ListN Up playlists are commissioned by American Composers Forum. Artists are selected by ACF staff (including I CARE IF YOU LISTEN and innova Recordings).
Ringdown – featuring composer-musicians Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee Parpan – is an “ecstatically blissful” (Night After Night) and “irresistible” (Feast of Music) cinematic electro-pop duo creating music that floats up from the dusty record bin between Brahms and Brandi Carlile, and centers around joy, human connection, and trying to inspire people to feel more love (and maybe even reach out to a crush). Ringdown is working on a debut album for Nonesuch Records and has performed across the U.S. and abroad at Big Ears, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Public Records, SXSW, Thuringia Bach Festival, and more.
Oh! I didn’t see you there. I’m Danni Lee Parpan. And I’m Caroline Shaw. And together we’re–Ringdown. We’re super excited to share this playlist we’ve made for you today. It’s got some friends, some people we wish were friends. A lot of music we love and that inspires us and it’s been…”It’s been one week” (to the tune of “One Week” by Barenaked Ladies)…I think that was good! I liked it.
“No Face” by Haley Heynderickx
I don’t think either one of us has ever successfully listened to all 1:56 minutes of this song without crying. It is the most perfect example of raw emotion and the power of connection when using vulnerability as the conduit between artist and listener. No matter how many times we’ve listened, it still hits the same and we will continue to wish it was longer.
“El Espanto” by Balún
This whole song is just so good. Party on the surface, but incredible brain candy complexity underneath and throughout. Balún is an amazing band filled with some of our favorite people. A real collective of creative musicians who are all contributing to the musical community in generous and beautiful ways. And if you have a chance to catch them live, don’t miss it.
“Ghost” by Ringdown
This is one of the first songs we began making together, in a cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. What started with a few baroque chords on detuned pianos eventually became a wild anthem about text-back tempos and being ghosted, smothered in synth and percussion. The opening sound is the pedal clunk from an old piano in Omaha, Nebraska.
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78, II: Adagio by Johannes Brahms, Performed by Pamela Frank and Peter Serkin
Once we were at a concert of Brahms violin sonatas in a barn in Finland (as you do), and Danni Lee grabbed Caroline’s hand and said, “Can you remember this part?” That night we looped those chords and Danni Lee sang old lyrics from deep in her notebook, and our song “Thirst” was born. Danni Lee finds the performative formalities of chamber music concerts hilariously alien, but we’re always talking about how this music truly moves us. Brahms always hits.
“Paint the Town Red,” by Doja Cat
We are obsessed with everything about this song. The sample chop, the flow, the lyrics, the vibe. The way the sample rolls perfectly underneath that banger of a chorus.
DLP: She makes a rhyme with “kid-i-neys” that I could never do in my artistic life!
CS: I got pulled over once while listening to this song in the car. (Wasn’t speeding! Headlights weren’t on.)
“Steamboat” by Adrianne Lenker
DLP: This track has been a personal anthem for me since the day it was released. Lenker’s lyrics always hit me right in the feels. She’s who I turn to whenever I’m in the mood to hurt my own feelings. This track in particular has my favorite lyric ever from a song, “But I can’t put a lie in the mouth of a song”. I have strongly considered getting this tattooed on my body.
CS: I call it the boat lady song, and I love watching Danni Lee listen to it!
“Labor Day” by The Beverage Station
Two of the most brilliant, generous, enthusiastic, musical, emotional humans we know are Lainie Fefferman and Jascha Narveson. They’ve recently started making music together as The Beverage Station, and we can’t wait to hear more. We love how that opening line and the voice float over the shifting beats and elusive meter in this song. They even blend field recording of classroom sounds (they are both teachers) to paint the scene.
“Coffee” by Sylvan Esso
Sylvan Esso is one of the first bands we ever talked about when we began thinking about making music together. Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn came from very different musical backgrounds, but that’s one of the strengths of their music — this perfect complement of old time folk + electronic dance music. Their song “Coffee” continues to be a touchstone for us.
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