[new feature!] Is This Music?

Hey Playtonics,

Seeing as the intent of this blog is to deliver a blend of philosophical and musical musings, I want to introduce a new weekly segment called “Is This Music?” According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Philosophy of music is the study of fundamental questions about the nature of music and our experience of it. In keeping with these questions, every week I will post a video or link to a piece of “music” that begs the question, “Is this music?” Playtonic Dialogues is all about sparking discourse so please make a case for why X piece is or is not music.

This week I bring to you John Cage’s “4’33.” Keep in mind that when you play the video and no sounds comes out of your headphones or speakers during the piece, there is nothing wrong with your computer. Rather, “4’33” is an entirely silent “orchestral arrangement.” To read more on the composition, check out this wikipedia page on 4’33. Is this music?

Read Full Post »

[video] Dirty Projectors Play “When The World Comes to An End”

It is only fitting that today, when all I can seem to listen to is Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca, I stumble upon this video of Dirty Projectors on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. On Monday night, the band played a semi-new song called “When The World Comes to An End” (Stereogum notes that it’s a selection from the Mount Wittenberg Orca song cycle the band performed with Bjork at a tiny Housing Works benefit back in May). This tune features complex  background vocals that create a sonic stereo experience ontop of lead singer Dave Longstreth’s sweet croon.  Jimmy Fallon may be awkwardly finding his talk show groove, but Dirty Projectors are at the height of their game. Check out the video of their live performance on  Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as well as a backstage video taken by ?uestlove of The Roots:

Read Full Post »

October Shows

 

 Hey Playtonics,

For those of you who don’t know, in addition to writing semi-daily for Playtonic Dialogues, I also write concert reviews for The Bowery Presents The House List. Since moving to New York, I have written reviews for Animal Collective, Battles/!!!/Flying Lotus, and Moby. This month I will be reviewing the following shows for The House List:

 

10/3:  The Pains of Being Pure at Heart/The Depreciation Guild /Cymbals Eat Guitars, Webster Hall

10/13: The Dodos/ The Ruby Suns, Music Hall of Williamsburg

10/29: Justice (DJ Set),/ Jackson (DJ Set), Webster Hall

 

Check back for links to my reviews!

Read Full Post »

[video] New Sufjan Stevens Song

Four years since Illionis, it now appears that Sufjan Stevens is ready to rollout a new album. The following video shows Sufjan playing a new song called “There’s Too Much Love” in Ithaca on September 23, 2009. For one, it is catchy as hell. Since hearing this song I have repeatedly found myself singing “there’s too much, too much, too much..” in falsetto. However, musically, it is a different side of Sufjan. Unlike Illionis, the song is sparse on narrative. Essentially, it is a 7:30 electronic jam, similar in nature to “You Are the Blood” on Dark Was The Night. My guess is his next album will not be a part of the 50 states project.

Read Full Post »

Moby, Music Hall Of Williamsburg, 9/23/09

Hey Playtonics,

Check out my review of Wedndesday night’s Moby concert at The Bowery Presents The House List:

http://houselist.bowerypresents.com/2009/09/moby-still-moves-an-audience/

Read Full Post »

What I’m Listening to Today: Cymbals Eat Guitars

guitars...yummmmm

Hey Playtonics,

Today I figured I would inform you all as to what is bumping in my headphones. Stumbling around hype machine (a great music blog aggregator that allows you to play tracks off the site), I bumped into Cymbals Eat Guitars . This band has a great guitar rock sound that reminds me of Built to Spill. I recommend checking out the songs “And The Hazy Sea” and “Windy Phoenix.”

Listen to Cymbals Eat Guitars on Hype Machine

Read Full Post »

I Want My ATP (Part 2): Sunday at All Tomorrow’s Parties

Hey Playtonics,

Here is Part 2/ Sunday of my epic mini-series, I Want My ATP (check out I Want My ATP (Part 1:) Saturday at All Tomorrow’s Parties):

Sunday

1:30 AM

 

Music festivals are wonderful, unpredictable, and tiresome. After seeing Atlas Sound, I went with the family to a local Catskills institution, an Italian restaurant called Frankie and Johnny’s. If the portions weren’t enough of a thrill, on the way out of the restaurant I saw Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. I yelled out “Hey Wayne!” and in response he flashed me a smile and a peace sign. Wayne is an omnipresent figure at ATP this weekend. Earlier I saw him checking out the beginning of Atlas Sound’s set. Now, I’m waving to him at Frankie and Johnny’s. Wonderful and unpredictable.

Read Full Post »

It’s All About The Flaming Lips

ATP curators The Flaming Lips appeared on The Colbert Report last night. Check out the interview with Wayne Coyne and performance. Also, the new Flaming Lips album Embryonic is streaming on Colbert Nation (warning: the stream doesn’t tell you what song you are listening to). Wayne’s voice seems to have dropped off a bit but the album seems more interesting and packs a stronger psychadelic punch than At War with the Mystics.

Read Full Post »

I Want My ATP (Part 1): Saturday at All Tomorrow’s Parties

Hey Playtonics,

After much laboring, here is my write-up of Saturday at All Tomorrow’s Parties in Monticello, NY at Kutsher’s (also, check out my ATP Photo Journal): 

Saturday

12:00 PM

Kutsher’s and ATP; a perfect match

 I get off the Short Line (the bus from New York Port Authority to Albany) at the Monticello Bus Terminal. The ride was uneventful. I rested uncomfortably next to a large woman and watched a Seinfeld DVD. Sitting across from me was an older woman looking to be in her 60 or 70s with blonde-dyed, slicked back hair. Her appearance and demeanor was quintessential Borscht Belt-goer. She sported a cheetah print jacket with matching zebra print shoes, and oodles of tacky gold jewelry. Of course it took her a solid couple of minutes to dislodge her orange, pastel handbag from the overhead compartment.

Read Full Post »

Yim Yames’ Tribute To

 

A good cover is a unique re-imagining of another artist or band’s work. On Tribute To, Jim James/ Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket and Monsters of Folk  performs six stripped down songs out of George Harrison’s catalogue. The tracks are sincere reflections of Harrison’s work, utilizing Yames’ haunting, reverb-laden voice and sparse acoustic guitar strums (see: Long, Long, Long).  Check out the album streaming on Yames website:

Yim Yames’ Tribute To

(Note: The site mentions that a full length solo album from Yames is coming soon)

Read Full Post »