Journal
- Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Nonesuch releases a deluxe edition of Wilco’s 2004 Grammy Award–winning album A Ghost Is Born on February 7, 2025. The box set comprises either nine vinyl LPs and four CDs or nine CDs—including the original album, alternates, outtakes, and demos, charting the making of A Ghost Is Born—plus the complete 2004 concert recording from Boston’s Wang Center and the band’s “fundamentals” workshop sessions. It includes sixty-five previously unreleased music tracks as well as a forty-eight-page hardcover book with previously unpublished photos and a new liner note by Grammy-winning writer Bob Mehr. An alternate version of “Handshake Drugs,” recorded during the studio sessions at New York’s Sear Sound, twenty-one years ago this month, is out now. There will also be a new vinyl pressing of the original album in a two-disc package, and a two-CD expanded version of the original album with bonus track highlights from the full deluxe edition repertoire. The two-CD version will also be available on streaming services worldwide.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist News
- Tuesday, August 27, 2024
"I think he’s an absolute genius, and his way of thinking about creativity has totally shaped my way of thinking about creativity," Isaac Butler, host of Slate's Working podcast, says of his guest, composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue. They discuss the thought processes that go into Argue's compositions, as on his Secret Society ensemble's 2023 Nonesuch debut album, Dynamic Maximum Tension, and more. You can hear their conversation here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, PodcastFriday, August 23, 2024Laurie Anderson leads an Amelia listening party and conversation at Guild Hall in Easthampton, NY. Ambrose Akinmusire gives West Coast premiere of new work at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in San Francisco. Julia Bullock sings Converse, Simone, Weill, Dylan, Odetta, Cage, and more in London, where Vagabon plays All Points East. The Magnetic Fields perform 69 Love Songs in Edinburgh. Davóne Tines joins BSO for Beethoven's Ninth at Tanglewood. Yasmin Williams performs in Charlottesville and Asheville.
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsFriday, August 23, 2024Laurie Anderson, whose new album, Amelia, is due August 30, has shared music videos from the archives for her 1989 album Strange Angels, originally released on Warner Records, on the Nonesuch Records YouTube channel: "Beautiful Red Dress" and a series of PSAs ("Personal Service Announcements"); you can watch both here. They join her previously posted "O Superman," "Sharkey's Day," and "Language Is a Virus."
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoTuesday, August 20, 2024Jeremy Denk's album Ives Denk, due October 18, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Ives' birth, features the composer's four violin sonatas, performed with violinist Stefan Jackiw, as well as remastered versions of his Sonatas No. 1 and 2 for piano, from Denk's 2010 debut recording, Jeremy Denk Plays Ives. "Mr. Denk's playing exuded affinity for Ives and vivid imagination," the New York Times says of a concert performance. "Mr. Jackiw, deftly balancing fervor and elegance, beautiful tone and earthy colorings, proved a comparably inspired Ivesian."
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsMonday, August 19, 2024For Nonesuch Records' 60th anniversary, the label has partnered with photographer Michael Wilson—who has exquisitely captured dozens of Nonesuch artists over the past quarter-century—to produce Michael Wilson / 25 Years: A Nonesuch Collection, 100 box sets of 20 newly created prints from his Nonesuch archive, due September 13. Here, Wilson shares stories from the photo sessions behind the images in the box, with Allen Toussaint, Ambrose Akinmusire, Audra McDonald, Bill Frisell, The Black Keys, Brad Mehldau, David Byrne, Dr. John, Emmylou Harris, Frederic Rzewski, Jeremy Denk, Kronos Quartet, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Manuel Galbán and Ry Cooder, Philip Glass, Randy Newman, Rhiannon Giddens, Stephin Merritt and Lemony Snicket, Steve Reich, and Timo Andres.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsFriday, August 16, 2024The original cast recording of the Tony Award-winning Broadway show Illinoise: A New Musical is now available in a two-LP vinyl set, following its recent streaming, download, and CD release. The new work features music and lyrics by Sufjan Stevens based on his album Illinois, a book by Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury, and direction and choreography by Peck, with new arrangements by Timo Andres and music supervision and direction by Nathan Koci. The New York Times exclaims: "The vocalists do not seem to sing so much as pour emotion into our ears."
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, August 16, 2024Laurie Anderson, whose new album, Amelia, is due August 30, has shared music videos from the archives for two of her projects from the 1980s, originally released on Warner Records, on the Nonesuch Records YouTube channel, joining her previously posted "O Superman" video: "Sharkey's Day," from her 1984 album, Mister Heartbreak, and "Language Is a Virus," from her 1986 film, Home of the Brave. You can watch them both here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoThursday, August 15, 2024“Senso Comune," from Caroline Shaw's original score for Ken Burns's new two-part documentary, LEONARDO da VINCI, is out now, along with a music video you can watch here. The album, with new compositions by Shaw and performances by Attacca Quartet, Sō Percussion, Roomful of Teeth, and John Patitucci, is due October 25; the documentary airs on November 18 and 19 at 8pm ET on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS App. Shaw wrote and recorded new music for LEONARDO da VINCI, marking the first time a Ken Burns film has featured an entirely original score.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoWednesday, August 14, 2024The Staves have released a new song, "Waiting for the Joy," and have announced a US acoustic tour for this fall, celebrating their spring 2024 album, All Now. Dates begin November 6 in Philadelphia and continue into Thanksgiving week, with stops in Brooklyn, Nashville, Austin, and more. "The song began in the throes of the first lockdown when the feeling of isolation was so prominent," the Staves' Jessica and Camilla Staveley say of the new song, which was recorded during the All Now sessions with producer John Congleton. "Everyone seemed so inspired, and we were worried that we weren't inspired by music in general anymore."
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist News, On TourWednesday, August 14, 2024Composer/guitarist Yasmin Williams returns to Aquarium Drunkard's Transmissions podcast to talk with host Jason P. Woodbury about her upcoming Nonesuch debut album, Acadia. "It's beautiful—a showcase for a one-of-a-kind artist. And while the focus remains Williams' fluid and lyrical guitar work, she's joined by a roster of ringers to help fill out the corners," says the show. You can hear their conversation here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, PodcastTuesday, August 13, 2024Composer/guitarist Yasmin Williams stopped by for the Nonesuch Selects video series, in which artists visit the Nonesuch office, pick some of their favorite albums from the music library, and share a few words on their choices. She chose recordings by Makaya McCraven, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tigran Hamasyan, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Sam Amidon.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Nonesuch Selects, VideoMonday, August 12, 2024Congratulations to singer and composer Nathalie Joachim, whom the Museum of Modern Art in New York has named to its 2024–25 MoMA Scholars in Residence cohort. The program invites three acclaimed, inspiring thinkers to join the Museum for a one-year term to pursue projects and research initiatives that contribute to new understandings of modern and contemporary art.
Journal Topics: Artist News