Search Results: samph

Rock Review: Two Neo-Psychedelic Oddities — Outlandish Sonic Journeys Worth Taking

May 28, 2014
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These challenging LPs offer opposing, but equally thrilling, aural/cinematic adventures: one is an overblown grindhouse flick, the other a wondrous fantasy feature.

Album Review: Oneohtrix Point Never’s “R Plus Seven” — Music That Draws You In

October 6, 2013
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With this LP, Daniel Lopatin has crafted an immaculate aural landscape that one can (and will want to) lose oneself in for hours.

Musician Interview: Saxophonist, Composer, and Historian of Early Jazz Allen Lowe — An Invaluable Maverick

June 22, 2025
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Allen Lowe is a saxophonist, composer, and historian of early jazz and roots music who doesn’t think he’s getting a fair shake from jazz’s gatekeepers.

Classical Album Review: An Opera by the “Croatian Verdi” — Sung Right

September 14, 2021
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The performance shows generally high competence and comfort, no surprise given that the work is a longtime staple in Croatia: indeed, it is the single most-performed opera in the entire repertory of the Croatian National Theater.

Classical Album Review: “Scenes from the Kalevala”

November 29, 2021
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This disc highlights various, early-20th-century works inspired by the Kalevala, the Finnish creation epic. It is a fantastic demonstration of creative programming and invigorating orchestral performance.

Classical CD Reviews: Andris Nelsons conducts Shostakovich, Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto, Project W

May 20, 2019
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Arguably, the strongest entry in the BSO’s complete Shostakovich symphony cycle thus far; Esa-Pekka Salonen’s 2016 Cello Concerto is emotionally direct and, at times, simply gorgeous; the resurgence of interest in the music of Boston-educated composer Florence Price is a good thing.

Jazz Album Review: Vince Mendoza’s “Freedom Over Everything”

July 14, 2021
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There’s a contrast here, an understandable impatience with current events placed alongside belief in MLK’s vision of the long arc of the moral universe. Neither cancels the other.

Classical CD Reviews: Dvorak Overtures (Pentatone) and “Dawn to Dust” (Reference Recordings)

April 20, 2016
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It’s no secret that 2016 has already been a strong year for albums featuring new and recent music: now things get even better.

Cultural Commentary: Time for Arts Groups, Large and Small, to Display Some Bona Fide Irreverence

June 25, 2025
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The question before arts organizations and companies is the same one that looms over the rest of us: will they—can they—act before it’s too late?

Classical CD Reviews: Tesla Quartet plays Haydn, Ravel, and Stravinsky, Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Bernstein, Aspects of America

August 26, 2018
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Aspects of America, from the Oregon Symphony and its music director Carlos Kalmar, is at once superbly played, astutely programmed, and aesthetically necessary.

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