Largehearted Boy interviews Alex Ross about his new book, and Ross provides a short playlist of records that emphasize the book’s “principal theme—the interconnectedness of far-flung musical realms.” Selection number one: Beethoven’s Third Symphony. Selection number two: Pere Ubu’s “30 Seconds Over Tokyo”. My kind of guy. Ross’s audio guide to the book is here.
Posts Tagged ‘Alex Ross’
Listen to This
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010Follow the chacona
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010In a preview of Listen to This, Alex Ross traces an elemental bass line from 16th cent. South America to Led Zep. I cannot wait for this book.
Better music through electricity
Thursday, August 12th, 2010Tristan Perich’s 1-Bit Symphony is not a CD, it’s an electronic device in a jewel case that produces a five-movement symphony when you turn it on (the last movement is infinite, you need to turn it off to finish it). As Alex Ross points out, the music is reminiscent of late ’60s Terry Riley. How long, I wonder, until some techno label starts making these?
Update: More of Perich’s music, including free downloads, here.
Something to look forward to
Sunday, January 31st, 2010Alex Ross’s new book, Listen To This, comes out in September. Sounds like the first three chapters alone will make it worth reading. His idea about “music…as a way of knowing the world” is something I’ve been fumbling around myself, in my own peripatetic, procrastinating way. And if you care about “art” music at all and haven’t read The Rest Is Noise, you should.
