Endless Immersion by Dosia McKay

"Parachute" by Dosia McKay: click here to see more of her artwork

This review is too many weeks late and several hours short on sleep, but I need to tell you how amazing this album is.

"My Body is Tired but My Brain's on Fire" by Willis Benjamin

For this week's summer track, check out this jam by Willis Benjamin. It's equal parts down-home and modern, and I can't stop listening to it.

"Darwin We Need to Talk" by Ferzad Variyava

Do you love chill, ethereal guitar solos that make you want to lay on your back and look up at the stars? If so, then you will love "Darwin We Need to Talk" by Ferzad Variyava.

"Dark Morning: Snow" by Anna Lee Hirschi

This string quartet by Hirschi is deep, introspective, and rich in color. This week has brought a lot of writing assignments, and so along with that comes a need for amazing instrumental pieces, and "Dark Morning: Snow" is just the ticket.

The Berlin Philharmonic's Misogyny Problem

Well, well, well. Another day, another case of the Berlin Philharmonic perpetuating sexist ideology.

The Maleficent Soundtrack - Classic Disney, or Something More?

I have some friends who are hardcore Disney fans. We are talking the people who see every Disney release in the cinema at least twice (yes, even John Carter), can list every movie alphabetically and chronologically, yearly pilgrimages to the Magic Kingdom sort of folk. This review is for you.

Top 10 Most Annoying Instruments

Who will it be? Who will win the prize? (There's no prize.)

I base this on a random, completely unscientific survey of musicians that I know and happen to talk to on a semi-regular basis. All hate can be directed to the comments.

"Oh Me Oh My" by Fast Molasses

I have been feeling the blugrass music vibe lately - maybe it's the appearance of daffodils and buttercups in the fields, or maybe it's because I've had the window open every day this week. Whatever the reason, "Oh Me Oh My" by Fast Molasses really hits the spot.

"Elasticity" and "Ogeechee" by Nicole Chamberlain: A Beatboxing Flute and Chinook Helicopters

When Nicole Chamberlain sent me her music, I didn't know what to expect. From the moment I pressed play, I was gobsmacked by her use of extended techniques. For the first time ever, I couldn't choose between two pieces - so I'm featuring both.

What's That Weird Sound? Brass Edition

I decided to write about brass instruments and effects a few weeks earlier than I anticipated, mostly because I needed something loud in my headphones to drown out the car alarm that's been going off in the parking lot for the past 4 (yes, FOUR) hours. Unlike the string family, the brass instrument family wildly varies in size, tone, timbre, articulation, and technique.

May the Fourth be With You: Jedis, Jawa, and John Williams

Star Wars! Because who hasn't blasted the soundtrack while preparing for an audition or interview? (Just me, then?) This music is the definition of iconic, and even people who hate Star Wars know the music. With John Williams at the helm, who would expect anything different?

"Raise Your Voice" by Chip Michael

Written for the victims of the tragic Newtown massacre, "Raise Your Voice" is a beacon of light in the darkness, calling for an end to the violence that has plagued our schools for far too long. Take a listen to this piece and check out the interview with composer Chip Michael.

What does Lord of the Rings and Richard Wagner Have in Common?

Answer: More than you think.

New Music Wednesday: "Sunrise," by Deryn and Dan Cullen

This piece of music is absolutely stunning, and it will be really exciting to hear where it ends up. Deryn and Dan Cullen work together to create some of the most epic cinematic music I've heard, and their partnership is perfection. Listen to "Sunrise" and see what they have to say about their music:

Weekly Music News Roundup: Week ending April 12th

We are one week closer to clearance Easter candy, and one week closer to summer holidays. Sure, we complain about how it's still cold now, but just wait until July when we all clamour for November to arrive. Here's this weeks music news: 

-Fiddle virtuoso Mark O'Connor drops and seriously damages instrument seconds before a concert, and requests to use the concert master's violin - if I were that concert master, I would be terrified to let my instrument into the hands of someone who just did likely irreparable damage to their own. (Source)

-Even the world's top violinists can't tell a Stradivarius from a high end new violin- but I bet an insurance claims adjuster can. (Source)

-How do you know when a composition is done? When do you stop editing? (Answer: when it is forcibly ripped from your hands.) (Source)

-All musicians have "day jobs." This article is inspirational and makes you feel like slightly less of a failure. (Link)

-To no one's surprise, Ian Campbell was booed last Sunday when he came out to announce what may be the final San Diego Opera production. (Source)

-In a world first, Kristine Opolais had her debut in two Met opera productions within one day. I cannot imagine the nap she took after she was finished. (Source)

-Johnny Cash's son, John Carter Cash, says he will never let his father's music to be used to advertise drinking or smoking, and I think that's awesome. (Source)

-Everyone thinks that music was better in their day. Surprise! (Source)


That's the news for this week, check back every Friday for more current events in music! If you know of a story that needs some publicity, you can contact me on Twitter @AngelinaPanozzo or through my website, AngelinaPanozzo.com. Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend!

New Music Wednesdays - "Mountain Suite," by Ezra Donner

Occasionally, I will surf around on Soundcloud, listening to new music and discovering new composers. This week, it was Ezra Donner's "Mountain Suite," where even the short preview is enough to draw you in. Check it out.

Weekly Music News Roundup - Week Ending April 5th, 2014

It's finally April - the monsoon season of the northern hemisphere. With spring tidings comes music festival news, announcements, and gigs galore. Take a look:

-M.I.A and Janelle Monae are set to do a bi-coastal hologram concert and usher us into the 21st century. I feel like I'm living in Back to the Future! (Source)

-David Byrne asks an important question: Can musicians make a living off of streaming services?

-United Music Publishers has entered liquidation: a sad day for music. (Source)

-Song of the Lark's Emily Hogstad gives crucial and thorough coverage of the continued Minnesota Symphony troubles here.

-Sally Whitwell has a Pinterest account dedicated to women composers, and it is amazing. (Link)

-Violin legend Itzhak Perlman received terrible treatment by Air Canada at the Toronto airport - they left him to carry his own luggage and violin, even though he made his disability clear. (Source)

-The Sphinx competition for young Latino and Black musicians seeks to break the glass ceiling or traditional orchestras, and it is the most beautiful thing I've seen all week. (Source)

-The Guardian published a brief but accurate article about the state of whiteness in orchestras.

-There is a new app to create ambient music by waving your hands at your Mac, and I think it's safe to say that we all desperately need it. (Source)




That's the news for this week, check back every Friday for more current events in music! If you know of a story that needs some publicity, you can contact me on Twitter @AngelinaPanozzo or through my website, AngelinaPanozzo.com. Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend!

Am I "Hearing Voices?" - a review of Jocelyn Pook

What do you get when you mix Massive Attack, classical training, and post-modernism? Well that's simple -

You get Jocelyn Pook, the British composer most famous for composing "Masked Ball," which took center stage in Stanley Kubrick's 1999 film, "Eyes Wide Shut." 

The "Beethoven of Japan?" More like "The Great Pretender!"

As enthusiasts of video game music will already have heard, the famous composer...er, "composer," Mamoru Samuragochi admitted to be a festering fraud this week. He has built his massive career on the foundations of the immensely successful Resident Evil soundtrack, which is renowned for its spectacular atonality. That soundtrack was released in 1997 - and he has admitted that everything released under his name during the past 18 years has been written by a ghost writer.

Samuragochi has found success "writing" for video games, beginning with the iconic Resident Evil soundtrack and Onimusha, and culminating in the widely successful Symphony no. 1, "Hiroshima." This symphony was written (by someone else) as a memorial to the victims of the atomic bomb. What better way to memorialize over a half a million people than to pretend to write a symphony for them? Granted, the intent is good, but as we all know the path to hell is littered with good intentions.

A new piece of music, Sonatina for Violin, is set to premier at the Olympics in Sochi - I guess we'll have to wait and see who gets credited for it.

A man by the name of Takashi Niigaki has come forward, claiming that he is the ghost writer. In this article from IGN, Niigaki reveals that Samuragochi probably isn't even deaf - which means he decided to fake a disability to garner the moniker "Japan's Beethoven," and then hired a ghost composer to boot. That's pretty despicable, if you ask me, and admitting to the fraud is a very small consolation to his deception.

"We carry on normal conversations. I don't think he is [handicapped]," Niigaki said, "At first he acted to me also as if he had suffered hearing loss, but he stopped doing so eventually.... He told me, after the music for the video games was unveiled, that he would continue to play the role [of a deaf person]."

Niigaki also suggested that Samuragochi threatened to kill himself if the ghost-writing were to cease. Samuragochi has yet to respond to these accusations.

His record label isn't impressed. They've put an immediate moratorium on shipments of his music, ceased the online sales of his music, and a planned tour is now on hold.

Classical (Baroque) post: Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach is the composer who made all the rules, and then broke them. He was a rebel - a madman of composition. He was the John Cage of the 1700's. He was a humble man who faded into obscurity for almost 100 years after his death.