Open studio: my favourite albums of 2023 (so far)

A mid-year round-up of some of this year's most inspiring music

This year brought two unexpected announcements: an unheard 1961 live recording by John Coltrane would be released, and an unseen novel by Gabriel García Márquez, which previously existed only as a rumour, would be published next year. This summoning of ancestral works felt like good omen for the arts. After all, it is no secret that the arts struggled through the pandemic, and never fully recovered since. This made it all the more inspiring to see cinemas sold out this summer as audiences flocked to see the Oppenheimer and Barbie films, provoking interesting cultural discussions and debates in their wake.

While music has not registered something of the same cultural magnitude, there is still plenty to talk about, and given that my interests are generally drawn to the artists who inhabit the vaster undergrowth, one can always find something to be enthusiastic about.

What follows are some of the albums that have influenced my approach to music and inspired me — I hope you find something in them that inspires you too.

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Colin Stetson / When we were that what wept for the sea

I first encountered Colin Stetson playing at The Barbican in London, and was sufficiently impressed that he could hold his gigantic bass saxophone for an entire concert, let alone play such intense and demanding music. This album represents a rare case where I have enjoyed a record more than a live performance. It captures emotions with clarity and precision, intimately recording everything from the clacking of fingering of the sax keys to rapid inhalations.

Stetson has been writing film music for the last few years, providing him with a powerful sense of narrative that makes the record feel like a story, taking you on a journey that cannot be experienced through isolated tracks alone. He wrote this music in response to the death of his father; pain and loss can be felt intimately throughout, yet there exists some cathartic beauty in this journey of grief. It is a touching homage to a father, the unexplored capabilities of the saxophone, and a way of recording and composing unique to Stetson.

My highlight track

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Kali Malone / Does Spring Hide Its Joy

Kali Malone is a composer and organist who relocated from the United States to Sweden at age 18, joining a thriving Stockholm music scene that includes the like-minded organist and minimal composer Ellen Arkbro. Rather than a novel with an intricate plot and cast of characters, Malone’s music evolves in a manner more akin to the subtle changes of the rising and falling of the sun. Written during the pandemic she describes the inspiration for her hour-long composition.

Like most of the world, my perception of time went through a significant transformation during the pandemic confinements of spring 2020. Unmarked by the familiar milestones of life, the days and months dripped by, instinctively blending with no end in sight… and all the while, the seasons changed and moved on without the ones we lost.

The composition is performed by a trio comprised of strings and electronics, with Stephen O’Malley on electric guitar, Lucy Railton on cello, and Malone on tuned sine wave oscillators. It is all recorded in deliciously fine detail, allowing one to experience the subtle changes of the composition’s gradual development.

My highlight track

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John Coltrane / Evenings at the Village Gate

The happy surprise that a previously lost album by John Coltrane had been unearthed, set up expectations that did not lead to disappointment. This album represents another piece in the puzzle of one of the most prolific and enigmatic jazz musicians.

The two nights’ performances were spontaneously recorded at the live club to test the equipment, resulting in a trebly and thin sound that is far from perfect. Elvin Jones’s drumming is too high in the mix, Reggie Workman’s double bass is too low, and McCoy Tyner’s piano is at times almost inaudible. The band, however, are as fiery and charismatic as ever.

Elvin Jones’s sublime and thickly punctuated drumming sounds like rocks bouncing down a hill, especially when he solos in the final track Africa, while throughout the record Coltrane pushes the soprano sax to its limits with his quintessential screeching altissimo sounds. Fellow experimental horn player Eric Dolphy holds up well with the band, but there are moments that feel awkward. Coltrane sets up the track Impressions with a high-energy explosive solo, which Dolphy’s more mellow solo struggles to maintain in intensity. Yet this is a small complaint given that this new album documents two of the greatest reed players performing together at pivotal moments in their careers and jazz history.

My highlight track

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Colin Currie Group / Music for 18 Musicians

Colin Currie’s group has in effect become the official performers of New York composer Steve Reich’s music. The group previously performed and recorded Reich’s longest composition Drumming in a manner that acts as a testament to the power of the interpreter. Their transformational version of the piece is, by Reich's own admission, the best recording out, there eliciting nuances and details in the music that the composer potentially did not perceive himself.

Fresh from a tour Currie’s group recorded Reich’s most famous piece Music for 18 Musicians at Abbey Roads Studios. This version does not transform the composition to the extent that Currie’s group did with Drumming, but it strikes me as the best interpretation of the piece to date — both in terms of the performance and recording. Slower in tempo than other versions, it gives the piece space to groove in a laid-back manner, in contrast to the somewhat frenetic pace of other interpretations. Abbey Roads Studio has lived up to its name, with a recording that is meticulously spatialised, with depth and clarity in the pianos and vibraphones that bring you closer to the performance.

My highlight track

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Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily / Love in Exile

It might be a cliché, but this album really does not fit a genre. For years I have followed Vijay Iyer who is a unique and fascinating jazz pianist, but in this album I discovered Arooj Aftab’s tender Urdu vocals and Shahzad Ismaily’s delicate bass playing. The trio requests listeners to:

(…) step inside its sense of time, to stretch out alongside these delightful and unhurriedly unfolding songs.

It is good advice given the album has been recorded in the manner of a live performance, flowing in lucid and unknowable ways, absent of the punctuation and demarkation of percussion. It demands a degree of attentive listening, and some decent speakers or headphones to follow Ismaily’s deep bass notes, but the reward is a contemplative state of being that is calm and reflective.

My highlight track

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Abel Selaocoe / Where is Home (Hae Ke Kae)

Well, this breaks the rules as it was released in 2022. However as Liner Notes did not exist then, I cannot resist including it, as it is one of the best classical albums of the decade. I first experienced Abel Selaocoe’s music when he played live with percussionist Bernhard Schimplesberger at Kings Place in London. That night he memorably picked up his cello as if it were a microphone and sang into its resonating chamber, amplifying his deep reverberant melodies and demonstrating he is as fine a singer as he is a cellist.

The album features tracks of South African and Tanzanian music, as well as Baroque compositions from Giovanni Benedetto Platti and J.S. Bach in a manner that lacks any sense of gimmick or awkwardness. Selaocoe acts on this record as a powerful confluence of cultures, handled with a confidence that demonstrates he is one of the finest musicians alive.

My highlight track

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Brìghde Chaimbeul / Carry them with us

A highlight of my year has been the discovery of the Scottish bagpipe player Brìghde Chaimbeul, who collaborated on Colin Stetson’s aforementioned album. Chaimbeul plays the smallpipes, a smaller bagpipe which offers a distinctive characteristic drone sound. On top of the drone sound, she repeats melodic patterns which gradually evolve, which are accompanied on various pieces by the saxophonist Colin Stetson. This album offers a contemporary take on Scottish folk music in a way that feels fresh and original.

My highlight track