Tal Rosenberg, Reader digital content editor
Ricardo Villalobos on CD I was surprised to see a year-end post by critic Simon Reynolds ranking Villalobos’s latest, Dependent and Happy, as his third-favorite album of the year. On another blog of his, he explained that he rediscovered the Chilean-German minimal-techno producer and DJ in 2012; as a longtime fan, I was intrigued by Reynolds’s assertion that Villalobos’s albums sound way better on CD than as MP3s. At Gramophone I found a copy of 2004’s Thé au Harem d’Archimede—20 bucks for the stupid import, but worth it. Villalobos’s music is glitchy techno with pinholes poked in it, through which chirps and clicks and tiny pops seem to leak—and his attention to detail is much more apparent on CD.
Blair Milton, Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist, assistant professor of violin at Northwestern University
Winter Chamber Music Festival I’m currently in the middle of this year’s Winter Chamber Music Festival, a series I started at Northwestern several years ago. It consists of six (this year seven) concerts over three weekends in January at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston. Musicians come from far and wide to participate. It’s a yearlong endeavor to find the mixture of music—old and new, familiar and not—that will interest our audience, as well as the musicians who will bring it to life. We’re about halfway through the series now, with four concerts to go. Planning for next season is well under way, with some really great people and music already lined up.
Catherine Russell I’ve always been a huge fan of jazz and blues, and my music collection is full of Ella, Billie, Etta, Aretha. . . . I recently discovered Catherine Russell and was blown away by her powerful sound and smooth melodic craftsmanship. She has an exquisite voice and plays with phrasing in the most delightful, effortless way. I heard her live for the first time this fall, and it was one of the most wonderful concerts I’ve ever attended.
