The vocoder—part military technology, part musical instrument—has had quite a history. In our new Object of Interest video, we explore the vocoder in settings ranging from the Second World War to Kraftwerk parties, featuring interviews with Laurie Anderson, Cozmo D, Dave Tompkins, and Frank Gentges.
Nate Lavey is a video producer in New York.
More:Kraftwerk
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Goings On
Kim Gordon Is at the Peak of Her Powers
Also: Adventurous shows at Carnegie Hall, “The Effect” at the Shed, and more.
Musical Events
The Escher Quartet and Igor Levit Test Musical Limits
The chamber ensemble played all six of Bartók’s string quartets, and the pianist played devilishly difficult transcriptions of symphonic scores by Mahler and Beethoven.
By Alex Ross
The Political Scene Podcast
Judith Butler on the Global Backlash to L.G.B.T.Q. Rights
The philosopher popularized new ideas about gender—and has been burned in effigy for it. They talk with David Remnick about their new book, “Who’s Afraid of Gender?”