Spinning On Air Archive
February 2007
Bitch and The Exciting Conclusion
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Bitch is a songwriter with an unusual sense of instrumental texture. With violin, ukulele, electric bass, percussion, and more—plus her striking voice—she puts her lyrics and narratives in settings that wake up listeners’ ears to her sounds and stories. Like many singer-songwriters, she sings of her experiences and feelings, but she also makes her feminism, lesbianism, and politics part of her songs. Bitch and her band The Exciting Conclusion join host David Garland to talk about her music, and to perform in the WNYC Studio.
View photos from the session
Bitch
Bitch on Myspace
Bitch performs at Joe's Pub Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007
Bitch's percussion instrument
Essie Jain
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Originally from London, songwriter Essie Jain left her home town for New York a few years ago in pursuit of her muse. Having performed traditional Irish music and studied opera and classical cello back home, Essie cleaned her aesthetic slate and has started writing austere, intense, lovely songs in a personal style. Her understated approach is perfect for the radio. Joined by guitarist Patrick Glynn and drummer Jim White, Essie plays piano, guitar and sings her songs in the WNYC Studio, and talks about them with host David Garland.
View photos from the session
Essie Jain
Essie at MySpace
Andy Partridge
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Ever since he started the band XTC in the late '70s, Andy Partridge has been writing songs that are both adventurous and catchy. Bending the rules of songwriting until they're nice and bouncy, Partridge has used them as a springboard to a distinctive style he continues to explore and enlarge. After listening to "Fuzzy Warbles," a nine-CD set of Partridge's song demos, host David Garland calls Partridge on the phone for an in-depth conversation about songwriting ideas, craft, and fun. We'll also have a preview of "Monstrance," a forthcoming album by Partridge's new improvising trio.
Partridge's Ape House Records
Long Form
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Here are four pieces, new and old, which fill their lengthy durations in different ways. Guitarist James Blackshaw's "Granite & Wineglass" is a meditative elaboration on a drone, in which time flows while standing still. Baird, Espvall, and Kraus' version of an old British folk song, "Willie of Winsbury," achieves its length by having a story to tell, and using many verses to tell it. The Incredible String Band's "White Bird" is an episodic suite with songs, interludes and returning themes. Animal Collective's Panda Bear has a new song, "Bros," which builds gradually with cascades of Beach Boys-style harmonies over a hypnotically varying minimalist accompaniment.
Baird, Espvall, and Kraus
James Blackshaw
The Incredible String Band
Panda Bear
Windows 
Windows 
Windows 
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David Garland, host of WNYC's Evening Music and Spinning on Air, is also a composer and a performer. He has performed his music extensively in the U.S. and Europe and several of his recordings and downloads are available on his Web site, DavidGarland.com.
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