#4904, A Musical Menagerie
Photo of a Tardigrade,- © Eye of Science/Science Source
There are songs about foxes, manatees, octopuses and siphonophores, "Oh My!", from Inuk singer/composer Tanya Tagaq, bassist/composer Meshell Ndegeocello, and violinist/composer Carla Kihlstedt.
There’s music from Canadian Inuk musician Tanya Tagaq, with a piece about the Arctic fox, which uses electrified strings, and the sounds of Inuit "throat-singing" – a game of singing into one another's mouths. Listen also to a piece riffing off of Sun Ra from bass player and multi-instrumentalist Meshell Ndegeocello. It’s ostensibly about manatees and comes from one of the Red Hot tribute compilation albums to Sun Ra that came out in the spring of 2024.
Hear animal-inspired music by London vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Cosmo Sheldrake, who creates songs and sound worlds out of people, places, creatures, plants, fungi, and collected sounds. Then, there’s music about the multiple hearts in an octopus from violinist/composer Carla Kihlstedt and her band Two Foot Yard. Also, there’s a song about siphonophores from Kihlstedt's songwriting project Rabbit Rabbit Radio. Plus, listen to Swiss-based Anouar Kaddour Cherif, who draws on his Algerian musical roots in an Arabic jazz-tinged animal-inspired spiritual tale on mandole, and much more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4904, A Musical Menagerie (First aired 7/15/2024)
ARTIST: Cosmo Sheldrake
WORK: Tardigrade [1:01]
RECORDING: Eye to the Ear
SOURCE: Tardigrade Records
INFO: https://cosmosheldrake.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Carla Kihlstedt / Two Foot Yard
WORK: Octopus [4:25]
RECORDING: Borrowed Arms
SOURCE: Yard Work
INFO: carlakihlstedt.com | Available on Spotify, AppleMusic, Amazon.com
ARTIST: Cosmo Sheldrake
WORK: Tardigrade [4:06]
RECORDING: Eye to the Ear
SOURCE: Tardigrade Records
INFO: https://cosmosheldrake.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: BRHYM (Bruce Hornsby & yMusic)
WORK: PLATYPUS WOW [3:50]
RECORDING: Deep Sea Vents
SOURCE: Zappo Productions
INFO: Available on Spotify, AppleMusic, YouTube
ARTIST: Graham Reynolds, Jeffrey Zeigler, Susie Ibarra
WORK: Water Strider [2:06]
RECORDING: Insectum
SOURCE: Golden Hornet Records
INFO: https://www.goldenhornet.org/insectum
ARTIST: Blue Cranes
WORK: Lonely Coyote [4:35]
RECORDING: My Only Secret
SOURCE: Blue Cranes Music
INFO: https://bluecranes.bandcamp.com/album/my-only-secret
ARTIST: Rabbit Rabbit Radio (Kihlstedt/Bossi/Flower)
WORK: Nanomia Cara [3:21]
RECORDING: Black Inscription
SOURCE: RabbitRabbit Radio 004
INFO: rabbitrabbitradio.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Tanya Tagaq
WORK: Fox - Tiriganiak [3:44]
RECORDING: Auk/Blood
SOURCE: Ipecac Recordings
INFO: tanyatagaq.bandcamp.com/album/auk-blood
ARTIST: Adrian Crowley
WORK: The Magpie Song [4:57]
RECORDING: Some Blue Morning
SOURCE: Chemikal Underground CHEM 212
INFO: chemikal.co.uk
ARTIST: Meshell Ndegeocello
WORK: Reproductive Manatees - Sunny Said Up! [6:39]
RECORDING: Red Hot & Ra - The Magic City
SOURCE: Red Hot Org
INFO: https://redhot.bandcamp.com/album/red-hot-ra-the-magic-city
ARTIST: Anouar Kaddour Cherif
WORK: Albatross [5:05]
RECORDING: Djawla
SOURCE: Riverboat Records/World Music Network
INFO: https://anouarkaddourcherif.bandcamp.com/album/djawla
