Fresh off the release of their latest album, Snowblink were kind enough to put together a list of the eclectic influences that helped craft their sound on Returning Current. As each song below unfolds, the beautifully diverse and hypnotic arrangements on Returning Current are perfectly brought to light. They certainly take cues from some absolutely incredible artists. Listen below and enjoy!
Playlist
AroarA – #4 aka Moroccan Roll
These are our dear friends from Montreal. They released a record based on poet Alice Notley’s In the Pines — this is one small example of the singular way they slay.
Bulgarian State Women’s Choir – Dve Tourlaski Pesen (Teasing)
I first heard this record in my friend Leslie’s living room. She put on the record and I suddenly felt like I was in a field of magenta ranunculus playing some form of mystical tag with beautiful Bulgarian muses.
Franco Battiato – Summer on a Solitary Beach
This song makes me nostalgic for the future.
Donna Summer – Working the Midnight Shift
My friend Frank sent me this song and it hypnotized me – it feels like an indoor waterfall-fountain at a mall, with psychedelic lights pointed at it. It seems like it shouldn’t work, it should be able to hold your attention, but suddenly you are In It and don’t ever want to leave.
Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou – Homesickness
I almost always return to this record at home. I can turn it over and over and it always feels settling, calming, buoyant, relevant, revelatory, and new.
Brian Eno – Weightless
There is something that blossoms, or mushrooms, in this song, and no matter how many times I listen, I can’t identify it precisely. The sound I can’t quite explain is perhaps a perfect expression of imprecision — it definitely elicits pleasure, but not the sort that gets stale or numb from repeated listenings. It’s pretty delightful.
Alex Lukashevsky – Prince Of Darkness
I just have the happiest memories of singing this with Alex and Felicity Williams, in Montreal, in Toronto, in Kyoto, walking down streets singing the birdcalls, feeling like the music was a little cousin asking me to chase him around the backyard — that kind of wild, simple pleasure.
Owen Pallett – The Passions
I sang on this record, In Conflict, but it wasn’t until I received the vinyl that I heard the song “The Passions”. I put it on in my living room and Dan and I were speechless. Such deep-ocean beauty and emotional complexity.
Jennifer Castle – Nature
This was Jen’s single from her latest record Pink City. It came out and I listened constantly, just waiting for that moment “no family, no universe, no holy god, no mother earth” and getting chills every time. It felt like a new prayer.
The Beach Boys – Be Still
This was the moment I understood Dennis Wilson’s voice. What an unusual presentation of masculinity for his time! Meditative, vulnerable, broken, and achingly beautiful. I fell so in love…
Violeta Parra – Gracias a la Vida
Dan has been playing this song a lot and it is so moving, truly a prayer, the ultimate thank you note to the universe for its utter generosity.
Brian Eno – Deep Blue Day
See “Weightless”
