Amelia Courthouse is the “hymnambient” alter ego of Leah Toth, filtering childhood memories of southern protestant hymns through the experiment lens of Toth’s adult musical world. The first album, Ruby Glass, layers soft, evocative textures of sound over spectral shreds of melody. In her Dusted review, Jennifer Kelly observed that, “There is a stillness in it that seeps into you, bringing calm, clarity and a faint longing for the past.”
Alice Coltrane—World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
I regularly reach for Coltrane’s albums, but this compilation has become a mainstay for me. Meditative, deeply spiritual, and melodic, it is a balm for troubled times.
Graham Lambkin—Amateur Doubles
Put simply, Amateur Doubles is a recording of recordings plus ambient room sounds: Lambkin and his family took a road trip, and he recorded the sounds inside the car, which include music by Besombes-Rizet and Philippe Grancher, children and adults talking, car doors slamming, and tires on interstate asphalt. It’s simple, really, but profound in what it says about what music can be.
Billie Whitelaw’s performance in Samuel Beckett’s play Rockaby
It’s no secret among drama aficionados that Billie Whitelaw is the greatest performer of Samuel Beckett’s late dramatic work. But I am especially struck by her performance as W in Alan Schneider’s production of Rockaby, which we are fortunate to have recorded on film. As she noiselessly rocks, she fully displays the subtle complexities of that character: childlike, helpless, haggard, desperate for human contact. It is a hauntingly beautiful performance of a woman running out the clock.
Julius Hemphill—“Hard Blues” from ‘Coon Bid’ness
I have heard more praise for Dogon A.D., but the 20-minute sidelong jam on the B-side of ‘Coon Bid’ness(which is from the same recording session) is my favorite Hemphill recording and one of my favorite jazz recordings from any time period. It’s got free jazz sensibilities with a satisfyingly off-kilter head that looks forward to Ornette Coleman’s playfully demented, carnivalesque Dancing in Your Head.
David New’s short film / R. Murray Schafer biography Listen
In many ways, musicologist R. Murray Schafer picks up where John Cage left off but with an ecological bent. In Listen, Schafer invites us to turn off human-made noise and indulge in the living soundscapes of the natural world.
The lock groove ending side A of Lindsey Buckingham’s Go Insane
Within the current state of the failed music industry, where dull sure bets are almost always signed over more interesting risk takers, I worry we’ll never again have mad scientist artists who also appeal to millennials cooing over the halcyon days of pre-Rumours Lindsey and Stevie. Buckingham’s genius is well documented, but I’m not so sure that his strangeness is, though it is apparent from the coffee plant demo days through Fleetwood Mac and his most recent solo records. One example is the non-western-sounding lock groove ending side A of Go Insane. It’s mesmerizing, coming as it does at the end of an infectious pop tune.
The Kinks—Arthur
I’m increasingly of the opinion that Arthur is the best of the Kinks; I’m 100% convinced that it’s my favorite. Every song on the record is a showstopper: from the march-like snare on “Yes Sir, No Sir” to the tender and devastating “Some Mother’s Son” and the ultimate extended jam that is “Australia,” there’s something for everyone. A perfect album.
Ernest Hood—Neighborhoods
For years now, this private press ambient album featuring field recordings, synth, and zither has been the most prized LP in my vinyl collection. I love it so, I make sure to listen to it once a year, uninterrupted. I am thrilled that Freedom to Spend reissued it recently so that my original copy can remain safely stowed.
Andrei Tarkovsky—The Mirror
The cavewater field recording on my piece “murphie 1” is directly inspired by the scene in The Mirror where Margarita Terekhova is shown pulling her wet hair out of a tub of water. It is such a visually stunning and unsettling scene, and I have imagined scoring it, myself.
Glenn Kotche—Introducing Glenn Kotche
Second only to the Beatles’ “Revolution 9,” this is one of the first pieces of so-called experimental music I ever heard. I was particularly struck by the percussive and melodic 22-minute “Stagger On,” which became a gateway—backwards, I know—to Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Phillip Glass, among so many others. Kotche’s solo work represented a turning point for me as a deep listener.
'End of the Rainbow' Stunning, Intimate Look at Judy Garland's Legacy
‘End of the Rainbow’ Stunning, Intimate Look at Judy Garland’s Legacy
By Bradley Rohlf
Contributing Writer
Max & Louie’s production of Peter Quilter’s “End of the Rainbow” is full of energy, surprises, and sadness, much like actress-singer Judy Garland’s own life.
This play-with-songs opened on June 22, the anniversary of her death. Directed by David New, the gripping performances on display are a fitting tribute to the pain and tragedy of Garland’s life.
"A soundscape is any collection of sounds, almost like a painting is a collection of visual attractions," says composer R. Murray Schafer. "When you listen carefully to the soundscape it becomes quite miraculous." David New's portrait of the renowned composer becomes a lesson unto itself, gracing viewers (and listeners) with a singular moment of interactive subjectivity. This film was produced for the 2009 Governor General's Performing Arts Award.
