In no way can I be describe myself as music aficionado for I rarely seek music. But music being that it makes its way into your ears through so many venues and vehicles, certainly finds me. A few years ago I stumbled upon Owen Chapman’s music at live performance (using ice among other objects) at a conference on copyright’s counterparts.

I immediately loved it not only because it is a genre of electronic music I tend to like but because of the depth of its texture. While all music enfolds this feature, when I listen to his music, it is as if I am not listening to music but also touching it (and vice-versa).

He just released an album whose song and sounds keep with his signature style of deep texture. It also makes an ethical call and claim: since remixing/sampling is citational, akin to academic quotation, it thus deserves a kind of explicit recognition and commentary. To honor this he is providing his music free of charge once one dips in with their own commentary and contribution. Full details and music here

I like dance music. A lot. So I am extra happy to have been clued into the musical world of Buraka Som Sistema and Nordloef (playing tomorrow night at the Blip Festival). Genre wise they are pretty different, but both are fast, fiery, and fantastic. Enjoy.

One of my favorite radio stations, KEXP, based in Seattle is coming to NYC by parenting with a local station. Not much will change except that we will have the incredible John in the Morning for some of his time and he will, according to their website, scout out local talent:

Does this mean that John in the Morning is leaving Seattle?
No. Starting in June 2008, John will split time between Seattle and New York, broadcasting his show live from both locations throughout the year. While he’s in New York, he’ll be searching for new bands and discovering new music that The Morning Show listeners will be the first to hear.

It is nearly the end of the semester and in order to do all the test-making magic and grading I had to do before I am re-swamped with a stack of new papers (on the 17th of December to be exact), I spent the weekend put, grading every last response papers that I had my students write throughout the semester. When I finished those, I proceeded to get sick with the cold that seems to keep recirculating among faculty and students. Today I had to shift attention to my apartment, which, out of neglect had been turned upside down and inside out, to tidy up some before a slew of guests arrive tomorrow night.

To get through the weekend and the cleaning-spree, I had a lot of help from my friends, mostly in the form of Daft Punk (in specific, their Alive album), and then when I wanted something more mellow, Damian Jurado took over (Medication and Ohio are two of my favorites), but then the song that really did the most to get me into that special zone was TV on the Radio’s aaaaaaaaamazing Wolf Like Me. Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong with wolf songs, can you? but this one takes the cake. Now to sleep off this cold…

The downside of NYC is that it is pricey but the upside is that there are a lot of free events to balance out the equation. Last night, I went to one of such free events at Lincoln center to see one of my favorite Puerto Rican folk singers, Roy Brown who was opening for Arlo Guthrie

During Roy Brown’s last song, he called out another folk singer who I had never heard of Tao Rodriguez-Seeger to join him and I think that was probably one of my favorite songs of the night.

Tao who comes from a family of folk singer types, usually performs with The Mammals and less frequently with The Anarchist Orchestra.

His voice, at least in Spanish, is resounding and overpowering yet at the same time sports a certain type of gentle softness. It is striking and beautiful. If you like folk music, in English or Spanish, I would check him out. Here is a clip of a song recorded with Tito Auger and Roy Brown and a link to their recent complilation CD.