Lucid Culture: Amy X Neuburg CD: "Ambitious, dizzying"

Amy X Neuburg's The Secret Life of Subways has been reviewed at Lucid Culture.

They call Subways "a very ambitious, dizzying ride," adding that Neuburg "creates a loosely thematic series of surreal, theatrical, Bowie-esque vignettes and epics, some harsh and aggressive, others ambient and atmospheric."

Visit Amy's website.

New Yorker: Kline's Daze "an audio-visual feast"

The New Yorker is yet another source of praise for Phil Kline's Around the World in a Daze DVD. Writing in their 2009: THE YEAR IN REVIEW section, Classical Editor Russell Platt blogs about a few "notable" releases previously unmentioned, including Daze:

“A special-project disk in which Kline created, out of extravagant electronic means, a series of tableaus [which] is an audio-visual feast that balances hipster zen with the seriousness of Bach and Wagner.”

Daze has now hit a Big Apple trifecta, favorably reviewed in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and The New Yorker.

Daze has been covered in over 20 publications, also including: Stereophile, Washington Post, Sound + Vision, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sequenza21, Audiophile Audition, and Fanfare.

Denver: Unsilent Night premieres Dec. 16

Phil Kline's Unsilent Night will take place in Denver for the first time on Dec. 16.

Unsilent Night is Kline's free outdoor participatory sound sculpture of many individual parts, recorded on cassettes, CD's and mp3's, and played through a roving swarm of boomboxes carried through city streets every December. People bring their own boomboxes and drift peacefully through a moving surround-sound environment which is different from every listener's perspective.

Since its debut in 1992 in New York, Unsilent Night has become a cult holiday tradition, drawing crowds of up to 1,500 participants. It has also grown into a worldwide annual event that has been presented in over 45 cities and on three continents.

The New York Times writes, "Unsilent Night immerses the listener in suspended wonderment, as if time itself had paused inside a string of jingle bells.”

The Denver Pavilions lists this info:

Wed, 16th Dec, 5:00pm
Start: 5:00 PM at Denver Pavilions (North Plaza entrance)
End: 6:00 PM

Here's the map:


View Larger Map

For further questions, contact:

Mary Clare Pittinos:
Phone: 720-217-6347
Email: mcp@prallmarketing.com

Boulder's recent Unsilent Night was a big success, and we wish the best to this inaugural Denver event.

Phil Kline's Svarga Yatra: Video

This video contains excerpts from Phil Kline's "Svarga Yatra," performed by Ethel, along with comments from Phil about composing the piece (from a John Schaefer interview).

The music is part of Phil Kline's Around the World in a Daze DVD, commissioned by Starkland.

Village Voice: Phil Kline's Daze, more

This week's Village Voice includes an article about Phil Kline. Inspired by the upcoming performances of Phil's Unsilent Night, K. Leander Williams writes about other activities in Kline's busy 2009. We're pleased he's enthusiastic about the Around the World in a Daze double-DVD from Starkland, Phil's largest work to date. After noting the "promise of ruminative sonic immersion" offered by surround sound, Williams concludes "the music's power is undeniable."

Phil Kline's boomboxes, ready to go

9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980

________________________

________________________

Amy X Neuburg CD: "Theatrical, outrageous, contagious"

Strings magazine writes about The Secret Language of Subways CD (from Amy X Neuburg and the Cello ChiXtet), including these comments:

"The Chixtet boast a tight ensemble sound. Theatrical, outrageous, and contagious—scoot over Bang on a Can."

This Subways CD is available at Amazon and CD Baby.

Amy is here.

Unsilent Night in Boulder Dec. 11

Phil Kline's Unsilent Night will again take place in Boulder:

Date:	Friday, December 11, 2009
Time:	7:30pm - 8:30pm
Location:	Starts at the corner of Pearl and 13th Streets

Unsilent Night is Kline's free outdoor participatory sound sculpture of many individual parts, recorded on cassettes, CD's and mp3's, and played through a roving swarm of boomboxes carried through city streets every December. People bring their own boomboxes and drift peacefully through a moving surround-sound environment which is different from every listener's perspective.

Unsilent Night, Boulder, CO 2007  (Photo: Tom Steenland)

Participants play the material on boomboxes (both cassettes and CDs), MP3 downloads on pod-docks, and other sound-blasters. People have even brought their laptops hooked up to large speakers mounted on a wagon.

Since its debut in 1992 in New York, Unsilent Night has become a cult holiday tradition, drawing crowds of up to 1,500 participants. It has also grown into a worldwide annual event that has been presented in over 45 cities and on three continents.

The New York Times writes, "Unsilent Night immerses the listener in suspended wonderment, as if time itself had paused inside a string of jingle bells.”

The Village Voice describes Unsilent Night as “a marvelously fluid, traveling spatial sound sculpture that disintegrates and reforms at nearly every stop light.”

Boulder is also the hometown of the Starkland label, which earlier this year released the only surround sound recording of Phil's spatial music, his Around the World in a Daze DVD.

Also, a stereo CD of Unsilent Night is available on Cantaloupe Music.

More info is here.


View Larger Map

Trimpin Film out

"There's a Trimpin film out!" Edgy Varrez exclaimed as he zoomed into Starkland headquarters. Indeed there is. The documentary "TRIMPIN: The Sound of Invention" premiered earlier this year, and has been making the rounds of film festivals in San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Denver, Barcelona, more. There's both a blog and website for the film, which has attracted some fine reviews.

For the uninitiated, Trimpin (that's his full name) is a wonderfully obsessive individual. Sui generis, par excellence. He creatively merges sculpture and music in unexpected ways, from a six-story-high microtonal xylophone to his own inventions that mechanically play nearly every instrument in the orchestra.

Perhaps his most famous undertaking is a tornado-shaped column of electric guitars called Roots and Branches, installed in Seattle's Experience Music Project (designed by Frank Gehry and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen). The guitars are both played and self-tuned automatically via Trimpin's mechanical wizardry.

Photo: EMP|SFM

Edgy eased himself into the Starkland mastering engineer's Aeron chair, popped open a sugar-free Red Bull, and began to reminisce.

"Back in 1989, I attended a new music festival in Telluride, Colorado, of all places." He explained most concerts took place that town's delightfully diminutive Sheridan Opera House, which seats 238.

"Upon entering the opera house, I immediately noticed that, hanging in a horseshoe shape from the balcony, there were about 100 Dutch wooden shoes. I learned each shoe contained a tiny mallet, which could be triggered to produce a sharp klonk via wires from each shoe that were attached to a Mac computer. All this had been built and assembled by the guy on stage, Trimpin." The music heard met the audience's expectations inspired by this elaborate setup. Complex, rapid patterns were especially clear because of the spatial configuration, achieving superhuman rhythmic effects.

Trimpin's wooden shoes, equipped with tiny mallets

Conlon Nancarrow was also in attendance, and somehow Trimpin ended up programming Nancarrow music to be performed on the encircling wooden shoes.

"One of the most magical evenings ever," said Edgy Varrez.

Trimpin sums his work up as:

"extending the traditional boundaries of instruments and the sounds they're capable of producing by mechanically operating them. Although they're computer-driven, they're still real instruments making real sounds, but with another dimension added, that of spatial distribution. What I'm trying to do is go beyond human physical limitations to play instruments in such a way that no matter how complex the composition of the timing, it can be pushed over the limits."

Since those days, Trimpin has won considerable fame, including a MacArthur "Genius" Award in 1997. A fine article appeared in The New Yorker in 2006.

Phil Kline's Unsilent Night Scheduled for December 2009

Phil Kline's Unsilent Night will take place in more than 25 cities around the world this December, adding for the first time London, Berlin, Denver, and Dallas.

Cities in the USA include: Albuquerque, Asheville, Baltimore, Boulder, Charleston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, East Lansing, Los Angeles, Milledgeville, Missoula, New Haven, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Fe.

Cities outside the USA include: Berlin (Germany), London (UK), Melbourne (Australia), Cambridge (Ontario), Vancouver (BC), and Fredericton (NB).

Details for each city's meeting place and time can be found here.

Unsilent Night is Kline's free outdoor participatory sound sculpture of many individual parts, recorded on cassettes, CD's and mp3's, and played through a roving swarm of boomboxes carried through city streets every December. People bring their own boomboxes and drift peacefully through a moving surround-sound environment which is different from every listener's perspective.

Since its debut in 1992 in New York, Unsilent Night has become a cult holiday tradition, drawing crowds of up to 1,500 participants. It has also grown into a worldwide annual event that has been presented in over 45 cities and on three continents.

The New York Times writes, "Unsilent Night immerses the listener in suspended wonderment, as if time itself had paused inside a string of jingle bells.”

The Village Voice describes Unsilent Night as “a marvelously fluid, traveling spatial sound sculpture that disintegrates and reforms at nearly every stop light.”

Time Out writes, "Kline's luminous, shimmering wash of bell tones is one of the loveliest communal new-music experiences you'll ever encounter, and it's never the same twice."

Participants play the material on boomboxes (both cassettes and CDs), MP3 downloads on pod-docks, and other sound-blasters. People have even brought their laptops hooked up to large speakers mounted on a wagon.

A CD of Unsilent Night is available on Cantaloupe Music.

The only surround sound recording of Phil's spatial music is his Around the World in a Daze DVD, released earlier this year by Starkland.

Amy X Neuburg in LA

Amy X Neuburg continues to perform The Secret Language of Subways in cool concert settings. This time, she's part of the LA Philharmonic's West Coast/Left Coast festival.

Today in his blog, festival director John Adams writes:

"Those of you in the Los Angeles zip code are urged not to miss the spectacular Amy X Neuberg, who with her Cello ChiXtet will be performing tonight at Zipper Hall (right across the street from Disney Hall)... Don’t miss her show. She’s the best thing to come out Oakland since Jack London."

A CD of The Secret Language of Subways, released by MinMax earlier this year, already has pulled in some impressive reviews. Recently, Audiophile Audition wrote Amy's CD is "like Laurie Anderson joining up with Philip Glass or Annie Sofie Von Otter collaborating with Steve Reich."

This CD is available at Amazon.

CD Baby also has Subways in stock.

And it can be downloaded at iTunes.

Sound + Vision Praises Surround Sound, Starkland

The most widely read consumer electronics magazine in the world, Sound + Vision, focuses on surround sound and compliments Starkland's 2 surround DVDs in the new December issue. Their editorial comments include:

"We here at S+V continue to wholeheartedly embrace music in surround... Groundbreaking surround-sound releases are still coming from the likes of King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and Genesis... Music in surround is here to stay."

They add that Phil Kline's Around the World in a Daze is one of the new "multi-channel titles that deserve a shout-out." Daze has also been praised in The New York Times, Stereophile, New York Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, and over a dozen other publications.

We are also quite pleased that Entertainment Editor Ken Richardson ranks Starkland's Immersion DVD as a "landmark" surround sound release. We agree! Immersion was the first commissioned hi-res surround recording, as well as being the first new music hi-res surround recording.

For the Immersion DVD, Starkland commissioned new surround works from Paul Dolden, Paul Dresher, Ellen Fullman, Phil Kline, Lukas Ligeti, Ingram Marshall, Merzbow, Meredith Monk, Bruce Odland, Pauline Oliveros, Maggi Payne, Carl Stone, and Pamela Z.

Pro Sound News declared that Immersion is the "first DVD-A released featuring works composed specifically for the new surround medium." Over a dozen publications praised the DVD, including Billboard, Stereophile, and Fanfare.

Tomlinson Holman, one of the world's leading surround sound authorities, stated "this fascinating disc" is among the first "to show composers stretching the boundaries of recorded sound by exploring the new possibilities inherent in DVD-Audio."

Visit Starkland for more about these 2 groundbreaking DVDs.

Amy X Neuburg CD: Like Laurie Anderson joining up with Philip Glass

"Like Laurie Anderson joining up with Philip Glass or Annie Sofie Von Otter collaborating with Steve Reich" is how Audiophile Audition describes Amy X Neuburg's The Secret Language of Subways CD.

This new review observes, "The thirteen tracks teeter and admirably balance between avantgarde, performance art, pop sensibilities and contemporary classical," adding that "its Neuburg's application of electronics and multi-layered lyrics that capture the imagination and captivate the listener."

Reviewer Doug Simpson concludes, "The production is exactingly recorded. The voices and strings are rich and resonant and Neuburg's vocals have articulate vibrancy while the cellos lose none of their natural timbres."

This CD is available at Amazon.

CD Baby also has Subways in stock.

And it can be downloaded at iTunes.

_________________________

Phil Kline at Brooklyn Academy of Music caps active 2009

Composer Phil Kline is having a big year. His music will soon be heard at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave series, as part of Really Real from choreographer Wally Cardona. Phil’s music will be performed live by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Really Real will be presented Nov. 17, 19, 20, and 21 at BAM.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show discussed Phil's Rumsfeld Songs on 9/11/09.

Earlier this year, Starkland released Phil’s longest work to date, Around the World in a Daze, commissioned by Starkland to premiere on this surround sound DVD. Daze has been widely praised in such publications as The New York Times, Stereophile, New York Magazine, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Daze peaked as the #1 Bestseller on Amazon's Indie Classical Charts and was selected as a “Pick of the Week” at the largest public radio station in the country (WNYC).

On the same day as the release of the Daze DVD from Starkland, Phil’s John the Revelator CD was released by Cantaloupe as part of a joint promotional effort by the two new music labels. The Cantaloupe CD has also picked up an impressive set of reviews and the disc charted on Billboard's classical crossover list.

In March, the world premiere of Phil’s SPACE was performed by the Ethel Quartet at Alice Tully Hall’s newly unveiled lobby, in a dramatically spatial presentation called "hypnotically attractive" by the New York Times.

In May, Ethel performed SPACE at the Kennedy Center in another unconventionally spatial rendition.

Kudos to Phil for his fine ’09.

______________________

Rinde Eckert: Interview, "Slow Fire," "Ravenshead"

It’s great to see an interview with the mesmerizing Rinde Eckert appear at New Music Box. If you’re accustomed to his typically severe stage roles, here you find the more lighthearted realworld Rinde in a video that also includes excerpts from some of his creations. The interview is effectively handled by the diligent Molly Sheridan.

One of Rinde’s first major works was Slow Fire, an “electric opera” with music by Paul Dresher.

CD Review wrote about this CD:

"Rinde Eckert is like Laurie Anderson with an attitude or Tom Waits with a voice... Framed by a Dresher score that integrates hyper-kinetic, minimalist funk, mysterious atmospheres, gamelan cycles, and some burning electric guitar, Eckert gives a mesmerizing recitation... psychotic in its raw power."

Another impressive CD from with Rinde is Ravenshead, with music by Steve Mackey. USA Today anointed Ravenshead as the "Best Opera of '98,” remarking that Eckert delivered “a tour de force to Mackey's insinuating rock-influenced score."

The work combines Mackey's multi-faceted score, Rinde's dazzling physicality and mordant wit, and a superb performance by the Paul Dresher Ensemble to produce what the New York Press called "equal parts MTV video and Metropolitan Opera."

The Los Angeles Times wrote that the opera is "astonishing," that Eckert's "brilliant" performance "entertains us, amazes us and shatters us," and that Steve Mackey's music has "the energy of rock."

Rinde's discography is listed at his website.

-----------------------------------

John Schaefer interviews Phil Kline about sound in space and his "Around the World in a Daze" Starkland DVD

In this video, John Schaefer interviews Phil Kline about his use of sound in space, surround sound, and his Around the World in a Daze surround DVD commissioned by Starkland.

Read more about Phil Kline's Around the World in a Daze DVD.
______________________

NPR to air music from Phillip Bimstein Starkland CD

NPR will air Phillip Bimstein's “The Bushy Wushy Rag” on Hearing Voices, beginning the week of Oct. 21, 2009. The excerpt (over 7 minutes) will lead off a lineup of baseball stories on this “Home Team” show from the Public Radio Hall of Fame. Their description:

“The sounds of a St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball game are combined with the echoes of Scott Joplin's ragtime and the distinctive calls of Bushy Wushy the Beer Man. This 39-year veteran beer vendor at Busch Stadium, he shares his love for the game, the crowd, and the communal spirit of St. Louis.”

Hearing Voices from NPR is an hour of The Best of Public Radio: a sixty-minute stream of “driveway moments” connected by a weekly theme, with the help of a guest host. Each episode mixes broadcasts, podcasts, sound-portraits, slam poets, docs, radio dramas, features, and found-sound. The show is aired by over 100 stations.

“The Bushy Wushy Rag” appears on Bimstein’s Larkin Gifford’s Harmonica CD, released by Starkland.

In the CD’s Introduction, John Adams writes:

"Like their composer, the pieces on this album communicate a generous and good-natured spirit that is tempered with wry wit and a special sense of the western landscape and culture that he so loves."

The delightful, funny, and genuine Robert Logan became known as "Bushy Wushy the Beer Man" over the years. Bimstein began "The Bushy Wushy Rag" by visiting Busch Stadium, recording the crack of the bat from behind home plate, the ball slamming into the catcher's mitt, and other baseball game sounds. He then combined these sampled sounds with stories told by the charming Bushy Wushy, all tied together with a score for wind quintet. Listeners will also hear echoes of music associated with baseball and St. Louis, such as The Maple Leaf Rag written about 100 years before by Scott Joplin in St. Louis.

NPR seems to love Bimstein’s music. Appearing on Weekend Edition, he discussed the CD’s title track “Larkin Gifford’s Harmonica.”

The New York Times warmly praised this second Starkland CD from Phillip Bimstein, stating, "The irresistible charm of Mr. Bimstein's music has less to do with technology than with his uncanny knack for finding the music of everyday life." Stereophile calls Bimstein "an American original” who “has evolved into a singular musical entity.” The audiophile magazine adds that this CD is “stunning and heartwarming,” offering “quirky, moving, and delightful musical journeys.”

“The Bushy Wushy Rag” is performed by the Equinox Chamber Players, who premiered the work in their hometown of St. Louis.

Read more about Phillip Bimstein’s Larkin Gifford’s Harmonica CD.

The CD is available at Amazon.

This is not the first time Starkland has homered with a Bimstein CD. His first Starkland release, Garland Hirschi's Cows, was widely praised and triggered hundreds of calls to radio stations around the country. Stereophile wrote that the “brilliantly original” Bimstein is “outstanding in his field” and uses “digital sampling technology to tell wry and moving stories, and to elevate the mundane to the level of high art."

________________________

Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD: “Extraordinarily absorbing”

Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze “could well be one of the major ‘classical’ works of this decade,” according to a new review that has appeared at Gapplegate Music Review.

“The stunning Around the World in A Daze, an ambitious and successful electro-acoustic suite,” they write, is “a monumentally conceived work that manages to be pioneering as well as fully pleasurable.”

The review concludes that Daze offers “an extraordinarily absorbing and even startling world of truly ‘new sounds’.“

Daze is currently on sale at Amazon.

_______________________

Amy X Neuburg: "The Secret Language of Subways": New CD

Amy X Neuburg has announced the release of her latest CD, The Secret Language of Subways, a cycle of thirteen avant-pop songs performed by Amy with backing from The Cello ChiXtet, a trio of women cellists. Amy and the ChiXtet will perform The Secret Language of Subways in Los Angeles as part of the LA Philharmonic’s West Coast: Left Coast festival, curated by John Adams (Nov. 30).

Reviewing a live performance of Subways, Joshua Kosman wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle :

“Neuburg's new song cycle teeters beguilingly on the boundary between pop and avant-garde performance art, and to hear it complete and in sequence is to marvel at the grace and elegance with which Neuburg walks that tightrope… As serious as the cycle's overall import is, there’s a vein of wit that does wonders for the music. And when that humor bursts into full flower, as in the superbly drawn mental befuddlement of Dada Exhibit or the exuberant black comedy of Hey, the impact is irresistible.”

Amy describes The Secret Language of Subways as “a song cycle about the inane and perpetually unfinished businesses of love and war — and New York.” A stylistically versatile, classically trained singer/composer with a four-octave range, Amy is best known for performances with voice, electronic drums, and live looping in which she creates a chorus of layered voices and rhythms. Two years in the making, Subways consists of intricately composed, multiple layers of cellos topped by Amy’s distinctive and striking vocals; the songs range from intimate art-song ballads to electronics-based pop to Dadaist meanderings to lush symphonic arrangements. Sometimes the cellos are processed with electronic effects, other times heard in the expressive richness of their natural timbres. Neuburg explains:

“The idea for The Secret Life of Subways began in 2003 when I fell in love with the expressive voice-like quality, enormous pitch range, and dramatic look of the cello — I felt I had found a sort of instrumental kindred spirit to my own voice. I conceived most of these songs while sitting on the subway during a 3-year period when I lived part-time in New York — inspired by the rhythmic lull of the train, the fragmented meanderings of my thoughts, the dramas of recent world and personal events, and the deluge of sensory input that is New York itself. New York at that time presented such a vivid example of how life, love and art continue to move forward with full force, in spite of (or perhaps encouraged by) the fears and uncertainties of war.”

The thirteen songs form a compelling dramatic arc, drawing the listener into a vivid, subterranean emotional journey. Starting from the hushed a cappella opening of One Lie, Subways makes local stops at urban paranoia (The Closing Doors, Body Parts), nocturnal reveries (the haunting-yet-catchy Someone Else’s Sleep), the surreal juxtapositions of street life (The Gooseneck, Difficult), self-preservation through self-presentation (the lilting, folkish Hey), and Amy’s stunning closer, the resigned, chorale-like Shrapnel.

As an encore, Neuburg offers her ingenious arrangement of Back in NYC from Genesis’s groundbreaking 1974 concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

The CD is released by Paul Dresher's MinMax Music label, which specializes in adventurous new vocal and music-theater works. Other MinMax CDs include Paul Dresher's Slow Fire, Steve Mackey's Ravenshead, and D'Arc: woman on fire from Jay Cloidt and Amanda Moody. All MinMax recordings are distributed by Starkland.

Amy X Neuburg has developed a unique career bridging the boundaries between classical, experimental and popular music. Her ‘avant-cabaret’ songs combine her interests in language, expressive use of music technology, and exploration of multiple genres using the many colors of her wide vocal range. She has performed at the Bang on a Can Marathon, Other Minds, and other festivals, universities, rock clubs, and concert halls throughout the U.S. and abroad. Commissions include works for Present Music, Santa Cruz New Music Works, Solstice, and others. As vocalist, Amy has been featured in contemporary operas and recordings including works by Robert Ashley, Culture Clash and Guillermo Galindo.

The Cello ChiXtet consists of Jessica Ivry, Elaine Kreston, and Elizabeth Vandervennet.

This CD is available at Amazon.

CD Baby also has Subways in stock.

And it can be downloaded at iTunes.

________________________

Phil Kline’s "Around the World in a Daze" reviewed in Philadelphia Inquirer

In the Philadelphia Inquirer, David Patrick Stearns writes about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD:

“Musically, Kline's 10-part Daze is like those Olivier Messiaen orchestral works that are suites of free-standing tone poems, all from different sound worlds, that impulsively eschew the traditional notions of symmetry, proportion and structure.”

The article focuses on the use of visual content on DVDs that present new music. Regarding Daze, Stearns comments:

“Visual illustrations - still photographs from family pets to a grassy stream - often seem so unconnected that Kline is working with a John Cage-style faith in the accidental poetry of randomness.”

Stearns also discusses a Frank Scheffer film that accompanies Brian Eno's 1978 ambient Music for Airports, as arranged by Bang on a Canners Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Evan Ziporyn. Unmentioned is that this release also contains a second film, In the Ocean, a documentary by Scheffer about the history of the wonderful Bang on a Can festival. There are spoken contributions from and excerpts of music by John Cage, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Elliott Carter, Louis Andriessen, as well as the can-bangers themselves.

Finally, the Stearns article mentions The BQE, with both video and music from Sufjan Stevens. Commissioned by Brooklyn Academy of Music, this cinematic suite was inspired by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Hula-Hoop. The visual here (which include “three attractive, scantily clad women” hula-hooping) seems to be the dominant element, with music that is “far less radical than Kline's; it's like a traditional film score… Offenbach to Kline's Beethoven.”

---------------------------------------

#1 at Amazon: Phil Kline’s "Around the World in a Daze"

For the last week, Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze has appeared daily as the #1 Bestseller in Amazon’s Indie Classical rankings.

It’s great to see new music top the charts. We think this is a tribute to Phil’s wonderful music, which has inspired excellent reviews in such publications as The New York Times, Fanfare, New York Magazine, Stereophile, and many more.

Also, this double DVD release is currently on sale for $14.93, so that helps too.

Read more about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze.

______________________________

#1 Amazon Bestseller: Phil Kline’s "Daze" from Starkland

Today at Amazon, Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze appears as the #1 Bestseller in Amazon’s Indie Classical charts.

Excellent reviews in such publications as The New York Times, Fanfare, New York Magazine, Stereophile, and many more have undoubtedly helped.

Read more about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze.

A related recording, Starkland’s Immersion, today ranks at #11.

____________________________

Bestseller #4 at Amazon: Phil Kline’s "Daze" DVD from Starkland

Today at Amazon, Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD appears as the #4 Best Seller in Amazon’s Indie Classical sales rankings. It’s likely the first time a new music surround DVD has charted so high there.

The robust sales probably result from fine reviews in such publications as The New York Times, Fanfare, New York Magazine, Stereophile, and many more, as well as some recent promo efforts from Starkland plus Amazon’s special sale price.

Read more about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD.

Also, Starkland’s Immersion DVD registers as #36, meaning that today Starkland has 2 new music surround DVDs in this Top 40 list.

Read more about the Immersion DVD.

-----------------------------------------------

Fanfare: “poetry and mystery” heard in Phil Kline’s "Around the World in a Daze" surround DVD from Starkland

In the latest issue of Fanfare, Robert Carl reviews Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD. He finds that “the whole thing breathes with a certain poetry and mystery.”

Carl writes that The Housatonic at Henry Street, which uses recorded ambiance near Kline’s home on New York’s Lower East Side, “is a very rich and evocative piece, a haunting Ives tribute/elegy.”

Phil Kline (L) and Tom Steenland
check out the ambiance at the corner
of Henry and Rutgers in New York

He next mentions the “ravishing vocal harmonies” found in The Wailing Wall.

Carl then remarks that the “tour de force” Pennies from Heaven “starts as a trickle and becomes a downpour, creating textures of great complexity, yet always clear and direct in its impact.”

He concludes that Daze “has attractive and entertaining things throughout, and sometimes it really takes off.”

Read more about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD.

________________________________________

Phillip Bimstein: “True American Original” found on 2 Starkland CDs

Phillip Bimstein’s music has charmed audiences and critics far and wide for many years. Airplay of his delightful Garland Hirschi’s Cows has generated hundreds of calls to radio stations (especially after being heard on NPR’s All Things Considered). His 2 Starkland CDs have been praised by such publications as The New York Times, Stereophile, and Wired.

The latest review emerges in -- Sweden. Stephen Fruitman writes at Sonomu:

“One of those true American originals, Chicagoan Philip Bimstein once went for a hike in Utah and never came back. Since settling there he has made a name for himself as environmentalist, two-term mayor of Springdale, and composer whose music has been widely performed and generously rewarded.”

Fruitman begins with comments on Bimstein’s first Starkland CD, describing the composer as “a musical Studs Terkel, interviewing ordinary folks about their work and lives and then editing it into a cohesive story with broad appeal.” He adds:

“His first collection of pieces, Garland Hirschi´s Cows, proved to be his breakthrough…The standout is "Dark Winds Rising", a labour of love, commitment and belief, music by someone who refuses to remain a bystander while his planet and its people are being poisoned. He allows three generations of a Paiute Indian family from Arizona to create a narrative about tradition and the threats modern, profit-driven society pose to it.”

Read more about Phillip Bimstein’s Garland Hirschi’s Cows CD.

Writing about Bimstein’s second CD from Starkland, the Sonomu scribe states:

“In his latest collection, Larkin Gifford's Harmonica, Bimstein introduces us to pit bosses in Vegas, a beer-slinger at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and an elderly man´s nostalgic story about his first harmonica... At times uplifting, at others merely momentarily entertaining, but what's wrong with that?”

Read more about Phillip Bimstein’s Larkin Gifford’s Harmonica CD.

........................................................

“Cool Presentation”: Phil Kline's Daze DVD

Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD has not only been praised for its adventurous music, but some have also enjoyed the custom packaging that contains the 2 DVDs as well. At Sequenza21, Jerry Bowles writes, “Our always adventuresome friends at Starkland have outdone themselves this time,” adding that “Daze is an amazing example of cool presentation.”

The first DVD contains Phil’s 65-minute Daze studio composition (commissioned by Starkland). The second DVD offers 44 minutes of Extras, including: Phil’s music video MEDITATION (run as fast as you can), a 34-minute interview (conducted by John Schaefer in Kline’s home studio), and a montage of related production photos, including studio shots where most of the music was performed, created, and mixed. The special packaging also holds a 24-page booklet.

Read more about this Phil Kline DVD.

_______________________________

Kline’s Daze DVD “A Treat” at New Music Box

The excellent New Music Box website writes enthusiastically about our Phil Kline Around the World in a Daze recording. The energetic Molly Sheridan states:

“The Starkland label has a treat for you—particularly those with surround sound playback equipment. Kline's Around the World in a Daze, a 10-movement work of manipulated audio samples and acoustic performance (Ethel, vocalist Kamala Sankaram, violinist Todd Reynolds, and much from the composer himself) was commissioned and designed specially for this hi-res DVD package. There's plenty to enjoy in this piece for your standard audio consumer, but for the audiophiles in the crowd, the real fun is in sitting immersed in this mash up of street noise, music clips, music boxes, bug zappers, and many other bits of sonic detritus caught up by the composer's ear and microphone.”

Read more about this Phil Kline DVD.
_______________________________________

"Overwhelming" Phil Kline Daze DVD in Audiophile Audition

Audiophile Audition loves the rich envelopment and clear sound found on our Phil Kline Around the World in a Daze DVD. John Sunier writes, “The deep involvement in these ambient fields made possible by the hi-res surround sound takes things to a whole different dimension,” concluding that “the effect is quite overwhelming” and that Daze is “truly a remarkable sonic experience.”

For those with audiophile playback, Sunier adds, “I seem to notice an even more pronounced improvement in clarity and transparency of the DVD-Audio feed over even the DTS surround than with standard classical recordings.”

Finally, he also notes the extensive Kline interview on the Extras DVD “is quite interesting.”

Phil Kline Video Discusses 'The Housatonic at Henry Street' from his "Daze" surround DVD

In this video, Phil Kline discusses "The Housatonic at Henry Street" from his Around the World in a Daze surround DVD from Starkland.



Read more about this Phil Kline DVD.

Phil Kline's Daze DVD from Starkland "Fascinates"

Our Phil Kline Around the World in a Daze DVD recently received a fine review at Sequenza21. Christian Carey writes that Daze "fascinates, engages, and, often, moves." He adds, "Kline's pieces transport the hearer from their listening space to imaginary vistas that envelope, even overwhelm."

Read the full review at Sequenza21.



Read more about this Daze DVD.

New York Times Reviews Starkland's Phil Kline "Daze" DVD

The New York Times has reviewed Phil Kline's Around the World in a Daze DVD from Starkland. Writing in the Sunday July 26 issue, Allan Kozinn notes that "the electronic experimenter" Phil Kline "is hard at work." The review is not online, but you can read it here:



Visit Starkland.

Kline DVD Reviewed at American Record Guide

The new July/August 2009 issue of American Record Guide reviews our Phil Kline Around the World in a Daze DVD. We are especially pleased with this comment:

"Pennies from Heaven, an 18-minute layering of bell sounds, shows why more pieces should be recorded in surround sound. Becoming utterly engulfed by bells too numerous to count, all playing descending lines with mixed rhythms, syncopations, and stresses, borders on the mathematical sublime."

Read more about the Kline Daze DVD.

“Imaginative” D’Arc CD Reviewed at Lucid Culture

D’Arc: woman on fire, from composer/performer Jay Cloidt and writer/singer Amanda Moody, has received a fine review from Lucid Culture:

“Like something of a hybrid of Rasputina, Diamanda Galas and This Mortal Coil, this is a timely, imaginative update on the Joan of Arc legend,” they write. “Distributed by the esteemed Starkland label... this album is as accessible as it is potently relevant.”


The full review is here.

Visit Starkland.

New York Magazine calls Phil Kline’s Daze “Sensational”

The current issue of New York Magazine covers two new-music releases: David Lang’s Pulitzer-winning The Little Match Girl Passion and Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD. Justin Davidson (himself a Pulitzer recipient for his music criticism) notes that Kline’s surround sound piece is also “beguiling in old-fashioned stereo” and concludes that Daze is “a set of sensational études.” Here’s the Kline excerpt:



The full review is here.

Visit Starkland.

“Extraordinary” Kline DVD Acclaimed in Vital Weekly

The latest Vital Weekly congratulates Starkland for its “extraordinary and well-documented” Around the World in a Daze DVD. Here’s the full review from Dutch writer Dolf Mulder:

VITAL WEEKLY

Reading the name of Phil Kline means thinking back of that new wave band with the beautiful name The Del-Byzanteens, a band that also had Jim Jarmusch among its members. Their LP and singles still circulate in my house! I don't know much about Kline's later whereabouts. He profiled himself as a composer and gained success with his project 'Zippo's Song' (2004). A song-cycle based on poems written by American soldiers while fighting in Vietnam. Now he returns again with a very special project. The double dvd-audio carries a high-resolution surround sound recording, promising a very special audio experience. It took some time before I had the opportunity to undergo this experience, as my old equipment was not fashioned to play these two discs. 'Around the World in A Daze' is a song cycle in 10 episodes, lasting some 65 minutes.

From the title you may deduce that space is a keyword in this production. Recordings for this project were done all over the world. But besides Kline is very interested in the spacial aspects of music and sound. He played with these aspects by using whole sets of boomboxes for the recording of most tracks. Besides this main interest, other musical items led him by constructing ten very different works. The lengthiest piece 'Pennies from Heaven' is the one I liked most. Because of the sound and because of the structure of the piece. The same descending scale is repeated and repeated again, transposed and multiplied, etc. The constant downward movement is very imaginative and brings about a meditative state. Also the opening piece 'The Housatonic at Henry Street' fascinates because of its multilayered and detailed soundspectrum.

Other pieces use the human voice as the most important material, like 'The Wailing Wall' resurrected by the voice of Kline himself. Two other pieces have the violin in the center: 'Svarga yatra' and 'Grand Etude for the Elevation'. The beautiful concluding piece is built from field recordings done in Central Africa. Tracks differ also because for the different structuring principles that are used. But as said the pieces impress above all because of their soundqualities and spatial characteristics. Each piece is accompanied by its own series of photos. Nice photos often. From urban environments, to nature, etc, etc. But I didn't need them for enjoying the music, nor the other way around. And I couldn't bridge them in my imagination. While listening I felt a bit 'imprisoned' by looking at the same time at the pictures. Well, this also a spatial effect I guess. The second dvd has an extensive interview with Kline commenting on each piece. This gives a good insight in what Kline had in mind. Congratulations for Starkland for releasing this extraordinary and well-documented release.

Visit Vital Weekly.

Visit Starkland.

Phil Kline's "Daze" DVD Reviewed at Lucid Culture

Another fine review for Phil Kline's Around the World in a Daze DVD appears today courtesy of Lucid Culture.

It begins by describing Kline as "One of this era’s most fearlessly relevant composers."

They note the DVD offers "a mix of compositions which run the gamut from challenging to confrontational to playfully fun." And they conclude: "New music fans will salivate over this."

Read the full review.

Visit Starkland.

Stereophile reviews Phil Kline's "Daze" DVD from Starkland

In the latest Stereophile, Starkland's Phil Kline: Around the World in a Daze DVD receives an enthusiastic review in Kal Rubinson's surround sound column:



View Starkland's complete catalog.

"D'Arc: woman on fire CD" by Jay Cloidt and Amanda Moody now available

A new MinMax CD, D'Arc: woman on fire, is now being distributed by Starkland.

Created by composer/performer Jay Cloidt and writer/singer Amanda Moody, the music theater piece D’Arc features performances by ex-Kronos Quartet cellist Joan Jeanrenaud on six of the eleven songs. Also performing on the recording are cellists Danielle DeGruttola and Elaine Kreston, pianist Jon Herbst and guitarist Will Bernard.

Weaving the threads of the Dark Ages with our own dark times, the lyrics of D’Arc depict a present-day intercession by Saint Joan of Arc into the life of a contemporary mother, whose daughter vanished while working abroad in a war-torn region. St. Joan intrudes into the modern world through bizarre visions revealed through the cold flame of a television set, challenging today’s Joanne to listen to the call of her own life

The songs on D’Arc include a newly-written hymn setting of 14th-century lyrics, delicate acoustic duets and solo cello works, and intense electronic music. Cloidt weaves musique concrète elements into the music, along with electronic elements and acoustic instruments, to underscore the voice and cello parts. Amanda Moody’s vocal performance runs the gamut from medieval hymn singing to gospel wailing to full operatic bravura, and Cloidt has set her lyrics to an extremely wide range of vernacular styles and semi-abstract electronic textures. The music is intense and intelligent, yet emotional and accessible.

Jay Cloidt is a composer and sound designer working in the San Francisco Bay Area. He studied at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College with Robert Ashley and David Behrman. He has collaborated with many groups, beginning with the late Ed Mock’s dance company (with a performance at the Vienna Biennale), and including the Paul Dresher Ensemble, the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, ODC/San Francisco, and Kronos Quartet. His works have been performed extensively by these groups and others throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including performances at Lincoln Center, Royal Festival Hall, the Concertgebouw, and many other venues.

Cloidt released another MinMax/Starkland CD, Spectral Evidence, in 2007, featuring two string quartets performed by the Cypress String Quartet. Sequenza/21 said Spectral Evidence was “…engaging, attractive, and extremely crafty.”

Writer/actress/singer Amanda Moody’s critically acclaimed work, Serial Murderess, directed by Melissa Weaver and composed by Clark Suprynowicz, won the 2001 Dean Goodman Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theater, and the SF Bay Guardian's Best of 2000 Award for great solo performance. Her original oratorio, Bitter Harvest composed by Kurt Rohde, premiered with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano. Georgia Rowe of the Contra Costa Times declared Bitter Harvest "Splendid boldly contemporary and undeniably moving." BackStage West said, “Moody’s virtuosity – as writer, singer and actor – is awesome.”

The CD is available at Amazon and CD Baby.

View Starkland's complete catalog.

Phil Kline discusses "The Wailing Wall" from his Around the World in a Daze surround DVD

In this video, Phil Kline discusses "The Wailing Wall" from his Around the World in a Daze surround DVD:



Read more about this Phil Kline DVD.

Starkland Composers (M-Z) + Recordings

An updated list of Starkland’s composers (M-Z) linked to their recordings:

• Ingram Marshall
• Merzbow
• Meredith Monk
• Bruce Odland
• Pauline Oliveros
• Maggi Payne
• Somei Satoh
• Carl Stone
• Lois V Vierk
• Pamela Z
• John Zorn

Starkland Composers (K-L) + Recordings

Starkland's composers (K-L) linked to their recordings:

• Joseph Kasinskas
• Aaron Jay Kernis
• Jerome Kitzke
• Roger Kleier
• Phil Kline
• Guy Klucevsek (Transylvanian Softwear)
• Guy Klucevsek (Full Range Accordion)
• Lukas Ligeti
• Joseph Lukasik

Starkland Composers (A-H) + Recordings

Starkland’s composers (A-H) linked to their recordings:

• Charles Amirkhanian
• Phillip Bimstein (Garland Hirschi’s Cows)
• Phillip Bimstein (Larkin Gifford’s Harmonica)
• Jay Cloidt
• Tod Dockstader (Quatermass)
• Tod Dockstader (Apocalypse)
• Paul Dolden
• Paul Dresher
• William Duckworth
• Robert Een
• Fred Frith
• Ellen Fullman
• Lars Hollmer