Journal
- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Composer Donnacha Dennehy, whose piece Land of Winter, performed by Alarm Will Sound and conductor Alan Pierson, was released earlier this month on Nonesuch, shares some insight on the work, which explores the subtleties of Ireland’s seasons via twelve connected sections representing the months of the year, in a new essay. "It is the varying quality of light that truly demarcates the seasons," he says, "from the shorter days of grey or piercing light in the winter to the warmer but mercurial light of summer days that at solstice stretch almost to midnight. I like this play between light and time, and it is the major inspiration behind the piece."
Journal Topics: Artist Essays, Artist News
- Monday, July 8, 2019
Yola performed at the Glastonbury Festival, showcasing songs from her debut album, Walk Through Fire. "She has the most phenomenal voice and amazing, great songs as well ... Fabulous," said BBC Radio 2's Jo Whiley introducing the set live on air. You can watch Yola's Glastonbury performance of the album track "Shady Grove" here, and see her on tour in the US.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On Tour, VideoWednesday, July 3, 2019This July 4 extra long weekend, Lake Street Dive tours US West, including Red Rocks with The Avett Brothers … Laurie Anderson is in Milan for Terraforma festival … Gabriel, Jeffrey Kahane join Grant Park Orchestra in Chicago ... Kronos Quartet gives free concert in Portugal … Lianne La Havas joins Lionel Richie, Corinne Bailey Rae for Stevie Wonder celebration in London … Gaby Moreno plays High Sierra Music Festival in California … Robert Plant brings Carry Fire to Roskilde Festival …
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsWednesday, July 3, 2019Daughter of Swords recently stopped by WFUV in NYC to perform an FUV Live set of two songs from her debut album, Dawnbreaker: the title track and "Shining Woman." You can watch the performances here. No Depression says of the new album: "Dawnbreaker is the companion we need for those long, solitary summer drives or walks where we allow our minds to wander and imagine the possibilities we’ve not yet discovered for ourselves."
Journal Topics: Artist News, Radio, VideoMonday, July 1, 2019Composer William Brittelle has shared the full score for and story of "Forbidden Colors," from his new album, Spiritual America. On the album, Wye Oak, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and the Metropolis Ensemble perform a genre-defying electro-acoustic song cycle written by Brittelle, who works to reconcile his youth in a conservative Christian household with his adult life as an "agnostic Buddhist." You can download the "Forbidden Colors" score and follow along as Brittelle breaks it down here.
Journal Topics: Artist EssaysMonday, July 1, 2019The Black Keys were on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday to discuss their new album, "Let's Rock." "We just kind of have always had this connection, where we can make music without really talking about it or thinking about it," says Dan Auerbach. "And when we were sixteen, that's why—that's what we realized right away. We just started playing, and it worked, you know? And that's just how it's always been." Patrick Carney adds: "I think this record—it made the most sense just to keep it simple and bring it back to the basics, which was just guitar and drums." You can hear the full interview here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, RadioFriday, June 28, 2019The Black Keys' ninth studio album, "Let's Rock," is out now. The long-awaited album, the band's first in five years, is a return to the straightforward rock of the singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney's early days as a band. Auerbach says, "When we're together we are The Black Keys, that's where that real magic is, and always has been since we were sixteen." The band will tour North America this fall.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, June 28, 2019Dawnbreaker, the debut album from Daughter of Swords, aka Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, is out now on Nonesuch. Working with Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn, who co-produced the record with her, Sauser-Monnig shaped what began as quiet reflections into confident compositions, crackling with country swagger and a sparkling pop warmth, preemptive odes to the next phase of life. Guests include Mountain Man's Amelia Meath and Molly Sarlé, bandleader Phil Cook, and guitarist Ryan Gustafson.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, June 28, 2019Joshua Redman Quartet plays Saratoga Jazz Fest in upstate New York … Sam Amidon concludes US tour with Bruce Hornsby … Lake Street Dive plays Minneapolis, Milwaukee … Gaby Moreno concludes tour with David Gray out West … Robert Plant returns to Norway … Caroline Shaw performs with Roomful of Teeth at Caramoor in upstate New York … Yola opens for The Killers in Cardiff, plays Glastonbury Fest …
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsThursday, June 27, 2019The Black Keys were on CBS This Morning. They spoke with host Anthony Mason about their new album, "Let's Rock," what lies ahead as the band tours this fall, and more. "I love this album," says Mason. "I think it's great. It's so good to have them back." Watch the interview here. In a feature profile on the band, the New York Times' Jon Pareles writes: "In an era of blatantly computerized pop, 'Let’s Rock' flaunts basics from yesteryear: guitars, drums, vocals."
Journal Topics: Artist News, Television, VideoFriday, June 21, 2019The Rhiannon Giddens–hosted podcast series Aria Code, presented by The Metropolitan Opera and WQXR, has returned with a special episode. It's focused on the aria "The Trees on the Mountain," from Carlisle Floyd's opera Susannah, which Giddens performs on her new album, there is no Other. She is joined by soprano Renée Fleming, writer/director Thomas Holliday, and feminist writer Leora Tanenbaum. You can hear the episode, including Fleming’s 1999 performance of the aria and Giddens's own from the new album, here.
Journal Topics:Friday, June 21, 2019Brad Mehldau Quintet leads Village Vanguard residency in NYC … Sam Amidon plays solo set in Brooklyn, tours with Bruce Hornsby … Daughter of Swords supports Mandolin Orange … Emmylou Harris is in Colonial Williamsburg … Gabriel Kahane brings Book of Travelers back to NYC … Kronos Quartet live-scores documentary in East Hampton ... Lake Street Dive, Punch Brothers play Telluride Bluegrass … Gaby Moreno continues tour with David Gray … Robert Plant tours Scandinavia ... Yola is in Spain …
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsWednesday, June 19, 2019Daughter of Swords, aka Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, has shared a new song, "Fields of Gold," from her upcoming album, Dawnbreaker. You can watch the lyric video, which features drawings by Sauser-Monnig and animation by Robert Edridge-Waks, below. Stereogum, which premiered the video, says of the track: "It shimmers and shines like a ray of light, a true field of gold if you will."
Journal Topics: Artist News, Video