A brightly colored, circular labyrinth, designed by Diana Carulli and located in New York City’s East River Park, was home to composer D. Edward Davis’s participatory sound installation, ‘instill,’ on September 21. The piece, a sounding meditation, welcomed onlookers to pace the painted pavement, soaking in the multitude of sounds around them. Continue reading Momentary Stillness at D. Edward Davis’s ‘instill’
Brooklyn-based percussionist and sound artist Adam Holmes is embarking on his first album as both the composer and performer, pivoting towards writing music as well as playing it. Embodying both of these roles has been liberating for him – it’s given him the ability to make music on his own terms. Continue reading Video Premiere: Adam Holmes, “Platforms”
‘in a (once-)blossomed place’ is a stark investigation of displacement through different sonic textures, timbres, and processes. Continue reading Album Review: Cassie Wieland & Erich Barganier, ‘in a (once-)blossomed place’
Newness – and noise – were fully embraced at Muchmore’s. It was a night made up of the kind of creativity that is open and unafraid, encouraging sonic exploration and welcoming new musical territories. Continue reading A Night of Noise at Muchmore’s
Wadada Leo Smith walked out onto the fluorescent-lit stage with a stack of papers. He began to play the trumpet, muted, eyes closed. The melodies came in spurts – one burst of hyperactivity, pause, another. It was as if the phrase ideas were sporadically flying into his head. There are an infinite number of sounds and pitches the trumpet alone can make – and Smith … Continue reading The Art of Experimentation: Wadada Leo Smith at The Stone
The unmistakable tinge of a major second was palpable. Harsh, crunching artificial noise emanated from a loosely tuned guitar. Heads bobbed and banged. The sound was note-against-note, a harmonic layout that offers more tension than it does release. Yet the audience didn’t seem to mind at all, screaming along in human articulation to the scream of amplified metal strings. The catharsis of a punk show … Continue reading Perception and Dissonance: The Challenge of Overcoming Genre
TO THINK THAT WE COULD STAY THE SAME TO THINK THAT WE COULD STAY THE SAME TO THINK THAT WE COULD STAY THE SAME The silence of the morning is the only kind of silence that doesn’t suffocate you. It frees you. We talk a lot about the soundtracks of our lives: silence, alarms, trains, nature, songs, the list goes on. We talk a lot … Continue reading Mitski’s “Two Slow Dancers” and the Musical Depiction of Growth
