Ben Vida w/ Yarn/Wire and Nina Dante: The Beat My Head Hit

Highly recommended for fans of Robert Ashley and Lovely Music Ltd., The Beat My Head Hit is a beautiful exploration of voice and text by a NY-based 4-piece chamber ensemble led by composer Ben Vida alongside piano and percussion ensemble Yarn/Wire, and soprano vocalist Nina Dante. The tracks largely center around Vida and Dante’s unison vocal delivery which they’re able to bend into a number of different tonalities and textures through alternating speaking vs. singing, layering, rhythm, and phasing. The vocal sounds almost come across as electronic at times, which makes sense given that this music has roots in Vida’s 2018 performance “And So Now” for four voices and electronics. Yarn/Wire complement the vocalists beautifully with extended tones that often linger in the space much longer after the initial percussive attack creating a layer of deep ambience for the text to cut through to listeners.

Recommended – Full Listen