Newsletter

A collection of 206 posts

Newsletter

“Artistically, I’m not worried”

Music and technology have always shared a symbiotic – nearly every instrument beyond the most basic stems from human ingenuity, designed to create intriguing sounds or simplify the act of playing. One could say that the digital audio workstation (DAW) stands as the most advanced instrument: a piece of software that

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The Future in the 70s

Last Saturday, we went to the MoMA for a short visit. Without specific plans, we ended up spending our time in a small exhibition about the Nagakin Capsule Tower, a 13-story mixed-use building built in Tokyo in 1972. Each unit of the building was a "capsule,” a small space

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“Keep moving in the right direction”

It is a widespread consensus that the music industry is broken, maybe beyond repair. However, that has not deterred artists from creating music more than ever, as it is both fun and rewarding, regardless of how many people listen or how much money is made. For that reason, I loved

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Record Store Days

On Avenue A in the East Village of New York, there used to be a small record store, Etherea, in the 2000s. We often popped in there, sometimes late at night, and spontaneously bought CDs. In the windows, they displayed posters for new records — mainly CDs at that time, not

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Where Have the Night Owls Gone?

Elke and I have long decided that the day is more precious than the promise of a long night, so we are usually in bed early. But last Saturday we made an exception for Neggy Gemmy, who celebrated the release of her new album She Comes From Nowhere at Brooklyn&

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Enjoy the Summer Heat

Last Friday was the astronomical beginning of summer, and the weather in the Northeast complied with scorching temperatures. Today, we’re just coming out of a heatwave that saw the hottest day in New York City in over a decade. I don’t recall specific memories of the thermometer hitting

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Where Great Things Start

A decade ago, Brooklyn’s Broadway felt like a “here be dragons” zone to us: gritty, unfamiliar, and shrouded in the eternal twilight cast by the elevated subway. Just off Myrtle Avenue, Palisades made its mark — a true DIY venue that, in its early days, sold beer straight from a

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Let’s Go to a Show!

Last week, we attended three live shows in three days - something we haven't done during a work week in an incredibly long time. We previously reported on the stunning show by The Kooks at the Pier 17 rooftop last week. It was followed by Canadian art-pop musician

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Brutal Beauty

On Sunday, we did a walk through the Upper East Side to discover brutalist architecture in New York. Elke conducted some research on the web and with ChatGPT after we visited the Barbican Estate in London. The Barbican is a city within a city complex built in the 1960s and

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London and New York City

After a week full of music, we thought we could wind down a bit. But no: we received a surprise invitation to a Midge Ure show in Midtown Manhattan. Midge may not be a household name, but he should be. As the lead singer of the British 80s synth-pop band

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Sun, Seagulls, and Lots of Music

After SXSW, Iceland Airwaves, and The New Colossus, The Great Escape in Brighton was the fourth showcase festival we attended (or sixth if you count the defunct NYC events CMJ and Northside), and it might have been the best! For once, Brighton is a beautiful seaside city, and if you

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The Past and the Future

We are now in Brighton and immersing ourselves in contemporary indie music. But before that, we were invited to a different kind of festival, the Sanremo Italian Song Festival. Not the original, which takes place every year in Liguria, Italy, but to a showcase of its "newcomers" at

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Let's Go See Some New Music!

Next week we will finally go to Brighton, England, for The Great Escape Festival. This marks the first out-of-town festival since the pandemic, so we are super excited. We are looking forward to discovering new artists – most of the lineup is new to us – and seeing a few old favorites,

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Luxurious Sounds

Last Sunday, Apple Music recommended the 1995 Oasis album What’s the Story (Morning Glory)?, and I thought, why not? A couple of songs in, the doorbell rang. There stood a neighbor, whom we had previously seen only sparingly and in passing, who congratulated us on the excellent music! We

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We Are Fans

Last Saturday, we watched a bit of Coachella live on YouTube, which turned out to be a genuinely enjoyable experience. You can switch between several channels that show the performances live on their various stages. We didn’t know about this, though, and will plan better next year to catch

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Music Sparks Memories

The other night, we played “glamglare radio” on Apple Music—an algorithmic playlist based on our listening habits. Curiously, it served up some of our favorite songs from the ’90s. How did Apple Music know? Obviously, it did not exist during that time. However, I used our shared “Ruby” account,

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Ten Years

This Saturday, we celebrate ten years of glamglare. That means ten years of Song Pick of the Day features or roughly 3,650 individual songs. The dates and numbers are not exact because what is glamglare today has evolved since 2001 when we started a weekly blog called NY Discovery,

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Do You Like Biopics?

While Elke and I are not particularly big Bob Dylan fans, we were excited about the movie A Complete Unknown. Much of the story takes place in the Greenwich Village of New York, a place we know well (even though it was filmed in Hoboken, New Jersey). We also like

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Robins, Daffodils, and Printemps

Astronomically, spring has arrived. On the same day, the French department store chain Printemps (French for ‘spring’) opened a branch on Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The store is gorgeous (see photos below). The interior is inspired by the art deco style of One Wall Street, the super luxury apartment turned

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What Happens in Austin?

Last weekend, SXSW wrapped in Austin, TX. We were not there physically, but we could get a sense of the spirit through the posts of musicians we already know and those we met last week at the New Colossus Festival. Everybody seemed to have a blast, so the news that

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A Feast in Orange

Twenty years ago, we celebrated The Gates at Central Park. This massive installation by the late artist couple Christo and Jean-Claude was a celebration and a welcomed and celebrated boost in post-September 11 New York. In 2005, many of our friends from different corners of the world traveled to the

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Real and Immediate

The New Colossus Festival is in full swing on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It started on Tuesday, but the best is yet to come, including a massive all-day Sunday lineup. If you are in NYC, consider going! Daytime shows are free, so you can enjoy lots of music without

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Savor the Moment

On our first morning in Lisbon, we bought bread from a bakery across the street. They had a small table with two chairs next to the door to enjoy a casual coffee. When we entered the shop, a young woman sat there, eating a snack of pasteis sabores, little cakes

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Music for Hope

Elke and I went for a walk to the World Trade Center this Monday to shop, so we experienced the Sing For Hope Piano, which happens every Monday and Thursday. I often commute through this space, so I’m familiar with it, but for Elke, it was the first time.

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Great and Little Escapes

The Great Escape in Brighton has released another batch of 100 performing artists, and – no surprise – we know only a few artists and are seriously excited about Hachiku. This means we need to devote some listening time to our festival preparation. To get this started, we also include some discoveries