Released in april 2012 on Yannis Kyriakides Unsounds label:
- "Medea by Calliope Tsoupaki is the first in a series of chamber music compositions focusing on drama; a melodrama for 8 instruments. The composition is written for Ensemble MAE, that distinguishes itself for its colourful, direct, physical and improvisatory character. Tsoupaki uses the ensemble's palette, composing solos, duets, trios, wrapped in larger sonic fields, with a strong associative and visual impact. Further there is no story-telling for the listener to be led into the piece; the music material itself is suggestive, and the melodies have a leading role, as characters in a theater play. Coming back as in different scenes in a film, each time changed and transformed, they are the vectors of tangible dramatic development.
Next to an exploration of the myth, Medea attempts to compose a self-portrait, the composer briefly shedding light onto a deep, unspoken part of herself. Pasolini's Medea was an inspiration for writing this piece, and most of all Maria Callas in the role of Medea, so tragic that she did not sing a word.
- Unsounds
- "Calliope Tsoupaki was born in Piraeus, Greece. She studied piano and music theory at the Hellinicon Conservatory in Athens and composition with Yannis Ioannithis. She continued her studies with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and graduated in 1992.
After ending her studies, Tsoupaki settled in Amsterdam and began a career as a pianist and composer. Her works have been performed in Europe and in the United States and at international music festivals. In 1993 she lived and worked in Budapest on a three-month residency from the Pepinières Foundation for young artists. In 2007 she took a position teaching composition at Koninklijk Conservatorium"
- Wikipedia
Released by: LSO Live
Release/catalogue number: 744
Release date: Nov 12, 2013 - "British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage's music is best known for its provocative clashes between the concert hall and the outside world. He's enjoyed a steady, high-profile international career since making his name in the '90s with the raw Blood on the Floor, which marries a new-music ensemble to a jazz quartet, but the devilish rudeness of his more recent collisions between the classical music and popular culture have brought him much more attention."
ETA:
Menlo Park Recordings - 7005 - recorded 4.11.95, released August, 1997
lp and compact disc - 2 tracks - 27 minutes 50 seconds
Keiji Haino (guitar)
Loren MazzaCane Connors (guitar)
1.Taken From Soundcheck (15:29)
2.Taken from Performance (12:22)
Mohammad - Som Sakrifis - "Following on from their previous releases (the highly regarded 'Roto Vildblomma' CD and the 'Spiriti' 3LP box, both on Antifrost) 'Som Sakrifis' follows the trio through three tracks of deep space experimentation where the acoustic and electronic blend together as a monumental whole. Listening to 'Som Sakrifis' takes the listener on an expansive journey through the netherworld of the low range whilst retaining distinct traces of musicality. The time and space in these works have a logic more akin to that of Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr than any contemporary music references. Monumental monochromatic movement is the order of the day. Sit back, strap in and let these fine explorers take you way out into the nether world."
- http://www.pan-act.com/ - Touching Extremes review
MOHAMMAD - " is a chamber music trio consisting of Coti K (contrabass), ILIOS (oscillators) and Nikos Veliotis (cello). Based in Greece, Mohammad make long form work drone works that explore the lower end of the frequency spectrum whilst retaining an intense emotional capacity. The results are monumental slow moving physical blocks of sound, both daunting and musical. The sheer weight of these recordings is impressive, the interplay of the musicians and instruments staggering, this end result being an album rich with immense harmonious abstraction which highlights years of dedication to their unique path. Soundcloud - http://www.mohammad.gr
- "Smash the Hegemony of Dance. Stand still. Pere Ubu return with their first new studio album for over three years in January 2013, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the group's debut (The Modern Dance). Lady From Shanghai is to be released on new label Fire Records (home to Guided by Voices, Mission of Burma, Giant Sand, Bailterspace, Josephine Foster and many others). The album ushers in a new era in the history of Pere Ubu, with David Thomas and band continuing to provoke and shock listeners, further establishing them as one of the most innovative, progressive and important bands of all time.
Lady from Shanghai is an album of dance music - it is the Ubu Dance Party.
"The dancer is the puppet of the dance," says singer David Thomas. "It's long past time somebody puts an end to this abomination. Lady From Shanghai has fixed the problem.
"What is the problem? Dance encourages the body to move without permission."
An accompanying book 'Chinese Whispers: The Making of Lady From Shanghai' will be launched around the same time, extensively exploring the ideas and methods behind the recording.
The Pere Ubu project was supposed to be an end, not a beginning. Assembled in August 1975 to be the Crosby Stills Nash & Young of the Cleveland music underground, the plan was to record one, maybe two singles and exist no more. Within months, however, those first self-produced records were being snapped up in London, Paris, Manchester, New York and Minneapolis. Pere Ubu was changing the face of rock music.
Over the next 34 years they defined the art of cult; refined the voice of the outsider; and inspired the likes of Joy Division, Pixies, Husker Du, Henry Rollins, REM, Sisters of Mercy, Thomas Dolby, Bauhaus, Julian Cope and countless others.
Pere Ubu make a music that is a disorienting mix of midwestern groove rock, "found" sound, analog synthesizers, falling-apart song structures and careening vocals. It is a mix that has mesmerized critics, musicians and fans for decades.
Singer David Thomas named the band after the protagonist of Ubu Roi, a play by Frenchman Alfred Jarry."
- Fire Records - http://ubuprojex.net/
A significant milestone was reached in my listening habits this week with a change to the #1 slot:
(Jazz was about 7% maybe a year ago. Guvera helped a lot with this. Also reorganizing my playlists so that the jazz I've been collecting is always well represented on the ipod touch; these stats are only for what's on the ipod touch, not the whole library. Still, this is a significant shift.)
Mrs G started a new 13 week contract this morning, having 'retired' last summer. so more time to download and listen to music, contribute to emusers etc. One of my first tasks will be to go through some of the end of 2013 lists, particularly Jonah's on BiTW, to use up about 50 credits at emusic, as it is refresh day on Wednesday
New We Are All Ghosts. Reputedly "the soundtrack to a story that has yet to be told about the ill-fated sixth colony on Titan." If the goal was to produce something that sounded like classic abstract, high-brow Science Fiction music, mission accomplished. On the other hand, I'm at a loss to understand what kind of story this would be/have been based on the music itself. Each track is somewhat visual, but together they don't seem to create a larger picture. Perhaps I'll pull up some old Sci Fi--maybe Space 1999-to see how it syncs up. NYOP as usual.
Touch 33 - Islands Inbetween - A new series of vinyl and download only releases, "from the archives...". Islands Inbetween was originally released on cassette in 1983 [Touch # T33.2]. 3 tracks, by John Keliehor & Orlando Kimber, have been removed from this edition for copyright reasons. The second in this series, "Drumming for Creation" [Touch # T33.3V] will be released in the autumn...
- "Indonesians often use the name 'Nusantara', meaning 'the islands in-between', when referring to the archipelago that forms their Republic. This cassette covers only some of the cultural activity on Java and Bali, the best known islands out of the 13,700 counted by statisticians, so it is not intended to be in any way definitive. The selections are more like musical postcards of two cultures balanced between tradition and tourism."
- Philip Jeck says: " This is one of the best productions of vinyl I have ever come across: superb cut and brilliant pressing - I am really impressed!" Touch Music 2012
Having bought the Robbie Williams CD in a supermarket this morning and this an hour later in a charity shop at a third of the price, I know which vocalist is the best!!
Only listening to this for a few more minutes, though. About time to head home to take over parental duties. All public schools in the state are closed due to the cold, so my son's Montessori school is closed too. It's kind of brutal out, but my phone says it has warmed all the way up to -17 F, or about 5 degrees warmer than when I came into the office a few hours ago. So I've got that going for me. Which is...nice?
Comments
- "Medea by Calliope Tsoupaki is the first in a series of chamber music compositions focusing on drama; a melodrama for 8 instruments. The composition is written for Ensemble MAE, that distinguishes itself for its colourful, direct, physical and improvisatory character. Tsoupaki uses the ensemble's palette, composing solos, duets, trios, wrapped in larger sonic fields, with a strong associative and visual impact. Further there is no story-telling for the listener to be led into the piece; the music material itself is suggestive, and the melodies have a leading role, as characters in a theater play. Coming back as in different scenes in a film, each time changed and transformed, they are the vectors of tangible dramatic development.
Next to an exploration of the myth, Medea attempts to compose a self-portrait, the composer briefly shedding light onto a deep, unspoken part of herself. Pasolini's Medea was an inspiration for writing this piece, and most of all Maria Callas in the role of Medea, so tragic that she did not sing a word.
- Unsounds
followed by
Thanks, GP. Nice morning music.
Afro-Arabic Jazz: oud and djembe. Good improvisations, but the rhythm section does an excellent job with the compound time signatures. NYOP
Previously:
A quirky romp through NOLA jazz. Fun. NYOP.
This album lingered on my eMu S4L for years...It is beautiful, what was I waiting for? Horace's last album, with Ray Drummond and Billy Hart.
- The excellent Denovali comp.
ETA:
Menlo Park Recordings - 7005 - recorded 4.11.95, released August, 1997
lp and compact disc - 2 tracks - 27 minutes 50 seconds
Keiji Haino (guitar)
Loren MazzaCane Connors (guitar)
1.Taken From Soundcheck (15:29)
2.Taken from Performance (12:22)
Mohammad - Som Sakrifis
- "Following on from their previous releases (the highly regarded 'Roto Vildblomma' CD and the 'Spiriti' 3LP box, both on Antifrost) 'Som Sakrifis' follows the trio through three tracks of deep space experimentation where the acoustic and electronic blend together as a monumental whole. Listening to 'Som Sakrifis' takes the listener on an expansive journey through the netherworld of the low range whilst retaining distinct traces of musicality. The time and space in these works have a logic more akin to that of Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr than any contemporary music references. Monumental monochromatic movement is the order of the day. Sit back, strap in and let these fine explorers take you way out into the nether world."
- http://www.pan-act.com/ - Touching Extremes review
MOHAMMAD
- " is a chamber music trio consisting of Coti K (contrabass), ILIOS (oscillators) and Nikos Veliotis (cello). Based in Greece, Mohammad make long form work drone works that explore the lower end of the frequency spectrum whilst retaining an intense emotional capacity. The results are monumental slow moving physical blocks of sound, both daunting and musical. The sheer weight of these recordings is impressive, the interplay of the musicians and instruments staggering, this end result being an album rich with immense harmonious abstraction which highlights years of dedication to their unique path.
Soundcloud - http://www.mohammad.gr
- "Smash the Hegemony of Dance. Stand still. Pere Ubu return with their first new studio album for over three years in January 2013, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the group's debut (The Modern Dance). Lady From Shanghai is to be released on new label Fire Records (home to Guided by Voices, Mission of Burma, Giant Sand, Bailterspace, Josephine Foster and many others). The album ushers in a new era in the history of Pere Ubu, with David Thomas and band continuing to provoke and shock listeners, further establishing them as one of the most innovative, progressive and important bands of all time.
Lady from Shanghai is an album of dance music - it is the Ubu Dance Party.
"The dancer is the puppet of the dance," says singer David Thomas. "It's long past time somebody puts an end to this abomination. Lady From Shanghai has fixed the problem.
"What is the problem? Dance encourages the body to move without permission."
An accompanying book 'Chinese Whispers: The Making of Lady From Shanghai' will be launched around the same time, extensively exploring the ideas and methods behind the recording.
The Pere Ubu project was supposed to be an end, not a beginning. Assembled in August 1975 to be the Crosby Stills Nash & Young of the Cleveland music underground, the plan was to record one, maybe two singles and exist no more. Within months, however, those first self-produced records were being snapped up in London, Paris, Manchester, New York and Minneapolis. Pere Ubu was changing the face of rock music.
Over the next 34 years they defined the art of cult; refined the voice of the outsider; and inspired the likes of Joy Division, Pixies, Husker Du, Henry Rollins, REM, Sisters of Mercy, Thomas Dolby, Bauhaus, Julian Cope and countless others.
Pere Ubu make a music that is a disorienting mix of midwestern groove rock, "found" sound, analog synthesizers, falling-apart song structures and careening vocals. It is a mix that has mesmerized critics, musicians and fans for decades.
Singer David Thomas named the band after the protagonist of Ubu Roi, a play by Frenchman Alfred Jarry."
- Fire Records - http://ubuprojex.net/
A Five and Dime Ship - The Way it All Would End
A significant milestone was reached in my listening habits this week with a change to the #1 slot:
(Jazz was about 7% maybe a year ago. Guvera helped a lot with this. Also reorganizing my playlists so that the jazz I've been collecting is always well represented on the ipod touch; these stats are only for what's on the ipod touch, not the whole library. Still, this is a significant shift.)
Downloaded free from Amazon UK
Mrs G started a new 13 week contract this morning, having 'retired' last summer. so more time to download and listen to music, contribute to emusers etc. One of my first tasks will be to go through some of the end of 2013 lists, particularly Jonah's on BiTW, to use up about 50 credits at emusic, as it is refresh day on Wednesday
Sublime meditative solopiano
New We Are All Ghosts. Reputedly "the soundtrack to a story that has yet to be told about the ill-fated sixth colony on Titan." If the goal was to produce something that sounded like classic abstract, high-brow Science Fiction music, mission accomplished. On the other hand, I'm at a loss to understand what kind of story this would be/have been based on the music itself. Each track is somewhat visual, but together they don't seem to create a larger picture. Perhaps I'll pull up some old Sci Fi--maybe Space 1999-to see how it syncs up. NYOP as usual.
Touch 33 - Islands Inbetween
- A new series of vinyl and download only releases, "from the archives...". Islands Inbetween was originally released on cassette in 1983 [Touch # T33.2]. 3 tracks, by John Keliehor & Orlando Kimber, have been removed from this edition for copyright reasons. The second in this series, "Drumming for Creation" [Touch # T33.3V] will be released in the autumn...
- "Indonesians often use the name 'Nusantara', meaning 'the islands in-between', when referring to the archipelago that forms their Republic. This cassette covers only some of the cultural activity on Java and Bali, the best known islands out of the 13,700 counted by statisticians, so it is not intended to be in any way definitive. The selections are more like musical postcards of two cultures balanced between tradition and tourism."
- Philip Jeck says: " This is one of the best productions of vinyl I have ever come across: superb cut and brilliant pressing - I am really impressed!"
Touch Music 2012
Nmperign + Dörner - Beins, then
Nmperign - Ommatidia
/Surfboard
Tom Recchion - Takemitsu Loops 1
- "One of several loop exercises using the music of the great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu."
Having bought the Robbie Williams CD in a supermarket this morning and this an hour later in a charity shop at a third of the price, I know which vocalist is the best!!
The latest - Good deal at eMu
Only listening to this for a few more minutes, though. About time to head home to take over parental duties. All public schools in the state are closed due to the cold, so my son's Montessori school is closed too. It's kind of brutal out, but my phone says it has warmed all the way up to -17 F, or about 5 degrees warmer than when I came into the office a few hours ago. So I've got that going for me. Which is...nice?
Sigh.
Craig