KILLED in CARS: December 2009

Xu Cheng - Wild Fox Chants (Archival, 2009)

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Xu Cheng's Wild Fox Chants was brought to my attention by Danny's wonderful, but dormant, blog 'By Chance Upon Waking.' A couple things made me excited: first, logistically, it was free for download. I had not heard of Cheng, and I might not have been willing to shell out $20 for a disc of "prepared guitar" by an artist I hadn't heard of. By putting it out free on Archival, Cheng really sucked me in and made me a fan.

The second thing that got me interested was, of course, the "prepared guitar." Whenever I read "prepared" to describe an instrument, my mind naturally recalls John Cage's prepared piano pieces, and although the instruments are quite different, I think a familiarity with Cage's works could be a partial introduction to this.

Dec

Kaija Saariaho - L'Amour de Loin (Deutsche Grammophon, 2005)

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Composed in 1999 and premiered in 2000, L'Amour de Loin is Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's first opera. As a reinterpretation of Jaufré Rudel's La vida breve, Saariaho, along with librettist Amin Maalouf, tells a story of idealized love from afar. Set in the 12th century, through five acts, a jaded Parisian falls in love with a woman from Tripoli, whom he has never met.

Dec

Limpe Fuchs - Via (Dom, 1987)

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As sometimes happens, after I finished the upload I found out, while searching for the above links, that Mutant Sounds has already posted this record. However, if you listen to the record, you'll see that it generally fits with this site, and I know that some of you don't like Rapidshare, so I kept the post.

This post fits nicely with the Jocy and Hallett posts from earlier, ie.

Dec

Miguel Angel Coria - En rouge et noir (Cramps, 1976)

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We've interrupted this regularly scheduled broadcast for a re-blog from the fantastic and unjustly esoteric Twice Zonked!.

With releases from, among others, Cage, Bailey, Lucier, and Ashley, I suppose it is easy for Coria's breathtaking solo prepared piano work, En rouge et noir, to get lost among the Cramps shuffle.

Dec

Aleph Naught - The Dreams In The Witch-House (Small Doses, 2009)

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This was limited to 66 copies, which the label page is showing are sold out. Given Aleph Naught has put out a couple free things online, I think it should be safe to pass this along. I was listening to this record, and looking stuff up on it when I learned that Anthony Mangicapra did the artwork for this. I met Anthony recently, and he was a great guy, really cool to talk with about music. I need to get around to reviewing his music, too.

Dec

Noveller - Red Rainbows (No Fun Productions, 2009)

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I'm making this entry to memorialize Sarah Lipstate's Noveller as the first entry of the new below section highlighting exceptional new releases. Like I said in the initial review, this section is going to highlight new releases, but not offer them for sharing (keeping with the loose policy of not posting anything in print, or less than 18 months old).

Dec

István Mártha - The Wind Rises [Hangnapló] (ReR, 1987)

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An album that I found for a couple reasons: both on the Adore the Freak list, and the atonelectric peripherals list Doc threw together, as well as general acclaim (despite the criminally low rating count). Birthed by strong musicians in play, the affair was pushed into a higher level by the decision to play/record outside.