A few short things before the weekend. I know I'm lagging on my recap of the Xiu Xiu/Shearwater/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone show -- the hosting hijinx earlier in the week really threw me for a loop -- but I do have a few small items for you today.
First -- Calla, Dirty on Purpose, and the newly-retooled Sugar Report take the stage at the Bowery Ballroom Saturday night. The Sugar Report's demos are enough to make us want to see if they can bring it (you know, "it" being that je ne sais quois that the best bands have live) on a bill with two bands that are pretty formidable performance machines. We'll let you know how it goes.
Secondly -- A friend sent me an interesting article, which you may or may not have seen around the interpipe, about violin virtuoso Joshua Bell's experiment with The Washington Post. They asked him to busk with his Stradivarius violin in a busy DC subway station to see what happened when a master of his caliber graced a more humble venue than a vaunted concert hall. Would people notice? Or would it not even register? The results didn't really surprise me all that much -- now that I live in a city constructed atop a massive public transportation system, nothing that happens in a subway station gives me pause. Anyway, I'd like to posit that this is some of the best writing about music, just in general, that I've read in quite some time. I was moved to tears a few times. You'll see -- I have a feeling that if you're reading this, you're the kind of person who'd be touched by it as well.
I wasn't able to get an mp3 of Bell's recording of one of the pieces in the article (though you can watch a video of his performance at the article link) -- Bach's Chaconne from the Partita No. 2 in D Minor -- but I did find another fiery virtuoso's version...
Lara St. John -- Bach's Chaccone from Partitia No. 2 in D minor. [site]
Thirdly -- I'd forgotten how great lovefingers is. (Recent posts: Michael Moorcock's Deep Fix! Tuxedomoon! METALLICA!! A Kid Creole remix! All in one week!) I'm super bummed that I missed his dj sets here in NYC in February. Ooops.
Fourthly -- James Green Peaness has a great review of the self-titled Voxtrot record. As a preview of coming attractions, I suppose I should let you know that my opinions are pretty much aligned with his. VXTST (hey, I just made that up -- I like it as an abbreviation!!) isn't a collection of jangly, light-hearted singles -- it's a hefty bildugsroman-esque (Though, Pinkie tells me that maybe it's more Künstlerroman-y. Smartypants!) album, which I think is pretty neat. I have a weakness for what I call "thinly-veiled semi-autobiographical coming-of-age" novels -- you know, the kind of thing that lots of promising writers put out as their first effort (everything from To Kill a Mockingbird to Less Than Zero to The Mysteries of Pittsburgh to Special Topics in Calamity Physics follow this literary trope -- there are countless others), and most never get around to following up? Yeah, those. That's what the Voxtrot record is like, in a way. (Except I surely hope there will be an exceptional followup!) Anyway, this will make more sense later, I promise.
YOUR OFFICIAL PARTY TRACKS OF TAX WEEKEND, BTW or, I'm cleaning out things I've wanted to post for months now:
Pull Tiger Tail -- Let's Lightning [ myspace ]
The Longcut -- Idiot Check [ myspace ]
Beyoncé -- Irreplaceable (Dances With White Girls RMX) [ remixer ]
Herbert -- The Audience (Martinez Cosmic Re-Edit) [ remixer ]
First -- Calla, Dirty on Purpose, and the newly-retooled Sugar Report take the stage at the Bowery Ballroom Saturday night. The Sugar Report's demos are enough to make us want to see if they can bring it (you know, "it" being that je ne sais quois that the best bands have live) on a bill with two bands that are pretty formidable performance machines. We'll let you know how it goes.
Secondly -- A friend sent me an interesting article, which you may or may not have seen around the interpipe, about violin virtuoso Joshua Bell's experiment with The Washington Post. They asked him to busk with his Stradivarius violin in a busy DC subway station to see what happened when a master of his caliber graced a more humble venue than a vaunted concert hall. Would people notice? Or would it not even register? The results didn't really surprise me all that much -- now that I live in a city constructed atop a massive public transportation system, nothing that happens in a subway station gives me pause. Anyway, I'd like to posit that this is some of the best writing about music, just in general, that I've read in quite some time. I was moved to tears a few times. You'll see -- I have a feeling that if you're reading this, you're the kind of person who'd be touched by it as well.
I wasn't able to get an mp3 of Bell's recording of one of the pieces in the article (though you can watch a video of his performance at the article link) -- Bach's Chaconne from the Partita No. 2 in D Minor -- but I did find another fiery virtuoso's version...
Lara St. John -- Bach's Chaccone from Partitia No. 2 in D minor. [site]
Thirdly -- I'd forgotten how great lovefingers is. (Recent posts: Michael Moorcock's Deep Fix! Tuxedomoon! METALLICA!! A Kid Creole remix! All in one week!) I'm super bummed that I missed his dj sets here in NYC in February. Ooops.
Fourthly -- James Green Peaness has a great review of the self-titled Voxtrot record. As a preview of coming attractions, I suppose I should let you know that my opinions are pretty much aligned with his. VXTST (hey, I just made that up -- I like it as an abbreviation!!) isn't a collection of jangly, light-hearted singles -- it's a hefty bildugsroman-esque (Though, Pinkie tells me that maybe it's more Künstlerroman-y. Smartypants!) album, which I think is pretty neat. I have a weakness for what I call "thinly-veiled semi-autobiographical coming-of-age" novels -- you know, the kind of thing that lots of promising writers put out as their first effort (everything from To Kill a Mockingbird to Less Than Zero to The Mysteries of Pittsburgh to Special Topics in Calamity Physics follow this literary trope -- there are countless others), and most never get around to following up? Yeah, those. That's what the Voxtrot record is like, in a way. (Except I surely hope there will be an exceptional followup!) Anyway, this will make more sense later, I promise.
YOUR OFFICIAL PARTY TRACKS OF TAX WEEKEND, BTW or, I'm cleaning out things I've wanted to post for months now:
Pull Tiger Tail -- Let's Lightning [ myspace ]
The Longcut -- Idiot Check [ myspace ]
Beyoncé -- Irreplaceable (Dances With White Girls RMX) [ remixer ]
Herbert -- The Audience (Martinez Cosmic Re-Edit) [ remixer ]
Labels: calla, dirty on purpose, exemplary music writing, joshua bell, party tracks, the sugar report, voxtrot
posted by cindy hotpoint at 6:00:00 PM
10 Comments:
I am digging the new logo/banner!
Thank you! I'm still tweaking it, but I'm calling it the "Ooh la la Sassoon!" version. Boy, does that date me or what?
MP3s won't download for me... shame, I fancied listening to some of the old PTT before I catch them live! x
thanks for linking the joushua bell article, really interesting.
<3
Great Wash Post article. I lived in DC for a significant while, and I wasn't surprised, at all, that only few people stopped. Sure, "context matters;" who expects a Joshua Bell in the Metro?
But then context matters in a different way. This article says heaps about DC. People would stop in NYC; too many musicians in the commuting crowd, too many people unafraid of art, too many refined ears who can pick up the subtle diff between a hack and the real thing, even if they can't name it.
But DC? Land of the Dockers and white nylons. The majority of it remains a cultural garbage basket of middlebrow tastes, especially l'Enfant plaza (maybe in Dupont he'd be more recognized, being a classical music heartthrob). You can't see a decent art flick there anymore. When I lived there in the early nineties, I could go see Low or GBV in an empty club. PJ Harvey couldn't sell out. It was too comical to be depressing.
There's an older saxophonist here in nyc I see sometimes; he interprets Gershwin, mostly, but I once heard something from Yusef Lateef's Eastern Sounds, and he riffed away from it. He's amazing. The real thing. And probably one of 20+ unemployed and broke jazz-also-rans in NYC. I also see a short dude who plays 'redemption song' with his back-amp and guitar on the F all the time; he's horrible. But he should move to DC - he'd be playing halls in no time.
That's me above, btw; that's what I get for using the wife's laptop and forgetting to sign in ...
-again, thanks for that article
mp3s won't download for me...
either way great site, not sure how I stumbled onto you but I'm glad I did. great article link!
tried downloading the herbert track a few times...it's actually the beyonce track mislabeled just an fyi
ack, i'm just batting 1000 huh? that's what i get for trying to fix these things in a rush. i'm on it now. should be cleared up soon -- thanks for letting me know!
Wikipedia's entry on the Bach piece links to an absolutely breathtaking Youtube clip (sliced in 2, alas) of Jascha Heifetz performing it. One man, a violin and a studio is all you need to create heaven on earth.
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