For those who think that DG’s days of deluxe packaging are over, one only need check out one of today’s releases, Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión segun San Marcos to realize that, given the right project, the imprint is up for going all out. The box includes the debut 2xCD studio recording of a revised edition of the work alongside a handsomely filmed semi-staged version on DVD. (A trailer for the film is below).
Premiered in 2000 (a live recording was released by Haenssler), La Pasión is an ebulliently eclectic composition. Golijov blends a number of styles: Latin American, Afro-Cuban, and postmodern contemporary classical. Catholic iconography, liturgical dance, and Yoruba rituals all play a role in the work’s visual and aural melange.
Hot on the heels of their performances at SXSW, post-punkers the Shondes are touring up a storm. Their sophomore recording, My Dear One will be released on Fanatic Records May 4th, but you can get a preview of the lead-off single, “Make it Beautiful,” via the streaming player below.
Knitting Factory records is in the process of re-releasing Fela’s entire catalog of recordings. Preview an interview by Questlove on Fela’s music, a free mp3, and a bunch of streaming material below!
For those of us who didn’t make the pilgrimage to SXSW last week, it’s always nice to live vicariously. I saw various tweets about cellos and violins at the festival, and am curious if any readers who attended saw evidence of Indie Classical music at the various showcases. Feel free to share you stories in the comments section below.
Rob Voisey sent along this about the upcoming Vox Novus concert at Jan Hus Church:
MARCH 28TH,2010 (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) Vox Novus in collaboration with the Remarkable Theater Brigade and Jan Hus Church is proud to present their monthly chamber concert series Sunday, March 28th at 1:00. This month’s special Women’s History Month concert features performances by Nadine Carey (voice), Jasmin Cowin (harp) Laura Jordan (marimba), Margaret Lancaster (flute), Milica Paranosic (voice, berimbau, electronics), Daisy Press (voice), Jody Redhage (voice, cello), Theresa Thompson (flute), Heesun Shin (violin), Mara Waldman (piano), and Sophia Yan (piano) performing the composition of Rebekah Driscoll, Emily Koh, Laura Koplewitz, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Milica Paranosic, Daisy Press, Jody Redhage, Faye-Ellen Silverman, and Molly Thompson.
One of Kyle Gann’s Favorite Women Composers of All Time, Milica Paranosic has also been portrayed: …”free-wheeling, performance-art-type cat “(Kyle Gann) …”a painter, a music Jackson Pollack”, (SEAMUS, Eric Somers) … and her music: “amazing….astonishing…” (Jack Anderson, New York Times), and “edgily comical” (Klaus Klingbeil, Der Lausitzer Rundschau, Germany). Allan Kozinn of The New York Times labeled her “Parabaraba,” a piece commissioned and performed by the New Juilliard Ensemble, the most captivating piece on the program.
The New York Times describes Molly Thompson’s music as “rhapsodic music with…jazzy outbursts and exuberant chaos.” The LA Times called her Draft of Shadows “a clever mash-up of tango, rock rhythms, and taped city noises, more party music than parlor music” and Spoleto Today called The Great Hush “eerie and lovely.”
“ Called an “adventurous cello songstress” (Time Out New York), cellist, composer, and vocalist Jody Redhage is “a new music dynamo…Redhage is cultivating a repertoire of indie art songs that breaches genre boundaries and makes for stirring listening” (MusicWorks Magazine). Her dual passions for chamber music and new music have led her to participate in an array of cutting-edge projects.
More info: robvoisey@voxnovus.com
Hailed as “our leading exponent of the avant-garde flute” (Kyle Gann, Village Voice), Margaret Lancaster has built a large repertoire of new works composed for her that employ extended techniques, dance, drama, multi-media and electronics. She has recorded on New World Records, OO Discs, Innova, Naxos and Tzadik, and was selected for Meet the Composer’s New Works for Soloist Champions project.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times writes of pianist Sophia Yan, “…the music literally pulls her off the piano bench; she ranges up and down the keyboard so quickly and with such ferocity that mere sitting will not do.”
Composer’s Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal “voice” created in their compositions. Started in 2001, the “Composer’s Voice” concert series is presenting its 46th concert Sunday March 28th.
This in from Nadia Sirota and the gang at WQXR’s Q2:
Listen in to Q2 now through Sunday toJacobTV on the Radio: a 5-day celebration of the omnivorous creative world of the game-changing Dutch composer, JacobTV. Festival features include:
JacobTV as DJ, introducing many of his seminal works (full archival versions to 20+ pieces available on-demand)
Full on-demand concert audio from Ethel Plays JacobTV: a recent New Sounds Live performance from Merkin Concert Hall with the string quartet Ethel
Hours of rare, never-before-heard recordings from live concerts and private recordings
Videos from upcoming pieces, recent collaborations, documentaries, and live performances
A limited time download of his break-through Grab it! inspired by the documentary Scared Straight!
Aloha’s new LP, Home Acres, is now out on Polyvinyl.
I’ve long been a fan of the band. Way back in 2000, Steve Brydges of Copper Pressturned me on to their debut LP, That’s Your Fire (also on Polyvinyl and well with worth seeking out!)
Back in 2000, Aloha often created a boisterous noise. Part of their sonic signature included copious vibraphone flurries, matched by experimental rock guitars and mathy time signatures.
Over the years, Aloha’s sound became more layered and progressive in presentation. One hesitates to say that their sound has mellowed, exactly; indeed Home Acres includes some of their most rocking music in a while. Mallet instruments remain an important part of their music-making; but on Home Acres, its often the marimba that takes center stage rather than vibraphone. Here mallet instruments and other post-rock gestures are integrated parts of the whole, rather than noticeable mannerisms. And while there are catchy hooks aplenty, Aloha’s rightly vaunted instrumental passages are still given enough time to develop.
All in all, Home Acres is an excellent addition to their catalog.
For those who like to ‘try before they buy,’ Spinner is streaming the album in its entirety here.
Brooklyn Vegan has also posted a couple of songs for download here.
Merge recording artists She & Him – Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward – are releasing their sophomore LP, Volume Two, on 3/23. The video for their lead off single, courtesy of Pitchfork, supplies us with an ample dose of sunshine and indie pop cheer, complementing the week’s first glimpse at Spring.
Hey, what do you know? I just popped over to their website’s bio, and it touts “music for an eternal springtime.” After the winter we’ve had here in the Northeastern US, I’m for it!
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