Mixtape #111

With immense technical ability and creativity, Alexander Noice is one of the most interesting contemporary musicians out there. Over the last decade, Noice has played a vital role in the LA music scene and abroad, performing, recording and collaborating with a slew of artists and projects, including his own ensembles Falsetto Teeth and NOICE. A phenomenal composer, guitarist, producer and bandleader drawing from an amalgam of genres, from art-rock and jazz to minimalism, opera and electronic music, Noice released an exhilarating and inventive self-titled album last year, which made it to our Album Picks of 2019. So we’re ecstatic to catch a glimpse of his wide range of influences in this month's mixtape!

  1. The Zombies – This Will Be Our Year [Epic]
  2. Thelonius Monk – Brilliant Corners [Riverside]
  3. Deerhoof – Milking [Free Porcupine Society / ATP Recordings]
  4. Minutemen – Viet Nam [SST Records]
  5. Ornette Colenman – Folk Tale [XL Recordings / Interscope Records
  6. Charlie Parker – Kim [Clef Records]
  7. Talking Heads – Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) [Sire]
  8. Nino Rota – O Venezia, Venaga, Venusia [Cam]
  9. Stuttgart Vocal Ensemble & Rupert Huber – Christian Wolff In Cambridge [Hänssler Classic]
  10. Charles Mingus – Solo Dancer [Impulse!]
  11. M.I.A. – Steppin Up [XL Recordings / Interscope Records]
  12. Michael Nyman Band and Orchestra – The Draughtsman’s Contract [Venture]
  13. Broadcast – America’s Boy [Warp]
  14. Cornelius – New Music Machine [Matador]
  15. Dirty Projectors – Not Having Found [Western Vinyl]
  16. Philip Glass – River Run [Virgin]
  17. Fugazi – Turnover [Dischord]
  18. Iggy Pop – Funtime [RCA]
  19. John Coltrane – Configuration [Impulse!]
  20. David Bowie – What In The World [RCA]
  21. Arthur Russell – Being It [Upside Records / Rough Trade]
  22. Leadbelly – Green Corn [Folkways Records]

Alexander Noice to release new album Noice later this month

Photo: Jordan Kirschner

Every now and again a song hits us so hard that we just can’t stop listening to it. In the case of Alexander Noice, and his latest single ‘Black Darwin’, we felt the need to explore all his music and projects. An exciting discovery for us, Noice has been making his mark in the LA music scene for more than a decade now. An utterly brilliant composer, guitarist, producer and bandleader, Noice has performed, recorded and collaborated with many artists and projects, including his own ensembles Falsetto Teeth and NOICE. With the latter, drawing on genres like jazz, electronic music, minimalist opera and art rock, he is set to release a self-titled album where he “explores the elusive nature of identity and self-discovery amidst an increasing array of distraction and affectation”. On his upcoming album, and as the press release describes, Noice “delve[s] into topics involving false pretenses pervasive in modern social contexts, and the search for meaning in revelations of science and technology.”

The aforementioned single ‘Black Darwin’ is the latest electrifying and majestic song to be lifted from the album and Noice has shared a brilliant video for it directed by Bennett Cerf. Two other phenomenal tracks from the record had been shared previously, ‘Affectation’ and ‘Never Thought I Would’. Check all three below and grab the album when it’s out on August 23rd through Orenda Records.