Todd, Mia Doi
Morning Music
Mia Doi Todd with Andres Renteria. Mia Doi Todd is known for her quiet, haunting songs, usually conveyed through her evocative and instantly recognizable voice. With a deep body of work spanning twelve albums, and as a formidable collaborator on records by Laraaji, Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio), Scientist, and more recently with Andr 3000 and Carlos Nio on New Blue Sun, Mia is an essential element in the richly woven musical tapestry of her native Los Angeles. Morning Music is an instrumental, ambient experience unlike anything else in her catalogue, to forgo vocal expression and give full range to the voices of her instruments and the sounds around them. It is a gorgeous, softly stirring work of art that makes full use of its minimal elements. Mia recorded and mixed the tracks at her own Chateau des Chats Studio in Frogtown, Los Angeles, playing harmonium, piano, tin whistle, tamboura, acoustic guitar, and drums. On the tracks "Samai'i" and "Emotion," she is joined by multi-instrumentalist Andres Renteria on cajon, piano, wooden stool, and udu. Birds and traffic, heard softly in the distance, feel like a natural and comforting part of the proceedings. The small dramas of the piano and tin whistle resolve themselves peacefully, like thoughts arising and falling in meditation. However one chooses to listen, Morning Music is a lovely and aptly named collection of music to encourage even the weariest minds and bodies to quietly awaken. Originally released as a CD in 2009 and now available for the first time on vinyl.