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I love how The Dawn of Everything reframes so many assumed histories (haven't finished it yet either because, yeah, that's a lot), and can't wait to dive back into early hard sci-fi with Starmaker. Thank you for opening my eyes to Zdzisław Beksiński. Amazing work!

Here's another modern classical piece kinda on this week's theme: "Warmth of Other Suns: I. Ray of Light," composed by Carlos Simon and performed by the Ivalas Quartet. I had the amazing experience of seeing Ivalas late last year. Truly wonderful and mind-blowing. https://open.spotify.com/track/0Ziwkqoock1Jt0uUUbDTV6?si=411aacf7c2e7430e

Cheers!

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Love that you're reading The Dawn of Everything. It completely blew my mind in the best possible way. And yes, if you're a fellow fan of early sci-fi, Olaf Stapledon is a must. Start with Star Maker. It's perfection. Odd John is very weird but great too (David Bowie took the phrase "homo superior" from Odd John and presumably Stan Lee and Jack Kirby got the same memo when they created the X-Men).

Thank you for the link! Listening right now. We love *everything* Lara Downes puts out, and those 3 EPs with Ivalas Quartet performing the three movements from Simon's "Warmth of Other Suns" are simply gorgeous indeed. So jealous you got to see Ivalas Quartet live! (By the way, I heard you play cello yourself?)

Thanks for commenting!

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And I don't really know Lara Downes so now I'm going down THAT rabbit hole.

The piece Ivalas performed live that really swept me away was Osvaldo Golijov's "Tenebrae"...I can't find a great quarter recording of it but this one from a larger ensemble is amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6RR3Ir_kkM

I *do* play cello but my classical chops are really basic. More than anything, I throw a bunch of distortion on it and make noise. Which is so fun!

Wonderful to connect with you two!

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Thanks, we'll go check that out right now. Lara Downes is amazing! She just keeps cranking out such beautiful albums and bringing marginalized work to the forefront. And some distorted cello sounds like it's right up my alley! Here's my noisy band from the mid-nineties, E.X.P as well as my own more recent solo projects. And hey, I might need a noisy cellist in the future! Great to connect with you as well!

https://exptheband.bandcamp.com/

https://ryanwildstar.bandcamp.com/music

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Love it!

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Thanks for sharing! About the only thing I have left from my 90s band days is a 4-track of a show in 1992. REFLECTOR! (ha)

https://cabezadevaca587.bandcamp.com/track/cant-explain

And, I hope you don't mind me sharing these in the comments, but here are a few things I've been trying out lately with la cello.

It started out as a take on Gymnopedié #1 and went...elsewhere.

https://www.bandlab.com/post/ee203ade-caac-ed11-a8e0-000d3a3f8f45

Been trying Low covers since hearing of Mimi Parker's passing late last year.

https://www.bandlab.com/post/fcd2a044-0bba-ed11-a8e0-000d3a3f8f45

Can a cello approximate some Stereolab feels? Maybe?

https://www.bandlab.com/post/db32f569-aba8-ed11-a8e0-000d3a3f8f45

Ok I'm stopping.

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Ok, we totally would have been on tour together in the 90s! And we both loved the experimental take on Gymnopedié #1 - huge Satie fans. Your cover of Low is phenomenal! And yes, totally got the Stereolab vibe on that last track. Love your whole sound. Thank you for sharing. Maybe there's a collaboration in the cards for us?

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Thanks for all the kind words! I sense a fab collab in the future…

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