Two distant jazz mutations from opposite directions when Ben Neill and Mörglbl hit Philadelphia. I caught two very disparate shows in Philadelphia this weekend, both drawing upon elements of jazz, but ultimately having little to do with jazz at all. First up was Ben Neill, performing at Saturday, May 16 at The Gatherings concert series. …
Tag: echoesblog
Reviews & Commentary
The Real Story behind Vangelis
From the Vangelis list, I came across an alternative history of the Greek composer who scored Chariots of Fire and Bladerunner. It’s in the Uncyclopedia. I’m probably the last person on the planet to discover this take-off site on Wikipedia. The Vangelis entry scores a direct hit on the enigmatic composer who is praised as…
Reviews & Commentary
The Nerve-Music & the Mind
On Echoes, I’ve frequently sought the answer to the big question, Why? Not the “Why do we exist?” question, but the “Why do we like the music we do? Why do we respond to it the way we do? Why do some people love crappy music and why doesn’t everyone like Echoes music, which of…
Reviews & Commentary
Lights Out Asia and Near the Parenthesis
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20080910.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSLights Out Asia and Near the Parenthesis create an ambient rock You can hear an audio version of this review, with music. The n5MD record label began with a suspect business plan. They were going to release their music only on mini-disc. Although commercially that format went the way of…
Reviews & Commentary
A Trip to the Drone Zone with Furthernoise
It’s difficult finding reliable reference material about the music you hear on Echoes. I’ve yet to locate a single site that reliably covers the music heard on the show, or even some of its significant component parts. One interesting site I recently stumbled across is Furthernoise.org out of the U.K. It travels through the darker…
Reviews & Commentary
Echo Location: Ronn McFarlane’s 21st Century Lute
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20080903.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSIt’s not your ancient Renaissance lute anymore when Ronn McFarlane creates new music for an ancient instrument. (You can hear an Audio Version of this blog, with music.) In 2006, Sting put out an album of tunes by 16th century composer John Dowland called Songs from the Labyrinth.…
Best Of
The Best Echoes Songs Ever? O Superman? Music for 18 Musicians?
Being from the pre-digital generation, I still organize music in terms of artists and albums. I thought of this recently as our local Echoes affiliate, WXPN in Philadelphia, has been pumping their latest poll, The Top 885 Essential XPN Songs.
Reviews & Commentary
Blow Your Mind Music Video in Advanced Beauty
If you’re looking for some delirious eye-candy to take your mind somewhere else, check out a site called cololourlovers.com Right now they’ve got a series of 18 computer paintings with original, mostly electronica music in a series called Advanced Beauty.
Reviews & Commentary
Thoughts in Sound: Cage, Eno, Jarrett, Riley
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20080820.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSThoughts in Sound from musicians at the bleeding edges of music including John Cage, Brian Eno, Terry Riley and Keith Jarrett. You can also hear an Audio Version of this blog, with music. Every musician plays notes, but some of them think about the nature of sound a…