The Palatine Building

The Palatine Building

Okay, so why isn’t Theo Bleckmann a rock star? Aside from the stuff he’s done under his own name, his contributions to Phil Kline’s Zippo Songs and the Bang on a Can triumvirate’s Carbon Copy Building make a really strong case for his status as pop-level icon. Yeah, I know I’ve got funny ears. But… Read more »

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NewMusicBox Staff

Okay, so why isn’t Theo Bleckmann a rock star? Aside from the stuff he’s done under his own name, his contributions to Phil Kline’s Zippo Songs and the Bang on a Can triumvirate’s Carbon Copy Building make a really strong case for his status as pop-level icon. Yeah, I know I’ve got funny ears. But forget you’re reading NewMusicBox and just listen to “The Palatine Building” by Michael Gordon, David Lang, and JuliaWolfe. It’s from their collectively composed “opera,” The Carbon Copy Building. (Each of them individually composed each of the sections but, like Lennon and McCartney, no one’s revealing who did what.) But forget all that. Couldn’t this song be a major hit? And if it couldn’t be, there’s something wrong with hits.

—FJO