“These are some of the founding documents of New Orleans funk. These tapes were part of that incredibly rich creative period that laid the groundwork for a lot of New Orleans music that followed, and by extension, impacted decades of popular music to come.” – Los Angeles Times
Category: music
Why Household Appliances Are Now Getting Their Own Little Melodies
“No longer do household machines merely bing or plink or blamp, as they might have in a previous era when such alerts simply indicated that the clothes were dry or the coffee was brewed. … You may be skeptical that an electronic jingle, however holistic, can make doing the dishes a life-affirming endeavor — or even one that might bind you, emotionally, to your dishwasher. But companies are betting otherwise, and not entirely without reason.” – The Atlantic
Composers Putting Listeners In Headphones: Innovation? Or Control-Freakiness? (Or Both?)
Headphones can enable an intimate listening experience even in a busy venue such as a train station. They can make up for the acoustic inadequacies of a room (or the outdoors), so that there’s no bad seat in the house. And “live processing sound allows composers and sound designers control over everything from volume and blend to reverberation and saturation.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
The Complicated History Of “This Land Is Your Land”
“As the author of three books on Woody Guthrie, I sometimes wonder how the folksinger would respond to the criticism of “This Land Is Your Land” for its omissions. While we can’t know for sure, a glance at some of his unpublished writings and recently discovered recordings can offer some clues.” – The Conversation
A First? Actual Self-Effacing Conductor Takes Helm At Berlin Philharmonic
A self-effacing conductor may seem almost impossible in itself, but in the job held by Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle? Kirill Petrenko — who was elected chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic four years ago but is only now taking up the job — refuses to give press interviews or schmooze VIPs. But musicians absolutely love the man. – The New York Times
Ivo Pogorelich Releases His First Recording In 21 Years. So How Did It Go?
“With such a long hiatus — and Pogorelich’s track record — the release demands a certain critical wrestling to the ground, in terms of his once-lauded genius, and of broader questions, including where performers draw the line between artistic freedom and obligation to the composer.” – NPR
Cassette Tapes Make An Indie Return In France
Yes, in terms of numbers, “the cassette is a needle in a haystack. … Nevertheless, it is there, flag of a community of aficionados in revolt against modernity and the music industry.” – Le Monde
How The Rossini Renaissance Sparked From A Beachfront Festival To The World
The Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Italy, may never be a Salzburg, but it sure changed Rossini’s reputation. Most of the composer’s “operas were long dormant. For much of the 20th century, Rossini had become a one-opera composer, known solely for his comedy The Barber of Seville.” Then the Pesaro festival ramped up, pursuing “the scholarly rediscovery of even Rossini’s most obscure compositions, together with a dedication to teaching the magnificent fireworks of Rossinian style.” – The New York Times
Spotify Sued For Doing Things Like Putting Eminem Under An ‘Unknown Author’ Level
Yes, that little-known songwriter Eminem … er. But it’s actually far bigger than the potential millions or billions Eight Mile Style claims Spotify owes. “Eminem’s publisher is doing more than merely questioning Spotify’s compliance with copyright law. The lawsuit also makes a pretty bold argument regarding a new law’s constitutionality.” – The Hollywood Reporter
How “Sesame Street” Revolutionized Teaching Using Music
Since its inception in 1969, the public television show has redefined what it means to teach children through TV, with music as its resounding voice. Before “Sesame Street,” it wasn’t even clear that you could do that; once the series began, as a radical experiment that joined educational research and social idealism with the lunacy of puppets and the buoyancy of advertising jingles, it proved that kids are very receptive to a grammar lesson wrapped in a song. – The New York Times