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Bang on a…Controller
Via Life’s a Pitch, the news that Bang on a Can, the minimalist/electroacoustic ensemble, has released some of their music for Rock Band play. If the following video of Michael Gordon’s Yo! Shakespeare is anything to go by, minimalist compositions are about as fun as you would think they would be. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6TqadAVk40]
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Videos!
My friend Will Sturgeon, bassist for The Smiles and all around good musician, linked to this video from his Twitter feed (@sturgeo): [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2wtxFMhcrY] I kind of hate the song, but it’s undeniable that the drummer has chops. I rewatched it a couple of times just for the drum fills alone. In other Will Sturgeon news,…
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Proper Discord on Renee Fleming's Rock Album
The unnamed author of the excellent classical music blog Proper Discord (added to blogroll) has a devastating critique of Renée Fleming’s new rock-covers album, Dark Hope up today. The punchlines: In classical music, it’s the composer’s job to write the notes, the musician’s job to make a good sound, the engineer’s job to capture it…
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The Smiles – Hermosa EP
The Smiles Hermosa EP. Self-released, May 28, 2010 This album is for: someone on the lookout for driving music, or a pick-me-up. Fans of the nü-Surf movement found in bands like Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes and Beach House. This album is not for: People that like a little bite to their music. People looking for…
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Wunderkind
One of the books that I return to on a regular basis is a short-story collection, First Sightings: Contemporary Stories of American Youth. It was one of the things I read in my high school freshman English class, and I’ve found it a valuable tool for keeping track of the way that my mind thinks…
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Classical Writers and Pop Music
There’s a big idea that I wanted to bring up, but didn’t in yesterday’s review of The ArchAndroid; the idea of complexity in pop music. I’m not one to believe in musical “progress” per se, but the artist that I respect and value most are those that experimented and tried to create a new sound…
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Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe The ArchAndroid Atlantic Records, May 18 2010. This album is for: People looking for big, symphonic pop that assimilates 60 years of pop music into its sound. Fans of OutKast’s and Danger Mouse’s contemporary-through-heterogeneous-style technique. People who listened to The Adventures of Bobby Ray and wanted something more daring. This album is not…
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LOST: Michael Giacchino
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1K4Fsk3rG8] There’s a nice profile by Alex Ross of Michael Giacchino, the composer for “LOST” in this week’s New Yorker (I’m not going to bother linking to it because it’s behind a paywall). I’ve never been a big fan of the music on LOST. Even though, as I learned from the article, all of the…
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B.o.B. The Adventures of Bobby Ray
B.o.B B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray Atlantic Records, April 27, 2010 This album is for: People who like the Kanye dominated style of pop/hip-hop/rap. People at a party looking to have a good time. People who want unobtrusive upbeat anthems for driving around with. Christian youth group leaders who want to show that…
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Memes
The Washington Post recently did a thing where they asked 12 people what they would “throw out” –things that didn’t need to be a part of the world any more. Joe Randazzo, editor of The Onion, contributed the answer “internet memes:” What used to be an amusing byproduct of Internet use has mutated into something…
