Spanish Romance

I'm looking to write for guitar and violin. Here's some inspiration.

In this darkness with my frozen hands...

Partch Ensemble performance = Success! All the pieces sounded fantastic- the program featured music by both Partch himself and by various other composers (students as well!). I know that if I go somewhere else for grad school, I won't be able to play on Partch instruments again.

I'd love to cover some Partch stuff here at some point. Check out this documentary in the meantime.

Perhaps my most ridiculous post ever...

All the Single Ladies

You're a jerk

You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
something something iPod touch
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk
You're a jerk (ps- watch the video)
jerk jerk jerk jerk jerk je jejejejeje jerk

...
...
...

It's so infectious.

Given the date and time...

One, with a full orchestra.
Two, piano reduction
Three, another solo piano version
And a how-to video. This guy does it pretty okay.
(And here's Dream, thrown in for good measure.)

It's amazing how many different interpretations of 4'33" are out there. I'm not a fan, but regardless, I feel that Cage's intention to "write" it was correct in that he wanted to assert that a piece with no music could be performed just like a piece with music. Each time it's performed, a million different things could happen. If music is supposedly about order, then this could be a piece of "un-music".

Think about that for a while.

Zappa

I've always been told to "listen to Zappa", "listen to Zappa", "listen to Zappa". So finally, I did.

G-Spot Tornado

Wow.

Suggested Listening #8

Hello all/you. We're back today, on this first day of April, with another Suggested Listening. Today, we'll be looking at the music of... well, this is so amazing that a written description would simply not do it justice. In terms of its popularity, the song has appeared in many TV shows and has received a ton of radio play. Anyway, head on over to Youtube and check out this video.

Piano-Playing Cat

This is probably old news.

But I didn't discover it until last month.

And now, the cat who plays piano.

This Must Have Been An Awesome Field Show

Check out this footage of a marching band from Michigan playing the music from South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. It looks like it's from a show that features music from Family Guy and the Simpsons as well, which must be a hell of a field show. Back in my marching band days, we did some fun field shows like that as well. Unfortunately, we never got to play "What Would Brian Boitano Do?".

Anyway, the songs featured in the video are "What Would Brian Boitano Do?", "Blame Canada", and "La Resistance/Medley". Too bad they didn't go for the whole musical, because it's really great.

More Joy Division

Transmission/She's Lost Control (my first experience with Joy Division)
Dead Souls (sadly, poor sound quality)
Shadowplay

Special Opps Part 3

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Clash Bar in Clifton to see The Special Opps play. After asking pianist and composer Chris Opperman where I could find some of his videos online, I found some. And as promised, here they are.

White Willow
No Drinks For Libbie

If I can get some more videos or recordings, especially some from their show on 3/6/09, I definitely will do that.

Ore Ska Band

Click Here

It's an all-girl Japanese ska band. Pretty wacky but cool nonetheless.

Density 21.5... on Vibes

Density 21.5

Check out this performance of Edgard Varese's Density 21.5 performed by a talented young vibes player.