Fact mix 775: Sarah Davachi
A mix of classic and contemporary composition from Sarah Davachi that heralds the launch of her new label, Late Music.
When Sarah Davachi was 20, she got a job at a musical instrument museum in Calgary. Davachi’s interest in playing music might have begun with the piano, but having access to almost any electronic instrument proved a turning point in the way she approached her art.
“In the early years the place wasn’t very well known so nobody was coming to tours, especially in the dead of winter, so I’d have all this time when I’d be alone,” Davachi told Fact in 2018. “I’d pick a different instrument every week and read about it online, learn about it and then go and get to know it in person. It was a really fruitful experience that knocked into me this interest in actually working with these historical instruments.”
Davachi’s interest in the imperfect nature of vintage synthesizers and acoustic organs has led her to create some of the most accomplished works of electroacoustic minimalism and drone of the past decade, with releases on Important Records, Students Of Decay, Ba Da Bing! and more. This month sees the release of Cantus, Descant, the first record on her new label, Late Music, an album that focuses on the organ and features Davachi’s vocals for the first time.
Davachi’s Fact mix draws similar connections between old and new, drawing in music from kosmische pioneer Roedelius, contemporary composer Catherine Lamb and Lucy Railton, and recordings of classic works by Gilles Binchois, Vivaldi and Guillaume de Machaut.
“I did a mostly experimental, mostly instrumental mix that in my mind announces movement into the fall and winter months, that’s the main vibe,” Davachi says of her Fact mix. “There are a few composers/musicians on here who have performed my pieces live in the past: Eric KM Clark and Catherine Lamb. I was also meant to be doing a residency with the Quatuor Bozzini in Utrecht right now.”
Cantus, Descant is available on September 18. Pre-order it here and find the rest of her music at Bandcamp.
Tracklist:
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov – ‘Untitled’ – Andrei Rublev OST
Eric KM Clark – ‘Microquartet No. 1’ – Performed by Quatuor Bozzini
Catherine Christer Hennix – ‘Equal Temperament Fender Mix’ – Selected Early Keyboard Works
Anonymous – ‘Húmar Að Mitt Hinsta Kvöld’ – Performed by Pétur Halldórsson & Símon Þórðarson
Easley Blackwood – ‘Suite, Op. 33: II. Sarabande: Andante’ – Performed by Jeffrey Kust
Lucy Railton – ‘Third Lament’ – Lament in Three Parts
Pôle – ‘Inside the Dream (excerpt)’ – Inside the Dream
Catherine Lamb – ‘Prisma Interius IX (excerpt)’ – Performed by Dedalus Ensemble & Didier Aschour
Guillaume de Machaut – ‘Dame, ne regardes pas’ – Performed by Radall Cook & Emmanuel Bonnardot
Osso Exótico & Verres Enharmoniques – ‘Les Verres d’Eau, Glasses’ – Folk Cycles
Antonio Vivaldi – “L’estro Armonico”, Op. 3: Largo – Performed by Roberto
Michelucci & I Musici
Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company – ‘C-A-G-E Part II (excerpt)’ – Like a Duck to Water
Gilles Binchois – ‘Triste plaisir’ – Performed by Piet Stryckers, René Van Laken, Marcel Ketels & Guillemette Laurens
Roedelius – ‘Schöne Welt’ – Jardin au fou
Persona – ‘Água’ – Son
