ALBUM REVIEW: John Cage’s Music for Speaking Percussionist by Bonnie Whiting
by Michael Schell One of the more esoteric musical subgenres that emerged in the 1970s is the “talking instrumentalist” piece. Frederic Rzewski composed and performed many piano works where the...
View ArticleALBUM REVIEW: Cartography by Mariel Roberts
by Brendan Howe When I asked cellist Mariel Roberts what it means to be labeled as virtuosic (as numerous outlets have done with respect to her abilities) in the context of contemporary music, she...
View ArticleALBUM REVIEW: Danny Elfman’s Rabbit & Rogue
by Lauren Freman If, like me, you thought that Danny Elfman’s Rabbit & Rogue looked like a fashionable reboot of a Bugs Bunny cartoon, you might be tempted to write off this score as self-indulgent...
View ArticleALBUM REVIEW: Gaslight by James Maloney
by Maggie Molloy There’s a striking intimacy to solo piano music—a uniquely calm, quiet sense of introspection that only comes from sitting alone at the keyboard for hours on end. Composer James...
View ArticleStaff Picks: Friday Faves
Second Inversion hosts share a favorite selection from their weekly playlist. Tune in on Friday, September 15 to hear these pieces and plenty of other new and unusual music from all corners of the...
View ArticleALBUM REVIEW: Possessed by Robert Black
by Maggie Molloy Double bassist Robert Black likes to explore uncharted territory—both literally and musically. In his new solo album Possessed, he takes his bass into the great outdoors to perform an...
View ArticleStaff Picks: Friday Faves
Second Inversion hosts share a favorite selection from their weekly playlist. Tune in on Friday, October 6 to hear these pieces and plenty of other new and unusual music from all corners of the...
View ArticleALBUM REVIEW: Orpheus Unsung by Steven Mackey with Jason Treuting
by Rachele Hales It’s a tale as old as time… boy meets girl, girl dies of snakebite, boy rescues girl from underworld, boy makes dumb mistake and girl is returned to underworld, boy is ripped to...
View ArticleThe Best of Thelonious Monk: The Blue Note Years
by Michael Schell This month seems like an opportune time for a salute in Thelonious Monk’s direction, honoring both his 100th birthday and the 70th anniversary of the first of the Blue Note recording...
View ArticleSecond Inversion Spooktacular: 48-hour Spooky Music Marathon
by Maggie Molloy Nothing sets the scene for your Halloween quite like a marathon of spooky music! Let us provide the soundtrack for your Halloween haunts. On October 30 and 31, tune in to Second...
View ArticleALBUM REVIEW: The Perfect Nothing Catalog by Conrad Winslow
by Brendan Howe Growing up in Homer, Alaska, Conrad Winslow watched his parents build their log cabin in the woods from scratch—little did he know, those building blocks would shape and inspire his...
View ArticleLouis Andriessen: Theater of the World
by Michael Schell Louis Andriessen is Europe’s leading post-minimalist composer, occupying a niche similar to John Adams in North America. His early process pieces Hoketus and Worker’s Union bear the...
View ArticleSTAFF PICKS: Friday Faves
Second Inversion hosts share a favorite selection from their weekly playlist. Tune in on Friday, December 8 to hear these pieces and plenty of other new and unusual music from all corners of the...
View ArticleALBUM REVIEW: More Field Recordings by the Bang on a Can All-Stars
by Maggie Molloy Some composers can make music out of just about anything—and that’s precisely the idea behind the Bang on a Can All-Stars’ newest release. A follow-up to their 2015 album Field...
View ArticleClassical Christmas Carols for the 21st Century
by Maggie Molloy After years of the same old Christmas carols every December, the holiday hymns start to run together. But whether you’re the world’s biggest Santa-fan or a grouchy Ebenezer Scrooge,...
View ArticleSecond Inversion’s Top 10 Albums of 2017
From Icelandic sound sculptures to pan-global jazz, found sounds and field recordings to sprawling, city-wide operas, 2017 was filled with some pretty incredible new music. As this year draws to a...
View ArticleSTAFF PICKS: Friday Faves
Second Inversion hosts share a favorite selection from their weekly playlist. Tune in on Friday, January 12 to hear these pieces and plenty of other new and unusual music from all corners of the...
View ArticleSTAFF PICKS: Friday Faves
Second Inversion hosts share a favorite selection from their weekly playlist. Tune in on Friday, January 26 to hear these pieces and plenty of other new and unusual music from all corners of the...
View ArticleALBUM REVIEW: ‘All Melody’ by Nils Frahm
by Maggie Molloy More than perhaps any other aspect of music, melody is what captures our hearts and gets stuck in our heads. Be it classical, jazz, pop, or rock—nearly all styles of Western music hold...
View ArticleSTAFF PICKS: Friday Faves
Second Inversion hosts share a favorite selection from their weekly playlist. Tune in on Friday, February 16 to hear these pieces and plenty of other new and unusual music from all corners of the...
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