New Sounds Listings for August 2008 and some of September 2008

8/1.
#2625.
Spirituals, New Sounds-style. Birdsongs of the Mesozoic & Oral Moses: Extreme Spirituals; The Klezmatics & Joshua Nelson: Brother Moses Smote The Water; Joel Chadabe: Spirituals.

8/2.
#2574.
West African Snap. Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra: Boulevard de l’Independence; World Sax Quartet: West African Snap; Amadou Kierou Et Son Ensemble Fotekan: Taabali; others.

8/3.
#2576.
California Ambient. Lush and lyrical combinations of acoustic and electronic keyboards from Phillip Schroeder, Harold Budd, and Daniel Lentz.

8/4.
#2626.
“Preaching to the Converted.” New music built around the sounds of preachers. David Byrne & Brian Eno: Help Me Somebody; Steve Reich: It’s Gonna Rain; John Adams: American Standard; Matthew Patton: Speaking In Tongues.

8/5.
#2629.
Chamber jazz. Gato Libre: Nomad; Tin Hat Trio: Helium; Bill Frisell: Quartet; etc.

8/6.
#2630.
From the New Sounds Live concerts at Merkin Hall, the famed early music vocal quartet Anonymous 4 joins with violinist Darol Anger and guitarist Scott Nygaard to perform early American folk hymns, spirituals, and Shape Note songs. Part 1 of 2.

8/7.
#2631.
John McDowell and the Born Into Brothels Ensemble, a top-shelf group of world music players, perform music from the stirring documentary film “Born Into Brothels” in the WNYC studio.

8/8.
#2635.
Gabriel Yared & Underworld: Breaking And Entering; Mark Orton: Sweet Land; Guy Buttery: Spontaneous Combustion; Igor Leonardi: Sangeeta; others.

8/9.
#2578.
Not-so-simple Songs. Lee Feldman: My and My Sarah Remaining; Ed Pastorini: Strange Lures; Peter Gabriel: Here Comes The Flood; Susanne Abbuehl: In the Dark Pine-woods; Alexa Babakhanian: In The Garden; and more.

8/10.
#2579.
Unexpected Strings – music with zither, computer-altered guitar, pedal steel, and more. Dan Joseph: Archaea; Erdem Helvacioglu: Altered Realities; Sasha Matson: Steel Chords.

8/11.
#2632.
Musical Landscapes, featuring Kronos Quartet and Scottish post-rockers Mogwai performing the Clint Mansell score to the film “Fountains”; Robert Fripp’s electric guitar Soundscape performance at New Sounds Live in 1999; and “Map in Hand” by the group Seaworthy.

8/12.
#2831.
“Electric” music. Works that make use of the actual sounds of electricity, whether man-made or naturally occurring. Christine Southworth uses the sounds of a Van Der Graaf Generator and two Tesla Coils in her collection called “Zap!” Annie Gosfield and Terry Riley look at the charged sounds made beyond the earth’s atmosphere. And Johanna Beyer, an overlooked figure from the 1930s, is represented by a celestial work for early electric instruments.

8/13.
#2634.
From the New Sounds Live concerts at Merkin Hall, the famed early music vocal quartet Anonymous 4 joins with violinist Darol Anger and guitarist Scott Nygaard to perform early American folk hymns, spirituals, and Shape Note songs. Part 2 of 2.

8/14.
#2832.
Links in a musical chain: a series of recordings linked by shared personnel. John Surman: Sunday Morning; Pierre Favre: Mort d’Eurydice; Michel Godard & Monks of Liguge Abbey: Repons; Hilliard Ensemble & Jan Garbarek: Officium.

8/15.
#2833.
New music inspired by Bach. Steve Martland: Crossing the Border; Erkki-Sven Tüür: Lighthouse.

8/16.
#2580.
Almost Jazz. Sex Mob: Sexotica; Jason Moran: The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things; Frisell/Carter/Motion: Pretty Polly.

8/17.
#2581.
Ambient music. Brian Eno: Lantern Marsh; K. Leimer: Statistical Truth; Fonica: 4:55; Michael Jon Fink: I Hear It In The Rain.

8/18.
#2834.
Reworkings of old folk songs, including several from The Carter Family, in renditions by Justin Adams, Carla Kihlstedt, Bill Frisell, and Joel Harrison. Also, Nico Muhly: The Only Tune.

8/19.
#2687.
Lou Harrison: Solstice; John Adams: Violin Concerto, Finale; Colin McPhee: Tabuh Tabuhan, excerpt.

8/20.
#2835.
Another musical travelogue, with stops in Tokyo, Berlin, Bandung (Java), and other ports of call, courtesy of Max Richter, Ute Lemper, Sabah Habas Mustapha, Gato Libre, and more.

8/21.
#2688.
Covers of rock songs. Classical pianist Christopher O’Riley arranges Radiohead’s “Pyramid Song” for cello and piano; Angelique Kidjo from Benin, West Africa, takes on Ravel’s Bolero; the Persuasions sing U2 a cappella; and more.

8/22.
#2836.
A Left Off the Silk Road. Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble explores music from the ancient and exotic lands of the Central Asian trade route. Several members of that ensemble have formed a string quartet based in the ancient and exotic land of Brooklyn. Called Brooklyn Rider, the group plays music from Armenia, Iran, and Brooklyn; also, music from the Silk Road Ensemble.

8/23.
#2582.
New Music from Argentina. Gabriela: El Viaje; Juana Molina: Son; guitar ensemble Zum plays Astor Piazzolla; music by Dino Saluzzi, Gaby Kerpel, and more.

8/24.
#2583.
World music Kayhan Kalhor & Erdim Erzincan: The Wind; Varttina: Vihma; Hazmat Bodine & Huun-Huur-Tu: It Calls Me.

8/25.
#2689.
Electronic music. K. Leimer: Useless Lesson; Linda Buckley: In the beginning there was; Arve Henriksen: Strjon; Gregory Taylor: Gulu; others.

8/26.
#2690.
Music for multiple guitars. Son De La Frontera: Cal; John Williams & John Etheridge: Places Between; Erik Mongrain: Fates; Alexandra Gardner: Luminoso; Heliopause: Bow Shock and Interlude; others.

8/27.
#2691.
The Romanian Connection. Klezmatics: Violin Doyna; Osvaldo Golijov: Night Of The Flying Horses; Taraf de Haidouks: A La Turk; Luminescent Orchestrii: Taraf Hijacked; others.

8/28.
#2692.
Kamikaze Ground Crew and friends. One of New York’s all-star new music bands, separately and together. Kamikaze Ground Crew: S’Albufera; Sex Mob: Martin Denny; Trio S: Majorca; Gina Leishman: Come Away Death; Ann Dyer and the No Good Time Fairies: Rain; Les Miserables Brass Band: Manic Depression; Steven Bernstein: Mazinka; and more.

8/29.
#2828.
Our monthly program of new releases.

8/30.
#2584.
Songs for voice and large ensemble. John Harle: Terror & Magnificence; John Hollenbeck and the Jazz Big Band Graz: Joys & Desires; Osvaldo Golijov: Ariadne In Her Labyrinth.

8/31.
#2585.
A World of Prayer. Works that don’t follow a single religious tradition but blend sacred elements from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. David Fanshawe: Kyrie/Call To Prayer; Sondre Bratland & Javed Bashir: Dialogue; Rabbi Haim Louk & Arab-Andalousian Orchestra of Fez: Rah Makain Khir; Kudsi Erguner Ensemble: Efendimsin; Lama Gyurme & Jean-Philippe Rykiel: Hope For Enlightenment; Philip Glass: Open The Kingdom.

September 2008

9/1. #2586. Instrumental Crossovers – music that straddles the borders between instrumental post-rock and chamber music. Marcelo Zarvos: Nepomuk’s Dances; Penguin Café Orchestra: Rosasolis; Daniel Figgis: Alison Creaking; Yo La Tengo: Daphnia; Explosions In The Sky: Your Hand In Mine.

9/2. #2838. Music by John Zorn. The MacArthur Fellow, sax player, composer, and record label founder is one of the central figures on the NY “downtown scene.” Today is his birthday.

9/3. #2693. Site-specific music. Paul Horn: Taj Mahal; Robert Fripp: Soundscape; La Monte Young: Well-Tuned Piano, excerpt; Alvin Lucier: I Am Sitting In A Room; Paul Winter: Crestone.

9/4. #2839. The global sounds of Appalachia. Traditional songs from the Appalachian mountains meet the traditions of Mali, China, and beyond. Jayme Stone & Mansa Sissoko: Africa To Appalachia; Wu Man & Lee Knight: I’m Going Back To North Carolina; Boone/Rothenberg/Velez: I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow; and more.

9/5. #2840. Orchestral songs. Once the province of classical or “adult contemporary” singers, the orchestra is increasingly being heard backing up adventurous rockers. We’ll hear Thomas Feiner, Bjork, David Sylvian, Kate Bush, Joanna Newsom, and Anne Ternheim, among others.

9/6. #2587, “Afroblues.” Taj Mahal and the Culture Musical Club of Zanzibar: Catfish Blues; Brad Barr: Bouba’s Bounce; Bill Frisell: Boubacar; Boubacar Traore: Kavana; others.

9/7. #2588. Composer Mikel Rouse presents music from the third of his trilogy of groundbreaking music/theater pieces, “The End of Cinematics.”

9/8. #2841. Islamic, Christian, and Jewish music from the Middle East. Including a performance by Sheik Ahmed Al-Tuni from Upper Egypt, recorded live at the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music; Sister Marie Keyrouz from Lebanon; and cantor Emil Zrihan.

9/9. #2696. Indie chamber music. Slow Six: Nor’easter; Oak: Spokes; Redhooker: Animus; Andrew Sterman: The Path to Peace; Nels Cline Singers: Something About David H.

9/10. #2842. EuroMinimalism, part 1. Though it developed in the States, Minimalism has spread, and now post-minimal music can be heard on both sides of the Atlantic. We’ll hear music by Hauschka, Howard Skempton, Max Richter, the Penguin Café Orchestra, Wim Mertens, and more.

9/11. #2843. EuroMinimalism, part 2. A followup to last night’s show, with minimal and post-minimal music from Michael Nyman, Anton Batagov, Ludovio Einaudi, Nik Bärtsch, and others.

9/12. #2695. English composer Roger Marsh has taken the collection of poems known as “Pierrot Lunaire” and composed an ambitious song cycle for solo voices, chorus, and instruments. A vastly different work from Arnold Schoenberg’s landmark piece of the same name, and one worth discovering.

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