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December 2008

The Year in New Music

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

For this New Sounds, we'll take a look back at the year in new music. The New York Phil played Korean music in Pyongyang, Steve Reich appeared at the South By Southwest Festival, David Lang won the Pulitzer Prize for music, longtime new music figures Hector Zazou and Davy Graham passed away, and more.


Electroacoustic music

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Listen for some electroacoustic music on this edition of the show by none other than So Percussion, the tube, block, and pipe-beating quartet of drummers, from their latest "Amid the Noise." Plus, hear a work from Martin Bresnick, his "Fantasia on a Theme by Willie Dixon." The marimba player on said recording, Jason Treuting, happens to be a founding member of So Percussion. Plus, music by computer music composer (and Radiohead inspirer) Paul Lansky. And more.


New Americans V: The Far East

Monday, December 29, 2008

Hear music from Kyaw Kyaw Naing, the master of the pat waing (a traditional Burmese drum-circle instrument). Also, works by composer Jin Hi Kim for the komungo (a Korean bass zither), and Miya Masaoka, an American musician and composer who performs on a 17-string Japanese koto (zither). Masaoka also employs the "Koto Monster," which uses string preparations and electronic triggers – as additional laser beam "strings" hover above.


Extreme Spirituals

Sunday, December 28, 2008

There's gospel singing in a new music context on this edition of New Sounds. Hear some extreme spirituals - rearranged, well known African-American spirituals and 19th century art songs - from the Boston-based chamber rock band Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, in collaboration with Oral Moses. The resulting music is an unorthodox but deeply moving blend of Birdsongs' punk-proggy art rock instrumentation together with the strong and majestic voice of Oral Moses. We'll also listen to the intersection of Jewish music and Black spirituals from the Klezmatics release, "Brother Moses Smote the Water," a team effort with African-American gospel singer Joshua Nelson. Hear age-old Hebrew Passover songs, Nelson’s own brand of “kosher gospel,” and traditional Yiddish Klezmatic anthems, some featuring jazz singer/organist Kathryn Farmer. Plus, music by Bob Telson, Joel Chadabe, and others.


Two by Two II

Saturday, December 27, 2008

There's a lot of music for unusual duos on this edition of New Sounds, including music from the gypsy-esque acoustic indie madness of A Hawk and a Hacksaw. With an arsenal of accordion, percussion, violin and viola, along with some singing, these two have enlisted the help of the speed-Balkan masters Fanfare Ciocarlia on their latest release, "The Way the Wind Blows." Also on the show, an instrument combination not-to-be-missed of church organ and slide guitar from Norway. Plus, we'll hear some brand-new music featuring beat-boxing and the serene Tibetan vocals of Yungchen Lhamo. And much more.


New Music from West Africa

Friday, December 26, 2008

Hear new music from the Tuareg band Tinariwen on this New Sounds. Fresh from opening for the Rolling Stones this past summer, the band unleashes more electric guitar-driven primal desert blues on their latest effort, "Aman Iman." Also, the Afromotive - a thundering 9-piece band from the Ivory Coast by way of Asheville, North Carolina - make irresistibly Afro-beat-y-licious dance music. We'll sample some of that, and listen for music from Youssou N'Dour, Leni Stern, and others.


It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

Thursday, December 25, 2008

On this program, celebrate the holiday season with a program of seasonal music, New Sounds style. Hear from the likes of Kitka, with repertoire ranging from Bulgaria to Belarus, from Georgia to Greece, from their "Wintersongs" CD. The women’s vocal ensemble uses the ‘open voice’ technique to achieve an exotic, elegant and eerie sound. There are lots of other tasteful non-traditional holiday selections, hopefully with a few surprises.


A New Sounds Christmas

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Hear some unusual and unexpected melodies for the holidays, featuring jazz bassist Reggie Washington’s take on “Greensleeves,” the Breton choir Du Bout Du Monde doing a traditional carol called “Nedeleg,” a famous carol played on musical saws, and eccentric takes on holiday faves from banjo wiz Bela Fleck and cellist Yo Yo Ma.


Musica Sacra on NS Live

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Listen to the New Sounds Live recording of Musica Sacra from the World Financial Center's Winter Garden from fall of 2008. They perform two masterworks of 20th century choral music: Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel and Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater. Both works straddle the border between the secular and the spiritual, the vocal and the instrumental. Harnessing the distinctive cathedral-like properties of the Winter Garden (sans cleaning crew and various other distracting noises), the choir's ethereal sound comes through in this performance.


Thrash Klezmer Mish-Mosh

Monday, December 22, 2008

Prepare for some incredibly relentless fun on this New Sounds program. Drummer Aaron Alexander and a klez-punk ensemble (who include downtown jazz/jewish music all-stars and great young players in the klezmer scene; trumpeter Frank London, reed player Greg Wall, and guitarist Brad Shepik, among others) perform live and make mayhem in the studio. On Alexander’s latest CD, “Midrash Mish Mosh,” dueling drummers pound infectious klezmer-rooted music through round holes, embracing jazz, thrash-punk, Balkan and African rhythms. The boot will conquer the sandal.


Songs From Around the World

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Hear music by La Mar Enfortuna, the Sephardic side project of legendary noir rock group Elysian Fields, as they explore lost or forgotten music from the 11th to the 16th century, with exotic melodies and instruments. There's also music from Sinikka Langeland, singer and player of the kantele, the traditional Finnish plucked zither. Plus, A song in Aramaic, sung by SAVAE, and others.


Harpie's Delight

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Hear some long and winding music from Joanna Newsom's arresting and spectacularly arranged record, "Ys," for harp and voice. Also, there's Catalan, Spanish and Arabic poems set to music by Arianna Savall (yes, daughter of Jordi, THAT Savall) from her release "Bella Terra," along with works by Paris-based new-music harpist Hélène Breschand, from her solo effort "Le goût du sel." Plus, music that sneaks between the cracks of chamber music and noise from harpist Shelley Burgon and bassist Trevor Dunn, a tune from Bjork with harpist Zeena Parkins and more.


New Americans: Eastern Europe

Friday, December 19, 2008

Hear a brand new release from Kitka, the all-women's ensemble who specialize in Balkan music (in collaboration with the Ukrainian-born singer and composer Mariana Sadovska). Also on the show, music by Ljova, Victoria Jordanova, Dusan Bogdanovic, and Milos Raickovich, among others.


The Blues, Reinvented

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Listen to the blues, reinvented, for this New Sounds program. Hear chamber folk by Last Forever, some of America's oldest soul music in settings that combine spinet, harmonium, hammer dulcimer, violin, guitar, and banjo. Also, there are performances of classic blues by contemporary acts like North Carolina’s the Backsliders, New Orleans blues artist Chris Thomas King and others.


Choral Music from Eastern Europe

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

For this New Sounds (the John Schaefer birthday edition), listen to new choral music from Eastern Europe, including one by Georgian composer Giya Kancheli. His 2005 “Amao omi” fuses Baltic folksong, liturgical choral music and minimalism and plays against sax quartet. There’s also music by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, along with a new choral album of music by Estonia’s Veljo Tormis, and more.


Tibetan Buddhist-Based Film Scores

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Western film scores built around the sounds of Tibetan Buddhism, including “Kundun” by Philip Glass and “Fate of the Lhapa” by William Susman are featured on this New Sounds program. Listen to some of "Kundun," the score to the 1997 Scorsese film, where Tibetan instruments deepen and enrich Glass's minimalism, and the voices of the Gyuto Monks add an aura of spiritual power. Also, hear some of Susman’s “Fate of the Lhapa” featuring performances by cellist Joan Jeanrenaud (Kronos Quartet Alumnus) and Tibetan vocalist Tsering Wangmo. In this score for the documentary about the last three Tibetan shamans living in a Tibetan refugee camp in Nepal, haunting and lyrical sounds of Asian and Western Music merge to set the tone for a spiritual and mystical journey.


Giants of African New Music

Monday, December 15, 2008

Hear works by some of the seminal figures in the development of the global phenomenon called Afropop on this New Sounds. We'll listen to greats by Fela Kuti, Franco, Tabuh Ley Rochereau, Mahlathini, Youssou N'Dour, and more.


New Music from the UK

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Hear some new music from the UK on this New Sounds program. There’s work from the innovative composer Graham Fitkin, inspired by a character from the Hitchcock film “North by Northwest.” In this work, “Kaplan,” Fitkin explores new territory with how the work is scored for - two synthesizers and film - and approaches the sound world of ambient music - shifting tonal centers to create extraordinary and imaginative sound tapestries. We’ll also listen to excerpts from the ambient epic by Gavin Bryars, his “The Sinking Of The Titanic,” a piece that mixes string instruments, spoken-word fragments, distant percussion, and reverberated drones. Bryars intended for it to sound like if the melody that the musicians were playing simply kept on going even after they had been swallowed by the sea. That and a piece by Orlando Gough called “Drowning, Parts 1& 3.”


“Post-Production”

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Written for New Sounds Live, Irish composer Daniel Figgis’ “Post-Production” is his first major work in the United States and a world premiere. This work’s narrative can be interpreted as a bucolic meditation on the “cityscape,” whether it be New York City, Figgis’ Dublin, Sao Paolo, Beijing, or any other city. In fact, the work is number seven in a series of monumental site-specific events. Composed as a 23-section instrumental song cycle, and accompanied by video projections, “Post-Production” is performed by Figgis’ new ensemble featuring site-specific, re-processed pre-recordings, laptop, guitar, electric viola, flute, and Hammond organ. Hear most of "Post-Production" on this edition of New Sounds.

New Sounds Program #2012 with Daniel Figgis
Daniel Figgis on Soundcheck


Asian Fusion

Friday, December 12, 2008

Asian Fusion is not just a cuisine. We'll hear contemporary music by Gamelan Cudamani - who play a type of hybrid gamelan orchestra with seven tones instead of the usual five. Plus, we'll sample from the Rough Guide To Indian Lounge, with the Indian flute and voices of Bombay Dub Orchestra and the mesmerizing slide-guitars of Debashish Bhattacharya; along with other like-minded explorations.


What Year Is This Again?

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The calendar says 2008, but the new releases bin says "1970s, baby." For some reason, a whole bunch of old new music CDs have reached John Schaefer's desk lately and on this New Sounds program, we'll sample some of these recent reissues from the 70s and 80s. Listen to pianist "Blue" Gene Tyranny's "The Intermediary" along with selections from hard-rocking chamber quartet Birdsongs of the Mesozoic (containing Mission Of Burma's Roger Miller and Martin Swope.) Their new retrospective - "Dawn of the Cycads"- packages all of the band's 3 recordings for Ace of Hearts. There's also music from the mid-70's Fripp & Eno, "Evening Star," that has been cleared of its tape hiss. Plus, music by Terry Riley and more.


New Armenian Music

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Listen to some new recordings of old Armenian music on this edition of New Sounds. Isabel Bayrakdarian sings the songs of Gomidas (Komitas) and violist Kim Kashkashian plays the music of Tigran Mansurian. We'll also hear from New York’s Epiphany Project and the vocal trio Zulal as well. Plus, the Greek singer Savina Yannatou interprets traditional Armenian songs and there's music from duduk player Gevorg Dabaghyan and the Komitas Strings, and the choir Kitka.


Kurdish Music

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Not having a single homeland hasn't stopped Kurdish musicians from making their influence felt, especially the high-octane Kamkars Ensemble, now based in Europe. For this New Sounds, it's a sampling of Kurdish music from a variety of artists. We'll also hear from renowned fiddler Kayhan Kalhor and Ali Akbar Moradi, Israeli-based singer Ilana Eliya, the Iranian sisters Mahsa and Marjam Vahdat, and a Kurdish melody from the G I Gurdjieff/Thomas De Hartmann piano collection.


Music for Prepared Piano

Monday, December 08, 2008

Popularized by John Cage to approximate the sound of a percussion orchestra, the prepared piano has been used by composers like Arvo Pärt, Mikel Rouse, and of course Cage himself. In Cage's use, the preparations consist of nuts, bolts and pieces of rubber to be lodged between and entwined around the strings, and can sound like mbiras, marimbas, bells, wood blocks, Indonesian gamelan instruments, to name a few. Mikel Rouse digitally incorporated sampled sounds of John Cage’s prepared piano into"International Cloud Atlas," the score to a Merce Cunningham dance piece "eyeSpace." Plus, Arvo Pärt made extensive use of a prepared piano in his double concerto for two violins, string orchestra, and prepared piano, "Tabula Rasa." Perhaps we'll also hear from Jason Moran, and more.


Near East New Music

Sunday, December 07, 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

Saturday, December 06, 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.


Downtown, Everything's Waiting for You

Friday, December 05, 2008

For this New Sounds, listen to some “downtown” versions of ska, folk, country, jazz, chamber music and blues. We'll hear from drummer/composer John Hollenbeck, trombone player/composer Josh Roseman, along with the violin-based folk-chamber of Carla Kihlstedt. There's also music by Joel Harrison and Elliott Sharp. And more.


New Americans: Africa

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Listen to music by foreign-born artists from Africa, including Mandingo griot Foday Musa Suso (Gambia), Moroccan trance musician Hassan Hakmoun, master drummer Obo Addy (Ghana) with the Kronos Quartet, kora player Mamadou Diabate (Mali), and others.


Poetry and Music

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Poetry and music trip merrily together off into the sunset on this New Sounds. Dan Kaufman and the band he founded, Barbez, are a theremin-marimba-vibes-guitar-bass-drum combo who work the rock, Eastern European folk, downtown experimental, and punk-cabaret angles. We'll hear from Kaufman's homage to 20th Century poet and Holocaust survivor Paul Celan, from his latest, "Force of Light" on this program. Also, listen to John Hollenbeck's "Joys and Desires" (with poetry by William Blake), along with Material's "Seven Souls" (with poetry by William S. Burroughs), and more.


Classics Revisited

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Listen to New Sounds-style reworkings of classical pieces on this program. There's music by Clogs and Ralph Towner, along with The John Dowland Project. Plus, we'll liberally sample the latest from Taraf de Haidouks, a CD of arrangements called Maskarada. On this, their latest release, there's Bartók, Khachaturian, Albeniz & a piece featuring distinguished singer/cimbalom player Virginica Dumitru, the first-ever female Taraf guest instrumentalist.


New Americans: China

Monday, December 01, 2008

We focus on foreign-born artists from China, with music by pipa virtuoso Min Xiao Fen, along with works by David Mingyue Liang, Tan Dun, Zhou Long, and Bun Ching Lam.