The Godfather of Modern Recording passes away. Les Paul was beyond iconic. He invented the solid body electric guitar and unlike a lot of instrument inventors, actually made some great music with it. He created multi-track recording, paving the way for…… everything. Mike Oldfield, The Beatles, Arcade Fire, Brian Eno, you name it, they all…
Category: Reviews & Commentary
Reviews & Commentary
Echo Location: The Sound of Battlestar Galactica
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090812.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS One Last Farewell to the Best Frakkin’ Sci-Fi Show on Television There is an audio version of this blog that is a real trip. You can hear it here. A couple of years ago I produced a fun interview with Bear McCreary about his soundtrack to Battlestar…
Reviews & Commentary
Will Ackerman Then & Now: 5 Best CDs
Five Best Will Ackerman CDs There are a few people of whom I can say, if not for them, I wouldn’t be here. And that’s the case with Will Ackerman. He founded Windham Hill Records, still a cornerstone of the music you hear on Echoes. That would probably be enough, but he also launched the…
Reviews & Commentary
Jazz In the Space Age: George Russell Leaves Orbit
Composer George Russell traveled the spaceways and now he’s on the last trip. You may not have known him, but if you listen to music in general, jazz in particular and maybe even Echoes, you heard his influence. George Russell guided trumpeter Don Cherry, guitarist Terje Rypdal, saxophonist Jan Garbarek and many more into new…
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Echo Location: Ray Montford
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090722.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSCanadian Guitarist Ray Montford threads together country, new age and Pink Floyd You can hear an audio version of this blog with Ray Montford’s music here. Guitarist Ray Montford has garnered accolades from people like film director Atom Egoyan and Windham Hill Records founder Will Ackerman. The Canadian…
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10 Best Vangelis CDs
In the 1970s and early 80s, Vangelis was synonymous with orchestral electronic music the way another Greek, Yanni, is synonymous with the New Age music. Whether it’s his film soundtracks forChariots of Fire and Blade Runner, or his epic albums Albedo 0.39 and Voices, the sound of Vangelis has shaped much of Echoes‘ first 20…
Reviews & Commentary
5 Essential Paul Winter Albums
Paul Winter lives for two things, the environment and music, although he would say that they are the same thing. “For me, music implies something more than just the artistic combination of sounds,” he patiently explains. “It has to do with a whole way of living, that’s musical, that’s harmonious, that’s resonant with the earth,…
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Echo Location: Bill Frisell
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090715.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSA Different kind of Americana You can hear an audio version of this Blog with Bill Frisell’s music here. Guitarist Bill Frisell is a genre unto himself. His music flows through interlocking veins of jazz improvisation and harmonies, country melodicism and twang, chamber music strings and electronic dissonances. …
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R.I.P. WBCN in Boston
A Warrior for New Music finally fades away. The station that made me the music junky I am, for better or worse, has left the airwaves. WBCN in Boston, the first full-time “underground” rock station in Boston, originally broadcasting from a backroom at the The Boston Tea Party club, will switch to mainstream rock format…
Reviews & Commentary
Brian Eno Makes 2nd Apollo Moon Landing
Brian Eno Relaunches Apollo, Live. Brian Eno has been extremely busy lately. When he’s not producing U2, Coldplay or some other pop phenom, he’s been staging multi-day festivals in Sydney and now he’s relaunching Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. Apollo is an ionic Eno release, full of atmosphere, never-ending melodies and shimmering lap steel guitar. Originally…