Rolling Stone on "Kid A"

"'Kid A is like getting a massive eraser out and starting again,' Thom Yorke said in October 2000, the week this album became the British band's first Number One record in America. 'I find it difficult to think of the path we've chosen as "rock music."' In texture and structure, Kid A, Radiohead's fourth album, renounced everything in rock that, to Yorke in particular, reeked of the tired and overfamiliar: clanging arena-force guitars, verse-chorus-bridge song tricks. With producer Nigel Godrich, Yorke, guitarist Ed O'Brien, drummer Phil Selway, bassist Colin Greenwood and guitarist Jonny Greenwood created an enigma of slippery electronics and elliptical angst, sung by Yorke in an often indecipherable croon. The closest thing to riffing on Kid A was the fuzz-bass lick in 'The National Anthem'; the guitars in 'Morning Bell' sounded more like seabirds. The result was the weirdest hit album of that year, by a band poised to be the modern-rock Beatles, following the breakthrough of OK Computer. In fact, only 10 months into the century, Radiohead had made the decade's best album — by rebuilding rock itself, with a new set of basics" ("50 Best Albums of the Decade," Rolling Stone, 12/24/09).

Seth Colter Walls on Grand Valley State New Music Ensemble

"The best performances of Terry Riley's 1964 minimalist classic In C come off like great sex. … So it's fitting that Riley's piece can still shock on its 45th anniversary, this time courtesy of a two-disc set titled In C Remixed. Even more shocking: the album is conceived by Bill Ryan and his students at Michigan's Grand Valley State University. Yes, you read correctly. This new version comes not from loft-based hipsters in New York or California, but via a mostly undergraduate crew from Allendale, Mich. … The members of Grand Valley State's ensemble play with a confident swing. … [T]his new release offers not just their own astute performance but also 18 remixes by a collection of big names. The fact that most of these diverse visions of In C succeed ought to say something to those who worry about what the future audience for classical music will look like. This isn't Grand Valley's first success, either: it proved its mettle in 2007 by releasing a lush version of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians. The album cover for that recording featured a bird's-eye view of an agrarian expanse — as if signaling a flight from the world of philharmonics to one of plowshares. To put it another way, these kids are a trip" ("Music," Newsweek, 10/12/09, p. 58).

Giddins and DeVeaux on ABAC form

"Thirty-two-bar forms other than AABA have sustained consistent popularity, particularly the elegant variation ABAC, or AA'. Instead of the bridge providing contrast at the midway point, ABAC uses that moment to reprise the opening melody.
A (8 bars) statement / B (8 bars) contrast /
A (8 bars) return of statement / C (8 bars) conclusion
This form can also be seen as two sixteen-bar sections, the first ending with a half-cadence, and the second steering the harmony firmly home with a full cadence:
A (16 bars) statement /
A' (16 bars) statement with full cadence
Tunes constructed with this form include 'Star Dust' and 'Embraceable You' [available on this recording], as well as original jazz compositions from the early days in New Orleans until now. No less than AABA, the ABAC form serves as a template, suitable for different harmonic progressions" (Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux, Jazz, pp. 35-36).

Allan Kozinn on Simon Rattle

"Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic … gave the first of three concerts built around the Brahms symphonies on Wednesday evening. Repertory doesn’t get much more standard than Brahms. But Mr. Rattle and his orchestra have just released a recording of the four symphonies (on EMI Classics), so it makes sense to tour with them. … Mr. Rattle devoted the second half of the concert to a magnificently shaped, vividly played performance of the Symphony No. 1. Throughout the first movement Mr. Rattle kept the tensions that swirl around the score’s C minor tonality in high relief, mainly by keeping the dynamics and balances fluid and pointing up this ensemble’s distinctive timbres: its assertively tactile timpani sound, for example. … Thereafter, as Brahms pushed the work from its dark opening into the blazing light of its finale, Mr. Rattle lightened its hues. … It would probably be too much to say that Mr. Rattle’s performance was revelatory in a lightning bolt sort of way. But it approached the work with the kind of energy, clarity and thoughtfulness that reminds you what made it such a knockout the first time you heard it" ("Music Review," New York Times, 11/13/09).

Allan Kozinn on Augustin Hadelich

"Augustin Hadelich seems to enjoy going it alone. After a debut recording of all the Haydn violin concertos for Naxos, he turned to Telemann’s 12 unaccompanied fantasias, also on Naxos. Now he … offers … an appealingly idiosyncratic collection that frames three Paganini showpieces (the Caprices Nos. 4, 9 and 21) and two of Ysaÿe’s short sonatas with more grandly scaled, harmonically thorny scores by Bartok and Bernd Alois Zimmermann. … Bach’s spirit hovers over Bartok’s Sonata for Solo Violin (1944). Opening with a Tempo di Ciaccona that evokes the Chaconne of Bach’s Partita No. 2, it then follows a Baroque formal design, with a fugue, an adagio and a presto. And though Bartok quickly breaks free of Bach’s orbit, distant flickers of his influence return throughout the work. … Mr. Hadelich plays both [the Bartok and Zimmermann works] with an exacting focus, an unerring dramatic sense and a rich, beautiful tone. … The hunting calls that open Paganini’s Caprice No. 9 have a playful deftness that gives way to an easygoing but winning virtuosity. And Mr. Hadelich makes the most of the dark introspection in Ysaÿe’s Sonatas Nos. 3 and 5" ("Classical Recordings," New York Times, 12/13/09).

Joan As Police Woman: To Survive

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Honor My Wishes — Holiday — To Be Loved — To Be Lonely — Magpies — Start Of My Heart — Hard White Wall — Furious — To Survive — To America.
Artist website: http://www.joanaspolicewoman.com/main.html
"Joan As Police Woman is the brainchild of singer/multi-instrumentalist Joan Wasser. Born in Biddeford, Maine, Wasser attended Boston University, with a focus on violin. She built an admirable rep on Boston's heavily competitive music scene during the '90s. By 2002, now in New York, Wasser formed her trio with a revolving cast including drummers Ben Perowsky and Parker Kindred and bassists Rainy Orteca, Timo Ellis, and Tyler Wood. … Wasser has collaborated with Jeff Buckley, Sheryl Crow, Rufus Wainwright, Elton John, the Scissor Sisters, and Lou Reed, among others" (Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin, "Dog Ears Music," 12/11/09).
"The title track of To Survive is a musing on Wasser's mother, who died during the creation of the album" (WNYC Soundcheck).

Apse: Climb Up

Copy at Case Memorial Library
"The band is better known in Europe — they've played there extensively, yet have never once embarked on a tour of the U.S. The trippy soundscapes that once defined the band are still present, but now they serve as more of a foundation to the songs, rather than acting as the featured content. Dreamy, softly-sung vocals and soothing reverb-enhanced sounds are consistent throughout the new record, and though there's plenty of variety within that realm, as a whole what we get as listeners is a solid, warm trip. No small debt is owed to Thom Yorke and Radiohead, particularly on the track 'Lie' which sounds like it could be an OK Computer B-side. The difference is that OK Computer had a certain cold, scary futuristic theme whereas Climb Up is more like eating mushrooms on the moon in your pajamas" (Mike Sembos, "Local CDs," New Haven Advocate, 12/3/09, p. 37).
"Apse was formed in 1999 in Newtown, Connecticut by high school friends Robert Toher (guitar), Ezer Lichtenstein (drums), and Ryan Todd (bass)" (Wikipedia: "Apse [band]").

Daniel J. Wakin on Orpheus

"Oligarchs of the oboe world gathered on Monday for a private dinner. … As a precaution against old jealousies and rivalries, they were not told who was invited, but knew the name of the guest of honor: Albrecht Mayer, a principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic, a European star and a potential heir to the celebrated soloist Heinz Holliger. Mr. Mayer is in town to play the Strauss Oboe Concerto on Saturday night with Orpheus at Carnegie Hall. … The dinner was organized by Matthew Dine, the principal oboist of the American Ballet Theater orchestra. … Mr. Mayer, 44, who is German, was clearly the star of the show. He plays a special prototype of his own design, has released numerous recordings and carries postcards with his portrait and contacts. Yet he showed remarkable humility. 'There are so many people here that are legends,' he said. 'I’ve been hearing about them for the last 30 years.' One was Randall Wolfgang, whose playing is heard on a 1984 Orpheus recording of Rossini overtures. (He is now the principal at City Opera.) Those recordings, Mr. Mayer told Mr. Wolfgang, 'completely thrilled' him as a young oboist" ("Among Oboists, A Mutual Admiration Society," New York Times, 12/5/09).

Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Personnel: Monsters of Folk (M. Ward, Mike Mogis, Jim James, Conor Oberst).
Contents: Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.) — Say please — Whole lotta losin' — Temazcal — The right place — Baby boomer — Man named truth — Goodway — Ahead of the curve — Slow down Jo — Losin' yo head — Magic marker — Map of the world — The sandman, the brakeman and me — His master's voice.
"I heartily recommend Monsters of Folk, a first album from four young folk singers who got together initially to sing for an Obama campaign rally in Nebraska. At least that is the story I heard when my wife and I were in Omaha this fall to lecture. … I thought that I had discovered a little known group when I came across the Monsters of Folk. Excitedly, this less than musically hip dad, called his daughter who runs a record company in LA to tell of his great find. 'Yeah, pops,' daughter Julie replied, 'I signed the group a few months ago and we just released their album'" (Derek Shearer, "Joy to the World," Huffington Post, 12/4/09).

Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, and 6

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Symphony no. 4 in F minor, op. 36 (42:00) — Symphony no. 5 in E minor, op. 64 (43:00) — Symphony no. 6 in B minor, op. 74: Pathétique (44:00). Recorded Sept. 1960 (no. 4) and Nov. 1960 (no. 5-6) in Wembley Town Hall, London. Program notes in German by Knut Franke and in English by Martin Cooper and John Warrack, with French and Italian translations.
Personnel: Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra; Evgeny Mravinsky, conductor.
"Tchaikovsky's sad, beautiful Sixth Symphony is light years away from the whimsy of the Nutcracker Suite" (Matthew Moyer, "Romantic Classical," Library Journal, 12/09, p. 77).
"Recordings reveal Mravinsky to have an extraordinary technical control over the orchestra, especially over dynamics. He was also a very exciting conductor, frequently changing tempo in order to heighten the musical effect for which he was striving. Surviving videos show that Mravinsky had a sober appearance at the podium, making simple but very clear gestures, often without a baton" (Wikipedia: "Yevgeny Mravinsky").

Giddins and DeVeaux on Jason Moran

"His 2002 album Modernistic is a benchmark achievement and a profound illustration of his capacity to combine classicism and maverick innovation. Whereas many pianists would be content simply to master James P. Johnson's 1930 'You've Got to Be Modernistic,' Moran suggests its essential character while giving it a radical facelift, taking it through so many variations that by the end you suspect that you've been on a completely different trip from the one intended by Johnson. … 'You've Got to Be Modernistic' is basically a ragtime work, made up of three sixteen-bar strains. Moran works with the original material, but adds his own variations (including new C and D strains) and frequently alters or stops the tempo. Johnson's modernism was apparent in his introduction and the first two strains (A and B), which are ornamented by augmented chords and the whole-tone scale. Although Moran is basically faithful to Johnson's primary theme, he adds incremental dissonances and extends its final melodic figure. Here and in the subsequent strains, Moran halts the flow at will, as if to look around and tweak this chord or twist that rhythm" (Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux, Jazz, pp. 612-3).