On first listen, the eight double basses of Stronghold stunned me...Henry Flynt is a philosopher and avant-garde musician... Town with No Cheer is the cover version by actress Scarlett Johansson. I honestly like this; on the other hand, her version of I Wish I Was in New Orleans is bizarre...I listened to almost no Thelonious Monk today.
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...
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