When Indian classical musicians play the santoor, their hands hammer, pluck, or glide across the instrument at exhilarating speed, navigating the 100 strings with adroit precision to produce the resonant, reverberating melodies. However, this virtuosic spectacle is presented in a strikingly humble context: traditional Indian classical music concerts are played in baithak style, meaning the […]
Author Archives: Ross Rinehart
Soundbite: No Age
Taking a cue from the economy of their songwriting, I’m going to distill this Soundbite into all that you really need to know about No Age’s “Nouns”: It slays, and you need it. That’s all. Go get it.
Soundbite: Cut Copy
A popular Internet meme of early 2008 featured a seemingly unnewsworthy Australian TV report on a destructive house party thrown by Corey Worthington, a charmingly laconic Melbourne teenager adorned with self-proclaimed “famous” sunglasses.
Blue grass roots
Bob Dylan idolized its stage. Mick Jagger was a frequent patron. Charles Bukowski recited his dark beat poetry there, and from April 18-20, UCLA students have the unique opportunity to honor the 50th anniversary of the Ash Grove, the perennial 1950s and ’60s West Coast roots music club.
Soundbite: Man Man
Live, Man Man is something like a 6-year-old carny’s conception of the perfect band.
Punk classic projected anew
After dropping out of Yale’s musical program, David Longstreth made albums about post-9/11 America, environmentalism and 16th-century Spanish imperialism under the moniker Dirty Projectors. But it wasn’t until he made an album about an empty cassette that he found his most universal theme.
Soundbite: Hot Chip
Trying to classify Hot Chip’s music is more an exercise in convenience than accuracy.