Still Life with Commentator

2007 studio album by Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd

Still Life with Commentator

Studio album by

Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd

Released| March 6, 2007 (2007-03-06)
Recorded|

* March 26–27, 2006
* June 17, 2006

Studio|

* Hotel Neutor, Salzburg
* Listen, New York

Genre| Jazz
Length| 65:35
Label| Savoy Jazz
Producer|

* Vijay Iyer
* Mike Ladd
* Scotty Hard

Vijay Iyer chronology
| Raw Materials
(2006)  | Still Life with Commentator
(2007)  | Tragicomic
(2008)

|
|

Still Life with Commentator is a collaborative studio album by American jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and American hip hop musician Mike Ladd. It was released on Savoy Jazz in 2007.

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
All About Jazz| [1]
AllMusic| [2]
Tom Hull| A–[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings| [4]

Lyn Horton of All About Jazz gave the album 5 out of 5 stars, commenting that "This work illuminates the perils within contemporary global society from the standpoint of the media and information blitz."[1] Sean Westergaard of AllMusic gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, describing it as "a dense, thought-provoking piece that takes some effort to internalize."[2] Mike Shanley of JazzTimes wrote, "This disc exists in a musical Bermuda Triangle that conjoins jazz, electronica and that mutant, undefined style of pop music created by the likes of Björk."[5]

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Infogee Rhapsody"| 4:17
2.| "Edward L. Bernays Flies the Hindenburg"| 2:33
3.| "Been There Done That"| 7:59
4.| "Cleaning Up the Mess"| 5:13
5.| "Lake Aaron (Commentator Landscape #1: Aaron Brown)"| 3:02
6.| "Jon Stewart on Crossfire"| 3:22
7.| "Shep's Brook (Commentator Landscape #2: Shepard Smith)"| 3:04
8.| "Riding on the Intro Graphics to Cable News"| 4:09
9.| "Man Channel"| 4:11
10.| "Fox 'n' Friends"| 0:30
11.| "Holocaust Blog"| 5:33
12.| "Cybernut Bucolia"| 3:59
13.| "Mount Rather (Commentator Landscape #3: Dan Rather)"| 4:28
14.| "Latex Thumbs Up"| 3:24
15.| "Redemption Chant"| 2:06
16.| "Blog Mom's Anthem"| 2:52
17.| "The Last Atrocity"| 4:51

## Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from liner notes.

* Vijay Iyer – piano, synthesizer
* Mike Ladd – vocals, production, liner notes, photography
* Guillermo E. Brown – vocals, electronic percussion
* Pálína Jónsdóttir – vocals
* Masayasu Nakanishi – vocals
* Liberty Ellman – guitar
* Okkyung Lee – cello
* Pamela Z – vocals, electronic processing, translation
* Scotty Hard – production

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Horton, Lyn (April 8, 2007). "Vijay Iyer And Mike Ladd: Still Life With Commentator". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
2. ^ a b Westergaard, Sean. "Still Life with Commentator - Vijay Iyer, Mike Ladd". AllMusic. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
3. ^ Hull, Tom. "Tom Hull: Grade List: Vijay Iyer". tomhull.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
4. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 752\. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
5. ^ Shanley, Mike (June 1, 2007). "Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd: Still Life With Commentator". JazzTimes. Retrieved January 13, 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Still Life with Commentator at Discogs

* v
* t
* e

Vijay Iyer

Albums|

* Memorophilia
* Architextures
* Panoptic Modes
* Your Life Flashes
* In What Language?
* Blood Sutra
* Simulated Progress
* Reimagining
* Raw Materials
* Still Life with Commentator
* Tragicomic
* Door
* Tirtha
* Historicity
* Solo
* Accelerando
* Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project
* Mutations
* Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi
* Break Stuff
* A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke
* Far from Over
* The Transitory Poems

* v
* t
* e

Mike Ladd

Studio albums|

* Easy Listening 4 Armageddon (1997)
* Welcome to the Afterfuture (2000)
* In What Language? (2003)
* Nostalgialator (2004)
* Negrophilia: The Album (2005)
* Father Divine (2005)
* Still Life with Commentator (2007)
* Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project (2013)

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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