***Some collaborations bring together artists. Others bring together entirely different worlds. There is Wonder Here, the forthcoming collaborative album from legendary pedal steel guitarist BJ Cole and Secondson brings together two instruments that have never before been recorded in this context, the expressive, fluid voice of pedal steel and the otherworldly resonance of the Cristal Baschet.For more than five decades, BJ Cole has been one of the most influential and adventurous pedal steel players in modern music. While many listeners know his playing from Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," Cole's lasting legacy lies in his role as a pioneer who helped liberate the pedal steel from its traditional country music context. Through collaborations with artists including Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Björk, John Cale, R.E.M., The Orb, and Joan Armatrading, he has demonstrated the instrument's possibilities in ambient, experimental, electronic, and art- pop settings.Secondson is one of a small number of musicians working extensively with the Cristal Baschet, a rare acoustic instrument invented in 1952 by French brothers Bernard and François Baschet. Played by rubbing chromatically tuned glass rods with wet fingertips, the Cristal Baschet produces an ethereal, hauntingly cinematic sound that Secondson describes as "an acoustic synthesizer." It can move from delicate, voice-like tones to powerful self- oscillating resonances.The album began as a long-distance exchange. Secondson composed and recorded a series of pieces specifically for the project, sending them to Cole, who responded by layering pedal steel performances over the material. The two eventually came together in the studio, where improvised...
LP $27.35
TBD