Neshamah (album)
Neshamah (Songs from the Jewish Diaspora), (or simply Neshamah) is the title of the first solo recording by American guitarist Tim Sparks on the Tzadik Records label. "Neshamah" means "soul." The arrangements adapt Ashkenazic klezmer, Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jewish music for the solo guitar.
History
Sparks had sent a copy of his earlier CD Guitar Bazaar to avant-garde composer, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist John Zorn who liked the Bartok "Rumanian Dances" arrangements on that CD. Sparks had previously played a lot of Jewish music with various Jewish musicians and became adept in the Klezmer style. Zorn suggested the solo guitar adaptations of traditional Jewish songs. Sparks blended the songs with his background in jazz, Latin American, Balkan and American roots music.
Reception
In his Allmusic review, music critic Steven Lowey praised Neshamah writing "Sometimes the guitar transforms a piece into something different than it was originally... [Sparks] squeezes every ounce of melodic sophistication from a song's essence, resulting in a delightful and authentic display that while impressive is never overdone." In his review for Dirty Linen magazine, Jim Lee wrote "A truly groundbreaking project and one that also makes for refreshing listening. I'd recommend both to any fan of good music, be it guitar or otherwise." Critic Aaron Howard also praised the album, "The result is brilliant on many levels. Musically, Sparks is one of the better guitarists in the country, a musician's musician even if he remains largely unknown to a large audience. Think of Bill Frisell, Leo Kottke or Adrian Legg and that's the level that Sparks plays on."
Declaration
Declaration may refer to:
Music
Albums
Declaration (book)
Declaration was originally a self-published electronic pamphlet by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri on the Occupy movement that was released as a "Kindle single" in May 2012. The book explores the new democratic politics of organization, representation, and resistance that have been inaugurated by the movement. It has since been published in paper form by Argo-Navis.
An excerpt from the introduction was published in Jacobin magazine under the title "Take Up the Baton".
References
External links
From First to Last (album)
From First to Last is the self-titled third album by From First to Last, released on May 6, 2008. "Worlds Away" is the album's first single, which hit the radio on March 17. This is the first full-length album by the band without Sonny Moore as lead vocalist.
Background
The first song on the album to be released was "Two As One", through the band's MySpace in November 2007. On January 23, one of the songs from the new album, "We All Turn Back to Dust", was released exclusively through Billboard.com.
On February 12, From First to Last released an exclusive 2-song CD through Hot Topic which featured the songs "We All Turn Back to Dust" and "I Once Was Lost, But Now Am Profound" from the band's then-upcoming album, the former of which was also released through Billboard.com. This release coincided with a Hot Topic in-store performance in Novi, Michigan on February 13. A limited quantity of the exclusive CD was available at the 2008 Take Action Tour. The song information from "We All Turn Back to Dust" revealed that the album would have 11 tracks.
Podcasts:
