I dig music...

I've moved...

2011-04-07T12:02:00.002-04:00

With a new site design, I've moved my musings over to my website. Hope to see you there!

It Might Get Loud...

2009-07-29T10:59:00.003-04:00

Rock on, brothers, rock on.

I have rarely been as energized, thrilled, or completley pumped by a movie as I was by Davis Guggenheim's It Might Get Loud. A documentary of a "summit" between Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White - three dudes talking about the electric guitar. Telling their personal stories, along with understanding their artistry and relationship to the instrument, the film was a delight in every way.

You can read my full review of It Might Get Loud over at Blogcritics.

The film opens in New York and LA August 14th, and nationwide shortly thereafter. Go. Just go.

It Might Get Loud - the Official Site

Katie Herzig - NPR Song of the Day

2009-05-05T14:10:00.002-04:00

A new Song of the Day essay up today! I love this girl - such a beautiful voice, and really catchy songwriting.

Katie Herzig: A Farewell To Past Love

Jones Street Station

2009-04-07T14:14:00.000-04:00

Jones Street Station - my new boys! Saw them at the 9:30 Club (check out the Blogcritics review), and then my favorite song gets to be a song of the day.

Jones Street Station: Sunlight In The Sadness

Future of Music Coalition - Policy Day 2009

2009-02-26T13:06:00.003-05:00

It's finally done! If you want to check out my thoughts of the conference, head over to Blogcritics:

Future of Music Coalition - Policy Day 2009 - Blogcritics.org

DC Policy Day

2009-02-10T22:31:00.003-05:00

I went to the Future of Music Coalition Policy Day two years ago (and wrote about it) and will be returning tomorrow for day of intellectual property fun. I'm actually quite excited to see where the debate has gone in two years - should be quite the event. Check back to see what happens!

Song of the Day - Alice Russell "Lights Went Out"

2009-01-26T20:42:00.005-05:00

Song of the Day from today - a pretty kick-butt album, if I do say so, from Alice Russell. Soulful and powerful, her touch is more interesting than some similar artists with really decent songwriting.

Take a listen and a read at NPR.

Oh, and by the way - she'll be at The Bohemian Caverns in DC on March 5th. Might be a show worth catching.

Song of the Day - Run On Sentence "Old Stonewall"

2009-01-22T17:35:00.006-05:00

Another song of the day up today, with a new favorite on my playlists, Run On Sentence. It's a really nice blend of folksy songwriting and instrumental chops without any of the whinyness that can sometimes result.

Here's just a little taste:

In "Stonewall," Hamman takes his sharp-edged croon for a lumbering, jazzy stroll. The song finds him ambling along after Old Stonewall as he stumbles on his way: "Stonewall, I can't believe my eyes / I see you're still just hanging around / at the Red and Black Café / I got news for you, son, that ain't no YMCA."

You can read the rest of the review and take a listen over at NPR.org.

NPR - Run On Sentence: A Lumbering Stroll

Andrew Bird - 'Noble Beast' preview on NPR

2009-01-08T14:41:00.006-05:00

It's one of those things about people knowing you're a violinist, that anything vaguely having to do with violin should automatically be your favorite. "Man, you should TOTALLY listen to Bond! Those girls play violin, right?"

I'd also heard quite a bit about Andrew Bird, but hadn't had a chance to listen for myself to see if this was a listen-by-association or a real deal...but NPR solved my problem by putting his new album up for free preview.

Yes, that's right, listen to the whole thing for free. NPR - I hate you for firing my friends, but you do still have good ideas sometime. Rah rah rah digital media!

From my first blush listen, this is an album with much to recommend it beyond his unusual instrumentation. It vacillates between an indie-spaciness and rooted folkyness, listenable and sweet. "Natural Disaster" is my favorite of this second, the pointillist layers of banjo, violin, and vibraphone backing Birds slightly muffled tenor.

Go. Listen.

Dent May - NPR Song of the Day

2008-12-29T14:23:00.002-05:00

A new song of the day for my ukelele love, Dent May!

Dent May And His Ukulele: Winningly Winking

I (heart) Dent May

2008-12-15T14:22:00.002-05:00

It's a warm december day, but still on the grey side. But I have Dent May to keep my spirits up, as I work on some new essays for Song of the Day.

We Landed On the Moon - Dahlak, DC

2008-12-12T18:06:00.003-05:00

My band had a gig last night at Dahlak - a small Ethiopian restaurant in DC. Though it wasn't much of a rager for us (thanks to those stalwart few who made it out), the real party in the house came from the visiting band from Baton Rouge - We Landed On the Moon.

These guys tore the place down - straight ahead rock with terribly catchy riffs and a tangible sense of joy. The small space made it hard to hear every nuance, so I'll be writing more about them soon once I give their new album a close listen, but a heads up is a place to start.

Go listen. Be happy.

Time for Three - NPR Song of the Day

2008-09-20T13:29:00.008-04:00

I first saw Time for Three in DC a few years ago at Dumbarton Oaks. It was my first time at the venue, and it was hard to not just sit and stare at the elaborately painted ceiling and gorgeous tapestries. It was a small crowd, and my friend Margaret and I were probably the youngest there by about two decades - until the performers came in.

Violinists Zachary DePue and Nicolas Kendall and bassist Ranaan Meyer stood casually in front of the large fireplace. The lights were dim, and so cast the faces of the performers in shadow. Kendall was a bouncing ball of energy, keeping up a light patter in between songs, while DuPue stood more quietly, hands still on his instrument. Meyer drew my attention time and time again, looking like a lanky, looming vulture as he draped over his bass, his whole body drawing the music from the lumbering instrument.

They have so much fun when they play, it is impossible not to get drawn in. Renditions of classical favorites (especially the Bach Double concerto) were favorites, though their version of Shenandoah made my eyes mist. They approach a blend of bluegrass and jazz with a classical sense of control and thoughtfulness, making me wish I had discovered something like this when I was in school.

I was so excited to see a few weeks ago that they would be releasing a new single every month through their website. "Philly Phunk" was the first - you can listen to it and read my essay over at NPR's Song of the Day.

I highly recommend their album, We Just Burned This For You. Recorded live in 2006, you get a sense both of their stage presence and wonderful banter.

reflection

2008-04-21T09:52:00.002-04:00

It is rare for me to encounter anything of note in the DC metro - most everyone has their heads down, focused on getting where they are going. It's near silent in the cars, most of the time, the only sound the whine of the cars running along the tracks.

Yesterday, when coming back from Dupont circle band practice, I noticed a tall man with an accordion getting off one car and getting back on the next car down the train. A moments debate had me following him. After a few moments, he approached me and asked if I'd like a "reflection".

Sure, why not.

A small slip of yellow paper, with "Reflection" printed on one side and three questions on the other:

What are you doing right now?

What could be done right now that you aren't doing?

Why doubt that what you are doing right now is not a sufficient activity?

Something to ponder for the day. And a bright red accordion to brighten up the rainy gloom.

An evening with Anna Quindlen

2008-04-17T23:41:00.003-04:00

I was fortunate enough to spend tonight at a benefit for the Philadelphia Birth Center - a independent childbirth/pre-natal/post-partum/womenfolk type organization. Not only was it a chance to support an organization that supports women's health (something I'm always for), but the centerpiece was a live interview with Anna Quindlen.

I'm not excessively familiar with her work - I've read a few excerpted NYT columns, and such. But she was such a central figure in my mothers life, as she read her way through Quindlen's experience with child-rearing, and therefore her own with myself and my brother. It is always refreshing to hear someone speak who puts our world in a new light, or at least a more clever one.

The two ideas that stood out most to me were her comments on the next (my) generation. She said that we were a group of people who were embracing a "whole life" attitude, balancing a need to work with finding situations that would allow us to be whole people, with lives.

Living in DC, it's hard to believe that those people exist, sometimes. I have gotten to the point where seeing OTHER people use crackberries makes me twitch.

The other comment was one on how we are a generation with a greater commitment to community service than any other. Particularly, that we were a group that grew up "sitting in a circle in preschool" We were raised to be aware of our connections to others.

Huh.

It is interesting, that us, unlike our parents, were given a direct sense that a group of people were connected - that we should share our thoughts and feelings with others, help one another, be responsible for certain aspects (snack, naptime) that benefited the group. Though I've heard enough reports bemoaning our self-centeredness, our feeling of deserving praise simply for existing (because we are special, dammit), we are also a generation that feels a great sense of connection to our peers, and tries to keep those connections, whether it be through physical social interaction or the myriad of online connections we make to others. We are recreating the carpet circle on a grand scale, and telling our whole world what we did over the weekend.

My thoughts on her commentary on feminism or the progress in women's rights would take far too many pages, and more words than I can type successfully tonight. But I point you to her work as an slice of life, of a woman who shaped many of our mothers views on motherhood - and therefore our lives as well.

wow...sad

2008-04-15T08:40:00.002-04:00

It's taken me weeks - weeks - to get up the guts to do this. It's something like seeing an ex for the first time...the first time I write on my blog in almost a year.

I could have let it go a year. It might have been some kind of record. But I figure a post now, a post in another few weeks, and maybe, just maybe I'll get back on track.

This started out as a blog about music, and I still do have music in my life, even though my day job takes me more towards the culinary than cantabile (crescendo? courrante? counterpoint?). I'm doing my disc reviews and song of the day things, and trying to keep my vocabulary of synonyms in shape.

The biggest change - I'm making music. Yes, I am in a band.

It's strange, being the critic on the other end. On one hand, I can keep my distance and just enjoy myself. But on the other, my mind is whirling, trying to classify our sound, hear the influences, judge every aspect. That part drives me nuts, and arouses the temptation to strangle that critical voice with my pickup cable.

Soon enough I'll find out how this really works - we have our first real show. After a year of playing the occasional house party, we will be in a real venue. It's part of a festival, so we only have about 25 minutes, but who knows what will come after?

For the moment, at a time when my 5-hour IU playing habits seem like ancient history, I'm just trying to remember how this thing called a violin works. The pointy stick goes in the right hand, right?

buzzing

2007-07-28T00:30:00.000-04:00

If you combined the many ways that a person could be buzzing - from good food, good wine, sugar, and incredible people, I would sound like a cicada in july right now. Because that's what this conference - BlogHer - is doing to me. I have never met a more engaging, amazing, and inclusive group of professionals in my whole life.

It started out by my being invited to sit at the cool kids table - the Food Bloggers dinner. The event, organized by Alanna of A Veggie Venture would bring together all us food folk and let us jabber and eat all at once.

This, of course, will get bigger play on Cookthink later - have to save some of the juicy tidbits for the folks that write my paycheck. But the best conversation I had was with a lovely lady named Heather Clisby. She was wearing a SXSW t-shirt, and an idle compliment turned into a conversation about the potential danger of working in your ideal field. She, for example had had several "dream jobs" - music writer, restaurant critic, etc - and each one had resulted in her absolutely hating the thing she was working on.

It's interesting, because people look at you like you're insane if you ever complain while holding one of these gigs - certainly musicians understand this. You LOVE this, people will say, how can you not be HAPPY doing it? Well, it's because it's impossible to be happy every hour of every day, even if you're doing something you're passionate about. Cause it's not always fun.

I think it's especially hard with creative endeavors - because being on a deadline is like being told "be brilliant RIGHT NOW." It just doesn't work. Inspiration doesn't always strike, and usually it means settling for something that's less than your best work - an incredibly frustrating prospect for anyone. For myself, working at NPR was a brilliant experience, but having to be creative and witty on demand took it's toll - I basically had lost my musical voice. It needed tea and bed rest before it could come back to life, and allow me to write again.

It can seem like those few and far between who do these choice jobs have it easy - but they are still JOBS, it is still WORK, and sometimes it sucks the joy right out of the whole process. So it's something to be considered - will I still love this thing when I HAVE to do it, rather than WANTING to do it? Don't know till you try, but finding out is incredibly important. Hooray for blogs for giving us an outlet for our passions, without smothering them in the weight of timeliness and pressure.

BlogHer - day .5

2007-07-26T22:07:00.000-04:00

Since the last time I updated regularly was the last conference I attended, it seems appropriate that BlogHer would cause the blogging bug to bite as well.

Nothing's really begun yet, although apparently there was a little cocktail-thingie tonight which I stumbled into. But a few business cards later, I am left with an overwhelming feeling of...belonging. Often women are credited with a greater sense of community, but it's odd to see it in the most direct sense - where a group of writers, businesspeople, entrepreneurs get into a room and manage to make it into an event as well as a networking opportunity. They want to listen and learn as well as talk about their own venture. I was excited before, I am giddy now - can't wait to see what tomorrow might bring!

languishing

2007-07-24T15:02:00.000-04:00

Wow, it seems like along time since I've updated. Wait...it has been a long time! Go figure that switching to a web-based job would actually disconnect me from my web-based communications...

But my upcoming trip to the BlogHer conference in Chicago has inspired me to get back on the bandwagon, sort of. It's an interesting thing to create a conference specifically for women who blog, and even better that the subjects are not all topical (crafting, knitting, cooking...well, obviosuly the last one is ok) but also dealing with issues of community, of culture and expression among women. it's such an empowering force, self-publication, I'm curious to see how this exemplifies that. Many social issues involved...ah the little academic in me begins to cackle!

Song of the Day - Elana James

2007-07-16T07:43:00.000-04:00

24 Hours a Day by the amazing Elana James

I was lucky enough to see her in concert at Iota a few weeks back, and MAN can she play. The whole album is worth listening to and picking up - a mix of things like this top track and slower, more contemplative ballads - such fun.

Pretty on the Inside!

2007-06-11T13:20:00.000-04:00

Ceann (key-anne) rocks - and so does Pitttsburgh. And now the whole world can know!

Ceann - Pretty on the Inside - NPR Song of the Day!

NPR Song of the Day: Ojos De Brujo

2007-05-17T12:49:00.000-04:00

Taking Flamenco and Cranking it Up

This one even hit the top 25 emailed stories for a while - starting at 20, then briefly climbing to 16!

Ojos de Brujo skillfully re-creates the sound of Barcelona's city streets.

Wednesday's Pick

Song: "No Somos Maquinas"
Artist: Ojos de Brujo
CD: Techari
Genre: World

NPR.org, May 16, 2007 · Flamenco has its own rhythm — a natural pulse of hands and feet and mouths. The Barcelona-based group Ojos de Brujo takes that rhythm and cranks it up, adding traditions of India and a hip-hop sensibility. Its members skillfully re-create the sound of their city streets, where many different kinds of music leak out of doorways of clubs and concert halls, then blend together to create one mass of sound.

"No Somos Maquinas" (translation: "We Are Not Machines") is one of Ojos de Brujo's more laid-back tunes, maintaining a kind of ironic balance between sweet, flowing vocal melodies and the mechanical precision of spoken delivery. It's both typical and unusual for the group instrumentally: The strumming of the Spanish guitar balances nicely with the vocals, while the jazz piano adds a vague cabaret feel to the swing. Add the vocal percussion of solcatu, the machine-gun fire of the spoken word, and the solid pulse of percussion, and the song becomes a writhing creature, pulsing not with mechanics, but with life.

Technology and Intelectual Property Policy Day 2007 - Washington, DC

2007-05-09T11:30:00.000-04:00

I attended this conference last week, and my brain still hurts a little from the sheer wealth of information. The article was a tough one to write, in part becuase there was so much there...but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Check it out @ Blogcritics.

Cookthink!

2007-05-03T09:53:00.000-04:00

It's official - I am now the managing editor for cookthink! They gave me a lovely introduction yesterday to start things off. Sadly, my mood was distinctly overshadowed by the burning of Eastern Market.

It's to work with me! Check out the site, subscribe to root source (mint will be out later today) and let me know what you think.

Song of the Day - Lura

2007-04-24T13:44:00.000-04:00

Check out today's Song of the Day

Lura - Bida Mariadu

All the world's a stage

2007-04-24T13:32:00.000-04:00

This post from Inside Higher Education shows how the backlash from tragic current events can be taken in wierd directions - namely, banning the use of stage weaponry (swords and the like) from a theater production at Yale.

The article itself shows some of the incredulity inherent in this kind of decision - how does one make the leap from a mass shooting at Virginia Tech to the parrying of words and daggers in a theater? - but what I actually like best is the comments section.

Firstly, Thus:

Does the Dean know Yale has a fencing team?

The wonders of a literate audience:

“Et tu Eli”
He was stabbed on the steps of the Forum
Even though there
wasn’t a quorum;
But to stage it at Yale
Will land you in jail.
“Et tu
Eli!” ... you’ll bore-em.

and to sum it up nicely:

“Holdren said her main concern wasn’t the limitation on her production
but the limitation on artistic expression.”
Not to mention the limitation on freaking common sense.

Kurt Vonnegut

2007-04-17T15:48:00.000-04:00

In tribute - a favorite comic by Jorge Cham of PhD (Piled Higher and Deeper)

Sit Up Straight

wierd....

2007-04-16T15:50:00.000-04:00

College Sponsored Book Burning - What a great PR venture!

Ozomatli - Don't Mess with the Dragon

2007-04-10T22:55:00.000-04:00

This was my latest for Blogcritics: check it out here

It was a hard one to write - I didn't want to be negative, but nor did I want to censor my initial reaction, which was one of grave disappointment. The album grew on me during the week, though - I was glad I had time to listen to it a handful of times before making up my mind.

Josh Bell - Ignored

2007-04-10T14:16:00.000-04:00

If you haven't run across this fantastic mix of classical music and expose yet, check it out:

Pearls Before Breakfast - Gene Wiengarten

Though I appreciate the standard - oh my god how can we be so ignorant as to ignore Josh Bell playing Bach in a subway station, I can't say I was overly surprised. Not just with classical music, where I am well familiar with the sensation of being ignored, but with the beauty of life in general. We run in such a closeted cyclic way most times, totally internally focused, that it's natural that we'd miss most of what goes on around us.

I have encountered this recently myself - I promised that I wouldn't become one of those pod people who can't walk a block without plugging in - but somehow it's happened, and I'm trying desperatley to cut back. I spend little time alone with my thoughts anymore - oftentimes on purpose - but it is a much needed and much missed part of my routine. I need to dwell, not drown out, and I doubt I'm the only one.

You never know what you might be missing.

Lily on Latino USA

2007-04-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

There is a wonderful essay by the incomparable Lily Percy on this week's Latino USA.

Home Churches

A beautifully done and moving piece. Check it out! (and if you want to hear more from Lily, head over to Pictures & Frames, her great web zine)

MMMMMMBox

2007-03-29T11:53:00.000-04:00

This story on yesterday's All Things Considered really encapsulates the possibilities with the great home-studio software out there.

A Home Recorder's Dream: Playing with Pros Online

It strikes me as a fairly equivalent situation to some of my blogger vs. professional critic ponderings. The possibilites of digital media allow for amateur writers or performers get their stuff out there, but with a form that blurs the obvious lines between those with "capital" and those without. And as for the fears that this will somehow devalue the professional - because of the digital media, it is only the quality of the content that really distinguishes one blog from the other, and becomes the standard of achievement. So too, with home-recorded music. No matter how good your Powerbook is, there is only so much that one can do with pitch manipulation and online session players to make a crappy song a great one.

Quality being the final arbiter of worth - with a little help from a good amplification system.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

2007-03-27T08:09:00.000-04:00

My current "independent-contractor" life has spoiled me for the grind - I've come to believe that getting up at 6 AM is practically a felony against the world (especially given my mood at this hour) and I have joined the ranks of hundreds sitting at a desk, looking blearily at a computer screen.

Advantage being, since there isn't anyone actually IN the school where I'm working this week (the little hellions are on spring break, and noone who doesn't have to comes in this early) I can spend these sandpaper-eye filled hours scanning the internet for interesting tidbits.

The one that caught my eye this fine morn? Sleep, of course. A well researched, terribly interesting article by Amanda Schaffer in Slate - "Why Do We Sleep?". There are lots of tidbits, but my favorite is one I've actually heard before but never had attributed - that sleeping is what allows us to remember:

"[Robert Stickgold, a cognitive neuroscientist at Harvard] is one of the foremost sleep researchers in the country and has long argued that sleep's crucial function is to boost memory and learning. His theory is that during sleep, the brain evaluates recently learned information and decides what to do with it. In the process, memory consolidation takes place—memories or skills that were acquired during waking are stabilized or enhanced, or perhaps moved to new locations. The brain may also extract patterns and rules from large amounts of information."

This makes sense to me - sleep gives us time to sort out the things that we can't deal with during the day, when the multiplicity of information feeds are all clamoring for our attention. How often have I been struggling with a piece of writing, and then after giving up and going to bed, leapt up an hour later to see the solution clear as day?

Just goes to show - getting up early (after going to bed late, anyway) is a crime not only against ourselves, but society. How much more productive would we be as a civilization if we were all getting 10 hours a night? I think a political campaign is in order...perhaps Obama or Hillary can rise to be not only the sane candidate, but the well-rested one as well.

YouTube

2007-03-24T12:57:00.000-04:00

I have become incredibly wary of these links: "(insertnamehere) has sent you a YouTube video!" ususally followed by personal messages that read something like: OMG this is totally the funniest thing EVER. I laughed until I almost wet myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then a link to something that's about a little dog jumping off of a chair, or a poorly done music video, or someone farting to the star spangled banner. I become disilusioned with the prospect of hilarity on the web. But then, every once in a while, something wonderful emerges.

Classical music folks - unite in our hatred of he most overplayed song in the entire world. This man is our leader.

Oreskaband - Ore

2007-03-24T10:15:00.000-04:00

My review from Blogcritics

Music Review: Oreskaband - Ore

Written by Claire Marie Blaustein
Published March 23, 2007

Ebullient is the word that comes to mind when listening to this sextet of high-school girls – the poppiness of a girl band mixed with the happy celebratory nature of ska. Oreskaband got together back in 2003 as middle school classmates who wanted to start a band. They played around their hometown of Osaka for a couple of years and after an appearance at Fujirock – one of the biggest rock festivals in the world – they’re heading this way.

With the proliferation of teens getting together to lip-sync and gyrate in front of bright lights, it’s exciting to hear a group of girls who put themselves forward not just as pop stars but as instrumentalists – and decent ones at that. The horn section is really tight (Leader, Saki and Moriko), the wailing guitar and bass players are also the equally rockin’ vocalists (Ikasu and Tomi) and there is no half-assed tapping on that drum set (Tae-san).

The disc I got was billed as a demo, but is the same as their March 2006 EP release Ore. A six track disc, with track one being a one minute screaming intro, it encompasses about as wide of a musical spectrum as ska is going to. “Knife and Fork” is more instrumental, a great showcase for the horn section, and with a switch of texture - a sweeter line and slower groove. The last track “The Boy – S” just tears a new hole in the whole thing – frenzied bouncy rebounding from word to word and lick to lick.

As of this month, their single “Pinnochio” is available for download on iTunes. It was a good choice for release – the vocals are interlaced with punchy hits from the band, and it really shows off the breadth of talent in the group. And it’s amazing how the littlest details can get you – the end is punctuated by a set of soaring “la la las” that are at once wickedly wonderful, and a little hilarious, coming out more like a cheerleader’s “ra ra ra”

They appeared first in the states just a few weeks ago at SXSW (South By Southwest – a music festival in Texas, for those of you who are sick of puzzling over what in the hell ssschxssswaaa is) and moved on to tour dates in the LA and San Francisco area. No clear dates on a full release yet, but I’m hoping that it’ll have a bit more of a dynamic audio mix on the next release to bring out the richness in the many layers of sound these girls are constructing. They may not have taken your local scene by storm yet, but hopefully these girls will be around more often. They’re tons of fun.

You can hear streaming samples for yourself on their Myspace. Visit their Oreskaband - Sony Homepage for news and information.

Cookthink in the Washington Post!

2007-03-07T10:57:00.000-05:00

We're moving into print media now - these days, I don't know if that's an upwards, downwards or lateral shift, but it's pretty cool.

Go check it out - Dinner in 30 Minutes: Seared and Roasted Turkey Burgers

You would have thought it'd be cellists...

2007-03-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is almost too good a headline to be true:

The shocking truth about sex and violas

Lots of interesting tidbits about what violists are, apparently, good for.

But the author glosses over what could actually be an interesting point. Femke Colborne, editor of Muso Magazine (of hottest classical musicians list fame) said the following:

"This industry [sic] could gain a lot from lightening up a bit. Musicians are forever complaining about the lack of prominent classical coverage in the national papers; but by adopting these kinds of attitudes they are probably deterring the media, who are understandably reluctant to publish content that is stuffy, elitist and, well, boring to everyone who is not part of that 'serious' circle."

There is a huge problem about the image of classical music that prevents it from going mainstream, much of which is self-perpetuating, a sense of entitlement and elitism that comes from people dedicating their lives to something that the general public couldn't care less about - a sort of "well, I don't like you EITHER" kind of attitude. A little bit of levity and - god forbid - sex could help.

BUT, and this is a big but, I don't know that the kind of gimmicky approaches to fixing this that Muso takes, or the Telegraph author mentions (gag pieces with trombones and kazoos and the like) are really going to get us anywhere. Putting a new cover on a book you don't like doesn't make the content any better. Classical music can be sexy, and rockin', and wonderful, but it has to be appreciated for it's own merits. Sex and scandal might get classical music in the papers, but what does it do for the art form, really? Soon, everyone would be interested in Pavarotis's drinking escapades, and still, the music would go unnoticed.

But for the meantime....hehehehehe. Sex and violas.

puzzled, yet intrigued

2007-02-23T16:38:00.000-05:00

Leave it to the Guardian to put my lack of literacy into stark relief - this interesting blog post puts forward a good concept - why do we equate the creation of "good" works of art with "good artists?", that the people themselves must also be virtuous? It has certainly not proven to be the case, try as we might to construct heroic mythology around classical composers of all varieties. Mozart was a philanderer, Beethoven had a nasty temper, Bach...well, he may have been saintly or not, hard to tell. At the same time, maybe we like a little bit of grime on our oh-so-shiny producers of cultural products - makes them a bit more human, more real, for all their divine talents.

The sadder part for me was that the post presented a solid handful of authors I didn't know. Off to the library with me.

Monkey Majik on NPR

2007-02-09T09:39:00.001-05:00

Fusing Languages, Countries and Sounds

NPR.org, February 8, 2007 · The Japanese pop group Monkey Majik stands out in a crowd of its peers, and not just for its clever songwriting, its fusion of pop and hip-hop, and its rapid rise to overseas popularity in the wake of a few highly lauded independent releases. The band is also led by white Canadian brothers Blaise and Maynard Plant, who went to Japan to teach English and ended up sticking around, writing songs and performing with drummer Takuya Kikuchi and bassist Hideki.

Thank You" expresses gratitude for family and friends far away — an understandable sentiment for two people so far from their home. It's listenable and engaging, and while the "hybrid" label that Monkey Majik carries around doesn't necessarily extend far beyond its demographics, that does bring to mind its songs' most striking element: their fusing of languages.

Listening to the Plants in interviews, it's clear that these guys fluently and fluidly flow from one tongue to the other, with no reason to allow for breaks or barriers. The song's celebration of Japan — "I love it so much, I don't think I could ever leave / I've made it my own and, yeah, it's home" — makes it clear that they're not mixing languages simply for shtick, but instead making the effort to be a part of everything. The result is a true hybrid whole: a new species, with equal balances of cultural genetics, all tied up with a catchy tune and sweet sentiments. "Thank You" represents who they are and where they are, and not just what they're saying.

Go here to see article and listen to track

Mira Mira - Midnight for You

2007-02-07T11:29:00.000-05:00

The package that contained a press kit and this album by Chicago-based Mira Mira also included a note from songwriter and pianist Charlie Williams. It said, among other things – "I'm excited to share this album with you – it's best heard, I think, on the 5th listen." It could have been playful hyperbole… but I was intrigued. So I took it to heart and listened to the whole album the prescribed five times.

On first listen, it's an odd conglomeration of songs. Perky exultations to Atlas merge into meandering instrumental movements. A line or two erupts with expletive force from the webs of sounds and sound sources – echoed piano lines, vaguely organic computerized strains, and the untrained but heartfelt vocals of Williams and others. It seemed somewhat simplistic at times, others, bemusedly complicated.

But with each pass through, the classical training that Williams enjoyed… or endured… comes through in the sense of layering and textures that permeate the album. It's an orchestral dynamic, parts overlapping and intertwining, creating their own map of sound. The topography of the album becomes more evident with each listen – peaks and valleys of text, texture, emotion, empathy.

The title track, "Midnight for You" draws us into the valleys – a simple premise of love lost and gone far away, and a dynamically repetitive piano line. The layers of sound are painted watercolor style, each translucent to those underneath, giving way to a new shade, fading to a radio buzz of static remaining in the wash at the end. The instrumental "Nikita's Ghost" is creepily wonderful, strumming guitars moving with something like sirens, and voices appearing and disappearing in the murk.

There is catharsis in the listening. Each time draws you further into Mira Mira's emotive process, hearts like blood-red stains on the sleeve, and makes their ability to take pain and pleasure and make music of it your own as well. You say goodbye to the good, the bad, and the just gone, and feel it all just fade away with a final buzz into sonic darkness.

To hear more from Mira Mira, try their website or you can buy the album from CD Baby.

And see their mention in the Chicago Sun Times!

This review is also available at Blogcritics.org

Fanfiction

2007-02-05T15:26:00.000-05:00

An interesting piece from Reason Magazines on one of my favorite guilty pleasures:

The Fan Fiction Phenomena

2007-01-31T15:39:00.000-05:00

when it rains, it pours, I guess - third post today. Or maybe the world is particularly brilliant this afternoon:

But this...this, I can't even comment. Just go read. And then you comment, as is the way of this inter-web thing we love:

The readers strike back

Do your homework

2007-01-31T15:17:00.000-05:00

This article in the Guardian: Book now to enjoy later addresses a problem in all of what we consider to be the "high" arts - how much study and foreknowledge should we expect an audience to have coming in? If you can only appreciate a play with an encyclopedic knowledge of Russian thinkers, or a piece of music with complete comprehension of set theory and atonality, is it just that the audience is too dumb, or is the piece poorly written?

With all the talk of art being a "universal" language, it seems that the answer would automatically be that anyone should be able to comprehend it, at least on some level. I have no problem with making people think, but creating a work of art that is totally inaccessible to 99% of the population seems to be beside the point - it's about the communication of an idea, however abstract. You'll never get EVERYONE, but trying to get more than just the people who have a PhD in your particular brand of geekish knowledge can only spread a good idea further.

Then again, maybe we don't WANT to get what they're saying...

working with kids

2007-01-31T11:30:00.000-05:00

The more that I work with little kids, the more I realize that there are fewer differencesdealing with children and adults than we ususally like to think. A This bunch of Kindergardeners that I've been teaching this week has it's problems, sure - speaking out of turn, not lsitening or following directions, and trying anything and everything to get out of class and go to the nurse for that magical cure-all - a bag of ice and a sticker. But how different is that really from adults? We don't listen to each other, we are resitant to being directed, and our cure-alls often involve ice as well...and sometimes stickers.

It's not quite a "everything I needed to know I learned in Kindergarden" setup, but as much as we overestimate the maturity of most "adults", we underestimate how much children can understand and accept a premise when presented to them.

NOTE: This post got cut off mid thought as the little crea....angels got back from gym. Back into the battle I went, dodging pencils and and crayons as I crawled through the fray. Yes, I was left alone in the classroom...and I have never been so tired. Our educators deserve medals of valor, on top of the raises and everything else they can possibly get for the work they do. That's my two cents on the matter.

I need a nap.

aaand....we're back

2007-01-23T17:46:00.000-05:00

So after a hiatus, I return to the world of the blog. PT has moved to Minnesota, and lives fairly happily on it's new website.

I've started a new job, writing for the soon to be Cookthink.com. So far the blog and email newsletter are up and running, and in the next few months, a cooking website with real functioning recipes and awesome how-to's will enter the scene. Stay tuned for more on that.

sadly, I have no profound statements to make here right now, musical or otherwise. My brain is still on defragment mode (as is my computer, in fact) as I reset from the stress and flurry of activity that has been my life over the last few months. When it finishes, and all the pretty blue and red bars are in order, hopefully real thoughts will start to resurface.

Badi Assad - Song of the Day

2007-01-09T11:57:00.000-05:00

"1,000 Mirrors" by Badi Assad, from her new disc Wonderland is today's NPR Song of the Day

Synchronicity

2007-01-08T16:36:00.000-05:00

A strange thing:

Cell phones on public transit can be a touchy subject. On one hand, it totally makes sense for people to use them, as that's kind of what they're for - to keep in touch while in transit. However, since no one can escape you if they DON'T want to hear your call, it's a little strange too...second-hand conversation.

Today in riding the bus, I was flanked by two men on cell phones. One was speaking in English, the other in a language I couldn't identify. For almost the entirety of my 15 minute ride, they spoke in almost complete synchronicity - every pause, every "uh-huh" and "OK"....long waits for responses on the other end, then off to the races again with a long stream of jabbering. They could have been speaking to the same person, in translation...it was like some kind of bizarre stereo. And it was so skillfully done, that I'm still not entirely sure which was the straight man in the gag.

By the end, almost every rider was looking at them in consternation, with the rest of us trying desperately not to laugh.

Chance, candid camera, or social commentary? It's hard to know for sure.

20th Anniversary of Performance Today

2007-01-05T18:02:00.000-05:00

I've been working for NPR's classical music program, Performance Today. It's a fantastic show, with live performances of classical, and sort of classical music from around the world, and interviews and features on artists and ideas. We celebrated our 20th anniversary of the program this morning, and it was really something to hear.

The show will be ending it's stint at NPR and moving to American Public Media next week, so this was a particularly poignant moment for all of us. in a rare turn of events, the show is available on the NPR website, along with pictures and all sorts of wonderful things. Hope you'll take a moment to listen.

Performance Today's 20th Anniversary

Finnish

2006-12-20T16:10:00.000-05:00

The cool thing about DC is that there are so many people here to help with the most random of questions. For example, how would one pronounce the word Töölö? My instinct would be to start Internet combing in vain. The DC solution? Call the embassy.

In talking to a very nice secretary from the ambassador's office, I discovered that the word is pronounced, as best I can translate , with a very quiet emphasis on the "u"s...so more like TR-lu. Hmm. Cool.

Some fun Finnish facts - the first syllable gets most of the emphasis, and many of the doubled consonants imply accent, rather than reiteration.

Listen for our best efforts on tomorrow's Performance Today.

Oh, those silly opera singers

2006-12-18T10:49:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard the greatest story of vocal tantrum EVER, reference this article by Norman Lebrect from Scena Musicale: Stop the Opera, I want to Get Off

It's a funny thing - European audiences have far fewer barriers to expressing their distaste openly. While we stand at ovation for mediocre performances, they heartily boo at vaguely mechanical ones. And some people get pissy - like Roberto Alagn when he left the stage at La Scala after being booed. The poor understudy who was pacing backstage got thrown on in jeans and street clothes to finish the scene - and it's certainly the musical feel good story. But I was pleased to see the New York Times feature on Antonello Palombi, the man in jeans, which doesn't overplay any heroism in his last minute dash to a La Scala premiere. It was a surprisingly honest account of the raw terror that came with that moment. I feel bad for the guy, too - he got pushed off the musical cliff, had a fantastic moment on stage, and didn't really have the chance to enjoy it. But, what's done is done, and maybe we'll hear more from him in the future.

365 days

2006-12-15T15:12:00.000-05:00

While browsing some really interesting sequential photographs at the National Portrait Gallery last night, a friend of mine turned me on to this : The 365 day project on Flikr . A self portrait a day, every day. Kind of like visual blogging, I guess, or a diary of sorts. Fascinating, both in watching the way that the subjects who are already posting change over time, and also for the possibilities of changing how I look at myself. I'm contemplating participation, but I don't want it to be a snap decision. I feel like it could be really enlightening, but I would want to really commit...

Flipping through all of these photographs, I'm reminded of another conversation I had with him - that photography was a kind of artistic democratization...a technology allowing visual expression without significant barriers on technical facility. Used to be to create a realistic image, one needed training and artistic skill to create an oil painting, or drawing, or whatever - but photography changed that. We are more capable of documenting a beautiful moment, capturing that image, and making a piece of art.

I dunno if that changes anything, or even if it's true, but it was a thought....

Damn me for my giggles

2006-12-14T09:55:00.000-05:00

If the folks over at Dial M for Musicology are going to hell for laughing at this, I'll be right there beside them:

Voicemail Message from young Singer

It's really horrible, I know - but it's hard to resist the giggles. Music is a cold cruel world in many ways, and there is a certain in-club understanding held by those who truly interact with it's principles. But it seems so mystical and foreign to those outside...I don't know when you get to learn the secret handshakes, exactly, but it definitely happens at some point, and you're either in, or you're out.

Or maybe I'm out and I don't really know it? Being in the almost-but-not-quite-professional musical world is an odd limbo. Maybe it's more of a purgatory to the hell of professionalism...or heaven. Depends on how you look at it.

Teitur

2006-12-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

Review up on Blogcritics.org:

Music Review: Teitur - Stay Under the Stars

Written by Claire Marie Blaustein
Published December 12, 2006

I first saw Teitur (pronounced tie-tor), when he was touring with the Young Troubadours in 2004. I was struck with his soulful, puppy-dog eyed songs, describing perfect, fleeting moments with what I’m sure was an appropriately pretty, waif-like and hipster girl of his fancy.

Stay Under the Stars is pretty much more of the same – actually, a little too much of the same. I found myself drifting into personal fantasies of sleepy Sunday mornings, and the homogeneity of sound wouldn’t startle me out of it for three or four tracks in a row.

It’s incredibly sweet and poetic songwriting, and my fantasies were far more colorful for it. Teitur can always be relied upon to bring up these wonderful heartrending images, but one doesn’t turn to him, say, for an upbeat dance tune. It’s simply not what the windswept Faroe Islands native does.

But he does toss in a few to draw me from my comfortable lethargy – particularly a awesome and slightly bizarre cover of “Great Balls of Fire” which adds slightly seasick string arpeggios, rather than the burning sexuality of Jerry Lee Lewis. Then there’s “I run the Carousel” which is positively headbanging in it’s gritty guitarness, after the restfulness of the other songs. Then the moment passes, and I can return to my daydreaming. After all, according to the title track, he doesn’t want me to wake up, either.

2006-12-10T21:41:00.000-05:00

Went to see the 18th St Singers in the National Gallery Rotunda today. It's a beautiful vaulted space, marble everywhere, decorated all out for christmas. And hearing a group of people singing christmas carols with the sound bouncing from column and column, with the audience sining along...a really blissful moment for me.

Cover Madness

2006-11-28T11:20:00.000-05:00

Two in one day - and my moments of Zen multiply.

First, from a CD I'm working to review for Exclaim! , a band called Badi Assad covered Annie Lennox's "Sweet Dreams" - the sound is ever the more etheral rather tahn sticky poppy when put to a wonderful Brazilian guitar and percussion, with a fantastic vocalist.

Then, a package from my most beloved J-pop pimps, Rachel and Keiko - the newest single from Bennie K. The single is cool, but even better is track 2 - a cover of the Stones' "Satisfaction". Give it a try.

The endless search

2006-11-22T16:55:00.000-05:00

An article in the New York Times drew me to look at the personals section in the London Review of Books.

I had heard of these before, but never looked myself - and my incessant giggling was enough to earn me several odd looks from the co-workers who can hear me beyond the flimsy walls of my cubicle cave.

My personal favorite:

A friend once bought me a pair of novelty underpants that had a caption on the front reading "In case of fire break glass". I didn't understand what it meant until they did actually catch fire in the tumble dryer because they were acrylic and I had the setting on too high. The door melted shut and sure enough I had to break the glass to put the fire out. Replacement dryers are very expensive. As such I would like to meet a nice woman who won't set fire to my underpants. Stupid, stupid man, 51. Box no. 2206

2006-11-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

Hilarity Can ensure...but with a grain of truth.

Dial M for Musicology

2006-11-14T12:47:00.000-05:00

This is a blog I'm trying to be better about following, and a post of particular note

http://musicology.typepad.com/dialm/2006/11/queen_of_the_ni.html

Dial M for Musicology always has interesting things to say, and with the bevy of young performers tromping through Performance Today on a regular basis, this question comes up. The boy singing the Queen of the Night aria is a particular case (anyone else think he looks like someone from the little rascals) but how do you balance extraordinary talent with natural personal growth?

They didn't answer, and neither can I. But I do generally think that there are some kids who can handle it, by some miracle far greater than their musical gifts, and others that simply can't. Only time can possibly tell which it will be.

At least someones saying SOMETHING....

2006-11-13T16:51:00.000-05:00

To the NEA, NPR is making a Classical Mistake

Sangam

2006-11-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

There are certain musical moments that you witness, participate in, are connected to that just send you to the floor. This was one of those.

Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain, and Eric Harland came together to play at the Library of Congress on Tuesday, as Sangam - a tamil word meaning togetherness. Two established ledgends and one guy who can't help but become one, it was a spectacle, an event in the grandest sense.

The whole thing flowed organically, one tune to the next - obviously picking out songs would be impossible without a set list. But the forces grew and shrank, from solos, to duets, to trios and what felt like more as the set switched out for keys, and the tabla doubled as both percussion, melodic line, and the dead ringer sound for an upright bass.

These guys are impossible to take your eyes off of - Hussain must have a few extra fingers squirreled away, because everything you saw a flick of one finger, eight notes would emit from the drums. Harland too - moving as fast as he could to keep up in trading fours across the stage to the tabla, but making the whole thing a cacophony of sound with a flick of a stick.

And Lloyd - the granddaddy, the grandmaster, the grand wizard of the occasion. His playing is impressive, but more so the feeling that he sits at the nexus of this little musical universe of his own design, twitching a finger or a elbow or a knee to push the whole thing swinging in a new direction. His lanky awkwardness folds in on it self and expands back outwards again, bringing the music forth with sheer physical will.

It was a remarkable event...one that I'll remeber for a long long time.

MA Thesis Questionnaire

2006-11-10T04:34:00.000-05:00

My thesis seeks to examine some of the major issues surrounding the building
and maintaining of online musical communities. Through observation and
participation in blog culture, online music forums, and filesharing
communities, I will be discussing aspects of online music promotion and
consumption from both artist- and audience-centred perspectives. As this
project is concerned with aspects of community and communication in online
environments, I feel it is absolutely necessary to ground these phenomena in
real practice. To this end, the inclusion of commentary by those who make
up Internet communities provides for interesting points of departure for
further investigation.

I am very intrigued to hear what individuals have to say about their
experiences with music online. I hope that the questionnaire is as fun for
you to fill out as I know it will be for me to read!

You can read more about the project at
http://www.paulaitken.com/academia_thesis.html

If you are interested in participating please read the attached Letter of
Information/Consent and questionnaire or read it and participate online at
http://www.paulaitken.com/thesis_consent.html

Anonymity for all participants is the default position for this project.
Should you wish to have your name revealed in the thesis please indicate so
on the questionnaire.

If you wish more information please contact me at thesis@paulaitken.com

MA Thesis Survey

2006-11-07T14:57:00.000-05:00

A request:

My friend Paul Aitken is completing his MA, and working on a thesis discussing online musical communities (like this one, and many more). He's conducting research by asking people to fill out a survey on their habits and thoughts about the subject.

It's an interesting process, and he's doing some fascinating work. I'd encourage everyone to take a look and fill it out, and forward it on as you will. It's an almost totally unexplored topic, and the more real life responses he gets, the clearer the picture will be to all of those old fogey academics who still think that life on the Internet is virtual. Pah.

The Survey

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Selections from his introductory note:

My thesis seeks to examine some of the major issues surrounding the building
and maintaining of online musical communities. Through observation and
participation in blog culture, online music forums, and filesharing
communities, I will be discussing aspects of online music promotion and
consumption from both artist- and audience-centred perspectives. As this
project is concerned with aspects of community and communication in online
environments, I feel it is absolutely necessary to ground these phenomena in
real practice. To this end, the inclusion of commentary by those who make
up Internet communities provides for interesting points of departure for
further investigation.

I am very intrigued to hear what individuals have to say about their
experiences with music online. I hope that the questionnaire is as fun for
you to fill out as I know it will be for me to read!

If you wish more information please contact me at thesis@paulaitken.com

Wuv....twue wuv

2006-11-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

I had the most amazing gig last night. I responded to an ad on craigs list, looking for a violinist to play as a guy proposed to his girlfriend. The romantic in me cheered as I replied, and we started to set up the details. It would be around 930 at the FDR memorial. He was coming down from new york to pop the question, and would be wearing a pinstripe suit and red tie. And if I could, I should play "Till There Was You."

After many many back and forth phone calls and text messages on friday setting up the exact location, I got there a bit early - my wonderful roomate agreed to both come with me AND drive, which was absolutely terrific, especially considering how freezing it was.

I set up between two benches, in a little park area, and started to play. After a few minutes (which felt like forever cause it was so damn cold), they came around a corner...past a waterfall that had been blocking out all the sound of my playing. I could see them, but not hear as he stopped, got down on bended knee and pulled out the little box.

I almost lost it...and I was smiling so hard it was difficult to play.

She accepted and cried a bunch, and after a few minutes I stopped and they came over to introduce themselves. Apparently that was THEIR song, and they had been singing it together by the waterfall. THey had turned the corner, and I was playing the same tume, much to her surprise. There was some more crying. Then her parents walked up. She told her mom she was engaged, and I don't think that her mom was listening carefully..she sort of brushed it off, thinking she was kidding. A few more iterations of "mom, did you hear me? Jeremiah just proposed!" and she got it, and started to cry too. There was much more hugging, congratulations all around. IN the midst of all this, I packed up, stuffed my slyly handed envelope into my back pocket and left quietly into the dark.

I felt a little wierd being witness to such a personal moment, but it was me and a few tour groups, and I was SUPPOSED to be there, so I guess it wasn't bad. And they were so sweet, wanting to take a picture of me before I took one of all of them.

Sigh. It was a wonderful thing, but leaves me both elated and melancholy. Perhaps I'll drown my inadequacies in new shoes.

Ome more note. There is something very disturbing about getting an envelope filled with cash from the Watergate Hotel, but eh. It's DC, after all.

NPR's Song of the Day

2006-10-30T15:16:00.000-05:00

Bennie K - "Osaga"

The city that never sleeps...from a girl who sleeps often

2006-10-28T00:50:00.000-04:00

Exhaustion is still the feeling of the day, but I can't help but ruminate on the experience of being here...at least briefly.

Walking across tea Brooklyn Bridge yesterday, down into Manhattan, the mythologies that permeate every aspect of this city suddenly became clear to me. The beauty and deigns of the buildings, the shine of the clouds against the water, the ships moving in and out of their ports. From that perspective, there is no sign of any "natural" beauty, but it is breathtaking, nonetheless. I've always been fond of urban landscapes - there is something about them that appeals far more than most lake-river-tree scenarios - but this was on an entirely new level.

I wish I could post pictures, but that will have to wait until my technological capabilities catch up with me in DC.

I was about to add that it had been 48 hours since I had listened to music - but that's not entirely true. The whole city is filed with it. Two dancers on the subway today were my favorite - a kid, maybe 10, and an older guy. They danced, threw themselves off of the walls, poles and even the ceiling, and the swaying of the train cars never phased them a bit. It was really spectacular - and I was even going to pitch into their hat, but they got off before I had a chance. Maybe I'll run into them again before I leave.

Bad Blogger! Bad, bad blogger!

2006-10-25T19:25:00.000-04:00

So my personal promise to write every day finally fell through, and
possibly on the most incredible day of the whole institute. In my
defense, problems with the Days in network broke the stream, and then
it just slipped away from there...

Anyway, end of excuses. A few highlights from the last few days.

Reich @ 70 at Carnegie hall. There are few words to describe an
experience of this magnitude. Pat Metheny, Kronos Quartet, and the
man himself and his musicians. The sound of electric counterpoint
bouncing back and forth off of the palisades of that magnificent hall,
feeling the reverberations in every seat and seam of the place. The
mechanical grace of Music for 18 Musicians, as each part intertwines
and the musicians relieve each other at their posts. Even more than
the performances, it was a chance to watch other people absorbing this
music. Some grooved in their seat, others sat in rapt attention,
others blissed with their eyes closed. But everyone was there,
experiencing this one moment, together.

Cosi Fan Tutti at the New York City opera was resplendent, Valery
Gergiev and the NY Phil playing Shostakovich triumphant. Concert
moment after concert moment, each more mindblowing than the last.

And now, suddenly, it's all over.

It's too overwhelming to even describe what the whole experience was.
Too many friendships started, contacts made, thought processes begun.
I feel like it will all filter back in over the next few weeks, and
begin to make sense. I feel so fortunate to have had the chance to
meet all of these amazing people, and hear such incredible music.

I entered into the institute with the hope that it would give me some
clarity, some direction. I haven't quite gotten there yet. I don't
know where to go from here. But I have more hope now than I did going
in. Partially because it reinforced for me that there is no set way
to get where I'm going, and I'm not too late, or under accomplished.
Whatever I do next, it will be the next thing, if not the perfect one.
And that's ok.

Out of the dream, and back to the real world.

If any of my fellow institute-ees are reading this - it was an honor,
and a pleasure.

Days...can't keep track.

2006-10-21T01:14:00.000-04:00

So, missed a day in there with giddiness about other good news. But back on track now.

The first writing workshop was Thursday morning. It's interesting - I know that these things are for learning, but given how unhappy I was with my work, it was a terrible place to start from. It's bad enough getting critiqued on things you're proud of, but far worse when you KNOW it sucks, and you have to endure it being picked apart by someone like Justin Davidson of Newsday. At least his other comments were really interesting, and actually practical - not the generalizing "think bigger", but understanding how to avoid repetitious adjectives, when background is necessary, the importance of crafting a lead, things like that.

Concert that night - Apollo's Fire Baroque ensemble. Bach vs. Telemann - a battle to the DEATH. It was actually a neat idea - comparing two composers who have reversed places of importance - back in the 18th century, Telemann was by far the more famous. It was the first really good performance I've seen here.

It actually got me thinking a bit - New York is almost a mythological city, like Atlantis or Olympus. It's the center of our conception of what a city should be, and it's difficult for it to live up to those expectations. I figured that by going to Lincoln Center, I'd be getting the best that music had to offer. Instead, I was disappointed with both concerts in those spaces. I guess the advantage here is the sheer volume makes up for any failures in consistency. The fact that there even WERE 10 concerts for us to go to in 10 days, and handfuls more we could have seen is pretty amazing.

We hit up two more institutions today - Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Penthouse concerts at Lincoln center. BAM has a great name, and a fabulous, funky feeling to it - beautiful theaters, interesting architecture, and a real feeling of creativity that was sometimes lacking in the bigger halls. Sadly, we went there to see Violet Fire, a new multi-media opera about Nikola Tessla.

Now, this might sound like the start to a bad joke, but how do you get 25 music critics to agree on something? Take them all to a new minimalist multimedia opera bout Nikola Tessla. It was totally disappointing, and not for any of the dismissive, all 21st century composition stinks kind of ways. It was confusing, the music was uninspired, the acting only so so, the costuming TERRIBLE (the men and women had these odd bustle things that looked like wire loops with uneven tablecloths draped across, which they kept tripping on). It was the strangest thing, and pretty much a complete wash, except for 5 minutes at the end when the whole ensemble had it's final moments on stage. Most everyone in the audience was sleeping, shifting uncomfortably, or LEAVING, which was difficult since they had to get up in the middle with no intermission. Gah.

But then, wonder of wonders - the Penthouse. A gorgeous space on the top floor of one of the Lincoln Center campus buildings, this glass walled room looks out on all the lights of the city. Patrons sit at tables, are offered wine, and listen to a one hour recital starting at about 1045 pm. It was incredible - Jeremy Denk playing Bach, with the sounds of the city filtering through the glass in such a way that it became part of the music rather than detracting from it. Car horns fit in with slight grace note embellishments, a siren followed a long glissando, and the wind picked up right at the end of a tumultuous movement. It was a magical evening.

Total Hapiness

2006-10-20T01:11:00.000-04:00

My biggest congratulations to Jen and Brad on the occasion of their engagement and the entrance of their first child - a beautiful pug puppy, Sherman.

All my love.

Day 4

2006-10-18T23:28:00.001-04:00

So, having somewhat recovered from my self-indulgent whining of last night, it was another eventful day in New York. Meetings with Professor Michael Beckerman from NYU on how to listen to music (however you want) and with Henry Fogel of the American Symphony orchestra league (by the way - there is no crisis in classical music - just grand difficulties).

In an attempt to not bore you with the many details of the day, two particular statements stick in my mind.

The first was made by my fellow institute-ee Chloe Veltman. In the middle of our discussion of how to listen to music, we came to the inevitable problem of the importance of the score. Now, having been bombarded with arguments about the shifting nature of reality and the temporal nature of music, I am resistant to any authority given to a scrap of paper. Chloe compared a score to a blueprint, and at the time I disagreed. But reflecting further, it's an apt analogy.

A blueprint gives enough direction so that the object you're building won't fall down. But it doesn't tell you what paint to put on the walls, or how to arrange your furniture. It's only the barest of structures - ceiling, walls, floor - that keep everything together. The rest is up to you.

Secondly, as part of an incredible visit to Carnegie Hall, we had the opportunity to meet with Clive Gillinson, the executive director. While his insights on the nature of the hall were interesting, though not as much as the archivist Gino Francesconi who is engaging and brilliant, there was one thing he said that struck home.

He was a cellist before stepping up to manage the London Symphony Orchestra. Someone asked how difficult it was to switch from being a creative artist to being an administrator. He replied that being an orchestral player is less of being an artist, and more of an artisan. The conductor is the one with the vision, with creative control. The players need to be disciplined and follow direction, or they aren't doing their job.

It is so true, and explains some of my own frustration with playing in that situation. I could never see the joy in it other than the sheer power of a ensemble of that size. I was one of many, I followed direction, but couldn't take any inititive, never was heard in either sound or voice. I was creating music, but not being creative. It's an incredibly important job, and one that suits some temperaments, but it cannot be compared to the role of a individual artist.

A final word on Carnegie hall. I'd never been there before, and had a vague idea of what the place looked like from pictures and movies. But that can't capture the feeling of walking into that majestic space and feeling the sound of a rehearsing orchestra fill the hall. It is beautiful in it's simplicity, brilliant in it's design, and just a holy place of music. We head there for Steve Reich's 70th birthday party concert satuday, and I am tingly with anticipation.

Song of the Day

2006-10-18T23:25:00.000-04:00

Amos Lee - Night Train

Day 3

2006-10-18T00:45:00.000-04:00

Although the most truly fascinating part of the day was a visit from Terry Teachout of About Last Night, I currently am thwacking my head against the wall in a desperate attempt to finish an overnight review of the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, so my extolation of the virtues of this particular medium will have to wait until I've made a stab at a different one.

Print. Ugh.

I used to do these kinds of reviews, but somehow the catch of the whole thing escapes me. Perhaps exhaustion has dulled my senses, perhaps I've lost my touch, perhaps I was never really very good to begin with. All possible. But none the less, I have to produce a review and then show it not only to my peers but workshop it with professionals.

It's not that I intend to wow anyone, or anything, but my goal for this institute was to NOT embarrass myself, and I feel like a half-assed review would be the way to do that. I want to be criticized for my best work, not my worst, and I can't even begin to sort this one out.

It was a fine concert - Gil Shaham soloist, playing Mozart and Stravinsky concertos. They were flanked by Stravinsky's Dunbarton Oaks, and Mozart's Linz symphony. It's interesting works, but the little things all got to me - balance issues, staging issues, little things that took over so now I cannot see the big picture of the concert at all.

It's these instances when I doubt my interest in this profession - I'm exhausted, it's 1 am, and I really want to just sleep. But my brain keeps trying to write this damn thing, and I know it must be done.

Back to it, and hopefully the results soon.

Day 2

2006-10-16T22:24:00.000-04:00

Some REALLY fascinating discussions today, meetings with Steve Smith of Time Out, Justin Davidson of Newsday, and then later with John Rockwell, New York Times, and Alexandra Peers of the Wall Street Journal.

We were supposed to be on about challenges of covering classical music in the newsroom for the first one, but having never been in a newsroom except on a tour, I didn't have much to contribute. My interest lay more in Smith's blog - Night After Night.

A veteran writer for Time Out, the blog is a new project for him. As a weekly mag writer, it gives him an opportunity to do overnight reviews of concerts. It actually really feeds into a lot of my own issues of authority and opportunities in blogging, since it opens up a new forum for communication otherwise unavailable, AND he has had a personal sense of decorum about WHAT is appropriate on the blog. For instance, he refrains from reviewing a concert that a NYT colleague is reviewing until after the print review is out.

This raises an interesting question - how much self-editing is necessary? Is there an etiquette that crosses publication lines? AND, bigger yet...does the blog have enough authority to really challenge anything a Times critic would write...or does it just have the advantage of speed?

Then lunch with two editors. Actually the same themes that popped up throughout my thesis, and my degree came up all over again - authority, autonomy, OBJECTIVITY (which got a snort of derision from Joe Horowitz, as well as a promise that the issue would arise more later), and the role of critic as educator. That one caught me, because we all seemed to be in agreement about the fact that the critic IS an educational influence, an explanatory figure, etc. But there was a variety of opinion on how far this could go, the terminology used (dumbing down somehow being turned around and NOT used pejoratively...I still can't figure that one out), and why we should be the ones to do this.

But we all seemed to agree that this was a partial role for any critic. But my question becomes - if we all agree, who DOESN'T agree? Where does the fear of being expert come from? It seems a particularly American affect, to want those explaining things to be Just folks, plain spoken (to quote West Wing). But we're not just folks. We're good writers, and we're knowledgeable. Why do we fear taking on that role? How did being an educator and preaching to the unwashed masses become totally equated?

Every answer raises more questions, but it's fascinating being in a large group of people who have the same questions as I do. And maybe different answers.

Day 1 (upon reflection)

2006-10-16T08:01:00.000-04:00

There was a moment when I considered going back and editing my entry from last night - but that would be against the spirit of the blog, I think, and cause for a completely tangential debate. So it stays as is, rambling, impressionistic, and I can only hope VAGUELY comprehensible, and I add this.

One of the themes brought up throughout our introductory remarks was the idea of the isolation of the arts writer. Within the newsroom, there might be only one. Or, all stringers, so no community workspace at all. I even went and got a degree in this, and I still have the sensation that my colleagues might not even be out there at all.

But lo! I was at dinner last night with an entire group of people who FELT my consternation and dismay at someone who would include bar numbers in a concert review. People who had opinions on the role of the media in a musical community, who enjoyed talking about it, and who were admitted musical snobs about one thing or another. I found myself constantly startled, when I would make statements that normally elicit no response, or puzzled looks, now were starters for entire conversations.

This bodes quite well.

Day 1

2006-10-15T22:02:00.000-04:00

The words...I'm in New York...have a particular ring to them. I try and pretend that I'm an urbanite - a jaded east-coaster. A city's a city, and it's all the same to me. But then you get into Penn Station and without even SEEING the city, you know you're here. It's New York City. And suddenly the stakes are that much higher.

Firsts of today - first trip to NYC by myself. First time on the subway. First hotel check-in alone. First Broadway street fair. First visit to Columbia university. First meeting with all my fellow institute-mates. First impressions, first conversations, first first first.

Makes sense for day 1.

An early train arrival took me to Penn Station at 12...then for a subway ride. It seems trite, but there is something totally different about the New York Subway. It' s constant night, inside, with lights flickering in the distance beyond the shaded windows. Although part of me knows that they are from development or construction, it still looks like pinpricks in the distance. Then a saxaphonist boards the train, and plays my way uptown.

How can this not be the center of the music universe? Within moments my ears are bombarded with sound - three performers in the subway, then more at the Fall Festival on Broadway near 96th St.

My ears are ringing and in the best way possible. My head is spinning and it's not just from the wine. Everything is here, is happening, is on, and I can't believe I'm even along for the ride.

I'm counting on the fact that no-one has the link to my blog just yet, but I suppose the possibility is present that someone I've met today will come back and read this, time-capsule style. So, hello from future to past. It was an honor, a pleasure, and a propelled.

And it's still just day 1.

Coherency is out the window, and exhaustion is creeping in. I'm preparing myself for the onslaught, and ready for what comes next. I hope.

see what happens when musicians get their hands on a pair of rollerskates?

2006-10-12T11:04:00.000-04:00

It can get pretty scary...and hilarious!

2006-10-09T12:49:00.000-04:00

In just 7 short days, I will be departing for the NEA/Columbia School of Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera in New York City.

yikes.

This is an institute that encourages writers from smaller markets to learn and hone their skills in writing about classical music. They're sending us to concerts all over the city, and getting to meet and do workshops with major people in the business, along with classes and lectures about the history of the music and the institutions.

I'll be there with writers and editors from all over the country, most, I'm sure, with considerably more experience than I have. I hope I can just sit back and soak it all in, not embarrass myself, and come back with some great stories to tell.

Actually, given the medium I'm working in now, I'm really hoping to be blogging during the whole thing, provided that I'm not so utterly exhausted as to be unable to lift my fingers to the keyboard. We shall see.

Amos Lee - Supply and Demand

2006-10-03T09:12:00.000-04:00

New post on Blogcritics.org - Supply and Demand

NPR's Song of the Day

2006-09-29T11:23:00.000-04:00

My first Song of the Day!

Feeling the Blues of the World

'Cigil' by Nuru Kane

Nuru Kane creates a musical journey that covers centuries, continents and many ways of thinking.

Friday's Pick

Song: "Cigil"
Artist: Nuru Kane
CD: Sigil
Genre: World

NPR.org, September 29, 2006 · Nuru Kane knows his way around the blues -- the deep, rich melancholy that extends beyond the emotional to become almost physical. But it manifests not in familiar stories of loss of home, lover and/or dog, but in the sound of blues farther from these shores. Kane arrives at his blues by way of Malian traditions, and blends it with his roots in Senegal, the traditions of the Gnawa people and his life in France to create the album Sigil. Playing guitar and the traditional Gumbiri three-stringed bass, he brings the legacy of that instrument in Africa and elsewhere together with more conventional influences to create a musical journey that covers centuries, continents and many ways of thinking.

"Cigil" is a traveling song, in that it saunters away from where it begins, sometimes doubling back on itself, sometimes charging ahead and sometimes settling where it is. The influence of the trance music of the Gnawa is there in the serpentine twisting of repeated rhythms and melodies. It feels like the turning of hips in a dance, smaller spirals that move in place or spin around the music in time. It shifts back and forth from a rustic acoustic sound to a sudden electrification of the Gumbiri, startling the listener from any head-bobbing that may have begun, before allowing the new change to become part of the tapestry. It could go on forever -- shifting and changing, developing with subtle new twists of texture or melody -- but it closes abruptly with a "se fini," practically begging for the replay.

Listen to yesterday's 'Song of the Day.'

Women and Songs 2

2006-09-28T10:16:00.000-04:00

Latest post on Blogcritics.org:

Women and Songs 2

Yesh. I need some good music, and quick.

9/11

2006-09-14T16:35:00.000-04:00

I know I'm a few days late on this, but I just checked the post of Axis of Evil Knievel, and had to muffle my laughter and tears while hiding under my desk at work. So, enjoy:

http://axisofevelknievel.blogspot.com/2006/09/september-11.html

2006-09-12T12:55:00.000-04:00

I am coming to the conclusion that he closest thing I'll ever do to becoming a singer is writing. It was always frustrating for me, when encountering vocalists, that they seemed to pull their work out of nowhere, whereas us instrumentalists spent hours in the practice rooms, toiling away.

Now that I'm writing almost full time, it seems like it's a similar exercise. Of course I get better the more I do it, but it's not like playing scales - I haven't discovered etudes for writing. It's simply a matter of DOING it, and hoping most days that it goes well.

It might also explain the diva attitude in some writers I know....

Sitting Shiva

2006-09-07T13:34:00.000-04:00

The end of an era:

NPR to stop producing Performance Today

2006-08-18T14:02:00.000-04:00

A happy new feature on NPR Music - songs of the day, with esssays by critics. It's always good to see a new avenue, although it's a little indie bent. But, I did discover that Vienna Teng has a new album out, too - how exciting!

Oh, also coming up, a new release by Amos Lee, coming out in October. Demo sounds really good, and I'll be getting an interview with him in september, so stay tuned for details.

In Japan, the music of the world is "International"

2006-07-15T18:56:00.000-04:00

I'm in Tokyo, and where do I end up? An HMV, of course. Now the burning question can be answered - what will they call "world music" outside of the west?

It's kind of the same, actually. But there is a section in world music for Okinawa, which apparently is differnet enough from japanese mainstream to be folk. Then the rest of the store is divided into "japanese" (which seems to include everything, although there is a seperate section for pop) and then "international" which appears to be mostly western, somewhat divided by category.

Facinating stuff, really. The international is west, the world is everything else.

This is a good trip. More later.

2006-06-16T21:28:00.000-04:00

As my trip approaches, I find myself more and more fixated on it. Every unrelated aspect reminds me of some preparation - cooking dinner leads me to Japanese food, washing clothes to packing lists, asking questions of a grocery clerk to concerns about communication.

Then, it came time for me to write my reviews for the upcoming issue of Exclaim! In my pile were two albums - one by the Yoshida Brothers, a duo of shamisen players who have electrified the instruments, and then Rin', who are three graduates of the Tokyo university of Fine Arts and Music, with degrees in traditional Japanese music. They have become a pop trio, adding English vocals over their koto, shakuachi and other instruments.

The reviews will be out in a few weeks, with the next issue, but there was one thing I noticed with both albums - this is an incredibly hard fusion to do well. Somehow, it is easier to accept combinations of Indian music and western pop, or other nationalities, but with east Asian sounds, it is very very easy for it to become...kitchy. And particularly with Japanese music, because their own brands of J-Pop are so strongly westernized, that perhaps it is more of an expectation than an innovation. I'm not exactly sure why this is - but I certainly came away with mixed feelings about the music - and curiosity of what I had even expected in the first place.

Did I want something more "traditionally Japanese?" What does that even mean - what sound was I looking for? What was there that I DIDN'T want? It's still a big question, and one I have developed more in retrospect, and I'm sure I will ponder more in the future.

I don't know how much live music I'll be experiencing while there - festival music for sure, as we'll be in Osaka for one of their biggest festivals of the summer. But I will be experiencing another musical form - karaoke. I have been told (or threatened, perhaps) that we will be heading to a karaoke bar with a friend and her Japanese friends, to experience this particular facet of social interaction. Please, all of you reading - wish me luck.

And the hunt begins!

2006-06-15T21:00:00.000-04:00

Graduation - complete.

Move from Canada - complete

Job search - beginning...

What an odd prospect this is. I've never been particularly good at selling myself, so being in a position where I need to do exactly that is a bit intimidating. But, it must be done!

So, here is my general plea to the ether - if anyone would like to give me a well paying job in music journalism, preferably in the DC area, I would be honored to accept. Thank you very much.

Well, perhaps not just yet. First there is the larger, more looming need - to go to Japan.

That's right, I will be crossing seas and continents and traveling to the land of the rising sun this july, as an expedition of...well, adventure, I suppose. I am dutifully studying my japanese phrasebooks, and trying to mentally prepare myself for the muggy weather, but otherwise just sitting around and occasionally starting with the revalation - "I'm actually going to japan."

So cool.

Arts Journal

2006-05-15T15:55:00.000-04:00

I don't want to bury my first real post in a while (see below) but I felt the need to put this thing here:

Arts Journal is sponsoring Critical Edge: Critics in a Critical Age - An Online Debate as part of the NAJP's reunion this weekend. Go see some really interesting ideas about blogging and criticism, and then go read my thesis (soon to be available online). It'll be fun.

2006-05-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

I was in Quebec last week to visit my friend Laura (a violinist who I met at Indiana) and her boyfriend Marcin (a violist). We were sitting around, as geeks tend to, playing upwords in their apartment and drinking. During this, Marcin got up to put on a CD. Laura, proceeded to ask the following questions:

"who is it?"

"Mozart"

"What kind?"

"String Quartet"

"Who's playing?"

"Borodin Quartet"

"Any Good?"

"Yep....well....."

I write this not to demonstrate so much the succinctness of their conversation, but the difference between the two of us. Despite my prevalent classical training, I recently realized that it had been over six months since I had even attended a classical music concert, being busy with thesis work and exploring other musical genres. Given this distance between myself and my born musical community, I realized a key difference between the different levels of interest in this music.

The average listener to classical music would stop after the first questioning - determining by composer whether or not they were interested in listening. A slightly more descerning ear probes further for genre - preferring, perhaps, string works over keyboard, or some such. These questions can go in either order - with a casual listener preferring violin over oboe, and then deciding by composer.

The more discerning ear then proceeds to actual ensemble - basing their judgment of listing further by the performers themselves. The Emerson recordings of shostakovich string quartets over the Kronos recording.

The performer, however, goes further - slicing and dicing an individual performance of a work by it's pros and cons - basically doing my job by criticizing the work for themselves.

It is our process of selection that greatly defines us as listeners - what we choose before the sounds even enter our ears. Discerning taste is often defined more by what we choose than what we hear once we have chosen.

This process frightened me a bit, mostly because I discovered that in that particular situation, I was of the 1-2 question category. I had a beer in my hand and a word game in front of me - what did I care who was playing the music we would mostly ignore? Well, a few years ago I would have cared very much. Or at least I would have liked to think that I did.

My classical fangs have dulled a bit in the last year - gone out of use as I sharpened my claws against new musical scratching posts. I have begun to think of classical music more in the abstract - as a cultural construct that has shaped a great deal of my development. However, I have ceased to identify myself as a classical musician. It is something I have and can do, but it is no longer the center of my existence.

Nowadays, I skip from question two to question four, evaluating the music without some of the in-between baggage of caring who produces it. Well, perhaps that is overstating - of course the issue of the performer is present - I would say different things about a group I was familiar with and had a particular reputation than one that did not. But my perspective on this universe is different now than it used to be. My questions become fewer, and my answers longer.

Hmmm - I wonder if this is a good thing?

Out of the darkness

2006-05-01T09:25:00.000-04:00

And into the light.

I'm done. Wow... It took over a week to sink in, but as many of my friends pack up to leave for the summer or forever, I am more and more aware of the gravity of what has happened. Two years seems like it should be a long time, but it truly isn't. Or maybe time does speed up as you get older.

For an update - the York presentation mentioned below went well. Blogs are such a fascinating phenomenon....really quite amazing. Critical blessings and curses, they offer an opportunity for speech without any restriction, and offer authority to words that would otherwise go unheard. Sometimes it would have been BETTER had they gone unheard, but you take the bad with the good, I suppose.

I'm in the process of getting my apartment ready to move, and to head back to my native land for the summer. Then the job hunt begins - anyone with an offer for a writer/music critic with a lovely sense of humor and dedicated spirit should contact me.

I hope the posts will pick up, and tend more towards a musical or at least coherent nature now that the thesis is done. Until then, I return to my boxes and my packing tape.

Hello York People!

2006-04-19T17:54:00.000-04:00

Pretty creepy, eh? I'm talking to you through my blog, and my hands aren't even moving! It's some kind of magic trick, really. I'm just standing here, talking, and you probably aren't really paying attention, so you're reading my visuals instead. It's ok, don't worry or anything. It's probably about 345, and everyone's tired of listening to presentations. So sit back, relax, don't worry - I'll be done soon.

-----

A note of explanation for those who read this and think I've gone off the deep end. I'm preparing a paper for a graduate colloquium at York University. I've chosen to talk about blogs and criticism, so I'm using my own as an example.

Not that that confirms my sanity or anything, but just so you know.

I am the Master!

2006-04-19T17:52:00.000-04:00

Or mistress, more precisely...

Having successfully defended, printed, and turned in my masters thesis today, I am now done with my graduate degree!

The glee is overcoming my ability to be articulate, so probably more at a future date. For now, just a big sigh of relief.

So Unsexy

2006-04-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

I love those moments where you find a song that speaks directly to you – that encompasses exactly what you are thinking at that moment. I’m a fan of Alanis’, but I hadn’t heard all of Under Rug Swept until a few days ago. This tune was perfect...especially today, as I prepare to defend my masters thesis. Every insecurity I’ve ever had seems to be coming to the surface in this moment and all (most) even I know are unjustified. But it’s so much easier to think less of myself than more, because I rarely meet my own expectations. We’ll see how things go tomorrow, and hopefully I can prove even to myself that I accomplished something here.

---------------------------

So Unsexy - Alanis Morissette

Oh these little rejections how they add up quickly
One small sideways look and I feel so ungood
Somewhere along the way I think I gave you the power to make
Me feel the way I thought only my father could

Oh these little rejections how they seem so real to me
One forgotten birthday I'm all but cooked
How these little abandonments seem to sting so easily
I'm 13 again am I 13 for good?

I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful
So unloved for someone so fine
I can feel so boring for someone so interesting
So ignorant for someone of sound mind

Oh these little protections how they fail to serve me
One forgotten phone call and I'm deflated
Oh these little defenses how they fail to comfort me
Your hand pulling away and I'm devastated

When will you stop leaving baby?
When will I stop deserting baby?
When will I start staying with myself?

Oh these little projections how they keep springing from me
I jump my ship as I take it personally
Oh these little rejections how they disappear quickly
The moment I decide not to abandon me

thesising

2006-03-19T17:07:00.000-05:00

I have never turly appreciated until recently what a massive effort goes into getting advanced degrees. I always thought it was kind of silly for folks to go to the trouble of starting a PhD and then never finish writing the dissertation. But now, as I near the final stretch of writing my MA thesis, I understand completley. The closer I get to finishing, the stronger the sensation that I don't want to ever see another word of my own writing again gets. I want to take this stack of paper, lock it in a box, and stop thinking about it. However, that can only really happen once I'm done, so I just need to push through.

But here is my declaration - I am never again writing a document of this size, unless there is a sizable book deal from Random House included in the mix.

Back to editing....

2006-03-07T20:27:00.000-05:00

I am trying to make my living as a writer, but there are some things that are difficult to put into words. Anything that is said seems like a half-truth, a partial answer. Grief is one of those things.

Austin B. Caswell was a professor of mine at Indiana University - a brilliant scholar and a glowing soul. He had a gift and a passion for teaching that I could only begin to admire, so vast was his understanding of and love for his students. I was in his honors seminar my junior year, and while the class was wonderful and inspirational, it was his friendship that I treasured most of all.

His utter shock at discovering that I was both in the music school at IU and actually could think (being a musicologist he had ample experience with the music program) endeared me to him at first. Even when the course ended, we continued to meet regularly, and when it became clear to me that performance was no longer a path that was open to me, he helped me see that it also wasn't one that I necessarily wanted. I needed more, and he encouraged me to go after it - reading my work, and praising it with every bit of biased glee that he could muster.

During my first year of my masters, I despaired at my inability to cope with an academic environment, and bemoaning my unceasing stupidity in an email to him, he said he was sending me a care package. A week later, I received a package - it contained not comfort foods, but notes from every one of his current honors students. He had told them of my plight, and they had all sat down to write me messages of support, which Austin then forwarded to me. This is the kind of devotion this man could inspire - one where his students, not having a single idea in the world who I was, could write me such nice letters, simply at his request.

Austin was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, and although he battled it firmly and with conviction, continuing to ride his bike for miles and teach until three weeks ago, he finally succumbed this past week.

My heart breaks.

I do take comfort in having the rare opportunity to have known and enjoyed such a rare person. But for the moment I am speechless.

Rough Guide to Urban Latino

2006-02-26T10:49:00.000-05:00

New post at Blogcritics.org

This was a wierd one - I haven't really had a chance to expound on all of the issues I address academically about this stuff - I suppose the CD had the unfortunate luck to be on my desk as I was writing the second chapter of my thesis....

Sergio Mendes - Timeless

2006-02-15T18:29:00.000-05:00

New review at Blogcritics.org!

Indie fun

2006-02-14T11:17:00.000-05:00

The Brampton Indie Arts festival was this weekend, and after last year's show, I had a little trepidation about going. It's always a mix, of course - but the 30 minute Jazzercize routine sort of put me off.

It has looked like the downer of the evening was going to be "cowboys and indians", an improvisator combination of indian classical dance, jazz piano, and mime. Yes, mime. However, this turned out to be the highlight! It was brilliant - an entire hour of incredibly complicated storyline, played out in multiple characters by one brilliant physical actor, Anand Rajaram, with a narration and piano by former Blue Rodeo member Bob Weisman. Go figure that.

The one thing I don't get about indie is the appeal of low production value. It seems inherent in the genre that things be rough, unpolished, and occasionally amateurish. I understand the desire to get away from the capitalist oppressive music business, but I don't see how that means accepting things that simply aren't there yet...Still in developmental stages. I'm not saying that all of it is like that, but there is an appreciation for the half-hewn I don't get yet.

The other thing that seems prevalent is a desire for the childish. There is an innocence about indie, a unadalterated joy, while battling with a "I'm more indie than you" attitude which must always be projected. The yearly MC for this festival is curtains, the loveable puppet. It's pomo at it's best - a juxtaposition of incredibly random elements, that come together to make....indie.

This will take some more exploration, but those were my initial thoughts.

Oh, by the way - check out Friendly Rich and the Lolipop People. Rich organizes the festival, is totally brilliant and deranged at the same time, and the band is the indie/classical music geeks dream come true. An 11 part band with harpsichord, bassoon, drum kit, and banjo. What could be better?

Critics and musicians

2006-01-30T18:41:00.000-05:00

I read somewhere (it's buried in my notes and will be found for my thesis, but not here) that music criticism is more about literature than about music. Thinking about it, I do believe that this is true - we talk about music, but criticism itself is really about the process of writing, using that as the form of communication.

So does that mean I'm not a musician anymore?

I know that changing directions certainly doesn't take away anything that I learned, or make me less able, but in defining myself, I wonder if I shouldn't be making the mental switch to being a writer.

I find that slightly scary because I don't believe that I'm a terribly GOOD one yet. Then again, I wasn't a terribly good violinist either, so maybe it should be ok.

Whether I'm a writer or not, I have to get back to producing a 150 page thesis. So, I'll be writing something, anyway.

CD Review: Putumayo World Music - The Caribbean and Asian Lounge

2006-01-14T21:24:00.000-05:00

As a critic, it’s a pretty safe assumption to say that I’m a musical snob. It’s my livelihood, after all, and so I think it’s not unexpected that I would be at least a little elitist in what I choose to listen to. For this reason, compilation CD’s were always kind of dangerous ground – especially anything with “relaxing” or “groove” in the title. So the first time I was given a CD from Putumayo World Music, called Latin Groove, my snob senses went off hard-core, and my nose immediately began to rise. However, it was fortunate that the giver would brook no such attitude from me, and after one listen I was hooked.

Putumayo music has gained a reputation for their socially aware CD’s – not only that most of them give a portion of their proceeds to charity, but that the company tries to seek out artists who will not be familiar to those of us in the North American musical climate. Despite the folk-art covers that are their trademark, the vast majority of their new releases are of music that could top the pop charts in any country, and offer a more realistic glimpse into the music of these countries and continents. This is hardly ethnomusicological exploration, deep insight into the traditional musical culture of these places, but the Putumayo motto of “Guaranteed to Make You Feel Good” definitely fits with all of their albums, which speak perhaps more to the groove than the mind.

Two of the most recent releases from this label are The Caribbean and Asian Lounge.

The Caribbean offers a mix of all the wide variety that this region has to offer: Cuban son, Jamaican reggae, Puerto Rican salsa, Dominican meringue, Haiti’s compass, and others. Music of this area shares an irresistible rhythm that comes from the strong African influence throughout the region. The album leans heavily towards dance styles and tunes. Two styles that were popular throughout the Caribbean are ska - there is a great tune by Cuban artists Ska Cubano dedicated to the santeria goddess Changó – and soca, which blends calypso and east Indian influences, and the band Coalishun from Barbados brings to fruition in their song Thundah. Wether the style is an updated pop-influenced sound like those or the acoustic roots based sound of artists like Stanley Beckford, all of the music is about motion – the motion of styles from Africa and elsewhere to settle in these islands, and the motion that the rhythms inspire. Especially in this cold weather, they make you want to move – both your body and to the warm sands of the islands.

Asian Lounge is a totally different kind of album – “a collection of cross-cultural fusions and laid-back beats inspired by the musical traditions of Asia.” To get back to my musical snob mentality, this is an area where I feel I must tread carefully. My professors would tell me that these albums are clear cases of Orientalist practices – creating the exotic “orient” and playing it off of a western standard. I don’t necessarily agree with this, and I don’t want to value one type of album over the other, but I do feel that it’s important to make clear the difference – The Caribbean is a CD that explores the music of a region, Asian Lounge is essentially international music – inspired by musical traditions, but mixed with pop and electronic beats that have their basis in western traditions but are slowly becoming a world spread musical medium. If you are looking for traditional examples of any of these national styles, this is not the place to go, but with that disclaimer in mind, Asian Lounge does offer a wide variety of new and different soundscapes to explore.

With internationally mixed music, what immediately comes to mind, and is mentioned in the liner notes, is the influence of Indian music in American pop, starting with the Beatles and Ravi Shankar. There is a considerable proportion of the album devoted to music from these regions, but still a few tracks that stand out as other examples: One by Japanese artists Yoshida Brothers, who have turned the traditional banjo-like shamisen into a source for musical fusion, and another by Bali Lounge, which is an Indonesian project that brings local musicians into the public spotlight by teaming them up with international artists, in this case Nicolas Rastoul, a French musician and producer. It is unfortunate that a greater balance couldn’t be struck, especially with the exclusion of China completely from the album, but there is some attempt made at variety of sound, at least within the narrow spectrum of “lounge”…whatever that means.

Putumayo offers as wide a variety of albums as there are places for them to come from – and their library is well served by these two new additions, sure to please any burgeoning world music fan. Think of them as the cliff notes to global sounds – a primer for what’s out there beyond our billboard top 20.

Also published on http://blogcritics.org/

Vagina Monologues

2005-12-27T16:24:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure that everyone is aware, but V Day is coming up, and with it, performances of Eve Einsler's brilliant Vagina Monologues at college campuses all over the country. I've seen the show every year for the past four, but this is the first time I'll be involved.

Don't get too excited - there's still no way I'm getting up on stage to act in front of people. Those of you who have seen my few musical theater mishaps from middle school will understand - it's not pretty. But, I'm using my musical talents for McMaster's production this year, and here is my request to all of you:

For those who have seen the show, or even haven't - I'm scoring the production with music between the various scenes. I'm trying to find things that speak to the various themes of the show, and preferably music that features women. Instrumental would be best, to not distract from the monologues, but that's not a must. Any suggestions would be most appreciated, and I'll be posting more details on the cause and my production as things get closer.

And a happy new year!

Claire