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Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Arts Alex Ross, Johnny Depp, Lex Luthor

Posted by JEN GRAVES on May 3 at 9:16 AM

When Alex Ross gave his iPod tour of 20th-century music at On the Boards Friday night, he had to condense the second half of the century, since he was allotted an hour to talk, and by the 90-minute mark, he was at 1954. The audience shuffled and wished for an intermission, and poor Ross had to seriously edit his late-century selections in order to avoid all-out mutiny. For those who felt that the likes of Nancarrow, Glass, Saariaho, and Ades got short shrift, or if you just want to know what you heard so you can check out more, Ross has posted the whole playlist (it covers 100 pieces!) on his blog.

Two other quick diversions this morning: the trailers for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (opening July 7) here and Superman Returns (opening June 30) here. Both of the trailers make the movies look great. Nice octopus captain! Nice bald Kevin Spacey Lex!

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1

Thank you!

I had been pissed off about the lack of a playlist on the feeble program thing they handed out, especially since most of those names would resist the tenderest ministrations of English phonetic spelling.

Also, I'm gratified to learn that he didn't intentionally leave out my homegirl Sofia Gubaidulina.

The lecture was so great that I may have to reconsider my hatred for the New Yorker (which I base, pettily enough, on the lameness of its poetry selections).

Posted by andrew b | May 3, 2006 9:42 AM

2

Ross was a boring speaker. His selections were smart up to the 1950s. The playlist has serious holes. Nothing by LaMonte Young who started minimalism? And come on, representing electronic music with 1950s stuff by Eimert and Cages' Williams Mix?

Posted by John Z | May 3, 2006 10:02 AM

3

It's spelled Lex Luthor, not Luther. That info may come in handy if you are ever stopped at a military checkpoint and required to prove that you are a real American.

Another proof would be to correctly answer who plays third base for the Yankees.

Posted by Slip Mahoney | May 3, 2006 11:56 AM

4

Okay, fine, you guys like The New Yorker's music critic. But when you put both the names Alex Ross and Lex Luthor in the headline, I think it is only fair that the post will be about the best artist ever to work for DC comics.

His work has been described as Norman Rockwell meets Jack Kirby. Check out www.alexrossart.com to see some brilliant superhero art. I love his Fred McMurray-looking Captain Marvel.

Posted by Lark Hawk | May 3, 2006 12:02 PM

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