very short list
I'm a sucker for these daily newsletter thingamajigs. I currently receive one from Daily Candy, Ideal Bite, Yoga Journal, and my fast-growing favorite, Very Short List. (There are many more weekly newsletters I receive as well, but it takes great dedication and imagination to put something out every day.) At the risk of sounding arrogant, it's not all that easy to impress me with recommendations for cultural items, because I've usually read about them on someone's blog or this or that website or heard about them from this or that friend. Very Short List, however, discovers the coolest things I've never heard of. It was yesterday's recommendation that prompted this post.
No one would confuse the auditory barrage of a busy big-city street with, say, the ethereal strains of a madrigal choir. But if you’ve ever gazed wistfully from your office window, wishing that the ceaseless car alarm and pounding jackhammer and crazed sirens would turn into something more calming and melodic, this may be the classical-music CD for you.
The Cries of London performs a remarkable act of alchemy on a bustling 17th-century English thoroughfare, transforming the city’s bygone peddlers’ shouts into soothing, strangely beautiful baroque music. While Fretwork, a string ensemble, plays the music of period composers, the vocalists from Theatre of Voices sing out the sales pitches of the day (“Chimneysweep!” “Fine white salt!”), creating a sonic combination that’s as pleasurable as it is improbable.
Even if you’re agnostic on the subject of classical music, The Cries of London could be a welcome escape from a chaotic, disharmonious day. And you’ll never again hear a phrase like “I can kill vermin!” the same way.
WTF? Love it. Other recent recommendations of note include Billy Collins' poems-as-music-videos, the Athanasius Kircher Society website, Fanfare Ciocarlia's Queens and Kings, the monthly comic serial Scalped, this hilarious rap track from Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip, and Vice's documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad. I'll let the archives take you from here.
