The album I've been most bowled over by this year (so far) is Vulture Prince by composer-singer Arooj Aftab: https://aroojaftab.bandcamp.com/album/vulture-prince.
Some previous discussion here: Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2021 Thread (Often African bands).
The description on her Bandcamp page captures the unique blend of styles: "Aftab’s liminal sound floats between classical minimalism and new age, Sufi devotional poetry and electronic trance, jazz structures and states of pure being."
But I think that makes it sound much more ethereal than it is. The record sounds very live, very corporeal in terms of voices, breaths, fingers on strings. Her presence is intimate and immediate; as graceful as it is you're not drifting through a dreamspace. It's also deeply emotional, as the rather good Pitchfork review gets into.
I'd talk about some stand-out tracks—and I can't not highlight "Last Night," a gently skanking & dubby rendition of a Rumi poem—but the whole thing is organically brilliant.
I'm going to spend more time with this before checking out her previous work, but rapturous appreciation posts of all kinds welcome.
― rob, Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:17 (two years ago) link
heard a track from this on WFMU a month or so ago and thought it sounded amazing. bummed the lp is sold out, but glad to be reminded of it, will listen now.
― mizzell, Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:21 (two years ago) link
I sampled the first few minutes of the opening track after reading p4k’s review the other day and immediately added the album to my list.
― pomenitul, Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:24 (two years ago) link
Says the LP willl be back in stock in a month. The clip I heard gave me the same initial feeling as Julie Byrne. Is that way off overall?
― Evan, Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:26 (two years ago) link
I don't know who Byrne is! Give me a song and I'll report back
― rob, Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:28 (two years ago) link
https://badabingrecords.bandcamp.com/track/sleepwalker
I mean, I only heard a few seconds of the song Mohabbat and my brain made a connection.
― Evan, Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:33 (two years ago) link
thanking you for this thread, rob! was thinking of making one myself after I listened to the album yesterday, but I’m happy you came through first
― Long Tall Arsetee & the Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:35 (two years ago) link
Evan: oh I do recognize this cover. I would say there is definitely a bit of this kind of thing going on (esp in the song you tried), but Aftab also sings in Urdu and draws on ghazals and Sufi poetry and in general doesn't sound too songwriter-y
breastcrawl: my pleasure! and cheers to calzino for mentioning it
― rob, Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:39 (two years ago) link
it's lovely and versatile.
― Draymond is "Mr Dumpy" (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:47 (two years ago) link
did not know i needed "Dub Sufi" but hey
― Draymond is "Mr Dumpy" (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:48 (two years ago) link
what a voice she has as well, it's an incredible album.
― calzino, Thursday, 29 April 2021 15:50 (two years ago) link
I plan to check out her earlier work, but were people already following her? I hadn't heard her name until you mentioned it calzino
― rob, Thursday, 29 April 2021 15:52 (two years ago) link
someone I follow on twitter mentioned her in his weekly roundup of new releases. I'd never heard of her before.
― calzino, Thursday, 29 April 2021 15:56 (two years ago) link
she was featured as an album of the day on bandcamp daily, that's how i found her. i usually check out those articles and if the description moves me i give it a shot
https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/arooj-aftab-vulture-prince-review
i'd venture to say her album is closer to album of the year than album of the day haha *rimshot*
― the mai tai quinn (voodoo chili), Thursday, 29 April 2021 16:38 (two years ago) link
Adding to all the praise. Been a remarkable year in music, really.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 29 April 2021 17:01 (two years ago) link
ILM Archival Servicefrom the Hallelujah Poll, poll Halleluja.... poll:she ended 7th (along with a host of others)
Poll ResultsOption Votes1.Jeff Buckley 153.John Cale 122.Leonard Cohen 1019.Happy Mondays 622.Bono 28.Rufus Wainwright 240.Arooj Aftab 1[...]― Mark G, vrijdag 26 november 2010 12:59
a friend of mine just played drums with her on a gig (not a meshell gig, backing up arooj aftab...anyone go to that?)― this is unusual for batman. (Jordan), woensdag 2 november 2011 15:04The NYC club listing below is not clear--are they playing Pakistani music?“An incredible incredible stupendous stupendous group of humans will walk and run and dream and weep through an evening of songs by Arooj Aftab and Grey Mcmurray.The Sea Gazing Family Band for the night of October 29th 2011 will be:Arooj Aftab Mathias Kunzli Joshua Valleau Conor Elmes Norman Vladimir Grey Mcmurray and Meshell Ndegeocello”― curmudgeon, woensdag 2 november 2011 15:24pakistani jazz?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLvAAzEOqM0― this is unusual for batman. (Jordan), woensdag 2 november 2011 15:43
Al Sarah and the Nubatones // Arooj Aftab // DJ UshkaA night of ultimate contemporary world and roots fusion sounds! [...]Arooj Aftab will perform a duo set of acoustic, pre-partition, sufi inspired south asian semi classical music with Guitarist and Co-Composer Bhrigu Sahni.The show is at a secret location on Saturday Sept 29th in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. You must RSVP, attendance is by invitation only. Send a message to alsarah5✧✧✧@gm✧✧✧.c✧✧ and you will recieve a confirmation email with time and exact location. Not a good look to miss this, so see you there!!― EVERYONE COOKING SCMABLED EGGS,CHEESE WITH TOASTER!! (forksclovetofu), vrijdag 28 september 2012 20:28
April 28 – Arroj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shazad Ismaily https://www.joespub.com/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/Joes-Pub/2019/Arooj-Aftab-Vijay-Iyer--Shazad-Ismaily-Trio/?SiteTheme=JoesPub
August 7 – Jesus Carmona / Arooj Aftab – Dance - FREEhttp://www.lincolncenter.org/out-of-doors/show/jesus-carmona-and-arooj-aftab
― Long Tall Arsetee & the Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Thursday, 29 April 2021 17:52 (two years ago) link
Listening to "Mohabbat" on Bandcamp...it's nice. It seems like I was sent a promo, so I'll check out the whole album.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 29 April 2021 22:55 (two years ago) link
I'm halfway through the first song and it's amazing. Though its different, it hits similar spots for me as that Alabaster DePlume record.
― keto keto bonito v industry plant-based diet (PBKR), Thursday, 29 April 2021 22:57 (two years ago) link
Adore this album
― Tim F, Friday, 30 April 2021 02:51 (two years ago) link
"Mohabbat": all that balancing on the acoustic guitar cycle, the vocal notes occasionally venturing, returning closer to the hub (yes also thinking of bicycle guitar): makes me think of 60s Joni and Fairport, like if they did another otherwise elusive JM song after "Eastern Rain"---yeah this and "Last Night" especially make me think of DePlume, and a production by Solid Air-era Martyn, eventually veering toward One World, if he were directing say Danny Thompson and Terry Cox--but the singer, confident as ever, never gets lost in the pile-on of my associations. Lots of other stuff on her bandcamp...April 28 – Arroj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shazad Ismaily Tell me this is on YouTube, or somewhere.
― dow, Friday, 30 April 2021 04:54 (two years ago) link
"Mohabbat" is also reminding me of how "Eastern Rain" and some other things on FC's What We Did On Our Holidays always had me thinking of East-West trade routes involving maybe the Arctic Circle, pre-Ice Age, say (thinking of that during Weed Age)
― dow, Friday, 30 April 2021 05:06 (two years ago) link
wow
wow wow wow wow wow
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 1 May 2021 14:26 (two years ago) link
booming post :)
― rob, Saturday, 1 May 2021 14:42 (two years ago) link
I listened to this on long drive and it was very meditative. It put my mom to sleep (which she needed, lol).
― keto keto bonito v industry plant-based diet (PBKR), Sunday, 2 May 2021 00:30 (two years ago) link
oh wow this is astounding
― ufo, Thursday, 6 May 2021 21:55 (two years ago) link
Good interview here: https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/arooj-aftab-vulture-prince-interview/
Of note: she's recorded a to-be-released album with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily as Love In Exile
― rob, Wednesday, 12 May 2021 14:09 (two years ago) link
I had no idea she was an Abida Parveen protégée of sorts. Now there's a legit lineage!
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 12 May 2021 15:01 (two years ago) link
Goddam
Program
Love in Exile performs as one continuous hour-long set.
Pictures help us to live in complete possession of our sense of sight…[they] send us back to life and to the other arts with the ability to see beauty all around us.—Duncan Phillips, 1926
Join us from the gallery exploring the senses in our exhibition Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century, for a transformative, hour-long musical meditation from composer/pianist Vijay Iyer, vocalist Arooj Aftab, and bassist Shazad Ismaily. Love in Exile creates lush, cathartic, and ritualistic soundscapes that activate visual works in the gallery by Leo Villareal, Malissia Pettaway, Rudolf De Crignis, and Richard Diebenkorn.
This performance will be broadcast on this event page and is free with registration. Once you have registered, return to this page on Sunday, May 9, scroll down to the section “Watch the Stream” and enter the password provided to you at registration. The performance will be available to view On-Demand.
https://www.phillipscollection.org/event/2021-05-09-vijay-iyer-arooj-aftab-and-shahzad-ismaily-love-exile
https://www.phillipscollection.org/sites/default/files/styles/feature_extra_large_no_crop_1200_/public/2021-04/wide%20final%20photo.jpg?itok=jdDLs0aT
― dow, Wednesday, 12 May 2021 16:40 (two years ago) link
You don't (and apparently no longer can) register to stream---I couldn't get the cart etc. to respond, so just clicked on the Vimeo, and here we go---already sounds awesome.
― dow, Wednesday, 12 May 2021 19:52 (two years ago) link
Three pieces, in total a little over 53 minutes. First is the longest, slowest, zoneist, zzzz-est for me, penultimately, but I woke up for final coalescence---main thing here is, this really is a group, and everybody gets enough room, but Iyer goes a bit far into the weeds sometimes---however, on the second piece, about 24 minutes in, he switches to electric piano, and the whole thing is a little faster, more discernibly developmental---on the third one, he goes back to the acoustic, Chopinesque, then she comes in sooner than on the second, he goes to both hands on the left side, with pedals, and Ismaily's Moog bass drone is ominous--she reaches some peaks all through, without ever losing her cool. I'll check their album for sure, but glad to have hers first.
― dow, Wednesday, 12 May 2021 21:21 (two years ago) link
O now this is the shit (occasionally seems like some instruments other than listed, but might be how the listed are used---wouldn't swear she's not the flute, also, like it says, A masterful expression of lyrical and acoustic soul, tripped out through analog voltage and experimental digital filters.)creditsreleased March 9, 2015
Bird Under WaterWritten, Arranged and Produced by Arooj Aftab
Arooj Aftab - VocalsJörn Bielfeldt - Drums/PercussionMario Carrillo - Contra-BassBhrigu Sahni - Acoustic/Electric GuitarMagda Giannikou - Accordion on tracks 2, 3 and 4Sonny Singh - Trumpet on tracks 2 and 5Baqir Abbas - Bansuri on track 1Rakae Jamil - Sitar on track 3
Tracks 2, 3 and 5 co-written with Bhrigu SahniMixed and Mastered by Jeremy LoucasEngineered by Joshua Valleau and Alex SynerAlbum Art by Anum Awan and Yikun Lianghttps://aroojaftab.bandcamp.com/album/bird-under-water
― dow, Wednesday, 12 May 2021 23:20 (two years ago) link
Kind of a DePlume vibe, or related appeal,anyway, but maybe earlier in the day or evening, and a little more spare?https://alabasterdeplume.bandcamp.com/album/to-cy-lee-instrumentals-vol-1
― dow, Monday, 31 May 2021 22:06 (two years ago) link
Sorry, meant to link re Carlos Niño & Friends on Rolling Jazz, but Arooj fans might dig that album too.
― dow, Monday, 31 May 2021 22:11 (two years ago) link
certainly digging it
― corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 1 June 2021 15:35 (two years ago) link
she’s on obama's summer playlist lol
― the mai tai quinn (voodoo chili), Saturday, 10 July 2021 14:37 (two years ago) link
prob freaking out a lotta rightwingnuts who have no idea who she is
― Yours in Sorrow, A Schoolboy: (forksclovetofu), Monday, 12 July 2021 15:29 (two years ago) link
Suroor might be my highlight from Vulture Prince, but there are moments in every song where she stops me in whatever I was doing. I also love how she manages to jump from orchestral to reggae to harp-folk to post-rock delicate soundscapes in an otherwise very consistent style. Suroor sounds like a Mande-Arabic fusion, in a pleasant unplaceable global way that I guess is the new platonic ideal of world music.
― Nabozo, Wednesday, 21 July 2021 10:01 (two years ago) link
there are moments in every song where she stops me in whatever I was doing
I hadn't listened to this in a little while, but I put it on while in mountains with some friends for the first time in a year and everyone was totally spellbound. It's really powerful
― rob, Wednesday, 21 July 2021 13:03 (two years ago) link
yeah you gotta be careful where and when you put it on haha
it’s firmly a “don’t drive with this” album for me, along with prefab sprout’s i trawl the megahertz
― bezos did the dub (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 21 July 2021 13:17 (two years ago) link
I wonder how much Obama pays his playlist consultants
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 21 July 2021 13:17 (two years ago) link
and are they hiring? I always feel mildly owned when those lists drop lol
do we have a driving music thread? vc's post reminds me of a friend who would drive to stuff like Stars of the Lid and Windy & Carl that would 100% result in my death if I tried it
― rob, Wednesday, 21 July 2021 13:33 (two years ago) link
Heard this for the first time yesterday and was utterly entranced. By necessity, so much of my listening these days is done while doing other things - working, cooking, chores, etc. It is rare that an artist so completely pulls me out of my immediate focus and compels me to listen the way this did from the opening track.
― Indexed, Thursday, 2 September 2021 13:54 (two years ago) link
best album of the year, imo
― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Thursday, 2 September 2021 14:01 (two years ago) link
nommed for best new artist at the grammys lol
― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 23 November 2021 18:09 (two years ago) link
that's what the obama co-sign will do for you
― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 23 November 2021 18:10 (two years ago) link
LMAO
― Indexed, Tuesday, 23 November 2021 18:46 (two years ago) link
also up for best global album i think.
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 23 November 2021 21:59 (two years ago) link
she's on my year-end list, great album
― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Tuesday, 23 November 2021 22:00 (two years ago) link
same
― maf you one two (maffew12), Tuesday, 23 November 2021 22:17 (two years ago) link
vinyl just went up on bandcamp i guess... last batches sold fast
― maf you one two (maffew12), Tuesday, 23 November 2021 22:24 (two years ago) link
I read that more as a riposte to the idea that "touring is how you make money in the music biz" rather than a specific critique of venue prices, even if that seems like the only immediately available solution
― rob, Wednesday, September 7, 2022 2:46 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
Her wording in the two tweets shared above kind of conveys that feeling popular tweets often do where people are meant to be whipped up to "take a stand" against some oppressive societal system or power ("This should not be normalized" & "we are expected to take the hit") so while I agree with you about their likely intention I was a little unsure myself, hence my own initial response. Also I do wonder how universal her experience is, not to push back against it or anything but there are a lot of baseline variables depending on who you are, where you're going and what you need to bring with you.
― Evan, Thursday, 8 September 2022 15:44 (one year ago) link
I find it hard to believe that many artists are touring at a loss right now, let alone a loss of “tens of thousands” of dollars
― zacata, Thursday, September 8, 2022 7:34 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
why is it hard to believe that artists are touring at a loss?
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Thursday, 8 September 2022 17:14 (one year ago) link
festival guarantees are much much smaller than a regular gig for all the small font artists. if an artist wants to book hotels instead of sleeping in cans or buses, a 20+ day tour can run up thousands of dollars, even if all three band members share a room.
the venue also takes home 50% of the door and 100% of the bar for the vast majority of artists who aren’t at the superstar level. and in rooms like the ones aftab is playing, you basically have to sell out to see any money at all
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Thursday, 8 September 2022 17:17 (one year ago) link
50% of the door is a generous estimate that not every artist gets, they usually just get a flat guarantee (given the budget that a lot of small venues work with, that number is prob much smaller than you think it is) and the promoters get the ticket proceeds
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Thursday, 8 September 2022 17:20 (one year ago) link
Lots of venues take a percentage of merch sales too
― mizzell, Thursday, 8 September 2022 17:26 (one year ago) link
which is bullshit
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 8 September 2022 18:17 (one year ago) link
Do they really? Not just when they provide a merch person?
― Evan, Thursday, 8 September 2022 18:35 (one year ago) link
No, the venue usually gets the money from the merch person. They count everything in during load in and recount it after the show. It's a really shitty practice.
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 8 September 2022 18:44 (one year ago) link
I have never understood why bands don't just load more merch in during the opening band. I guess you'd have to be pretty attentive to keep track of it all (ie "why is there more merch here now than when you started?")
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 8 September 2022 18:45 (one year ago) link
I actually don't know how widespread it is, but Stereolab recently posted that there were only 2 venues on their upcoming tour which don't take a cut.
xxp
― mizzell, Thursday, 8 September 2022 18:46 (one year ago) link
That is such a bullshit practice that needs to be shamed out of existence, ASAP. I've seen a couple of impassioned arguments FOR the practice from small venue owners that bemoan how much things cost for them, but none of it was enough to convince me.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 8 September 2022 18:52 (one year ago) link
My most detailed peek into touring band finances was a band some friends were in that used to tour Europe playing mostly small theaters. 8 piece band in a bus plus a sound person, driver, and merch person. Pre-pandemic they would come home with some money, let's say $5 - 15k per person depending on the length of the tour. Not great money at all if you're trying to live on it, and can't take a a full-time job so you can tour a few months out of the year. But definitely not losing tens of thousands of dollars.
I'm sure things are worse now in terms of missed shows due to travel snafus and COVID, lower turn-out and sales, etc. But I'd love to know how much worse, ie does that explain everything or are there additional factors in Aftab's situation.
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 8 September 2022 18:59 (one year ago) link
I see she's booked to come back to the Washington DC area in April 2023 on a bill with Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily all together in a collaborative project called Love in Exile at the fancy suburban Strathmore Music Center in Maryland that I think holds 2,200 people. $23 to $68. Not sure they will fill the place, but maybe she gets a sizable guarantee?
― curmudgeon, Friday, 9 September 2022 03:05 (one year ago) link
recent conversation i had with two booking agents suggested that Europe for jazz/"world" is good guaranteed money, US is not.
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Friday, 9 September 2022 06:19 (one year ago) link
this is insane? does that go for both US/EU?
― corrs unplugged, Friday, 9 September 2022 06:31 (one year ago) link
xxpost To have an idea of what you might be for with Love In Exile, scroll up to where I posted the link to their streaming concert: click on that, then click on the Vimeo you'll see, as I just now did: seems fine, although I didn't try to play the whole thing. Mainly because, as I said in my comments then (May, 2021), I sometimes got frustrated by the knottier, lengthier piano traffic patterns, despite the excellent vocals and bass---piano was effective at times as well, but judging by posts about recent shows, seems like she still gives her colleagues a lot of space---and Vijay is my least favorite of the people she's performed with (although he's always been an effective anchor-to-axis-and-back for Burnt Sugar). But she's mentioned a Love In Exile album that was finished a while back, and I would like to hear it---for one thing, maybe studio budgeting etc. would rein him in.
― dow, Friday, 9 September 2022 06:47 (one year ago) link
Time to spill the beans … https://t.co/a1OrLh39Gg— arooj aftab (@arooj_aftab) November 18, 2022
― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Sunday, 20 November 2022 13:33 (one year ago) link
Definitely looking forward to that at Big Ears.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 20 November 2022 15:28 (one year ago) link
looking forward to hearing that
― “Cheeky cheeky!” she trills, nearly demolishing a roadside post (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 6 December 2022 05:38 (one year ago) link
Been checking out Love in Exile video online from the last few years via NYC shows and a DC one at the Phillips Collection art museum. Improvised and a bit more melancholy. Definitely rewarding
― curmudgeon, Friday, 17 February 2023 03:27 (one year ago) link
Oh, some of the Love in Exile stuff is mentioned upthread. They first did it in 2018 and have done it on and off over the years.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 17 February 2023 04:02 (one year ago) link
Has the Love in Exile album been delayed? It's March in like 10 days but no preorder, no tracklisting, no info since that tweet back in November.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Sunday, 19 February 2023 16:36 (one year ago) link
https://f-cat.de/en/artist/love-in-exile
This says spring 2023. Aftab's manager told me during a zoom interview I did with her a few weeks ago, that the first single from it would be out February 23 and that the album would be out March 23
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 February 2023 05:59 (one year ago) link
^ Ooh, thanks, I'm glad it's not pushed back! She has just confirmed the single on Twitter BTW:
FIRST SINGLE of the new project is out tomorrowwwww TOMORROWWW— arooj aftab (@arooj_aftab) February 22, 2023
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 19:22 (one year ago) link
tomorrow... but that's... today!!
― corrs unplugged, Thursday, 23 February 2023 08:34 (one year ago) link
yes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z0w7U6yw0cArooj Aftab ft. Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily • To Remain/To Return
(there's also a 3'19 edit)
― let us now celebrate ama ‘piano’ smith & the clowns (breastcrawl), Thursday, 23 February 2023 09:31 (one year ago) link
has anyone listened to this all?I think it’s a beautiful piece, if perhaps less ‘dramatic’ than the Vulture Prince material
― let us now celebrate ama ‘piano’ smith & the clowns (breastcrawl), Sunday, 26 February 2023 15:20 (one year ago) link
Yes, I really enjoyed it, but will wait for the full album before listening again.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Sunday, 26 February 2023 21:14 (one year ago) link
ha, I was going to post the exact same thing
― rob, Sunday, 26 February 2023 22:08 (one year ago) link
Working w/ Vijay Iyer & S. Azmaily rather than Vulture Prince musicians I think is going to sound a bit different (although some of Aftab vocal melodies may seem consistent). Upthread and on Youtube are some live Love in Exile shows from NY & DC that the album will likely resemble.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 27 February 2023 03:18 (one year ago) link
Gonna be including the album in my Stereogum column for March even though it's pretty far from "jazz." Really beautiful, though.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, 27 February 2023 16:35 (one year ago) link
Looks like the album is not going to include the magnificent piece they did for the Resonant Bodies comp (is that how they got they her?)https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/resonant-bodies?t=6 if you missed it
― Xgau Murder Spa (nikola), Tuesday, 28 February 2023 02:28 (one year ago) link
* is that how they got together?
― Xgau Murder Spa (nikola), Tuesday, 28 February 2023 18:35 (one year ago) link
Iyer I read often invites people to perform with him and he invited Aftab to play onstage with him. Then he invited Aftab and Ismaily to do so, and after they all played together once , Ismaily was so so wowed he asked the other two to keep playing together as a trio
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 February 2023 18:41 (one year ago) link
album is out (have yet to listen)
― at bottom, wrapping my arms around some tripe called "Quest" (breastcrawl), Saturday, 25 March 2023 10:37 (one year ago) link
keep waiting for the album to begin, riyl sleepy ECM
― corrs unplugged, Sunday, 26 March 2023 19:16 (one year ago) link
Yeah it's more an ECM album with Arooj than an Arooj Aftab album. I also found the beginning to be too quiet, but now I'm enjoying the dialogue between piano and double bass and the tranquil warmth (Shadow Forces - Sajni), the slightly darker Eyes of the Endless. I think there's enough tension and beauty to hook me.
― Nabozo, Monday, 27 March 2023 12:57 (one year ago) link
I have precisely zero problems with sleepy ECM plus Arooj.
― Tim F, Monday, 27 March 2023 20:13 (one year ago) link
It's not sleepy, exactly — it's just a slow build. And you really need to listen to the whole thing front to back; you can't really pluck one track out (though I did, obviously, when covering it for Stereogum).
― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, 27 March 2023 20:15 (one year ago) link
Nate Chinen interviews Love In Exile:
On this special episode of All Songs Considered, Iyer, Aftab and Ismaily sat down in the Brooklyn recording studio Ismaily owns for for an in-depth conversation that touches on the origins of the trio, which they say felt instantly charged with spiritual energies. They also dicussed the implications of the name "Love in Exile," with its play of diaspora and longing; the mysterious way that a song form can emerge out of group improv and "ritual time" as an expression of tempo ungoverned by genre or market concerns.
― dow, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 23:21 (one year ago) link
Saw the Love in Exile trio Friday night . I enjoyed the ethereal soundscapes they did. It's a Vijay Iyer led project. Aftab sounded great when she sang. But she looked a little stressed. Early in the show she noted that she had monitor issues, and then later she didn't talk in between songs much -- a couple of comments about wanting more wine to drink onstage.(that first sounded like a joke or sarcasm, but after second comment about it , she seemed annoyed with the theatre for real).
― curmudgeon, Monday, 17 April 2023 04:39 (one year ago) link
I saw that a couple of dates from the Love In Exile tour have turned up on Dime. Not listened to the sets yet. Have enjoyed teh couple of tracks I've heard by her and did see she got an article in one of teh UK monthlies last moth that I've been too busy to read so far. Hopefully get to that over next few days.
― Stevo, Monday, 17 April 2023 09:06 (one year ago) link
Lot of good stuff on her Bandcamp. I'd take all that over the live Love in Exile performance linked upthread (because Vijay's long-ass ruminations), but haven't yet heard the album or tour bits.
― dow, Monday, 17 April 2023 16:54 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6QNNxCf-3s
New Aftab, Iyer, Ismaily on NPR Tiny Desk (there's also an older Tiny Desk with Aftab with her own band)
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 14 May 2023 14:35 (eleven months ago) link
Is it just me or is this lovely new single giving Sade vibes?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5IOeXg1jJY
― Tim F, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 19:02 (two days ago) link
Yep, trailer for this sure does
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 18 April 2024 04:53 (yesterday) link
directed by Tessa Thompson
― Murgatroid, Thursday, 18 April 2024 05:59 (yesterday) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLE-B7_bSSw
this is the single and yeah it is very much giving sade vibes, i love it
― ufo, Thursday, 18 April 2024 09:47 (yesterday) link
gorgeous song and video
― Murgatroid, Thursday, 18 April 2024 16:22 (yesterday) link
New album Night Reign coming May 31. Moor Mother guests on a track
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 18 April 2024 16:38 (yesterday) link