Weekend Tunage

Go enjoy Labor Day! Spend that cake!

Arvo Part Does His Part!

I think it has been several months, if not longer, since I last wrote something about Arvo Part and Estonian classical composers. But I stumbled across a gem of a find tonight - a preview of Arvo Part's most recent piece "Cantique." I am listening to it right now, mesmerized by the polyphonic Tintinnabuli. What is tintinnabuli? In his own words:

I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence, comforts me. I work with very few elements —with one voice, two voices. I build with primitive materials —with the triad, with one specific tonality. The three notes of a triad are like bells and that is why I call it tintinnabulation."

Arvo Part, born in Paide, Estonia in 1935, established his musical voice behind the gates of the Soviet Union, exploring several opposing musical dialects. Ultimately, he became entranced with the origins of Western music and Gregorian-style chants and found his calling in tintinnabuli, most notably with the release of Fur Alina.


NPR has graciously uploaded his latest master work for your listening pleasure. You can grab an official copy in September when it will be released, coinciding with Arvo Part's 75th birthday.

Listen below to "Cantique" in its intirety.

Enjoy!

Boards of Canada - Bocuma/RoygBiv

A weekend send off from some old friends on my iPod. Enjoy!

LeGone

I thought the following piece of news was very relevant to what just happened to Cleveland:

GREENWICH, Conn., July 8, 1990 -- Michael Jordan announced on national television he's leaving Chicago to join the Detroit Pistons. Jordan said it was tough to bolt Chicago, where he was the most popular athlete in many years, because he thinks he has a better chance to win a championship if he plays with Pistons star Isiah Thomas. Jordan said by playing together, he and Thomas "won't have the pressure of going out and scoring 30 every night."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/michael_rosenberg/07/08/lebron.event/index.html?cnn=yes&hpt=C2#ixzz0tBsGQblK

New Choral Sounds

As always, John Schaefer has raised the bar for me this week.

This past weekend, I was listening to his exceptional radio program "New Sounds" and discovered another batch of incredible choral music that ranges from this century back to the 11th Century. What I love about John Schaefer is that he combines the new and the old, and its seamless, wonderful, and better than anything you could every expect. The man is a musical genius.

Since most of you are not fortunate to have New Sounds on your local NPR station, I have posted a recent episode (#2811) for your listening pleasure. In this episode, you will hear the following artists:

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Hilliard Ensemble & Jan Garbarek	Officium	Parce Mihi Domine [6:30]	ECM #1525 www.ecmrecords.com *
Alfred Schnittke	Concerts for Mixed Chorus	Sabran je pesen sikh [8:00]	Chandos 9332 www.chandos.net OR Download from Emusic.com
Hilliard Ensemble & Jan Garbarek	Officium	Beata Viscera [6:30]	See above.
Eric Whitacre	Cloudburst	Cloudburst [8:30]	Hyperion #67543 www.hyperion-records.co.uk*
Einojuhani Rautavaara	Sacred Works for Mixed Chorus	Canticum Mariae Virginus [7:30]	Ondine #935 ** www.ondine.net*
Sequentia	Saints-Music of Hildegard von Bingen	O Euchari, in leta via ambulasti [7:00]	Deutsch Harmonia Mundi #77378 Available at Amazon.com*
Shirley Rumsey	Music from the Time of the Templars	Viderunt Omnes, excerpt [3:00]	Naxos 8.503192 www.naxos.com OR Download from Emusic.com

Enjoy!

And Now for Something Completely Different...

I am from Cleveland, and there is nothing like a little bit of Bone Thugs on the cusp of the weekend...

Enjoy this little didy from the Austrian dub-trance group Kruder + Dorfmeister, inspired by my friendly neighbors Bone Thugs 'N Harmony:

Charlotte Gainsbourg's New Album "IRM"

I think the reason I really like the relatively-new Charlotte Gainsbourg album IRM is because it was almost entirely written and produced by Beck. I think Pitchfork, in their infinite wisdom and smarminess, is right to say that this is the best album he has produced in seven years - Sea Change was produced in 2002…

Although Sea Change was clearly my favorite Beck album of all time (it is incredible, you must pick it up), this album is clearly enhanced with Gainsbourg’s vocals which add a level of indelible beauty – something contrasting with Beck’s sorrowful, frank voice. “Voyage” and “Trick Pony” are excellent tracks on IRM

Go here to listen to the album