Category Archives: Music

Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 9/ Alexander Raskatov: Nunc dimittis

To Soviet composer Alfred Schnittke, music provided continuity, a connection with history and, in fact, to all of life. This is, perhaps, not so surprising: his musical education took place largely in post-War Vienna, and if anything typifies the life … Continue reading

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Miranda Cuckson, Blair McMillen: Bartók, Lutosławski, Schnittke

If I had to choose one word to describe the music of Central and Eastern Europe in the years after World War II, it would be “restless.” This restlessness actually predates the War, having its roots in the Vienna of … Continue reading

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Boiled in Lead’s 17 March 2001

Boiled in Lead are, without any doubt, one of the best live Celtic/punk/balkan fusion bands on the planet bar none. Confused yet? Well, let’s have Chuck Lipsig in his essential Boiled In Lead omnibus give a go at explaining them: ‘The problem … Continue reading

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Boiled in Lead’s Silver 

Before commenting on Boiled in Lead’s Silver, CD, let me stress one point: “punk” is a general descriptive term denoting, most often, a subgenre. Thus we have celtopunk, Christian punk, glam punk, and any number of other punks in music. In … Continue reading

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Boiled in Lead’s Alloy 

Gut reaction: keeper. Alloy is the “Greatest Hits” collection of Boiled in Lead,a collection of tracks mostly culled from previous albums leavenedwith a few previously unreleased tunes and new versions. This isquite a ride, since Boiled in Lead has evolved through … Continue reading

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Boiled in Lead’s The First Decade of Recordings

Chuck Lipsig penned this review. The problem when writing about Boiled in Lead is how to describe them. Rock and roll? Punk? Blues? Jazz? Traditional? Which tradition? They’ve done everything from Irish to Albanian to Vietnamese to American Traditional. Indeed, there … Continue reading

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Danish String Quartet’s Adès / Abrahamsen / Nørgård

I doubt that most people think of reviewing as a learning experience – after all, we’re supposed to know this stuff, right? Well, yes and no. Take music, for example: I’ve lived with music all my life, all kinds of … Continue reading

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Mikko Joensuu’s Amen 1

Mikko Joensuu is a Finnish musician, singer and songwriter who’s known in his home country for his work in an indie-psychedelic-shoegaze band called Joensuu 1685. His solo debut Amen 1 is the first release in a planned trilogy of Americana-tinged … Continue reading

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Western Centuries’ Weight of the World

Western Centuries makes country & western music the way it oughta be made. Pedal steel, driving rhythms, twangy guitars, songs about loving and losing and drinking celebrating the good things in life. This group is the current vehicle for Cahalen … Continue reading

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June Tabor and the Oysterband at the Nightstage

On a cold winter night, friends dragged me, protesting, into Cambridge to see a show that I had no interest in seeing. When we walked into the (late, not terribly lamented) Nightstage, there was an odd mix of people: older … Continue reading

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