New Sounds Archive

October 2006 New Releases

Monday, October 30, 2006

It's that time of the month again for the new releases show on New Sounds. John Schaefer carefully sorts through the stacks, bins, and boatloads of new CDs which have come across his desk over the past month to present some of the finest new releases. Now, if only he could find the desk...

Middle Eastern Masters

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Ali Akbar Moradi, the acknowledged master of the Kurdish lute, or tanbur, performs in the WNYC studio on this edition of New Sounds. Moradi, a student of tanbur since he was 7 years old, has toured the world many times over and now teaches in Kermanshah and in Tehran. Also, hear music by sitarist Shujaat Khan based on the folk traditions of India, and his collaborative work with Iranian fiddler Kayhan Kalhor in the group Ghazal. And much more.

Music From Italy

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Hear some works based on old Italian regional traditions on this edition of New Sounds. There’s music from the Neapolitan band Spaccanapoli, whose music is rooted in the traditions of the local working class, with its pulsing drums, passionate vocals and the wild dances of the Tarantella and Tammurriata. Also on the show is music from singer/percussionist/dancer/actress Alessandra Belloni. Her most recent material sounds like a blend of Brazilian accordion and percussion and Italian traditional singing. We’ll from Daniele Sepe as well. He’s an Italian saxophonist and composer based in Naples who mixes jazz, funk, and rock in his love songs, serenades, and protest songs, along with pizzicas and tarantellas. Not to be outdone, there’s music by the singer and sax player Enzo Avitabile based on 14th Century tradition of turning farm implements into musical instruments. And much more…

Stephen Scott's New York Drones

Friday, October 27, 2006

For this New Sounds, the creator of the “bowed piano ensemble,” Stephen Scott, presents new music for bowed, plucked, hammered, and occasionally keyboard-driven piano. Most of the sounds are made directly on the strings of one open grand piano by ten players using a variety of materials and tools; nylon fish line, horsehair, guitar picks and fingernails, piano hammers, percussion mallets and specially-designed piano mutes. Scott’s latest, “New York Drones,” is a work dedicated to the composer Steve Reich in honor of his 70th birthday, and will receive its New York premiere on Saturday, October 28th in The Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall at 7:30 PM. In the work, Scott freely interprets the concept of drones to encompass not only long-sustained tones but also repeating patterns of rhythms on one pitch or repeating melodic and harmonic patterns in a single mode. We’ll also hear music from Scott’s song-cycle fantasy with the Bowed Piano Ensemble, Sounding Landscapes, which celebrates various landscapes, both physical and imagined, both natural and cultural, of Lanzarote, eastern-most of the Canary Islands. All this and more.

Music of the World

Thursday, October 26, 2006

On this New Sounds program, we’ll hear some women’s voices in world music. Listen to performances by Angelique Kidjo, Yungchen Lhamo, Susan McKeown, and more. This time, “more” turns out to be a live in-studio performance by Indian sarod virtuoso and composer Amjad Ali Khan, two of his sons, Ayan, and Amman, and Samir Chatterjee on tabla. Don’t miss this edition of New Sounds for some bhajans and folk music of Eastern India.

» View photos of Amjad Ali Khan
» New Sounds Live 2006-2007 schedule

Worldwide Overtones

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

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.

Eric Whitacre's Cloudburst

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

For this edition of New Sounds, the young American composer Eric Whitacre joins host John Schaefer to present music from his latest record, “Cloudburst.” His recorded music output, so far is mostly dazzling unaccompanied vocal writing, where Whitacre’s original compositional voice is immediately obvious, in that he’s assimilated everything from prog rock to Mozart and Copland. He’s going for a heart-melting mix of expressively beautiful sound, where lush and shimmering moments give way to elegant and satisfying dramatic conclusions. His work-in-progress opera electronica, “Paradise Lost,” is a “cutting edge musical combining trance, ambient and techno electronica with choral, cinematic, and operatic traditions” and will run at The Theatre at Boston Court in California in July 2007.

Technical Arrangements

Monday, October 23, 2006

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.”

Noise and Space Continuum

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Hold on to your samplers, for on this edition of New Sounds, you’ll hear something from one of Annie Gosfield’s crazy new pieces incorporating satellite sounds, static, machine noise and microtonality. Also, you’ll experience the “bubblecore” sound with ambient space rock from the one-man project known as Icecake. Plus, listen to some trippy, Frippy-soundscape works involving guitar and electronics from Richard Pinhas.

Global Voices

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Hear global voices singing on tonight’s New Sounds program. For starters, there’s the lush vocal polyphony of the Wulu Bunun people of Taiwan, anchored by David Darling’s cello and other soundscapes. Move on to the quiet and reflective Buddhist-inspired wordless chant from Stephan Micus’ latest release, “Life.” Also, composer and guitarist Baird Hersey leads an eight voice singing group known as Prana who make gorgeous natural overtone harmonies. Plus, listen to northern songs by Estonia’s Veljo Tormis, Norway’s Per Norgard, and Denmark’s Bo Holten.

In the Moment

Friday, October 20, 2006

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.

AllSteel String Quartets

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Composer and guitarist John King joins host John Schaefer on this edition of New Sounds to present his latest CD, AllSteel. Earthy and blues-based, King’s music is intense, hard driving and at times breathtakingly beautiful. King is able to blend popular music and classical traditions, while writing works that are both fully composed and allow for improvisation. He’s written for Merce Cunningham, the New York City Ballet, Guy Klucevsek, Aki Takahashi, the Bang on a Can All Stars, to name a few. And on this CD “AllSteel,” which is a trio of string quartets, the first two pieces were commissioned by the quartet Ethel, who recorded all three quartets, AllSteel, 'Round Sunrise, and Lightning Slide.

Covering the World

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Listen to the bossa nova bounce of Nouvelle Vague’s latest collection of 80’s and post-punk music all-done up on this edition of New Sounds. Perhaps you’ll recognize their versions of songs by Blondie, Echo & the Bunnymen and the Buzzcocks. Then Tuvan singer, electric guitarist and experimentalist Albert Kuvezin and his punk band Yat-Kha re-interpret tunes by Joy Division and Iron Butterfly, among others. Plus, The Yoshida Brothers, a shamisen duo, perform an arrangement of Brian Eno’s “By This River.” And we sample some acoustic renditions of David Bowie in Portuguese by Brazilian pop heavyweight Seu Jorge.

Global Pop

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

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.

New Music from Japan

Monday, October 16, 2006

This New Sounds offers a sampling of new music from Japan, with music for the koto (Japanese zither), biwa, Shomyo choir, and more. The young koto and shamisen virtuoso Yoko Reikano Kimura, plays Katsutoshi Nagasawa’s piece, The Pleiades. Also, there’s new music by Ushio Torikai, a large work called Sonbou no toki, for Buddhist Shomyo choir, and features a poem intoned over the chanting monks. Plus, hear solo koto music by Chieko Mori written in a new scale based on gagaku, ancient music of the Japanese imperial court.

I Lost a Sock

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Hear new music written for early music specialists and ensembles on this edition of New Sounds. There’s music from the oratorio, “Lost Objects,” a collaborative work between the Bang on a Can composers and the writer Deborah Artman, featuring the Baroque ensemble Concerto Köln and DJ Spooky, among others. Inspired by text from the Talmud, the work is a meditation on the theme of loss, making connections between other lost things; objects as mundane as a sock or umbrella to things like one's memory, a species of animal, or the language of a people. Also, listen to music from Roy Wheldon’s "Galax," which joins viola da gamba chords to faint traces of Appalachian fiddle music. Rounding out the show is a somber work by Gavin Bryars, "Cadman Requiem," where wavering string tones act as a backdrop for the Hilliard Ensemble vocals.

Mali Music

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Mali is a country of contrasts, and music there is no exception. We’ll hear the nomadic Tinariwen of North Mali; the bluesy voice of Oumou Sangare, from the Wassoulou tradition of the south; and the voice of the great Salif Keita, heir to a line of Malian kings and one of the great singers in the Manding tradition. Also, Morey Kante, Habib Koite, and the late legendary blues guitarist Ali Farka Toure.

Music by John Cage

Friday, October 13, 2006

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.

Eye of the Frog

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Take an orchestra, add Hawaiian guitar, electric piano, Tang dynasty poetry, and a liberal helping of virtuosity on the bass clarinet, and you’ll have “Frog’s Eye,” the latest release from clarinetist/composer Evan Ziporyn. Ziporyn is a co-founder and member of the Bang On A Can All-Stars and the Artistic Director and founder the American gamelan called Gamelan Galak Tika (resulting in some 25 years of experience with Balinese gamelan.) On the eve of a Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall concert of his “attempt at ancestor worship,” a musical homage to forbears Stravinsky and Woody Herman in a work called “Big Grenadilla,” he joins host John Schaefer to present selections from his first CD of orchestral works.

Music for Sport

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

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.

New Music for the Concert Hall

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The Warp Record label’s glitch-tronica and the avant brow-furrowing sounds of contemporary musical heavyweights lock horns in a symphonic smack-down for this New Sounds. From a new two-disc compilation of recordings from concerts between 2003 and 2005 by the London Sinfonietta - Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters, we’ll hear arrangements of electronic music by Aphex Twin, paired with prepared piano music by John Cage. Now, the London Sinfonietta is not the first group to take on arrangements of music by Aphex Twin (Richard D. James.) This so-called Intelligent Dance Music has also been tackled recently by the new music band Alarm Will Sound, who eagerly exploited this intersection of classical and electronic music on “Acoustica.” Although the London Sinfonietta’s sound is a bit more stripped down, it is still just as engaging and subversive. Plus, music by John Adams and Steven Mackey.

Choral Music

Monday, October 09, 2006

This New Sounds program samples a bit of choral music, with works that draw upon the Odyssey and the ancient folk songs of Estonia to a work based on a portion of the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Listen to David Bedford’s interpretation of the seductive feminine charms of the singing temptresses in “The Sirens,” part of a larger work inspired by scenes of Homer's poem, featuring a female choir. Also, there’s music by Veljo Tormis, his “Curse Upon Iron,” a suggestive symphony for voices, which uses glissandos, shouts, shrieks, and percussive singing together with shaman drum. At the work's climax, the chorus sings about nuclear warheads and plutonium as it imitates the hair-raising sound of an air-raid siren. Rounding out the show is music from the Philip Glass opera, Satyagraha (a Sanskrit word meaning 'truth force'), which deals with Mahatma Gandhi's early years in South Africa and his development of non-violent protest.

...And You Can Trance To It

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Trance jazz from two groove-based piano trios is in store on this edition of New Sounds. Hear from the likes of Australia's uncategorizable threesome the Necks, whose hypnotic, deceptively simple riffs and motifs can sometimes stretch to epic proportions. Also, take a listen to selections from the new Medeski Martin & Wood CD, "End Of The World Party (just in case)." The transient trio have created theme songs for doomsday packed with melody, soundscapes and beats that defy gravity. Plus, hear like-minded works by saxophone/synth player John Surman and Belgian composer/pianist Wim Mertens.

Radical Jewish Music

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Radical Jewish Music might encompass Klezmer, Sephardic folk songs, and even the infamous '50s easy listening album "Bagels and Bongos," or anything in the tradition of, or inspired by all of these. On this edition of New Sounds, hear from musicians and composers, most from John Zorn�fs Tzadik label, who have their roots in traditional musics of Jewish heritage. There's music from the latest Steve Bernstein (Lounge Lizards, Sex Mob) release, "Diaspora Hollywood," which actually was recorded in the Hollywood Hills. Listen to Bernstein's lush vibey-groovy small jazz combo arrangements and reworkings of cantorial music, along with violinist Jenny Scheinman's folk-jazz for quartet with keyboardist Myra Melford from her release "Shalagaster." Plus, listen to the soulful music of Basya Schecter, vocalist for the group Pharaoh's Daughter. From the recent "Queen's Dominion," in collaboration with santur virtuoso Alan Kushan, sample hypnotic middle eastern music with influences from both Jewish and Arab traditions. And much more.

Indian Vocals, Western Music

Friday, October 06, 2006

For this New Sounds show, there’s music built around Indian vocals, from the pop style known as filmi to the centuries-old devotional and love poems known as ghazal. Listen to works from the forthcoming Kronos Quartet release, You’ve Stolen My Heart. On the record, Kronos reworks some of Bollywood soundtrack composer RD Burman's best-loved tunes, collaborating with Burman’s wife and muse Asha Bhosle for the project, whose voice, even today, has lost none of the sweetness and fluidity that made her a Playback star back in Bollywood’s heyday, in the 1960’s. Also, there’s music from Brooklyn-based vocalist (and percussionist) Paula Jeanine from her American Ghazal project along with songs by the Canadian singer Kiran Ahluwalia, and her sometimes Celtic-seeming backing band. Plus, music from Terry Riley and Najma Akhtar rounds out the show.

American Primitive

Thursday, October 05, 2006

“American Primitive,” the guitar-style associated with the late John Fahey, blends folk, blues, classical and Eastern music. We’ll hear a few examples on this New Sounds from Fahey’s Takoma label-mates, with new reissues from Robbie Basho and Harry Taussig, and music by guitarist and storyteller Leo Kottke as well. Also, we’ll tap into a new generation of pickers, like Shawn David McMillen, Jack Rose, and Kaki King, among others.

Music & Technology

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

There are some early instances of electronic and electroacoustic music on this New Sounds program, as we continue to mine the vast motherlode of riches from the early years of New Sounds Live performances. Hear the first farewell performance of "Big Mouth," a work for musical shoes by Linda Fisher, as played by Linda Fisher and Joshua Fried. Imagine men’s shoes, mounted on a stand, and then beaten with drumsticks. When the soles of the shoes are hit, a gate is triggered, which plays a sample - and in the case of "Big Mouth," the samples are of classic cartoons talking crazy talk. Also, listen to Ingram Marshall’s work Hidden Voices, where he uses various tape looping techniques to come up with some the eeriest sounds ever recorded, featuring the soprano voice of Cheryl Bensman-Rowe. Plus, computer music by Neil Rolnick, and his piece called “Balkanization.”

Steve Reich @ 70

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

For this edition of New Sounds, we take a look back at the career of composer Steve Reich on the occasion of his 70th birthday. With help from the brand-new 5-CD box set of Reich’s works on Nonesuch Records, host John Schaefer presents works from Reich’s early taped pieces to his most recent works, including pieces for dance, You Are (Variations), and much more.

New Music for Flute

Monday, October 02, 2006

On this New Sounds program, the focus is on the flute. There are flutes of all kinds – from electronically enhanced to Native American flute paired with synthesizer; music from classical flutist Ransom Wilson to the Japanese shakuhachi. Listen to an excerpt from George Crumb’s Voice of the Whale, sort of the oceanic equivalent of Olivier Messiaen's birdcalls, which was inspired by the songs of the humpback whale. Also, hear R. Carlos Nakai’s Native American flute, as he assembles a fusion of something like “SynthacousticpunkNavajazz.” Say that 10 times fast… Plus, music from Herbie Mann’s “Gagaku & Beyond” and the bright and bouncy multi-layered flutes of James Newton’s “Axum.”

Revisiting New Sounds

Sunday, October 01, 2006

What year is this, anyway? On this edition of the program, hear electronically-altered music from some of the composers who were part of the nightly New Sounds diet back in the mid-1980s, and who are now going strong again. Listen to watery, ambient chill space music by K. Leimer from a recent release called "the Listening Room." Then there are works with different drones - one by Chas Smith, his "October 68," where he pulls the country twang of guitar strings like taffy, stretching the sound into a folksy drone, and another piece with hypnotic repeating drones by Harold Budd. Plus, hear the 1986 work by Daniel Lentz, "Time's Trick."