Tag Archives for sitar

ARTHUR RADIO TRANSMISSION #32: Variety Special

Just in time for the upcoming days of end-of-year festivities and quiet moments of snow-gazing reflection, Arthur Radio brings you an old-timey variety show featuring a smattering of very special guests, starting with the dazzling Mia Theodoratus who joins us in the studio to perform an intimate live solo set on classical harp, followed by the very first episode of Rats Live On No Evil Star, a recycled cassette tape mash-up interview series hosted by Salvia Plath, and ending with Arthurmag.com contributing entity Spectre Event Horizon Group DJing a whirlwind set straight from the endless vaults of YouTube. Turn on your virtual fire, and rejoice with us in the gifts that every hour, every day, and every new year brings…


STREAMING: [audio:http://www.arthurmag.com/magpie/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Arthur-Radio-32-2.mp3%5D

DOWNLOAD: Arthur Radio Transmission #32 10-10-2010

Timeline below…

@ 00:00 IVY MEADOWS DJS MULTI-LAYERED INTRO

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Tuesday New Age Jams: A different sort of "mothership connection"

Swing down sweet chariot ...

To those not yet in the know, all the true heads check in at the Crystal Vibrations audioblog for the cream of the crop in Nuevo Age jammage. CV is Greg Davis‘ thing mostly, if we’re going on number of posts, and his thoroughness with regard to the history and cultural relevance of New Age music suggests that the man has curated a staggering collection of some of the most mundane sounds ever conceived. (Davis, if you don’t know, has been creating very pleasant albums of sorta tribal ambient electronic stuff since the early ’00s.)

Keeping that in mind, the truly hype shit when it comes to New Age tunes is outta this world, and stands out as even more of a treasure given the genre’s overarching treacly nature. A reclamation and a reappropriation of the blissfully soporific is in effect here, engineered by the aforementioned Davis, along with likeminded pals such as White Rainbow‘s Adam Forkner.

So yeah: We’re STOKED that he’s back with his first post since early April. Namely, to quote Davis, “a real soother” in the form of David Parsons’ 1980 album, Sounds of the Mothership. The awesome picture up top sums it up: The best possible version of “bidi-puffing white dude hanging out by a waterfall, getting mellow on the sitar” you can imagine. Plus the requisite Tangerine Dream-style warbling synth drones and occasional cricket chirp and birdsong. So chill.

Click here to go get mellow with David Parsons at Crystal Vibrations.

May 9: Chhandayan's 10th Annual All-Night Concert of Indian Classical Music in NYC

Highlights from Chhandayan’s 9th Annual All-Night Concert of Indian Classical Music

One of the many wonderful things about getting a bit deeper into Indian Classical music is learning about the way ragas work better when they’re played at specific times of the day and night. E.g. When things get hectic after lunch here on Arthur’s Atwater Campus, we’ve learned to put Nikhil Banerjee’s Afternoon Ragas – Rotterdam 1970 on blast so we can keep things in focus.

So when there’s an epic Indian Classical jam like Chhandayan’s 10th Annual All-Night Concert of Indian Classical Music going down in New York City, you know it’s gonna be awesome ’cause this is how these nocturnal ragas are meant to be experienced: All through the night and into the woozy early hours of the AM. It’ll be just like sweating through the wee hours to the oonce-oonce-oonce except instead of extended trance breakdowns and all the hands in the air there’ll just be a collective sense of silent elation as Utpal Dutta “goes for it” with a wild 4am tabla solo. Plus you’ll probably feel a lot less shit come dawn. Please note: Sleeping bags and mattresses are prohibited.

Ready to get pumped? WFMU is previewing the show this Saturday, May 2 from 6-9pm on Rob Weisberg’s Transpacific Sound Paradise. For more Indian ragas we’d also like to direct your attention to the outstanding archives of now-silent audioblog The Magic of Juju. Likewise, the Pandit Pran Nath album that Babcock hipped us to back in early March is still available for download over at Big States.

What: Chhandayan’s 10th Annual All-Night Concert of Indian Classical Music
How much: Tickets range from $25-$100
When: May 9th 7pm – May 10th 6am
Where: The New York Society for Ethical Culture
2 W 64th Street, New York, NY 10023
More info: http://www.tabla.org/