s the next thing I’ll be diving into. Also looking forward to exploring the work of Wished Bone, a lo-fi songwriter who recently played Avalon and really blew me away.
This article appears in December 2024.
