5 Selects: Salenta + Topu (New York)

Piano-cello duo Salenta + Topu share five favorites ahead of their live performance this Friday at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ.

“Two old souls creating music not of this plane,” NYC-based artists Salenta Baisden and Topu Lyo released one of the most quietly engrossing albums of the last few years. Something of a sleeper hit; the album was originally self-released on cassette only in 2021 and was later picked up by Brussels-Rotterdam based label Futura Resistanza in 2023 for a vinyl release. The album arrived in our shop a few months ago and just as quickly disappeared…

Recorded at Salenta’s apartment, Moon Set, Moon Rise is an atmospheric suite of late-night jazz improvisations. More conversation than composition, the 17 tracks on the album were recorded almost entirely with just piano and cello, except for a few tender moments of Salenta singing along or laughing. Every moment is captured just as it was, with very few edits to the live recording. At points, you can hear birds chirping outside, a phone or book dropping, the steady hum of an air conditioner, the creaking of a dryer. If you listen real closely, you can even hear the two artists breathing on the recording.

“This music was liberating because both Topu and I were just allowed to be,” Salenta says. “There was no right or wrong way, we were creating this atmosphere together. We were right there with the listener learning about and experiencing it.”

This Friday, we’ll be hosting our first live show of the year at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ featuring Salenta + Topu along with another favorite newcomer, Niecy Blues. Check out Niecy Blues’ debut album Exit Simulation on cult Chicago-based label kranky.

Tickets are available now: https://link.dice.fm/w20dc3ccc853

In anticipation of the show this Friday, Salenta + Topu shared two favorites each with us along with an artist that bonded over during the early days of their meeting.

Judith Christie McAllister – The Lord’s Prayer

Salenta: I was raised on Gospel music in a Christian household, and although I don’t practice the entirety of the religion, I still hold Gospel music close to my heart. I love God and try to be a reflection of God through all I do; even when I make mistakes. Reciting the Lord’s prayer is something that uplifts my spirit, and singing it doubles the feeling. This arrangement of this song is executed so well. The vocalists and instrumentalists went all the way off. I especially love the “Amen” ending of the song, woo! 

STARCROST – Quicksand

S: This song is so beautifully arranged and written. The flutes, keys, laid back percussion and vocals just send me. I’m pretty sure I’ve had this song on repeat for a few years now. I played it a lot while moving from New York City to Los Angeles and it really helped me through that transition. The song itself is beautiful but the lyrics are about a colonizer taking over a land and turning it into dust (or at least that’s my interpretation). I also see the song as falling in love and not realizing it’s happening but next thing you know you’re sinking and that’s it. I love when artists make ‘feel good’ songs but the lyrics are something completely opposite of the feeling or vibe.

Josiah Steinbrick – [Two Vibraphones, Two Bowed Marimbaphones, Wooden Xylophone, Two Bells, Handheld Wood]

Topu: This track is so cute, whimsical and so experimentally out! It makes me laugh because it seems like he’s just having fun and not abiding by any set of parameters or rules. I love how the track is is so minimal played on a vibraphones with a set of what sounds like chattering teeth and other acoustic percussion.

Ernest Hood – Saturday Morning Doze

T: This track feels so organic and just like being a voyeur somewhere in the world. Its so slow paced… Feels like it could be hot and muggy and I imagine someone sitting on the stoop and watching everything happen. He really captures bringing a normal situation into the magic of life.

Andrew Peckler – Rain Nr. 2 

S+T: Topu and I are huge fans of Andrew Peckler. When Topu and I first met, I was working at a record store called Commend in the Lower East Side in NYC; and I would often play Andrew Peckler records whenever they came in, and they’d always sell out immediately. I remember Topu coming into the shop one evening and I was playing Andrew Peckler’s “Sounds From Phantom Island” and we both talked for a good while about our love for Andrew Peckler.  He was one of the first artists to really endorse and shoutout Topu and I’s project, “Moon Set, Moon Rise.” We chose this song from his “For Lovers Only/Rain Suite” because it is so harmonious and peaceful. It sounds like hope for the possibility of tomorrow and acceptance.