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Now Available Through AADL: 250+ Downloadable & Streaming Albums from Ghostly International & Spectral Sound

by mariah

For over a dozen years, record label Ghostly International has made Ann Arbor its home. Haven't heard of them? The Ann's piece highlighting them as a "hidden gem" will help get you up to speed.

Founded in 1999 in a dorm room by a then-UM student, Sam Valenti IV, the label has grown steadily in scope and size. Beginning with talented locally-based artists such as Matthew Dear and Dabrye, the Ghostly crew has expanded over the last decade-plus to include illustrious alumni and around a dozen currently active artists, including Shigeto, ADULT., and Tycho. A spin-off/related label -- Spectral Sound -- also emerged, and 100+ of their albums are also included in this special AADL collection.

As its roster of musical artists has grown, Ghostly has also maintained a careful, deliberate approach to the visual elements of each release (and to the aesthetic of the label as a whole), evident by their attention to cover design and frequent partnerships with companies that are beyond the imagination (aim) of many more traditional labels.

AADL is thrilled to partner with Ghostly to offer DRM-free downloads and streaming of 150+ Ghostly and 100+ Spectral Sound albums to all AADL cardholders. All you need is to have an AADL library card. Then, login with your linked AADL online account, and all of these tracks are yours for the listening!

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Wild Swan Theater: Under the African Sky

by annevm

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 1 pm, when Wild Swan Theater presents Under the African Sky in Towsley Auditorium. The other three performances already are sold out. The play is a humorous collection of well- known African tales including Why the Sky is Far Away, The Talking Vegetables and Tug-of-Vine. Performers will use acting, storytelling, and drumming, with instruments including a balaphone, a djembe, and a talking drum. The show is for children age 4 to third grade and there will be plenty of chances for audience participation.

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Performers

MLK Day Event: Biakuye Percussion Group

Monday January 20, 2014: 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Adults, Teens And Youth (Grade K And Up).

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The 780s - Music Books at AADL

by iralax

If music occupies a big room in your pleasure palace, then browsing the 780s at Ann Arbor District Library will provide great rewards. Whether you're looking for scores to practice or perform, biographies to explore, or genre histories to absorb, surfing aadl.org or browsing on the third floor at the Downtown Library or in the Youth Dept. will be the mother lode. Titles like French Baroque Music: From Beaujoyeulx to Rameau, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘N’ Roll, Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music, Cats of Any Color: Jazz, Black and White, Yiddish Folk Songs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues, Sabastian: A Book About Bach, The Mikado, or Teach Yourself Guitar, give you just a smattering of the wide selection. So visit aadl soon and find your musical bliss!

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Best New Music At AADL

by patrickpdunn

AADL is constantly adding to its diverse selection of new CDs. If you're seeking some great new tunes, consider the following must-hear material.

"The Electric Lady," Janelle Monae: The easiest way to categorize Janelle Monae's music would be "R&B," but the young singer-songwriter is far more versatile than that. As on her previous masterpiece, The Archandroid, she plays fast and loose with genres from funk to soul to rock to jazz...even a bit of baroque folk. Creating an android alter-ego for herself, she weaves bits of tongue-in-cheek sci-fi dialogue into the album, which plays like an hour of the funnest, funkiest radio you've ever heard. Featuring excellent guest artists from Prince to Erykah Badu. (Fun fact: if you haven't heard of Monae before, you've almost certainly heard her voice. She's featured on Fun's smash hit "We Are Young".)

"The Speed of Things," Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.: If you're seeking some locally-grown jams, look no further than the new record from Detroit indie-pop duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.. These guys seemed on the verge of major celebrity status with their previous record It's A Corporate World. While their latest isn't quite the big, radio-friendly push they need, it's still full of cheery, hooky, danceable tunes. (Just listen to "If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't On the Dancefloor)" and try NOT to spend the next hour humming that riff.)

"Dream River," Bill Callahan: Some may recognize Bill Callahan from his work under the name Smog, but he takes a more personal approach on this record, his fourth to be released under his own name. There's something fascinating, beautiful and a little spooky about Callahan's sparse, autumnal arrangements. You could describe the record's genre as "folk," but Callahan's whispery, often spoken lyrics are too unique to pin down to an established genre. Lie back and let Callahan's pensive lyrics and atmospheric arrangements wash over you.

Find more great new CDs here.

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Performers

Black History Month Concert: The Gratitude Steel Band

Monday February 10, 2014: 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Downtown Library Multi-Purpose Room
All Ages

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The country music world mourns the passing of Ray Price

by sernabad

The country music world mourns the passing of Ray Price

Ray Price, a giant in the country music scene for since 1951, died yesterday at his home in Mt. Pleasant, TX.

Price, a WWII vet (US Marine Corps), attended veterinary school for a brief time, singing in night clubs on the side. He was signed to Bullet Records, a Nashville-based record label. In 1951, Hank Williams called him out of the blue, inviting him to sing with Williams at the Grand Old Opry, thus cementing a lifelong friendship.

Five years later, Price revolutionized the sound of country music when he put an idea he'd had into play. He described it thus in a 1998 interview with The Washington Post: "We were having trouble getting a good clean bass sound. So instead of going with the standard 2/4 beat, I said, 'Let's try a 4/4 bass and a shuffle rhythm,' and it cut. It cut clean through."

He applied that technique to Crazy Arms and so was born the Ray Price Beat, and a skyrocketing career. Crazy Arms spent 20 weeks at No. 1.

Mr. Price's last album, Last of the Breed (2007), was a collaborative effort with Willie Nelson (whom Price discovered) and Merle Haggard. The album won a Grammy at the 50th Grammy awards in 2008.

Price's second revolutionary tweaking of the country sound was to add strings to his music. The resulting 'countrypolitan' sound was at first eschewed, and then widely copied, by all the great performers.

Ray Price was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966.

Mr. Price, who was 87, had been battling pancreatic cancer since late last year.

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Lou Reed, the heart and soul of the influential 60s band, The Velvet Underground, has died

by sernabad

Lou Reed, 71, one of the founders of the 60s band, the Velvet Underground, died today.

Reed was a trailblazing songwriter back in the 60s, unafraid to tackle topics that, back then, were considered a bit risque. He was especially poetic in his lyrics about sex and the drug culture. Openly bisexual, Reed wrote of his harrowing experience as a young teenager who was given electro-
The Velvet Underground only lasted a few years, but its influence gained momentum as it became a cult band of enormous impact in rock history. Fueling its prominence was the role of mentor that Andy Warhol adopted with the group.

Rolling Stone magazine labelled The Velvet Underground and Nico (1966) as the 13th most influential album of alll time. In 2004, Joe Harvard wrote a history of the band, using that same title.

The most commercially successful songs performed by the Velvet Underground were Rock and Roll and Sweet Jane, both of which can be heard on The Best of the Velvet Underground: Words and Music by Lou Reed.

In 1972, Reed peaked with Lou Reed:Transformer, which was co-produced by David Bowie and Mike Ronson.

At the time of this posting, the cause of Mr. Reed's death is unknown. He did undergo a liver transplant in the spring of this year.

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LISTEN!! Digital Music News: Ghostly International

by darla

YOU can access over 1,000 digital music albums directly through our AADL.org catalog. Stream or download as much as you like, DRM free, on any device you choose. No waiting for a copy. No due dates. Hooray!

Fans of local music unite! Music from Ann Arbor's independent record label Ghostly International has arrived at the library and is ready for you to download!

ELECTRONIC / POP / ROCK
Midwest Product: Floating Happily Somewhere Between Music Genres
Ann Arbor trio Midwest Product welds live instrumentation to crafty electronics for output that could easily be described as both cold machine funk and ionized indie-pop. Inspired by the industrial sheen of early New Order and the hyperbolic romance of Prince’s early material, Specifics is a debut album that references the group’s love for early electro styles, warm glitch, and atmospheric post-rock in equal parts. Recommended!

RAP / HIP HOP
Dabrye: Fractured Hip-Hop Production
Taking the next logical step in his evolutionary hip-hop album cycle, Dabrye rounded up a formidable crew of MCs to create Two/Three. A moody, propulsive take on the genre, the Blade Runner-esque beats help cage rhymes ranging from world events to the street, with little chance to catch your breath. The result is a dizzying narcotic rush stronger than a back alley glue hit. Five years after his meticulously sculpted debut One/Three, local artist Tadd Mullinix made yet another indelible mark with this hip-hop sound. Gritty singles “Air” and “Game Over” have thus far foretold the progression of the Dabrye sound, and in the full-length context these tracks fit together as pieces of an unstoppable manifesto.

ELECTRONIC / IDM / AMBIENT
Christopher Willits: Gentle Sound Clashes
Christopher Willits’ newest record on Ghostly International, 2010’s Tiger Flower Circle Sun, is his most technologically complex yet—it’s also his most organic, drifting skyward in a swell of ambient hums and subtle polyrhythms. On Tiger Flower Circle Sun, Christopher Willits takes his attention to craft further than ever before, using the language of ambient, dream-pop, experimental electronic, and afro-latin music to explore themes of love, connectivity, and universal vibrations. With Tiger Flower Circle Sun, Willits has created a diverse, effortlessly complex album of sublime beauty.

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September is Classical Music Month

by yugure

Fall is quickly approaching (officially September 22nd!), and soon the weather will turn crisp and cool. It is the perfect time of year to reflect on the beauty and timelessness of classical music. September is Classical Music Month, and AADL has an extensive collection of CDs with which to enjoy the season!

If complex, elaborate harmonic music is your thing, or you can't get enough of the harpsichord, check out the Baroque era (1600-1750) composers like Bach, Vivaldi, or Purcell. Want something a little simpler, delicate, and more melodic? That would be the Classical era (1750-1830) composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Paganini. Maybe you're looking for emotional, expressive, sometimes surprising music, in which case you'll want to search out the Romantic era (1830-1900) composers like Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, and Schubert. Or jump into the 20th Century and explore intense symphonies with composers like Mahler, mathematical music with Schoenberg, and jazzy rhythms with Gershwin.

Still not sure where to start? ClassicFM has a wonderful, easy to use online guide to the various music eras.

And of course, we have some great books to guide you as well. The Rough Guide to Classical Music, How to Listen to Great Music, 1001 Classic Music Albums You Must Hear Before You Die or The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century