Extra-Ordinary Edition: Mary Lattimore, Alun Woodward & Stein Urheim
By Aaron Stein Apr 13, 2016 • 12:01 pm PDT
Mary Lattimore: At The Dam
Time for you to try something a little bit different, but don’t worry — the RecommNeds, as always, has you covered. This week I’ve got a nice bunch of new releases from artists doing things a little outside the ordinary, starting off with the harpist Mary Lattimore. You may not immediately think of a solo harp album being something you’d be into, but At The Dam is a mesmerizing, hypnotic set of tracks. Part hauntingly beautiful, part weird and experimental, Lattimore brings her unwieldy instrument to some incredible places.
Alun Woodward: Music From Battle Mountain
I don’t know much about Alun Woodward and even less about the documentary film Battle Mountain, but this album of the soundtrack he made for the movie was certainly a nice find. Over the course of 11 mostly instrumental tracks, Woodward bounces around from ethereal organ, dreamscape electronics, pensive guitar and a track or two that could be mistaken for Spiritualized songs. Which is all to say it’s all over the place and yet totally coherent and really quite beautiful.
Stein Urheim: Strandebarm
Guitarist Stein Urheim is someone who has been featured in this space before and with good reason. On his newest solo album, Strandebarm (the name taken from the Norway city where he resides), he shows once again an amazing skill at making a wide range of guitars and guitar-like instruments (as well as some other assorted instruments and synthesizers) sound very familiar and also like something from another time, place and occasionally other planet. Blues and folk tropes are unlocked in ways you’ve never heard before and elicit a truly emotional sound.
