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January 2005

New Releases for January 2005

Monday, January 31, 2005

John Schaefer once again picks through the bucketloads of CDs that have flooded his office this winter to find a sampling of new releases worthy of showcasing on this New Sounds program. There's new music from Dave Douglas, Philip Glass, and Arvo Part, along with the latest release from Icebreaker. Also, pay close attention to the Jeff Coffin Mu'tet, who slip into N’awlins feel funk-jazz, Balinese gamelan crossed with a Frisell-like soundscape, and make use of a children's choir, all on the same record!


Sufi Music Survey

Sunday, January 30, 2005

There's an hour-long survey of Sufi music, the powerful, mesmerizing devotional style rooted in Pakistan on this edition of New Sounds. Artists include Abed Azrie, the Mevlevi Dervishes of Istanbul, the Qaderi Dervishes of Kurdista, and of course, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the late, great Pakistani singer who gave many Westerners their first taste of Sufi devotional songs.


All Aboard

Saturday, January 29, 2005

There's music for mass transit on this edition of New Sounds. "Train music" is a long thread in classical music, dating back to Honneger's 1924 work, "Pacific 231." Contemporary composers have also found inspiration in trains and train stations, including Michael Nyman, Elzbieta Sikora, John Mackey, and David Maslanka. As we hear, many of these composers strive to convey trains' movement in onomatopoeic terms — the hissing of steam, the grinding of bearings, and the skidding of wheels. Hop on board and listen to the results.


Early Music and the Folk Revival

Friday, January 28, 2005

The English folk revival and medieval music scenes overlapped in the 1960s and 70s, resulting in a distinctive approach to early music that continues to this day. On this edition of New Sounds, hear some of these intersections of folk and early music, featuring fiddler Dave Swarbrick, "first lady of folk" Shirley Collins, Davey Graham, early music band leader Philip Pickett, and The Albion Dance Band.


Musical Storytime

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Gather round, for on this edition of New Sounds, it's time for some musical storytelling. Hear from Mendi + Keith Obadike, and their Internet opera and sonic book The Sour Thunder. It's a duet of stories taking place simultaneously, with one thread about traveling to study in the Dominican Republic, and the other a science-fiction-like story taking place in Solaika Dast, where communication happens by scent. Music in The Sour Thunder incorporates treated hollow body guitars, mbiras (thumb pianos), environmental field recordings and electronically processed vocals. There's also a political narrative about the death of trust in the collaborative hip-hop trance-jazz-rock song cycle by Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd, called "In What Language?" Plus, the latest from Jerry Granelli and Rinde Eckert, a series of reflections and imaginings using Billy the Kid.


Double-Bass Front and Center

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Whether it’s a jazz player standing isolated at the back of a stage, or a small army of players standing to one side of the orchestra, often too close to the brass section, double-bass players don’t often get the props they deserve for holding the line. On this edition of New Sounds, the focus is on these unsung musicians – the bass player/composers- and their new works. There’s music from New York-based Arnold Dreyblatt, who with his Orchestra of Excited Strings, literally beats the sound out of various stringed instruments. Upon close listening, Dreyblatt’s rhythmic, textured music might seem like an entire universe of tones -maybe not even what he composed- because of the way our brains can perceive the overtone structure of the strings. Plus, hear from virtuoso electric upright bass player Eberhard Weber, Oregonian Glen Moore, Norwegian Arild Andersen and genre-jumper Edgar Meyer, among others.


Flamenco Festival

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Flamenco guitarist Gerardo Nunez and Palestinian oud player Simon Shaheen, perform in the WNYC studio on this edition of New Sounds. Known for his cross-cultural collaborations, Gerardo Núñez is both a guitar virtuoso and a highly respected flamenco innovator. He is one of the best Flamenco guitarists in the world today, equally comfortable with playing deeply emotional traditional Flamenco at an amazing speed as he is venturing into jazz, Latin music, and other genres. Oud master Simon Shaheen (he’s also a violinist) is one of the most important Arab musicians and composers of his generation. He's also a teacher who has done a great deal to foster Arabic music in the West. Both will perform at the Flamenco Festival Gala Benefit Concert for World Music Institute on Thursday evening, January 27.


Music for Piano

Monday, January 24, 2005

Anton Batagov is a young Russian artist, both keyboard player and composer. Not only is he the first Russian pianist to have taken on works by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass, but he also self-produces electronic and experimental works, and releases them on his own private label. Hear pieces from Batagov's CD "Music for Piano" on this edition of New Sounds. Plus, there’s a work by George Crumb, "Eine Kleine Mitternacht Musik," based on Thelonius Monk’s “Round Midnight." Pianist Simone Dinnerstein treats us to a live performance of the piece in the WNYC studio.


Children's Voices

Sunday, January 23, 2005

There’s an hour of music not necessarily for children’s listening, but music written for their voices on this edition of New Sounds. Titled “Songs Of Innocence,” the show features works that incorporate children's voices, from a variety of composers including Hugues Courson, John Williams {the guitarist, not the film composer}, Lars Hollmer, Tan Dun, and others.


Northern Songs

Saturday, January 22, 2005

As we hear in this edition of New Sounds, since the 1990s, the Scandanavian folk music scene has enjoyed a major resurgence. We hear Agnes Buen Garnas, a Norwegian traditional singer who performs songs based on medieval origins in the disc, Rosensfole. The disc is a precursor to Garbarek's later project with the Hilliard Ensemble, but has a distinctive beauty all its own. We also hear from Värttinä, a product of the the folk music department at Helsinki's Sibelius Academy in the 1980s; traditional-based Swedish folk music group Garmarna; and Iceland’s Sverrir Gudjonsson.


Microtonal Music

Friday, January 21, 2005

On this New Sounds episode, Johnny Reinhard, the composer and director of the annual American Festival of Microtonal Music, presents live recordings from the most recent edition of the festival. In brief, the philosophy of microtonality contends that alternatives exist to the traditional Western 12-tone equal temperament system. According to Reinhard, "The number of pitches is infinite ... just because more importance is placed on the Western system today does not mean it's the best."


Post-Rock Instrumentals

Thursday, January 20, 2005

With roots in indie rock, and a combination of experimentation and unclassifiable sounds that fuse ambient, jazz, and minimalist chamber music together, “Post-Rock” music tends to subvert many elements associated with rock and roll. Rather than melodic hooks or song structure, it is usually instrumental, and if it does have vocals, they seem incidental to the overall effect. That said, on this New Sounds program, we’ll hear a number of post-rock instrumentals from bands like Tonetraeger, two guys from Düsseldorf who use string arrangements, produced sounds, interesting patterns and soundscapes to create moods rather than pop songs. Also on tap are Battles (ex-Don Caballero & Helmet!), who might sound something like foreign folks songs, hyper jazz, intelligent rock, and a bit of Steve Reich’s loops all shaken up together. Plus the irresistible chamber rock of Krakatoa and those “subversives with a cello,” Rachel’s.


Electro-Acoustic Music

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

On this edition of New Sounds, there are works by and for Canadian composer and guitar player Tim Brady. Brady's "Frame 1 – Resonance" was imagined as piece for piano and guitar where the guitar acts like a big, electronic resonator for the piano part, in effect becoming an electro-acoustic sustain pedal. Hear the piece played by the ensemble Bradyworks; Pamela Reiner on piano and Tim Brady himself on guitar and treatments. Then there’s "Dancetracks," which began life as a piece for tape and improvising electric guitar, created for Brady on commission by the Sonic Arts Network of London. The version that’s part of this New Sounds program is a composite of improvisations made out of real time, and in multiple tracks, by Steve Mackey, against the grid of the tape/drum track. Plus, hear a piece for mulitple marimbas, "Loops, Blips, and Flesh" by the Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy.


Laurie Anderson & Ethel

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

From New Sounds Live at Merkin Hall recorded in late February 2004, Laurie Anderson performs new works for voice, violin, and keyboard. Hear her dry and witty streams of thought storytelling wend their way over alternately pulsing and thunderous keyboard programming, interspersed with violin interludes. Plus, the string quartet Ethel performs works by either John King or Todd Reynolds, and a breathtakingly melting work by Phil Kline.

Click here to view a slideshow of this New Sounds Live concert from Merkin Hall.


World Music from Mali To New Guinea

Monday, January 17, 2005

One of Afghanistan's best-known female singers, Ustad Farida Mahwash, trained with classical masters, and now lives in exile in California. She had given concerts and performed on the radio long before the Taliban regime came to power and has just released a tour CD, "Mahwash: Radio Kaboul,” recorded in honor of the musicians of Radio Kabul. On this edition of New Sounds, listen to music by Ustad Mahwash. Also, sample from the recent double live CD by Habib Koite of Mali, backed by the superstar musicians of Bamada. Koite's velvety, intimate voice combines with balafon, calabasse, harmonica, and the six-string kora-like kamale n'goni, for layers of sound “as light as filo pastry, as substantial as whole-grain bread,” according to The Beat magazine. Plus, hear recordings from Namibia, Mozambique, and Sunda (Indonesia).


Celtic World Music

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Traditional Celtic music has shown a distinct ability to open itself up to other world music influences. Yet as we hear in tonight's New Sounds, to do it without sounding saccharine, bland, or new-agey is not always easy. Leading practitioners of this fusion style include the Scottish band Shooglenifty, which mixes in shades of electronic and dub reggae. Baka Beyond fuses African beats with Celtic and Gaelic melodies, while Anuna, the Irish choir that was heard in the original "Riverdance" floats through Celtic, medieval and American folk styles with utmost ease.


Silent Film: "Nosferatu"

Saturday, January 15, 2005

From the New Sounds Live concerts series of silent film music at the World Financial Center, hear the Alloy Orchestra performing their original score to the creepy silent film classic "Nosferatu." Famed for its "rack of junk" (an assemblage of peculiar objects including air-conditioner ducts, trunk springs, and plumbing pipes), the Alloy Orchestra is arguably the finest modern-day purveyor of silent movie scores in this country.


Virtual Cathedral

Friday, January 14, 2005

From the New Sounds Live concert series, William Duckworth and The Cathedral Band play music on real and virtual instruments from Duckworth's enormous, 5-year multimedia web-based piece Cathedral. The live concert, recorded at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden Atrium, also incorporated the music made by concert-attending laptop users and those who played along through the world wide web on the virtual instrument called Pitchweb.
Click here to view a slideshow of this New Sounds Live concert recorded at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden.


Ethio Jazz Live

Thursday, January 13, 2005

From the New Sounds Live concert series, the Either Orchestra, the Massachusetts-based brass band, plays arrangements of classic Ethiopian pop music, with special guest Mulatu Astatqe, one of the leaders of the Ethiopian pop scene in the late 60s/early 70s. The E/O's innovative and tricky "Ethiopian Suite" was a definite show-stopper. Hear it and other works recorded at the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden Atrium this past fall of 2004.
Click here to view a slideshow of this New Sounds Live concert recorded at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden.


Lit Rock

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

From the New Sounds Live concert series, the band One Ring Zero presents its “author project,” with readings and lyrics (and some performances) by authors Rick Moody, Paul Auster, and Siri Hustvedt. The show was recorded last fall at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden Atrium. ORZ and their reinforcements, performed a bawdy song or two, a catchy soon-to-be classic-"Kiss Me, You Brat," and there were some additional surprises, like Paul Auster's daughter as a vocalist!
Click here to view a slideshow of this New Sounds Live concert from the World Financial Center.


Legong: Silent Film Score

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

From the New Sounds Live concert series at the World Financial Center, the Clubfoot Orchestra and the Gamelan Sekar Jaya perform Richard Marriott's new score to the "rediscovered" silent film Legong: Dance of the Virgins. The score, co-created with Balinese musician I Made Subandi, is for string quartet, trumpet, clarinet and large gamelan ensemble. The film, made in Bali in the early 1930s, was shot in glistening 2-strip Technicolor with a native cast, and restored by the UCLA film library. If you can't get to the live performance of the score to the silent film at the World Financial Center next Wednesday night, Jan. 19, 2005, it’s just been released on DVD, with the Clubfoot/Gamelan Sekar Jaya score, as a second optional track.

World Financial Center
Read the NY Times Review of the DVD.


Electric Ethel

Monday, January 10, 2005

From the New Sounds Live Concert Series, we present the second half of last fall’s sociopolitical blowout show. The electric string quartet Ethel plays music from Scott Johnson’s work “How It Happens,” built around the unexpected melodic shapes of the taped voice of I. F. Stone. Also, Phil Kline’s “Funeral of Jan Palach” performed by the Zippo Band (violinist Todd Reynolds, percussionist David Cossin, vocal improv by Theo Bleckmann, and the composer himself on guitars.)
Click here to view a slideshow of this New Sounds Live concert from Merkin Hall.


Unusual Opera And More

Sunday, January 09, 2005

On this edition of New Sounds hear excerpts from Robert Ashley's experimental opera, Celestial Excursions, which had its U.S. premiere in 2003. The work uses the words of "old" people in tightly choreographed blends of speech and song. Also, we hear Evan Ziporyn's Ngaben, for gamelan and orchestra, written in memory of those killed in the Sari Nightclub bombing in Bali. To round out the program, some highlights from Michael Nyman's opera "Facing Goya."


Electric Sufi

Saturday, January 08, 2005

John Schaefer spotlights European jazz with a world and folk music flavoring on this New Sounds program. Hear music by Dhafer Youssef, rooted in the Sufi tradition and other streams of mystical sounds. His CD Electric Sufi unites jazz improvisation, ethnic roots, funk grooves and electronics into a novel West-Eastern amalgam. Guitarist Nguyen Le was born in Paris, but both his parents were Vietnamese, and the music of his ancestral homeland has forms an important strand in his work. Anouar Brahem, Enzo Favata, and Trio S are among the other artists who revel in a rich ethnic mixture.


Frisell Trio Silent Film Scores

Friday, January 07, 2005

From the New Sounds Live concerts, hear new music for silent films by Bill Frisell and his trio, recorded this past January at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden. The performances by The Bill Frisell Trio feature Kenny Wollesen on drums and Tony Scherr on bass, and were part of the 2004 New York Guitar Festival.
Click here to view a slideshow of the Bill Frisell trio at WFC.


Listener Poll 2004 Results

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Here's the rebuttal to last night’s program where the listeners weigh in on the best new music releases of 2004. Thanks to all of the listeners who voted. As we sort through the responses, the color commentary isn't that different from years past. Some of the usual suspects ranked highly this year, and there were also some relatively new artists. Listen for the shocking results...


Schaefer's Top Ten of 2004

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

On this special episode of New Sounds, John Schaefer presents his annual, highly subjective, completely opinionated list of the ten best new-music releases of 2004. Listen to what made the cut this year: a piano trio who take on everything, a writing duo who have literary help with some songs, gorgeous vocal polyphany from the Wulu Bunun people, Tuareg call and response with a Celtic twist, world party music, and more.


Ragas and Sagas

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

On this edition of New Sounds, hear a collaboration between Pakistanis and Norwegians from an exotic CD called Ragas and Sagas, featuring saxophonist Jan Garbarek’s improvising saxophone, along with voice, sarangi, and tabla. In fact, the show is just full of cross-cultural Nordic music, including ambient trumpet jazz from Nils-Petter Molvaer, with wending solos, sometimes hypnotic and trip-hop smooth. Plus, Indian-flavored psychedelia and Irish bagpipes come together in violinist/composer Eyvind Kang’s work, “the Story of Iceland”.


New Sounds Live Is Early

Monday, January 03, 2005

From the New Sounds Live concert series, take a look back at excerpts from the early years, 1986-1996. Hear live recordings of music by the hypnotic "maximalist" Michael Galasso, "sensualist" Daniel Lentz's Ensemble, the "totalist" music of the Mikel Rouse Broken Consort, and composer and pianist Katrina Krimsky, among others.


Chameleon Guitar

Sunday, January 02, 2005

The guitar easily finds a home in classical, jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock, country, and any number of international styles. That versatility is the very point of this episode of New Sounds. Featured performers include Kaki King, the 23-year-old guitarist whose debut CD, Everybody Loves You, features musical influences running the gamut from folk to funk to rock to jazz; Baka Beyond, the unusual band inspired by the music of the Baka Pygmies; London-based composer Pete M. Wyer; Benjamin Verdery's ensemble UFOnia, and much more.


Sonic Splice Essays

Saturday, January 01, 2005

DJ Spooky's release “Optometry” is a vast sonic essay that merges DJ culture seamlessly with jazz, ambient, and other styles. As DJ Spooky wields laptop, turntables, treatments, bass, he is joined by pianist Matthew Shipp and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain, among other guest musicians. Spooky calls Optometry "jazz for the genre splice generation," and as this edition of New Sounds illustrates, it's a big step forward in the DJ genre.