wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

On Demand

New Sounds

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
  • Andrew Bird Photo by Cameron Wittig
    Andrew Bird (Photo by Cameron Wittig)

    Things With Strings

    For this edition of New Sounds, hear new music for strings. There’s music from Russian composer Anton Batagov, Estonian composer Arvo Part, and Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson, and Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Andrew Bird. The deluxe edition of Bird’s latest effort, “Noble Beast” is packaged with a companion album of adventurous instrumentals called “Useless Creatures.” We’ll hear selections from this companion record, built mainly around the sounds of Bird's looped violin, although sometimes he harnesses the space of his barn and several amplifiers for drone-like ambience. At other times Bird collaborates with other musicians, like upright bass player Todd Sickafoose and drummer Glenn Kotche, as on “The Carrion Suite,” and occasionally he incorporates the West African rhythms that drive his songs with words (“Banking on a Myth”, “Dear Dirty”) on tracks like “Hot Math.” All this and more.

PROGRAM # 2892 Things with Strings (First aired on Tues 1-27-09)

ARTIST(S)

RECORDING

CUT(S)

SOURCE

Andrew Bird

Noble Beast

Nomenclature, excerpt [1:30]

Fat Possum Records 1124**, www.fatpossum.com*
OR download from Emusic.com

Andrew Bird

Noble Beast / Useless Creatures (Deluxe Edition)

You Woke Me Up! [7:30]

Fat Possum Records #11240 (ONLY available on Deluxe edition CD or 2LP set Noble Beast/Useless Creatures)
www.fatpossum.com*

Johann Johannsson

Englebörn

Eg atti graa aesku [5:00] Odi et Amo [3:30]

Touch Music #52
touch.demon.co.uk
or www.johannjohannsson.com

Arvo Pärt

Tabula Rasa

Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten [5:00]

ECM #1275**
www.ecmrecords.com
*

Andrew Bird

Noble Beast / Useless Creatures (Deluxe Edition)

Carrion Suite [8:00]

See above.

Anton Batagov

Tetractys

Tetractys, excerpt [17:00]

Long Arms #04064
www.longarms.net
or
www.batagov.com

Leave a Comment

Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. WNYC reserves the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the WNYC.org Comment Guidelines before posting.

Your comment


* required
The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party.
 

Things With Strings

New Sounds

Airs daily at 11PM on 93.9 FM
For this edition of New Sounds, hear new music for strings, including music from Andrew Bird, whose little-known companion album of adventurous instrumentals called “Useless Creatures” incorporates West African rhythms and showcases his multi-layered violin loops.

New Sounds Essentials: World Music

New Sounds

Airs daily at 11PM on 93.9 FM
New Sounds presents another night of recommended recordings, this time in the “world music” vein. Hear selections by the Algeria-born and San Francisco-based DJ Cheb I Sabbah, Ethiopian soul singer Mahmoud Ahmed, and others.

Away From Jazz

New Sounds

airs daily at 11PM on 93.9 FM
For this New Sounds, get a load of jazz musicians stepping away from the jazz tradition. There's music from punkass jazz melody-makers Gutbucket off of their latest release, "A Modest Proposal." Also, we'll hear from the latest by Matthew Shipp, called "Harmony and Abyss" and much more.

In Robert Moran's Kitchen

New Sounds

From October 30, 1989, the infamous "cooking show" with composer/raconteur Robert Moran. Recorded while cooking an Indian dinner in John Schaefer's kitchen, for reasons still not entirely clear. Along the way, we hear an "acoustic" version of Cage's 0:00 - for amplification of chopping vegetables and blender. And don't miss the teary conversation as onions are chopped. View the the recipes.