Posts Tagged ‘Alex Ross’

Follow the chacona

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

In 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, 2010

Tristan 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, 2010

Alex 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.