Amanda Whiting - The Liminality Of Her - new album from UK harpist out today (First Word Records)

First Word Records is very proud to present 'The Liminality of Her', a brand new 10-track album from their newest signing, Amanda Whiting; a highly-acclaimed Welsh harpist & composer. A virtuoso in her field, this classically trained musician has quickly established herself as an essential player in the UK jazz scene, carving her own unique sound, following on from the paths forged by Ashby and Coltrane. This 10-track album exemplifies Amanda's talents as a performer and composer, taking in an array of hypnotising sonics from the worlds of jazz; from fusion to spiritual and beyond. She is backed with accompaniment from a remarkable set of players in their own right, including Chip Wickham on flute and PEACH. on vocals. A confident display of purposefully blissful compositions that saunter as much as they soothe, whilst being unafraid to lean into some deep uptempo grooves. Amanda describes the theme of this project as "liminality... that place in between, the transition from one place to another. No longer what it was, yet not what it's going to be. The harp always presents itself at these moments. It's a sound that causes an emotion. My instrument chose me. It's been with me through every chapter of life. It's how I speak, especially when there are no words. This album is a rite of passage for "her". A feeling of alchemy, a feeling of liberation. Moments of inner searching, intertwined, waiting but moving forward. Never looking back. 'The Liminality of Her' encompasses the highs and the lows. The nomadic love of freedom and spirituality. It's all so much bigger than you or I…" From the cinematic, classical fusion of 'After Dark', to the more playful 'Lost in Abstraction', this album invites you to float in a soundscape of liminality... 

Blog post and linked up tracklist [HERE]

D. Rothon - The Ghost We Bring (Clay Pipe Music) Glacis - You Are Born (Preserved Sound) Hania Rani - Ghosts - from Pradziady (Gondwana Records) Cass. - Let's Keep Us Close Until We Die (ft. Altars Altars) (Home Normal) Amanda Whiting - Gone (Jazzman) Laraaji - Illusion Of Time (Ahead Of Our Time) Greg Foat - Motherly Love (Strut) Trigg & Gusset - Blue Shades (Preserved Sound) Andrew Wasylyk - Avril Hydrangeas (Clay Pipe Music) ambientsketchbook - Life's Greatest Questions (Self Released) Good Weather For An Airstrike - All Is Lost (ft. Jamie Brett) (Hawkmoon Records) Ezra Feinberg - Letter To My Mind (Related States) Kryshe - Fragile (Serein) José González - Head On (Imperial) Leifur James - Time (Night Time Stories) Phi-Psonics - Mama (Nightnote Records) Slow Meadow - Tethered To The Earth (Self Released) Luke Howard Trio - A Plane Of Becoming (Hobbledehoy) Matthew Halsall - Reflections (Gondwana Records) Penguin Cafe - Protection (Erased Tapes) Portico Quartet - Gateway (Gondwana Records) The Cinematic Orchestra - Wait For Now / Leave The World (Ninja Tune) Thomas Méreur - Left Behind and Irretrievably Lost (Preserved Sound) The Search Party - So Many Things Have Got Me Down (Ole Smokey Instrumental Edit)

Download via [HEARTHIS]

Intro 00:00

Christopher Hanlon-Never Too Far 00:55

Dave Clarkson-Wondering Star 02:47

Brian Duffy-Wind On Combe Gibbet 04:26

Chapter 1 08:00

Pruski-Euphoria 10:55

36-Peaceful Moments 15:18

Don Leisure, Amanda Whiting-The First Chant 19:34

Ogle-Andromeda 23:54

Krakenkraft-Omniversive 26:54

Payta-Flower Child 30:10

Chapter 2 323:22

The Hologram People-John Barleycorn Must Die 35:49

Dan Ubick-Dawn Patrol 38:28

Tegu-X 39:29

Mason Bee-There You Are 45:23

Michal Turtle-Jeka 50:19

The South Coast Synth Ensemble-Avril 14th 54:21

Chapter 3 59:30

Fabien Guiraud-L'accident du poisson rouge 1:03:37

Sauveur Mallia-Double Polygone 1:08:09

Martin Stürtzer-The last Outpost 1:10:30

Etienne Jaumet, Fabrizio Rat-Rive Opposte 1:20:39

Lunaria-Venusian Cloud Structure 1:25:51

Mario Luciano, Lauren Santi-Peace of Time 1:35:25

Chapter 4 1:37:03

Listening Center-The Journey Home 1:42:26

Marco Lucchi-toy harp n°20 (+ juno koto) 1:49:10

Urban Meditation-Nightfall 1:51:23

Abdicant-Long Thinking 1:56:48

Outro 1:59:34

Beer of the week: Cygnus X-1 by Monkey Brew

Listen to: Little Sunflower by Amanda Whiting

pure and quiet pleasure

hits the Saw characters with my shrink ray

peak romance is having someone to keep you company as you rot

Amanda Donohoe as Lady Sylvia Marsh THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM (1988) dir. Ken Russell

Don Leisure with Amanda Whiting - Beyond The Midnight Sun - beats + harp

To bring you up to speed, Cardiff DJ and beat-maker Don Leisure has been twice nominated for the Welsh Music Prize, with the afore-mentioned album 'Shaboo Strikes Back', and a previous project, 'Steel Zakusi'. As well as being 50% of Darkhouse Family with Earl Jeffers, he's released music under various monikers on labels such as Metalheadz, International Anthem, Fat City, Earnest Endeavours, Group BraCil and on Rough Trade with another regular collaborator, Gruff Rhys. Other collabs have included Charlotte Church, Om'Mas Keith, DJ Spinna and First Word label-mate Tyler Daley (Children of Zeus). His DJ portfolio includes sets for BBC 6 Music, NTS, Rinse FM, Solid Steel, Boxout FM (India), The Jazz Cafe, Fabric and Boiler Room, while previous support has come from Lauren Laverne, Tom Ravenscroft, Huw Stephens, Lefto, Rob Da Bank, Huey Morgan, Jon1st, Om Unit, Kid Fonque, Mr Thing and many more. His album 'Shaboo' was named "the best album of its kind since J Dilla's 'Donuts'" by Piccadilly Records. Joining him throughout this project, we have the pleasure of welcoming the phenomenal talents of highly-acclaimed harpist Amanda Whiting to the First Word label. A virtuoso in her field, this classically trained musician quickly established herself as an essential player in the UK jazz scene, carving her unique sound following the paths forged by Ashby and Coltrane. The talents of Deborah Jordan are also featured on a couple of the album's tracks. Deborah is a stalwart in the UK soul and jazz scene in her own right, working over the years with artists like 4Hero, Bugz In The Attic, Ty, Jneiro Jarel, K15, Robert Mitchell and Kaidi Tatham (someone who's collaborated with all the players on this release at some point). 'Beyond The Midnight Sun' is a 7-track affair comprised of delectable spiritual jazz fused with hip hop beats, psychedelic electronics and a touch of soul. 

The Lair of the White Worm (1988) dir. Ken Russell

Blog post and linked up tracklist [HERE]

Tracklist

01. Luftrum - Dawn Chorus (Self Released) 02. Andrew Wasylyk - Blossomness #2 (Clay Pipe Music) 03. D. Rothon - The Ghost We Bring (Clay Pipe Music) 04. Trigg & Gusset - Blue Shades (Preserved Sound) 05. Amanda Whiting - After Dark (Jazzman) 06. Nat Birchall - Mirror Mind (Ancient Archive Of Sound) 07. Ishmael Ensemble - The River (Reprise) (Severn Songs) 08. Dwight Trible ft. Matthew Halsall - Deep River (Gondwana) 09. Yusef Lateef - Like It Is (Music On Vinyl) 10. Chip Wickham - Pushed Too Far (Lovemonk) 11. Katya Yonder - Mood (Meteron) 12. Arooj Aftab - Last Night (New Amsterdam Records) 13. Warren Hampshire - Eye Of The Deluge (Athens Of The North) 14. Luke Howard Trio - Phases (Hobbledehoy)

Download available via [Hearthis]

Sunday 17 December Mixtape 405 “Mind Flow”

Multi Genre, Electroacoustic, Ambient, Electronic, Trevlad Sounds Wednesdays & Sundays. Support the artists and labels. Don't forget to subscribe so future shows can bloom. https://linktr.ee/trevlad

Trevlad Sounds-Welcome in you wonderful listener 00:00

Der Elektrische Traum-Continuum Flow 00:31

6WX_O-Enter the waterfall 06:27

Don Leisure, Amanda Whiting-Beyond The Midnight Sun 08:38

Off Land-Skyquakes 11:20

The Central Office of Information-The Mental Cupboards Of My Mind 16:07

Pietro Zollo-April — part 3 18:03

Imrryr-1st 36:53

Hello Meteor-Gravity Yellow 40:18

36-Ghostfields 43:12

Apta-Submerge 46:42

This Edwardian-style gown was created for the Ascot scene in the original 1956 Broadway production of the Lerner and Loewe musical My Fair Lady. The scene was filled with beautiful gowns, all in black and white, in keeping with the famous “Black Ascot” of 1910, when King Edward VII died shortly before the event, making it inappropriate to wear color. Thus, those who attended wore all black, aside from accents of white from pearls and flowers.

The gown was designed by Cecil Beaton and executed by Helene Pons based on his sketches. The cream crepe dress has black velvet stripes and an embroidered lace bib. The photo above most likely shows actress Melisande Congdon in the costume, as she performed in the play for three years.

When Truman Capote decided to throw his famous “Black and White Ball,” – he used the scene from My Fair Lady as its inspiration. Deborah Davis’ wonderful book The Party of the Century mentions that much of the gossip about town was about “who” everyone would wear. Amanda Carter Burden, daughter of Babe Paley, was able to sidestep this conversation and not commit to any one designer when she chose a gown from the film My Fair Lady. A drawing of Amanda in costume, sketched by Kenneth Paul Block, appeared on the front page of Women’s Wear Daily.

But was her gown from the film adaptation of My Fair Lady? Amanda was based in New York City, and it would have been far easier for her to obtain one of the costumes from the Broadway show.

In addition, no costume in the film accurately matches the one she wore to the ball. There is one that is similar and clearly based on the same design, but it appears to be a different piece. 

In 2015, the dress from the Broadway production went up for sale, where it sold for $1280. It contains a lace dickey that the auction house noted has been added post-production. The dickey is clearly visible on Amanda Carter in the Black and White Ball photo. While I cannot confirm for certain that she is wearing the dress from the stage production rather than the film production, I am confident that she is.

Costume Credit: Katie S.

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Love at first sight. You won’t want to miss Amanda Whiting as she shows off her hypnosis-inducing harp skills on this latest album for Jazzman Records, featuring evocative spiritual jazz and classical stylings. ‘Lost’, ‘Too Much’, ‘Got It’ and ‘Up There’ are tracks that will brighten your mood if you are feeling a bit down. I definitely recommend spending some time with this album.