So, I know I got a little "Bah! Humbug!"-y on the ol' Christmas tunes last week. I admit that memories of suburban shopping frenzies and endless cocktail parties have turned me a bit dark when it comes to the holiday classics. But the internet being, well, the internet, a few gems turned up to make me change my (yes, I'm going there) tune. (The holiday punch helped also.) First, the talented and adorable Pomplamoose bring us this warm and fuzzy (and non-denominational!! and good cause $$ … [Read more...]

If the NEA's 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts and the roundtable discussion that accompanied its release last week are the kind of thing that floats your boat, I tossed my two cents into that pond here. Aside from the clear need for a reassessment of the parameters we use when surveying American adults about their arts experiences (i.e. what counts as art in these times of dissolving definitions/genre hierarchies), the big, future-looking question the survey left me with was … [Read more...]

Last night there was some seriously joyous (if wordless) caroling here in Baltimore. Then, on waking late to grey and drizzly skies, the latke-making got the kibosh put on it in favor of some simple eggs and toast (interestingly the New York Times' "oatmeal buttermilk blueberry pancake" recipe was running a brisk distribution as the "most emailed article". Guess we were all looking for some form of cozy Sunday morning comfort). A little while later, however, we did get into the … [Read more...]

After watching this video for Flypt, an iPhone app that let's users remix music using some basic effects, I got to thinking again about the new ways these and other programs are bringing musical creativity into people's lives. No, it's not necessarily the equivalent of learning to play the cello, but it's flexing muscles in people that I assume most music professionals appreciate seeing toned. Doesn't the future of music seem brighter when playing music isn't simply turning on the radio but … [Read more...]

There's been quite a bit of chatter out there in response to Brian Eno's assertion in Prospect magazine that "the idea that something is uncool because it's old or foreign has left the collective consciousness." Is he out of touch with reality or is he the indisputable cool person saying we are all cool now? Oh, wait, wait, no. Not all. Seems classical music didn't jump onto this train to popularity: There are just too many styles around, and they keep mutating too fast to assume that kind of … [Read more...]