Kristen Nowlain

Hey All!

Come and support Kristen Nowlain as she performs her Junior Recital at Bird Studio this Saturday, December Fourth.

The performance is free and is at 2:30 pm. Be prepared to hear some awesome singing!

Acoustic Night at the Oxy Green Bean

Occidental's fabulous coffee house the Green Bean is showcasing student musicians this Thursday December 2nd! Head on down between 8 and 10 pm to drink something warm and hear something chill :)

emerging subgenre: 'postdubstep'

In 2005 and 2006, a new sound from south london grew out of the fertile mixture of electronic music genres including 2step, funky, garage, acid house, minimal techno, grime, and jungle. it was called dubstep, a term which included a wide range of musical activity, but generally characterized by an emphasis on synthesized sub bass, instrumental beats, noise like sounds, and a rhythmic profile which grew from traditional hiphop beatmaking. Dubstep was london's main dance music export until 2010. Now however, a new crop of artists are taking the tradition into new terrain. The term 'post dubstep' is beginning to surface around the works of composers like Mount Kimbie and James Blake. Also, retroactively, the term suites the music of Burial very well; he can be seen as a founding figure of post dubstep. Listen for manipulations of identifiable instruments, ghostly effected vocals, and a new tonal palate which brings deep emotions to this music. Barely born, postdubstep seems to be a powerful new vein in the constantly evolving conversation of IDM.
here are some highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ7AF8IG7Eg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBsJ09RhqZw

Prerequisite Removed for Music 395 in Spring!

Hey Oxy Students!

Looking to knock off some core requirements? Interested in taking a class in the music department? Do you like food? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Advanced Topics in the Critical Study of Music: Music and Food is the class for you!

Here's a quick blurb from Professor Kasunic himself:

Dear Students:

We have removed the music prerequisite for the following seminar, which only

had the prerequisite because it is a 300-level course. The course does not
require students who are able to read music, only students who are
intellectually curious and engaged readers. It fulfills both the FA and EU
CORE requirements.

If this course is up your alley (cup of tea, I should say), please do
consider taking it. My hope is that we'll chart new territory.

David Kasunic

*Music 395, Advanced Topics in the Critical Study of Music: Music and Food*
This interdisciplinary course will examine the relationship between music and food, and thus hearing and taste, in Europe and the United States, beginning with the 16th-century category of musical composition called “table music” and culminating in the present-day gastropub. Along the way we will explore topics such as the 18th-century emergence of aesthetics as a branch of philosophy, the rise of the restaurant and gastronomy, Dandyism and Decadent literature, and “fine dining” in the United States. We will read scholarly literature from the fields of philosophy, history, cognitive science, sociology, literature, and music, and classes will include visits from scholars in these fields. This will be a discussion-based research seminar, peppered with a few short writing assignments and class reports. Students will carve out an area of research early on and develop it over the course of the semester, culminating in a research presentation and final argument-driven research paper. The course will conclude with the fastidious recreation of an historical banquet. This courses fulfills both FA and EU

CORE requirements.

Sufjan Stevens: Age of Adz

Sufjan Stevens is an artist who, over the course of the last decade, has positioned himself at the crossroads of baroque pop, folk, and minimallism. His last effort, Illinois, was a huge and rich record of sentimental songs, meticulously scored for various instrumental ensembles. On the 'Age of Adz' album, Sufjan reaches out to the trending styles of beat music and minimal techno/ electro pop. his songs are still highly produced and often feature live orchestral instruments, but much of his detailed work here happens in the cleanliness of his bouncing synths and R&B piano. He also lets his voice go more than ever here; its impossible to imagine his current trajectory without Joanna Newsom's career. Apparently the two are friends. check the link for the great video to this album's single, 'Too Much'.
http://pitchfork.com/tv/

Harry Potter Soundtrack!

Harry Potter 7 Part 1 came out today, WOOOOOOO!!!!!! I'm a bit of a nut, and along with several of my music library coworkers, I went and saw the movie at the midnight release last night (and then subsequently slept through all my classes this morning. Worth it.) So I thought in honor of this momentous day for our generation, I would blog about the soundtrack.

Now we're all familiar with the hauntingly delicious "Hedwig's Theme" originally composed by John Williams. HP7 director David Yates had wanted to bring John Williams back for the final movie, but apparently their schedules just didn't fit (ummm John Williams I know you are the richest composer in the world and all, but when the greatest franchise in history comes a knockin' you better MAKE time to answer). So they got Andres Desplat instead, still a very well-known and respected soundtrack composer. You might have heard his work before in The Golden Compass, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, or The Case of Mr. Benjamin Button.

Larry Karush on Nov. 20

The Occidental College Music Department

presents

Faculty Artist Recital

Larry Karush, piano

featuring
Chris Colangelo, bass
Randy Gloss, percussion
Brad Dutz, percussion
Danilo Lozano, flute

Saturday, November 20, 2010
Bird Studio
7:30n p.m.

This concert is courtesy of teh Recording Industries' Music Performance Fund

Norma R. Navarro

Music Department

323-259-2785

Fax: 323-341-4983