Song Review: Caroline Shaw and David Lang- "When I Am Alone"

I love "WAP" as much as the next red-blooded fan of pop music, but the actual song of the year is "When I Am Alone" by Caroline Shaw, David Lang and Jody Elff.  Lang wrote the song last year for an art installation in St. Louis.  After Shaw recorded the vocals, Elff helped Lang arrange the 22-minute opus that now serves as a disarming commentary on social isolation.  Simultaneously hilarious and spooky, “When I Am Alone” is to 2020 what Laurie Anderson’s like-minded "O Superman" was to 1981.

(Original image of fisherman in Akko by There Stands the Glass.)

April Recap

Top Five Performances
1. Khatia Buniatishvili- Folly Theater
My review.
2. Matt Otto, Danny Embrey, Sam Copeland and Brian Steever- Black Dolphin
My review.
3. Tatsuya Nakatani & Assif Tsahar- 1900 Building
My review.
4. tenThing- Helzberg Hall
My Instagram footage.
5. Bill MacKay- Mills Record Company
My Instagram footage.


Top Five Albums
1. Anderson Paak- Ventura
My review.
2. Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan- Epistrophy
My review.
3. Caroline Shaw/Attacca Quartet- Orange
Yet another Big Ears Festival encounter.
4. Brooks & Dunn- Reboot
My review.
5. Angelique Kidjo- Celia
Afro-Cuban makeovers.


Top Five Songs
1. Reba McEntire- “Stronger Than the Truth”
The hard stuff.
2. Kevin Abstract- “Big Wheels”
Squeaky.
3. Randy Rogers Band- “Drinking Money”
Gonna spend it all in one place.
4. Lizzo- “Jerome”
I’d hate to be him.
5. Pup- “Scorpion Hill”
Dark thoughts.


I conducted the same exercise in January, February and March.

(Original image of Bill MacKay by There Stands the Glass.)