aworks :: "new" american classical music

aworks notable :: "hotttest" #drone artists #echonest

Echo Nest has a new demo where you can pick a genre, see the "hotttest" artist for that genre, and then play those selections via rdio. The classical genre is boring; drone (as follows) less so, even if you don't normally associate these artists with drone. 

This reminds me of the somewhat diverse set of artists on the Roots of Drone collection. Anyway, the Echonest "hotttest" drone artists:

1. Mountains
2. Om
3. Swans
4. Electric Wizard
5. Sleep
6. Neurosis
7. Grouper
8. Iannis Xenakis
9. Benoit Pioulard
10. Stars of the Lid
11. Steve Reich
12. Barn Owl
13. Tim Hecker
14. Moondog
15. Sunn O)))
16. Jóhann Jóhannsson
17. Loscil
18. Ben Frost
19. William Basinski
20. Earth
21. Philip Glass
22. Eluvium
23. Moss
24. Belong
25. Ufomammut
26. Alva Noto
27. Christopher Bissonnette
28. Harrty Partch
29. Æthenor 
30. John Cage
31. Cough
32. Old Man Gloom
33. Terry Riley
34. Indian
35. Bong
36. Marsen Jules
37. Yob
38. The Dead Texan
39. Black Dice
40. Gavin Bryars
41. Pauline Oliveros
42. Fennesz
43. Final
44. The Angelic Process
45. Sylvain Chauveau
46. Edgard Varèse 
47. Arthur Russell
48. Whitehorse
49. Oval
50. Yellow Swans

Related articles

Getting the Hotttest Artists in any genre with The Echo Nest API

aworks notable listening :: #3 /strangely sweet/

John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994). John Adams @AttaccaQuartet #alligator #macys

Chris McGovern interviews the Attacca Quartet on playing John Adams' Book of Alleged Dances:

It also helps to read John’s notes about each of the dances, which are rather enigmatically titled, to know what he had in mind for each of them. One particularly good example is “Alligator Escalator,” where John envisioned an alligator awkwardly crawling up the escalators from the basement of Macy’s department store all the way to the top floor, eliciting screams from children and astonishment from adults.

I misread that. I thought the children were astonished and the adults scared.

The Gospel According to the Other Mary (2012). John Adams #enduring #certitude

Brian Dickie on the new Adams oratorio:

This thing will endure there is no doubt. 

Einstein on the Beach (1975). Philip Glass #figurative

From watching Einstein on the Beach:

One can’t really figure out much about Einstein or his works except that perhaps he loved trains and paper planes, he played the violin, and his works has something to do with nuclear bomb.

aworks operational note :: #peakgoogle

After recently ranting about Microsoft, again I'm disturbed by a high tech company...

First, I should admit I'm a heavy user of the soon-to-be-abandoned Google Reader:

And I was starting to warm up to Google in other ways: I'm still using my original Chromebook from several years ago and was probably going to buy another one. I switched from Apple iPhone to a Samsung Note 2 running Google Android, and liked the experience. I also was impressed to see the Google self-driving cars, a half-dozen times in the last three months.

On the other hand, Google Search, at least when it comes to looking for information about specific works of classical music got much worse over the last decade, as the results were overrun with links to buying said music, rather than learning about it. Unfortunately, Google removed the option to easily remove shopping sites from the list. Oh well. 

And like many, I've found twitter and Facebook far more useful than Google+. 

But I'm particularly surprised at my visceral reaction to the announcement of retiring Google Reader. As I drove past the Google Quad on my way to work this morning, I turned and booed the company sign. 

I survived the acqusition of lala by Apple, although neither rdio nor Spotify have since matched that user experience.

Presumably, I'll eventually find an alternative way to read and collect RSS feeds by July. But Google burned any good will I was feeling for the company.

 

Related articles

Google Reader was a Google Pigpen product

Transitioning from Google Reader to feedly

Google Reader, please don't go -- I need you to do my job

Google Reader is dying

Google Reader Won't Ride Off Quietly into The Sunset

Radio Rewrite (2012). Steve Reich #originality

It's only my first listen but I had exactly the same reaction:

Can't wait to be downvoted, but I was pretty disappointed with this piece. I like Radiohead, as Radiohead, and Reich as Reich much better. This piece did not move me as much as Reich's original compositions, or the original Radiohead songs.

Attaca Quartet - Fellow Traveler: The Complete String Quartet Works of John Adams (Azica Records) #2013

Here's an interesting Mardch release. I've heard it twice so far and this version of John's Book of Alleged Dances sounds particularly fresh and vivid. Also has Fellow Traveler and Adams' String Quartet.

Related articles

String Quartet (2009). John Adams /serious yet sheenful/

String Quartet (2008). John Adams /aworks is cranky/

aworks listening log :: enhanced by video

CCC 062 - Elena Ruehr

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). Danny Elfman

I'm listening to the the Oz movie soundtrack. So far, the only notable track is "Bad Witch." Wicked, the musical, is good, by the way.

 

Julie Steinberg - John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano (Music and Arts Programs of America)

I'm not entirely clear why this recording of Sonatas and Interludes  finally opened the door for me to the work. It's not particularly resonant and in fact, dry sounding. Hmm.

aworks listening log :: plus my musical taste obscurity level

1. Julie Steinberg - Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (Music and Arts Programs of America)
2. Dresher: Water Dreams / Other Fire / Stone, C.: Hop Ken / Wall Me Do / Demarinis: Kokole / I Want You (Music and Arts Programs of America)
3. Continuum - Robert Erickson: Recent Impressions (Naxos)
4. Four Tet - 0181 (Text Records) #2013
5. Randy Weston - Modern Art of Jazz (Stardust Records) #2013 
6. Cul De Sac - ECIM (Strange Attractors Audio House) 

By the way, I was mildly surprised my musical tastes aren't as obscure as I thought:

Listening 1439 times to Radiohead since 2005 turns out be mainstream behavior, even if I eventually stopped. Over the last twelve months, my obscurity level shoots up to 71% obscure.

Here's the artists I've heard the most over the last eight years, in decreasing order of obscurity (although not in decreasing order of quality):

1. Carl Stone 
2. George Antheil 
3. Anthony de Mare 
4. Bruce Brubaker 
5. David Lang 
6. Lou Harrison 
7. Conlon Nancarrow 
8. Alvin Lucier 
9. Keith Fullerton Whitman 
10. Nico Muhly 
11. Charles Ives 
12. Wooden Shjips 
13. Andrew Hill 
14. John Adams 
15. John Fahey 
16. Terry Riley 
17. John Cage 
18. Tinariwen 
19. Fairport Convention 
20. Ornette Coleman 
21. The Field 
22. Steve Reich 
23. Amadou & Mariam 
24. Tim Hecker 
25. Kronos Quartet 
26. Chick Corea 
27. Weather Report 
28. The Brian Jonestown Massacre 
29. Bernard Herrmann 
30. Captain Beefheart 
31. Charles Mingus 
32. Thelonious Monk 
33. Philip Glass 
34. Caribou 
35. Duke Ellington 
36. Four Tet 
37. John Coltrane 
38. Selena Gomez and the Scene 
39. Boards of Canada 
40. Aphex Twin 
41. Miles Davis 
42. Taylor Swift 
43. Bob Dylan 
44. Massive Attack 
45. Arctic Monkeys 
46. The Doors 
47. The Beatles 
48. The Rolling Stones 
49. Radiohead 

I don't know what to say about Charles Ives and Nico Muhly having about the same number of listeners.