Tim Rutherford-Johnson's Blog, page 6

ComposHER: Celebrating women media composers

We talk about it a lot, but it’s not only concert music that has a problem with gender equality. Of the 250 top-grossing films in the US last year, 94% of them were scored by men according to a study by Martha M. Lauzen. A recent New York Times story drew further attention to the … Continue reading ComposHER: Celebrating women media composers →

Music after the Fall: Spotify playlists

A couple of days ago I discovered – via Twitter, where else? – that people have been making Spotify playlists out of Music after the Fall. Among those people is Andrew Tholl (@andrewtholl), violinist, drummer, composer and co-founder of the excellent populist records, who has made chapter-by-chapter lists for use in classes at UC Santa Barbara. … Continue reading Music after the Fall: Spotify playlists →

Short review: Jane Antonia Cornish: Constellations (innova/Bandcamp)

Although I don’t write CD reviews here as much as I once did, I do still get sent things from time to time. Leafing through the pile this evening I came upon this CD of Constellations, a suite of pieces for piano, strings and electronics by the English-born, New York resident composer Jane Antonia Cornish. … Continue reading Short review: Jane Antonia Cornish: Constellations (innova/Bandcamp) →

LCMF 2018: A Sound Map of the Hudson River

I wasn’t prepared, when I walked in to the installation of Annea Lockwood’s A Sound Map of the Hudson River (1982) at LCMF, for how familiar it would be. After all, this is a giant field recording of the most ambient, neutral of all sounds, running water; as ordinary and as ignorable as traffic noise. Yet … Continue reading LCMF 2018: A Sound Map of the Hudson River →

Chris Mann, 1949–2018

Very sad to learn this morning (via Michael Schell @cribbageforum) of the death of the Australian-American composer, poet and performer Chris Mann. I first came across Mann’s compositional performance poetry, and his unique voice, through the old NMA tapes, back when they were still available as free downloads via Rainer Linz’s website. (They have been … Continue reading Chris Mann, 1949–2018 →

Another (Musical) Minimalism

In Edinburgh recently to catch my annual dose of the Fringe, I stopped in at the Book Festival bookshop, where I picked up a copy of Another Minimalism: Art after California Light and Space by Melissa E. Feldman. Essentially an extended catalogue essay written to accompany the 2015–16 exhibition of the same name at Edinburgh’s … Continue reading Another (Musical) Minimalism →

David Burge: Timeless Relevance

A little more than two years ago, I drew attentionto a crowd-funding campaign in aid of publication of the collected Keyboard Magazine columns of pianist David Burge. Well, with my own handsome copy now in hand, I am pleased to note that this project – organized by Burge’s widow and granddaughter – has reached its summation. … Continue reading David Burge: Timeless Relevance →

Octandre to give Frank Denyer portrait

Frank Denyer is a composer whose music I admire very deeply. There’s a reason the first main feature I published with Sounds Like Now was a profile of Denyer, written by Sam Richards. So it’s wonderful to learn that the Octandre Ensemble are devoting a whole concert to Denyer’s music next month. On Sunday 17 … Continue reading Octandre to give Frank Denyer portrait →

Recently published

I’ve been in hospital most of this month, squeezing pints of antibiotics and corticosteroids into my veins. It’s not as much fun as it sounds, but it has coincided with a productive spell of writing. Here are some recent fruits, in case you missed them. A little interview with Patricia Alessandrini for the Riot Ensemble … Continue reading Recently published →

Is Cafe Oto really only 10 years old? It seems to have be...

Is Cafe Oto really only 10 years old? It seems to have been around for much longer, but maybe that’s just me back-projecting London’s need for somewhere like it. Yes, there are lots of other venues where one can hear experimental, improvised and avant-garde music, but they are mostly arranged on an ad hoc basis. … Continue reading →