The Lines we Draw

Back in 2010, The Vaccines were the darlings of the British rock press; the latest in a long, erratic line of potential “Saviors of Rock and Roll.” Theirs was the kind of white hot rise that could never last: a quick takeover of their easily wooed home turf, built on impossible expectations and wishful thinking. It was a massive buildup that paid off for a while (their second album Come Of Age went to #1 in their native U.K.) but led to an almost inevitable backlash when they failed to single-handedly revive a whole genre.

Even though Angela Hewitt's repertoire is quite extensive and diverse, encompassing the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and modern eras, her true specialty is the music of J.S. Bach, which she has recorded almost exclusively for Hyperion since the 1980s. With this recording of The Art of Fugue, Hewitt completes her long-running series of piano renditions of the solo keyboard works, and while not everyone is convinced that Bach composed this study of fugal techniques for the keyboard, Hewitt's performance is credible and satisfying. She controls the often unwieldy counterpoint by regarding the lines as if they were vocal parts, and her phrases are shaped by natural breathing points, as well as the different emotional qualities she brings to each fugue and canon. The Art of Fugue can be daunting for both performer and listener because its persistent tonality of D minor and monothematic material can be quite tedious in the wrong hands.

Emperor of Sand is the seventh studio album from American progressive metal band Mastodon. The album was recorded at the Quarry in Kennesaw, Georgia and mixed at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles. The band worked with record producer Brendan O'Brien, who they collaborated with on their 2009 album Crack the Skye. The songs were recorded as originally arranged, then they revisited each track to edit and refine the sound. Drummer Brann Dailor completed his drum tracks and began drafting lyrics while guitars and bass were being recorded by other band members. Scott Kelly of Neurosis and Kevin Sharp of Brutal Truth both appear as guest vocalists on Emperor of Sand. Kelly has appeared as a guest vocalist on every Mastodon studio album since Leviathan (2004).

Tied to a significant new exhibition at Tate Britain, a killer collection surveying Black Soundsystem culture’s indelible influence on UK over successive generations from the ’70s to the ’00s.

Tied to a significant new exhibition at Tate Britain, a killer collection surveying Black Soundsystem culture’s indelible influence on UK over successive generations from the ’70s to the ’00s.

" contains three classic musique concrète compositions from Michel Chion. All were produced at the GRM in Paris (the acousmatic headquarters of the world). The itself is an electronic take on the traditional form. is a ‘technical study’ which takes an original waltz theme and fragments it. is considered a ‘monodrama’ — that is, a drama centering around one ‘character.’ In this case what we hear are the detached reactions of this ‘character’ to a nightmare. It’s French, it’s acousmatic… what more could you ask for?"