1 December 2011
Too bad my blog doesn’t have a “Like” button
Because someone would be clicking it right now.
Not as good as the song above — but even more interesting — is her covering Interpol:
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Azealia Banks, Great New Music, Interpol
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6 September 2011
Mixtape #4: Beautiful Songs (for Denniston Hill)
As dedicated readers of this blog already know, I spent the month of August at Denniston Hill, for which I curated a month’s worth of residents & to which this mix is dedicated. If you are so inclined, follow the “Denniston Hill” tag to read/watch a bit about my experience there, so as to compliment your listening experience.
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Denniston Hill, Great New Music, Mixtapes
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12 August 2011
News from the front lines…
…and the current coordinates of my mind.
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Great New Music, Photos, Summer in Review, The Problem with Intimacy
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21 January 2011
The problem with American religion…
…is, among other things, a lack of music like that. Below, a quote from the music’s composer Arvo Pärt, excerpted from a recent profile. (It’s good.)
- “There is a good rule in spiritual life, which we all forget continually,” he said, “that you must see more of your own sins than other people’s.”
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Arvo Pärt, BBC, Great New Music, Minimalism, Religion, Spirituality, The Problem With the Avant Garde
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17 January 2011
The power of a song, pt. 2
This one, sung by James Blake, but written by Feist.
People praise him for his combination of dubstep with evocative emotional chords rather than mere sound effects. But the underlying material don’t hurt. The thing is Feist too, understands the power of a song. Ergo this cover of Little Wing’s “Look at What the Light Did Now” which I’ve been meaning to share for awhile, from her documentary of the same name, in which she sings the song with it’s author present. (The film’s theme are the collaborative relationships which made her stardom even possible.)
The smartest artists realize that the line between what they make and what they create with others is so thin as to be non-existant — and that embracing that reality, and the collaborators themselves, is what will make them truly shine.
Like the light. No limit to love. Blah blah blah you say? Well, “Fuck You.” Twice. The best music is part of a continuum not a beginning or an end.
See what I’m talking about after the jump.
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Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Cee-Lo, Feist, Fuck You, Great New Music, Harry Nilsson, James Blake, Limit to Your Love, Little Wings, Look at What the Light Did Now, The Power of a Song, The Problem With Nostalgia, The Problem with Originality, You're Breaking My Heart