Found in the Shuffle, part 1
five (not jazz) tunes on heavy repeat the past week
As 2024 came to a close last month, I started to notice my listening trends drifting toward quieter, more introspective and contemplative music, a trend that has continued so far into this year. In some ways this shift reflects changes elsewhere in my life — I’ve drastically pulled back my social media presence, fallen back in love with reading for leisure, and have been looking to disconnect from the high-intensity 'breaking news’ online culture.
While this might initially read as escapist — especially given current events — it’s more a desire to redefine my relationship with online media and manage anxiety due to exhaustion with constant doom scrolling, high intensity posts, bombardmant with advertisements, and so on.
TL;DR: here’s five tunes for overwhelmed millenials (or whoever) to disassociate to.
Jacob Alon - Fairy in a Bottle
An up-and-coming songwriting talent from Scotland, Jacob dropped out of medical school in order to spend time doing what they love — making music. Even with only two released singles, Jacob was invited to play on Later…with Jools Holland a few months ago, where they performed this song.
‘Fairy in a Bottle’ and ‘Confession’ are both wonderful glimpses of Jacob’s talent and I look forward to hearing what comes next from them!
Okvsho - Je Suis au Jardin
This track might be a little bit of a ‘cheat’ on my theme of ‘non-jazz’ tracks, but I think it’s far enough into the lounge/house/electronic space to get a free pass. While Okvsho might sometimes get lumped in with a lot of the other jazz-house artists gaining popularity right now, they manage to capture a bit more of a vintagey, loungey feel that the others do not. I’ve read in places that the music ‘gives Grand Tourismo vibes’ and I can’t say that I disagree!
Bobby Bazini - Maia
While French-Canadian Bobby Bazini has released three albums, he never quite caught my attention until this most recent EP ‘Stone of June.’ When I stumbled across this, I was getting some work done and listening to music in the background — just letting a playlist run through and not paying it much mind. When this song was playing it caused me to stop what I was doing and give it a few listens. Something about the bit of soulful rasp in his voice just tugs at me every time.
Sean Angus Watson - To Save It All
On this 2023 album from Sean Angus Watson, the guitarist weaves gorgeous melodies and a love for the landscapes of Oregon into a sort of love letter. Upon the release of this album, he released a ‘visual album’ on Youtube featuring footage he captured in western Oregon over the course of a few years (including what would end up being the album cover) paired with a few selections from the album.
Aisha Vaughan - No Past, No Present, No Future
Part ambient and part Celtic new age, Aisha creates beautiful, organic soundscapes that are easy to get lost in. Nothing demonstrates this more than the opening track from her album ‘The Gate.’ I’ve had this on loop quite a bit to help keep me centered and relaxed — eyes closed, headphones on.
In her own description of the album:
The Gate earnestly gives reverence to the landscape that she calls home (as cinematically portrayed consistently in Vaughan’s self-shot videos via her social media). Now living in converted barn in mid-Wales, Vaughan writes and records her music to red kites and eagles hunting in the mountains outside her windows.
The notably welcomed layers of ASMR sound design and computer music production supplement the main instrument here - her voice - woven within campfire crackle, wind chime, cricket, bird, harp, flute, synthesizer pad & sfx, and new moon wolf howl to channel celestial guides conjured from her remote homeland.
Using composition as catharsis stemming from a traumatic upbringing where music was banned in her childhood household, and the inherent occult history that surrounds the art form, Vaughan does not shy away from precisely stewarding this particular - often still-overlooked - musical tradition through her generation’s ambient lens.
If birth was being thrown energetically up into the air, we aged as we rose. At the height of our ascent we were middle-aged and then we fell for the rest of our lives, the whole second half. Falling might take just as long, but it was nothing like rising. The whole time you were rising you could not imagine what came next in your particular, unique journey; you could not see around the corner. Whereas falling ended the same way for everyone.
-Miranda July from ‘All Fours’