This week on 3 songs, I had the grand honor of sitting with my teacher and mentor Tyondai Braxton. 

Tyondai is a composer, guitarist, and electronic musician who thinks about music in an expansive and refreshing way. He became well known for his work in the band Battles, but his work has gone far and wide beyond that into vast and unexplored realms, most recently into the sandbox of orchestra and electronics with his recent release “Telekinesis”. 

We’ve had some amazing conversations in lessons this semester that have gotten me really fired up about some of the more conceptual ideas I'm exploring in my recent work… I'm really happy that he has recently joined the faculty at Princeton University and glad that you will all have the chance to sit with him in this episode of 3 songs as he shares a bit about his influences. I hope you enjoy 🫶 

Time Codes: Violin and orchestra (Morton Feldman) 23:35 

Things Will Never Be The Same, Black Dice 56:36

 Lonely Woman by Ornette Coleman 1:16:06 

Follow Tyondai Braxton on Instagram @tyondaibraxton 

Subscribe to Tyondai's youtube Channel  @tyondai  

Say hi on socials: Facebook: / hopelittwin Instagram: / hopelittwin 

Listen to Hope’s Music here: iTunes: / hope-littwin Spotify:hope-littwin Official 

Website: http://hopelittwin.com/ 

About Hope Littwin: American Composer and Music Producer Hope Littwin grew up in dance and theater before she took to music, first as a singer-songwriter then as a classical singer and now as a composer and music producer. She loves to collaborate with artists of all kinds on embodied, expressive works. 

Hope’s compositions fuse Chamber Music, Vocal Music, Electronics, Choreography and Storytelling. She has been commissioned by Choirs, Chamber Ensembles, Theater and Dance companies to lead the creation of original works that pull from the idiosyncratic desires and abilities of the ensembles that she is engaged with. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Music Composition at Princeton University. 

The Daily Princetonian says Hope Littwin's music explores the “euphoric realm, where the physicality of musical expression is fully embraced — where music is not only something we do, but something we are.” 

Hope’s original works are available for streaming on band camp and YouTube, her Albums (can be found on Spotify/iTunes.

Kimbra is such a beautiful soul. I saw her play a live set of improvised pop music with Exotech in New York City that was truly transcendent and asked her after if she would be open to visiting campus and speaking with the students about her incredible creativity and she agreed. She’s an amazing technician, a life long student, and devoted mind/body/soul to music and creativity.  I hope you enjoy this conversation of 3 songs with Kimbra.

Timecodes for Songs: 

Father I Stretch My Hands - Pastor T.L Barrett & The Youth for Christ Choir 31:05 

The Beautiful Ones - Prince 54:20 

Let's Write a Book - Field Music 1:09:23

Spotify Playlist for 3 Songs podcast Season One https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1TqIyr2dU5sZ0CZh2azump?si=31b46322ae6b44e8&pt=5c5634f703df41f3d4deb3d81c1cd63e 

Follow Kimbra on instagram @kimbramusic 

Subscribe to Kimbra's Youtube Channel @kimbramusic 

Follow Hope Littwin on Instagram @hopelittwin