Failed Utopias

John Carroll Kirby “Sun Go Down”

“Sun Goes Down” is a remarkable composition that works wonderfully on its own terms, yet more than any piece of music I’ve encountered in the past few years screams out “sample me, remix me, interpolate me!” I can hear in my mind ways other artists could run with John Carroll Kirby’s keyboard parts or the flute counterpoints, to the point that I wonder if on some level he was making this as an invitation to other artists to mess around with the same motifs. Maybe part of that is because Kirby himself is pulling a lot from the past in the melody, tones, and construction here, and I’m just sensing his understanding that music is ultimately about people taking communal ideas and going in their own directions. But even without all that, and if no one ever actually uses this composition as a starting point, “Sun Goes Down” has a magic to it – funky, relaxed, and vaguely regal, like it’s the soundtrack for someone particularly impressive arriving to a backyard party just in time for a glorious sunset.

Buy it from Bandcamp.