Following last year’s acclaimed debut album, The Transition, which was named in The Sunday Times top 20 records of the year, David Allred is back with its companion piece, The Cell. A glorious mini-album released through the ever inspiring Erased Tapes label.

As we look forward to The Cell‘s imminent release, we caught up with David to find out what makes the Californian based multi-instrumentalist tick – here are his Sound and Vision selections:

Three albums that I love

-Lines of Sight by Daniel Thorne

Daniel Thorne is a brilliant composer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Australia, and his latest record absolutely blows my mind. His music is primarily led by a variety of saxophones and synthesisers which he uses to create a rich choir sound in the most stunning and unique way. His ability to ride the ridge of familiarity and complexity in his chord progressions and harmonies throughout is simultaneously heavenly and otherworldly; there are very few musicians who manage to accomplish this visceral yet experimental sound in their music without being overly atonal, and Daniel’s way of building harmonies truly hits me on a deep emotional level.

-Folksongs and Ballads by Tia Blake

I recently discovered Tia Blake’s music through a brief mention of her in a podcast and when I looked into her music, I was immediately captivated by her voice. She was a musician in the early 70s who made only one record, played one live performance and did only one interview. Her story is still a bit of a mystery and I’m left intrigued by the lovely music she left behind which is a collection of old folk songs that she arranged in her own unique way. She has a nice calm yet strong way of singing that I find particularly inspiring and timeless.

-Peter Broderick and Friends Play Arthur Russell

Peter Broderick is a dear friend of mine who has consistently been a strong source of inspiration for me on so many levels and I’m always delightfully surprised with every individual release from him. One of his latest albums is a tribute record to the music of Arthur Russell. This album is a very strong portrayal of some of the most powerful and diverse music I’ve ever heard. I definitely see parallels between the work of Peter and Arthur, and it seems that Peter adapted to this music very naturally with his immaculate interpretations of these songs. I’m also personally thrilled that Peter had me contribute some trumpet on a couple tracks.

Favourite book at the moment

-Grief is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter

I recently read this book by Max Porter (three times) which is a stunning tribute to the life of his mother after she passed away. The book is primarily full of stories of his youth that contain many seemingly small details that would be easily overlooked in the moment but later became powerful associations of her and himself. I think his way of story telling has the most heartwarming juxtaposition of absurd humour and a down to earth outpouring of poetic gratitude.

My favourite film

-Synecdoche, New York

Synecdoche, New York is a 2008 film by Charlie Kaufman that I recently fell in love with. It’s a mind-bending story of a theater director who’s obsession with writing and creativity results in a blur between fiction and reality in his everyday life. The music in this film is absolutely perfect too, composed by the amazing Jon Brion.

A song that is important

 

-In My Youth by Aidan Coughlan

Aidan is a dear friend of mine who is an absolute hidden treasure. I intend to eventually further explain the story of his music, how he and I met, and share some music that we’ve worked on together at some point because it’s all so special to me. In the mean time, I would like to highlight this particular song of his that really resonates with me called In My Youth.

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