David Leisner’s latest solo recital disc, Favorites, is a consistently enjoyable program of repertory favorites and lesser known short works for classical guitar. Most imposing is his arrangement of J.S. Bach’s Violin Chaconne in D-minor. Written in the wake of the passing of Bach’s first wife, it is a funeral ode, albeit a non-liturgical one, like few others. Leisner wrings considerable poignancy from its wrenching harmonic passages and its long-breathed melodies: the latter are often filled with descending minor seconds, an affect that in the rhetorical terms of the 18th century signified falling tears. However, the guitarist wisely avoids maudlin tempi or syrupy rubati, instead allowing the piece to unfold at a gradual but constant pace; making for a dignified rather than overly sentimental rendering. He takes a similar approach to Benjamin Britten’sNocturnal, a set of variations on a theme by John Dowland.
Leisner is also impressive in his transcription of Nicolo Paganini’s Grand Sonata, delivering a crisply fleet-fingered rendition that favors clarity and bright articulation to the flashily mercurial (but sloppy) showiness of some other interpreters. He also champions several pieces by composer-guitarist Alexander Ivanov-Kramskoi (1912-1973), a creator of conservative but idiomatic and often technically demanding pieces for classical guitar. Ivanov-Kramskoi isn’t nearly as well known to Western audiences as he should be, and pieces like “Melancholy Waltz” and “Song Without Words” are considerably charming. Overall, Favorites provides a new context for familiar pieces – “old friends” – and contains several pleasing surprises. Recommended.
itsnotyouisme
Everybody’s Pain is Magnificent
New Amsterdam Records
Grey McMurray and Caleb Burhans have been performing together as itsnotyouitsme since 2003. In the past five years, they have released three recordings. Their latest, Everybody’s Pain is Magnificent is a sprawling double album set of material. It celebrates the gradual developing soundscapes and lushly ambient sonics that are signatures the group’s sound. Unlike many ill-fated double albums, which run out of steam or seem padded, EPiM requires the extra time to develop its sweeping musical architectures and allow the listener to luxuriate, bathed in the music’s honeyed harmonies and finely spun textures. It’s been in heavy rotation in these parts this Fall. If you haven’t heard it, you are missing out on one of 2011′s most rewarding ambient treasures.
Below, the band shares a ‘wintry’-sounding video of a recent live performance.
In addition to giving listeners the opportunity to contribute to the continuing vitality of an imaginative imprint, NewAm is also offering free downloads. Every day from December 5-9, a different release from their catalog will be available for free download. Below is an embed of today’s offering: Sarah Kirkland Snider’s beguiling Penelope.
On the blog tomorrow, we’ll be discussing Landscapes, Toshio Hosokawa’s first portrait CD for the ECM imprint. The new recording features an orchestral arrangement of this 1993 work, originally scored for shô and string quartet.
I certainly wouldn’t want to be compelled to prefer one to the other: Landscape V is a haunting tone poem in both its intimate and fuller incarnations.
Questlove’s controversial musical intro for Michele Bachmann on Jimmy Fallon’s show may have stolen the headlines – the band played Fishbone’s “Lyin’ Ass B—-”. But there was something else musical going on during the Monday broadcast that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
M83′s new CD, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, is out now via Mute. This electronica-rock hybrid is already storming up the charts. Eighties ambience, anthemic hooks, and arena-sized sonics combine in a memorable melange. But don’t call M83 retro: they stand out distinctly from the pack of eighties nostalgists. On Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, they’ve amalgamated and transmuted synth signatures past into an ebullient music for the present.
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