My 60 Favorite Nonesuch Albums (Part 2 of 3)
I'm celebrating the 60th birthday of a favorite label
A few days ago, Nonesuch Records celebrated its 60th birthday. In honor of the occasion, I’m showcasing my 60 favorite albums from this estimable outfit—a music business that rarely acts like a business.
I’m focusing on the recordings below. But I also embrace Nonesuch as a role model. I’ve described elsewhere what I would do if I ran a record label. I’ve learned from Nonesuch, and others should too.
From my far perch, Nonesuch feels more like an artists colony, dedicated to nurturing creative work at the highest level. Fortunately for us, it releases records to document the process.
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My 60 Favorite Albums from Nonesuch Records
This is part two (out of three). For part one, click here.
I’m listing these albums in alphabetical order—so today we cover letters H through P. There’s a lot of outstanding music here, so don’t rush through the list I especially advise checking out lesser-known artists you might not have encountered before.
Idjah Hadidjah: Tonggeret (1987)
This is my all-time favorite Indonesian album (and I own plenty of ‘em). Ethnomusicologists describe this jaipongan music as a traditional Sundanese idiom, but that’s all a front. Fans of Idjah Hadidjah know that the real selling proposition here is eroticism. Let highbrows pretend otherwise, but these tracks aren’t for the young and impressionable—they belong instead on your late night playlist.
Tigran Hamasyan: An Ancient Observer (2017)
The traditional Armenian roots of Tigran Hamasyan’s music often get noted, but they coexist with so many other ingredients—electronics, jazz, sacred music, etc. An Ancient Observer, my favorite of Hamasyan’s four albums on Nonesuch, is mostly solo piano, but with an expansive, cinematic palette. (By the way, I wish more piano videos were filmed as artfully as this one.)
Emmylou Harris: Red Dirt Girl (2000)
Emmylou Harris left the Asylum label in 2000, and soon after found a new home at Nonesuch. Given freedom to record more of her own songs, Harris quickly proved the wisdom of this decision. Rebranded as a singer-songwriter, she earned a a top 10 country hit and a Grammy. This album initiated a two-decade-plus relationship with the label.
Lake Street Dive: Side Pony (2016)
This band started out when students at the New England Conservatory of Music decided to perform avant-garde country music. It’s a shame they abandoned that path—I fantasize about an alt-reality Music Row in Nashville intersecting with a mythical Twelve Tone Row. But this irreverent ensemble does get credit for reinvigorating folkish pop-rock. Side Pony, the group’s debut for Nonesuch, made my best of year list in 2016.
The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir (2017)
I fell hard for this album at first hearing, an autobiography in the shape of 50 episodic songs. But 50 Song Memoir never really got its due—maybe because it’s so strange, or just so damn long. But this makes my short list of the most ambitious commercial records of the last decade.
Brad Mehldau: Day is Done (2005)
This is just a straightforward jazz piano trio album. But nothing is really straightforward with Brad Mehldau, and he uses this as another opportunity to expand the jazz repertoire and uplift its vocabulary. I applaud him for staring down the snobs and delivering brilliant renditions of radio-friendly songs by Paul Simon, the Beatles, Burt Bacharach, and Nick Drake. Put this on the turntable, and watch the jazz police retreat back to their donut shop.
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