Vanessa Rossetto - The Way You Make Me Feel (2016)

As much as Gillié’s soundscape is inspired by the external, Vanessa Rossetto’s is inspired by the internal: specifically, the artist’s state of mind during a visit to New York City. Her poetic description of the process is akin to a diary entry and is well worth reading. During her stay, she attempted to record every minute, and afterward to “wind bits of straw into something resembling a form.” But as this time coincided with a severe bout of depression, she chose to concentrate not on the obvious sounds, but the sounds in-between; the seemingly mundane, unimportant, fragmented or abandoned pieces of sonic debris that rested between the lead sonic stories. Those who have struggled with depression understand this approach, as the big things are often too much, and the little things, seen and heard in macro, may be just enough. In this case, it means crackle and chirp, honk and holler, turnstile and ticket machine. Turn it up and it’s overwhelming, a fugue of amplified fury.

But here’s the rub. In the lowest part of her life, Rossetto managed to capture, and then ~ with obsessive concentration ~ organize a collection of dried breadcrumbs, something few others would dream of doing. The result is a set of intense and fragile beauty, a gift grown from seemingly depleted soil. To listen is to become aware of the lost and overlooked: a metaphor for Rossetto’s condition as well as that of the city. The way you make me feel may be pure Rossetto, but it’s also as New York as Sinatra’s famous song. Speaking of songs, Michael Jackson does get his moment in the sun, albeit briefly; a moment of humor that lightens the tone and points the way from the subway to the street. ~ Richard Allen.