David Arkenstone’s Ambient World tops the Echoes Charts. It’s no surprise that David Arkenstone’s February CD of the Month, Ambient World leads the Echoes Top 25 for February. (Read review and hear complete tracks.) David Arkenstone will be featured with an Echoes interview on Monday, March 21. That heads a list that goes from ambient…
Reviews & Commentary
Heaven is Torn Asunder by The Celestial Septet.
Two storms collided when The Celestial Septet hit the International House stage on February 22. This was a rare meeting between the Rova Saxophone Quartet and the Nels Cline Singers. They put out a CD last year, The Celestial Septet, but this show, produced by the Ars Nova Workshop, was their first live public performance. …
Reviews & Commentary
ECHOES AT THE 53rd GRAMMYS
TUNE IN TO ECHOES AT THE GRAMMYS TONIGHT Tune into Echoes tonight for the Grammy Awards you wish you could see on TV. This Sunday, February 13 the 53rd Grammy Awards take place. Another year, another set of Grammy Awards. Many of us become inured to these awards which purport to honor the best and…
Best Of
Echoes Top 25 for January
Agnes Obel’s Philharmonics Heads Echoes Top 25 for January Ambient chamber music is big on January’s Top 25. Agnes Obel leads it with her delicately serene and haunting debut, Philharmonics, which sets her voice in a chamber bed of piano and cello. I’m sure this album will be in my Top 5 at the end…
CD of the Month
Arkenstone Goes Ambient with Echoes Feb CD of the Month
David Arkenstone Enters a Dreamstate with Ambient World: Echoes February CD of the Month David Arkenstone and ambient are not two names I’d expect to see together. The composer and multi-instrumentalist built his reputation as the sultan of symphonic new age music, mixing synthesizer, orchestras, guitars and more in dynamic compositions that could’ve been off…
Reviews & Commentary
Echoes Audio Goes Video with Jimmy Wahlsteen
See pictures put to Echoes audio in this video of Jimmy Wahlsteen. His album, 181st Songs was an Echoes CD of the Month in January of 2010 and it made the 25 Essential Echoes CDs for 2010. Candyrat Records put up a video where they took the complete audio from the Echoes review heard on…
Reviews & Commentary
Raging Electro-Fusion from Barry Cleveland
Echoes listeners should know Barry Cleveland from a string of challenging albums he’s recorded since the early 1980s. He’s a great guitarist with a deep command of electronic processing and looping. Barry has participated in the two wildest and most free-form Echoes Living Room Concerts ever. He’s just put up some videos of his live…
Reviews & Commentary
International Guitar Night Lands
It’s only the first month of the year, but already this has to be THE tour for finger-style guitar enthusiasts. International Guitar Night is in it’s 11th year and tomorrow they launch their US tour at Crossroads Music in Philadelphia. This is a monster show of finger-style guitarists that we’ve featured for the last 4…
Reviews & Commentary
Sleepy Hollow Prog Rock Playlist
This past Sunday I participated in WXPN‘s Highs in the 70s 24 Hour Progressive Rock Marathon. In addition to co-hosting with Dan Reed & Biff Kennedy from 11AM-3PM, I also produced a special two hour Prog edition of Sleepy Hollow, XPN’s wake up and stay in bed weekend morning show, or “The quiet sounds of…
Reviews & Commentary
Two Bassists Pluck Last Note: R.I.P. Mick Karn & Charles Fambrough.
Two important bassists passed this week. Charles Fambrough, who played with McCoy Tyner and Art Blakey among others, died on January 1 and Mick Karn, who played with Japan, Dali’s Car and David Torn died today, January 4th. These musicians could not be more different. Fambrough was a jazz wizard with prodigious technique and an…