My last track of the day for this year.

There are some musicians who lay their lives down over a piano, then inexplicably destroy that relationship by introducing other instruments – usually guitars. I’ve said it before, but perhaps not as explicitly: the piano is the most extraordinary musical instrument created. Learn it well and it’s probably all you need to express your musical desires and your emotions. I yearned for years (decades?) for an artist to come along who understood this, but without the technical burden (and constraints) of actually being taught to play. Self-discovery is so much more thrilling. You can here this in Flying.

Flying comes from 2003’s I Can’t Let You In single. An instrumental piece created for Chris Ohlsen’s film 824, its strength comes from its ability to sound simultaneously composed and improvised. Runs of notes turn into pounding chords, then break up and disperse. Hooks and other motifs disappear and reappear almost by chance. There’s the brief tentative opening sequence, and a pause, just milliseconds too long, before the second phase of the piece gathers confidence. This darts around before casually returning to the main theme of the song – more delicate than previously heard. And we’re only half way through.

As for the rest? Well, you know the drill:

I Can’t Let You In – Antoinette’s Revenge (Store)
Hannah Fury