Jem Cohen: Aerie

Jim White and Marisa Anderson’s music asks questions so we don’t have to. Collaboration? Improvisation? Song structure? None of it has to be tied down. They are out on the road somewhere, luckily heading for my town. Playing hard, driving hard, a lot of experience. Meanwhile, a boy, Alexander, is up on a mountain and has to do something with sticks. It is important , requires effort. How can they be combined, will they balance, and what about the wind? He is improvising, concentrating. He is less experienced, will soon be 8. The boy and the sticks, it turns out, are on an aerie in early spring, high above an old trestle, houses and cars tiny below…

– Jem Cohen

Image: Boy With Sticks, Working, High Up, still from Aerie by Jem Cohen, 2024. Music by Jim White and Marisa Anderson from the album Swallowtail, ThrillJockey Records.