Electronic Music NewsLast Days of Silence
The News Review:
- Last Days of Silence
- iafrica.com | entertain | features Rock on!
- Terry Riley at Walt Disney Concert Hall
- At Spoleto USA ‘Monkey – Journey to the West’ Combines Opera…
- Critics’ Choice – New CDs From Usher 3 Doors Down Esperanza…
Last Days of Silence
PopMatters – May 26, 2008
“Intelligent Dance Music” conjures up images of holier-than-thou circuit freaks spitting on the mindless ‘ardkore ravers content instead to fawn over the church of the patch. If one is to get technical what the press calls “IDM” started out as a listserve before being adopted in the early ‘90s as a buzzword for this curious electronic music coming mostly from Warp records. In its seminal Artificial Intelligence series of albums compilations and videos Warp presented a new aesthetic for electronic music. This was the gnarled branch grown from the Detroit techno family tree. Of the acts to appear on the Artificial Intelligence series none were more directly indebted to the Detroit style than B12 and F.
iafrica.com | entertain | features Rock on!
iAfrica.com – May 26, 2008
Founded in 1967 many of the greats have performed on the festival’s various stages. Misleadingly called a jazz festival Montreux also offers reggae rock and electronic music often at high prices though. This year’s crowd-pleasers? Van Morrison George Benson Sly and the Family Stone Norah Jones or Placebo.
Terry Riley at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Synthtopia – May 26, 2008
My expectations for Sunday’s concert were impossibly high. They were exceeded. Most fans of electronic music are aware of Philip Glass and Steve Reich and on the influence they have had on electronic musicians. You can’t understand minimalism though without listening to some of the 60’s work of La Monte Young and Terry Riley two living classical composers whose influence is immeasurable. itemtext–>Related Posts.
At Spoleto USA ‘Monkey – Journey to the West’ Combines Opera…
New York Times – May 26, 2008
” And it is true: most operas do not have acrobats playing crustaceans in shopping carts juggling parasols with their feet or extended fight sequences like Hong Kong kung-fu movies or contortionists wrapping their legs around their heads. And most circuses do not have pit orchestras a narrative or opera singers. The score is a mix of hip-hop beats washes of electronic sound dissonant brass fanfares sweet Chinese pop melodies and percussive effects. Ten vocalists sing in Mandarin with Chinese opera inflection. There is little dialogue. The heavy amplification made it difficult to tell who was singing at times or whether the voices were even coming from the stage. The show was a hit when it first played at the Manchester International Festival in England last year and the creators have high hopes of cloning it in commercial sites and other opera houses particularly in Asia… Good programming “doesn’t necessarily represent the tastes of the team doing the programming” said Emmanuel Villaume the festival’s orchestra and opera director. “There is an incredible entertainment value of ‘Monkey’ ” he said. “The music is an accompaniment for the visual effects. I won’t say more. People who know about these things say it’s a good score. ”But he said the fact that Spoleto was giving “Monkey” its American premiere made it a welcome addition and it is drawing a diverse audience. “It’s doing the job we want it to do” he said.
Critics’ Choice – New CDs From Usher 3 Doors Down Esperanza…
New York Times – May 26, 2008
The few successes here make use of Ms. Lauper’s still-powerful voice and her ear for full-throttle choruses. “Grab a Hold” produced by the London electro-pop group Dragonette plays to these strengths; so does “Lay Me Down” a seamless collaboration with Kleerup who has memorably produced tracks for the Swedish pop star Robyn. But much more common are tracks like “Same Ol’ Story” the album’s first single which enlists a common beat (and an even more common expletive) to numbing effect. Lauper is hardly alone in this field — her old nemesis.