New Music Friday: Not much on the horizon - a single by Damian Jurado, some archival Sun Ra material (cool, but nothing new), some new releases on Zorn's Tzadik label (dependably excellent as always but not unexpected).
Not much on the horizon . . . except this - possibly the best thing I've heard all year. Bob Dylan's A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, arranged by the Red Hot Organization and the Kronos Quartet, featuring Laurie Anderson (synthesizer and violin), Elia Einhorn (harmonium), Shahzad Ismaily (synths), and Suhail Yusuf Khan (sarangi), with the Hard Rain Singers (Anjali Rose, Elenna Canlas, Taraka Larson, Lollise, Mayteana Morales, and Hannah Winkler). The featured vocals, though, listed as "readers" in the credits, are Ocean Vuong, Sampa The Great, Dai Wei, Sleaford Mods, Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, Satomi Matsuzaki, Iggy Pop, Tom Morello, Stephin Merritt, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willie Nelson, Laurie Anderson, Mahsa Vahdat, somebody called "Fenway," and, oh yes, Ringo Starr.
Hard Rain has always hit hard, but this reading is simultaneously beautiful and off the charts terrifying.
The track was released with another excellent version of Hard Rain (although not as hard-hitting as this one) and a Terry Riley raga as the B-side. It's unclear if the next major release by the Red Hot Organization is going to be all covers of Bob Dylan songs (if so, why the Terry Riley raga) or anti-nuclear war material, neither of the above, or all of the above.
We'll have to wait with our ears open and meanwhile enjoy this terrific, creative performance.