Alice Russell - I Am - VINYL LP

There is a moment on Sides, the new album from Richmond, Virginia-based duo LeanYear, in which a hospital room floor is filled with white chrysanthemums. This imagery,based on an opiate-induced hallucination experienced by vocalist Emilie Rex's motheras she recovered from surgery, is a perfect encapsulation of the band's second album dreamlike and beautiful, yet burdened with cold, stark reality. Sides is a harrowingjourney through realms of grief and memory, a meditation woven into a tapestry of synthpads, woodwinds, and Rex's instantly recognizable voice. The duo of Rex and Rick Alverson-who also works as a film director (The Mountain,Entertainment, The Comedy)-originally set out to write an album about conflict, butduring the writing and recording process, they were confronted with a number ofpersonal tragedies. Alverson lost both of his parents in rapid succession, Rex's motherreceived a cancer diagnosis, and the couple's beloved family dog, Orca, died. Theseevents transformed the album into an exploration of loss-an attempt at processing thepainful, complex, and private emotions that bubble to the surface when confronted withdeath. InchWe thought we'd do a concept album called Sides where we could reflect on allof the division in the world, and some in our own families, but then COVID transformedeverything/everyone, and we suffered our own specific losses. The record becameabout loss and grief,Inch Rex explains. InchIn this way, the title Sides was still appropriate ourindividual grief and collective grief, the margins of before and after, the act and feelingof during and enduring. It felt like straddling a threshold between two opposingsides-the moment before conflict and the moment after it passes, life and death, the actof living and the memory of the act. Grief feels like a contention between what you knewand what you now know, and often both feel real and u

This double album offers a portrait of violinist Amandine Beyer drawn from recordings she has made for ZZT. The first CD highlights her chamber repertoire, including works by Jean-Fery Rebel, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Nicola Matteis, and Robert de Visee. The second is devoted to the concerto, with compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, and Arcangelo Corelli. This program is an ideal introduction to Amandine Beyer's talent and grace of music-making. It also provides an opportunity to discover one of Corelli's Concerti Grossi Op.6.

Alice Russell is universally acclaimed as one of the best modern soul voices of our time, while her raw talent and charisma commands attention and affection. The much-loved British soulstress returns with the most personal album of her career. 'I Am' is vulnerable and bold while addressing how we must all work on ourselves to heal - so that we can love and connect with those and the world around us more honestly and with depth. Life, loss and grief have been a central part of this period and a new approach to creating music InchTwo little ones have joined me, and one has left - my dad passed away the summer after 'To Dust' was released. The day after my Dad's funeral, I found out I was pregnant with my first little one.Inch Alice continues InchThe grief journey has cracked me open and created a more urgent need to be focused and try to go deeper with how I communicate creatively and who I AM today, and I welcome it with open armsInch. Written and produced alongside long-time collaborator TM Juke, 'I Am' is the first offering of new music from the iconic singer in over a decade and marks a new era in the remarkable career of the down-to-earth vocal powerhouse. This summer, Alice graced the main stage of Gilles Peterson's We Out Here, supported Nile Rogers and performed as part of a tribute to Aretha Franklin across France, marking her return to the stage, where she belongs.