7/4

Interesting points, but I don't know what to make of them.

In the case of CBGB's, the answer is no, but there is a caveat. They originally had the space on the market for $30k/month (which got you all 500 or so sq ft of it), but apparently they have recently decided to sell the entire building. That being the case, I'm not sure that they are even trying to lease CBGB's anymore. Wow, thanks for the low down. Someone with enough cash could buy the building and reopen CBGBs.

He probably had it in a gig bag.

New Works That Employ or Disregard Electronics By ALLAN KOZINN, NY Times Bang on a Can's People's Commissioning Fund is a lovely idea. Concertgoers contribute whatever they can afford, and Bang on a Can, the new-music organization, commissions a few new works, usually from young composers. The scores are played by the Bang on a Can All-Stars at an annual concert and recorded for broadcast on WNYC-FM. That's the theory, anyway, and it's mostly what happens. But the fine print in the program book shows that the grass-roots ideal is not easily reached. After the long list of contributors, the Greenwall Foundation and the Jerome Foundation are also thanked for their support. Not that there's any shame in that; it always seemed unlikely that a few hundred small contributions could yield decent commissioning fees. This year's crop — works by Tristan Perich, Erdem Helvacioglu and Ken Thomson — were performed on Wednesday evening at Merkin Concert Hall. Mr. Perich and Mr. Helvacioglu provided works that mixed electronic sound and standard (although amplified) instruments. Mr. Thomson, the saxophonist in the punk-jazz band Gutbucket, wrote a virtuoso piece for the ensemble itself, with no electronic overlay. In Mr. Perich's "All Possible Paths," the electronic component had the sharp-edged, undulating quality of the Farfisa organ in Philip Glass's music from the 1970s, and the ensemble's moves were the insistently repeating figures that drove Mr. Glass's early music as well. Harmonic movement was glacial until a long coda in which everything stopped except a gentle electronic sound playing a chord progression rather than single-chord repetition. Mr. Helvacioglu built the electronic track for his "Lossada Taka" by processing recordings of the Bang on a Can players and adding other elements as well: at one point, a woman's voice. His writing was less overtly Minimalist than Mr. Perich's. Instead he created a hazy, atmospheric sound in which the ensemble wove guitar, clarinet, piano, percussion and bass lines in a stream of brief, varied and mostly disconnected episodes. Mr. Thomson's "seasonal disorder" is a high-energy, angry work, inspired by reading the news every morning before composing. Mr. Thomson's alarm yielded a texture laced with power chords, screaming clarinet lines and cluster-laden piano writing. In the end it is sheer madness, in a good, thrillingly visceral way. In the second half of the concert the Czech violinist and singer Iva Bittova offered an invitingly quirky vocal and violin improvisation, and was joined by the Bang on a Can players for her song cycle "Elida." Ms. Bittova gave the musicians plenty to do, but her riveting singing — which ranges from rough-hewn rusticity to eccentric leaping in the style of Kate Bush — remained the focus of the performance. The commissioned works by Tristan Perich, Erdem Helvacioglu and Ken Thomson will be broadcast on March 19 on "New Sounds," WNYC, 93.9 FM; wnyc.org.

Yep. They were too expensive. Did they ever find anyone to rent the space that Tower on E4th and Broadway, NYC was in? NYC Union Square is only a few block from there. Is anybody renting the old CBGBs? How about other venues in that part of town? My guess is no.

Maybe this belongs in the stupid question thread?

Wow, they're dumb. Everybody knows the answer is Armadillo.

Cool video, I think I saw that a couple of weeks ago. An excellent, rare chance to check out Mick Goodrick too. I'd like to check out Tenorist, Abercrombie's on that one. Bergonzi sounds great to me, I'd probably get into his other CDs.

are you sure you're not from New Jersey?

well...duh! this isn't exactly news...

People solve that problem by backing up their files. A couple backups actually probably gives you more security than physical CDs or LPs, which can become scratched or warped or deteriorate in other ways. Keeping backups in different locations also insures your collection against theft. See post #2. What kind of backup do you suggest for 40-60 gigs of mp3 files? How much time is it going to take to do this? Yet, that's how they design these things.

Is he here under another name? He's here under another thread. Ah OK. Thnks.

Is he here under another name?

Of course it's a "sham". IT'S POLITICS.

Sorry, I'm getting the Solar Myth Approach confused with another collection/album.

You explain why right away:

I love those albums, but I don't remember any Moog.

You made a legal copy when you owned it legally.

bingo.

Whew. I'm glad we got that straightened out.

Previously, you were upset that people followed the Spears story. Now you're a daytime soap opera fan who gets upset that people followed the Spears story.

Hariprasad Chaurasia Raga Darbari Kanada. Dhun In Raga Mishra Pilu Hariprasad Chaurasia, flute; Fazal Qureshi, tabla; Rajiv Chaurasia, tambura; Nandu Kamat, tambura

Now that this is out in the open and we know that you're such a big fan of soaps, it sheds new light on your comments about Brittney Spears, Chris.

And now this again. Wheew!