I am almost entirely certain that Paul Griffiths is putting us on with this obituary for a one-hundred-four-year-old Maltese composer named Zalvader Ipako — the post is dated to the week ending April 1 — but experience has taught me to hedge my bets. When I first encountered the name Alexei Stanchinsky, on a 1998 recital program by Thomas Adès, I initially assumed that Adès had amused himself by inventing a fin-de-siècle Russian composer-madman, but it turned out that Stanchinsky actually existed, and was very interesting indeed. I have a sinking feeling, though, that we will never get to hear Ipako's satirical revue Lenine! or the Tosca Violin Concerto. — Alex
Playlist:
— Ben Frost, Theory of Machines (Bedroom Community)
— Evan Ziporyn, Frog's Eye (Cantaloupe)
— Andrew Shapiro, Quiet Kissing EP (Airbox)
— Chris Lastovicka, Fortune Has Turned (Ahari Press)
— R. Luke DuBois, Timelapse (Cantaloupe)
— Slow Six, Noreaster (New Albion, forthcoming)
