Pow Wow singer Joe Rainey, of the Ojibwe community in Minneapolis, fuses traditional melodies and “vocables” (Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork) with the producer Andrew Broder in something of an avant-hip hop partnership, although in addition to beats, there are field recordings, industrial-sounding processed drums, string arrangements, and vocal processing. He describes his music as being on the same river, but a different boat from other pow wow singers and groups.

Rainey’s album Niineta—the title means “Just Me” in Ojibwe, and which he further explains is “my contribution to contemporary indigenous music” – was released on Justin Vernon and the Dessner brothers’ 37d03d label, to which Rainey is signed. The music is rooted in traditional drum and dance music, where for years Rainey always had a hand-held recorder or voice memo rolling, even recording calls from incarcerated family members singing. These field recordings became part of the whole album’s unique woven fabric of voice-as-instrument pieces, combined with samples and sometimes with altered by electronic processing, all layered with Rainey’s own singing, which can celebrate or console, and “conveys a clear message: We’re still here. We were here before you were, and we never left”, (Bandcamp.) Joe Rainey and Andrew Broder perform remotely. - Caryn Havlik

Set list: “Bezhigo”, “Can Key”, “No Chants”

Watch "Bezhigo":

Watch "Can Key":

Watch "No Chants":

Niineta by Joe Rainey:

Niineta by Joe Rainey