David Dalle
Thursday January 3rd, 2019 with David Dalle
First of twelve exceptional concert recordings I will be programming in 2019: The Kamkars live in Paris 1995. The new album from Lubomyr Melnyk.

For 2019, I have chosen 12 exceptional concert recordings to program with one each month. I have set a couple of simple rules: the recordings will be played in their entirety and represent a single concert (e.g. a "live" album compiled from different concerts would not qualify) and they must feature multiple pieces (e.g. a stunning live recording of a Mahler symphony would not qualify). These 12 recordings feature some of my favourite artists, and in many of the cases, also represent the very best from these artists. January's selection is a perfect example, with the Kamkars' inspired 1995 live recording from Paris. It burns white hot with an intensity and irresistible momentum. We also hear the brand new album from one of favourite musicians, the composer-pianist Lubomyr Melnyk. After several decades being an isolated musical prophet in the wilderness playing the world's most beautiful music for those who would listen, these past few years has seen much greater attention to his unique music and performance style. The London-based music label Erased Tapes has been very supportive in this, with four releases in the past 5 years. Most of them feature collaborations with other outsider musicians such as Peter Broderick as well as Melnyk at his most natural, alone at the piano. His latest entitled "Fallen Trees" includes the eponymous five-part suite and several other pieces. He is joined by Japanese vocalist Hatis Noit and German cellist Anne Muller. The music is typical of Lubomyr Melnyk, "typical" being so mystical, unique, and so breathtakingly beautiful that when I immerse myself in it, nothing else in the world exists except for this sound.