Category: Reviews & Commentary

Grammy Goof: New Age and Polka Dots

I skipped watching the Grammys Sunday night to catch a live performance by Jon Hassell that took a deep diving expedition guided by fourth world semaphores and jazz signposts.  (See earlier blog.) But after I got home, as I booted up my DVR to catch the awards show, I opened an email from Will Ackerman…

51st Grammys: Echoes at the Edges

The 51st Annual Grammy will be broadcast this Sunday, February 8 and as usual, don’t expect to see any Echoes artists on it. Not that there aren’t some cool artists nominated in major categories, among them Coldplay, Radiohead, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and Beck. But you’ll find Echoes artists turning up in unusual categories…

Ambient Improvisations

This is off the Ambient list, a very cool blog called Live Ambient Scene .  Much of their materiel is generated from another site called Ambient-Art-Lounge. It’s all in German, but they’ve got a host of live performances, videos, video art and more.  Interestingly, a lot of it seems like actual “live” ambient performance with…

John Martyn Passes

British singer-songwriter John Martyn passed away this morning, January 29. He was 60. I’ve drifted away from Martyn’s music over the years, but in the 1970s and early 80s, he was a favorite. He had a soft, slurred whiskey tinged voice that he coupled with finger-style melodies. Later on, he began using an Echoplex, an…

Echo Location: Erik Scott’s Cosmic Bass Guitar

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090128.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSFrom Alice Cooper to Other Planets– Erik Scott takes a cosmic bass trip. You can hear an audio version of this blog, with music. There have been a lot of virtuoso electric bass albums released over the years. Musicians like Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke tried to become…

Drummer Bill Bruford Retires

Bill Bruford is an icon of Progressive Rock drumming. He came to renown as an original member of Yes, recording several albums with them before moving on to King Crimson. Over the years he’s spent more and more time with his cerebral jazz band Earthworks. But now he says he’s packing in live performances, concentrating…

Echo Location: Jon Hassell Drops His Clothes

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090121.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS Jon Hassell returns with first US tour in 20 years and new CD You can hear an audio version of this blog, with music. Listen to records by Björk, Baaba Maal, Talking Heads, Ani DiFranco, Ry Cooder, or  K.D. Lang,  and you’ll hear the trumpet of Jon…

Echo Location: Blooming Buddhas with Eno and FM3

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20080723.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSBack in the 1960s, Max Mathews, one of the pioneers of computer music, reputedly proclaimed that one day, even your plumber would be able to create music. His dream was realized sometime ago with computer programs and electronic keyboards. Now a new generation of music generating toys is…

The Octave Doctors Return-Gong Plays Nearfest ’09

Nearfest names the stars of this year’s line-up GONG Gong is the legendary space rock group that began life after Daevid Allen, an Australian, was denied entry into England with his band, The Soft Machine. The group has existed off and on for over four decades with many incarnations including a long stint in the…

Echo Location: Kaya Project’s And So It Goes

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090107.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS Global ecstacy in a digital world from Kaya Project You can hear an audio version of this blog with music. Echo Location: Kaya Project Seb Taylor started out as a Death Metal and Thrash guitarist, but you’d never know that from his many recording personas, among them,…