Stuff I'm thinking about going to

It's fall preview time, and so I wanted to post several upcoming concerts and events worth posting and then make snarky comments about them. Sorry if this post is a little LA-centric. Actually, I'm not sorry (see how this is going to go?).

The LA Chamber Orchestra kicks off their season this weekend with Leila Josefowicz performing Prokofiev's basically perfect First Violin Concerto. As LACO does, there will be a concert Saturday in Glendale and Sunday at Royce Hall. I can't tell you what an amazing composition the concerto is, if you aren't already aware. Because I can't tell you, that is the end of the sentence. And because it's LACO, there is also Haydn's 88th symphony and a piece by Pierre Jalbert- because they love him.

For more underground fair, you can check out the Annie Gosfield Project, because even somewhat obscure New York-based sound artist / electronic musicians get projects named after them these days. But I still have to respect the daring programming of the two joint-producing new music groups- In Frequency, and People Inside Electronics. Though it's a little hard to figure out, there is an additional free concert on the USC campus September 30th. While I'm on the subject, Annie Gosfield wrote a interesting article for the New York Times about being a composer in 2009. It gives you an idea of the aesthetic we're talking about here, and contains good advice for young composers, which in following has led me to write music completely, diametrically opposed to hers.

Did I mention that the LAPhil is playing Turangalila Symphonie in October? And it's about time! I have no idea if The Dude knows how to conduct Messiaen, but I'm freakishly excited.

I don't need to mention that "art-rockers" The Dirty Projectors are going to be at the Wiltern September 24th. But that's sold out of course, so I won't be going. Speaking of sold out rock shows, people are also really excited about the XX (at the Palladium on September 22nd). Though they were already overnight indie-sensations, they are totally blowing up right now, so bring blast guards. Really bored-sounding cross-gender unison singing is so hot right now!

Well, now I've pissed off many of the hipsters reading the blog, so I've got to redeem myself.



Besides music, one of my few other passions (along with urban planning issues, evolutionary psychology, porcupines, etc.) is fine food and beverage. (I also love super-ultimate-beer-pong-shot videos). So imagine my schoolgirl-like glee at the forthcoming LA Craft Beer Crawl, in downtown LA, September 24th. And when I say schoolgirl-like glee, what I mean is manly, beer-loving glee. Get your tickets now! And if that's not enough, there is still the Tour de Fat October 23rd, combining bicycles and New Belgium brewing at the LA state historic park.

I'm also pretty passionate about Australia. I mean, what's the deal with it?

In Frequency in LA

One of the fun thing about having a blog is now I get to plug crazy obscure underground new music concerts. If I do this enough, hopefully people will start giving me free stuff. First I'll probably have to find some readers though. Second I will have to find people who go to new music concerts.

I'll start with my friend Andrea Moore's new group, In Frequency. The concert is - tonight! Oh crap! Well, if you're going to miss that, I will point out she also has a blog, where I think she makes some interesting and valid- if high-falutin'- and generally much more insightful points than me about the state of classical new music. Where they need my help is in integrating the blog into the rest of the web site. But, contrary to all appearances, I'm trying to be a musician here, not a web designer.

The concert will include Stefan Wolpe's String Quartet, written in 1969 while he was suffering from Parkinson's disease. A delightfully radical, rarely played composer who came of age in Weimar Germany, his music from the twenties is some of the most seriously out stuff of the period. Unfortunately, this piece is from 1960s New York- but I'm still very curious.

So I know my first few posts are about pretty (novelty size irony-quotes) "complicated" music, or as most people refer to it, "music that sounds bad." I don't want to give the impression that this is my only interest. There are many great opportunities for hilarious blog posts just around the corner...