Steve Smith
-
Robert Schumann – Violin Concerto; Symphony No. 1 in B-flat ("Spring"); Phantasy for Violin and Orchestra – Thomas Zehetmair, Orchestre de chambre de Paris (ECM New Series) Goldsmiths – Goldsmiths (Another Timbre)> Sarah Hughes – A Reward is given for the Best Inframammary Fold No. 4; John Lely – First Page for Five; Goldsmiths –…
-
Justin Bieber, by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP The ticket: Pop musicSunday, May 8, 2016 JUSTIN BIEBER The process of a juvenile pop phenom’s maturation into an artist of staying power (or not) is never less than fascinating. If the jury’s out on where Bieber will land after his occasionally too-public growing pains, there’s no denying his 2015…
-
Anohni, by Alice O'Malley HOPELESSNESS by ANOHNI A very, very brief post this Friday evening, simply to call attention to my review of Hopelessness, the surprising, seductive, and harsh new album released today by Anohni – best known as the lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons, and recently in the news for an Oscar-related…
-
Mr. Lif, by Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, May 5, 2016 MR. LIF Storming back from a lengthy, unplanned hiatus, Boston MC and Def Jux survivor Mr. Lif celebrates the release of “Don’t Look Down,” his first solo album in seven years and a compelling testament to his artistic resilience. May…
-
Tony Oxley & Derek Bailey – The Advocate (Tzadik) Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Warp) Dead & Company – DCU Center, Worcester, MA, November 10, 2015 (Archive.org) The Tree of Life by CECIL TAYLOR Cecil Taylor – The Tree of Life (FMP) Peter Brötzmann, Albert Mangelsdorff & Günter "Baby" Sommer – Pica…
-
"Jack Quartet, IRCAM prove electric company at ICA"Boston Globe, May 3, 2016 It's always good to catch up with the JACK Quartet, whose name I'll render here in its preferred all-caps-as-acronym form even if the newspaper declined to do so. (The group's fans know "JACK" = John Pickford Richards, Ari Streisfeld, Christopher Otto, and Kevin…
-
Santigold, by Donald Bowers/Getty Images The ticket: Pop music Sunday, May 1, 2016 BOB MOULD “Patch the Sky,” released in March, finds this punk-rock veteran swinging for the fences with his customary mix of buzzy guitars, bubblegum melodies, and ferocious drive. Ted Leo, another indie-rock perennial, raises the curtain. May 1, 7 p.m. $25. Paradise…
-
Lea Bertucci & Leila Bordreuil – L'Onde Souterraine (Telegraph Harp) Anthony Braxton – Composition No. 56 – Wet Ink Ensemble (Vimeo) Resonance Shapes by Lea Bertucci Lea Bertucci – Resonance Shapes (Obsolete Units) Steve Lacy – Morning Joy (hatOLOGY) Mechanisms of Omniscience by Abnormality Abnormality – Mechanisms of Omniscience (Metal Blade; due April 29) Timothy…
-
Horse Lords The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, April 28, 2016 DOPAPOD Last year’s three-night homestand by this charismatic Boston-born jam band ended with a nearly hourlong Pink Floyd cover that twisted through reggae, trance, and disco mutations. Will Dopapod attempt to top that feat? Find out here. April 28-30, 8 p.m. Tickets: $20, advance…
-
WHO: Lea BertucciWHAT: Axis/AtlasWHEN: Wednesday, April 27, 8 p.m.WHERE: School of the Museum of Fine Arts, 230 The Fenway, BostonHOW: Non-Event Axis/Atlas by Lea Bertucci I caught wind of composer/sound artist Lea Bertucci first when she was roughly half of TwistyCat, an improv combo that played lots around New York's artier fringes. I say roughly…
-
King Crimson – Jazz Club, Chesterfield, England, September 7, 1969 (DGMLive) Caspa – "Floor Dem"/"My Pet Monster" (Digital Soundboy) Rusko – "Cockney Thug" (Sub Soldiers) < NSFW Miles Davis & Robert Glasper – Everything's Beautiful (Columbia/Legacy; due May 27) Air – Air Song (Whynot) Air – Air Raid (Whynot) Alain Goraguer – La Planète Sauvage…
-
Julien Baker, by Ben Sklar/The New York Times The ticket: Pop musicSunday, April 24, 2016 JULIEN BAKER She just played Cafe 939 in January, and already this Memphis singer-songwriter, who specializes in sweetly voiced memories and intimacies, is back again to play a bigger room. Listen to her latest album, “Sprained Ankle,” and the appeal…
-
Slum Village The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, April 21, 2016 THE KING’S COURT TOUR: A TRIBUTE TO J. DILLA It’s been 10 years since James DeWitt Yancey, the gifted, influential Detroit hip-hop producer better known as J. Dilla, died of a rare blood disease at age 32. A prime mover behind neo-soul’s syncopated bump,…
-
Keith Rowe/John Tilbury – Enough still not to know (Sofa) Sheer Hellish Miasma by Kevin Drumm Kevin Drumm – Sheer Hellish Miasma (Editions Mego < Bandcamp) Great stone / Blood dunza by Diatribes Diatribes – Great Stone/Blood Dunza (Aussenraum < Bandcamp) The System Likes You And Wants To Be Your Friend (PA047) by 1/3 Octave…
-
Tom Carter The ticket: Pop musicSunday, April 17, 2016 Due to space concerns, these listings were trimmed in print. These are the untrimmed versions. MICHAEL HURLEY This roots-music maverick taped his 1964 debut LP on the same reel-to-reel machine used to capture Lead Belly’s last session; seems entirely plausible that some rare element stuck to…
-
If There's A Hell Below by Black Milk Black Milk – If There's a Hell Below (Computer Ugly < Bandcamp) Detroit's Son by Guilty Simpson Guilty Simpson – Detroit's Son (Stones Throw < Bandcamp) Slum Village – Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 1 (Donut Boy) Donuts by J Dilla J Dilla – Donuts (Stones Throw < Bandcamp) Healsonar…
-
Christina & Michelle Naughton – Visions (Warner Classics)> Olivier Messiaen – Visions de l'Amen; Johann Sebastian Bach (arr. Kurtág) – Sonatina (from Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106 "Actus Tragicus"); John Adams – Hallelujah Junction Benjamin Beilman – Spectrum (Warner Classics)> Franz Schubert – Sonata in A (D. 574, "Grand Duo"); Leoš Janáček…
-
Melvins, by Mackie Osborne The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, April 14, 2016 PRINCE RAMA A near-death experience on an Estonian island, a mountaintop album debut, a Central Park raccoon attack. . . hard to know where mythology ends and reality starts for psychedelic pranksters Taraka and Nimai Larson. One thing we know for sure:…
-
Esperanza Spalding The ticket: Pop musicSunday, April 10, 2016 RIHANNA The most surprising thing about this arena date with the potent Barbadian R&B star is that tickets can still be had. Don’t take it as a sign that Rihanna’s star has dipped since her last solo trek in 2013; view it as proof that her…
Night After Night 