Results tagged “newmusic”

Composer Adam Mirza, and saxophonist Michael Ibrahim both lead their own groups. One's called Amp, the other Riot. Judging by titles, one might expect death metal, or by appearance, chamber music. But like many ensembles in New York today, these two groups fall under the category "new music," a term used to denote a genre that employs a vast lexicon of extended techniques to coax sounds from instruments generally deemed classical. Like the technology that influences it, this music is constantly evolving, but at a rate perhaps too fast for modern audiences to properly consume it.

Brownstoner is reporting some misinformation about a new venue in Brooklyn. The already buzzed about new venture is brought to you by the folks that brought you Union Hall, so we asked Jack McFadden to clear a few things up:

Yes, it's true, we will have a new music venue opening sometime later in 2008. We are JUST beginning construction which should last well into the spring. It is the main owners of Union Hall.

Continue reading "Venuegate '08: Where Exactly Is This Space?"

, hit shelves late last year. The tome delves into the cultural history of music since 1900, and even has Björk touting: "Alex Ross's incredibly nourishing book will rekindle anyone's fire for music." Tonight he'll step away from the printed word and you can catch him chatting with Stephen on The Colbert Report.

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television:

The ACMA (Alliance for Creative Music Action) is a group of musicians, artists and supporters of the arts who are joining together "as a pressure group to bring awareness about the needs of art in our communities." Tonight they'll be holding a Town Hall Meeting, demanding that the city provide "an adequate subsidized performance space in Manhattan." The meeting will be held just a block away from Tonic, a recent casualty amongst downtown performance spaces.

There's a nice story this weekend about a woman who spent 31 years as a cellist with the New York Philharmonic. She will leave the country's oldest orchestra after a September 14th performance, but one could hardly say she is retiring. Nancy Donaruma split her time the last few years between the Philharmonic and classes at an upstate college so she could become a full-time paramedic. She will be working near her home in Poughkeepsie, about 70 miles north of New York City.

Yesterday a press conference on the steps of City Hall was held in response to the eviction and closing of Tonic, the downtown venue that shut its doors after nine years. A committee of musicians, cultural activists, and supporters made a call for public and political intervention to protect new music/indie/avant/jazz in New York City and to ask the city to provide a minimum 200 capacity, centrally located venue for experimental music. From the press release, the coalition is asking:

CBS 2 News did a bit of an unexpected midweek transition to HD news yesterday becoming the third station in the city and the second CBS owned and operated station in the country to do so after KYW in Philadelphia went HD last week.

Clearly, Keith Richards telling NME that he snorted his dad's ashes is huge news, or the tabloids just didn't take to the story about an appeals court making an insurer pay for a boy's breast reduction surgery (the teen is "burdened with unusually large breasts for a boy"). Though it has the better headline, the Post disappoints us by not whipping up some Photoshop fun - like Keith snorting something out of a casket-shaped urn.

Sometimes we wonder how magazines can compete with online publications (blogs, webzines, instant reporting). Most start blogs themselves, and people still buy the issues - much for the same reason that people still buy cd's, we'd imagine. Digital can be so impersonal. Albums, cd's, magazines...they're more of an art, and a link to a past when we couldn't access every single thing online.

Finger on the Pulse, Deejay Collective

New Feature Alert! In a city filled with music, bands and venues we sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed and underenthused. So here's the deal, we are going to write about one NYC band each week. We want to introduce you to some new music that we've heard, and we want you to introduce us to some new music as well (see end of post). We're all listening through cluttered ears, but that's only because we know there's something worth listening to out there.

We don't know where to begin with show recommendations this week. Emily Haines is in town with her band Metric for shows at Bowery Ballroom and Southpaw. Today Pitchfork declared the new Broken Social Scene album, on which she appears, "best new music." Broken Social Scene's new label-mates, The Most Serene Republic, are opening both shows. Then there's the Decemberists. Back in town once again, they're also playing two shows - Webster Hall tonight (Tuesday) and Wednesday. Nada Surf, Beck, U2, Keane, Robbers on High Street, King of France, Paul McCartney, Social Distortion, Zap Mama, David Gray, East Village Opera Company, Sufjan Stevens, Sons & Daughters, The Raveonettes, Radio 4, The Working Title, and even Jethro Tull are ALL playing two shows each in or around town this week. At least you've got options.

David Pogue, NY Times Technology Writer, Author

Gothamist has a pretty standard taxi routine: get in the cab, say our destination, repeat our destination, repeat our destination a third time (we sometimes speakabitquickly), roll down the windows because the AC is off or sucks, wait, pay and tip the driver, get out. Occasionally we'll get into a conversation with the driver of the standard "where are you from" or "how's traffic" variety but most often we get too absorbed in looking out the window. Which is to say we haven't ever really had any problems with our cabbies, though admittedly we don't taxi that often. But many people have had problems, and now one company is trying to do something about it. Yellow Cab SLSJet, which has 700 cabbies in its employ, is starting to institute a charm school for its drivers. Over the next few months drivers will learn "cabby etiquette" (i.e. stay calm, don't talk politics, smile) and "grooming" (i.e. not so much cologne, stay clean, smile). Cabbies will also be told to lay off the cellphones and to tone down their cultural music.

Sarah Lewitinn, Ultragrrrl

Hey Kids, Got a guitar? We bet you do. Well, Gothamist wanted to give you a nice big heads up on the CMJ Battle of the Bands.

Melissa Caruso-Scott, Co-Owner Tonic

NY2LON: You're Not Invited

Pauline Millard, Writer/Mezzo Soprano

Ida Dupont, Professor of Criminal Justice, Women's Advocate

Adam Shore, General Manager, VICE Records

Bill Wrigley, MC

Scratchy voiced Alan Light and John Rollins (Gothamist doesn't know anything about Rollins' voice, only Light's because he'dcomment on ANYTHING on VH1) bring a new music magazine offering with Tracks, oriented to more adult readers. The Times' David Carr looks at this venture, which seems to follow the music industry's realization that older consumers will buy, versus download, music, but the older consumers are simply not being spoken to. One doubtful industry expert, wondering if there are adults obsessive enough to shell out some change for a magazine about the music they like, says, "My experience has been that the people who like to listen to Bonnie Raitt and Phil Collins do not have music as a primary interest." Well, duh. If any magazine had a editorial mission to simply cover Phil Collins, it would only be good as a money laundering scheme. But this sounds just like the original business plan for VH1, so expect a couple issues down the road for it to be all about the 80s. Or the Fabulous Life of Sharon Osbourne.

The new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album, Take Them On Your Own, is out today. Their debut album, B.R.M.C., summoned comparisons to Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine with its dreamy-aggressive style. Bassist/vocalist Robert Turner tells the Post, "The first album was more abstract, a wall of sound. This album is more of a statement." Gothamist can't wait.