Indaba Music has announced the winners of the Steve Reich 2×5 Remix Contest.
As one of the judges of the competition (along with Mr. Reich), let me offer my congratulations to the winner – Dominique Leone – and runners-up: Vakula and David Minnick.
I’d also like to congratulate the rest of the entrants. Selecting the winner was a very difficult process: the pool of remixes from which to choose was excellent!
Ben Folds and Nick Hornby
Lonely Avenue Nonesuch CD
Nick Hornby has written eloquently about pop songs in the novel High Fidelity and the essay collection Songbook. But what happens when he tries his hand at being a lyricist? On Lonely Avenue, his first musical collaboration with singer-songwriter Ben Folds, Hornby makes the leap convincingly, suggesting that he belongs in the musical realm not just as an astute commentator, but as a full-fledged participant.
Of course, it certainly helps that Hornby’s lyrics are married to eloquent, often poignant, music by Folds. Indeed, Lonely Avenue is his most musically ambitious and wide-ranging effort to date; yet it’s uniformly distinguished. Perhaps in response to the rich lyrical terrain he has before him, Folds incorporates a number of stylistic inflections this time out, from savvily arranged seventies pop to undulating minimalism and from sensitive balladry to brash piano punk.
The CD contains at least three “single-worthy” cuts: “Doc Pomus,” “Picture Window,” and “From Above.” Folds’ piano-playing is as supple as ever – he cooks up some brilliant flourishes on “Doc Pomus” and rocks out with abandon on “Your Dogs.” The arrangements highlight Folds’ piano, but also feature strings and effervescent instrumental contributions and backing vocals from the indie pop duo Pomplamoose.
While one hopes that Hornby doesn’t quit writing compelling stories and cultural criticism anytime soon, he’s welcome to keeping work as a lyricist in the rotation!
Remixers start your … laptops. Some hot-off-the-presses news about a contest beginning at noon TODAY!
Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Steve Reich,Nonesuch Records, and Indaba Musichave launched a search for collaborators to remix the third movement from Reich’s 2×5. Paired with his Pulitzer prizewinning Double Sextet, the work appears on Reich’s new Nonesuch CD.
For four weeks beginning October 12, 2010 at noon, remixers can visit Indaba’s websiteto create their own version of the movement.
From November 9 to 23, fans and a panel of judges including Reich will review the submissions. Winners will be announced on December 7th. In addition to a grand prize and 2 runners-up selected by the jury, 10 honorable mentions will be selected by the public.
All jury selections will receive prizes, as follows:
Grand Prize (1)
$500
Signed copy of Double Sextet/2×5 CD
Signed copy of Double Sextet score
One-year free Platinum membership to Indabamusic.com
Written for the Bang on a Can All Stars, 2×5 is Reich’s most overt foray into rock instrumentation to date. In my preview of the album, I noted that Reich’s collaboration with BoaC was “An intergenerational summit – minimalist elder statesman meets post-minimal/totalist ace performers – that, in terms of importance, is more or less the Downtown version of Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.”
Now, another layer of creators will season the mix – I’m excited to hear the results!
Laurie Anderson’s new theater piece, Delusion, is opening BAM’s Next Wave festival. The piece features two sections from Anderson’s recent Nonesuch CD, Homeland. She’s joined by Eyvind Kang on viola and Colin Stetson on horns. Rich in visuals, it includes contributions from cinematographers Maryse Alberti and Toshiaki Ozawa, and additional animation and overall video design by artist Amy Khoshbin. The show runs through Oct. 3.
We’re giving away a pair of tickets to the event. To win them, be the first person to email me or DM me on Twitter with the correct title for her first hit single (#2 on the UK charts).
Delusion by Laurie Anderson
BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St)
Sep 21—25, Sep 28—30, Oct 1 & 2 at 7:30pm
Sep 26 & Oct 3 at 3pm
Tickets start at $20
More info: http://www.bam.org/delusion
After production help from Dangermouse on their 2008 recording Attack and Release, as well as some time apart in various side projects, the Black Keys return refreshed on the (principally) self-helmed Nonesuch release Brothers.
It’s be easy to oversimplify one’s assessment of the duo’s latest as a “return to their blues roots.” And while it’s undoubtedly true that Brothers reemphasizes the blues and roots music proclivities on display from the Black Keys’ inception, the record also displays a number of intriguing wrinkles that demonstrate the Keys’ versatility. Some of these are exemplified by imaginative touches of instrumentation. There’s the delicious surprise of harpsichord filigrees on “Too Afraid to Love You,” a delicate accompaniment to a muscular, almost outsized reverberant vocal.
In its intro, the hook gets whistled on “Tighten Up,” a song guest-produced by Dangermouse that revels in a languid backbeat and thickly chunked rhythm guitar shuffle. The insouciant whistling gives way to deft lead guitar and a more four-to-the-bar groove. But just as this straightforward rocking settles in, we are treated to a space-age analog synth coda that spaces out the proceedings anew.
Elsewhere, elegant simplicity reigns supreme. On “The Go Getter,” the Keys emphasize their duo dynamic, with a tight roots-rock drum groove undergirding a soulful vocal and tasty guitar breaks. “Black Mud” features a post-psych swamp rock ambience that is grittily determined; yet it remains a heady environment for tangy solos.
While the Keys’ originals display fine, often memorable, songwriting, their taste in covers is exquisite. Brothers only includes one, but it’s a classic: Jerry Butler’s “Never Gonna’ Give You Up.” An incandescently lilting vocal is poised against a rhythm section that replicates 60s R&B with pitch perfect accuracy, all the while imparting a sense of the Black Keys’ own musical identity. It’s the way a cover ought to be done – reminding us of the original artist while never letting us forget that this is a new rendition. Likewise, on Brothers the Black Keys are happy to pay tribute to their musical ancestors. But they concurrently demonstrate a freshness and vitality that suggests that they are indeed worthy heirs to the post-blues/roots rock tradition.
Composer, violinist, and performance/video artist Laurie Anderson has never been one to rest on her laurels. But Homeland, her latest project for Nonesuch takes her farther afield than she’s previously been.
Rather than staying at home to record, Anderson developed the album’s songs over a two year period of touring. And, for the first time, she’s involved her partner Lou Reed in a collaborative recording process (he receives a co-producer credit). The results sound recognizable as songs by Laurie Anderson; but the sonic formula has been tweaked – indeed, refreshed – by the risks taken and departures made during the recording process.
A recurring character is Fenway Bergamot, Anderson’s “male alter-ego,” who graces the album cover and performs on the recording.
Below are a couple of “making of” videos Nonesuch has posted to YouTube.
One of the discs that’s been in heavy rotation here this month is the Nonesuch debut from composer/pianist Timothy Andres. Joined by pianist David Kaplan, Andres presents ten of his piano duo pieces on the disc. They are an impressive pairing, performing with lock step precision and concomitant fluidity.
Andres displays a wide range of influences. “Antenna” combines swaths of flowing 80s-tinged minimalism set against a thunderous section of Ivesian syncopated octaves. The latter gradually morph into a coda out of John Adams’ playbook. “Pavane (pour une compositeur defunt)” recalls a host of Impressionists, even quoting the watershed Debussy prelude “The Sunken Cathedral.” But these watercolored sonorities quickly give away to a jazzier ambience, deliciously complicating matters. “The Night Jaunt” supplies frequent Stravinskyian signatures, from jaunty ostinati to octatonicism.
Despite the readily appreciable stylistic touchstones on Shy and Mighty, Andres never seems to be overwhelmed by his influences. Rather, he crafts a postmodern melange of thoughtful, often exciting, music. He also reclaims the piano duo as a vital, vibrant medium; one with implications of the orchestra, but delightful on its own.
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