On Demand
New Sounds Archive
September 2005
September 2005 New Releases
Friday, September 30, 2005
It's the New Releases edition of the show - let's call it the New Sounds Harvest Spectacular 2005. John Schaefer carefully separates the wheat from the chaff, making it through the piles, stacks, and overflowing bins of new CDs that have nearly buried his desk. Hear the latest from composers Pete M. Wyer and Donnacha Dennehy, along with John Zorn's radical Jewish-indie-punk-jazz from a CD called "Masada Rock." Plus, listen to the layered flutes of the Los Angeles Flute Quartet and up to 16 layers of cello by Zoe Keating. Rounding out the show is some new material by Roswell Rudd, featuring the combination of trombone and dulcimer, other traditional Mongolian instruments, AND throat singers.
Lines of Choral Music
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Choral Music of various shapes and sizes is what’s in store for this edition of New Sounds. Hear slow, quiet, and affecting Estonian music by Urmas Sisask from a new CD called Baltic Voices. Paul Hillier leads the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, as they sing with patiently, perfectly sustained harmonic tension and dead-on intonation in their native tongue. Plus on the CD, they also take on sacred music selections by Alfred Schnittke. There’s also David Fanshawe’s working of the Muslim Call to Prayer harmoniously juxtaposed with a choral setting of the Christian Kyrie (sung in Latin.) Continuing with sacred music, Stephen Micus recreates his experience of Greek Orthodox liturgical services from the monasteries on Mount Athos. In “Third Night,”, a 22-man choir sings a capella choral pieces (using thousand year old texts.) Rounding out the show is music from Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the unmatched masters of the South African a cappella form known as "isicathamiya" or "mbube."
World Out Of Tune
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
World Out of Tune festival composer Jon Catler stops by the studio to present works by festival composers; La Monte Young, Elodie Lauten, Neil Haverstick and others. The festival is a series of concerts and broadcasts in Harmonic Series Tuning, a system using intervals occurring in Nature, which fall in between the notes of the traditional man-made European system of tuning. On this edition of New Sounds, hear excerpts from Elodie Lauten’s Harmonic Protection Circle – a work of improvisation within a framework, as the performers react to the resonance of just intonation overtones and the various patterns unfolding with the consonance and dissonance. Also, hear music from La Monte Young, one of the world's leading experts on Natural Music, and from Catler’s own overtone power trio of fretless and just intonation guitar, fretless bass, and drums.
Soundscapes
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Experience various soundscapes on this edition of New Sounds. Listen to the latest percussive soundscapes from Mecca Bodega, from their sometimes trance-jazzy release, "Skin." Plus, there's drummer/composer Bobby Previte's chamber improvisations from a piece called "Mirror, Mirror." Also on this program of soundscapes, sample the layered saxophone of Jan Garbarek from "All Those Born With Wings," a recording from 1986. Rounding out the hour are the quiet reflective pairings of guitar with horn on Ralph Towner's "Rumours of Rain," and lots more.
Music and Film
Monday, September 26, 2005
Film maker Bill Morrison and composer/pianist Philip Glass join us to preview the music and films being produced for The Film Makers Cooperative. For this New Sounds, Philip Glass performs live in the studio. Plus, listen to musical selections from the other artists slated to perform to film projections from the Co-op’s archive at the upcoming Benefit Concert 9/27 at the Angel Orensanz Center. Luminary musicians and composers to appear at the benefit include the likes of Steve Reich, guitarist/composer Elliott Sharp, violinist/composer Todd Reynolds, Bang on a Can All-Star Mark Stewart and many others.
Virtual Reality Inventions
Sunday, September 25, 2005
The man who created "virtual reality," composer, inventor, computer scientist, visual artist, and author Jaron Lanier, returns to New York with new recordings for conventional and invented instruments on this New Sounds program. Lanier’s latest CD, “Columns of Air,” is a collaboration with Robert Dick - a master of experimental flute technique. The title refers to how sound is made in a wind instrument, and also reminds us of Lanier’s former neighborhood in lower Manhattan. From this new recording, hear strange and unusual works, featuring instruments like Robert Dick’s “whammy bar” glissando headjoint, a wind instrument called the Lu Sheng, the santur (Persian hammer dulcimer), and an organ made of salvaged parts from 19th century Boston pipe organs.
Piano Works
Saturday, September 24, 2005
On this New Sounds program, hear the prepared piano - an instrument defined entirely by muting by the attachment of certain objects to the strings of the piano, nuts, bolts, felt, rubber - with selections from John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano. Also on this edition of New Sounds, works by Stephen Scott, another composer who goes inside the piano - but he bows and plucks. Not content to merely place objects on the strings, he rubs tape and fishing line against the piano’s insides, along with many other improvised objects. Plus, William Duckworth’s best-known work, Time Curve Preludes, a set of piano pieces written in 1979 and one of the first so-called "post-minimalist" compositions. Keith Jarrett’s solo improvisations of fluid moods and wanderings for piano, from the 1975 Köln Concert, round out the show.
Cross-Continental Fruits
Friday, September 23, 2005
Hold on to your passport, for this New Sounds is a whirlwind tour of Scandinavian, Chinese, Arabic and English music traditions - and that’s just on “Ochre,” a collaboration between electric zither master Andrew Cronshaw and Syrian qanun and oud virtuoso Abdullah Chhadeh. 'Ochre' takes the tunes of early English folk songs, but interprets them from other traditions and features Arabic singer Natacha Atlas and Pontic lyra player Matthaios Tsahourides as guest artists. Also in store on this program, #2330, are shockingly speedy tunes from the Balkan-Breton band led by Erik Marchand, and new soulful Jewish-Arab music from Basya Schechter, the vocalist from Pharaoh’s Daughter. Plus, hear the acoustic cross-cultural blend of Arabic, Egyptian, South Indian, and Greek traditions on Maza Meze’s recent release, “Secrets Moon Magic.” And much more.
New Early Music
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Sample some new takes on early music for this New Sounds program. We’ll hear from the Japanese early music group, Danceries, and their traditional medieval and Renaissance instruments. Produced by one Ryuichi Sakamoto, this 1982 release “The End of Asia,” is a collection of songs from the 13th to the 16th centuries, coming from such countries as France, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. Plus, Jocelyn Montgomery (Miranda Sex Garden) and David Lynch arrange music by the 12th-century abbess Hildegard von Bingen. Listen to Montgomery’s sublime renditions from a recording called Lux Vivens, along with works from Estampie, and more.
Music Without Borders
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
A world of musical influences are fused together as the Bombay Dub Orchestra draws from ambient, western classical, Indian classical & light classical music and many other places. On this edition of the program, hear selections from the forthcoming album by Bombay Dub Orchestra, who are UK based producer and composer Garry Hughes and classical composer and arranger Andrew T. Mackay. There’s also music from the Canadian Ghazal singer Kiran Ahluwalia and her sometime Celtic backing band. Ahluwalia was raised in Toronto where she fell in love with ghazals, the sophisticated musical love poems of India she was exposed to by her Punjabi parents. Plus works from Cheb I Sabbah, whose latest release is a mix of Arab, Jewish, and Berber elements.
Striking Violins
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
For this New Sounds program, listen to the latest from violinist and composer Michael Galasso, whose previous projects, especially his collaborative work with director Robert Wilson and Wong Kar-wai ("In The Mood for Love,") made lasting impressions in film and theatre music. On Galasso’s latest release, “High Lines,” he offers ghostly textured outgoing music which side-steps between genres, with help from guitarist Terje Rypdal, double-bass player Marc Marder, and percussionist Frank Colón. We also hear from the Swiss violinist/composer Paul Giger, from his mesmerizing 1989 ECM CD “Chartres”, which features the Swiss violinist playing in the crypt and upper church of the great French cathedral.
Thai Elephants on Parade
Monday, September 19, 2005
Hear traditional Thai music, Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, and even Hank Williams, all played by elephants: Prathida, Luuk Kob, Luuk Khang, JoJo, Phangkhawt, and Phumpuang. How is this possible? A human, like composer/performer Dave Soldier or Richard Lair of the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, cues the elephants when to enter and when to stop playing. The music that is made in between these signals is entirely up to the elephants. Fun aside: imagine the human “leader,” trying to let the 10,000 pound animal know that it is time to stop playing the drum. The other way this works is the “hocket” style, where each elephant plays one pitch of the scale on tuned angalungs. Composer/arranger/neuroscientist David Soldier joins John Schaefer for this edition of New Sounds to present the new album by the planet’s most potent passel of pachyderms, The Thai Elephant Orchestra. Really!
Electroacoustic Music
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Experience the shimmering crystal textures of rolling soundscape from the “recovering rock drummer” and Alaska-based composer John Luther Adams. Hear his 2002 piece “Red Arc / Blue Veil” for piano, mallet percussion and processed sounds on this edition of New Sounds. Then, listen for the highly processed sounds of the San Francisco bay blended with foghorns and a brass sextet in Ingram Marshall’s work “Fog Tropes.” Rounding out the show is a work by composer and shakuhachi student Francis White, who also creates for instruments and tape.
New Music from the Netherlands
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Dutch composer Louis Andriessen is fond of hard instrumental edges and combinations of rhythmic styles – Stravinsky’s driving vigor and Minimalism’s lulling repetitions are often found in his music. And, just to make it more difficult to pin down Andriessen, he craftily mixes electronic and traditional instruments in his works. Also on this program of new music from Holland, is a work by so-called proponent of “minimalist style”, Simeon Ten Holt, whose music relies not only on repetition, but also an absence of time. Plus hear the urban melodies of Thom Willems and the rootsy instrumental chamber group Flairck, all on this edition of New Sounds
Drunk Circus Music
Friday, September 16, 2005
There’s music for large ensembles on this edition of New Sounds, with tunes from The Industrial Jazz Group. Their recent CDs, which some listeners have tried to put into words as, “Thelonious Monk goes to the circus drunk,” put bebop alongside the avant-garde, with melody-driven stuff that wouldn’t be out of place in the “downtown” or “west coast jazz” scenes, yet the music is fun, multiple-metered and sometimes even includes theremin. Also, hear the prog-jazz of Either/Orchestra, who stir the soup of old-timey ballads and swing madly while doing so. Then there’s Edward Ratliff’s jazzy-snakey-smokey-Latin blend, hopefully from the CD, “Barcelona in 48 Hours.” Plus, listen to Brian Woodbury’s foray into worlds beyond jazz, with Latin percussion, big band horns, pedal steel guitar, banjo, fiddles, accordion & then some. On his most recent release,”Variety Orchestra,” Woodbury seems to draw from nearly everything - Zappa, Mexican bands, Spike Jones, Charles Ives, you name it.
Worldwide Overtones
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Composer and vocalist Joan La Barbara can approximate ranges of sound from a chanting monk to the cry of a fallen bird. On this New Sounds, sample some of her work – both her solo voice and her voice as a thick forest. Plus, David Hykes succeeded at finding harmonics through his own voice back in 1975, by listening and singing along with the Mongolian, Tuvan, and Tibetan recordings then available. Listen to some of his work with the Harmonic Choir on this edition of New Sounds. We’ll also hear some traditional overtone singing from Tuva, Tibet, Corsica, and Armenia, along with a startling performance by country-pop star Glen Campbell.
Technical Arrangements
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Up on this New Sounds program, dig into the latest from the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound. Listen to some all-acoustic interpretations of pieces by Aphex Twin (Richard D. James), featuring such creative instrumentation as hoses, whistles, shop hardware, and piano treatments. There’s also the keyboard and stasis sounds of Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto, from the release “insen.” Plus, sample more of Zappa's "last band," the Ensemble Modern, from their recent CD of Frank Zappa’s works, “Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions.”
Green Music
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
This New Sounds program features works that deal with environmental and ecological disasters. There’s music from environmentalist Utah mayor and former MTV rocker, Phillip K. Bimstein. His work, “Dark Winds Rising, ” is based on the words of the Jake family, who grew up on the Kaibab Paiute Reservation on the Utah/Arizona border, and in 1991, their tribe rejected an offer to build a toxic waste incinerator on their ancestral land. Also hear “Downwind,” a musical theatre work, by the composer and inventor of the mutantrumpet, Ben Neill. Interestingly, one of the spoken texts includes the biography of a trumpet player from J.S. Bach’s time, Gottfried Reiche, who died as a refult of breathing in fumes and over-exertion at a torchlight concert.
In the Moment
Monday, September 12, 2005
Cécile Schott, working under the moniker "Colleen," has crafted elegant, barely-there compositions on her latest release, “The Golden Morning Breaks.” On this edition of New Sounds, sample from some of these textured soundscapes of muted moods and ethereal melodies. Also, listen to free-flowing music from Keith Jarrett’s recording, “Spirits,” on which he overdubbed himself playing tabla, shakers, recorders, flutes, and piano. Plus, hear improvised duo music by jazz-rock musician Keith Tippett, together with his vocalist wife Julie Tippett who is likely to play thumb piano, wind chimes, recorder and everything else. And, of course, much more.
"Live At Town Hall"
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Laurie Anderson's Live in New York was recorded a mere week after September 11, 2001, and the air of intensity is palpable throughout the two-disc set. Recorded at Town Hall, it includes ten songs from the 2001 CD Life on a String (Nonesuch), plus arrangements of earlier songs from her catalog, including "Let X=X," "Strange Angels," "Coolsville," and the early-1980s classic "O Superman." The latter tune, clothed in a new arrangement, sounds just as poignant as it did 20 years ago, if only because the 90 minutes leading up to it are filled with some of her most dreamlike, unnerving, and yet utterly human music. Selections from this monumental endeavor are the subject of this episode of New Sounds.
Unusual Songs
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Listen to an hour of quirky or nocturnal songs on this New Sounds program. Hear selections by singer/songwriter Robin Holcomb, and her piano-based, spooky, and sensual tune “Deliver Me”; and from the Big Bad Love soundtrack, Tom Waits’ "Jayne’s Blue Wish" with a trumpet solo full of woe. Also, there are songs by Last Forever, Sigur Ros, Rinde Eckert, Mediaeval Baebes, and WNYC’s own David Garland, from his newly-released 6th album, “On the Other Side of the Window."
Hearing Voices
Friday, September 09, 2005
Hear voices along with the Kronos Quartet on this New Sounds program, featuring music by Scott Johnson which uses the recorded voice of the political philosopher I.F. Stone. Johnson taps into the melodic cadences of Stone’s voice, chops them up, and feeds them through various effects, all the while accompanied by witty string quartet motifs. Also on the show, a tongue-in peanut butter banana sandwich work by Michael Daugherty, “Elvis Everywhere,” for three Elvis impersonators and string quartet also featuring Kronos.
Global Pop
Thursday, September 08, 2005
For this edition of New Sounds, listen to the strains of global pop, including music by Holger Czukay, founding member and bass player of the influential Krautrock group Can. From a CD called "Persian Love," Czukay backs up clips of an Iranian singer recorded off the short-wave, and arranges them with sparkling guitar and keyboard riffs. Also, sample Taarab music from the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar, where violin, zither, oud and drums, together with vocals and wheezing accordions all conspire to make breezy big band dance music with historical roots in Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula. While we’re on breezy, Brazilian singer/guitarist/songwriter Seu Jorge is as breezy and intimate as bossa nova gets. Hear songs from his latest CD, along with songs from the Anglo-Asian singer Najma. Plus the Kronos Quartet transforms Mexican street pop into chamber party music and more.
Airs of War and Lunacy
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
For this New Sounds program, there's some food for thought served up in songs with sociopolitical texts. Some, like David Byrne’s sly pro-American torch song “Empire,” take a stab at the recent savagery of American neo-colonialism. Others, like Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian’s “World Citizen,” redirect focus away from the national towards the global. Plus, hear some of Phil Kline's Zippo Songs, art songs for rock band, with texts lifted from inscriptions by American GIs in Vietnam on army-issue Zippo lighters.
Music by John Cage
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Composer John Cage, the inventor of the prepared piano and an avid collector of mushrooms, is arguably most famous (or infamous) for his silent work for piano, 4'33". On this New Sounds program, we’ll listen to some of his works written for choreography. There’s his Satie-esque piece “In a landscape,” for the choreographer Louise Lippold, from the days of his Black Mountain College residency in North Carolina in the early 1950's. We'll also hear the work “Dream” in versions for solo piano and viola ensemble for a dance piece choreographed by Cage’s longtime collaborator Merce Cunningham. Those and much more.
Intercontinentals
Monday, September 05, 2005
Bill Frisell is John Schaefer’s guest in the studio on this edition of New Sounds. The renowned guitarist/composer/bandleader discusses recent “strange,” “different,” “idiosyncratic” and “quirky” projects, including his latest release, “The Intercontinentals.” This new recording features Malian grooves, Brazilian percussion, Mediterranean earthiness, soulful violin, pedal steel guitar, calabash drumming and a bit of djembe for good measure. Hear tunes from it, as well as selections from the jazz-rooted trio recording with Elvin Jones and Dave Holland. Also on tap are intimate chamber jazz tunes from Frisell’ Quartet record featuring Ron Miles, Eyvind Kang, and Curtis Fowlkes along with a selection from Frisell’s expansive Americana-sounding “Gone, Just Like A Train.”
Interlocking Rhythm Patterns
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Originally scored for eight instruments, Steve Reich’s Octet was later expanded for chamber orchestra to fully flesh out the eight interlocking melodic lines – hence “Eight Lines”. Two pianists keep the relentless pulse, while multiple canons of sinewy woodwind phrases and chordally based string passages layer over one another, until a rich maximum density is achieved. On this edition of New Sounds, hear Reich’s Eight Lines along with another multi-layered and multi-textured sonic experience - Javanese court gamelan music.
Latin American Music for Guitar
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Up on this New Sounds, hear Latin American music for guitar and guitar-like instruments from Tex-Mex guitarist Ben Tavera King whose style incorporates elements of flamenco, American Indian music, and dare we say - New Age. Also, works by the late Argentinean folk troubadour Atahualpa Yupanqui. This Latin American world tour of guitar also makes stops in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Brazil.
Music for Sport
Friday, September 02, 2005
Listen to the pairing of music with sports on this edition of New Sounds. There are soccer-inspired works from Brazil’s choro tradition, and music inspired by horse-racing, hockey, among others. Hear tunes from songwriter Seu Jorge, the guitar player who rendered the vintage Bowie songs in Portuguese from his crow’s nest perch in the Wes Anderson film, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” Jorge’s latest CD, “Cru,” which translates as “raw,” combines earthy samba-funk with scratchy emotion. Plus, Jocelyn Pook, in her work “Arsenal,” presents a quirky tribute to North Londoners soccer team, which combines religious song with boisterous football chants. There’s also music by Wynton Marsalis from the Ken Burns’documentary "Unforgivable Blackness," about heavyweight-boxing champion Jack Johnson. And much more.
Southeast African Music
Thursday, September 01, 2005
On this edition of New Sounds, there’s music from Southeast Africa, including works from Mozambique on the mainland, and music from the islands of Madagascar and Reunion. This is a program of music that shows the diverse influences of Indonesian traders, European colonialists, and African pop and folk music. Hear some Madagascan Afro-pop from Tarika, who combine valiha harp and a kobosy lute, with gorgeous vocal harmonies, lilting melodies and polyphonic beats to conjure a village party held along side the ocean. And, from the island of Reunion, is René Lacaille, the remarkable singer, accordion player, and guitarist, who has been called the “musical embodiment of the unique Creole culture of that Indian Ocean island.”
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