hard-to-peg | music clip of the day

Christian Wolff (composer, piano, melodica; with Larry Polansky, guitar; Robyn Schulkowsky, vibraphone, miscellaneous percussion; Robert Black, bass; Joey Baron, drums), “Quintet,” live (performance followed by conversation), New York (Roulette), 12/12/09

Want more of Christian Wolff’s music? Here.

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lagniappe

Every now and then I like to make a mess. But generally speaking I prefer transparency.

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The music happens when it’s played—not when it’s composed.

—Christian Wolff

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2010

Saturday, 9/11/10

To these ears, this is just inches shy of insufferable—too cute, too precious, too fey. But those inches make all the difference. As it is, I find it beguiling.

Clare and the Reasons, “Wake Up (You Sleepyhead),” 2009

For those who’re interested in such genealogical details (and are old enough to remember), Clare is the daughter of Geoff Muldaur.

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lagniappe

reading table

Utterly unbelievable, incontrovertibly real: his poems, at their best, have the associative logic of a dream.

Russell Edson, “Let Us Consider”

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2010

Wednesday, 9/8/10

Sunday, South Africa; Monday, Morocco; today let’s head to the center—the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).

Konono No. 1, “Lufuala Ndonga”

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2010

Monday, 9/6/10

Morocco—it’s just a click away.

Musical Brotherhoods from the Trans-Saharan Highway, excerpts (2007)

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2010

Wednesday, 9/1/10

Weathermen redux?

Speaking of M.I.A., who else conjures the ’60s like this—its mix of ferocity and nuttiness?

M.I.A., “Born Free” (2010)

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2010

Tuesday, 8/31/10

When your kids go back to college (as my older son Alex did Saturday and my younger son Luke ten days ago), it’s not just their voices you no longer hear around the house; it’s also the voices they listen to—like this guy, for instance (a Luke favorite).

Mike Posner, “Cooler Than Me,” live, Los Angeles, 2010

More? Here. Here.

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lagniappe

M.I.A.—the new Sun Ra?

So where would she [M.I.A.] live if visas and tour plans weren’t a factor? She pauses for a moment, then says, “Space. I’m over Earth.” She laughs. “Earth is so 2000-and-fucking-9.”

—M.I.A. (Rolling Stone, 8/5/10)

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2010

Wednesday, 8/25/10

street music

Whatever it is, this guy’s got it.

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2010

Tuesday, 8/24/10

I’m the person I see least of over the course of my life, and even what I see is not accurate.

—Gil Scott-Heron (New Yorker, 8/9/2010 [Alec Wilkinson, “New York Is Killing Me”])

Gil Scott-Heron, “I’m New Here” (2010)