#4444, Musical Kaleidoscopes
Hear kaleidoscopic music that takes an anything goes approach, with works that draw on and mix together lots of musical styles from chamber music to prog rock, spiritual jazz to electronics and motoric minimalism. Listen to new music by Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, a brightly colored piece from Tyondai Braxton (perhaps reminiscent of music by Frank Zappa), and work by JG Thirlwell and Simon Steenland.
From Marfa, TX–based "multidisciplinary abstractivist" Rob Mazurek, hear some of his pieces for the Exploding Star Orchestra from the 2020 record Dimensional Stardust. Arranged for eleven top-notch musicians from the International Anthem constellation of artists - Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, Jaimie Branch, Joel Ross, Mikel Patrick Avery, Tomeka Reid, Chad Taylor, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Macie Stewart, Angelica Sanchez, and John Herndon – the works, with lyrics commissioned from Damon Locks, bring together influences from Béla Bartók to Sun Ra, and Morton Feldman to The Art Ensemble of Chicago, (Nonesuch Records.)
Also, Brooklyn-based composer/producer/performer JG Thirlwell (Foetus, Manorexia, Xordox) - is the composer for both the animated TV series Archer and Venture Bros. Together with Swedish multi-instrumentalist and theater music composer Simon Steensland, they released the largely instrumental Oscillospira, a record of "dark chamber prog with a cinematic bent, with a smattering of eerie choral parts," (Bandcamp.) Listen to some of those tracks from their 2020 record named after an under-studied anaerobic bacteria.
Also, hear “Platinum Rows,” boisterous and explosive music which bursts with cartoonish whimsy by composer Tyondai Braxton. Braxton, who is the son of composer Anthony Braxton, is a guitarist, keyboardist and former member of Battles, although, as Daniel Stephen Johnson writes, Braxton’s musical works “sound more like a long-lost son of Zappa, his compositions as gaily colored, as rigidly constructed, and as outrageously, extravagantly pop as a life-size sculpture in Lego blocks.” Plus, there’s music where motorik minimalism mixes with Bartok and Arvo Pärt by Belgian band Univers Zero, which also alludes to H.P. Lovecraft. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4444, Musical Kaleidoscopes (First Aired 12/22/2020)
ARTIST: Ensemble Modern
WORK: Frank Zappa: What Would Rumi Do [1:00]
RECORDING: Greggery Peccary And Other Persuasions
SOURCE: RCA Red Seal 82876-59842
INFO: Out of print. | ensemble-modern.com
ARTIST: Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra
WORK: A Wrinkle In Time Sets Concentric Circles Reeling [6:28]
RECORDING: Dimensional Stardust
SOURCE: International Anthem / Nonesuch Records
INFO: intlanthem.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra
WORK: Galaxy 1000 [3:29]
RECORDING: Dimensional Stardust
SOURCE: International Anthem / Nonesuch Records
INFO: intlanthem.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Brian Woodbury Variety Orchestra
WORK: Venice, Italy [8:48]
RECORDING: Variety Orchestra
SOURCE: ReR/Some Phil Records
INFO: brianwoodbury.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland
WORK: Mare [7:36]
RECORDING: Oscillospira
SOURCE: Ipecac Recordings
INFO: jgthirlwellsimonsteensland.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland
WORK: Crystal Night [3:57]
RECORDING: Oscillospira
SOURCE: Ipecac Recordings
INFO: jgthirlwellsimonsteensland.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Univers Zero
WORK: La Tete Du Corbeau [3:57]
RECORDING: Ceux du Dehors
SOURCE: Cuneiform Records
INFO: universzero.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Ensemble Modern
WORK: Frank Zappa: Night School [1:00]
RECORDING: Greggery Peccary And Other Persuasions
SOURCE: RCA Red Seal 82876-59842
INFO: Out of print. | ensemble-modern.com
ARTIST: Tyondai Braxton
WORK: Platinum Rows [10:25]
RECORDING: Central Market
SOURCE: Warp Records WARPCD 184
INFO: warp.net
