journal.nonesuch.com

The Wire Soundtrack Song List Announced

Earlier this month, we reported that Nonesuch Records would release the first official soundtrack from HBO's The Wire. We can now bring you the complete track list from the album The Wire: “... and all the pieces matter." The deluxe, 35-track disc includes several versions of the show's opening theme song, Tom Waits’s “Way Down in the Hole,” along with tracks from the Baltimore club- and hip-hop scene that have never before been on a major-label release. Also included is some of the most memorable dialog from the program’s five years.

The CD’s booklet features essays by author and series writer George Pelecanos and journalist Jeff Chang, as well as excepts from an interview between the show's creator, David Simon, and writer Nick Hornby that was originally published in the August 2007 issue of The Believer, believermag.com.

We're also pleased to announce that a separate album, Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks from The Wire, showcasing only tracks by Baltimore musicians,  will be released simultaneously.

Here are the complete track lists from both albums:

The Wire: “... and all the pieces matter.”— Music from Five Years of The Wire

1. “This America, man.” (0:24)
2. WAY DOWN IN THE HOLE – The Blind Boys of Alabama (2:54)
3. “Why would anyone ever wanna leave Baltimore?” (0:21)
4. OH MY GOD – Michael Franti & Spearhead (5:05)
5. DANCE MY PAIN AWAY – Rod Lee (2:07)
6. MY LIFE EXTRA - DJ Technics (1:17)
7. “The king stay the king.” (0:48)
8. WAY DOWN IN THE HOLE – The Neville Brothers (1:36)
9. “We used to make shit in this country.” (0:15)
10. SIXTEEN TONS – The Nighthawks (3:36)
11. ASSUME THE POSITION – Lafayette Gilchrist (2:42)
12. “What the fuck did I do?” (0:12)
13. STEP BY STEP – Jesse Winchester (2:56)
14. I WALK ON GILDED SPLINTERS – Paul Weller (4:58)
15. FAST TRAIN – Solomon Burke (5:37)
16. THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN – The Pogues (4:45)
17. “All the pieces matter.” (0:08)
18. EFUGE EFUGE – Stelios Kazantzidis (3:32)
19. “Omar comin’!” (0:40)
20. WAY DOWN IN THE HOLE - Domaje (1:43)
21.  “If it’s a lie, then we fight on that lie” (0:22)
22. PROJECTS – Tyree Colion (3:26)
23. “Later for that gangsta bullshit.” (0:38)
24. AYO - Bossman (3:20)
25. ANALYZE - Sharpshooters (2:44)
26. “Wars end.” (0:20)
27. UNFRIENDLY GAME – Masta Ace Feat. Stricklin (3:52)
28. WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT BALTIMORE – Ogun Feat. Phathead (3:16)
29. JAIL FLICK - Diablo (3:38)
30. THE LIFE, THE HOOD, THE STREETZ - Mullyman (3:47)
31. “An act of daily journalism.” (0:07)
32. I FEEL ALRIGHT – Steve Earle (2:58)
33. WAY DOWN IN THE HOLE – Tom Waits (1:45)
34. “You remember that one day summer past?” (0:41)
35. THE FALL – Blake Leyh (1:24)

Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks from The Wire

1. WAY DOWN IN THE HOLE – DoMaJe (1:46)
2. PROJECTS - Tyree Colion (4:33)
3. DANCE MY PAIN AWAY - Rod Lee (2:52)
4. MY LIFE EXTRA - DJ Technics (2:39)
5. WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT BALTIMORE - Ogun feat. Phathead (3:59)
6. JAIL FLICK – Diablo (4:07)
7. WHEN YOU SEE US - The Get ‘em Mamis feat. L. Cash (4:06)
8. THAT’S DA SOUND - Dirty Hartz feat. Verb (3:56)
9. AYO – Bossman (3:52)
10. THE LIFE, THE HOOD, THE STREETZ – Mullyman (4:44)
11. ASSUME THE POSITION - Lafayette Gilchrist (6:32)

Nonesuch Radio Airs Johnny Depp's "My Friends" from Sweeney Todd

You've seen the trailer. You've watched the behind-the-scenes footage in the recording studio. You've read what the critics had to say. Now you can hear for yourself what all the talk has been about: Nonesuch Radio is now playing Johnny's performance of the pivotal song "My Friends" off the Sweeney Todd film soundtrack, which will be available from Nonesuch December 18. To hear the track, click on the Nonesuch Radio icon at the top left of this page.

LA Times: Sweeney Todd "The Most Important Movie of 2007"

"You know that a movie wows an audience when nobody stirs during the closing credits. That's what happened at the end of Sweeney Todd tonight at the first critics' screening in Manhattan." So reports Tom O'Neil in his LATimes.com blog, Gold Derby. While he's not yet able to give a full review of the movie this far in advance of its December 21 release, he does have a few words to say about Sweeney, which he calls "the most important movie of 2007."

O'Neil, admittedly "biased as a diehard fan of the Broadway show," proclaims the film "the best I've seen all year." And according to his own unscientific poll of those in the audience at last night's screening, it seems there was unanimous agreement about the "brilliant" performance by Johnny Depp.

While there was much talk about whether Oscar voters will be able to bring themselves to vote for a film that doesn't shy from the bloodier aspects of the story, that hardly detracts from the power of the film for O'Neil:

In fact, it makes viewers feel so deeply in profound emotional and psychological ways, that it will haunt you, on many levels, long afterward. Director Tim Burton has created a masterpiece for the ages.

In the end, he's still hopeful that Oscar voters will reward Burton for what he has created, that "he so artfully adapts a revered classic." And besides, it's impossible to deny that "Johnny Depp is so damn cool."

For O'Neil's complete report from last night's screening, visit goldderby.latimes.com.

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Roger Friedman at FoxNews.com was also at the event and weighs in with his own kudos for the film and thoughts on its prospects for Oscar gold:

Depp gives such a complete and textured performance as the demon barber Sweeney Todd—in which he sings, as well—that it would be hard for the Academy to deny him again ... Tim Burton will be hard to ignore as well. He’s done the impossible and brought a masterpiece of a musical to film intact and almost to perfection.

Like Tom O'Neil, Friedman is a great fan of the Sondheim original and is happy to extend that to the on-screen adaptation—"I loved Burton’s film version."—and it's stars, saying that the director "cast everyone perfectly ... [T]hey are each superb."

While the final Oscar decisions are still a long way off, "it’s safe to say that Burton, Depp, Bonham Carter, Baron Cohen, et al. have done a remarkable job bringing Sondheim’s greatest show to the screen."

Laura Veirs and Saltbreakers Perform on Studio360

"Laura Veirs made a name for herself originally as a folksy girl with a guitar," says Studio360 host Kurt Andersen, "but now she's one of a handful of musicians bringing that whimsical, brainy sensibility into the realm of indie rock." Laura and her band, Saltbreakers, recently visited PRI/WNYC's Studio360 to discuss her latest album, which shares its name both with the band and one of its tracks. In addition to discussing everything from Laura's early camping trips with her family to her punk-rock rebellious days, she and the band play two tunes ("Wandering Kind" and the title track) live in the studio. Laura also reveals that "saltbreakers" is an old nautical term for ocean waves and became an apt metaphor for some recent ups and downs she experienced in her own life.

You can hear the live performances and the entire segment at studio360.org.

Fernando Otero Performs Works from His "Expressive" Nonesuch Debut

Argentine composer and pianist Fernando Otero will release his Nonesuch debut, Pagina de Buenos Aires, on January 15, and Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel staff writer David Cázares says the album "captures the spirit and style of tango, one of the world's most intriguing dances." But more than simply repeating what's already been done, "Otero fuses the genre with classical music and jazz." Cázares says the songs on the record are "frenetic," then "pensive" and recognizes some of the inspirations behind the music:

Influenced by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla, Brazilian composer Egberto Gismonti, and Uruguayan multi-instrumentalist Hugo Fattoruso, Otero is an accomplished composer who frequently uses changes in tempo and mood to express his ideas ... His music is demanding and expressive—a fitting tribute to the dance.

For more of Cázares's review, visit sun-sentinel.com.

Fernando will be performing pieces from the upcoming record this Monday, December 3, with his X-Tango Quintet—Nick Danielson, violin; Inbal Segev, cello; Victor Prieto, accordion; Pablo Aslan, acoustic bass—at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York's Greenwich Village. For more information, visit barrowstreettheatre.com. 

Steve Reich's "Triple Quartet" in Zenon Dance Company Premiere

The Zenon Dance Company, based in Minnesota's Twin Cities, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a series of performances beginning tonight and running through Sunday. The Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages previews the shows and lists among the program's highlights classic pieces like Bebe Miller's Sanctuary, set to music by Marianne Faithfull, and two new works, including the Midwestern premiere of Doug Varone's Of the Earth Far Below set to Steve Reich's Triple Quartet.

Kronos Quartet to Perform at Tanglewood 2008

The 2008 Tanglewood season has been announced, and Kronos Quartet is among the Guest Artists taking the stage at the Lenox, Massachusetts, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Kronos' Thursday, August 14, program will include John Zorn's Dead Man, Flugufrelsarinn by Sigur Rós, and Steve Reich's Triple Quartet, which the composer wrote for the Quartet in 1998. Tickets go on sale to the public February 17. For more information, visit tanglewood.org.

Boston Globe Reports from NEC Steve Reich Festival

This week, New England Conservatory held a mini-festival celebrating the music of Steve Reich, with four free concerts held over Wednesday and Thursday nights. In today's Boston Globe, correspondent Kevin Lowenthal reports from Wednesday's concerts, which featured Piano Phases, Different Trains, Six Pianos, and, as the closing piece, Music for 18 Musicians. About the last, Lowenthal writes that "More than 30 years since its debut, the piece remains fresh. It evokes a blazing night sky observed to the sound of crickets, then moves beyond that to the mind's imaginative journey through the infinity of space."

Sundance Premiere for "A Raisin in the Sun" with Audra McDonald

Making its world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival will be the TV adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, starring the leads of the 2004 Broadway revival, Audra McDonald, Sean Combs, and Phylicia Rashad. Sundance has announced the complete line-up for its 2008 Festival, which will run from January 17 to 27 in and around Park City, Utah. On the program are 121 feature-length films, selected from more than 3,500 submissions, with 87 world premieres and representing 25 countries. For more information, visit sundance.org/festival.

Click here to read more about the TV movie, which the New York Post says will be "the cultural high point" of the TV season when it airs on ABC February 25.

The Magnetic Fields Add One More Night on Tour in NYC

Good news for fans of The Magnetic Fields unable to make one of their three sold-out shows at New York City's Town Hall in February: a fourth show has been added! On Sunday, February 24, 2008, the group will play one more night in NYC before heading to San Francisco for their next tour dates. Tickets for the newly added show will be available beginning today at 12 PM EST, at ticketmaster.com.

For more tour information, click here. And stay tuned to Nonesuch.com for more information on The Magnetic Fields upcoming release, Distortion, due out January 18.

Johnny Depp Reveals His Fears of Singing ... and Shaving

When you've signed on to play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, chances are good you'll be wielding razor blades every now and then. And when you've played Edward Scissorhands, one would expect you'd be comfortable with that sort of thing. But in an interview with the Glasgow Daily Record, Johnny Depp admits to having some trepidation when it came to lathering up his co-star in the film version of Sweeney Todd, Alan Rickman.

"The shaving cream made me really nervous," he told the Record's Brian Mciver. "It was the most uncomfortable moment of my life ...  [W]hen you get into the chair with a stranger and they lather your face up with sharp instruments around your throat ... it's frightening."

As scary as that may have been, there was that small factor of the Sweeney role being largely sung, and Johnny's never having done any public singing—even of the everyday variety. "I've never tried karaoke," he admits. "It scares the hell out of me. I've never been that drunk—and I've been drunk."

That the film was being directed by Johnny's longtime friend and collaborator Tim Burton (director of the aforementioned Edward Scissorhands) helped put the actor at ease. Even so, going into production, neither was sure if it would work. So Johnny recorded a demo tape in a friend's studio and sent a copy to Tim.

"I did that and sent it to Tim and he said we're going to be OK," Depp reports to Mciver. "And then I became a bit more confident."

Once the confidence was there, there came the character. Not surprisingly, for a film full of bloody murder, Depp looked to early horror film stars like Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff. But for the singing? A more surprising source of inspiration, perhaps: "Iggy Pop maybe. Iggy has a beautiful, deep quality, and he's a real crooner."

For more revealing insights from the Sweeney star, about the role and about his own worldview—"Most people are really nuts, and that's fascinating."—visit dailyrecord.co.uk. You can see and hear Johnny sing in a behind-the-scenes video posted here. Nonesuch releases the complete film soundtrack December 18.

Portfolio Profiles "There Will Be Blood"

Condé Nast's Portfolio magazine gives an in-depth look at Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film, There Will Be Blood—from the writer/director's initial decision to adapt Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! for the screen right down to the "bravura camera moves" he chose for the finished creation. In the article, Portfolio's Fred Schruers lauds the "genius" in the performance of the film's star, Daniel Day-Lewis, and points to "Jonny Greenwood's smartly intrusive score that riddles ominous tones with industrial-strength percussion."

Nonesuch Radio is streaming two tracks from that score, which you can hear by clicking on the icon at the top left of the page. The complete soundtrack will be available for purchase from Nonesuch on December 18.

To read Portfolio's profile of the film, visit portfolio.com.

LA Times: Praise for Youssou N'Dour Is No Stretch

After kicking off the California leg his of US tour last night in Santa Cruz, Youssou N'Dour will make two more stops in northern California before heading down to Los Angeles this Saturday. Gearing up for the concert at UCLA's Royce Hall, the Los Angeles Times praises Youssou's "inimitable vocals, with their seductive timbral span" and argues that "a pretty convincing case could be made for N'Dour as one of the world's most visible and successful international artists."

Writing for the Times's calendarlive.com, Don Heckman says that all of the critical attention Youssou has received over the years, most recently for his album Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take), has not been overstated:

Youssou N'Dour has been called "the African voice of the century" and "one of the world's greatest singers." That may suggest a whiff of hyperbole, but not in the case of N'Dour, who has been thrilling audiences with his contemporized versions of Senegalese mbalax music for nearly three decades, and who was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people this year.

To read more of the LA Times preview, visit calendarlive.com. 

"Wired" Weighs in on "The Wire" Soundtrack

Wired magazine's pop-culture blog, Underwire, reports on, well, The Wire. For those not yet wired in, writer Erik Malinowski previews the soon-to-be-released official series soundtrack from Nonesuch Records that "fans have been clamoring for years for." He recognizes the praise the series has gotten, saying that "few people will argue that The Wire is the best show on television. By far." But he also points to the important role music has played on the series over the past five years:

The realistic acting, clever writing, and gritty atmosphere of Baltimore's neighborhoods (shot on location) put The Wire on a pedestal beyond any of its small-screen competitors. But a somewhat-overlooked component of the show's success is the music that creator David Simon sparingly but deftly places at critical junctures of the narrative. 

Nonesuch will release two CDs—one an eclectic mix of music from throughout the series, the other with music exclusively from the show's hometown of Baltimore—on January 8, two days after the start of the fifth and final season on HBO. And, Malinowksi writes, "boy are we in for a treat." To read his complete preview, visit blog.wired.com/underwire.

Season Four of The Wire hits stores on DVD next week. To hear that season's version of the show's theme song, "Way Down in the Hole," click here or listen to Nonesuch Radio by clicking on the icon at the upper left of this page.

Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint" in Charleston

The New Music Collective out of Charleston, South Carolina, begins its season this Sunday with a program called New Music, New Charleston, which will include a performance of Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint by area guitarist David Linaburg, along with two world premieres of works by local composers. For more information on the event and this new-music ensemble, you can read the Charleston Post and Courier preview at charleston.net.

For information on Pat Metheny's classic performance of Electric Counterpoint, available on Nonesuch, click here.

Kronos Quartet's "Night Prayers" in Ballet Theatre Afrikan Performance

Ballet Theatre Afrikan begins its latest Hooked on Classics series tonight with choreographer Christopher Kindo's Sollopa, featuring the music of Giya Kancheli's Night Prayers by Kronos Quartet, at the University of Johannesburg Arts Centre. According to joburg.org.za, the official site of the city of Johannesburg, Sollopa uses the "mesmerising music" of Night Prayers to tell a tale of magic and passion in a mythical kingdom, through both classical and contemporary dance movement. Ballet Theatre Afrikan premiered the piece in 2004. Performances run through December 9.

For more information, visit joburg.org.za.

"Sweeney Todd" Film Site Updated with Multimedia Features

The Sweeney Todd film site has now been fully updated to include all the latest information on the upcoming release—production notes, cast and crew bios, trailers, behind-the-scenes video, a photo gallery, and all sorts of downloads featuring the film's stars. The site also features streaming audio of songs off the soundtrack, which will be available from Nonesuch December 18.

Check out all the features of the site at sweeneytoddmovie.com.

Two More Jonny Greenwood Tracks Unveiled

On the same day that Nonesuch Radio has added to its playlist two tracks from Jonny Greenwood's There Will Be Blood score, The Playlist, a website dedicated to all things movie music, is streaming two additional songs from the soundtrack: "Proven Lands" and "There Will Be Blood." The film—"pretty much at the top of everyone's most anticipated list," says the site—will be in limited release December 26, and the soundtrack will be available December 18 from Nonesuch. About the two newly unveiled tracks and the larger score, The Playlist has this to say:

Both tracks are on the haunting, disturbing side of this score with "Proven Lands" utilizing pounding timpani and spidery taut violins building to a tense crescendo (you can hear some of it in the most recent trailer). The titular track is more nervous swooshes of strings that cut in and cut out abruptly and move into agitated discordance. Every moment of the score we've heard here and in the trailer bodes for a feverishly unsettling experience (but in a good way).

To read more and hear the two tracks, visit theplaylist.blogspot.com. To watch the trailer, click here.

Youssou N'Dour Begins Next Leg of US Tour in CA

After a quick trip to South Africa to perform at the ceremonies for the 2010 World Cup preliminary draw, Youssou N'Dour resumes his North American tour tonight at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, California. On Friday, he makes his way to San Francisco for the season finale of 25th Annual SF Jazz Festival.

In advance of the special event, SF Weekly's Ernest Barteldes weighs in on Youssou's new record, Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take). "N'Dour shows that he has lost neither charm nor youthful energy," Barteldes writes. "The rhythmically rich music works like a frame around his high-pitched voice, and the music is able to captivate even the most jaded listener, world music fan or otherwise."

For the complete review of Rokku Mi Rokka, visit sfweekly.com.

NEC Steve Reich Festival Gets Under Way Tonight

Tonight marks the first night of public performances in New England Conservatory's two-day, four-concert Steve Reich festival. "Reich is that rare breed," writes Bostonist.com in a preview of the events: "the composer admired by the concert hall crowd but enjoyed by everybody." And with all of the concerts free of charge, Bostonist suggests taking in both nights.

A highlight of tonight's concerts is Music for 18 Musicians, with its "breathy pulse that is both seductive and aloof," to be performed in the 8 PM set at Jordan Hall. "It's a work as iconic in postwar art as Frank Stella's stripes or the Helvetica typeface." And Thursday brings the Boston premiere of City Life (1995) and Daniel Variations (2006).

For the Bostonist preview, visit bostonist.com.

Pat Metheny Trio Gives Durban Its "Gig of the Year"

Last night, Pat Metheny played the last in a string of dates in South Africa with the trio from his upcoming Nonesuch release, Day Trip—bassist Christian McBride and drummer Antonio Sanchez. Writing in the Independent (South Africa)'s entertainment guide, Tonight, Gisele Turner reports that the Sunday show in Durban was "the gig we were all itching for."

Turner writes that, even before being joined by the "two experts," McBride and Sanchez, "the world's greatest guitarist opened with three solo pieces which twinkled aspects of his kaleidoscopic range." After hearing the trio perform songs from Day Trip and others, Turner declares: "'Gig of the year' was the general pronouncement."

To read the full review from Durban, visit tonight.co.za. For more on the upcoming album, click here.

Alarm Will Sound Premieres John Adams's "Son of Chamber Symphony" on Friday

This Friday night, Alarm Will Sound will make its Stanford University debut with the world premiere of John Adams's Son of Chamber Symphony, which the composer wrote for the innovative ensemble. Adams's first Chamber Symphony received its world premiere at The Hague in 1993.

Also on Friday's program at Stanford's Dinkelspiel Auditorium are works by Conlon Nancarrow, Michael Gordon, and Aphex Twin. For more information on the event, visit livelyarts.stanford.edu or alarmwillsound.com.

Nonesuch Radio Airs Two Tracks from Jonny Greenwood's "There Will Be Blood" Score

Jonny Greenwood's score for the Paul Thomas Anderson film There Will Be Blood won't be available for another few weeks (release date: December 18), but Nonesuch Radio is now streaming the two opening tracks off the album—"Open Spaces" and "Future Markets." To listen, click on the Nonesuch Radio icon at the top left of this screen.

For more information on the album, click here.

Happy Birthday to Randy Newman

Nonesuch wishes Randy Newman a very happy birthday. He turns 64 today.

David Byrne's Journal on Caetano Veloso, the Future of News

David Byrne was on hand last week for Caetano Veloso's first show at the Nokia Theatre in New York, and he's written about the experience in his blog. In this excerpt, he describes how Caetano and his band allayed any concerns about the mix of styles in pairing the new songs in a set with the familiar older favorites:

... [T]he older stuff is generally sweeter than this new batch of songs, more often filled with turmoil and testiness. But this initial feeling of disquiet leads inevitably to captivation—even the cries of “I hate you” [the translation of the song "Odeio" off Caetano's new record, Cê] were somehow beautiful. They weren’t snarled as a punk or Emo band would do, but sung almost sweetly, and with a bewildered sadness that somehow those heavily charged words and feelings are bursting forth—the sadness of watching yourself say you hate someone.

Riding home on his bike after the show, David passed the brand-new home of the New York Times—a towering skyscraper designed by starchitect Renzo Piano—and took the occasion to muse on the state of journalism. The result is a fascinating essay pondering the future of news: who will report it, how it will be consumed, and how (or whether) it will be paid for.

You can read both entries at journal.davidbyrne.com.

Joshua Redman's "Thrilling" London Jazz Festival Performance

The 16th annual London Jazz Festival—a 10-day affair comprising nearly 200 events across the city—came to a close this past Sunday night, but not before Joshua Redman brought his virtuoso sax playing to Queen Elizabeth Hall last Thursday. He and his trio—bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Greg Hutchinson—performed a set that included songs from his latest Nonesuch release, Back East, and the result was a stellar show that provided further proof that Redman is "a class apart" (Evening Standard).

Dave Gelly, reporting from the Festival for The Observer, called Redman's performance "the best thing I heard all week." "I've heard him before," Gelly writes, "but never in this form." He continues:

Possessing an endless fund of ideas, effortless fluency, muscular tone and an immaculate technique, he must be the most perfect tenor saxophonist alive today, and on Thursday he demonstrated flawlessly sculpted phrases and total control of the instrument, to the very extremities of its range.

Read more of Gelly's take on the Festival's events at music.guardian.co.uk.

The Financial Times says Thursday's show was "a masterclass in controlled collective improvisation." Writing in FT, Mike Hobart points particularly to the trio's performance of "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," off the new record as "a thrilling display of musical intellect and emotional commitment." For more from the review, visit ft.com.

Assads "Masterful" Adelaide Guitar Festival Performance

Sérgio and Odair Assad, whose album Jardim Abandonado was released this fall, performed in their first of three concerts as part of the Adelaide International Guitar Festival this past Saturday. Also on the bill for this "Global Guitar" program were Abdoulaye Diabaté and Banning Eyre, Guy Strazz and Rodrigo Galvão, Simon Shaheen, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. The Adelaide Advertiser writes of the Assad brothers' set:

[They] performed a truly classical duet for acoustic guitars, interweaving, ornamenting, and supporting each other perfectly. Their program of South American pieces was highly expressive, showing masterful control of mood and tonal quality.

Up next for the Assads at the Guitar Festival: two concerts this weekend with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra featuring Ravel's Rhapsodie Espagnole.

For more on the Adelaide International Guitar Festival, visit adelaideguitarfestival.com.au.

David Byrne, Laurie Anderson in "New York Noise"

Paula Court, the photographer for the famed New York performance space The Kitchen, has released New York Noise, a new book of photos from the city's underground art scene during the economically down-and-out but culturally vibrant years of the '70s and '80s. Included in the book are photos of everyone from Madonna and Michael Stipe to Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, and David Byrne. Also in the book are short essays by some of the artists whose portraits are featured inside, including Anderson and Byrne.

The Times (London) has put together a photo gallery along with a few of the texts from the book. Below are excerpts from David Byrne's note:

New York was a scary and legendary place—and downtown was like a Bohemian living museum, which was pretty thrilling for an aspiring artist and musician.

Legends walked the streets—well, from a skewed boho POV. It was all very new and exciting, at least for me—and it was incredibly funky, the sleaze and poverty were everywhere ... The cheapest hookers in town were on Chrystie Street, where Talking Heads once shared a loft. Now there’s a Whole Foods and luxury condos on the corner.

I’m not complaining or nostalgic for the bad old days—some things are genuinely better ... What might have gotten lost was that one could incubate one’s work inside the supportive bubble of a close and sometimes desperate community. Now that period of incubation is incredibly short, the chicks are thrown out of the nest immediately ...

And Laurie Anderson had this to say:

It was dark, dangerous, exciting. We knew we were creating a brand new art scene. We then watched that scene disappear. There weren’t boundaries or categories. We all worked on each other’s pieces and it didn’t matter that one was a dance-like thing and another was a sculpture-like thing.

At one point almost everyone I knew was working on an opera. You’d walk down the street and everyone you met would say, "How’s your opera?"

I guess opera was just a loose way to say big indefinable things. The definitions came later—applied, for example, by art schools to keep order in their curricula.

Read more and see some of Paula Court's photos from New York Noise: Art and Music from the New York Underground 1978-88 at timesonline.co.uk.

Miami Herald: Caetano Veloso "So Damn Good"

As with all good things, Caetano Veloso's 2007 US tour has come to an end. It was with a rousing performance at Miami's Knight Concert Hall last Saturday night that Caetano closed his latest tour, this time featuring the music of his album Cê.

Prior to the final performance, the Broward-Palm Beach New Times published a profile of this "tour de force," marveling at "his ability to make your stomach quiver or tears well up in the corners of your eyes throughout his career." And though this tour may have come to a close, Caetano assures the paper's Jonathan Cunningham that as long as he can do it, he'll continue to make new music and tour.

In the article, which you can read at browardpalmbeach.com, Caetano also explains why he'll continue the activist role he's played since the early Tropicália days: "I think it's got to be that way," he says. "Artists fight for the impossible."

The Miami Herald's Enrique Fernandez was at the Miami show and reports that, while Caetano is indeed a father of Tropicália, he's also "the father of art rock, art pop." "Profoundly Brazilian," Fernandez writes, "he rocks with grace, charm, and sex appeal ... Caetano Veloso is arguably the most sophisticated pop artist anywhere. Everything he does, and has done since the '60s, is popular music as high art ... [offering] the best aspects of John Lennon, Paul Simon, Mick Jagger, and Bob Dylan."

With such a high-brow pedigree, Fernandez wonders rhetorically how Caetano, at 65, still puts on such a rocking good show: "Perhaps," he answers, "it's that open smile, still seductive after all these years. Or perhaps it's just the fact that he is so damn good."

Read the complete review at miamiherald.com.

Uncut: "Distortion" Songs Among Stephin Merritt's Best

Uncut magazine (UK) has a preview of The Magnetic Fields' upcoming Nonesuch release, Distortion, that is best summed up by its final sentence: "What a curious and excellent album, all round."

Stephin Merritt has said that his aim in making the new record was “to sound more like Jesus and Mary Chain than Jesus and Mary Chain.” In Uncut, writer John Mulvey, after thanking Stephin for his candor, says the effort paid off. He calls the songs some of Stephin's "best ever" and the album "great, so much more satisfying" than most other artists' attempts to follow the Jesus and Mary Chain feedback-heavy lead:

Beneath the racket, though, not that much has changed in The Magnetic Fields modus operandi ... Again, Merritt’s meticulous orchestration of his sonics is what really impresses—a sense of how random sound can be organised into something so attractive that you barely notice the cacophony from which it is constructed. It’s a pretty record ... funny, too.

For more of John Mulvey's album preview, and to hear what Mary Chain band member Phil King has to say about the comparison, visit uncut.co.uk.

The Magnetic Fields' Sam Davol's New Home in NY Times

Sam Davol was recently featured in the New York Times—not an unheard of event for the cellist of The Magnetic Fields. This time, though, it wasn't in the Arts section. Sam, his wife, Leslie, and their two children have decamped from tony downtown Manhattan to return to the couple's hometown of Boston, and their beautiful new home is on view in the Times's Home & Garden section. The Davols traded in their New York digs for a more affordable place up north so, among other things, Sam could focus on his music. And with the recording studio they built in the new space, Sam was able to record a number of his tracks on The Magnetic Fields upcoming Nonesuch release, Distortion, right from home.

For the full story and a slide show of the Davol home, visit nytimes.com.

Youssou N'Dour Visits White House to Discuss Malaria

Youssou N'Dour recently took a break from his North American tour to meet at the White House with aides of First Lady Laura Bush and discuss their respective efforts to fight malaria. He also sat down with Agence France-Presse (AFP), saying, "If the United States wants to win a war, it ought to be the war on malaria."

Youssou works with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis to fight the disease, which kills almost one million children a year in Africa alone. Much of his work has been focused on education, and he is looking now to involve traditional African communicators, like griots, in the cause.

For more information on these efforts, from Youssou's interview with AFP, visit afp.com.

Before making his way to Washington, Youssou performed in Miami, where, the Miami Herald's Jordan Levin reports, "As soon as he started to sing, his soul and charisma transcended any cultural preconceptions ... the power, joy, and humanity of his music need no translation ... His voice is intense, rich, and wonderfully, uniquely expressive." Levin, in his review of the show, also has kind words for Youssou's band, the Super Étoile, "eight superb musicians who play together with dazzling, fluid precision; melody, harmony, and rhythm flowing inextricably together in a powerful river of music."

To read the complete review, visit miamiherald.com.

And right after the White House meeting, Youssou made his way to Philadelphia for his Kimmel Center debut. In that set, Youssou showed "why he is considered one of the world's greatest singers," according to David R. Stampone's review in the Philadelphia Inquirer. In the article, Stampone calls Youssou's voice "a textural wonder."

For more of Stampone's review, titled "Vibrant N'Dour Enchants Kimmel," visit philly.com.

The relentless touring didn't let up after that. After two stellar shows at New York City's Nokia Theatre last Thursday and Friday, Youssou managed to jet down to South Africa. There, in Durban, he performed at ceremonies marking the preliminary draw for soccer's next World Cup, which will be held in South Africa in 2010.

Youssou returns to the States for the next leg of his tour starting this Wednesday, November 28, in Santa Cruz, California. For more information on the tour, click here.

Steve Reich Festival at NEC, Boston Premiere of "Daniel Variations"

This week, the New England Conservatory in Boston presents a two-day, four-concert mini-festival celebrating the music of Steve Reich. The composer will be directly involved in the events, leading rehearsals on Tuesday and working directly with Conservatory students in workshops on Wednesday. Kicking off the public events that night is a performance of Piano Phase by Stephen Drury, the festival's artistic director, and Yukiko Takagi. Closing the festival on Thursday night at Jordan Hall are two Boston premieres: City Life, by NEC Wind Ensemble, and Daniel Variations, by NEC Philharmonia. The debut recording of the latter piece is due out on Nonesuch in early 2008.

For complete festival information, visit newenglandconservatory.edu.

LA Times: Sweeney Todd "Exhilarating" from the Start

"How do you solve a problem like a bloody, R-rated musical about a serial killer, starring movie actors who aren't professional singers?" So asks Los Angeles Times staff writer Paul Brownfield in an article in yesterday's Times. The answer: put Tim Burton in charge.

The issue the article refers to was one facing the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp. And, according to Brownfield, with Burton at the helm,

... the result is a beautifully scored, high-art slasher film, told almost entirely in song and topped off with Depp paying homage to Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff ...

The film costars Burton's dreamlike style with Depp's latest acting choice ... Here, that aesthetic gets married to Sondheim's music, re-recorded by a 78-piece orchestra. Even by Burton's standards for opening titles, the one for Sweeney Todd—the Bernard Herrmann-esque overture booming as the camera takes a fetishistic tour of Todd and Lovett's killing machine—is exhilarating.

To read the complete article, which features an interview with the film's creators, visit latimes.com.

For more on the film's soundtrack, due out on Nonesuch December 18, click here.

Video: k.d. lang Sings New Song on "Parkinson"

As we reported last week, k.d. lang recently appeared on the UK talk show Parkinson to perform the new song "I Dream of Spring," off her upcoming Nonesuch release, Watershed, due out in February. You can now watch the performance here in this clip off YouTube: 

David Byrne Talks "Knee Plays" on BBC Radio's "Weekender"

David Byrne appeared on BBC Radio 2's The Weekender this past Friday to talk about the recent reissue of The Knee Plays and play a couple of tracks off the CD. Straightaway, the show's guest host, Jack Docherty, let David know how happy he was to have the album out on CD, not least because he could finally stop borrowing his dad's car just to hear the original version on the car's cassette player. There's much more about the piece and its origins in this lively discussion; the Scottish host even gets David to say a few words using his old Scottish accent. You can hear the segment at about an hour and a half in by clicking through the latest show at bbc.co.uk.

And Nicholas L. Hall's review of the CD in The Houston Press offers another reason to tune in. In it, he writes that "the world is richer" for the release of The Knee Plays. The album documents "Byrne at the height of his creative powers," says Hall, "in a constant struggle to define what is interesting, beautiful and ugly about the world." You can read the review at houstonpress.com.

For more on The Knee Plays, visit kneeplays.com.

Guardian Names 1,000 Must-Hear Albums (Part 2: N-Z)

The Guardian has revealed the last batch of albums on its list of the 1,000 all-time must-hears. Earlier this week, we brought you Nonesuch artists A through M on the list. Here are N through Z, along with the Guardian's take on each:

• Orchestra Baobab: Specialist in All Styles (World Circuit/Nonesuch; 2002) "Until the arrival of Youssou N'Dour and his frantic mbalax style in the 80s, Orchestra Baobab dominated the Dakar music scene with their fine harmonies and blend of Latin and African styles. Invited to reform after a break of 16 years, they sounded as fresh and engaging as ever—and this time around, the quality of their recordings was vastly improved."

• Astor Piazzolla: Tango Zero Hour (1986, r. 1998) "It's impossible to summarise up the career and influence of the great Argentine nuevo tango composer and bandoneon-player. However, this Kip Hanrahan–produced studio album caught Piazzolla and his New Tango Quintet at the height of their powers."

• Radio Tarifa: Rumba Argelina (World Circuit/Nonesuch; 1993, r. 1997) "For more than a decade, Radio Tarifa were the quintessential world music band, mixing Moorish and African sounds and rhythms with catchy tunes. Singer Benjamin Escoriza adds a gritty charisma to the cleverly crafted studio concoctions of Vincent Molino and Fain S Duenas."

• Oumou Sangare: Moussolou (World Circuit/Nonesuch; 1991, r. 1999) "One of the finest female singers in Mali, Oumou Sangare is a national celebrity both for her songs and for the messages behind them. On this early recording, she was backed by a small band dominated by guitar, kamelngoni and a mournful violin that matches her fine, thoughtful songs of advice to women."

• SF Jazz Collective: SF Jazz Collective (2005) "Under Joshua Redman's leadership, the SFJC pioneered a new approach to jazz repertoire that complements their better-funded counterparts in the 'straight' world. This is the first of a series of beautifully recorded live concerts that uses Ornette Coleman's compositions as a springboard to new work."

• Taraf de Haïdouks: Band of Gypsies (2001) "International success for these gifted Romanians took their government by surprise. This generous and energetic live album boosts the collective's family core with guests including Kocani Orchestra and Bulgarian clarinetist Filip Simeonov, resulting in exultant tracks such as 'Bride in a Red Dress' and the breakneck 'Carolina.'"

• Rokia Traoré: Bowmboï (2004) "The most bravely experimental female performer in Africa, Rokia Traoré started out matching her cool, clear vocals against her own acoustic guitar and traditional instruments such as the ngoni. Here she is joined by the strings of the Kronos Quartet."

• Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) "By their fourth album, Jeff Tweedy's once stoutly country-rock group had spread their wings. Frazzled Krautrock, shortwave static and Tweedy's lovelorn melodicism formed the basis of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, to stunning effect."

Also listed were Youssou N'Dour (Immigres), Scritti Politti (Songs to Remember), and Caetano Veloso (Definitive Collection [UK]).

Check out the complete list at music.guardian.co.uk.

Assads Perform at Adelaide International Guitar Festival

"We were raised in a country where the borders between different types and styles of music are not very clear." So says Rio-born guitarist Sérgio Assad, in an interview with the Advertiser out of Adelaide, Australia. On his latest record with his brother Odair, Jardim abandonado, the Assads' ability to move seamlessly across musical styles has produced an astounding mix of works from Brazilian bossa nova to Broadway.

In their upcoming concerts with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, as part of the Adelaide International Guitar Festival, November 30 and December 1, the Assad brothers present another genre-bending piece, Piazzolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, along with Rodrigo's Concierto Madrigal.

To read the complete Advertiser article, visit news.com.au.

k.d. lang Meets Children in Need's "Pudsey"

During her visit to the BBC Radio 2 studios in London last Friday, k.d. lang stopped to spend some time with "Pudsey," the mascot for the charity Children in Need. The organization works to improve the lives of disadvantaged children in the UK. For more information, visit bbc.co.uk/pudsey.

Photo by Matthew Rankin

Video: Johnny Depp Sings "Epiphany"

Given the number of ardent fans Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd has developed over the years, it's understandable that some questions might follow all the buzz about the upcoming Tim Burton–directed film version starring Johnny Depp. Like, "Can Johnny sing?" While the star himself wondered the same thing before signing on to the project, the end result proves there was never any cause for concern.

Now you can see, and hear, for yourself, in this video of Johnny in the recording studio, discussing his early concerns and proving them wrong with a performance of "Epiphany":

You can hear Johnny's "Epiphany" in its entirety and all 20 tracks from the film soundtrack on its Nonesuch release, December 18.