For a thing to become tradition, it must be enjoyed with others. The more broadly it is shared, the more meaningful it grows over time. Our traditions are not driven simply by repetition. They are communal experiences. They bring us together. Holiday traditions are especially resonant because the stakes feel so much higher. The world is celebrating and so we crave that sense of connectedness all the more intensely.
The role that music plays at this time of year is largely a product of commercialism. But music is a generous source of connection all year long, with both artists and listeners. When music is meaningful to us, we feel an affinity for those who made it and those who appreciate it. (The same must be said of the arts in general.)
All of this is to say that when music and tradition intersect, it is a powerful thing. The world needs more of both, and more of the two combined.
It’s an idea that Belgium’s taâlem imprint has taken to heart. It’s homework series – now in its third year – pulls together unreleased material from the label’s roster of artists. Simple enough. Except that Jean-Marc Taâlem does it on a generously grand scale.
The current collection features 60 pieces and a runtime just shy of nine hours. Volumes one and two offered 52 and 67 tracks respectively. Remarkably, all three are available as name-your-price downloads.
Here’s a full list of contributors:
- .cut
- a wake a week
- aidan baker
- andrea marutti
- arash abkari
- artificial memory trace
- bardoseneticcube
- celer
- cendre ogata
- chihei hatakeyama
- cinema perdu
- compest
- cyanching wu + david velez
- désaccord majeur
- edward ruchalski
- emerge
- enrico coniglio
- escallon + isaza
- exportion
- flavien gillié
- goose
- hirotaka shirotsubaki
- hum
- i: wound
- ieva
- ingeos
- james p. keeler
- jérémie mathes
- linear bells
- mark Bradley
- mathieu ruhlmann
- michiru aoyama
- modelbau
- moljebka pvlse
- murmer
- nigel Samways
- nimh (giuseppe verticchio)
- orphax
- philippe lamy
- pholde
- pleq
- ply
- pollypraha
- rhucle
- ryosuke miyata
- sabri meddeb
- saito koji
- seki takashi
- sleepland
- somekilos
- strom noir
- summons of shining ruins
- tainnos
- tarkatak + a thousand vows
- tomasz mreńca
- tomonari nozaki
- tone color
- tzesne
- vance orchestra
- yannick franck
The work on all three volumes of homework is varied, and of a consistently high quality. The collections have nothing to do with the holidays, and in the best ways possible, everything to do with tradition.