Posted by Jason on Friday, Jun 30, 2017
I was in a bit of a music rut this year, turning down the chance to listen to unfamiliar contemporary artists in favor of revisiting nostalgic albums from 20 years ago and seeking out music genres I either missed the boat on (Britpop) or wasn't around for (Post-punk). A plethora of recent "Best of 2017 ...so far" articles have inspired me and I've discovered a few new albums from our collection that I think ICPL users should check out!
Jlin - Black Origami : An electronica album that is full of nervous energy and samples heavily from global music. On first listen I thought it would be too busy to be something I would casually throw on during a work session at my computer, but by the third track I was won over by the busy trance-like beats. Jlin rarely uses party-style electronica driving bass lines, instead she gets your head bobbing to a wide variety of percussion instrument samples (handclaps, drumlines, african drums) woven with repeated vocal snippets. If you're having trouble connecting to the album, I recommend at least watching the choreography in this video for her song "Carbon 7 (161)", jaw-dropping.
Big Thief - Capacity : Their 2016 album Masterpiece was one of my favorites last year, nothing new or particularly inventive but it had such passion and the big, dirty guitar countering singer Adrianne Lenker's warbling hit me just right. There's not as much of that basement rock sound on Capacity but the melodies and songwriting are terrific. Favorite tracks for me include a Nebraska-style road saga, "Shark Smile" and "Mary" which should be the final track to that mix-tape you make for your friend who is moving away.
About the Author
Jason is Adult Services Coordinator. He oversees reference services offered at the Info Desk, Switchboard, Digital Media Lab, Koza Family Teen Center, and Page Station. He coordinates programming opportunities for adults and teens.
Autobiographical stories of his work as Tropical Senior Botanical Horticulturist for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England. Carlos describes coming from a family that encouraged exploration, as well as respect and caretaking for the plants and animals of Asturias in Northern Spain. When wanderlust overtook him at 28, he travelled to London where a trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew changed his world. Their efforts to save highly endangered plants mirrored his passion for caring for the land back in Asturias. He has an energetic, driven personality that comes through in his recounts of his intense Kew education in the greenhouses and beyond. Most of the book recounts his journeys to save seeds or cuttings of rare plants found in the islands of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, Amazon backwaters in Peru, and many other far flung locations. He’s a great storyteller and has set up each chapter as if he has to solve a puzzle with life or death stakes, how do these rare plants produce fruit, seed, and ultimately a new plant? He includes simple overviews of the science behind his a-ha moments, so even if you don’t have a botanical background you come away with an understanding for how these mysteries were solved. His passion for plants is infectious and it carries through in his writing, the stories are often zany and move quickly and you’re left feeling that we need many more people with the drive and desire of this plant messiah. -Jason