On yet another trip to the San Francisco Palace of Recorded Arts, it occurred to me I buy lots of music and listen to lots of it. But most turns out to be ephemeral, uninteresting, unworthy of repeated listening, not really new etc. So now I'm going to see what happens when I log the music that really captures my attention:
- These Are My Twisted Words (2009). Radiohead
- The Little Match Girl Passion (2007). David Lang
- Utterance (2006-07). Yiheng Yvonne Wu
- My Very Empty Mouth (1999). David Lang
- Little Eye (1999). David Lang
- The Anvil Chorus (1991). David Lang
- The Cat (1964). Jimmy Smith
- Bemsha Swing (1952). Thelonious Monk
- In a Landscape (1948). John Cage
- Epistrophy (1941). Thelonious Monk
These Are My Twisted Words is a new (and free) download... Utterance is a mildly harsh yet satisfying piece for string quartet from an intriguing new CD, New Music from San Diego...David Lang's music is often unattractive on the surface but profoundly visceral the more I listen. Of course, The Little Match Girl Passion won the Pulitzer and has a December performance in SF...This YouTube of The Anvil Chorus by Ty Forquer rocks... The Cat nicely combines organ and big band....Ironically, In a Landscape is an ambient work that rewards without requiring close attention...I listened to 17 versions of Epistrophy the other day. I'm convinced Monk is half painstaking craftsman and half genius. And my favorite cover version is the one where Archie Shepp nonchalantly blows through the changes...
I've always found In a Landscape--and indeed the entire CD of the same name of Cage keyboard works performed by Stephen Drury--to be excellent, calming background music.
Posted by: David Adams | November 16, 2009 at 03:47 AM
Robert,
I discovered this blog while performing my regular "Google my own name and see what comes up" routine. Thanks for linking to my video. Blog looks very interesting. Keep up the good work.
Ty
Posted by: Tyforquer | December 22, 2009 at 11:42 AM