Music – Page 8 – Zoopraxiscope

Tune of the day #134

While eccentric musicians can be found everywhere, Finland must have the highest concentration on the planet — Laika and the Cosmonauts, Steve ‘n’ Seagulls, Ensemble Ambrosius, etc. And Värttinä.

If you’re musically-inclined and have wondered if there is a challenge like the (defunct) NaNoWriMo for musicians, there is February Album Writing Month, or “FAWM.” The goal is to write fourteen songs in four weeks. “Song” is broadly defined; it can be anything from an abrupt miniature like Melt-Banana to an inflated prog rock epic. Expertise doesn’t matter — much — and it is possible to get by with just your pocket moloch. How to do it and what to use are discussed here.

I haven’t decided yet if I will join in myself this year. I’ve been trying to get the hang of yet another DAW, ~~Presonus Studio One~~ Fender Studio Pro. While all digital audio workstations do essentially the same thing, each is just different enough that skill with one doesn’t transfer to another.¹ If I by the end of January I spend more time writing music than yelling at the computer, I might give it a shot.

Tune of the day #133

Most recordings I’ve heard of the complete L’ Histoire Du Soldat suffer from stunt casting, e.g., Rudolph Nureyev as the soldier.² The suite fortunately is entirely instrumental.

Tune of the day #132

I haven’t posted any Celtic music yet, and I need to remedy that. We’ll start with a medley of Carolan tunes by The Chieftains.

Tune of the day #131

Another anime march, but of a very different character then yesterday’s. It’s from the eccentric series Tsuritama, the most approachable show directed by the idiosyncratic Kenji Nakamura. The soundtrack is by the Kuricorder Quartet, who, with a few extra musicians, earlier recorded the music for Azumanga Daioh.

Tune of the day #130

The premise of the anime Girls und Panzer is absurd — few people realize that tank warfare is one of the feminine arts — but it was amazingly popular a decade or so back.

Tune of the day #129

John Renbourn, a Renaissance dance tune, and (modified) Heath Robinson art.

Tune of the day #128

Another medieval/modern hybrid.

Tune of the day #127

GG, MM and BB venture into Eric Johnson territory.

Tune of the day #126

Piccio Dal Pozzo is probably the outstanding Italian example of the Canterbury school of prog rock. This is from their 1976 debut.

Tune of the day #125

I’ve mentioned Kapustin before. Here’s some more of his music.

Tune of the day #124

This color-coded visual aid might make it a little easier to follow the counterpoint in Nancarrow’s “12-voice canon in which the 12 tempos are proportional to the pitches of the notes of a chromatic scale.”