On the release of Carla Bley’s new album Life Goes On, Winston Cook-Wilson provides an overview of composer, bandleader, and pianist’s multifaceted career, from her pop and funk-inflected ’70s and ’80s work to her more recent “microcosms of a musical personality that is exceptionally difficult to distill.”
Category: ECM
Deep Into Steve Tibbetts’ Life Of
On Steve Tibbetts’ Life Of, the new age trappings are gone, the subtle accompaniment of piano, “gong cycles,” gamelan influences (based on his travels and study in Bali and Nepal), the still-in-there-someplace Midwestern Kottke vibes, all synthesized so exquisitely. The secret sauce in his playing is partly due to his instrument; an old Martin D-12-20 12-string with worn down frets and dead strings. He describes it as having a “peculiar internal resonance, as though it has a small concert hall inside of it.”
Aquarium Drunkard Guide to ECM Records: The New Millennium
Welcome to the third installment of the Aquarium Drunkard Guide to ECM Records: The New Millenium. Writer James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand) explores the label’s contemporary output, that of “a boutique label in the guise of a music industry behemoth.”
Cosmic Pastoral: William Tyler on New Age, Windham Hill, and Emerging Sounds
The Windham Hill sound was inviting and warm, but nonetheless idiosyncratic, a hallmark of a moment when mainstream commercial success and the lack of traditional pop forms didn’t negate each other.
Aquarium Drunkard Guide To ECM Records: Second Installment
Welcome to the second installment of the Aquarium Drunkard guide to ECM Records . Marked by an attention to sonic space and a distinct visual aesthetic, since 1969 ECM has released a […]
Bitter Funeral Beer Band :: Live in Stockholm, 1984
In anticipation of the second installment in our Guide to ECM Records , we share a live performance by one of our favorites from the catalog. Bitter Funeral Beer Band . Led by percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and […]
Transmissions Podcast :: Kurt Vile / ECM Records / James Booker
Happy Halloween and welcome to the October edition of the Transmissions podcast. Hope you enjoyed our bonus podcast episode, featuring AD’s Halloween mix. If you haven’t heard it, check your […]
Aquarium Drunkard Presents :: ECM Listening Party
In anticipation of the second installment of our Guide to ECM Records , join the Aquarium Drunkard crew and our friends Zach Cowie and Third Place this Sunday, October 28th, in Los Angeles at […]
The Aquarium Drunkard Guide To ECM Records
Founded by Manfred Eicher in Germany in 1969, ECM Records (Editions of Contemporary Music) has spent nearly 50 years assembling one of the strongest catalogs in musical history. Marked by […]
David Darling :: Cycles
Last year witnessed the opening of the hallowed digital vaults of the ECM label. Long a holdout from digital platforms, the Berlin based ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) was founded in […]