Alt-Classical (2011)
What is Alt-Classical?
DIY, open instrumentation, alternative venues, mix of amateur and professional performers, music lies somewhere between art music (music meant to be contemplated) and pop music (music meant for mass consumption).
Alt Classical EP (2011) by pbailey
tracklist
Fearless Leader, (2006, revised 2007)
was partially inspired by a quote from the Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti: “ Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, its just not the way. We must find a way of neither going back nor continuing the avant-garde. I am in a prison: one wall is the avant-garde, the other wall is the past, and I cannot escape.”
An Eye for Optical Theory (Michael Nyman Cover)
It is interesting to note that the although all of Nyman’s music from the Peter Greenaway film The Draughtsman’s Contract was derived from a Purcell chaconne, the ground bass (on which this piece is built) was subsequently discovered to have been written by a lesser-known contemporary of Purcell. This arrangement uses most of the melodic materials from the original piece, freely combining them to create a bizzaro world second cousin of the original.
Life’s Too Short (2006)
is a lighthearted meditation of life, death, and nihilism based on the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche (iconic German philosopher) and John Sinclair (Los Angeles based writer).
Cheap Admiration (2005)
Is loosely based on a harmonic deconstruction of Sonata Ciacona by Johann Pezel (1639-1694) who worked as a musician in Germany and was promoted to town stadtpfeifer (band director) in Leipzig in 1670. Later in his career he applied for and was turned down for the job of Cantor of St. Thomaskirche, a job that J.S. Bach would hold 50 years later.
myinnersatan (2005, revised 2006)
started as a cross between counterpoint exercise and a contemplation of the soul crushing emptiness of desk work.
Principal of Sufficient Irritation (originally titled 11/25/05)
is three sections of five melodic/ostinato gestures that can be performed in endless variety. in rehearsals a unique roadmap and orchestration is decided upon and explored during the performance. The title is based on an interesting concept in P.K. Dick’s “Ubik”.
Undone (The Sweater Song)
Weezer cover FTW!
Paul Bailey Ensemble (PBE)
is an alt-classical garage band that plays the music of a variety of living and dead composers. The group was created in 2002 as DIY forum outside the usual and limited channels of art music presentation.
credits
released 16 February 2011
Paul Bailey, Trombone
Bruce Gallego, Electric Guitar
Eric Hendrickson, Keyboards
Scott McIntosh, Clarinet
Ryan Nunes, Vibraphone
Carl Stronach, Bass Guitar
With Special Guest Piano
John Marr on “Undone (The Sweater Song)”
Life’s Too Short Vocals
Nicole Baker, Mezzo Soprano, Spoken Word
Sean McDermott, Tenor
Paul Cummings, Bass
Life’s Too Short Graphic LIbretto
Recorded, Edited, and Mixed by Paul Bailey and Marlon Luna
Mixing and Mastering Consultant/Coach/Head Cheerleader Jon Brenner
Recorded at California State University Fullerton, Swing House Studios Hollywood, and Because They Are Dead Studios, Highland Park
Paul Bailey: Music for Controllers VI (2009)
Paul Bailey: Music for Controllers VI (2009)
Music for Controllers VI by paul bailey
this track was based on a field recording i made of my last day of work before my “fall break” at CSUF (a one-week non paid work furlough). a few days later i improvised over the recording of my commute (from highland park to union station) with some materials of an earlier piece i made last spring (not getting fired is the new promotion). when it was finished i felt it was a little too minimal and forgot about it until about a week ago and when i listened to it again i realized it pretty accurately captured my dread of what this financial disaster has become in my life.
interestingly enough on that was the same day on my commute home the conductor on my amtrak route told me that she had lost about 75 daily commuters between san diego and los angeles from a year ago and it was pretty sad how so few of us were left. i know for me there aren’t many part time faculty left in the music department at CSUF and at this point it’s can get pretty depressing whenever i think about all of my friends who are out of work.
probably a little TMI, but yeah… i guess it is a bit dark.
spoken word piece based on twitter RSS feeds on the keywords “fired” and “job”. parts of this piece were originally contained in the piece “not getting fired is the new promotion” (2009)
made using ableton live, novation launchpad, korg kaossilator, iphone (buddha machine, srutibox), text-2-speech, and a field recording (zoom H2) of my morning commute (metro goldline from heritage square to union station; los angeles, ca 10/15/2009 (10 min)
Bookmarks for November 21st through November 25th [del.icio.us]
![Bookmarks for November 21st through November 25th [del.icio.us]](http://www.paulbailey.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hands1-150x150.jpg)
Bookmarks from November 21st through November 25th:[del.icio.us]
Los Angeles Eat+Drink – Fried in East L.A.: Antojito’s Carmen and the Breed Street Band of Mexican Vendors
- Photo Gallery: Fried in East L.A. With Antojitos Carmen & The Breed Street Band of Mexican Vendors – Los Angeles Restaurants and Dining – Squid Ink -
“Need a visual aid for your print edition? Jonathan Gold visits the Breed Street vendors of East Los Angeles (“once you abandon yourself to the magnetic chalupa forces you will be lured across the river again and again — the CIA could learn something about mind control from antojitos masters”). Click through for Anne Fishbein’s spectacular photos and read more in Gold’s Counter Intelligence, “Fried in East L.A.”
- Categorical Enervative: The Trouble With Genres | Classical Music -
People, we’re not really serious about adopting this “alt-classical” terminology, are we? I thought it was a joke, like “hobocore.” But no, it seems that there’s effort afoot to push it, un-ironically, into the classical lexicon.”"
- Books of The Times – The Voice That Helped Remake Culture, From Terry Teachout – Review – NYTimes.com
“With “Pops,” his eloquent and important new biography of Armstrong, the critic and cultural historian Terry Teachout restores this jazzman to his deserved place in the pantheon of American artists, building upon Gary Giddins’s excellent 1988 study, “Satchmo: The Genius of Louis Armstrong,” and offering a stern rebuttal of James Lincoln Collier’s patronizing 1983 book, “Louis Armstrong: An American Genius.” (wish this book was on kindle and it would be my holiday reading)
- Los Angeles Eat+Drink – Choza Mama (j. gold review) -
“Oh, Old Pasadena, dasher of hopes and destroyer of restaurants, a hostile, traffic-choked terrordome where only the strongest survive, where rents are breathtaking, where even the best-financed enterprises founder on the rocks. But out of the ashes of Hooters, within the very walls once saturated with testosterone and stale tap beer, comes Choza Mama, scion of the well-loved Burbank Peruvian restaurant, introducing Cusqueña and tallarines where once were Miller Lite and hot wings, and soft Latin American music where the likes of Hootie and the Blowfish once brayed”
- MIDEM(Net) Blog: Bruce Houghton: Doesn’t It Feel Lately Like Everyone Is In The Music Business? -
“The line between music fan and music professional has become difficult to draw. The demise of traditional media and rise of social networks means that fans are as powerful as publicists and radio promoters once were. Digital distribution has given everyone access to the consumer that was once funneled through a few. Everyone with a web site had the potential for global reach. I’m an authority, not because Billboard prints my words, but because I do. The Bad News: Everyone is your competitor. The Good News: Innovation is everywhere. It’s time to stop worrying about the bad and start embracing the good”
- When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth -
“Introduction: I’ve changed careers every two or three years ever since I dropped out of university in 1990, and one of the best gigs I ever had was working as a freelance systems administrator, working in the steam tunnels of the information age, pulling cables, configuring machines, keeping the backups running, kicking the network in its soft and vulnerable places. Sysadmins are the unsung heroes of the century, and if they’re not busting you for sending racy IMs, or engaging in unprofessional email conduct it’s purely out of their own goodwill. There’s a pernicious myth that the Internet was designed to withstand a nuclear war; while that Strangelove wet-dream was undoubtedly present in the hindbrains of the generals who greenlighted the network’s R&D at companies like Rand and BBN…” (great story… make sure to read the woodie guthrie copyright quote”
