We’re a little late, but here’s the Echoes Top 25 for this past December. Perhaps surprisingly, only one seasonal title on there, Loreena McKennitt’s A Midwinter Night’s Dream, although a couple of our Sonic Seasonings performers, including Lisa Lynne & Aryeh Frankfurter and Sumner McKane ranked high. New additions include some great electronica albums by Motionfield,…
Tag: electronic
Reviews & Commentary
Echo Location: Nordic Ambiences
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20081210.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSBjörk and Abba aren’t the only exports from Iceland and Sweden. (You can hear an audio version of this Blog, with music.) As we close out 2008 and head into the chill of winter, I bring you two albums from Nordic territories to chill you even more. Scandinavian…
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John Diliberto’s Top 10 CDs for 2008
From Digitonal to the Dandy Warhols, John Diliberto’s Top Ten CDs for 2008. While you’re pondering the Echoes 2008 Listener Poll, I’ve already been solicited for a few year-end lists. I usually give a different list to different outlets. My (uncredited) Amazon.com list is pretty strictly New Age and limited to titles that are actually on…
Reviews & Commentary
Cluster Converges and The Foundry Founders
Some bands last for the long haul, some labels struggle. Philadelphians got a surprise performance from the legendary German electronic band Cluster this past Saturday at St. Mary’s Parish Hall as part of The Gatherings series. The show was originally billed as a concert by Tim Story, Dwight Ashley and original Cluster member Hans-Joachim Roedelius…
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…
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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…
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Echoes Top 25 for July: Marconi Union first Download recording to crack Top 5
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http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20080730.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSAmbient chamber music still dominates the Echoes Top 25 for August, but for the first time, a download only album cracks the the Echoes Top 5. That CD is the purely ambient A Lost Connection by Marconi Union. Their album, Distance, from 3 years ago was among our…
Reviews & Commentary
A Meeting of Icons: Klaus Schulze & Lisa Gerrard
It’s difficult when you fall out of love with an artist. We all have musicians whose work has been central to our lives, who we’ve followed from the beginning of their careers and absorbed everything they’ve released as if it were a gift from heaven. Klaus Schulze and Lisa Gerrard are like that for me.…
Reviews & Commentary
Deep Space Electronica from Ultimae label: Aes Dana & Solar Fields
The French Ultimae label produces high gloss electronic music and high gloss packaging, with sounds that head into deep ambient space. Echoes listeners will hear an interview with Aes Dana and Solar Fields a.k.a. Vincent Villuis and Magnus Birgesson on Monday, July 14. They produce a brand of ambient music that has its roots in…
Reviews & Commentary
The First Lady of Electronic Music Passes: Bebe Barron
Bebe Barron was the godmother of electronic music. With her husband Louis Barron they created the innovative score to Forbidden Planet in 1955.