Tuesday, March 11, 2008

One Hump or Two?


Greenpeace recently invited Imogen Heap to sing a few songs at a benefit in Beijing, since she was on tour in Asia anyway. Off she went. I mention this merely as an excuse to show this wonderful picture of Imogen with a Chinese camel.
Oh, Miz Heap is working on her next album; this means, as usual, she is locked away in the studio for several months, and friends push food trays to her under the door. Look forward to hearing it, Techno-Fairie!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Un-Masqued


John Dryden wrote the play King Arthur, and Henry Purcell wrote 90 minutes of orchestral and vocal music for it, turning it into a masque. Mark Morris, whose soul seems to have traveled across time from the Baroque, tossed John Dryden's play out the window, and has presented only Purcell's music as a ballet with singing that he calls King Arthur.


The Morris project is certainly not a masque, or an opera, or a musical, nor does it have a story. Um, nor does it now involve the character King Arthur in any way. The Times of London called it an "entertainment." That's precisely the term. Whatever it is, it's delightful; just don't expect any element of 17th-century theater.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Ditto Ditto





Those of us lowly Yanks across the pond from the "real" music scene finally get a chance to watch the Brit Awards on BBC America this weekend. I mostly look forward to seeing Mika's duet with the HUGELY naughty Beth Ditto from The Gossip.
I mostly don't look forward to seeing Rufus not win International Male Solo Artist. Yeah, great, another trophy for Kanye. Maybe now he can afford glasses with lenses in them. What kind of contest puts Rufus and Kanye in the same category, anyway??