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?

Genius Denial

I've long been somewhat of a genius denier. This is not to say that there aren't really really talented people out there. The problem is where we like to think they come from.

Case in point: musical prodigies. I've known quite a few. And while we might like to trot them out on stage and be amazed at their freakish abilities, I've yet to know one that didn't practice like a million hours a day more than their jealous competitors.

Anyway, please check out this amazing podcast. It's a RadioLab episode featuring Malcolm Gladwell, who will eloquently argue my point. Gladwell, for those who may not know, is the New Yorker correspondent turned best-selling author beloved by everyone except those who are jealous that he got a million dollar advance on his first book deal. These are the same people who don't like Jonathan Franzen. Radio Lab, for those who may not know, is by far the most amazing post-modern science / human-interest program on radio today bar none.

The one thing I wish Malcolm had added when Robert the host says "what about this guy that works a thousand hours in his garage writing songs, who loves music, but writes bad music, and the guy who loooooves music and spends thousands of hours writing songs and is named Richard Rogers" is: show me that guy. Show me the musician that is passionate about music, has practiced their instrument or their craft tens of thousands of hours, and sucks.

The other reason I am drawn to this story is because I'm the guy that has always been really skeptical of the genius worship of the likes of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Yes, they were amazing composers. But they had their bad days (check out The Battle Symphony). But when a teacher tells me "you must play Bach this way because it's Bach, and he's a genius," I just feel that the logic is backwards, and I am inclined to disregard the advice, and thus lose competitions. This might say more about my own personality flaws then Bach, but the point is this: the music isn't good because Bach is a genius. Bach is a genius because the music is good.

Let's get over it a little.

Glockenspiel Sex Appeal

What the heck is the deal with every indie band having Glockenspiel now? And I use the term loosely- "indie band" not "Glockenspiel"- to include everything from Maps and Atlases to Andrew Bird to Vampire Weekend. I feel like I haven't been to a show in the past year that didn't involve somebody breaking out the Glockenspiel at some point.



Now, I can understand the musical need for the Glockenspiel. Sometimes the sublime natural beauty of the instrument is called for, in order to heighten the power of the musical moment. Though I frown on on indie-artists using the instrument as a cheap emotional gimmick- I worry that producers, fearful that their album has failed to pull the correct emotional strings, often fallback on the Glockenspiel to try and save a sinking ship. No amount of Glockenspiel- no matter how beautiful and alluring it can be- can save mediocre music. However, used right, I think these artists have discovered the instrument's awesome and versatile emotional power. In skilled hands, it's like some greater musical soul rises out of the high-octane instrument's shrill, metallic piercings, elevating the listener to a greater level of musical experience.

It's the only explanation I can come up with. However, despite the Glockenspiel's ubiquity, for some reason your average Glockenspielist still gets little respect on the streets. Well, in order to highlight the much deserved sex appeal of the instrument, I've began compiling a compendium of Glockenspiel uses in modern pop and indie-rock.

By the way, you should watch the whole thing to see what Bird can do with a Glockenspiel and loop pedal.

More to come...

Indie-classical

A new keyword is born thanks to NPR's All Things Considered. Because I keep up on any mention classical music gets in mainstream culture (and compared to our general audience, NPR qualifies as "mainstream"), check out All Things Considered's story on Seraphic Fire's recent recording of the Monteverdi Vespers. Significant because a) it is on the iTunes classical top ten and b) it was independently released. This is the future of not just classical music, but almost all music, as the economic justification for the "record label" continues to break down.

The short version of my argument: releasing and distributing records used to require extensive capital. If you were going to make any significant money off of record sales, you had to produce a significant number of physical records, which would have to be distributed all around the country (and world) to actual physical stores, which physical people would have to come and pick up. Not only that, but you would have to record your album in a very expensive space with very expensive recording equipment, microphones, analog tape recorders, etc. This was obviously out of reach of your average garage band or little-known Baroque chamber choir. However, thanks to the internet, this is no longer the case. The cost of recording an album on ProTools and uploading to iTunes is relatively insignificant. Seraphic Fire's success is emblematic of this- they are doing something right. And they didn't have to pay record executives anything to do it.

Of course, microphones are still kind of expensive.

Check out and listen to the full story here.

By the way, about half of the story is a review / explanation of Seraphic Fire and Monteverdi's vespers. Besides the economic issues the story raises, the album actually seems well worth checking out. I will keep you posted.

New thinking on conductors

UPDATE: sadly, NHK has made a copyright claim on this video. I think this is somewhat insane, because this was really great publicity. I'll keep you posted if it goes back up on youTube.

I've long argued that conductors are relatively useless- at least compared to their pay scale. I don't know if this video offers incontrovertible proof, but it is definitely worth checking out. It is a pretty amazing finale to Tchaik 4 (that's musician slang for Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony). Probably the stress of the situation brought out the best in the performers- but man. There's electricity.

Now from first hand experience, keeping a non-profit organization like a symphony orchestra in business is tough, and I'll let you in on a little secret: the music director's job is half fund-raising / figurehead. And that's important. It's easier for people (i.e.: potential donors) to wrap their minds around a single, charismatic personality than it is an amorphous, abstract "orchestra" of 80 musicians. Conductors are also useful as rehearsal organizers, because somebody has to be in charge. But is that worth 20 times (or greater) the pay scale of the average string player? Especially when you hear what a good orchestra can do even without a hand waiver?

I leave you to your own conclusions.

Batman Soundtrack Update

As I mentioned before in my last post, La-La Land Records has released a complete, anniversary re-issue of the original Batman motion picture soundtrack by Danny Elfman. Well, now that I have it, I can confirm your suspicion: it's pretty much the dorkiest thing ever. But I stand by the awesomeness of the music.

Original BATMAN SOUNDTRACK full score release

Finally, after the world has been waiting- ney- demanding action on this important issue for over twenty years, after all those protests and angry letters and boycotts, action has been taken. And I'm not referring to the return of Futurama. No, I'm referring to something much more dramatic. As previewed at Comic Con this year in San Diego- that ridiculous mecca for all things nerdy that may also involve comics somehow- the unbelievably small record label LA-LA Land Records will release a two CD set of the Original Danny Elfman score to the original Batman, you know, the one starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Today, supposedly. July 27th.


The 2-CD set will feature the COMPLETE movie score, remastered, and the complete original score album remastered with a bunch of extras thrown in. And they are only going to press 5,000 copies, making this an extremely limited collectors album. I know, it's hard to believe. But how cool will you be if you own one of those 5,000 copies? It's like you'll be in a super awesome secret society with only 5,000 other people. There can be secret handshakes and everything, like you're finally in that fraternity that you didn't want to be in anyways. Suffice to say, with this soundtrack, your parties will never be the same.

Actually, I list this because the point of my blog (and I can't go a blog post without a meta-reference to the fact that I'm writing a blog) is to talk about obscure but deserving musical achievements of all genres, and this definitely qualifies on both fronts. Though the actual movie soundtrack is not obscure at all- indeed, it is something of a cultural icon- this album release surely is. And it is well worth checking out.

Elfman detractors aside (and they still exist, mainly in cushy academic jobs where they have plenty of time to be bitter that they are not Danny Elfman), this is a pretty seminal musical achievement. And nobody, from what I can tell, debates that this isn't a great soundtrack. They just argue that he didn't write it or something, though they weren't there, but they knew a guy who knows somebody who worked for Shirley Walker or something. This argument makes no sense on so many levels that I would have to make up a really creative new metaphor to explain my exasperation with it. Leaving aside that it is hard to say just who writes what on any movie score, even those by academically acceptable composers, let's just say I know a guy who knows some people that work for Danny Elfman, and- oh, who the hell cares. It's great music. It's the end product that counts. And it makes you want to put on a cape and mask and brood. And make uber-dramatic poses.

Like all good music should.

Available (from what I can tell) only from the La La Land record label directly.