New Sounds Archive
February 2008
New Releases February 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
It's that time again for the monthly program of new releases. John Schaefer picks through the bucketloads of CDs that have flooded his inbox to find new releases worthy of showcasing in tonight's program. Fact: a favorite game in the office is "Don't Tip the Waiter" making use of the stacks of CDs waiting for airplay on John's desk. However, after the visit from a Montreal-based documentarian Josh Freed, who filmed John's desk as part of "My Messy Life," the gaming has been replaced by cursing.
Near East New Music
Thursday, February 28, 2008
For this edition of New Sounds, sample some music from the Near East. We’ll hear music from composer and master of the oud, Marcel Khalife. His latest, “Taqasim,” a three-part work, is an instrumental tribute to the the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Khalife, with these wordless improvisations, takes the lower register of the oud and Peter Herbert's upright bass and brings Darwish's world of the Palestinian people's dispossession and exile to all, reaching for a place where devilish subtleties lie, and where speech is limited. Also on the program, there’s music from Abed Azrie, an Iranian native now residing in Paris who sets to music Arabian poems with strong mystical leanings. Plus, there’s unaccompanied solo flute music (Turkish ney, North Indian bansuri) by Huzur Nawaz, who has played for and directed music for the Mevlevi dervishes. And lots more.
New American Gamelan
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
This New Sounds brings new American music for Indonesian gamelan. Hear music for Gamelan Son of Lion, written by composer, accordionist and improviser, Pauline Oliveros, who amps up the speed range for gamelan with the works “Lion’s Eye” and “Lion’s Tale.” Plus, there’s new work by ethnomusicologist-turned-composer Barbara Benary, the co-founder and guiding spirit of Gamelan Son of Lion. Her CD, “Sun on Snow,” is a collection of works "combining sonic elements of Indonesia's elusive paradise with darker undercurrents that are decidedly more hellish" (NewMusicBox.org.) Benary pits gamelan against clarinets and keyboard percussion in something like a mixed marriage where neither partner attempts to convert the other. That, and much more.
New Sounds of Old Americana
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Listen to old Americana recordings woven into tapestries of new music on this edition of New Sounds. There’s music by Moby, David Byrne and Brian Eno, and a brand new arrival of music by Chris Becker. Becker’s latest, "Saints & Devils," is a ten-part suite -inspired by rural blues, gospel and Cajun music- which uses samples from the Alan Lomax recordings, live instruments and processing to create a unique texture of sound sculpture and words. We’ll listen to parts of Becker’s suite along with A. Leroy’s work "Handa Wanda" for three saxophones, whose interlocking rhythms suggest New Orleans Mardi Gras drumming. And, of course, much more.
Tin Hat, the Quintet
Monday, February 25, 2008
On this New Sounds, we dip into Tin Hat's “The Sad Machinery of Spring." The Tin Hat Trio has contracted (founding member Rob Burger left in 2004) and expanded again (its new members are Ben Goldberg, Zeena Parkins, and Ara Anderson) to become Tin Hat, a quintet that lives somewhere between composition and improvisation with one foot in jazz, and another in classical. Their latest record is inspired by the work of Bruno Schulz, a Polish-Jewish novelist and graphic artist whose life was cut tragically short in 1942. Also on the show, hear works by cellist/composer Erik Friedlander, from his record, “Prowl” - an adventure into the territory between improvised and classical music. Plus, small ensemble music by the Ben Goldberg Quintet, Carter Burwell, and more.
Far-Off Country
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Composer Eve Beglarian and cellist Maya Beiser visit the studio for this edition of New Sounds. Beglarian's recent work, "I Am Writing to You from a Far-Off Country," is a collaboration with cellist Maya Beiser and visual artist Shirin Neshat. The work incorporates live performance and sound design, and is based on Armenian folk songs and chants.
Mellits, the "Post-Minimalist"
Saturday, February 23, 2008
For this New Sounds episode, listen to “Brick” by Marc Mellits. The Baltimore-born composer wrote the piece for his mother, and most of the piece relates directly to her. Some movements seem to have been drawn from Mellits’ life experiences like “Purple Dandelion,” about the weeds that he’d picked for her when he was small; “Red Hammer,” so named after the Arnold Schwarzenegger of hammers, which was passed to him from his grandfather. Other movements might be entirely play, as Mellits likes to play rhythmic games, of which he says, “in a way, it is they that actually hold the music together, like the bricks in a house that are positioned in certain patterns, and still support the structure.” The work, co-commissioned by WNYC through the Cheswatyr New Music Initiative, has already been taken on tour by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
New Sounds of Americana
Friday, February 22, 2008
It's a liberal dose of Americana for this New Sounds program. Listen to music from "Gloryland," the second foray into folk music and spirituals for the early music a cappella group Anonymous 4. Also, there's music from the Turtle Island String Quartet and tunes from TISQ fiddler Darol Anger and the Republic of Strings as well. Plus, we'll hear from William Duckworth, the Wayfaring Strangers, the soundtrack to “Oh Brother Where Art Thou?” and more.
Piano Workouts
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Considered both a percussion and a stringed instrument, and often part of the rhythm section, the piano can be responsible for many textures, depending on how it is struck, bowed, caressed, or danced upon. On this edition of New Sounds, we'll hear from Barcelona-based Francesco Tristano, who draws from both the all-night rave scene and his classical training, dancing, pounding on and processing the piano on his recording "Not For Piano." Plus, listen for the Bill Evans-meets-Messiaen stride Balkan stylings of Ionel Petroi. Also, more piano and piano-based works by Max Richter, Christopher O'Riley, Marco Benevento, and others.
That Groove Thing
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Hear some seriously joyful noise on Steven Bernstein’s most recent “Diaspora Suite,” where collective interplay, melodic improvising, and guitar wailing combine for something exciting and free. We’ll hear music from “Diaspora Suite,” along with the Vancouver-based mainly acoustic Caribbean folktronica of Silvana Kane, a Peruvian born singer, operating as Pacifika. Also, there’s explosive groove and intricate melodic layers from Famoro Dioubaté's Kakande, not to mention lush vocals, flutes, sinewy guitars, cellos and Dioubaté's balafon virtuosity. And much more.
John the Revelator
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
From the New Sounds Live concerts at the World Financial Center, listen to the world premiere of “John the Revelator,” a mass for the 21st century by Phil Kline, and featuring the early music vocal group Lionheart and the electric string quartet Ethel. The work was commissioned by WNYC and recorded in the WFC’s Winter Garden, the space for which it was written.
Texts of the Mass
"Rock Me Amadeus," part 3
Monday, February 18, 2008
For part three of this New Sounds series, there's music from vocalist Bobby McFerrin and jazz pianist Chick Corea’s collaboration “The Mozart Sessions.” Also, English minimalist composer Michael Nyman builds his film score “Drowning By Numbers” around a Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and American Larry Austin creates a computer-driven Sinfonia Concertante that he subtitles “A Mozartean Episode.” Plus the Hampton String Quartet asks “What If Mozart Wrote ‘Born to Be Wild’?”
"Rock Me Amadeus," part 2
Sunday, February 17, 2008
New Sounds continues the mistreatment of Mozart's music with the second of a three night series of programs. Listen to music from the influential Dutch composer Louis Andriessen’s score “M is for Man, Music, Mozart.” Despite the “Mozart” in the title, there's a strong undercurrent of jazz in the piece. Plus, hear Brubeck's classic "Blue Rondo a la Turk," and American composer Robert Moran's Agnus Dei for Mozart’s unfinished Requiem. Rounding out the show, the world music band Brave Combo offers a somewhat kooky and rollicking polka version of Mozart’s “Rondo A La Turca.”
“Rock Me Amadeus,” part 1
Saturday, February 16, 2008
On this edition of New Sounds, listen to the first of a three-part series “Rock Me Amadeus.” Hear from the unclassifiable cult musician Pascal Comelade, who has worked with PJ Harvey and Robert Wyatt, among others, in his long career as a non-musician who reclaims the subversive, iconoclastic and ironic spirit of the “avant-garde” Expect something prog-rockish perhaps with toy instruments, as the Frenchman sets to music a letter from Mozart to his young cousin. Mozart and his music are also treated rudely by German electronic pioneer Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), American computer music wiz Carl Stone, and French world music producer Hughes Courson. Plus, composer/bassist Edgar Meyer bases his double concerto for himself and Yo Yo Ma on an earlier Mozart double concerto.
New Music for Hardanger Fiddle
Friday, February 15, 2008
On this New Sounds, listen to new music for the old Norwegian violin known as the Hardanger fiddle. The fiddle is most unusual in that it has a set of drone strings that lie under the fingerboard of the instrument. These drone strings are tuned to vibrate sympathetically to the chords and keys of Norwegian mountain music. Because of the powerful emotional response from both player and listener, the instrument was considered to be the “Devil’s Instrument” and had associations with dark magic. Thousands of fiddles were burned or destroyed by religious fanatics throughout the 19th century. In fact, even playing a Hardanger fiddle in a church building was forbidden well into the 20th century, although a normal classical violin was allowed into the sacred space. So, on this program, we’ll hear new music by Trollstilt and So Percussion, in addition to music from Steve Tibbetts and Knut Hamre, along with much much more.
I Only Have Eyes For You
Thursday, February 14, 2008
For Valentine's Day, listen to a series of unusual arrangements of one of the great love songs in American pop music: "I Only Have Eyes For You." Featuring versions by Lester Bowie and his Brass Fantasy, British trip-hop singer Martina Topfley-Bird, downtown New Yorker Phil Kline, and so many more.
New Music for Solo Piano
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
There’s new music for solo piano by the likes of Seth Kaufman, whose piano sound draws on the dramatic gorges of the Finger lakes area of upstate New York, as well as New Orleans. Shake those up and you have passionate and intense works rooted in jazz, rock and minimalism. We’ll hear music from his latest record, "Compartments," on this edition of New Sounds. Also, listen to works by German pianist/composer Hans Otte from a new compilation disc of reissued works, “the book of sounds.” Otte served for 25 years as the music director for Radio Bremen, in addition to his written output of musical theatre, poems, and drawings. Plus, piano music by minimalist master Terry Riley, and much more.
Voices of Eastern Europe
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Hear music by Czech vocalist/violinist/composer Iva Bittova and Poland's Mieczyslaw Litwinski on this edition of New Sounds. There's also music from Ukraine's Mariana Sadovska with the choir Kitka off of the phenomenal record "The Rusalka Cycle," and Ingram Marshall's orchestral work incorporating the sounds of Balkan funeral laments.
yes is a pleasant country
Monday, February 11, 2008
For this New Sounds program, listen to several different new music settings of poems by E.E. Cummings. Hear some from the collection of settings to soundscapes by Evan Sornstein, called Curium. It’s a suite of twenty-two Cummings poems, read by twenty-two different people evenly spaced around the world from Taipei to Glasgow, Sardinia to California. Speaking of Calfornia, we'll hear music from Cali-based Daniel Lentz - a work called The Crack in the Bell, based on a Cummings poem, which uses tape delay and repeated notes to create bent and curved textures of tones. Listen to a new music setting or two by wunderkind composer Eric Whitacre, whose close attention to E.E. Cummings’ poetry brings out the emotion underlying every word. Plus, music by Susanne Abbeuhl and Joan Baez, among others.
"Voices of Light" Live
Sunday, February 10, 2008
From the New Sounds Live concerts at World Financial Center, listen to the Richard Einhorn oratorio “Voices of Light” - music written to accompany the great silent film “The Passion of Joan of Arc.” Ensemble Sospeso, Anonymous 4, the New Amsterdam Chorus, and vocal soloists, led by conducter David Hattner perform at the WFC’s Winter Garden.
Carnival Comes to Town
Saturday, February 09, 2008
On this New Sounds, it’s all about horns, groove, and the urge to shake one’s money-maker. Hear the latest from Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars, a Klezmer/Balkan/Brazilian/New Orleans-inspired collection “Carnival Conspiracy.” This record might help to temporarily reverse the social order, shake things up, and shock people into new ways of experiencing the world – along with bringing together the intellectual, the booty shaker, and the Hasid. Plus it’s fun! Also, listen for the combined sound of military brass bands, voodoo ritual chants and rhythms, scratchy American jazz records, with a dash of Fela’s Afrobeat that is Benin’s Gangbé Brass Band. And more over-caffeinated music from the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, something from the famed Wild Magnolias of New Orleans, and maybe we can make way for the Rebirth Brass Band.
The Orchestra Rocks
Friday, February 08, 2008
Listen to Joby Talbot’s remarkable orchestrations of songs by The White Stripes - "Aluminium" - on this edition of New Sounds. Talbot, who was part of the cult British band The Divine Comedy, has collaborated with Ute Lemper, and has written some killin’ scores for films, in addition to re-imagining Jack White’s blues-based tunes. There’s also music by Jaz Coleman, who founded the legendary post-punk experimental group, Killing Joke. We’ll hear Coleman's violin concerto based on songs by The Doors. The work was written for Nigel Kennedy, and commemorates those who fell in the Vietnam War. Also, hear Philip Glass’s “Low Symphony,” based on music by David Bowie and Brian Eno. Plus orchestral music by rockers Jon Lord, and David Byrne and more.
New Sounds of the Lunar New Year
Thursday, February 07, 2008
To celebrate Lunar New Year, we'll hear an assortment of works from China, Mongolia, Vietnam, and other countries in the region that mark this annual holiday. Listen to works from David Mingyue Liang, Mei Han, Min Xiao-Fen, and much more.
The New Americans, Part IX: India & Pakistan
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Some of the Indian subcontinent's greatest living artists have lived and worked here in the States for many years, including Ravi Shankar, percussionist Zakir Hussain, double-violinist Shankar, and younger musicians like Rez Abbasi, and Kiran Ahluwalia. For this New Sounds, we'll hear music from all of these South Asian musicians, and more. It's part of our ongoing series, "The New Americans," where we focus on musicians from around the world working in the US.
Pre-empted
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Super-Tuesday coverage of the 2008 presidential primaries pre-empted this show.
The Sirens
Monday, February 04, 2008
Hear from Latvian composer Maija Eindelde, and her version of the "Isle of the Sirens" tale from Homer’s Odyssey. Next, there's music from British composer David Bedford, and his instrumental tour de force, "The Odyssey," From it, we'll hear the longest "panel" - "The Sirens" - which relies on a female choir. Plus, works from Laurel MacDonald, Bill Laswell, and others who have taken inspiration from the irresistible, alluring song of the mythological Greek Sirens.
Guitar Marathon 2006
Sunday, February 03, 2008
For this New Sounds program, there’s new music from the New York Guitar Festival Marathon 2006 at the 92nd Street Y, “450 Years of Spanish Guitar.” Listen to three newly commissioned world-premiere compositions — all inspired by Spanish themes: "Los Cambios Quedan Igual," by Gyan Riley for classical guitar; Variations on “La Follia” by Dominic Frasca, for guitar and laptop; and “Memorial” by Bryce Dessner, for guitar, viola, and percussion. There’s a Flamenco impression left by Riley’s work coupled with bluesy bends, while Dessner's piece is inspired by the traditions of ornamentation and improvisation in Spanish and Italian Renaissance lute music. And Frasca’s untitled piece, for 10-string guitar and computer, is a set of variations on La Follia, a well-known theme (based on a Spanish folk melody) that has been used in Western music since the Renaissance. These works and much more.
Not Exactly "Jazz"
Saturday, February 02, 2008
What if you can’t quite call it “jazz”? Well, then it’ll probably end up on this New Sounds program, which is chock full of music that is jazzy, but not “jazz.” There’s music from the Benevento Russo Duo, two soul mates who take keyboards and drums and bring them to looser, scruffier, and funkier heights of rock-influenced chamber jazz. Also, listen to mysterious musical narratives by Robert Stillman, who takes saxophone, clarinet, drums, pump organs and out-of-tune old pianos to make something delicate and urgent, and sort of “jazzy,” even. Then there’s also the eclectic, mixed-up playfulness of Aksak Maboul, a band who squish together Gypsy music; primitive drum machines and demented "human sequencer" organ lines, along with assorted snatches of fake ethnic, fake jazz or fake classical music. Rounding out the show is music by the Lounge Lizards, who draw on anything from James Brown, Indian brass-band music, and Nino Rota to create their “not jazz” blend.
Barely Baroque
Friday, February 01, 2008
For this New Sounds, hear new arrangements of 17th and 18th century music, including J.S. Bach by the Jacques Loussier Trio, and art songs by The Dowland Project. Also, the new music quartet Clogs mess with baroque minimalism in music by Johann Hieronymus Kapsburger and Ralph Towner flirts with baroque rhythms on his 12-string. And, as always, much more.
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Search current and archival WNYC broadcasts. More
Electro-acoustic twitchy chamber music with found sounds. 8PM, May 8, 2008 at Merkin Hall.
Frank London's Klezmer cabaret, a Joby Talbot choral expedition, and a double bill of Nico Muhly and Philip Bimstein.
An exclusive presentation of New Sounds Live and WNYC Live performances for the website, featuring performances from inside and outside the WNYC studios from over three decades.
- The Brian Lehrer Show: Meet Johnny Bunko (May 06, 2008)
- The Brian Lehrer Show: Private Apples, Public Teachers (May 05, 2008)
- The Leonard Lopate Show: John Turturro and Max Casella in “Endgame” (May 09, 2008)
- The Brian Lehrer Show: Rent Destabilized (May 12, 2008)
- The Brian Lehrer Show: A Gut Feeling About China (May 08, 2008)