Ides of March

At home now, just had dinner, about to collect my thoughts in some manner-- so much seems to collect at once. I've been running into quite a few old friends recently. All with good recommendations-- Artikal Records for instance. Brilliant stuff so far, nice New Order like sound. Too bad i missed them when they played here at the end of February. Alas, one can only do so much.

Other things going through my mind, I've got some good tunes lined up for this Friday night. Perhaps I should mention that I do a radio show on WZBC 90.3fm (www.wzbc.org) Friday evenings from 7-10pm. I've had this gig for over 10 years now. I enjoy being able to turn people on to new music by playing artists that do not get airplay around the Boston area. For this Friday I have: (1) David Sylvian's new one "the good son vs The Only Daughter" -- its remixes from his album 'bemish'. However, they're hardly conventional remixes -- quite a few of them improve on the original. (2) David Kristian "Sweet Bits", these are some of his 'quieter pieces', from now on when he records in this style he'll be know as Gentle Bakemono check: www.davidkristian.com, (3) Marc Leclair "musique pour 3 femmes enceintes" (music for 3 pregnant women), he recorded while his wife and two friends were pregnant. This is very good IDM style material. It really almost feels like one long track. (Marc Leclair also records under the name Akufen). (4) Coti "Lido/Lato", excellent ambient electronica from Greece, Coti, incidentially, helped to create and produce the last Tuxedomoon album ("Cabin in the Sky").

Another item of note is Hal Foster's "In Central Park" essay from the last issue of the London Review of Books - find it here:
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n05/fost01_.html He really contextualizes the whole 'Gates' project well.

This just in as well:

Harold Budd farewell concert at the Brighton Festival...

Saturday the 21st of May will mark Harold Budd's last live
performance, before retiring from the concert arena.

Alongside Brian Eno, Harold Budd was one of the founding fathers of
what has since come to be known as 'ambient' (though Budd prefers the
term 'discrete') music. The Mojave desert landscapes of his childhood
and the formative influences of John Cage and Morton Feldman informed
Harold Budd's sparse, hypnotic and deeply atmospheric aural
soundscapes. However, it wasn't until his seminal ambient adventures
with Eno in the early 80s - "Ambient 2 : The Plateaux of Mirror", and
"The Pearl", followed by highly acclaimed collaborations with the
Cocteau Twins, that he came to the world's attention. Since then he
has made a profound impression on an eclectic British music scene,
from Big Chill artists Fila Brazilia to neo-classical minimalist
Michael Nyman.

Harold will be joined on stage by John Foxx (Ultravox), Jah Wobble
(Public Image
Limited), Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins), Bill Nelson (Be-Bop Deluxe)
and other special guests for a landmark celebration of over thirty
years of musical innovation.

Full details can be found at the "Brighton Festival" website :
http://www.brighton-festival.org.uk/index.asp?id=1563

I wish I could make it. Brighton is so much fun anyway.

That's about where things are at the moment-- I'll let you know if anything changes.

I'm off to buy some beer.

bonne nuit