Hardscrabble Songs

Hardscrabble Songs

One of my favorite moments of musical glee, San Francisco-style—no, not smoking pot with my professors—was a gig where clarinetist Matt Ingalls paired up with laptop renaissance man Tim Perkis. Absent was that familiar chime of the Mac OS software powering up, and the ritualized moistening of reeds. Instead, both musicians played violins, by the… Read more »

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NewMusicBox Staff

One of my favorite moments of musical glee, San Francisco-style—no, not smoking pot with my professors—was a gig where clarinetist Matt Ingalls paired up with laptop renaissance man Tim Perkis. Absent was that familiar chime of the Mac OS software powering up, and the ritualized moistening of reeds. Instead, both musicians played violins, by the sound of things maybe for the first time in their entire life. Malcolm Goldstein isn’t afraid to sound just as ugly, but his approach is hardly so nihilistic. Goldstein’s ability to approach his instrument from equal parts naïveté and virtuosity only widens his sonic vista. He morphs from 7-year-old to 70-year-old in a blink of an eye. Keeping up with his shape shifting is part of the fun. Hmm. Is there a possible violin trio in our future?

—RN