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BOOKS ON MUSIC
My ten contributions to ACL’s 40 Best Books on Music (part one, part two) Derek Bailey ~ Improvisation: Its Nature And Practice In Music (Da Capo, 1980/1993) English guitarist Derek Bailey endures as a central figure in improvised music nearly two decades after his death, and likewise his short book on the subject remains essential reading.…
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ARCHIVE FEVER
More samples and loops sourced from thrift store tapes. The second volume in my series Friperietronics–weird ambient/concrete all-tape DJ sets in which all the music, samples and loops are sourced from thrift store tapes and mixed and effected live. Friperietronics vol. 1 was released in early 2020, following a live performance in 2019 consisting entirely…
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Lino Capra Vaccina
Lino Capra Vaccina is one of the greats of Italian minimalism. In the early 1970s he was a founding member of the ethno-jazz group Aktuala, who pioneered a distinctly Mediterranean form of contemporary music more than a decade before industry suits coined the term “World Music.” After his departure, he joined Franco Battiato (with whom he would continue to…
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Down On Darkened Meetings
Low key yet lyrical melodies balance on the cusp between accessible and weird, at turns mournful and celebratory. Untitled tracks allow the listener to project whatever they’re feeling onto this music. And despite being informed that all sounds come from electric and acoustic guitars, there remains an ambiguity to the sound sources that makes room…
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Across Time Patched Together
Across time patched together is an album-length medley of live and radiophonic works recorded between 2014 and 2018. This mix features selections from live sessions at CKUT 90.3FM, a 2014 live set (including violinist Norman Nawrocki), two live performances from 2018, and some unreleased recordings from the sessions that produced Temp de Travail, Syncope. Within…
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“a mic at a window…”
Presque Tout launched in 2019 as a Bandcamp page, a humble ongoing digital archive of field recordings from around the world. Anyone can participate, and the parameters for inclusion are very straightforward: Make a recording from an open window, with no editing and minimal signal processing, and then email it to them. Submissions took off during the pandemic,…
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CRITICAL POSITIVITY
Happy (very belated) birthday to us! Back in January of 2022 we celebrated the tenth anniversary of our blog. To celebrate, in this episode, we pull the curtain back a bit to talk with ten of the writers who have contributed to A CLOSER LISTEN since we began over a decade ago. Utilizing my idiosyncratic…
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Steve Roden ~ Flower & Water
This review was originally published in late 2014 on A CLOSER LISTEN. Since Steve Roden (1964-2023) passed away yesterday, I’ve been listening to his music nonstop, and re-reading my interview with him from 2013, which I’ve just republished on Substack. I realized I never added this review to my personal site, so here it is.…
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Christopher Tignor / Slow Six / Redhooker / Wires.Under.Tension
Christopher Tignor is set to release his latest album, The Art of Surrender, out later this month on Western Vinyl. I recently saw him perform in Montreal, which motivated me to gather some Tignor-related features I contributed to TSB many years ago. I have really vivid memories of listening to Nor’easter on my fire escape in…
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Subversive Communication Nine Years After 68
[Bologna, 1977] Semiologist Umberto Eco, professor at the University of Bologna, author of The Open Work and The Absent Structure, was one of the first intellectuals to comment in the press on the emarginati revolt movement. Eco is particularly committed to understanding the new culture of this movement of the unemployed, of students in the…
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Do Make Say Think ~ The Other Truths
When Do Make Say Think first emerged in the late nineties, a comparison to Tortoise was quickly made and haunted them for quite awhile afterward. Though the influence of the Chicago group was undeniable, DMST also had more going for them than riding the wake of Tortoise-influenced instrumental bands. With their dual drummers, prominent bass…
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The Drift ~ Memory Drawings
Memory Drawings, the second LP by San Francisco’s The Drift, delivers memorable songs, each offering a distinct impression. Originally a Lazarus/Tarentel side-project, The Drift have slowly evolved into an original and compelling full-time group of their own. The guitar playing of founding member Danny Grody (Tarentel) works well with trumpet of Jeff J. Jacobs, and…
Sound Propositions 