The Tonearm

Today, the Spotlight shines On James McKeown, the Bristol, UK-based artist who releases music under the name Hawksmoor .  James first created Hawksmoor five years ago, inspired by the six 18th-century churches in London designed by architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Described as ‘English Baroque’ in style, these buildings are large, foreboding, and even Gothic in nature. Imagine the music inspired...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Diana Pasulka , religious studies professor and the author of two books I have really enjoyed in the last few years: 2019’s American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology and Encounters: Experiences with Non-Human Intelligences , released in November 2023. As Diana points out in her work and in our discussion, religious studies is not about the veracity of any particula...

Today, the Spotlight shines On downtempo electronic music godfather and Thievery Corporation co-founder Eric Hilton . Eric joined us a few weeks after the September release of Corazón Kintsugi, his album with longtime Thievery vocal collaborator Natalia Clavier . Eric produced, arranged, and played the majority of the instruments on the 9-track album, which fuses elements of dub, trip-hop, Bossa n...

Today, the Spotlight shines On saxophonist and composer Javon Jackson .  Javon sat with us in early October to talk about his film score for the art-world documentary With Peter Bradley , music which came out back in June 2023 on the saxophonist's Solid Jackson Records. Peter Bradley has had a 50-year career as an abstract artist, but one that saw him getting little acclaim until the last few...

Today, the Spotlight shines On freelance journalist and author Tea Krulos . Tea wrote two books that I enjoyed this year: Heroes in the Night: Inside the Real Life Superhero Movement from 2013 and 2020’s American Madness: The Story of the Phantom Patriot and How Conspiracy Theories Hijacked American Consciousness.  Both of those works take the reader deep into parts of contemporary American s...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Danish saxophonist, composer, and best-selling author Benjamin Koppel . Benjamin joined us to discuss his July 2023 release Perspective , the latest work from KCB Collective , a trio that, in addition to Koppel, includes Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums. It looks great on paper and sounds even better. Benjamin is the grandson of Danish classical composer...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Kerry O’Brien and William Robin , co-authors of the book On Minimalism: Documenting a Musical Movement from University of California Press. Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley and LaMonte Young are stereotypically described as the “Big Four” of minimalism in music. While On Minimalism does nothing to undermine or belittle their pioneering and important contributio...

Today, the Spotlight shines On drummer and sound artist Simon Berz .  The impetus for our conversation was the release of Simon’s collaboration with American bassist and sonic wizard Bill Laswell and the Japanese avant garde trumpeter Toshinori Kondo . While Kondo passed away in October of 2020, this work, Breath versus Beats , was not released until August 2023. Simon is a prolific artist ac...

Today, the Spotlight shines On author, entrepreneur, and teacher Seth Godin .  I recently watched an interview with Seth wherein he was describing a discussion he had with someone asking him for career advice and he remarked, “I was not always Seth Godin”. For some of us, that is hard to believe. While his thinking and teachings have, of course, grown and expanded over the years, it seems lik...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Chhom Nimol and Ethan Holtzman , vocalist and keyboardist, respectively, of the band Dengue Fever .  This episode is a little bit different. Dengue Fever was in the midst of a run of shows up the West Coast of the US in support of their new record Ting Mong , which is on my shortlist for Album of the Year. Their team suggested I meet the band in person instead o...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Gabriel Kennedy , the author of the forthcoming biography Chapel Perilous: The Life and Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson , which hits shelves in February 2024 from Strange Attractor/ MIT Pres s.  The subject of that book, Robert Anton Wilson , wrote 35 books and over 1,500 published articles. His more well-known works include The Illuminatus! Trilogy , co-a...

Today, the Spotlight shines On award-winning violinist and composer Aline Homzy . Aline joins us on the occasion of the release of her first solo record, Éclipse , which is also the debut album with her group ‘ Aline’s étoile magique ’.  Aline is known as one of Canada’s finest jazz violinists. Her music has been performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Swedish guitarist Mikko Hilden, and...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Cat Henry , the Brooklyn, NY-based Executive Director for Live Music Society , a philanthropic foundation whose mission is to recognize and protect small music venues and listening rooms across the U.S. so that live music remains accessible to all.  Before LMS, Cat served as Vice President, Concerts & Touring, for Jazz at Lincoln Center and is currently cura...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Joe Mills , a musician and producer who performs under the name ‘ Aver ’ in the Berlin-based band Move 78 . Move 78’s music sits at the intersection of improvised jazz and programmed hip-hop. Their music is crafted from hours of studio improvisations that have been chopped-up, rearranged, and layered with live instrumentation provided by the band members. In this cha...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Steven Milne , singer, songwriter, keyboardist and vocalist in the Aberdeen, Scotland-based band The Little Kicks . The Little Kicks make sophisticated pop music, with three of the members providing vocal harmonies, over songs with enticing guitar hooks, and featuring the seductive sound of analogue synthesizers. The band is still supporting their most recent record,...

Today, the Spotlight shines On EMBER , a trio featuring saxophonist and trumpeter Caleb Wheeler Curtis, bassist Noah Garabedian and drummer Vincent Sperrazza. Their latest album, August in March , came out August 11, 2023 on Imani Records and is “a vivid representation of the musical, interpersonal and community-oriented ideas that the three forward-thinking musicians that make up EMBER…care deepl...

Today, the Spotlight is On singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Pete Josef . The impetus for Pete’s visit was a series of tracks that he has been dropping throughout the Spring and Summer of 2023 - one of which, “ Utopia ”, you can listen to at the end of this episode. Before we got to his new music, we discussed Pete’s musical upbringing, his connection to classic soul “message music”, a...

Today, the Spotlight is On international award-winning harpist and composer, Kirsten Agresta Copely . Kirsten, who is known for her charismatic, telegenic presence on stage, is also the go-to harpist for pop artists including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Enya, The Roots, Lady Gaga, and many others.  Kirsten joins Spotlight On to talk about her recently released New Age album, Aquamarine , w...

Today, the Spotlight is On Gabriel Jacob Luansing, who produces music under the name mr. master .  For over six years, Gabriel has been working on an ever-expanding experimental hip-hop project called ‘ ultra ,’ which, as of this recording, currently spans 138 songs, clocking over six hours of music.  ‘ultra’ is a project meant to be dived deep into, and we do, discussing the intention a...

Spotlight On producer and editor Michael Donaldson and host Lawrence Peryer communicate constantly throughout the research and production of each episode, but they rarely actually speak in person. So when Michael suggested they spend time catching up to discuss some topics of shared interest, the pair decided to press ‘record’ and share their discussion with listeners.  The two had a freewhee...

The Spotlight shines On guitarist and banjoist Brandon Seabrook , hot off the release of his new album brutalovechamp on Pyroclastic Records . Brandon is known for pushing his music past the far reaches of the extreme, fusing elements from punk, jazz, pop, and metal. His music has been called “abrasive” and “angular”, with an intense focus on virtuosity. brutalovechamp covers new ground.  Wit...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Peter Kruder and Roberto Di Gioia , who join us to talk about their new but long-gestating duo project, “ -------- ”.   Viennese artist, producer and DJ Peter Kruder is one of the legendary figures in electronic music, known for his pioneering work as a member of Kruder & Dorfmeister . Kruder & Dorfmeister, named after Peter and collaborator Richard...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Dan Mackta , Managing Director of North America and Northern Europe for the high-resolution music service, Qobuz .  We get pitched constantly by publicists to have their music business clients on as guests. Long-time listeners have noticed that we host fewer of those types of discussion than in the past but when we do, we aim to feature only the most interesting...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Vermont-based saxophonist, composer and arranger Brian McCarthy . Brian joins us on the occasion of his most recent project, AFTER|LIFE released back in late May, just a few days after we recorded this talk.  AFTER|LIFE is the second album of Brian’s in the nonet format as well as the second to be brought to fruition through support from the Vermont Community Fo...

Today, the Spotlight shines On David Rodriguez , Executive Vice President and Executive Producer at NJPAC - the New Jersey Performing Arts Center .  David works in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and has led a fascinating life in the performing arts. He was a full-time musician on the road with groups ranging from Isaac Hayes to Tito Puente to the Rochester Philharmonic. He studied at Jui...