Le Corbusier, Vangelis, and the Old Internet [3/9 2025]
Recommendations from Me
For this newsletter I just wanted to highlight a few of the music artists I’ve found myself returning to over and over again. I’ll write another newsletter on this topic later in the year.
Vangelis was a Greek composer of electronic and contemporary classical music. Some of his best-known pieces are striking in their simplicity, but he also produced grand, complex compositions and some much more experimental work that I love. His signature sound has often centred on lush synth layers — especially using the Yamaha CS-80.
Some favourites: Le singe bleu, Mythodea Movement 9, El Greco Movement IV, The Kolokotronei
Ebo Taylor is a Ghanaian highlife and jazz guitarist whose recordings from the 1970s and 1980s are full of warmth and energy. The tracks are instantly danceable, with joyful brass, intricate guitar riffs, and unmistakably West African drum patterns. The instrumentation — guitars, bass, brass, percussion, keys — will feel familiar to many jazz listeners, but the swing and cadence are distinctly rooted in Ghanaian highlife.
Some favourites: Victory - Instrumental, Love and Death, Atwer Abroba
Xiu Xiu is an experimental American group that makes music full of texture, tension, and strangeness. I love their haunting cover albums of Nina Simone and Twin Peaks, but each original record brings something new. They make use of traditional band instruments like guitars and drums, but also include gongs, bells, harmoniums, and vintage drum machines.
Some favourites: Suha, Apistat Commander, I Luv the Valley OH!
The collaboration between Puerto Rican salsa singer Héctor Lavoe and trombonist/producer Willie Colón gave rise to some of the most distinctive salsa music of the 20th century; Lavoe’s voice can still be heard from speakers across Latin America. Their arrangements feature classic salsa instrumentation: congas, timbales, bongos, brass sections, and the cuatro.
Some favourites: El Día De Mi Suerte, Periódico De Ayer, Qué Lío
Recommendations from Others
Yiorgos 2025
‘Four Le Corbusier buildings: 1. Villa Savoye, 2. Colline Notre Dame du Haut, 3. Sainte Marie de La Tourette, 4. Unité d'Habitation in Marseille’
Avi 2025
‘Read the 2022 book ‘The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion’ by physicist Sean M. Carroll.’
Clare 2025
‘The ‘surprise me’ function on wiby.me — for the joy of the old internet.’
Nathan 2025
‘Visit the Henry Ford Industry Museum in Greenfield Village’
João 2025
‘Reach out to a mentor or teacher you had in the past; let them know how they impacted you, and express your gratitude.'
Cover photo - Chandigarh, India
