Steve Smith
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ACME, by Michael Appleton/The New York Times American Contemporary Ensemble at Le Poisson Rouge, September 11, 2012The New York Times, Sept. 12, 2012 This one posed difficulties, and one most of all: It was hard to get over my pre-existing feelings of ambivalence toward Steve Reich's WTC 9/11 — its methods, tone and message —…
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Morton Feldman – Crippled Symmetry – The Feldman Soloists (Frozen Reeds) Hakobune – Recalling Your Ghostly Thoughts (Full of Nothing, via Bandcamp) Alice Coltrane – Huntington Ashram Monastery/World Galaxy (Verve, via MOG) Dozens – Casually Baroque (SicSic Tapes) Guenter Schlienz – Tape Studies (SicSic Tapes) mise_en_scene / Gerendás vs. Voigt – split CS (SicSic Tapes)…
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Fall and all attendant memoriesCrowd the day with unrelated historiesEach year leaves its unresolving fantasiesTo hang around each cornerHang around each street. Thick with ghosts, the wind whips round in circuitriesCarrying words as strangers exchange pleasantriesDo they intrude upon your private reveriesAs they meet you on each cornerMeet you on each street. Watch for daily…
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“Spotlight Illuminates Work by 2 Composers”The New York Times, Sept. 9, 2012 Just back from a brief but badly needed vacation to find the annual New Season issue of The New York Times Arts & Leisure section is out. I haven't had any time to digest this year's epistle, but for years now (since long,…
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Not that you were worried, but yes, Son of Night After Night, the Tumblr I launched during my most recent blogging hiatus, is still active, and I think I'm getting a sense of how I want to continue to use it. Over here, you'll see links to my work for The New York Times and…
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Karen Gillan, Matt Smith, Chris Hardwick and Caroline Skinner outside the Ziegfeld Theater Q&A, Caroline Skinner, Executive Producer of Doctor WhoThe New York Times Artsbeat, August 29, 2012 Prior to the preview screening of the Doctor Who season premiere, "Asylum of the Daleks," at the Ziegfeld Theater last Saturday night, described in the previous post,…
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"A Warm Welcome for 'Doctor Who' in New York"The New York Times Artsbeat, August 26, 2012 In a reasonably spontaneous yet entirely natural departure from my usual beat, on Saturday evening I covered BBC America's American-debut preview of “Asylum of the Daleks,” the first episode from the forthcoming seventh season of Doctor Who. The episode,…
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Wolf Fluorescence – There Is a Mirk Inside Here Which She Must Tint Brighter or Collapse (SicSic) Ravi Coltrane – Spirit Fiction (Blue Note) A City on a Lake – A City on a Lake (Beverly Martel, via MOG) Andrea Parker – "Here's One I Made Earlier…" (Touchin' Bass, via MOG) King Crimson – The…
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Ethan Iverson and Ben Street, from the best seat in the house School is in session at the venerable Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village this week, as pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Ben Street and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath merrily romp and ruminate their collective way through a master class in unhackneyed jazz repertoire. By now,…
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Grateful Dead – Road Trips, Vol. 4, No. 4: Spectrum 4.6.82 (Grateful Dead) Cory Smythe – Pluripotent (Bandcamp) Motion Sickness of Time Travel – Motion Sickness of Time Travel (Spectrum Spools, via MOG) Sam Rivers, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi Recordings; due Sept. 25) Sun Cycles / Inez…
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Live preview: 2NE1Prudential Center; Aug 17Time Out New York, Aug 16–22, 2012 How and when South Korea’s pop-music industry began to insinuate itself in the U.S. isn’t altogether clear, but mounting evidence indicates that K-pop, a polyglot sound purveyed by a swelling stream of slick, energetic boy bands and girl groups developed by entertainment megacorps…
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Pauline Oliveros at the Bang on a Can Marathon, by Jennifer Taylor/The New York Times "Strange Sounds Led a Composer to a Long Career"The New York Times, August 12, 2012 Profiling the composer, improviser and teacher Pauline Oliveros for The New York Times was an incredible privilege; the only problem is that it…
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To mark the 70th birthday of the brilliant drummer, bandleader and composer Jack DeJohnette, a quick post featuring two somewhat offbeat videos, since you've probably seen a lot of Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett footage elsewhere. First, my favorite of DeJohnette's original compositions, "Silver Hollow" (not "Hallow," as the clip is labeled), recorded in 1978…
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Abul Mogard – Abul Mogard (VCO Recordings) Jonas Reinhardt & Abyss of Fathomless Light – Rusting Cyphers of a Forgotten Sky (VCO Recordings) Alexandre Navarro – Sketches (Constellation Tatsu) Hakobune – The Cowboy Across the River (Constellation Tatsu) Billy Gomberg – Into the Fade (Constellation Tatsu) Cankun – Idle (Constellation Tatsu) Melissa Stylianou – Silent…
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International Contemporary Ensemble, by Hiroyuki Ito/The New York Times International Contemporary Ensemble at Rose Theater, August 5, 2012The New York Times, August 7, 2012 An amazing performance by the International Contemporary Ensemble, whose performances at the Mostly Mozart Festival this year mark the start of a tenth-anniversary season chock-full of musical marvels and…
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Phil Kline's dreamcitynine, by Richard Termine/The New York Times Phil Kline's dreamcitynine at Lincoln Center, August 3, 2012The New York Times, August 6, 2012 You can still hear the 60 stories Phil Kline commissioned for dreamcitynine, his intriguing and impressive tribute to John Cage (and to Indeterminacy in specific), at Lincoln Center through…
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The consistently excellent mostly-cassettes label Hooker Vision has posted excerpts from its late August tape batch on Soundcloud. Grab yourself an earful.
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Caroline Chin and Brian Snow, by Richard Termine/The New York Times Caroline Chin and Brian Snow at Spectrum, July 31, 2012The New York Times, August 2, 2012 Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home for intimate concerts enjoyed with friends old and new. That's been the operative assumption behind countless salons, soirees…
Night After Night 