On Demand
WNYC's Coverage of the Republican National Convention
Live performances in Soundcheck's studios
Studio 360: Patti LuPone on playing Mama Rose
Selected Shorts featuring "The Trouble of Marcie Flint," by John Cheever
Radio Rookies: Brooklyn Broadcast Workshop
On the Media: Surviving Convention Coverage
Street Shots Challenge
New Sounds Archive
May 2008
European Minimalism
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Listen to “zen-funk” a sort of “ritual groove” from Nik Bartsch’s Ronin, insistent with its propulsive interlocking rhythms and demanding constant attention, rather than mind-wandering meditation. The gradual evolving sound of Ronin makes one jump to use the “m” word, but there’s melody and improvisation here in addition to the repetitive motifs. Also on the show, Dutch minimalism from Louis Andriessen. Hear excerpts from the opera "Writing to Vermeer," which is centered around letters from three women in Vermeer’s life. The collaborative project includes bursts of electronic music contributed by Michel van der Aa, with the libretto (and as those who might have seen the production recall) and a gigantic film component by Peter Greenaway. Plus, work by Piero Milesi for the cinema and the theater from "The Nuclear Observatory Of Mr. Nanof" release. If we’re lucky, we’ll hear the frantic gamelan piece, Three Figurations. And, as always, much more.
May 2008 New Releases
Friday, May 30, 2008
All new from the piles of New Sounds chaos! DJ Disorder, eager to live up to his nom-de-disque for one last month before the big move to WNYC's new facility at Varick Street, unleashes the May 2008 New Releases show. This is the time of the month when John Schaefer carefully sorts through the stacks of new CDs (digs through them, to be more precise) that have come across his desk to present the newest, greatest cream of the crop, the picks of the piles.
Balmy Fingerstyle Guitar
Thursday, May 29, 2008
All the way from South Africa, guitarist and composer Guy Buttery makes a special appearance in the WNYC studio. He's a virtuoso on the guitar and has developed a unique style inspired by both the traditional music of South Africa and the likes of fingerstyle pickers like Michael Hedges. For this edition of New Sounds, Guy Buttery performs live, and has threatened to premiere a brand-new work. And much more...
New Music from Holland
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Home to one of Europe’s most active new music scenes, the small country of Holland has produced some big names in the music world. On this edition of New Sounds, we’ll hear from Louis Andriessen, Cornelius de Bondt, Jacob Ter Veldhuis (aka Jacob TV), Simeon Ten Holt, and more.
New Orchestral Music
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
What will the new orchestral music of the 21st Century sound like? Perhaps not quite full-sized orchestras, the likes of which can fill a concert stage, but rather chamber orchestras that incorporate rock instruments - saxophones, electric guitars, and drum kits. Think of Alarm Will Sound - a chamber orchestra based in New York who sometimes do acoustic arrangements of electronic dance music from artists like Aphex Twin. There's also Icebreaker - who have more saxes than strings and play both American and English new music. And take the Steve Martland band - they are a small orchestra with lots of horns, and a full rock band hidden in the ensemble. We'll hear from all of these groups, and more on this New Sounds program.
Odd Ambient Post-Rock
Monday, May 26, 2008
“Post-Rock” is a catch-all term used to describe music that subverts many elements associated with indie rock, yet works in elements of jazz, minimalist chamber music, experimental and ambient music. For this New Sounds, we’ll sample some ambient post-rock from seminal orchestral rock subversives Rachel’s, along with music from the instrumental multimedia Montreal group Godspeed You! Black Emperor. We’ll also hear from Clogs, the bassoon-driven, viola-employing quartet, and the Icelandic band Sigur Ros. With any luck, there’ll be some gorgeous wordless music from Bell Orchestre, Amina, Tortoise, and Explosions in the Sky as well.
Six-String Riley
Sunday, May 25, 2008
For this edition of New Sounds, Gyan Riley joins us in the studio to present recent works and sneak peeks at in-progress studio recordings. The gifted young guitarist and composer is also the son of legendary American composer Terry Riley. Let it be known that Gyan started out on violin, but coveted the electric guitar because of an older brother’s band. He later won a raffle for a nylon string guitar and four free classical lessons. When he wasn't practicing classical stuff, he was learning every Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, Descendents, Misfits, etc., and other punk song he could get his hands on. Listen to some of Gyan playing guitar with the World Guitar Ensemble, The Falla Guitar Trio; as the mandocellist of the Modern Mandolin Quartet, and some of his own works from his debut recording “Food for the Bearded.” Also, there’s music by the post-rock/chamber group called Clogs, and more.
New Sounds Rocks
Saturday, May 24, 2008
For this edition of New Sounds, listen to strange covers of rock songs by David Bowie, The Pixies, and Elliott Smith, featuring (among others) Brazilian singer Seu Jorge, the jazz trio The Bad Plus, classical pianist Christopher O'Riley, and downtown trombonist Curtis Hasselbring. Listen to Finnish jazz and acoustic Brazilian arrangements of Bowie’s "Starman," along with an acoustic-surf-jazz version of the Pixies’ “Ana.” Also, the Norwegian singer Hanne Hukkelberg deconstructs “Break My Body,” (Frank Black Francis) complete with accordion, woodwinds and brushed drums, taking the song to a previously unanticipated level of masochism. And who could resist the Bad Plus doing the Pixies' “Velouria,” which rises to a fever pitch of insanity and twistedly busts out dance moves, while simultaneously feeling like a Liszt piano concerto? All that and so much more.
Classics Remixed
Friday, May 23, 2008
For this New Sounds program, DJ technology meets the concert hall as Miguel Kertsman remixes music from Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 while Uri Caine does the same for Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. Also, we'll hear from the albums "Reich Remixed" and Handel’s Messiah Remixed, among others.
Anthropofagia = Musical Cannabalism
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Featuring musical instruments like "20 feet of chains," "waterphone" and "donkey jaw," (among other things like berimbau, mbira and saxophone), "Banquet of the Spirits," is the latest from percussionist Cyro Baptista and crew. It's an entire smorgasbord of music and culture, simmered and shaken and served up steaming. "Banquet" turns over the idea Anthropofagia - ancient cannibal tribes eating human beings as a way to gain power of their spirit - digesting international musical trends and cultural influences to turn them into a huge musical stewpot, not unlike New York City. From this record, we'll hear "retirante," on this edition of New Sounds. There's also Turkish-flavored chamber music by The Dem Trio, from their release, "Fountain." Plus, Wu Man's arrangement of a Cantonese folk song, "Raining," for pipa (Chinese lute) and adungu (Ugandan harp) where the plucked strings and harmonic chords recreates the sound and atmosphere of a rainy day. And more.
Guitar Multiples
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
For this New Sounds, we'll listen to Jeremy Peyton Jones' "18 Guitars," a work that lands somewhere between Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists and Glenn Branca's symphonies for electric guitars. Listen also for the hypnotic aural panoramas generated by the duo Hammock, from their latest Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow. Plus, the Canadian guitarist and composer Tim Brady's chamber work for piano, guitar and electronics, entitled "Frame 1 - Resonance." And more.
Minimalist Music Theatre
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Hear some music theatre pieces on this New Sounds show. Listen to Philip Glass's recent release "Waiting for the Barbarians," adapted from the novel by the South African writer and Nobel Prize Winner John Coetzee. Also, music by Paul Bailey, post-minimalist music theatre piece "Retrace our Steps." He describes it as a four act vocal/instrumental spectacle based on texts by gertrude stein, guy debord and jenny bitner. The "alt-classical garage band" Paul Bailey Ensemble performs the work. And more.
Guitar Hero
Monday, May 19, 2008
No, not the game. Rather, Glenn Jones plays live music in our studio on guitar, in a style reminiscent of the late American guitar master John Fahey. Jones, an intimate guitarist coming from the American primitive guitar school, (for “primitive,” think raw and pure, rather than in relation to the over-produced pop which dominates most radio) is a member of the avant-rock band Cul de Sac, and has just released his second solo CD, Against Which the Sea Continually Beats. Plus, music by John Fahey.
Afro-pop-a-go-go
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Take a sampling of some of the latest Afro-pop releases on this edition of New Sounds. There’s acoustic guitar-based Senegalese blues from Nuru Kane, along with sunny lively tunes from the French-Madagascan trio Wa-Zimba. Also, savor a taste of Zimbabwean pop with reissues from the guitar-rooted 70’s pop stars the Green Arrows, and the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band, featuring one Thomas Mapfumo. And of course, lots more.
Andalusian Origins
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Jewish/Algerian pianist and composer Maurice El Medioni, Grandmaster of Raï (once called the “Rubén Gonzaléz of the Maghreb”), teamed up with Cuban/Klezmer super-drummer Roberto Rodriguez on a new record for a combustible blend of Arabic, African, Jewish, and Latin elements. Surprisingly not that far apart, Algeria and Cuba are connected by a common cultural heritage originating from Andalusian Spain in the 10th century. The two exiles, Rodriguez and El Medioni, come together in this Descarga (which literally translates as ‘to unload’ and is used to refer to a Cuban jam session) and celebrate a time when Jews and Arabs met to make music and share things. Listen to tunes from this latest release “Descarga Oriental: The New York Sessions,” and more on this edition of New Sounds.
"Green Music"
Friday, May 16, 2008
For this edition of New Sounds, hear some “Green Music,” that is, music with a global environmental bent. We’ll listen to philosopher, author and musician David Rothenberg’s latest, compositions with clarinet to the sounds of whale calls. Also, we’ll hear concert music by composer/violinist Patmore Lewis, centering around the effects of global warming on the Rillito River, no longer flowing year-round through Tucson, AZ. Plus, music from “Green” by cellist Hank Roberts, his “Lenape Suite,” and more.
New Keyboard Music
Thursday, May 15, 2008
On this edition of New Sounds, listen to new music for keyboard from the likes of W.A. Mathieu, Rob Burger, and Elodie Lauten, among others. Mathieu -a pianist, composer, author, and teacher - was a disciple of North Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath for some 25 years, and collaborates with Hamza El Din. We’ll hear his work “In The Wind.” Also, from Elodie Lauten, we’ll hear one of her “Earth Works,” - the “Variations on the Orange Cycle,” an exploration of the experience of time and based on earth tones, the 24-hour tone. Plus, hear music from Rob Burger’s 2002 release “Lost Photograph” on which he makes various keyboards - accordion, pump organ, and toy pianos evoke tango and lounge, filtered through fire-escape strains of Latin music.
Crash on in, Live!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
From the New Sounds Live concerts at Merkin Hall, Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy presents the American debut of the large electro-acoustic Crash Ensemble,in a piece that also uses tradition Irish sean nos singing; plus a work for piano and live electronics.
Trio Mediaeval Live
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
From the New Sounds Live concerts at Merkin Hall, listen to Norway’s Trio Mediaeval perform a set of early music, alongside contemporary works written for them, and arrangements of Nordic folksong.
Soul Science
Monday, May 12, 2008
For this New Sounds, there's world music from Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara's record "Soul Science," along with something from Francis Bebey. Plus, music from Daby Toure, maybe something from the Toumast release, and hopefully some music from Tuareg band Etran Finatawa.
World Post-Minimalism
Sunday, May 11, 2008
For this New Sounds program, sample some post-minimalism from around the world. There’s music from “Paranoid Cheese” by Baltimore-born composer Marc Mellits. In places, there are relentless repetitive motifs that rock hard, while other pieces, like the title track, absolutely soar with long lovely phrases. Also, hear music by Kevin Volans, a South African composer now living in Dublin, Ireland. His work, “White Man Sleeps” for string quartet, is a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, and the title refers to the startling silences found in a Nyanga panpipe dance. According to tradition, these quiet interruptions represented an effort not to awaken sleeping white landowners. Plus, listen to music by Philip Glass arranged for the modern Brazilian group Uakti – so named for the legendary Amazonian creature with holes all over his body. Whenever he ran through the forest, the wind passing through his body made wonderful and intriguing sounds, much like the group’s exotic instruments, which were constructed using everyday materials: pipe, glasses, metal, rocks, rubber, and even water. And there's much more.
American Fiddle
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Violinist and composer Darol Anger, a founder of the Turtle Island String Quartet, joins us to talk about his current group, The Republic of Strings. This intergenerational string quartet/band somehow connects jazz, bluegrass, world music, jam band and chamber music, old-time jazz, soul, country and fuses them into a unique slice of Americana. For this New Sounds, Anger presents tunes from the new CD, Generation Nation and more.
Harmonic Presence
Friday, May 09, 2008
Vocalist, composer, and overtone-singing pioneer David Hykes joins us on this New Sounds to preview new works for harmonic singing. Hykes has a long immersion in Eastern and Western sacred music, cosmology, and yogas of sound. He was the first westerner to connect deeply with the "throat-singing" traditions of Mongolia, Tuva and Tibet, and employ overtones which govern all spatial and mathematical relationships. And as always, much more.
Music from Ireland
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Listen to jaw-dropping works by accordion wiz Niall Vallely, and music from the groundbreaking 70s Celtic Folk supergroup Planxty. Plus, we'll hear from the contemporary group Dervish, who play traditional music from Sligo in the north west of Ireland and much more.
Organic Sampling
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Guest composer Phillip K Bimstein, ex-new waver, former mayor of Springdale, Utah, and environmental activist, presents his music for acoustic ensembles and "organic sampling," including his best-known work, "Garland Hirschi's Cows." His work "Casino" will be performed at Merkin Hall this Thursday, May 8. Perhaps we'll hear a bit of that , and maybe some of a brand-new piece "Cats in the Kitchen," scored for flute, oboe, meows, purrs, cracked eggs, sliced onions, buttered toast, sizzling skillets, spoons, knives, pepper grinder, toaster oven, pots, pans, draining dishwater, and pretty much everything else in the kitchen "sync.”
Electro-Chamber Music
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Listen for works by composer/arranger Nico Muhly from his record "Speaks Volumes" on this New Sounds. Also, Dutch avant-pop composer Jacob TV's work for saxophone quartet and ghettoblaster, "Jesus Is Coming," featuring the taped sounds of a very angry evangelist in Times Square and a small Salvation Army choir. Also, the 1978 classic "John Somebody" (remember that guy?) by Scott Johnson, back when composing meant literally hand cutting & splicing tape, and fashioning loops, in the days before digital. And more.
Night in the Old Marketplace, Live
Monday, May 05, 2008
From the New Sounds Live Concert Series, listen to Frank London's extraordinary score to I.L. Peretz's sprawling 1907 Yiddish drama Bay Nakht afn Altn Mark. "A Night in the Old Marketplace" mixes folk, jazz, classical, rock and world music beats and comes away feeling like klezmer cabaret with a dose of Tom Waits.
Central Asian Voices
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Listen to central Asian voices on this New Sounds program, where we’ll feature the recent album by Tibetan refugee singer and composer Yungchen Lhamo - AMA. AMA means ‘mother’ in the Tibetan language, and is dedicated to Yungchen’s own mother. The songs are infused with the quiet spiritual power of Tibetan Buddhism, and use trumpet, strings, African kora, Middle Eastern percussion and National Steel guitar, all wrapped around Lhamo’s voice. There’s also music from Selwa, the most recent collaboration between the Buddhist nun Choying Drolma and Steve Tibbetts, which sounds like gorgeous layers of ancient ritual chants with electronic sounds, acoustic guitar and percussion. Hear the otherworldly ritual music of the Gyuto monks, the Tibetan choir whose traditional chanting of the sutras is accompanied by both short and long trumpets and percussion. Plus, music in the multi-octave Tuvan throat-singing style by vocalist Sainkho (Namtchylak.) Her deep guttural moans and high-pitched whistles and buzzing overtones (the tradition of her homeland located just south of Siberia) can sound like demons, children, Tuvan, gospel, blues, and opera. And much more...
Computer Music
Saturday, May 03, 2008
For this New Sounds, it’s a sampling of computer music. Hear Neil Rolnick’s piece, “Digits,” - not just 0 and 1 anymore - where pianist Kathleen Supové takes her own digits, via digital looping and computer processing, on a wild ride. Listen also to Michael McNabb’s music for the ballet “Invisible Cities,” (inspired by the dream-like images from Italo Calvino’s novel of the same name), with digitally processed environmental sounds, and two live instrumental/electronic performers. Plus, there's music by computer music pioneer Paul Lansky, whose processed sounds have included his children playing kitchen utensils, and most recently, the alphabet, as recited by longtime collaborator Hannah MacKay.
Opening the Chamber Music
Friday, May 02, 2008
The distinctive and riveting saxophonist Ornette Coleman (arguably the pioneer of the free jazz movement), continuously defies categorization. On this New Sounds, we'll hear from his latest original, innovative, and groundbreaking release called "Sound Grammar," the first in over 10 years. Also, we'll sample some small ensemble works from Nico Muhly, who toes the lines between folktronica, pop, chamber, and minimalism on his release "Speaks Volumes." Plus, chamber music from a duo with inspirational roots in Argentinean traditions from bandoneon giant Dino Saluzzi and German cellist Anja Lechner. And much more.
Najma Akhtar and Gary Lucas
Thursday, May 01, 2008
New York guitarist/composer Gary Lucas and the Anglo-Indian singer Najma Akhtar step away from their bands and debut their mostly acoustic new project, a musical partnership that began in May 2007 when Gary invited Najma to join him onstage at a London concert. The fusion of influences and musical styles that Akhtar and Lucas is nothing short of brilliant and wonderfully unique. Listen for the results on this New Sounds program.
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