Get your new music groove on Friday at Orion Sound Studios with Newspeak
For fans of the outer limits of the contemporary music scene, especially Mobtown Modern regulars, I think you'll want to check out Newspeak, an eight-piece ensemble making its Baltimore debut Friday as part of the Progressive Rock Showcases at Orion Sound Studios (2903 Whittington Ave # C; 410-206-1801).
Directed by composer David T. Little and clarinetist Eileen Mack, the group takes its name from a term in Orwell’s "1984" (didn't we just hear a lot of "newspeak" during the midterm elections?).
In a way that may remind you of Missy Mazzoli's group that appeared recently on the Mobtown series, Newspeak treads simultaneously through rock band and classical chamber ensemble waters. Little's own description has Newspeak "forged in the fires of Black Sabbath and Louis Andriessen, Dead Kennedys and Frederic Rzewski." That's rather evocative, wouldn't you say?
The group's Baltimore visit is part of a tour promoting its debut album from super-cool New Amsterdam Records, "On sweet light crude." Here's a video teaser:
