CD Picks of the Week
Monday, August 18, 2008
Renaud Garcia-Fons Trio, "Arcoluz" (Enja/Justin Time)
Think of an instrument that has strings and is common to jazz, flamenco and Middle Eastern music. No, not the guitar, or lute. In the case of this CD pick it’s the double-bass, but just as played by Renaud Garcia-Fons. This French bassist has spent the last decade reinventing the role of his instrument, using arco playing and even drumming to interpret Indian music, flamenco, rock and jazz. In some tracks it’s hard to believe this is a double-bass, but the album Arcoluz includes the proof: a DVD recorded live in Germany, with the man in action.--picked by Gisele Regatao
Sam Champion, "Heavenly Bender" (North St. Records)
Our next CD pick of the week comes from Sam Champion. No, not the New York-area TV weatherman and "Good Morning America" personality. We're talking about the other Sam Champion, the Brooklyn-based indie-rock quartet. On the new album, "Heavenly Bender," the group flies their Pavement and Neil Young flags pretty hard, but ... hey, come on ... it’s Neil Young and Pavement, and there’s no law against rocking this hard. Well, at least yet. --picked by Joel Meyer
Tarik O’Regan, "Threshold of Night" (Conspirare / Craig Hella Johnson & Company of Voices) (Harmonia Mundi)
Tarik O'Regan, Britain's hottest young choral composer, often treads a line between very ancient and very new music. Some of the tracks on his latest album, "Threshold of Night," sound vaguely like Renaissance polyphony but then, they also recall the spiritual, Eastern European branch of minimalism, with its repetitive, ear-pleasing textures. The album features settings of Dickenson, Neruda and in this piece, Edgar Allan Poe. It’s called “The Ecstasies Above,” and it demonstrates Tarik O'Regan’s knack for exploiting the varied sounds of the choir known as Conspirare. --picked by Brian Wise
Think of an instrument that has strings and is common to jazz, flamenco and Middle Eastern music. No, not the guitar, or lute. In the case of this CD pick it’s the double-bass, but just as played by Renaud Garcia-Fons. This French bassist has spent the last decade reinventing the role of his instrument, using arco playing and even drumming to interpret Indian music, flamenco, rock and jazz. In some tracks it’s hard to believe this is a double-bass, but the album Arcoluz includes the proof: a DVD recorded live in Germany, with the man in action.--picked by Gisele Regatao
Sam Champion, "Heavenly Bender" (North St. Records)
Our next CD pick of the week comes from Sam Champion. No, not the New York-area TV weatherman and "Good Morning America" personality. We're talking about the other Sam Champion, the Brooklyn-based indie-rock quartet. On the new album, "Heavenly Bender," the group flies their Pavement and Neil Young flags pretty hard, but ... hey, come on ... it’s Neil Young and Pavement, and there’s no law against rocking this hard. Well, at least yet. --picked by Joel Meyer
Tarik O’Regan, "Threshold of Night" (Conspirare / Craig Hella Johnson & Company of Voices) (Harmonia Mundi)
Tarik O'Regan, Britain's hottest young choral composer, often treads a line between very ancient and very new music. Some of the tracks on his latest album, "Threshold of Night," sound vaguely like Renaissance polyphony but then, they also recall the spiritual, Eastern European branch of minimalism, with its repetitive, ear-pleasing textures. The album features settings of Dickenson, Neruda and in this piece, Edgar Allan Poe. It’s called “The Ecstasies Above,” and it demonstrates Tarik O'Regan’s knack for exploiting the varied sounds of the choir known as Conspirare. --picked by Brian Wise
Comments [4]
It *is* really great to see Tarik O'Regan on here. Not just one of the hottest young choral composers, but one of the hottest young composers period (or "full stop" as they'd say in his homeland).
I certainly hear echoes of the Humanist quest in O'Regan's work and so I think "ancient" is perfectly fitting. I'm sure, like any composer worth his/her salt, he writes up to the very last minute. Thus, I think he probably does tread "a line between very ancient and very new music"!
I'll TRY to be civil. It's great to see Tarik O'Regan on here, but I take issue with the despcription of his music. He "treads a line between very ancient and very new music"... Is very new music music where the ink hasn't dried yet?
Also, when I was in school, 'Ancient Music' meant "Music of Ancient Rome & Greece"- before "Early" (Rennaissance and Baroque). And a fine line it is.
RG Fons sounds amazing. I think I am moved to purchase this CD. I am glacial with regard to buying music.
The actual US release date of the Renaud Garcia-Fons Trio album US is next week (8/26), so the price on Amazon will go WAY down from the current list price. It should be around $19.99. It has been out previously in Europe and Canada only.
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