The Daily Pitcher: NYC

M and I were in New York last week. I tagged along for a couple of shows she was attending. Show #1 was Bell Orchestre and Clogs trading pieces with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The show was called "Shuffle Mode." A lot of interesting juxtapositions and contrasts, but not a great flow from band to band to orchestra. I'd have liked to see the orchestra more involved with the bands, instead of trading off between the three ensembles the whole night. Definitely a concept with a lot of possibilities.

But we did get to to meet Glen Hansard (he of The Frames, The Swell Season, and the 2008 Best Song Oscar) after the show. He's an absolute sweetheart. I asked him what he was doing in New York, and he said, "Finishing up a record." A Frames record? "Yeah... well, a Swell Season record. It started as a folk record, and it turned into a rock record." Of course, if I had any journalistic instincts whatsoever I would have asked for a clarification. Then again, I was wishing the Snilch was there to extend the conversation--he's the guy who hipped me to the Frames, and if there's anyone who could keep a conversation like that going, it would be him. Nonetheless, it was brilliant meeting Glen and chatting with him, however briefly.

Show #2, with Final Fantasy and Grizzly Bear performing sets with the Brooklyn Phil, was brilliant. Great arrangements for both acts by Nico Muhly.

The other highlight was lunching with Richard, a friend and former intern of M's. He works for Philip Glass--yes, that Philip Glass--and gave us a tour of his space. Koyaanisqatsi is one of my favorite films, so actually seeing Glass's handwritten score for it--even though it's about as intelligible to me as reading, say, Japanese--was an unexpected surprise. (So was finding out that Glass scored an Altoids commercial. Hey, a guy's gotta make a living, right?)

Since I didn't really have an opportunity to get the Daily Pitchers up, let's play catchup: