One Cello x 16: Natoma - Zoë Keating

I have to admit, I've been holding out on writing because I've fallen in love with a few albums lately and haven't been able to do anything but listen to them and enjoy.  This is one of them.  I found her on Stereomood, but apparently a lot of listeners have found her on iTunes - she's been at the top of the classical music charts.  It's easy to hear why.  Her music is innovative and enigmatic.  Her list of awards is extensive and she's highly praised in her field.

The album title reflects her method of composition.  She is one cellist, using electronic sampling to create a full sound of multiple cellists.  Her music is highly repetitive, as one might expect with sampling, but at the same time full of variation and most surprisingly melody.  I've got "Sun Will Set" on repeat like a pop song.  Each track is a fully formed idea, each fragment is completely worked out, but never overhashed.  Zoë is brilliant cellist, but also a great orchestrator.

I've always found the cello to be a haunting instrument - my favorite classical works of all time are Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, so it figures that I wouldn't be able to resist what sound like a chorus of cellos.  It has the ambience of Arvo Pärt's Für Alina or Brian Eno's Music for Airports, but with a little more sound and as stated above, more melody to hold onto and remember after - see? haunting.

If you're not necessarily sure if modern classical music is for you - this album will change your mind.

Banjolele

The Banjolele - a musical instrument I've never heard of!  I recently finished cataloging a collection of sheet music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries either published in Kentucky or dealing with a subject related to Kentucky.  Hopefully they will be digitized and online soon.  Anyway, one of the songs had tabs for ukulele or...banjolele.  It's exactly what it sounds like - a hybrid between a banjo and a ukulele.  It's exciting to find a new sound.  Here's a video of Pete Moss playing one.  He seems pretty good.

Heartbeat (Kodo 25th Anniversary) - Kodo

I always thought of Africa when I thought of drumming.  This included products of the African diaspora like Brazil (Olodum), Cuban rhythms, etc.  This is a stereotype most people hold I would guess.  I was watching OvationTV, a station I only recently discovered and they had a special on Kodo.  This album is kind of a best of and contains many of the pieces performed by Kodo in that particular show.  I would say this group is much more of an act to see live.  There is a very important visual aspect to it including the movements and positions of the drummers, the size of the drums and how they are attacked, and additional dancers.  Some of that is lost in an audio recording, but the rhythms and melodies (played on on the fue and shamisen) are enough.

Kodo is a taiko drumming troupe.  Members begin as apprentices living within the Kodo village community until they are full time members.  This makes Kodo a very large, very tight knit, and very serious group.  They play traditional Japanese rhythms and melodies combined with compositions by contemporary composers and their own members.

Musical Instrument Museum

The Musical Instrument Museum seems like one of the coolest places I've seen in a long time.  It houses instruments and showcases performers from all over the world and situates them in their culture by showing how they are played and what they sound like.