She & Him: Volume One

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Melena Ryzik wrote in the New York Times: "On screen the actress Zooey Deschanel is often cast as the quirky naïf or the ironic wit, the kind of character too flustered or too eye-rollingly impatient to multitask. But in real life Ms. Deschanel is a natural hyphenate, an actress-musician-crafty girl. Now she is showcasing her harmony-loving side in a new band, She & Him, with the singer-songwriter-guitarist M. Ward. Their debut album, 'Volume One,' is a collection of vintage-sounding country-tinged songs written mostly by Ms. Deschanel and produced by Mr. Ward. Released last month on the indie label Merge Records, it has received surprised acclaim from magazines and blogs alike. … Though she was raised and lives amid celebrity in Los Angeles and has appeared in both hugely popular films ('Elf,' in which she briefly sang) and critical and cult favorites ('Almost Famous,' 'All the Real Girls'), it’s easy to imagine her puttering around a cozily decorated Williamsburg loft. She takes home doggie bags, prefers tights to spray-tans and uses David Bowie’s 'Changes' as her ring tone" ("Not Merely Acting like a Singer," 4/16/08).

Ry Cooder: My Name Is Buddy

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Contents: Suitcase in my hand — Cat and mouse — Strike! — J. Edgar — Footprints in the snow — Sundown town — Green dog — The dying truck driver — Christmas in Southgate — Hank Williams — Red cat till I die — Three chords and the truth — My name is Buddy — One cat, one vote, one beer — Cardboard Avenue — Farm girl — There's a bright side somewhere.
Billy Bragg told the New York Times: "Ry Cooder is probably my guitar hero, as much for what he doesn’t play as what he plays. … 'My Name Is Buddy' [Nonesuch] is up my street because it’s capital-P Political. It’s the story of the Depression told by a cat named Buddy. This does sound a bit odd — he travels around with a mouse and a frog — but it works and hangs together beautifully. There’s a lot of love in the songs; they fit well in the tradition. Woody Guthrie’s spirit runs through this record very strongly. Cooder plays stuff that we now refer to as Americana, but nobody called it that then. His excursions have been great, but for him to come back to where he began is pretty cool" (Winter Miller, "Playlist: Billy Bragg," 4/6/08).

Scout Niblett: This Fool Can Die Now

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Jeffrey Petrin wrote in Play: "Brooding, melancholic and atmospheric; these are just a few words that describe the music of Scout Niblett. Niblett, the English-born singer/songwriter who now calls Portland, Ore., home, has been writing and recording songs in the Cat Power and PJ Harvey vein for the past seven years. Known for her style of music as much as her somewhat quirky ways, Niblett's music is truly captivating — her live shows mesmerizing. … This Fool Can Die Now showcases an artist who appears to be in flux; there is an underlying feeling of frustration and defeat, combined with the sheer and utter beauty of her music. 'I guess my sound is pretty dynamic in terms of volume,' Niblett explains. 'There's kind of a lot of levels going on there. I think my music's quite driven by vocals and what I'm singing about rather than the music. I'd say it's kind of vocally led, I kind of see it as blues or soul music in my head.' … This Fool Can Die Now features a handful of songs with indie-folk rock artist Will 'Bonnie "Prince" Billy' Oldham (who also has gone by the Palace and Palace Brothers monikers in the past)" (4/23/08).

Antonio Carlos Jobim, Elis Regina: Elis & Tom

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Chris McGowan wrote in the Huffington Post: "Bossa nova was born in July of 1958 when singer-guitarist Joao Gilberto released the single 'Chega de Saudade.' … Bossa was a new type of samba in which the genre's rhythmic complexity had been pared down to its bare essentials. … … American jazz artists discovered bossa nova a few years later. … Bossa nova was the big pop-music trend of the early 1960s, until it was supplanted by the English rock invasion led by the Beatles. … Over the last five decades, bossa nova has had a huge impact on international music. … Bossa nova was also important in the evolution of Brazilian music, leading directly to the creation of Brazil's rich eclectic popular music (MPB) that followed in the late 1960s and '70s. It remains an influence on virtually all young Brazilian musicians today, whatever their style. I'm always listening with delight to Jobim and Elis Regin[a]'s superb Elis & Tom, Jobim's sublime albums Urubu and Matita Perê and various bossa collections, and finding little current popular music that compares in quality" ("Blame It on the Bossa Nova," 12/5/08).

Joyce DiDonato: Furore (Handel Opera Arias)

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Personnel: Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano; Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset, conductor.
Contents: From Serse: Crude furie degl'orridi abissi; From Teseo: Dolce riposo; Ira, sdegni e furore … O stringerò nel sen; Morirò, ma vendicata; From Giulio Cesare: L'angue offeso mai riposa; From Admeto: Orride larve … Chiudetevi, miei lumi; Gelosia, spietata Aletto; From Hercules: There in myrtle shades reclined; Cease, ruler of the day, to rise; Where shall I fly?; From Semele: Hence, Iris hence away; From Imeneo: Sorge nell'alma mia; From Ariodante: Scherza infida; From Amadigi: Desterò dall'empia Dite (Dave Hendry, trumpet; Josep Domenech, oboe).
Vivien Schweitzer wrote in the New York Times: "If Ms. DiDonato’s fiery new disc of Handel arias with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset is anything to go by, sparks should fly when this superb mezzo-soprano reunites with the ensemble for an all-Handel concert."

Dead by Wednesday: The Killing Project

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Contents: Pawns — The killing project — Liberty — Chosen — Violent tradition — Declaration of inhumanity — Another word — Break the walls — Part of me — Society's blood — Restitution — Araroba (Death of the cure) — Fractured.
Brian LaRue wrote in the New Haven Advocate: "At first listen, this often-blisteringly heavy album owes a great deal to hardcore and metal tropes from the '80s, but this stuff isn't simple crossover-revivalist in nature. The breakdowns call to mind contemporary metalcore and vocal cadences betray the influence of hip-hop MCs, but there are surprising elements like clear voices harmonizing and passages played on acoustic guitar. And it all feels of a piece — divergences from their screamy, riffy, thrashy base layer sound complementary and purposeful. The riffs are new twists on a familiar form. … There's a wise balance of accessibility and adventurousness in Dead by Wednesday's heavy rebel-rock fusion. Nothing weird or avant-garde here, but plenty to elevate it beyond simple mosh-fodder" ("Local CDs," 1/8/09, p. 27).

Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky, and Lutoslawski

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Allan Kozinn wrote in the New York Times: "The program Gloria Cheng played at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday evening was drawn from her most recent Telarc recording, a compilation of the complete (if slim) piano music of Esa-Pekka Salonen and Steven Stucky, along with a Lutoslawski rarity, the youthful Sonata (1934). But other threads bind the works as well. Ms. Cheng is friends with Mr. Salonen, who composed 'Dichotomie' (2000) for her. Mr. Salonen, who as a conductor has been a champion of Mr. Stucky, persuaded Ms. Cheng to include Mr. Stucky’s 'Four Album Leaves' (2002) on her disc. Mr. Stucky, who published a monograph on Lutoslawski, put her onto that composer’s Sonata. And as it turns out, the piano music of all three composers draws heavily on the harmonic language and textures of the French Impressionists. … Judging from her performances, what Ms. Cheng sees in Mr. Stucky’s music is a fluidity that lets him move easily between delicacy and assertiveness; serene, Debussian introspection and highly chromatic playfulness" ("Music Review: Gloria Cheng …,"12/24/08).

Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez: Re-hive

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Contents: Wicked time — A shot of you — Dimples — Sugar melts — Turn — The hard way — When the summer goes — Bound — The seventh sons — Killing floor — Strip — Then God created woman — The storm — Circle 'round the sun — Edge of the world — One more thrill — Charmaine — It tears me up.
Christopher Arnott wrote in the New Haven Advocate: "Here's a retrospective that's been done for all the right reasons. It's a sterling tribute to the life and work of spare-yet-flashy Rebel Montez guitarist Eric Fletcher, who died in 2006. It's well-timed to ride the coattails of the resurgence of interest in TV's 'Saturday Night Live,' which Ohlman has served as houseband vocalist for decades. Most of all, it documents the revered Beehive Queen's remarkable consistency as an R&B vocalist over the years and validates her choice to scale down from her regional party band days … to this eccentric blues-schooled roots-rockin' ensemble. … [T]his is a band that labors hard and cuts loose with style" ("Local CDs," 12/25/08).

Giya Kancheli: Little Imber

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Contents: Amao Omi, for mixed choir and saxophone quartet (Nederlands Kamerkoor, Raschèr Saxophone Quartet; Klaas Stok, conductor); Little Imber, for small ensemble, voice, children's and men's choirs (Mamuka Gaganidze, voice; Zara Miminoshvili, guitar; Matrix Ensemble, Rustavi Choir, Children's Choir; Nika Memanishvili, conductor, keyboard).
Duncan Sheik, singer/songwriter/composer, told the New York Times: "I’ve listened to a lot of ECM recordings since I was a teenager, the slightly avant-garde jazz kind of stuff, the 20th-century classical music. Then ECM put out a lot of the Arvo Pärt recordings; that stuff is so powerful. On 'Little Imber' (ECM), Giya Kancheli creates these harmonic structures that are so magnificent and huge, almost terrifying. His music can be really scary. It’s totally inspiring — wow, this is what you can do with harmony. It’s choral, too. Like Arvo Pärt, there’s a sense that it’s liturgical almost, that it’s dealing with really deep human pathos. Like you’re getting the dark night of the soul writ large on the canvas of the music" (Winter Miller, "Playlist," 1/25/09).

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast

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Eric R. Danton wrote in his Hartford Courant blog Sound Check: "Making music must be something akin to paradise for Andrew Bird, who has displayed increasingly effortless mastery of the form on each of the albums he has released since 'Weather Systems' in 2003. His latest is no exception. 'Noble Beast' (Fat Possum) is lighter and more varied than its excellent predecessor, 2007's 'Armchair Apocrypha,' and just as thoughtfully charming. More so, actually, given the jauntier feel of the new album. Last time, Bird was focused in part on the disorienting exhaustion of life on the road. His tour schedule hasn't let up in the interim, but he sounds energized here on tunes that make full use of his various musical skills. … Bird is a classically trained violinist, and his range shows it: He plays with stately elegance on the dreamy opening track, 'Oh No,' takes a playful turn on 'Fitz and the Dizzyspells' and finds an earthier, pastoral tone in his solo on 'Effigy.' Whatever the sound, his songs are unfailingly catchy, and his smart lyrics and lovely melodies make them stand out even when they're understated" (1/19/09).

Featured Book: The Magical Chorus, continued

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Mr. Volkov writes in Part 3, "Rendezvous with Stalin": "At first things went well in the West for Prokofiev, but by the early 1930s he sensed that he would not beat Stravinsky as a composer or Rachmaninoff as a pianist. … And therefore Prokofiev … decided to return to the Soviet Union in 1936. … We will never know how much the principles of Christian Science helped Prokofiev adjust to the realities of Soviet life, but in 1936-1938 [i.e., 1936-1948?] he composed some of his greatest works: the operas War and Peace (after Tolstoy) and Betrothal in a Monastery (after Sheridan's The Duenna), the ballet Cinderella, the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, and his three best piano sonatas, the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth. Other works, overtly tied to the Stalin era, are also masterpieces: the Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of October (with texts by Marx, Lenin, and Stalin), the Alexander Nevsky cantata (from the score for Eisenstein's film), Hail for Stalin's sixtieth birthday, and the opera Semyon Kotko. It is no accident that of all the Soviet composers, Prokofiev received the most Stalin Prizes — six" (p. 166).

Featured Book: The Magical Chorus by Solomon Volkov

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Mr. Volkov writes in Part 1, "The Gathering Storm": "Pétrouchka alone would be enough to immortalize its creators, the composer and designer (Stravinsky and Benois), choreographer (Michel Fokine), dancers (Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina), and producer (Diaghilev). We can picture them in late May 1911 in the basement of the Teatro Constanzi in Rome, where they rehearsed Pétrouchka for the Paris premiere. … Lev Karsavin … would drop by the rehearsals. … Of all the members of that carefree and happy Roman group, Lev Karsavin had the most tragic fate. … Nijinsky's life, while different, was tragic and symbolic in its own way. In Pétrouchka he danced himself, as the insiders at the premiere knew full well: a puppet manipulated by the all-powerful Magician Diaghilev. Nijinsky was famous for his phenomenal leaps, in which he seemed to hang in the air for an instant. But for the role of Pétrouchka, Fokine did not create any virtuoso steps. Nevertheless, it was a signature role for Nijinsky, as was the Faun in L'Après-midi d'un faun[e], choreographed by Fokine to music by Debussy" (pp. 44-46).

Punch-Drunk Love: Original Soundtrack

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Contents: Overture — Tabla — Punch-drunk melody — Hands & feet — Le petit chateau — Alleyway — Punchy tack piano — He needs me — Waikiki — Moana chimes — Hospital — Danny (Lonely blue boy) — Healthy choice — Third floor hallway — Blossoms & Blood — Here we go — He really needs me.
Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin wrote in the Huffington Post: "Composer, producer, musician Jon Brion is a wunderkind and plays absolutely every instrument astoundingly well. He was born in New Jersey into a house filled with music: His mother was a singer, his father taught music at Yale. … Brion's film credits include I Heart Huckabees, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love. He's produced Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, and Rufus Wainwright, to name a few. … Jon Brion's voice and delivery on 'Here We Go,' from the Punch-Drunk Love soundtrack, = romantic and blissfully tender, the orchestrations and arrangement = glorious" ("Dog Ears Music: Volume Nineteen," 4/25/08).

The Heavy: Great Vengeance and Furious Fire

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Eric R. Danton wrote in his Hartford Courant blog Sound Check: "Let’s call it mega-soul: heady, visceral stuff that lives up to the name of the band playing it. These 10 songs are heavy, all right, like a chunk of molybdenum. This British five-piece, fronted by a man with the pirate-sounding name of Swaby, starts with a classic-R&B template from the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins school and decks it out with modern touches that borrow from garage rock, hip-hop and funk. The result is a bass-heavy riot of deep grooves and lo-fi touches on the band’s debut (+1 Records). In fact, the bass is everywhere on 'Great Vengeance & Furious Fire.' It hovers in the air like a huge inky cloud on the slow-burner 'Doing Fine' and throbs on 'Coleen' behind a sly guitar lick and wet, boxy drums. Swaby croons as if he’s holding back a tidal wave of pent-up emotion, and letting just a little at a time slip through lest he unleash an unstoppable torrent of soul. Keyboard player Hannah Collins adds a startlingly sweet feminine touch with backing vocals on 'Set Me Free.' … 'Great Vengeance' is an entrancing peek at crush-worthy musical raw power" (4/7/08).

Autechre: Quaristice

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Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times: "Autechre pumped out colossal dance beats throughout its set at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday night. It didn’t have to. Over its 15-year recording career, Autechre, the electronica duo of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, has moved from steady, propulsive techno toward more abstract rhythms and textures, building an audience of fans who don’t mind standing still (or wearing earphones) as they listen. Most of Autechre’s latest album, 'Quaristice' (Warp), is far too cerebral for a typical club D.J. set; the music often splinters the beat or omits it entirely. But Autechre hasn’t forgotten how to make a crowd move and shout, and it does that on its own terms. Its hourlong set … was crammed with ideas. … There were bits of melody and a few hummable bass lines, yet Autechre has little use for tunes. … Autechre’s soundscape is crowded and discordant, determinedly antipop. But before and after Autechre, a D.J. playing more typical techno sounded drab and repetitive. Autechre’s drive, variety and relentless inventiveness were pleasures of their own" (4/19/08).

Pete Seeger: At 89

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Contents: Nameless banjo riff (0:38) — False from true (2:48) — Now we sit us down (1:15) — Pete's greeting (0:32) — Visions of children (2:12) — Wonderful friends (3:17) — The water is wide (2:32) — Pete talks about Clearwater (0:30) — It's a long haul (1:11) — Throw away that shad net (How are we gonna save tomorrow?) (4:45) — Song of world's last whale (2:39) — The first settlers (5:00) — The D minor flourish ; Cindy (0:45) — Pete's intro to If it can't be reduced (0:46) — If it can't be reduced (2:12) — Spring fever (0:50) — Pete speaks about World War II (0:30) — When I was most beautiful (2:53) — Bach at Treblinka (1:16) — We will love or we will perish (1:31) — The story of Tzena, Tzena, Tzena (1:02) — Tzena, Tzena, Tzena (2:21) — One percent phosphorous banjo riff (1:34) — Pete speaks about involvement (0:13) — Or else! (One-a these days) (3:20) — Waist deep in the Big Muddy (3:33) — Little fat baby (4:47) — Arrange and re-arrange (3:16) — Alleluya (1:58) — Pete's extroduction (1:14) — If this world survives (1:37) — How soon? (1:08).

Yo-Yo Ma: Songs of Joy & Peace

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David Downs wrote in Wired: "Radiohead, Deerhoof, Nine Inch Nails, Public Enemy, Mariah Carey — plenty of indie, hip hop, and pop artists have welcomed others to remix their songs online. Now classical music aficionados can get in on the act. Renowned cellist and 15-time Grammy winner Yo-Yo Ma is hosting an online competition, inviting listeners to add their own accompaniment to his performance of the traditional hymn 'Dona Nobis Pacem,' from his latest album, Songs of Joy & Peace. 'Just releasing a CD is constraining to an artist,' Ma says. 'You know: "I'm the product, you're the consumer" — it's no longer like that.' In October, he posted his cello solo to the online site Indaba Music. Since then, scores of Indaba's 125,000 users — amateur noodlers, music teachers, and pros alike — have used the site's free Flash-based mixing board to add their own variations and countermelodies. In January, Indaba users will vote for their favorite arrangements, with the winner scoring a coveted recording session with Ma that will be featured on both Indaba and the cellist's own site" ("Music: Mix Maestro," 1/09, p. 50).