The Music Show

ABC Australia

All kinds of music and all kinds of musicians in conversation with Andrew Ford.

  1. 4D AGO

    Folk fixtures: Judy Small's Swansongs, and the National Folk Festival at 60

    Judy Small is a fixture of the Australian folk scene, a writer and performer of songs about politics and people. She joins Andy to recap the thirty-ish years since she was last on the show, including a career in family law and as a federal judge, and the process she's been undertaking of recording some of her last songs (Swansongs) and appearing at the 60th National Folk Festival. And Ce Benedict reports from the festival itself, where transcontinental dulcimer jams, children busking, and bardic reinterpretations of Smashmouth all contribute to one of Australia's most distinctive festival experiences.  Music heard in the show:  Title: Home HomeArtist: ApollineComposer: Hickey, LuisaAlbum: Home HomeLabel: Independent Release Title: Stand Or Fall, Within These Walls (Yad Vashem)Artist: Judy SmallComposer: Small, JudyAlbum: SwansongsLabel: Independent Release Title: The White Bay Paper SellerArtist: Judy SmallComposer: Small, JudyAlbum: Mothers, Daughters, Wives / Ladies and GemsLabel: Independent Release Title: You Don't Speak For MeArtist: Judy SmallComposer: Small, JudyAlbum: Judy Small - Best of the 80sLabel: Independent Release Title: EncantoArtist: Maryam RahmaniComposer: Rahmani, MaryamAlbum: KamandLabel: Independent Release Label: Independent ReleaseTitle: Home HomeArtist: ApollineComposer: Hickey, LuisaAlbum: Home Home The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Emrys Cronin and Timothy Jenkins

    55 min
  2. 5D AGO

    Xiu Xiu take on Eraserhead and Pinchgut Opera's first murder

    Xiu Xiu has been a leading figure in American avant-pop for more than two decades: combining abrasive noise and extremely dark subject matter with a catchy pop sensibility. It’s perhaps no surprise then that they’ve been drawn to the work of David Lynch, releasing their version of the music of Twin Peaks, and now, appearing at Dark Mofo in Tasmania to present their take on Eraserhead. Jamie Stewart talks passion, performance, and Dolly Parton.  in 1707 Alessandro Scarlatti wrote an oratorio called il primo omicidio - The First Murder. It features Cain, Abel, their parents Adam and Eve, and (naturally) God and Satan providing a bit of sung commentary too. Ashlyn Tymms, Madison Nonoa, and Erin Helyard share Pinchgut Opera's approach, which uses a distinctly Australian setting. Pinchgut Opera are performing The First Murder at Roslyn Packer Theatre from May 23 Music heard in this program: Title: JoleneArtist: Xiu XiuComposer: Dolly PartonAlbum: Xiu MF'n XiuLabel: Polyvinyl Record Company  Title: Common LoonArtist: Xiu XiuComposer: Xiu XIuAlbum: 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto With Bison Horn GripsLabel: Polyvinyl Record Company  Title: Il primo omicidio, Parte prima; 'La fraterna amica pace'Artist: Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and René JacobsComposer: Alessandro Scarlatti Album: Scarlatti: Il primo omicidioLabel: Harmonia Mundi Title: La Fraterna amica paceArtist: Erin Helyard, Ashlyn Tymms, Madison NonoaComposer: Alessandro Scarlatti Album: Live Performance Title: The White Bay paper sellerArtist: Judy SmallComposer: Judy SmallAlbum: Ladies & GemsLabel: Crafty Maid The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Emrys Cronin and Timothy Jenkins

    55 min
  3. MAY 9

    Raven Chacon's Pulitzer Prize-winning Voiceless Mass and Cam Butler takes on the grand organ

    Voiceless Mass, by Raven Chacon, can be performed in 'any space of worship with high ceilings and pipe organ' and plays with the amplifying power of a church's architecture, while commenting on the silencing of voices and languages that churches have been active in throughout their history. It won the composer the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2022 and is heading to the Rising Festival in Melbourne. Raven talks to Andy about the intersection of politics and music, his role as a mentor, and what he wants to add to John Cage's understanding of silence. The huge sound of the Melbourne Town Hall grand organ might seem like an unusual choice for the composer and guitarist Cam Butler, but for his latest album, he had a chance to take over the hall - and brought along a rock band and a string orchestra to complete the mix. Cam’s project is a cinematic album of guitar-organ-strings-rock maximalism, called World Forever and he shares how he approached this latest challenge, and how he gets the most from his normal instrument, the guitar. Cam Butler will be performing World Forever live at the Melbourne Town Hall on May 22.  Join us for The Music Show at Sydney Writers' Festival on 21 May with Ziggy Ramo, Leah Senior and Kate Fagan Music heard in this program: Title: Haunted RuinsArtist: Cam ButlerComposer: Cam ButlerAlbum: World ForeverLabel: Heavy Machinery Records Title: Voicless MassArtist: Present MusicComposer: Raven ChaconAlbum: Raven Chacon: Voiceless MassLabel: New World Records Title: Don't Cry (Your Father & Grandfather Are GoodArtist: Himba Hymn CollectiveComposer: Himba Hymn CollectiveAlbum: Himba Hymn: Ghosts Of Namibia's Skeleton CoastLabel: Sublime Frequencies Title: World ForeverArtist: Cam ButlerComposer: Cam ButlerAlbum: World ForeverLabel: Heavy Machinery Records Title: Clear InfinityArtist: Cam ButlerComposer: Cam ButlerAlbum: World ForeverLabel: Heavy Machinery Records Title: RottenArtist: Gia MargaretComposer: Gia MargaretAlbum: SingingLabel: Jagjaguwar The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Isabella Tropiano

    55 min
  4. MAY 2

    Anna Meredith wants her music loud and the musicality of Dorothy Porter

    Scottish composer Anna Meredith creates a meeting place between the concert platform and the rave in her music. Her piece for electronics and string quartet, Tuggemo, takes its name from an archaic English word for a swarm of bees, and demands to be heard loud. It's being given its Australian premiere by Omega Ensemble as part of their Howl concert season. Sophia Brous is an Australian composer based in the US, and she creates semi-improvised song cycles from selections by 20th century writers. Her new collaborator of sorts is the late Dorothy Porter, with her partner Andrea Goldsmith acting as a guide through the poetry Porter wrote in the last years of her life. Andrea and Sophia join Andy to talk about Porter's impact on music and music's impact on her.  Sophia Brous and Paul Grabowsky are performing Life Lines: A Song Cycle of Dorothy Porter at the Melbourne Writers Festival Music heard in this program: Title: BlackfriarsArtist: Anna MeredithComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: VarmintsLabel: Moshi Moshi Title: TuggemoArtist: Ligeti QuartetComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: NucLabel: Mercury KX Title: Lil WaltzerArtist: Anna MeredithComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: Bumps Per MinuteLabel: Moshi Moshi Title: NautilusArtist: Anna MeredithComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: VarmintsLabel: Moshi Moshi Title: NautilusArtist: Ligeti QuartetComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: NucLabel: Mercury KX Title: MoonmoonsArtist: Anna MeredithComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: FIBSLabel: Moshi Moshi Title: If Snakes Could FlyArtist: Paul Grabowsky and Katie NoonanComposer: Dorothy Porter and Paul GrabowskyAlbum: Before Time Could Change UsLabel: SBS Weatherwatch Title: Set PIecesArtist: Sophia Brous and Kit DownesComposer: Sophia Brous and Alejandra PizarnikAlbum: Set Pieces live at The Lincoln Center Title: 10 Preludes, Op. 23; No. 6 AndanteArtist: Ruth SlenczynskaComposer: Sergei RachmaninovAlbum: Complete American Decca RecordingsLabel: Eloquence The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Isabella Tropiano

    55 min
  5. APR 25

    ZÖJ deafen the devil's ear and The Three Seas embrace naivety

    ZÖJ, the collaboration between Gelareh Pour and Brian O'Dwyer perform the opening track from their new album, May The Devil’s Ear Be Deaf, live in the music show studios. The album was recorded at an artists retreat in Banff, Canada, and features music “built on fragility and on the fear of its own erasure." They also talk about performing a live score to a remarkable 1925 silent film, Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life. The Three Seas have been coming together and then flying apart again for years, and they're back together for a live session in the Music Show studio. With band members living in both Australia and West Bengal, the music is an amalgam of Himalayan folk, Baul spiritual music, rock, dub, and jazz. Their latest album is called Antahkarana and it was recorded in Peter Gabriel's Real World studio, a high-tech idyll in the south west of England. And we remember two giants of the classical world, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who has died at the age of 81, and Ruth Slenczynska, who has died at the age of 102.  Tilson Thomas was known for his advocacy of modern American repertoire, and his life-long embrace of Mahler's titanic symphonies. In an archive interview, he tells Andy how he thinks about classical music as a whole, and Mahler in particular.  We'll hear more from Andy's long conversation with Ruth Slenczynska, a child-prodigy concert pianist who learned with Rachmaninov and duetted with President Truman, next time on The Music Show.  The Three Seas are currently on tour, dates available here ZÖJ are performing Grass at The Capitol Theatre on May 1 Music heard in this program: Title: Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor, BWV903 Artist: Ruth Slenczynska Composer: J. S. BachAlbum: Ruth Slenczynska - Complete American Decca RecordingsLabel: Decca Title: Symphony No. 4; iii. Fugue (Andante moderato) Artist: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Michael Tilson ThomasComposer: Charles IvesAlbum: Ives - Symphony Nos. 3 & 4, Selected American HymnsLabel: SFS Media Title: Symphony No. 1 in D major, 'Titan'; iv. Stürmisch bewegtArtist: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson ThomasComposer: Gustav MahlerAlbum: Mahler - Symphony No. 1Label: SFS Media Title: TermitesArtist: ZÖJComposer: Gelareh Pour & Brian O'DwyerAlbum: May The Devil’s Ear Be DeafLabel: Bleeemo Music Title: Real WorldArtist: The Three SeasComposer: The Three SeasAlbum: AntaḥkaraṇaLabel: Earshift Music Title: RongmoholeArtist: The Three SeasComposer: The Three SeasAlbum: AntaḥkaraṇaLabel: Earshift Music The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Antonia Gauci, AJ Bradford, and Tim Jenkins

    55 min

Hosts & Guests

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

All kinds of music and all kinds of musicians in conversation with Andrew Ford.

More From ABC Podcasts

You Might Also Like