Angel Olsen - Arcobat

Angel Olsen's Half Way Home has been played a lot here at our house. Olsen is a singer songwriter from Chicago with a powerful voice that recalls a lot folk singers from old, I even get a bit of a Nick Drake vibe on some of the tunes. She has been getting a lot of attention from this release with rewrites appearing in the New York Times. The album is beautifully produced with powerful performances. I had the fortune of seeing her perform a month or so back and everyone should go see her live. The record came out on my friend's label, Bathetic. They are sold out of copies and they are fetching high prices on Discogs right now but they are planning to do a second pressing. I strongly encourage to seek out this record.

Above is the video to the chilling tune Acrobat.

Cornelius Cardew's Treatise Excerpts

Here excerpts of Cardew's Treatise an entirely abstract score made up of 193 pages.

Wiki article here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treatise_(music)

PC Worship

I have been loving PC Worship lately. I picked up their latest LP, Toxic Love, at their last Philly outing and have been playing it a lot around the house - it scares my cats. It is of an experimental blend of no-wave, garage, doom, noise, and free rock. The closest thing it reminds me of is the Sic Alps.

Here is a great video of them performing at the awesome Cropped Out Festival in Louisville Kentucky.


You can stream and buy their tunes here -  http://pcworship.bandcamp.com/

And check out their blog here - http://pcworship.blogspot.com/

Very cool. 

-Z

Carl Sagan Breaking Through to the Squares

New ZDF Bandcamp

Hey all,


I started a Bandcamp for my compositions. I hope to put a few more albums in the coming months, and maybe some scores and zines for sale if I get really ambitious, but I'm not holding my breath. I uploaded an old cassette I made of compositions I did from 2008-2009. It's amusing listening back only a few years ago, I'm not sure I would have made the same choices now, but nonetheless I am proud of the work.

Stream the album in it's entirety below and if you would like to purchase a digital copy it'll cost you $5.

Enjoy!

-Z

Yosuke Yamashita, Burning Piano 2008

Speaking of pianos (see my previous post). This is a pretty absurd performance all around. Thanks to my friend Ryan Kirk for pointing it out to me.

Nicky Hopkins

I just cannot stop listening to The Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street. The record is so sublime and all through it are the rolling licks by English pianist Nicky Hopkins. Pianist to the stars, Nicky appeared on records by the Stones, the Beatles, the Who, Neil Young, and many others. His phrases really write the songs. As much as I worship the ground that Jagger and Richards walk on it is hard to believe that some of the Stones songs would have the same delivery if it was not for Nicky's contributions. Imagine this cut without Nicky's piano.



For those curious about Nicky Hopkins a book has recently been publish on his life by Julian Dawson called, And on Piano ...Nicky Hopkins. When I get the opportunity I plan to read it. Do yourself a favor, appreciate some Nicky Hopkins

My band Lantern is playing Death By Audio tonight.

Rsvp Here: http://www.facebook.com/events/360229670671232/

Videos from the ACA

Here are a couple of videos from the music concert that took place during my time at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. One is of my desert-blues inspired minimalism composition, Cells 2.0, another is a video of me performing the work of another resident, Valerian Maly, which is a tribute to the Fluxus movement, and lastly there is a video of the collaborative piece all the residents came up with under the direction of master artist David Behrman. I hope you enjoy them!