WNYC's John Schaefer Features "Polka From The Fringe" on New Sounds

WNYC's John Schaefer recently featured Guy Klucevsek's "Polka From The Fringe" re-release from Starkland on his popular New Sounds show, revealing interesting background and insights from Guy about this unusual project and airing numerous pieces. John recalls "I loved these albums the first time around," noting that "Polka From The Fringe topped my Top Ten for the year." He adds, "It's great to have those albums, which have long been out of print, back as a single 2-CD set." John introduces this show:

"Accordionist and composer Guy Klucevsek stops by for a visit, on the occasion of the reissue of 'Polka From the Fringe,' 29 previously out-of-print tracks for accordion by Klucevsek and 27 other composers.  With titles like Lois V Vierk's 'Attack Cat Polka,' or Elliott Sharp's jolt of punk in 'Happy Chappie Polka,' there's a bit of playful wackiness to the collection, yet also some loveliness -  like William Duckworth's 'Polking Around' and Peter Garland's 'Club Nada Polka.'

"For this New Sounds, hear music for the project by Carl Finch (of Brave Combo - the 'nuclear polka band' out of Denton, TX), the hilarious contribution from Fred Frith - 'The Disinformation Polka,' as well as music by Klucevsek himself, 'The Grass, it is Blue.' "

Other composers heard include Guy de Bievre, Bobby Previte, Mary Jane Leach, Tom Cora, Robin Holcomb, and Bill Obrecht. Here's the full show:

John has hosted New Sounds ("The No. 1 radio show for the Global Village" - Billboard) since 1982, and WNYC has the largest public radio audience in the United States. His diverse guests have included David Byrne, Meredith Monk, and Ravi Shankar.

The shows echoes some other enthusiastic responses to the release. At Sequenza 21, Jay Batzner wrote:

"This double-disc set is a heck of a lot of fun... What I really love about the disc is, well, everything I suppose. You can tell that the composers had a good time writing these pieces... full of joy, pleasure, and talent."

Frank Oteri at New Music Box remarks:

"The music turns on a dime from track to track [from] sheer loveliness [to] relentless experimentalism [to] out and out zaniness... the next time someone comes up to you claiming to be able to define new music, tell him or her to listen to these recordings."

Two other Guy Klucevsek releases can be found in Starkland's catalog: "Transylvanian Softwear" (awarded a "Recording of Special Merit" at Stereo Review) and "Free Range Accordion" (with music from Burt Bacharach, Lars Hollmer, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jerome Kitzke, Klucevsek, Stephen Montague, Somei Satoh, and Lois V Vierk).

Phillip Bimstein: "Garland Hirschi's Cows" CD: Now Digital

Phillip Bimstein's "Garland Hirschi's Cows" CD is now digitally distributed. Sources include iTunes, Amazon, and eMusic. The original CD picked up some fine reviews:

“Garland Hirschi’s Cows is a cult classic.”
– NPR’s "All Things Considered"

“Outstanding...[Bimstein] has used digital sampling technology to tell wry and moving stories, and to elevate the mundane to the level of high art...brilliantly original.”
– Stereophile

“Quirky and thoroughly engaging.”
– Wired

“A lot of immediacy, wit, and inventiveness.”
– Stereo Review 

WNYC's John Schaefer has written:

“Perhaps Bimstein, like Philip Glass, Henryk Górecki, Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, and Arvo Pärt, will find people calling his music Alternative Classical... Bimstein’s music is not meant for theorists to wring their hands over in some future century; it’s meant to be enjoyed and understood, its stories told, right now.”

The CD opens with the now classic "Garland Hirschi's Cows," which describes a Utah farmer, his cows, and why they moo. Radio airplay of the work has generated hundreds of calls (especially after being heard on NPR's "All Things Considered"). Here's the opening track ("A Little Bit About My Cows"):

"Dark Winds Rising," for string quartet and tape, presents the Kaibab Paiute tribe's successful fight against the installation of a toxic waste incinerator on their native land. Employing a technique he calls "voice organics," Bimstein uses sampled speech to develop rhythmic patterns, melodies, and sound effects such as mesa winds, industrial ratchets, a snake pit, and bird calls.

In "The Door," Bimstein uses samples of his creaking studio door to create some funky brass instruments, a pulsating rhythm section, fragments of a merry-go-round's music, and a mournful seal.

"The Louie Louie Variations" is a contemplative fantasy that deconstructs a classic rock chord progression, while the haunting "Vox=Dominum," the most mysterious piece on the CD, deconstructs a variety of Persian sounds.

Bimstein resides in Springdale, Utah, where he served two terms as mayor, prompting Outside magazine to call him "America's only all-natural politician composer." His alternative classical music combines acoustic instruments with found sounds and voices to paint portraits and tell stories. Bimstein's music has been performed at Lincoln Center, Bang on a Can, and London's Royal Opera House. In addition to his studies of theory, composition, and orchestration at the Chicago Conservatory and UCLA, Bimstein led the new wave band Phil 'n' the Blanks, whose albums and videos were college radio and MTV hits.

Visit Phillip Bimstein's website.

WNYC airs Bimstein, Gann, Byrne

Yesterday at WNYC, John Schaefer aired a "Found" Sounds show featuring music of Phillip Bimstein from a New Sounds Live concert performed at Merkin Hall. It's fitting the show also airs music from Kyle Gann (a Starkland fan) and David Byrne (a Bimstein fan who attended this concert and chatted with us at intermission). You can hear the show here:



It was a fun evening.

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.

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.
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