The Eighth Wonder
Welcome,
I'm Stefan, and this is the eighth edition of Looking For The Good Stuff, conceived and written at my HQ in Berlin, Germany. Just like Oscar Wilde, I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.
From music here to music anywhere
In this week’s episode of Ongoing History of New Music, Alan Cross jumps on a sidetrack. He gives us the first part of the history of portable music, both recorded music and radio, from the ‘20s to the ‘90s.
In 35 minutes, he gives a brief and rich retrospective of a partly forgotten part of history, even though it is not so long ago. One example: Hip Pocket Records - a pocket-sized record player, playing flexidiscs for those who “want their music portable, low-priced and groovy”, was a interesting but short-lived invention of the late ‘60s…
Wild is the wind
Tidal Magazine gives us an introduction to Esperanza Spalding’s latest project: Songwrights’ Apothecary Lab - a course she will lead at Harvard next spring and a website that “seeks to develop a structure for the collaborative development of new compositions designed to offer enhanced salutary benefit to listeners”. It’s also the name of her new album, released tomorrow.
In Conversation with Merce
I remember seeing the 3D-documentary Cunningham on IFF Berlin in 2019, which was a fascinating experience. Merce Cunningham left the planet in 2009, but his choreographic creations still lives on, both in recorded form and by being performed live in new settings.
For the rest of the month, Baryshnikov Arts Center stream the 44 minutes long film In Conversation with Merce on their website. Solos and duets from Cunningham’s Landrover (1972) get danced responses from new creations by Kyle Abraham and Liz Gerring.
That's all for today. The next issue will be on stage tomorrow.
All the best,
Stefan