Tag Archives: WPRB

Fri 4/12: Serenade to a Cuckoo hosts Dr. Anthony Branker

Just in case you were feeling particularly confident about your accomplishments, we thought we’d introduce you to Dr. Anthony Branker–a composer, arranger, jazz educator, conductor, bandleader and scholar.

Dr. Branker will be hosted on Jerry Gordon’s Serenade to a Cuckoo on Friday, April 12, 12PM to 2PM.

He’ll be spinning jazz CDs, talking about his career, and discussing the award-winning jazz program he heads at Princeton.

Dr. Branker just released his newest album, Uppity, on March 19th.

He composed his last album, Blessings, during a residency in Estonia, and was described by John Barron in 2009′s All About Jaz z as music with a “…strong rhythmic foundation, with Afro-Cuban inspired grooves and solo sections over energetic vamps…With a unique combination of depth and accessibility, Branker is able to put forth a jazz perspective steeped in soulful optimism.”

For more information on Dr. Branker, go to his website http://www.anthonybranker.com/

Jim Diamond: WPRB has lost one of our own

A note from Tobias, to express the feelings of all of us at WPRB:

Rabbi Jim Diamond

I owe my twelve-year career as a classical music announcer to Jim Diamond. For almost twenty years, I listened to WPRB and wondered if I could be an announcer. Then, in 2001, I heard a familiar voice on the air. Jim was announcing a classical music program. I asked him if I could watch him produce a show. He was very welcoming, and two weeks later, I started creating shows on my own.

Jim had a wonderful radio voice. You always felt that he could actually see his listeners, because he talked directly to them.

He was also Rabbi Jim Diamond, Hillel director of the Center for Jewish Life at Princeton, for nine years. In that role, he was a fine manager, teacher, and a voice of just morality.

He had a full life until this morning, when he was struck and killed in a senseless auto accident.

Rabbi Jim Diamond: you were only 74 years old. We mourn our loss.

Corsican Protest Music

I have a new obsession: Corsican protest music.

Wait! I know. It sounds a little ridiculous. But just listen to this song:

Right? Right?

Now imagine thousands of men and women—dishwashers and cleaning ladies and plumbers—walking down the Champs Elysees in Paris and singing this together.

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Why? Basically, the island of Corsica is an island off of France that belongs to France, and there was a big push for independence in the 80’s and 90’s (which continues today, but with less singing). For a more in depth treatment of the history of the situation, you can check out this relatively detailed article, but here’s a simple version:

When French colonialism became less of a force, it left a lot of Corsicans without work, and the island started to fall apart economically. This started a big regionalistic movement, in which Corsicans really began to push for recognition of their unique culture and language, both of which were jeopardized by the economic situation.

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Norwegian Arms visit WPRB

Norwegian Arms

Norwegian Arms, a jangly folksy trio from Philly, recently came down to WPRB to record a session.

With their mandolin, drumsticks, and synthesizer in hand, Brendan Mulvihill, Eric Slick, and Andy Molholt, respectively, rocked out in our basement—ascending to shrill heights in their rendition of Kiva Ikva.

They shared “fun facts” and some great music with us, and now we’re sharing all of that with you! Check out our recording of their time here, and be sure to check them out on the internetzzz.

Also: they’ll be performing at PhilaMOCA on March 8^th; and they released an album earlier this year, Wolf Like a Stray Dog, inspired by Brendan’s time in the wilds of Siberia. Listen to it.

Visuals: Sigur Ros’s Valtari Mystery Film Experiment Dissected

A WPRB Blog series by Nathan, WPRB Blog Staffer

Banner of Sigur Ros’s Project website

I love the visual components that accompany songs or groups – from music videos to posters to album covers. In this series, I’ll be working my way through the artwork that comes along with your music.

I want to start with Sigur Ros’ Valtari Mystery Film Experiment.

The project tries to separate the video-making process from the artists’ visions. In their words, “the idea is to bypass the usual artistic approval process and allow people utmost creative freedom.”
(Of course, Sigur Ros chooses artists good enough to make sure that the films are all of the same ilk.) Continue reading →

Staff Recommendation: Upcoming Albums

Chantelle, our favorite WPRB staffer, came up with a lovely list of upcoming albums for you all to keep an eye out for:

Artist	Album	Release Date
James Blake	Overgrown	April 8, 2013
Darwin Deez	Songs For Imaginative People	February 11, 2013
The Strokes	Comedown Machine	March 26, 2013
Born Ruffians	Birthmarks	April 16, 2013
Phoenix	Bankrupt!	April 22, 2013
Vampire Weekend	Modern Vampires of the City	May 6, 2013

Happy listening, friends.

5 Podcasts Worth Listening To

I’m a semi-obsessive podcast devotee, so figured I would suggest some great podcasts just floating around on the internet. I practiced restraint and avoided all the main NPR suspects but tried to avoid going too esoteric. So here is a mix of very different sorts of things:

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History
Non-fiction – History – Avg. Length ~2 hours – Updates sporadically

Dan Carlin’s brand of history is a mix of sweeping overviews of cause and effect, detailed backstories, and lots of gory tid-bits. He covers everything from Ancient Rome to the Mongol Empire to the 1950s, and does a fantastic job of suggesting historical parallels to present day situations. The show is worth it if only for his quotations—he likes to read out sources in a dramatic and booming voice before lapsing into a more gruff analytical tone.

Decode DC
Non-Fiction – Politics – Avg. Length 15-20m – Updates sporadically

In Decode DC, Andrea Seabrook tries to give us the stories no one is covering—more in depth, behind-the-scenes pieces that explore the backdrop and backstory of any given headline. She helps put events and decisions into context, and avoids the distracting daily theatrical details.

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Archive: 1956 One Hundred Hour Marathon

You’re listening to clips from the 100 hour marathon co-hosted by WPRB’s Program Director Paul Dunn ’58 and Head Announcer Dick Morgan ’58 back in 1956.

Dunn says: “We had done many two-man shows and decided that a publicity-creating broadcast was necessary to tell the world that WPRB was back on the air after its then-permitted summer hiatus.”

The broadcast began at noon the Friday, September 14th, and finished, one hundred hours later, on Tuesday at 4.

There are some real gems in here, including some funky Bulgarian jazz and about twenty minutes of ‘echo chamber’ tomfoolery. The piece also features a bunch of clips from Dunn’s ’57 Sunday evening show, “Paul’s Place”.

If you have any old tapes or air checks from way-back-when, get in touch! We’d love to hear them. Email pnp@wprb.com.

WPRB Philly Field Trip with Purity Ring and WKDU

You guys! PRB staffers took an awesome trip down to Philadelphia to see Purity Ring and Young Magic, and to visit our new friends down at WKDU.

If you haven’t heard WKDU, you are missing out. They’re an awesome station based out of Drexel University in Philadelphia. We swung by to meet them and check out their amazing space.

Some WKDU Highlights

For reals though, WKDU’s ceiling is the site of all-out plastic soldier warfare and it is unreal.

We had dinner at Llama’s Tooth– 1033 Spring Garden. I swear I am not making this up.

And then PURITY RING at Union Transfer.

Screen Shot 2013-01-30 at 1.06.55 AM It’s a really great venue with open ceiling and solid acoustics, and we got really great sound because we were in the front.

Young Magic came on at around nine. They were emotional–slightly depressing–but people were pretty into it and they had an interesting trip-hop mixed with dub step situation going on.

And Purity Ring was really great. The set was short and sweet with all the necessaries– Fireshrines, Ungirthed and Lofticries (People freaked out for Lofticries. It was the best.) They also had some great remixes and a surprising and fun Solja Boy cover.

The light show was entertaining too. They had these fibrous cocoon lamps (and or slash dinosaur eggs, spider larvae–we were pretty split on this one) dangling over the stage lighting up in time with the music. Also, they were playing this onion lamp drum kit thing. The lamps lit up every time he hit them and it meshed really well with the electronic sound.

The point is: we had a really great evening. Giant shout out to the trustees for supporting board development through the Jeff A Meyers fund, to Julia Factorial for getting us in touch with KDU and to Jake, Caroline and Matt for being so friendly. You make PRB great.

LISTEN: Teri Noel Towe’s Thanksgiving Day Philadelphia Orchestra special

For a limited time, we’re offering a streaming archive of Teri Noel Towe’s 12-hour Philadelphia Orchestra special. This program originally aired on Thanksgiving Day of 2012. Use the player below to stream the program, which is divided into two segments. Click through for a complete playlist and Teri’s notes for the program.

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