#Shara Nova

[fighttherealterror]

shara in illinoise ♥️

[chaoselph]

Colin Stetson | "Lord I just can't keep from crying sometimes"

[burlveneer-music]

Akropolis Reed Quintet - Hymns for Private Use - Shara Nova turns up on this album too, singing Nico Muhly’s titular song cycle

Hymns for Private Use is the 5th album released by the Detroit-based Akropolis Reed Quintet and features original works by composers Annika Socolofsky and Nico Muhly. On Socolofsky’s so much more, Akropolis is joined by 7 small business owners from 4 states whose personal stories of community and sacrifice are woven together on a spoken word track, sourced from over 7 hours of interviews conducted in 2020. Soprano Shara Nova joins Akropolis on Muhly’s Hymns for Private Use, which draws upon 5 spiritual texts from early English sources from the 12th to 18th centuries. These two large-scale works are connected by intimate stories of ambition and devotion made available for each listener’s own “private use.” Tracks composed by: Nico Muhly (1-5) and Annika Socolofsky (6-10) Produced by: Courtney Snyder Ng (1-5) and Annika Socolofsky (6-10) Published by: Nico Muhly (1-5) and Annika Socolofsky (6-10) Engineer: Dave Schall Acoustic Mastered by: Nick Lloyd Scribe: Sean Meyers Cover Art and Album Package Design by Marian C. Holmes Recorded at First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, MI on 7/10/18; Blue Sword Studios in Detroit, MI on 2/10/22 (1-5) and First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, MI on 1/8/22 (6-10)

[knightofleo]

Sarah Kirkland Snider | This Is What You’re Like feat. My Brightest Diamond

It’s true, he talks It’s true, he talks, but it’s not Anything like it was then Anything like it was When he talked the way a bird sings; Just to sing This is what you’re like Do you remember? This is what you once were like

[nathanielbellows]

I have a new single coming out this week (Thurs, Jan 26), which also features the amazing vocals of Shara Nova (aka My Brightest Diamond) and the other musicians from my last single, "Well Water (feat. Shara Nova)". Above is the lyric video I made for "Wall Water (feat. Shara Nova)", and please stay tuned for the new song this week!

Thank you for your interest and support in my work. Happy New Year, everyone!

[computerexploder]

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Playing

THE BLUE HOUR

Composers Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider

Text Carolyn Forché

Performers A Far Cry Shara Nova

[sinceileftyoublog]

TORRES, My Brightest Diamond, & Aisha Burns Live Show Review: 1/18, Lincoln Hall, Chicago

TORRES' Mackenzie Scott

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Many times throughout TORRES' set Thursday night at Lincoln Hall, Mackenzie Scott remarked how polite the audience was. While we're from the Midwest and are certainly very nice, I think we were just enraptured. First and foremost, Scott is an intense songwriter whose lyrics are diaristic, who puts her whole body into her guitar playing. Live, she demands attention. You never know when she's going to scream--she chose a good moment on "Helen in the Woods"--or show vulnerability with a creaky falsetto, like on love devotional "Gracious Day". Meanwhile, her scraggly guitars followed her vocal delivery on "Skim", as she shredded, leaning towards the crowd. Her atonal laying on "Sprinter" provided a sharp contrast to J.R. Bohannon's shimmery pedal steel. Over 10 years into playing as TORRES, traversing aesthetics and soundscapes, Scott has developed the stage presence to match the ferocity of the songs themselves.

From left to right: J.R. Bohannon, Rosie Slater, Scott, & Erin Manning

But then there was another reason we wanted to remain silent and soak it all in: the new TORRES songs from What an enormous room, out this Friday via Merge. For many in the crowd, this past Thursday was the first time hearing tunes bound to become new favorites in the catalog. I watched smiles form on the faces of folks realizing the plucky "Jerk into joy" will become an anthem, as Scott sang, "What an enormous room / Look at all the dancing I can do!" As as it was the band's second night playing these songs on tour, each member relished their opportunities to stand out, from Rosie Slater's driving drums on "Forever home" to Erin Manning's fried synths on "Happy man's shoes". Towards the end of the set, someone yelled, "Play 'Honey'!," referring to the song that made many of us fall in love with TORRES' music in the first place. They never played it. Had this been the last time TORRES played Lincoln Hall, I might have walked away disappointed. But years later, 6 records in, Scott's catalog runs deep enough that the supposed enormity of "Honey" is a small hike compared to the canyon sounds of her most recent material.

My Brightest Diamond

Jake Woodruff (left) & Aisha Burns (right)

Opening for TORRES was two artists who haven't released full-length albums since 2018 but are experimenting live with new material: My Brightest Diamond, the long-running chamber folk project of singer-songwriter Shara Nova, and multi-instrumentalist/former Balmorhea member Aisha Burns. Nova played solo, using percussion backing tracks and samples, walking out to the audio clip of the late, great Sinead O'Connor saying, "Fight the real enemy" on Saturday Night Live after tearing a picture of Pope John Paul II following her a capella rendition of Bob Marley & The Wailers' "War". Many of Nova's songs, both new and old, responded to O'Connor's fearless spirit. Nova's vocals were show-stopping on "Fight the Real Terror (for Sinead)", controlled over the harmonics of the recorded drums on "Imaginary Lover". Finger-snapping new single "Black Sheep" expanded on themes of ostracization and its oft-permanence even when the court of public opinion changes its mind, pertinent to O'Connor's story. In context, All Things Will Unwind standout "Be Brave", too, acted in spirit with Nova's newer material. "Imagine all the flutes and bass clarinets," Nova quipped to old-school My Brightest Diamond fans, but she didn't need to ask us; lines like, "Shara, this is going to hurt," tugged at our emotions more than any instrumentation could.

Woodruff & Burns

Really, it was up to Aisha Burns to yield happy tears from instruments. Accompanied by guitarist Jake Woodruff, she graced us with atmospheric loops, violin, guitar, and falsetto vocals. Songs from 2018's Argonauta (Western Vinyl) hypnotized the crowd, the dual guitar sway of "I Thought I Knew You Well" and impassionedly picked and sung "We Were Worn". And yes, she performed her great cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game", her vibrato and vocal harmonies with Woodruff standing tall against the sensuousness of the original. The performance got me excited for whatever comes next for Burns, whether original material or more clever covers.

Woodruff & Burns

[radiodark]

postcards from downtown- my brightest diamond

[helplessness-blues]

i am the leader of the shara nova fan club

[nonesuchrecords]

Big Ears Festival has announced that The Blue Hour song cycle collaboration among composers Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider, set to excerpts from Carolyn Forché’s epic poem On Earth, will be performed by Nova and Knoxville Symphony conducted by Aram Demirjian at the festival in Knoxville, TN, March 30–April 2, 2023. Passes are on sale now here.

The Blue Hour joins a previously announced lineup that includes Devendra Banhart, Sam Gendel, Mary Halvorson, Makaya McCraven, and Cécile McLorin Salvant.

[fighttherealterror]

some screen captures of the have you ever seen an angel mv 🫶

- directed by andrew ondrejack

[draculaugust]

my gender is all 25 minutes of Impossible Soul by Sufjan Stevens thanks for asking

[farceargon]

By far the best end screen I've ever got in this game. I killed it with the clutch claw attack and got this beauty...

Here's me taking the nova attack to the face out of morbid curiosity to see what'd happen.

Spoilers: My defense is so absurd that without divine blessing activating I only took slightly below half health from full. I love being a tank :]

[onlylivingboything]

PLZ UPDATE HOW THE ILLINOISE MUSICAL IS THAT SIUNDS SOOOOO BALLER!!!! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY

using this to talk about it because im back from chicago and i saw it last night AND OH MY GOD!!!! it was AMAZINGGG

the way the used the songs in the album was having it be about a group of people sharing stories at a campfire, and it was really really cool!!! Night Zombies was one of my favorites. And i love what they did with some of the more darker themed songs like John Wayne Gacy Jr and Casimir Pulaski Day. There was also an overarching story with the main character named Henry played by Ricky Ubeda who was WONDERFUL. The story was so touching and beautiful about him falling in love with his best friend and love and loss. he also meets someone else in it and the rendition of predatory wasp was so breathtaking and tender. It's really impressive how they actually made a really clear and easy to follow story through dance alone, because there was no dialogue, it was just the vocalists and musicians performing. I also really like how they took this album where the songs aren't very connected to each other in terms of having one narrative, but were able to form a cohesive story with them! I think making part of it be the characters each telling their own campfire story with some of the songs was a really smart idea. i'm just rambling but it was so beautiful!!! the music, choreography, dancing, it was all spectacular!!!

i wish i can see it again!!! im hoping they tour after the run in new york, and maybe even release a recording (probably not, but i can dream)