corey dargel

Second Inversion hosts share a favorite selection from this Friday’s playlist. Tune in during the indicated hours below on Friday, July 15 to hear these pieces. In the meantime, you’ll hear other great new and unusual music from all corners of the classical genre 24/7!

Mathew Rosenblum: Sharpshooter from Mobius Loop Gil Rose/Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP/sound)

At first listen, Mathew Rosenblum’s tonal language and style in Sharpshooter seemed pleasant, if unremarkable. However, as I dug into this piece, I realized that Rosenblum has woven microtonality throughout this piece so deftly that it seems an organic outgrowth of the musical expression, rather than a conscious “technique.” Integrating microtonality so successfully is a remarkable achievement. Additionally, Rosenblum’s use of repeating structures firmly plants this piece tantalizingly close to the leading edge of post-minimalism. If there were any more variety here, the post-minimalist label would be useless. In Sharpshooter, Rosenblum is clearly on the verge of what is next, whatever that is. – Seth Tompkins

Tune in to Second Inversion in the 10am hour today to hear this recording.

Tess Said So: “11-15” from Scramble + Fate (Preserved Sound Records)

If you’re looking for a gateway to classical music, or really, if you’re just looking for great music, I’d recommend Tess Said So’s recent release, Scramble + Fate. Tess Said So is an Australian duo featuring One Piano Player (Rasa Daukus) and One Percussionist (Will Larsen) who “adapt a pop sensibility to a classical format.” The track “11-15” has their signature composed, classical foundation peppered with refreshing pop-ballad flavors. It’s not too simple and it’s not too complex. The opening calm, slowly moving piano melody breaks way into piano onstinatos splashed with percussion, progressively building with a concluding recap to the opening. I feel a sense of nostalgia, and a slower reflection on what was once the present. – Maggie Stapleton

Tune in to Second Inversion in the 12pm hour today to hear this recording.

Corey Dargel: “Removable Parts” from Someone Will Take Care of Me (New Amsterdam Records)

When you’re in a relationship, you have to make sacrifices—and sometimes you lose pieces of yourself in the process. If you’re Corey Dargel, those pieces are quite literal.

“Removable Parts” is the title of Corey Dargel’s 10-part art song cycle about amputation fetishism. Yes, you read that correctly. Each song reimagines the sacrifices made in relationships as actual physical bodily amputations, with Dargel’s vocals drifting sarcastically above sappy piano and toy piano melodies. It’s like a collection of satirical love songs—radical, fanatical, and unapologetically self-indulgent.

And honestly, that’s pretty in tune with the rest of Dargel’s compositional discography. He writes electronic art songs which draw from contemporary classical and pop music idioms, combining deadpan vocal delivery with pulpy lyrics and deceptively cheery chamber music accompaniment.

Maybe it’s just my weird sense of humor, but I think it’s hilarious and original. Corey Dargel may have lost all his limbs and extremities, but at least he’s still got personality. – Maggie Molloy

Tune in to Second Inversion in the 6pm hour today to hear an excerpt from this recording.

Second Inversion hosts and community members share a favorite selection from this Friday’s playlist and a few other gems, too. Tune in at the indicated times below on Friday, May 6 to hear these pieces. In the meantime, you’ll hear other great new and unusual music from all corners of the classical genre 24/7!

91TvJJNSA9L._SX522_ Michael Daugherty: Bizarro, feat Baltimore Symphony Orchestra & David Zinman (Argo Records)

“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… Superman? But why is he trying to kill us all?” Because that’s his doppelganger foe Bizarro, you Metropolis dummies! As the title suggests, this Michael Daugherty piece was inspired by Bizarro, an imperfect copy of Superman created by Lex Luthor’s Duplicator Ray. Bizarro’s musical world is chaotic in a mighty fun way! He WHAMs with the brash energy of rock and roll, POWs with the fun of big band jazz, and ZAPs through the city propelled by a swift tempo. – by Rachele Hales

Tune in to Second Inversion in the 8am hour today to hear an excerpt from this recording.

Corey Dargel: “Thirteen Near-Death Experiences” from Someone Will Take Care of Me (New Amsterdam Records)

a3457959849_16 Corey Dargel is not your typical singer-songwriter. He does not have long, flowing hair or wear stylish flannels. He does not write three-chord songs or charm teenage girls with his velvety singing voice—and you certainly will not find him in the corners of bourgeoisie coffee shops, huddled over an acoustic guitar and singing songs of lost love and lonely nights.

No, Corey Dargel prefers a much more eccentric musical existence. He creates electronic art songs which blur the line between contemporary classical and pop music idioms, combining deadpan vocal delivery with dark, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and deceptively cheery chamber music accompaniment.

For his ambitious 13-part art song cycle “Thirteen Near-Death Experiences,” Dargel teamed up with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), pianist Kathleen Supové, and drummer David T. Little to tell the story of a character who suffers from debilitating hypochondria. And trust me, the songs truly span the gamut. From migraines to manic depression, underage alcohol consumption to unhealthy effects of Ritalin, nightmares of lost teeth to a surprisingly erotic account of falling in love with a doctor—nothing is off limits.

Corey Dargel may have nearly died 13 times in the making of this album—but I, for one, am really glad he survived it. – Maggie Molloy

Tune in to Second Inversion in the 3pm hour today to hear an excerpt from this recording.

Edith Salmen: Wassermusik (Castigo Classic Recordings)

500x500 Starting off with several bangs, subversive drum rolls, and pitched cowbell sequences, German contemporary percussionist Edith Salmen opens her 2015 album Wassermusik with an energetic interpretation of Vyacheslav Artyomov’s Sonata Ricercata, or “Sonata Sought”. This is indeed an apt description for the entirely percussive piece, as the pedagogical principle of the sonata as a form requires both home and complementary keys, and thus challenges the listener to do away with their possible preconceptions. As the album progresses, Salmen alternates between five original pieces of Watermusic, all featuring a background of said element in different aural settings (rain-swelled river to leaking catacombs) with her own version of pieces by her contemporaries Peter Michael Hamel, Maciej Żółtowski, Viktor Suslin, and Hanna Kulenty. – Brendan Howe