“Butterfly Lovers” Erhu Concerto
Based on the ancient Chinese folk tale of The Butterfly Lovers, this music is adapted from tunes of “Yue Opera” in Zhejiang Province. The three main sections of the original folk tale tell of the making of sworn brothers at Cao Qiao, Zhu Ying Tai’s refusal of an arranged marriage, and the reincarnation of lovers as butterflies by their graves. These three sections are presented in the sonata form – exposition, development, and recapitulation of the concerto.
Brushy One String: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Artists shine given restrictions and limitations. Subtlety and nuance are more easily found in minimalism than excess. That's the beauty of Brushy One String, whose sound is make by one big fat E-string and a voice so rich and full, all it wants is a bit of rhythmic and melodic underpinning.
Pony
Orville’s debut album, Pony, delivers a diverse collection of stories that sing of heartbreak, revenge and the unrelenting tug of the cowboy ethos. Warm lap steel guitars and echoing drums move through dreamy ballads and sometimes near frantic buzzsaw tunes - all the while paying homage to his country music roots.
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Mingus' Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is considered a cult classic among jazz critics and the pinnacle of its genre, a worthy competitor to albums such as Bitches Brew and A Love Supreme. The album is frequently regarded to as one of the greatest albums of all time.
There Existed An Addiction To Blood
Clipping’s third album for Sub Pop, There Existed an Addiction to Blood, finds them interpreting another rap splinter sect through their singular lens. This is clipping’s transmutation of horrorcore, a purposefully absurdist and creatively significant sub-genre that flourished in the mid-90s.
March: Book One
March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.