I bought this for £1 in a second hand shop a few days ago. Whilst searching for an image on Amazon, I see it is being offered at over £30 used by three dealers!
Free download from Noisetrade. Yes, it is the Charlotte Church, but not as you will know - more like Bjork or Kate Bush
Think you know Charlotte Church? Think again...
Once an angelic choirgirl, the Welsh artist is focussing her sights on new influences. Opening herself up to breaking electronics and crunching indie rock, Charlotte Church recently unveiled a number of fresh tracks to overwhelming acclaim.
No problem. Even though I've created smart playlists and such to help me listen to music I've forgotten about, the best method still seems to be just scrolling through my music library.
. . . . ."Vocalist/lyricist Rinde Eckerts background in opera and new music make for a unique interpretation of the high-pitched frontman archetype. A Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist, as well as an Obie winner, Eckert eschews vague poetry for short narratives with an emphasis on death and the passage of time. His opera cred is evident in the way he juggles recitative and pointilist melodies with aplomb, but when the music calls for him to slip into the guise of a rock singer, he does so with grace. He never imitates the style; even on My Ship, the most direct reference to straight-ahead blues-rock on the record, he inhabits a theatrical character, half soul-man pentatonic and half experimental-theater operatic. Jason Treuting has a similar approach as a percussionist, as likely to bang on a bike tire as he is to sit at a drumkit. He stays in a mostly traditional mode throughout the album, anchoring the music with familiar grooves, which makes the occasional arrhythmic flurry or spacey cymbal wash that much more jarring. Electric bassist Mark Haanstra locks in with Treuting to create a fantastically satisfying rhythm section, but he is no more bound to his role than his cohorts. Guitarist Steven Mackey flits about stylistically more than the rest of the band, moving from soundscapes to crunching riffs to airy chordal textures in a span of seconds, always unexpected but never disruptive. Which is also a good way to sum up Big Farms sound in general.". . . . .
- "Steven Mackeys Dreamhouse is and odd assemblage dealing with, as the title suggests, the building of a perfect home, with a libretto filled with architectural details improvised on by Mr. Mackey and tenor and fellow librettist Rinde Eckert. In addition to Mr. Eckert, who sings not only as tenor but with falsetto, and functions as speaking actor as well, the work is scored for a small Hilliard Ensemble-type vocal consort, an electric guitar quartet, and large orchestra. The music is varied in its influences, but is unambiguously American in tone and aesthetic stance. There is plenty of syncopation and generous catchy bits, passages of Ivesian intricacy as well as moments of lush dreaminess. Baby boomer culture is represented by the occasional rock beat and indebtedness to Frank Zappa, while the impressive orchestration is colored by modern appliances like electric guitars and E-bows. Much of the music is sustained by pedal points and is unambiguously tonal in spirit. That doesnt prevent Mackey from popping in another one of his favorite genres, 16th Century vocal music: a brief Sanctus drifts in out of nowhere, as do episodes of hocket and later, to square the circle, a little scat. The extensive concluding section introduces a tune that could easy be heard on Broadway, subjected to numbing repetition until its blistering climax is reached (why was I thinking of Coplands Third?) Combine all this with echoes of Bernstein and John Adams, and you get a pretty vivid picture of 21st Century American compositional style.
Mackey is chairman of the music department at Princeton, and it amuses me no end to think about what was going on there just a few decades ago and how radically things have changed; dont let anybody ever tell you that there is no such thing as postmodernism. Performance and production values are first rate, as they always are with these forces."
- American Record Guide / Allen Gimbel March 1, 2011 @ BMOP
Catch Electric Guitar Quartet:
Wiek Hijmans, electric guitar
Seth Josel, electric guitar
Patricio Wang, electric guitar
Mark Haanstra, electric bass
- "A near 20-year crisscrossing of paths and collaborations, e.g. within the context of rock bands and free improvisation groups as well in contemporary ensembles, provides the backdrop for the members of the Amsterdam-based CATCH quartet. In 2003 the world premiere of Steve Mackeys Dreamhouse - a Holland Festival commission - finally provided the opportunity to bring together the talents of all four musicians on one stage.
Since then, the quartet has been involved in further premiere performances (Christopher Fox, Peter Adriaansz), ensemble collaborations (Cappela Amsterdam), and has become the ensemble in residence at the OUTPUT festival in Amsterdam. In April 2007 the group was in residence at Princeton University, culminating in the premiere performance of seven new works specifically written for the occasion. The long-awaited North American premiere of Dreamhouse was presented May 2007 with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project about which Jeremy Eichler of the Boston Globe wrote: the four guitars (played by the Catch Electric Guitar Quartet) bring some highly unusual sonorities to the orchestra and some turbo-charged power to the works caterwauling climax. Later this season the group will collaborate with the Slagwerkgroep Den Haag, featuring a tour of Holland." Last.fm
Synergy Vocals:
(Director Micaela Haslam)
- "Synergy Vocals is a unique pool of singers, providing bespoke teams for a wide variety of amplified vocal projects. The group collaborates regularly with Steve Reich & Musicians, Ensemble Modern, Ictus, Asko|Schönberg, London Sinfonietta and the Colin Currie Group.
Synergy has performed all over the world with many other outstanding orchestras and ensembles, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Boston, Chicago and St Louis Symphony Orchestras, Ensemble InterContemporain, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles, Brooklyn and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, Nexus, Percussion Claviers de Lyon, Tempo Reale Ensemble; and in collaboration with the Royal Ballet, Mark Baldwin, Rosas, and Opéra de Paris dance companies.
The groups world premières include Steve Reichs Three Tales and Daniel Variations, Steven Mackeys Dreamhouse, Louis Andriessens video opera La Commedia, David Langs Writing on Water and James MacMillans Since it was the Day of Preparation , as well as the UK première of Nonos monumental Prometeo on Londons South Bank. Synergy Vocals is also a highly-acclaimed exponent of Luciano Berios 1968 masterpiece Sinfonia.
Synergy Vocals has undertaken educational and outreach projects for The Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Princeton University, Eastman College, Oberlin College, St Pauls School, the Royal College of Music, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, both coaching ensembles and working with composers in the creation of new works involving singers. Micaela Haslam regularly coaches instrumental ensembles for Steve Reich in the preparation of his Music for 18 Musicians.
The groups recordings include Steven Mackeys Dreamhouse (2011 Grammy winner) with BMOP/Gil Rose; Louis Andriessens De Staat with London Sinfonietta/David Atherton; Steve Reichs Music for 18 Musicians with Ensemble Modern; Tehillim with LA Philharmonic/Stefan Asbury; Three Tales with Steve Reich & Musicians/Bradley Lubman; and Karl Jenkins Imagined Oceans. Synergy is also featured on television advertisements and film soundtracks including The Wrath of the Titans, Jane Eyre, Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Nanny McPhee, V for Vendetta, Triangle and The Secret of Moonacre." http://www.synergyvocals.com/
Well, I completely missed this album when it debuted in 2011. This is nice, nice, nice.
Chadwick Stokes is a musician who seems every band he touches turns to gold. One of the leading men of the popular Dispatch as well as the front man for his also popular group State Radio, Chadwick has now seemed to touch something that has turned platinum with his first solo debut album called Simmerkane II. The name may sound familiar to many because it is the follow up album to State Radios EP album called Simmerkane l, but this time Chadwick attacked it solo and has created what I would consider some of his finest work.
I'm currently in Omaha and sitting in the hotel until a wedding. Last night I stopped by a record store, and this is the first of 3 local acts I bought on their recommendation. Indie hip hop, and so far is quite good.
Comments
We just bought a Chicago Symphony subscription that includes a performance of Saint-Sa
Thy Veils - Wind Anywhere
Thy Veils - Nest Choir
I bought this for £1 in a second hand shop a few days ago. Whilst searching for an image on Amazon, I see it is being offered at over £30 used by three dealers!
Free download from Noisetrade. Yes, it is the Charlotte Church, but not as you will know - more like Bjork or Kate Bush
Daniel Wohl - Corps Exquis
One of many artists eMusic introduced me to that I would love to know when they're going to release more music.
hbocinemax - foreign popularity
Thanks choiceweb; I was thinking of that one recently, but had no idea what it was called!
Brand new, just arrived.
I have this on my iPod, but I have no idea where I got it, presumably free. Anybody recognize it? Anyway, it's really good.
Wire - 154
- "Steven Mackeys Dreamhouse is and odd assemblage dealing with, as the title suggests, the building of a perfect home, with a libretto filled with architectural details improvised on by Mr. Mackey and tenor and fellow librettist Rinde Eckert. In addition to Mr. Eckert, who sings not only as tenor but with falsetto, and functions as speaking actor as well, the work is scored for a small Hilliard Ensemble-type vocal consort, an electric guitar quartet, and large orchestra. The music is varied in its influences, but is unambiguously American in tone and aesthetic stance. There is plenty of syncopation and generous catchy bits, passages of Ivesian intricacy as well as moments of lush dreaminess. Baby boomer culture is represented by the occasional rock beat and indebtedness to Frank Zappa, while the impressive orchestration is colored by modern appliances like electric guitars and E-bows. Much of the music is sustained by pedal points and is unambiguously tonal in spirit. That doesnt prevent Mackey from popping in another one of his favorite genres, 16th Century vocal music: a brief Sanctus drifts in out of nowhere, as do episodes of hocket and later, to square the circle, a little scat. The extensive concluding section introduces a tune that could easy be heard on Broadway, subjected to numbing repetition until its blistering climax is reached (why was I thinking of Coplands Third?) Combine all this with echoes of Bernstein and John Adams, and you get a pretty vivid picture of 21st Century American compositional style.
Mackey is chairman of the music department at Princeton, and it amuses me no end to think about what was going on there just a few decades ago and how radically things have changed; dont let anybody ever tell you that there is no such thing as postmodernism. Performance and production values are first rate, as they always are with these forces."
- American Record Guide / Allen Gimbel March 1, 2011 @ BMOP
Catch Electric Guitar Quartet:
Wiek Hijmans, electric guitar
Seth Josel, electric guitar
Patricio Wang, electric guitar
Mark Haanstra, electric bass
- "A near 20-year crisscrossing of paths and collaborations, e.g. within the context of rock bands and free improvisation groups as well in contemporary ensembles, provides the backdrop for the members of the Amsterdam-based CATCH quartet. In 2003 the world premiere of Steve Mackeys Dreamhouse - a Holland Festival commission - finally provided the opportunity to bring together the talents of all four musicians on one stage.
Since then, the quartet has been involved in further premiere performances (Christopher Fox, Peter Adriaansz), ensemble collaborations (Cappela Amsterdam), and has become the ensemble in residence at the OUTPUT festival in Amsterdam. In April 2007 the group was in residence at Princeton University, culminating in the premiere performance of seven new works specifically written for the occasion. The long-awaited North American premiere of Dreamhouse was presented May 2007 with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project about which Jeremy Eichler of the Boston Globe wrote: the four guitars (played by the Catch Electric Guitar Quartet) bring some highly unusual sonorities to the orchestra and some turbo-charged power to the works caterwauling climax. Later this season the group will collaborate with the Slagwerkgroep Den Haag, featuring a tour of Holland."
Last.fm
Synergy Vocals:
(Director Micaela Haslam)
- "Synergy Vocals is a unique pool of singers, providing bespoke teams for a wide variety of amplified vocal projects. The group collaborates regularly with Steve Reich & Musicians, Ensemble Modern, Ictus, Asko|Schönberg, London Sinfonietta and the Colin Currie Group.
Synergy has performed all over the world with many other outstanding orchestras and ensembles, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Boston, Chicago and St Louis Symphony Orchestras, Ensemble InterContemporain, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles, Brooklyn and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, Nexus, Percussion Claviers de Lyon, Tempo Reale Ensemble; and in collaboration with the Royal Ballet, Mark Baldwin, Rosas, and Opéra de Paris dance companies.
The groups world premières include Steve Reichs Three Tales and Daniel Variations, Steven Mackeys Dreamhouse, Louis Andriessens video opera La Commedia, David Langs Writing on Water and James MacMillans Since it was the Day of Preparation , as well as the UK première of Nonos monumental Prometeo on Londons South Bank. Synergy Vocals is also a highly-acclaimed exponent of Luciano Berios 1968 masterpiece Sinfonia.
Synergy Vocals has undertaken educational and outreach projects for The Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Princeton University, Eastman College, Oberlin College, St Pauls School, the Royal College of Music, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, both coaching ensembles and working with composers in the creation of new works involving singers. Micaela Haslam regularly coaches instrumental ensembles for Steve Reich in the preparation of his Music for 18 Musicians.
The groups recordings include Steven Mackeys Dreamhouse (2011 Grammy winner) with BMOP/Gil Rose; Louis Andriessens De Staat with London Sinfonietta/David Atherton; Steve Reichs Music for 18 Musicians with Ensemble Modern; Tehillim with LA Philharmonic/Stefan Asbury; Three Tales with Steve Reich & Musicians/Bradley Lubman; and Karl Jenkins Imagined Oceans. Synergy is also featured on television advertisements and film soundtracks including The Wrath of the Titans, Jane Eyre, Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Nanny McPhee, V for Vendetta, Triangle and The Secret of Moonacre."
http://www.synergyvocals.com/
Streaming album on Soundcloud. Also on Bandcamp.
Well, I completely missed this album when it debuted in 2011. This is nice, nice, nice.
(from this review).
BTW, State Radio's EP "Simmerkane I" (with five additional tracks) can be downloaded free on Noisetrade.
Craig
Articulate - Unreleased
I'm currently in Omaha and sitting in the hotel until a wedding. Last night I stopped by a record store, and this is the first of 3 local acts I bought on their recommendation. Indie hip hop, and so far is quite good.
Craig