Episodes

  • Listen to rhythmic music, whether for percussion, string quartet or vocal duet for this New Sounds. Hear works from percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum, Kelly Moran, and the Jasper String Quartet, and a vocal duet from Meredith Monk and Robert Een. From the recent record, Unbound, by the Jasper String Quartet, hear a non-stop motoring work by Judd Greenstein, “Four on the Floor.” Usually the term applies to thumping dance-club bangers, but in this work, pairs of instruments work “with and against each other, until they settle their differences and combine into a shared groove,” according to the composer.

    Hear music with rhythmic intensity, for prepared piano, with and without electronics from Kelly Moran, and her record, Bloodroot, which is where minimalism and black metal collide. Then, listen to music from Hauschka, who layers player piano with prepared piano. Also, listen to Inuit-style breathing games from Meredith Monk and cellist/vocalist Robert Een, from her long-form work, "Facing North," inspired by the Canadian wilderness.

    Then, listen to increasingly tricky and complex rhythms in a work by David Crowell for percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum. Plus, hear a work –"Redwood"- involving saxophone and interlocking guitar parts from Empyrean Atlas, the band of composer/multi-instrumentalist David Crowell. And more.

    PROGRAM #3960, We've Got Rhythms (First Aired: 3/15/2017)

    ARTIST: Ian David Rosenbaum
    WORK: David Crowell: Celestial Sphere, excerpt [1:00]
    RECORDING: Memory Palace
    SOURCE: Vision Into Art
    INFO: naxosdirect.com

    ARTIST: Jasper String Quartet
    WORK: Judd Greenstein: Four on the Floor [10:45]
    RECORDING: Unbound
    SOURCE: Sono Luminus/New Amsterdam
    INFO: jasperstringquartet.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Kelly Moran
    WORK: Celandine [3:06]
    RECORDING: Bloodroot
    SOURCE: Telegraph Harp TH 011
    INFO: kellymoran.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Hauschka
    WORK: Constant Growth Fails [4:08]
    RECORDING: What If
    SOURCE: Temporary Residence Records
    INFO: hauschka.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Christian Frederickson, Jason Noble, Ryan Rumery
    WORK: To Be One Of Them [1:00]
    RECORDING: The Painted Bird: Amidst
    SOURCE/INFO: christianfrederickson.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Ian David Rosenbaum
    WORK: David Crowell: Celestial Sphere [9:50]
    RECORDING: Memory Palace
    SOURCE: Vision Into Art
    INFO: naxosdirect.com

    ARTIST: Empyrean Atlas
    WORK: Redwood [5:11]
    RECORDING: Empyrean Atlas
    SOURCE/INFO: empyreanatlas.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Christian Frederickson, Jason Noble, Ryan Rumery
    WORK: To Be One Of Them [1:00]
    RECORDING: The Painted Bird: Amidst
    SOURCE/INFO: christianfrederickson.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Bang on a Can All-Stars
    WORK: Michael Gordon: Gene Takes a Drink [5:57]
    RECORDING: Field Recordings
    SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
    INFO: bangonacan.org

    ARTIST: Meredith Monk & Robert Een
    WORK: Keeping Warm & Arctic Bar [8:45]
    RECORDING: Facing North
    SOURCE: ECM #1482
    INFO: ecmrecords.com

  • Hear prog-marching band music from Chicago's Mucca Pazza, ambient-gothic Norwegian-Icelandic music from the duo Jo Berger Myhre & Ólafur Björn Ólafsson, jazz-tronic ambient minimalism from London's Portico Quartet, and new work from Danish experimental supergroup Girls in Airports. Also, hear new music by Molly Joyce for cellist Nick Photinos, new work from Kaki King & the Porta Girevole Chamber Orchestra, and more.

    Hear ambient-gothic music from Norwegian bassist Jo Berger Myhre and Icelandic drummer Ólafur Björn Ólafsson in their composed work, “1000%,” which was recorded in an abandoned Reykjavik warehouse. Also, listen to driving indie jazz from the Danish experimental ensemble, Girls in Airport, recorded live in Germany. Plus, hear a sample from Brooklyn's own Afrobeat big band, Antibalas.

    There’s a new release from Chicago’s “interdisciplinary instrumental music and performance ensemble” – or circus-spectacle alt marching band, Mucca Pazza. It’s a bit proggy (Yes, Weather Report, Rush) and perhaps hard to march to, but “[t]he band spent eight years practicing counting to seven before they were ready to record this piece.” There’s also a new work by Terry Riley for Del Sol String Quartet, “Dark Queen Mantra,” featuring guitarist Gyan Riley. Plus listen to music by Kaki King - arranged for guitar and orchestra from her forthcoming Live At Berklee release.

    Listen to music from Eighth Blackbird founding cellist Nick Photinos; it’s a work by Molly Joyce, originally for for baroque cello and pre-recorded electronics, called “Sit and Dance.” Also, there’s music from London-based composer & producer Leah Kardos, which was made using analogue instruments and technologies, from her record, Rococochet.

    August & September 2017 New Releases (Special Podcast)
    (Similar to Show #4018, airdate: 8/31/2017)

    ARTIST: Jo Berger Myhre & Ólafur Björn Ólafsson
    WORK: 1000%, excerpt [1:00]
    RECORDING: The Third Script
    SOURCE: Hubro Music
    INFO: hubromusic.com

    ARTIST: Mucca Pazza
    WORK: Andy Deitrich: Barbarous Relic [3:30]
    RECORDING: Barbarous Relic
    SOURCE/INFO: store.muccapazza.com

    ARTIST: Leah Kardos
    WORK: Malio Malio [2:35]
    RECORDING: Rococochet
    SOURCE: Bigo & Twigetti
    INFO: bigoandtwigetti.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Portico Quartet
    WORK: Current History [6:07]
    RECORDING: Art In The Age Of Automation
    SOURCE: Gondwana Records
    INFO: porticoquartet.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Antibalas
    WORK: Gold Rush, excerpt [1:30]
    RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck, 9/15/17
    SOURCE: This tune appears on Where the Gods are in Peace
    INFO: antibalas.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Jo Berger Myhre & Ólafur Björn Ólafsson
    WORK: 1000% [6:42]
    RECORDING: The Third Script
    SOURCE: Hubro Music
    INFO: hubromusic.com

    ARTIST: Girls in Airports
    WORK: King's Birthday [3:28]
    RECORDING: Live
    SOURCE: Edition Records EDN1097
    INFO: girlsinairports.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Nick Photinos
    WORK: Molly Joyce: Sit and Dance [6:34]
    RECORDING: Petits Artefacts
    SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
    INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Del Sol String Quartet, Gyan Riley
    WORK: Terry Riley: III. Dark Queen Mantra [11:49]
    RECORDING: Dark Queen Mantra
    SOURCE: Sono Luminus 92215
    INFO: delsolquartet.com

    ARTIST: Kaki King, Porta Girevole Chamber Orchestra, Gabriela Sofia Gomez Estevez, student conductor
    WORK: Magazine [5:30]
    RECORDING: Live At Berklee
    SOURCE: BIRN Cooperative Recordings
    INFO: smarturl.it/KakiKingLive

  • Missing episodes?

    Click here to refresh the feed.

  • Hear music that begins with classical instruments, like the string quartet, piano, or an orchestra, but which is then augmented, enhanced by electronics, percussion, or preparation. Listen to works by English violinist, pianist, and composer Poppy Ackroyd, Netherlands-based composer Peter Adriaansz, and cinematic music from the augmented string quartet amiina.

    The versatile Dutch pianist Saskia Lankhoorn plays a specially-prepared piano over a bed of droning sine tones in a work by Seattle-born, Netherlands-based Peter Adriaansz, “Attachments III.” Then, hear music by the Icelandic outfit, amiina, which was once the touring string quartet with Sigur Ros, and has now expanded to include percussion & electronics. From amiina, hear selections from their standalone original live score to the 1913 film Fantîmas, that lord of terror, creator of fear, and genius of evil who initially came to live in the crime fictions of French writers.

    Then, listen to "Rave," music for piano and pre-recorded electronics by Molly Joyce for longtime friend and collaborator, pianist Vicky Chow from her record, Aorta. Also, hear music for percussion and electronics by John Luther Adams, featuring Glenn Kotche, from the long-form work, Ilimaq. Plus, listen to grand music for amplified orchestra by English composer Andrew Poppy from a record released on ZTT Records in the mid-eighties.

    PROGRAM #3927, classical instruments, contemporary sounds (First Aired 12-8-2016)

    ARTIST: Andrew Poppy
    WORK: 32 Frames for Amplified Orchestra, excerpt [1:00]
    RECORDING: The Artefact Series
    SOURCE: ZTT Records 186
    INFO: ztt.com

    ARTIST: Saskia Lankhoorn, piano
    WORK: Peter Adriaansz: Attachments III [7:52]
    RECORDING: Enclosures
    SOURCE: Ergodos ER 25
    INFO: ergodos.ie

    ARTIST: Poppy Ackroyd
    WORK: Birdwoman [5:36]
    RECORDING: Feathers
    SOURCE: Denovali Records
    INFO: denovali.com

    ARTIST: George Hurd Ensemble
    WORK: Tethering Bird, excerpt [:38]
    RECORDING: Navigation Without Numbers
    SOURCE: Innova 937
    INFO: innova.mu

    ARTIST: Amiina
    WORK: GuĂ°mundur Vignir Karlsson: Crocodile [5:39]
    RECORDING: FantĂŽmas
    SOURCE/INFO: amiina.com

    ARTIST: Andrew Poppy
    WORK: 32 Frames for Amplified Orchestra [8:39]
    RECORDING: The Artefact Series
    SOURCE: ZTT Records 186
    INFO: ztt.com

    ARTIST: Amiina
    WORK: Solrun Sumarlidadottir: Café [3:25]
    RECORDING: FantĂŽmas
    SOURCE/INFO: amiina.com

    ARTIST: Restroy
    WORK: Skin, excerpt [:46]
    RECORDING: Saturn Return
    SOURCE: Milk Factory Productions
    INFO: milkfactoryproductions.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Vicky Chow
    WORK: Molly Joyce: Rave [11:17]
    RECORDING: Aorta
    SOURCE: NWAM083
    INFO: newamrecords.com

    ARTIST: John Luther Adams & Glenn Kotche
    WORK: John Luther Adams: Ilimaq , Ascension [3:06]
    RECORDING: Ilimaq
    SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music 21112
    INFO: johnlutheradams.bandcamp.com

  • Guitarist and educator Shane Parish is a sonic adventurer, perhaps best known as the mastermind behind the Asheville, North Carolina-based avant instrumental jazz-mathpunk band Ahleuchatistas, formerly a quartet, now a duo. Besides the jazz and mathrock, their musical stew also includes elements Chinese folk music, minimalism, and lots of other stuff.

    But Parish has just released a solo record of “weird old Americana” entitled Undertaker, Please Drive Slow on John Zorn's Tzadik label, recorded in an old cabin in the woods. He joins John live in the studio to perform some of them on acoustic guitar.

    Parish has taken these old timey songs, and “abstracted them in utterly fascinating ways, evoking the haunting and brooding world of the American South” writes John Zorn. Comparisons wouldn’t be out of place to American Primitive guitarists like John Fahey or Robbie Basho, but in the spaces that Parish creates, one might also think of Morton Feldman. In Parish’s ever-evolving reworkings of these folky blues tunes, the songs straddle keys; he’s not content to remain firmly in one or the other. Then, on a song like Geeshie Wiley’s “The Last Kind Words,” Parish takes the vocal melody and makes it more abstract, turning it into a prepared guitar percussion piece in a John Cage way, via paper clips and a slide.

    Shane Parish's prepared guitar(John Schaefer/WNYC)

    PROGRAM #3928, With Shane Parish (First Aired 12-12-2016)

    ARTIST: Ahleuchatistas
    WORK: Requiem for the Sea [6:46]
    RECORDING: Heads Full of Poison
    SOURCE: Cuneiform Records
    INFO: https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/heads-full-of-poison-3

    ARTIST: Shane Parish
    WORK: Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground (Blind Willie Johnson) [4:29]
    RECORDING: Live, WNYC Studio, Dec. 2016
    SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
    INFO: Appears on Undertaker, Please Drive Slow, out now on Tzadik Records 4016

    ARTIST: Shane Parish
    WORK: Oh Death [3:45]
    RECORDING: Undertaker, Please Drive Slow
    SOURCE: Tzadik Records 4016
    INFO: tzadik.com

    ARTIST: Shane Parish
    WORK: The Maid Freed From the Gallows [7:04], The Last Kind Words (Geeshie Wiley) [5:25]
    RECORDING: Live, WNYC Studio, Dec. 2016
    SOURCE: his performance not commercially available.
    INFO: Appears on Undertaker, Please Drive Slow, out now on Tzadik Records 4016

    ARTIST: Tim Sparks
    WORK: I’ll Fly Away [5:37]
    RECORDING: Chasin’ the Boogie
    SOURCE: Tonewood
    INFO: cdbaby.com

  • “Indian music does not stop and start with Ravi Shankar.” So says tabla master Zakir Hussain, who, along with young sitar virtuoso, Niladri Kumar, joins John in the studio for a live performance.

    Zakir Hussain, son of Ustad Alla Rahka, isn’t just a genius Indian tabla player and composer, as well as a virtuoso improviser - he is, bar none, one of the world’s great percussionists working in many genres. Zakir is a global citizen open to all kinds of collaborations, playing with everyone from George Harrison to the Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, from John McLaughlin's Shakti and Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project; he’s laid down beats for Scottish fiddlers Charlie McKerron (Capercaillie) and Patsy Reid (formerly of Breabach), and performed and recorded with scores of Indian classical musicians. Then, there was the recording by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin of a triple concerto featuring fellow soloists Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, along with Zakir Hussain’s own showcases of otherworldly drum wizards, the Masters of Percussion.

    Now, Niladri Kumar, who made his first public performance at the age of 6, comes from a long line of sitar players -which goes some five generations back; his father was Pandit Kartik Kumar. Niladri also did recording sessions for Hindi films from a very young age, and happens to be in a band called Sitar Funk, a global fusion of Hindi film music, Indian classical, and Western music. He’s even gone electric, creating an invention called the Zitar, a combination of sitar and guitar. It has fewer strings (5 instead of 20) with an electric pickup inside, so that Niladri can get a rock guitar sound out of it. OH – and he plays chords on the sitar. Niladri Kumar has been part of the Masters of Percussion tour, and this is his second duo tour with Zakir Hussain.

    Niladri Kumar and Zakir Hussain perform a radio-friendly (short) Raga Charukeshi, for Rupak Tal (a seven beat rhythmic cycle) and Raga Bhairavi in Teental (16 beats.)

    Not to gush, but Zakir Hussain can communicate in so many languages – Persian, Gujarati, German, English- that it’s no wonder that he is also versed in many musical languages – like being able to speak jazz or Afro-Cuban rhythms, Nigerian talking drums, or Indonesian gamelan. To him, improvising is like speaking that language. (Perhaps for percussion nerds,) Zakir also treats us to a spoken drum conversation, or “reciting the Bols” – the syllables that correspond to the strokes of the tabla- like “Dha ti ra ki ta” and “na ga dhin na dhin na gin na.”

  • South African guitarist Guy Buttery visits the studio to perform music from his latest self-titled record. Hear virtuosic feats of bending, tapping, picking, harmonics, and other techniques and textures yet to be named for guitar. Dig into his latest record on which he has collaborated with South African musicians Vusi Mahlasela, kora-to-guitar wizard Derek Gripper, and blues guitarist Dan Patlansky, along with a piece for sarangi and mbira – “From Srinagar.”

    More pictures from the session here: Facebook.com/newsounds

    Guy Buttery plays a custom-made Casimi guitar, a “piano that fits in a guitar case,” made of very dense & heavy African blackwood, and sporting double carbon-fiber truss rods to handle the bending of the neck.

    Plus, music from the late Malian guitarist and griot TiĂ©coro Sissoko, who played for many years as a sideman with Toumani Diabate in Bamako. Listen to the title track from his only recording, “Keme Borama.”

    PROGRAM #3893, With Guy Buttery (First Aired 8-30-2016)

    ARTIST: Guy Buttery with Piers Faccini
    WORK: The Upper Reaches [5:09]
    RECORDING: Guy Buttery
    SOURCE/INFO: guybuttery.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Guy Buttery
    WORK: A Piece for Rudolf Fritsch [5:20]
    RECORDING: Live, WNYC 8/25/16
    SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
    INFO: A version with William Ackerman is available at guybuttery.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Guy Buttery
    WORK: From Srinagar [3:32], To Goulimine [feat. Dan Patlansky] [03:05]
    RECORDING: Guy Buttery
    SOURCE/INFO: guybuttery.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Guy Buttery
    WORK: Verbosity [4:00]
    RECORDING: Live, WNYC 8/25/16
    SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
    INFO: The studio version is available at guybuttery.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Guy Buttery
    WORK: Two Chords & The Truth [feat. Derek Gripper] [3:40]
    RECORDING: Guy Buttery
    SOURCE/INFO: guybuttery.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Guy Buttery
    WORK: Werner Meets Egberto in Manaus [5:17]
    RECORDING: Live, WNYC 8/25/16
    SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
    INFO: A version featuring Vusi Mahlasela is available at guybuttery.bandcamp.com

    ARTIST: Tiécoro Sissoko
    WORK: Keme Borama [4:38]
    RECORDING: Keme Borama
    SOURCE: KSK Records CD 013
    INFO: kskrecords.bandcamp.com

  • This episode continues the series exploring the new music of Ireland. John Schaefer sits down with Jonathan Nangle at the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin. Nangle tells how Donnacha Dennehy influenced him to explore more experimental music, and then shares how electronics and silence factor into his compositions. Listen to how Nangle uses electronics to subtly augment conventional instrumentation on "Where distant city lights flicker on half-frozen ponds". Hear Nangle explain how his piece "Then Falls by Shadow" takes the inspiration of Irish weather to combine shuffle mode with a choral performance. Later in the hour, John Schaefer talks to David Bremner about his own compositions and playing the pipe organ at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. Hear Bremner's piercing organ compositions "Variations upon 'the usual reason'" and "AmhrĂĄn na Leabhar."

    PROGRAM #3715 New Music from Ireland: Part 3 (First aired on 4/17/2015)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Kate Ellis

    Jump

    Donnacha Dennehy: Aisling Gheal [2:09]

    Diatribe Records

    Jonathan Nangle

    Self-released

    DIY Aeolian Harp [:39]

    Soundcloud

    Jonathan Nangle

    new music::new Ireland 2

    Where distant city lights flicker on half-frozen ponds [excerpt 1] [2:14]

    CMC Ireland

    Jonathan Nangle

    new music::new Ireland 2

    Where distant city lights flicker on half-frozen ponds [excerpt 2] [4:47]

    See Above

    Ergodos Musicians

    I Call To You

    Jonathan Nangle: Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ [2:22]

    Ergodos Records

    Jonathan Nangle

    Commissioned for Dublin SoundLab

    untitled (after Dan Flavin) [1:42]

    Soundcloud

    Jonathan Nangle

    Commisioned by David Bremner and Elizabeth Hilliard

    Then Falls thy Shadow [:51]

    Soundcloud

    Jonathan Nangle

    Contermporaty Music from Ireland, Volume Nine

    Our headlights blew softly into the black illuminating very little [5:21]

    CMC Ireland – CMC CD09

    Contemporary Music Centre

    Jonathan Nangle & David Bremner

    Ergodos 2009 'Off-Grid' Festival

    Untitled improvisation [1:25]

    Soundcloud

    David Bremner

    Contemporary Music from Ireland, Volume 2

    Variations upon ‘the usual reason’ [4:40]

    CMC Ireland

    David Bremner

    L’Air Du Temps

    AmhrĂĄn na Leabhar [2:49]

    Soundcloud

  • Hear music by Australian-born, London-based electroacoustic musician & sound artist Leah Kardos along with music by Irish woodwind player and composer SeĂĄn Mac Erlaine, as well as other electroacoustic music on this New Sounds. Listen to several works by Kardos from a sampler released in 2014, including her work, “Butterfly Kite,”written for easy piano + delay/verb effects. Then hear improvised woodwind and electronic sounds from a series of live recordings by the Dublin musician, SeĂĄn Mac Erlaine. From his, “A Slender Song,” hear music for clarinets of all sorts and sizes, manipulated by electronics.

    Then, hear music from a dance score by London-based composer Jon Opstad, who also did the music for the provocative British episodic series, “Black Mirror.” Listen to music from cellist Julia Kent with loops and delays from the recent record, “Character.” German theremin player Carolina Eyck improvises on the low end together with pianist Christopher Tarnow. Then,hear music from NY-based singer GABI, who layers and processes her voice a la Juliana Barwick. (Caution: her work, "Where," might remind you of “The Rains of Castamere.”)

    PROGRAM #3706–Various Forms of Electro-acoustic Music (First aired on 03/24/2015)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Carolina Eyck & Christopher Tarnow

    Improvisations for Theremin and Piano

    Haunted Ballerina, excerpt [1:00]

    Butterscotch Records
    butterscotchrecords.net

    Leah Kardos

    Spring 2014 Sampler

    Butterfly Kite [3:15]

    bigoandtwigetti.bandcamp.com

    Jon Opstad

    Ignis

    Ignis, Part III [2:55]
    Ignis, part IV [5:51]

    jonopstad.bandcamp.com OR soundcloud OR Emusic.com

    SeĂĄn Mac Erlaine

    A Slender Song

    All sung a Slender Song [3:29]

    ergodos.ie

    Leah Kardos

    Spring 2014 Sampler

    Preen [3:19]

    See above.

    GABI

    Sympathy

    Where [3:43]

    gabi-ny.bandcamp.com
    Due out April 7, 2015

    Carolina Eyck & Christopher Tarnow

    Improvisations for Theremin and Piano

    Haunted Ballerina [5:58]

    Butterscotch Records
    butterscotchrecords.net

    Leah Kardos

    Spring 2014 Sampler

    Memory Machine [3:01]

    See above.

    Bing & Ruth

    Tomorrow was the Golden Age

    The Towns We Love Is Our Town [6:34]

    RVNGNL27
    igetrvng.com

    Julia Kent

    Character

    Transportation [4:39]

    Leaf Music BAY 80
    theleaflabel.com

    SeĂĄn Mac Erlaine

    A Slender Song

    Sheehy [3:52]

    See above.

  • Composer, keyboardist and bandleader, Missy Mazzoli, joins John Schaefer to introduce selections from her new recording, “Vespers for a New Dark Age.” The work, commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the 2014 Ecstatic Music Festival, is a 30-minute suite for singers, chamber ensemble and electronics, and is built around text, both spiritual and worldly, by contemporary poet Matthew Zapruder. Mazzoli wrote for the very specific voices of sopranos Martha Cluver, Melissa Hughes and alto Virginia Warnken Kelsey, who all have a lot of experience with contemporary music but also early and Baroque music. Her ensemble Victoire provides dramatic settings while drummer Glenn Kotche (perhaps best known for his work in Wilco) propels the work percussively. Plus, hear selections from Phil Kline’s millennial mass “John the Revelator,” written for the early/new music vocal group Lionheart and the quartet ETHEL.

    PROGRAM #3709 with Missy Mazzoli (First aired on 3/30/2015)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    DURATION

    Roomful of Teeth

    Render

    Missy Mazzoli: Vesper Sparrow, excerpt

    Due out April 28, 2015
    New Amsterdam Records - #NWAM 065
    newamrecords.com

    1:00

    Missy Mazzoli & Victoire

    Vespers for a New Dark Age

    I. Wayward Free Radical Dreams

    New Amsterdam Records - #NWAM 062
    newamrecords.com

    5:09

    Missy Mazzoli & Victoire, feat. Martha Cluver & Glenn Kotche

    Vespers for a New Dark Age

    II. Hello Lord

    See above.

    2:27

    Missy Mazzoli & Victoire, feat. Melissa Hughes, Virginia Warnken Kelsey, Martha Cluver & Glenn Kotche

    Vespers for a New Dark Age

    IV. Come On All You

    See above.

    5:35

    Missy Mazzoli & Victoire

    Vespers for a New Dark Age

    V. New Dark Age

    See above.

    2:40

    Missy Mazzoli & Victoire

    Vespers for a New Dark Age

    VII. Machine

    See above.

    4:47

    Missy Mazzoli & Victoire

    Vespers for a New Dark Age

    VIII. Postlude

    See above.

    4:35

    Phil Kline (performed by Lionheart & ETHEL)

    John the Revelator

    The Man Who Knows Misery

    Cantaloupe 21047 cantaloupemusic.com

    2:44

    Phil Kline (performed by Lionheart & ETHEL) ETHEL

    John the Revelator

    Dark Was the Night

    See above.

    5:50

  • Listen to works that include gamelan, but take a more western approach for this New Sounds - like combining Celtic traditional music and Indonesian gamelan in music from Gamelan Son of Lion and composer/sax player and bagpiper Matthew Welch. In the music of Barbara Benary, the co-founder and guiding spirit of Gamelan Son of Lion, there is a juxtaposition of Cape Breton Celtic singing, gamelan and Benary herself on violin. Also, hear the Celtic-Balinese tapestry of Matthew Welch’s chamber rock hybrid Blarvuster with its Scottish bagpipes, Balinese gamelan, and Welch’s vocalizing in Indonesian. Plus, Lou Harrison’s "Threnody for Carlos Chavez," written for viola and gamelan ensemble, and music from NYC-based Patrick Grant, who serves his post-minimalism with a twist of Rock and Balinese gamelan. That, and more.

    PROGRAM #3691 Gamelan Plus (First aired on 2/3/2015)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Gamelan Son of Lion

    Sonogram

    John Morton: She (really) Had To Go [9:23]

    Innova 718
    innova.mu

    Patrick Grant

    Patrick Grant

    Fields Amaze [8:35]

    Available at cdbaby.com

    Gamelan Son of Lion

    Sonogram

    Barbara Benary: Jigalullaby [8:23]

    Innova 718
    innova.mu

    Matthew Welch & Blarvuster

    Blarvuster

    Canntaireachd Masolah I [6:23]

    Tzadik 8077
    tzadik.com

    Lou Harrison

    Drums Along The Pacific

    Threnody for Carlos Chavez [8:00]

    New Albion #122
    Out of print, but available as a download via Amazon

    Bill Alves
    (performed by Susan Jensen, violin; The HMC American Gamelan)

    Mystic Canyon

    Mystic Canyon for Violin and Gamelan [5:20]

    MicroFest Records
    Amazon

  • Hear unusual music for string quartet on this program, as Australian composer Andrew Byrne, now based in New York, uses the string quartet as a percussion instrument in his work called “Striking.” Then, listen to Bang on a Can All-Star saxman, clarinetist and composer Ken Thomson’s work for the JACK Quartet, “THAW.” There’s also folk-informed music from the singer, songwriter and composer Aoife O Donovan as played by Brooklyn Rider. Hear string quartet music by multi-instrumentalist composer VĂąn-Ánh Vanessa VĂ”, who plays a traditional Vietnamese string instrument on “Green River Delta,” in collaboration with Kronos Quartet. Plus, hear a work from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams that uses the string quartet as an ambient music ensemble, relying upon harmonics and on tones played on open strings. That, and more.

    PROGRAM #3686 Music for String Quartet (First aired on 1/21/2015)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Ken Thomson (JACK quartet)

    THAW

    Thaw, excerpt [1:41]

    Cantaloupe Records 21095
    bangonacan.org

    Members of Either/Or Ensemble

    Striking; Whispers and Cries

    Andrew Byrne: Striking Parts 1 & 2 [7:32]

    Available for purchase directly through composer here: andrewbyrne.com

    JACK Quartet

    John Luther Adams: The Wind in High Places

    John Luther Adams: The Wind in High Places - Above Sunset Pass [7:24]

    Cold Blue Music CBM 41
    coldbluemusic.com

    Ken Thomson (JACK quartet)

    THAW

    THAW: Thaw [10:55]

    Cantaloupe Music 21095
    bangonacan.org

    Brooklyn Rider

    Almanac

    Aoife O'Donovan: Show Me [4:56]

    Mercury Classics / In A Circle Records #002159302
    mercuryclassics.com Available at iTunes, Amazon.com, Emusic.com

    Vùn-Ánh Vanessa VÔ with Kronos Quartet

    Three-Mountain Pass

    Vùn-Ánh Vanessa VÔ: Green River Delta/Luu Thuy Truong [4:40]

    Innova 866
    innova.mu

    Members of Either/Or Ensemble

    Striking; Whispers and Cries

    Andrew Byrne: Striking Parts 3 & 4 [8:30]

    Available for purchase directly through composer here: andrewbyrne.com

  • Listen to world music that veers into psychedelic territory on this New Sounds, with Native-American inspired percussive drone music and Afrobeat from Brazil in music by Bixiga 70. Hear a mix of Afro-Ethiopian rock and jazz from the Brazilian band, Bixiga70, whose name is clearly a nod to the Afrobeat pioneered by Fela Kuti and drummer Tony Allen (with whom Mauricio Fleury from the band studied with.) This brass-heavy sound bounces through boundaries to harvest textures of Guinean and Malian mandingo from Guinea and Mali, soukous from the Congo and ethio-jazz. Also, there’s music from a Chinese string band, Red Chamber, and their pipa, zheng, zhongruan, among other Chinese lutes and zithers. On this tune,"Ah Ya Zein," they accompany oud player Gordon Grdina, and are augmented by all kinds of percussion from other traditions. Then, hear “tribal folkadelia” from Flamingods, with musicians based in London & Bahrain, and operatic trance music from Toronto-based artist, Alexandra Mackenzie, who records under the moniker Petra Glynt. Also, listen to a song from Nathan Bowles, a pounding tribute in percussive drone to the dwindling population of the Nansemond tribe who were part of the Powhatan confederacy in Virginia. Plus, explosive music from the Belgian brass klezmer punk band Kermesz a l'est, and more.

    PROGRAM #3638, Psychedelic World Music (First aired on 9/17/2014)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Flamingods

    Hyperborea

    Vimana, excerpt [1:00]

    SHAPE 027
    shaperecords.co.uk
    shaperecords.bandcamp.com

    Red Chamber

    Gathering

    Ah Ya Zein [7:40]

    www.asza.com

    Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem in My Heart)

    Mo7it Al-Mo7it

    Amanem [8:54]

    Constellation Records CST093
    cstrecords.com
    Included as part of www.musicworks.ca, Summer 2014 Sampler
    jerusaleminmyheart.com

    Kermesz a l'est

    Kermesz a l'est (2014)

    Zumkind [6:02]

    www.kermeszalest.com

    Flamingods

    Hyperborea

    Vimana [2:32]

    SHAPE 027
    shaperecords.co.uk
    shaperecords.bandcamp.com

    Petra Glynt

    Musicworks Summer 2014

    Of This Land

    petraglynt.bandcamp.com

    Nathan Bowles

    Nansemond

    The Smoke Swallower [2:38]

    Paradies of Bachelors 016
    paradiseofbachelors.com

    FatDog

    New Found Land

    Halling Etter Sjur Eldegard, excerpt [1:00]

    Riverboat Records 1087
    worldmusic.net

    Kronos Quartet

    Floodplain

    Tashweesh [3:24]

    Nonesuch 518349
    nonesuch.com

    Bixiga 70

    Ocupai

    5 Esquinas [4:31]

    maisumdiscos.com

    maisumdiscos.bandcamp.com

    Angeli Drake

    Deghe

    Spargiani [6:00]

    Available at Amazon.com or Emusic.com

  • Listen to new music for the instrument from Southwestern Norway known as the Hardanger fiddle, (or hardingfele), but of course there’s a twist. For this New Sounds, there’s post-rock, world music, electroacoustic music, and even an Irish-American duet on this Norwegian instrument – with music from Scotland, Ireland, and the U.S. Hear the collaborative recording between Hardanger fiddle master Nils Økland and the post-rock duo The Low Frequency In Stereo, called Lumen Drones – which comes off as a psychedelic drone band. Then, listen to music from the octogenarian bard Robin Williamson (of Incredible String Band reknown), along with violist Mat Maneri and drummer Ches Smith. Then, hear a duo record from Caoimhin O Raghallaigh (of The Gloaming) and Dan Trueman (founder of Princeton Laptop Orchestra), which stretches and recombines the DNA of Norwegian folk and Irish trad fiddling on a 10-stringed instrument, the Hardanger d’Amore. Plus, there’s music from the Hardanger’s likely ancestor, the viola d’amore, by composer/violist Garth Knox, and more.

    PROGRAM #3676 Hardanger Fiddle Music (First aired on 12/23/2014)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Lumen Drones (Nils Okland/Per Steinar Lie/Orjan Haaland)

    Lumen Drones

    Dark Sea [3:54]

    ECM 2434
    http://ecmrecords.com

    AnnbjĂžrg Lien

    Baba Yaga

    Aja [6:27]

    North Side #6044 / Grappa Musikkforlag GRCD 4158 annbjorglien.com

    Robin Williamson w/ Mat Maneri, viola and Ches Smith, drums

    Trusting In The Rising Light

    Our Evening Walk [5:40]

    ECM 2393
    ecmrecords.com

    Lumen Drones (Nils Okland/Per Steinar Lie/Orjan Haaland)

    Lumen Drones

    Keelwater [6:15]

    See above.

    Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh & Dan Trueman

    LaghdĂș

    fead an iolair [4:02]

    store.irishmusic.net

    Carla Kihlstedt

    Borrowed Arms

    Hold My Own [5:00]

    kihlstedtbossi.bandcamp.com

    Garth Knox

    D'Amore

    Malor me bat (2004) [4:54]

    ECM 1925
    ecmrecords.com

  • Hear music for the combination of choir and percussion like "Whispers and Cries," by Australian born composer Andrew Byrne, which features fellow Aussie musicians Astra Choir and Speak Percussion. The show won't always stick to traditional choirs and percussion. In Daniel Lentz's "Postludium," the choir members rub and strike wine glasses while singing, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir's "into-Second Self" features a layered choir of two brass instruments. In addition to rhythmic and driving drumming, hear more of the atmospheric and colorful role of percussion in music for the combination of choir and percussion. The centerpiece of the show, a work called "Whispers and Cries," by Australian born composer Andrew Byrne, features fellow Aussie musicians Astra Choir and Speak Percussion.

    PROGRAM #3670 Music for Choir and Percussion (First aired on 12/8/2014)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Daniel Lentz

    Missa Umbrarum

    Postludium, excerpt

    New Albion Records
    Amazon

    Andrew Byrne. Performed by Astra Choir and Speak Percussion

    Striking; Whispers and Cries

    Whispers and Cries: 1. Song for Voice [5:28]

    Available for purchase directly through composer here: andrewbyrne.com

    Daniel Lentz

    Missa Umbrarum

    Postludium [8:17]

    See above.

    Anna Thorvaldsdottir

    Aeriality

    into-Second Self [7:39]

    Deutsche Grammophon
    Amazon

    Andrew Byrne. Performed by Astra Choir and Speak Percussion

    Striking; Whispers and Cries

    Whispers and Cries: 2. Song for Crotales [5:24]

    See above.

    Andrew Byrne. Performed by Astra Choir and Speak Percussion

    Striking; Whispers and Cries

    Whispers and Cries: 3. Song for Piano [4:57]

    See above.

    Daniel Lentz

    Missa Umbrarum

    Lascaux, excerpt [9:12]

    See above.

  • Listen to music for duos on this New Sounds show, including stunning and inviting works from harpist Mary Lattimore & synth/guitarist/producer Jeff Zeigler from their recent collaboration, "Slant of Light." Also, hear music from Xylouris White, comprised of Cretan singer and lute player George Xylouris and drummer/percussionist Jim White (The Dirty Three, Cat Power, others), recorded and engineered by Guy Picciotto (Fugazi, Rites of Spring). Then, hear music by Paola Prestini from a new record by cellist Jeffrey Zeigler (formerly of Kronos Quartet), which features percussionist/composer Jason Treuting (So Percussion). Prestini's Listen, Quiet is a conversation between cello passages and drums, blocks, marimba, and what sounds like glockenspiel all layered over cuts of chattering groups of female voices. Plus, music from the recent record by Piers Faccini & Vincent Segal, and more.

    PROGRAM #3661 Duos (First aired on 11/14/2014)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Jeffrey Zeigler (+ Jason Treuting, percussion)

    Something of Life

    Paolo Prestini: Listen, Quiet, excerpt [1:30]

    Innova 905
    innova.mu

    Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler

    Slant of Light

    The White Balloon [3:21]

    Thrill 374
    thrilljockey.com

    Xylouris White

    Goats

    Psarandonis Syrto [4:38]

    Other Music Recording Co.
    othermusicrecordingco.com

    Piers Faccini & Vincent Segal

    Songs of Time Lost

    Mangé Pou Le Coeur [4:59]

    Six Degrees Records
    sixdegreesrecords.com

    Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal

    Chamber Music

    Halinkata Djoubé [5:08]

    Six Degrees Records #1171
    sixdegreesrecords.com
    or via Amazon.com

    Jeffrey Zeigler (+ Jason Treuting, percussion)

    Something of Life

    Paolo Prestini: Listen, Quiet

    Innova 905
    innova.mu

    Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler

    Slant of Light

    Welsh Corgis In The Snow [7:27]

    See above.

    Xylouris White

    Goats

    Suburb [6:23]

    See above.

  • Hear some sax players leading the way on this edition of New Sounds, including new music from sax player Tamar Osborn and her London-based Afro-Eastern-space-jazz band, Collocutor. Listen to their dreamy Turkish & Middle Eastern percussion meets Sun Ra jazz with electronics. Then, there's lyrical and swinging new music from sax & clarinet wizard/composer Ken Thomson and his outfit Slow/Fast. There's also the brand new recording of the "Terminals" concertos by drummer/composer Bobby Previte for percussion ensemble and soloists, his "Terminal 2" for saxman Greg Osby. The series of works was inspired by the schematic-like terminal maps that Previte has noticed in airports around the world. The recording also features So Percussion. Plus, there's music from Peter Gordon and Love Of Life Orchestra, and more.

    PROGRAM #3659 Sax Leads the Way (First aired on 11/10/2014)

    ARTIST(S)

    RECORDING

    CUT(S)

    SOURCE

    Ken Thomson and Slow/Fast

    Settle

    Settle, excerpt

    NCM East Records
    ktonline.net

    Collocutor

    Instead

    Gozo [6:00]

    On The Corner Records
    onthecornerrecords.bandcamp.com

    Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra

    Symphony 5

    Homeland Security [9:54]

    Foom
    foommusic.bandcamp.com

    Ken Thomson and Slow/Fast

    Settle

    Settle [10:12]

    NCM East Records
    ktonline.net

    So Percussion feat. Greg Osby

    Bobby Previte: Terminals

    Bobby Previte: Terminal 2 [16:00]

    Cantaloupe Music CA21102
    Amazon

    Fred Frith and John Butcher

    The Natural Order

    Faults of His Feet [6:27]

    Northern Spy Records
    northernspyrecords.com