When you have a 12-year old daughter, you don’t wind up taking her to shows with Brian Eno, Loreena McKennitt or Pat Metheny. At 12 she’s either listening to Britney Spears, Hip-Hop or some form of alternative rock. Fortunately, in my daughter Grace’s case, it’s the latter, especially pop-punk and emo. So it was that…
Category: Program Highlights
CD of the Month
Banco de Gaia & Farewell Ferengistan
We’ve selected our July CD of the Month and it’s by veteran English artist Banco de Gaia, the nom de plume of Toby Marks. You can read my review of Farewell Ferengistan here and listen to the show tonight (tomorrow in Philly). Toby uses a lot of sample CDs on this album, something to which…
Program Highlights
Some NEARfest final thoughts
You could write a book on the 8th Annual NEARfest, but I’ll just give you a few words. Chad Hutchinson and company run a first class operation in a perfect venue catering to fans who are there for one thing, the music. Rarely will an artist find a more rapt and attentive audience, ready for…
Program Highlights
NEARfest Day 3-Keith Emerson, Ange, Niacin, Guapo, Michael Manring
The final day of NEARfest drew to an anti-climatic close, but before the anti-climax there was some astounding music. The day opened like the Bethlehem weather, a storm of darkness with Guapo. They are a surprisingly young band from England. Bassist James Sedwards looked like a high school junior and guitarist Kavus Torabi stared defiantly…
Program Highlights
NEARfest Day 2-Ozric, FM, and more
The second day of NEARfest 2006 was nearly perfect, beginning and ending with two utterly different bands trafficking in radically different brands of virtuosity. KBB is a relatively young Japanese quartet who crafted a melodic brand of Pontyesque fusion. Their set was a kinetic ride from beginning to end, driven by a synchronized rhythm section…
Program Highlights
Lanterna Layers Ambient Guitar
Today on Echoes, we’ll be hearing Lanterna playing live (Tomorrow for Philly listeners on WXPN). Lanterna is essentially one guy, Henry Frayne and he’s been around for about two decades, playing in Cocteau Twins influenced groups like The Moon Seven Times and Area out of the midwest. Henry has a new CD called Desert Ocean.…
Program Highlights
Mysteria and Digital Samsara-Sample Aesthetics
There are no special features on Echoes tonight, but listen for two interesting new CDs operating towards opposite ends of electronica. One is Tempting the Muse by Mysteria. Mysteria is a studio project headed up by Mark Allison who has also records as Phobos and The Spirit Level. Mark makes a slick brand of electronica,…
Program Highlights
Random Record Thoughts
Records hitting me the right way today: Maneesh de Moor Sadhana A very cool ethno-ambient album that looks like another New Age swill of eastern mysticism but is much more sophisticated than that. Robert Fripp Exposure A re-issue of the 1979 album, with the original version and a second version with vocals by Daryl Hall…
CD of the Month
November 2001 CD of the Month: Erik Wøllo
Erik Erik Wøllo’s music floats with the grace of a hawk, effortlessly riding air currents that are left painted and glistening in his wake. But what sounds effortless is actually deeply layered, intricately woven and composed with a poetic language. Sometimes Erik is acoustic, as on GUITAR NOVA, sometimes all electronic, like POLAR DRONES, but…