Staff Picks: Celebrate Make Music Ann Arbor With New Music in AADL’s Collection!

Mon, 06/10/2024 - 1:10pm by eapearce

Make Music Ann Arbor is a live, free musical celebration that takes place on June 21 every year—the longest day of the year. Cities across the world celebrate with concerts by professional and amateur musicians. Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music is open to anyone who wants to take part. Every kind of musician—young and old, amateur and professional, of every musical persuasion—pours onto streets, parks, and plazas to share their music with friends, neighbors, and strangers. All of it is free and open to the public. You can read more about Make Music Ann Arbor here. Of course, listening to music is a big part of Make Music Day, and you might want to listen to some of these new albums in AADL’s music collection!

Orchestras, by Bill Frisell | Request Now

In his new double LP, famed guitarist Bill Frisell teams up with his usual trio of bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston for a live recording of two concert hall arrangements designed specifically for Frisell. In the first, the trio is accompanied by the nearly 60-piece Brussels Philharmonic and in the second, they’re backed by the 11-piece Umbria Jazz Orchestra. While not a complex or unheard of concept, Frisell’s talent and interaction with the pieces make for transcendent listening and the trio nimbly weaves themselves in with the accompanists to make a truly special recording.

All Born Screaming, by St. Vincent | Request Now

St. Vincent’s newest record is the first that is self-produced and features a varied lineup of friends who helped bring the album to life. St. Vincent (real name Annie Clark) has referred to the album as “post-plague pop” and was recorded at six different studios in three different cities. Clark began working on the record back in 2021 and described the process as “taking a long walk in the woods alone” in order to find new depths in both her song-writing and vocals. The songs are a mixture of a variety of different musical styles–at some points it feels like you’re at a dance party in an industrial warehouse in Berlin and at others it feels like you’re listening to funky chamber pop. The album has been widely celebrated and critically acclaimed.

The Best of Sade, by Sade | Request Now

Though not new music, AADL’s recently purchased the LP version of the beloved greatest hits album of the English R&B group Sade. First released in 1994, the compilation includes favorites like “Smooth Operator,” “The Sweetest Taboo” and “Your Love is King.” Listening to the album on vinyl feels like listening to it the way it was intended to be heard. 

Now That’s What I Call K-Pop | Request Now

K-Pop fans might have fun listening to this compilation of classic “Now That’s What I Call…” fame, the first in the album series to include K-Pop songs. Die-hard fans might prefer to simply listen to their favorite artists, but for those new to the genre this is a great way to familiarize yourself with some of K-Pop’s big names and sounds. Listeners will hear bands like Stray Kids, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Fifty Fifty and will find it hard not to get up and dance along.

You can find these new additions and lots of other music in AADL’s catalog! Scroll down to find the “new music” option to see what we’ve added recently. And don’t forget to celebrate Make Music Ann Arbor on June 21!