Janek Schaefer: What Light There Is Tells Us Nothing

For over 20 years, British sound artist Janek Schaefer has earned significant acclaim and awards for transforming the power of half-forgotten memories into otherworldly works that are often as ambiguous as they are evocative. Primarily occupying the space and similarities between sadness and joy, his compositions relish in the unpredictability of emotional gravity. It is this transience that makes his new album, What Light There Is Tells Us Nothing, so resonant. In 2014, Schaefer was commissioned by the Sounds New Festival in Canterbury, England to craft a new, original piece of music made entirely of elements from Robert Wyatt's Cuckooland album. Originally designed and presented at the festival as an immersive, multi-channel radio installation, the 21-minute cloud of sound was a sublime meditation on the profundity of Wyatt's work, and it's transporting idiosyncrasies. With Wyatt's blessing, Schaefer adapted that piece into the side-long opus, "What Light There Is Tells Us Nothing," and complimented it with seven new, original compositions that not only exist in the same wondrous space, but echo it's playfully poignant resonance well after the album has ended.

1. The Ghost of Tom Joad (Album Version) 4:21
2. Straight Time (Album Version) 3:25
3. Highway 29 (Album Version) 3:39
4. Youngstown (Album Version) 3:52
5. Sinaloa Cowboys (Album Version) 3:51
6. The Line (Album Version) 5:14
7. Balboa Park (Album Version) 3:19
8. Dry Lightning (Album Version) 3:30
9. The New Timer (Album Version) 5:45
10. Across the Border 5:24
11. Galveston Bay (Album Version) 5:04
12. My Best Was Never Good Enough (Album Version) 2:00

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