Archive for July, 2008
The Thrills and Spills of Opera: Finale!
Author: Melissa
Now comes the hour of departing, glad were I be were it not true: Fondest regards I’ll be imparting, one final fervent fond adieu….
No, I’m not quitting the blog crew. I am, however, mourning the end of the WCYOW’s 2008 season.”Pandora’s Box” had a very good run, and I hope a lot of you got to see us. Of course, the fun wasn’t secluded to the stage, especially on closing night.
read comments (0)PREX on Fox Business TV
Author: Brett
For those of you interested in seeing some prex publicity:
Wordless Music Series [Metropolis Ensemble/Deerhoof]
Author: Steven
This past Saturday marked another great concert in the Wordless Music Series that has been going on full-force this season. This event featured the Metropolis Ensemble under the direction of Andrew Cyr and the ever-entertaining band from San Francisco, Deerhoof.
The Thrills and Spills of Opera: Part 2!
Author: Melissa
Busy, Busy, Dreadfully Busy! That kind of describes opera rehearsals as of now. Read the rest of this entry »
17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur
Author: Anthony Medici
I eagerly anticipated the CD release of Bill Dixon’s “17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur,” recorded live at Vision Festival XII in New York in 2007, so I eager that I bought one of the first copies of the CD at this year’s Vision Festival XIII, right out of the box, before it even hit the stores or online sites. Maybe there was to much anticipation on my part. Having given it a first listen, I find myself discomfited and vaguely disappointed with Mr. Dixon’s composition and the CD itself. Read the rest of this entry »
A Midsummer Classic
Author: Dan Gephart
Listening to The Baseball Project’s Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails reminds me of the Traveling Wilburys. A group of artists from various groups join together to make an album that while not sonically adventurous has its share of passion.
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BEATLEMANIA AGAIN
Author: Leigh Silbernagel
A Public Service Announcement:
BEATLEMANIA AGAIN Live in Concert, July 16th. 2008. 8:00pm.
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[Monotonix/Crystal Antlers/]Cut Off Your Hands/Bear Hands
Author: Steven
Money is hard to come by when you’re a college student (and your parents aren’t sending you “allowances” for “spending money” because you make “necessary purchases” every week that require hundreds). So whenever I save up the requisite $22.50 to get a round trip to NYC, it’s a BIG DEAL (for me). Phones ring, Brooklyn floors are cleared for my crashing, and plans are made.
Well, don’t know if you’ve ever heard of this Todd P fella, but his shows are, seriously, a dream-come-true for kids (or adults) on a budget. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $7 for a show, and the bills are always about 3-4 bands. And it’s an all-ages deal…which is amazing so that kids under 18 can actually get to see live interesting stuff instead of sitting at home and watching MTV. This last Saturday had a 4-band bill…unfortunately, I was only able to see 2. And a half. Or something.
St Vincent at Clinton Castle, NYC - Jul 10, 2008
Author: Andy Sosnowski
I did not start out to write a series of reviews of women with musical muscles but it’s turned out that way. Here is the latest in the series about Alpha Females who make music with abandon.
St Vincent, fronted by Annie Clark, brought a 6 piece band including electric violin, flute, and French Horn. They made dynamic high-contrast music to go with their Black and White outfits. In this concert the live music sounded as good to me as the recordings; the songs were varied in style and mood. At times she wielded her electric guitar as mentioned before with abandon and force. She ends her songs unexpectedly and interestingly. Read the rest of this entry »
Julius C
Author: Carl Homrighausen
This is the tale of the most original new band I’ve encountered in recent memory. They come from Staten Island, and play shows throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. They’re called Julius C.
The Thrills and Spills of an Opera Rehearsal
Author: Melissa
Sorry for the delay. I haven’t been near a computer for a bit. Regardless, I carry on. Anyone who has any experience in musical performance knows that it’s not a simple task. There is lots of preparation to do and many hours are spent rehearsing, making sets, and choreographing dances. However, it doesn’t seem as meticulous as I am describing. In this entry, I would like to describe a typical rehearsal at the Westminster Youth Opera Workshop. Read the rest of this entry »
Barrington Levy
Author: Leigh Silbernagel
Barrington Levy
It’s the music you put on when you are homesick for Jamaica, when you want to feel the flava of the Caribbean, or when you are having a Jamaican themed party and need reggae in the background.
Montreal Jazz Festival - part two
Author: Andy Sosnowski
In this post I wanted to include a link to still more reviews from the Montreal Gazette of concerts I was unable to attend:
http://communities.canada.com/MONTREALGAZETTE/blogs/wordsandmusic/default.aspx
Also there are 2 local noteworthy bands that we saw:Gadji-Gadjo who play East European tunes. I endured the first blazing sun of the festival to watch them and they played a long set of stirring music to celebrate the sun. Read the rest of this entry »
Fleet Foxes
Author: Steven
Everyone can appreciate a beautiful voice. I don’t care what kind of music you are into…there is always THAT voice for each genre–that voice which, when you hear it for the first time, convinces you that there are few things more welcome to your ears.
Singers today come in a variety of singing abilities; I’ll admit that I enjoy the nasal whining/screaming of singers just as much as I do the beautiful crooning of a well-weathered singer/songwriter (more often than not, I like the former). But the trick for pulling off the “beautiful voice”-kind-of-music is to find the right combination of a beautiful voice and…well, kinda obviously, beautiful song-writing. I don’t think many would argue that the majority of American Idol contestants have great voices (my one requisite pop-culture reference for the year), but when it comes to their collective ability to write a beautiful album, I think that it’s safe to assume that it leaves something to be desired.
Fleet Foxes’s self-titled LP has that golden ratio of beautiful voices and song-writing. The perfect combination that kinda (embarrassingly) leaves your mouth hanging open for the first few minutes of the album while sitting by yourself in your local coffee shop. And it’s delicious…
Montreal Jazz Festival- part 1 - Jun 28-Jul 1
Author: Andy Sosnowski
Certainly one of the huge attractions of the festival so far has been the city as well as the music.
But lets start with the music;. The whole festival spans 11 days of which I will see 7 days worth. There are impressive names that come for reasonably priced concerts such as Gilberto Gil, McCoy Tyner, Taj Mahal and Keb Mo, Abbey Lincoln, Orchestra Baobab, Betty Levette, Brad Mehldau, Ladytron, Aretha Franklin, Richard Thompson, Steve Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra, Martin Sexton and Blind Boys of Alabama. Read the rest of this entry »
Music for Headphones
Author: Leigh Silbernagel
Music for Headphones
1 July 2008—By chance, I stumbled upon ‘Music For headphones” a psychedelic/ shoegaze/ experimental band out of Philadelphia, PA. This is a very creative and unique sounding band for people who want innovative and modern music.