Post-classical playlist

This came from Molly Sheridan, managing editor of NewMusicBox, the American Music Center‘s new music webzine. It’s her response to the fabulous pop music playlist I posted here a while back. Many readers of the blog won’t know the music Molly picks, but check out how she presents it. Molly’s in her late 20s, and knows more about reaching a young audience than most of us. Her approach reminds me a bit of The Ring and I, the lively and engrossing introduction to Wagner’s Ring that WNYC (New York’s public radio station) broadcast a year ago. (More on that elsewhere.)

Here’s Molly:

My mix tape request: My favorite genre—since it doesn’t really have a name—suffers from a serious identity crisis. I need a mix to show people that even if you can’t program it properly into an iPod playlist, it still should get an invite into your six-disc CD changer.

Who says you can’t dance to it? I’ve never had much coordination anyway.

     “Acrobatic Dancers” from The 23 Constellations Of Joan Miró: Bobby Previte

     858 Quartet-4: Bill Frisell

     No Crime: Elliott Sharp

Hey, I hear vocals. I thought this was all violins and shit.

     As We Know (Three Rumsfeld Songs): Phil Kline

     “Frozen Warning” from Kiss: John Cale

     Gotham Lullaby: Meredith Monk

Actually, can I get more violin in the monitor.

     Fog Tropes II for String Quartet and Tape: Ingram Marshall

     Lost Signals And Drifting Satellites: Annie Gosfield

     Lachen Verlernt for solo violin Esa-Pekka Salonen

Wait, I think I saw that guy with the composition degree play the Knitting Factory.

     Stereo Music for Serge Modular Synthesizer: Keith Fullerton Whitman

     The Ice (Feels Three Feet Thick Between Us): Aarktica

Bonus tracks: Damn, I think I’m addicted. You call this “challenging”? Bring it on.

     Superscriptio: Brian Ferneyhough

     Workers Union: Andriessen