Bruno Bavota Finds Calm in a Crazy World with ‘For Apartments: Songs & Loops’
Italian composer Bruno Bavota’s pandemic-related fear and anxiety morph into bursts of creativity on his terrific new album For Apartments: Songs & Loops.
modern classical
‘Underground London’ Dazzles with Its Scope and Anti-Establishment Music
Cherry Red issues a gargantuan collection of anti-establishment music associated with the 1960s London counterculture, a movement which challenged the norms and conventions of mainstream society by drinking from the well of psychedelia, free jazz, Beat poetry, musique concrete, electronics, and minimalism.
Erik Hall Is One Musician Taking on Steve Reich’s ‘Music for 18 Musicians’
Erik Hall painstakingly and effectively recreates Steve Reich's minimalist classic, Music for 18 Musicians, with three instruments in his Michigan home studio.
Melodic Improvisation Fuels Paul Haslinger’s ‘Exit Ghost’
Ex-Tangerine Dream and classically-trained pianist Paul Haslinger frees himself from 20 years of composing for television and film and looks inward for inspiration on his latest atmospheric journey through dreamlike soundscapes.
yMusic Explore ‘Ecstatic Science’
Ecstatic Science, the fourth album by modern ensemble yMusic, provides a satisfying snapshot of contemporary classical music in 2020.
Graham Reynolds’ Concerto About the Fervor of Invention Gets New Lease on Life (album stream)
Graham Reynolds' The Difference Engine: A Triple Concerto is available on vinyl for the first time with remixes from remixes: DJ Spooky, Octopus Project, and Demian Galvez.
Less Bells Explore the Mystique of Joshua Tree on ‘Solifuge’
Multi-instrumentalist Julie Carpenter a.k.a Less Bells unveils her new project with Solifuge, a record of controlled experimentalism, serene atmospherics and great depth.
The Durutti Column’s ‘Without Mercy’ Gets the Expansive Reissue Treatment
A forgotten classic or a pretentious misstep? Durutti Column's Vini Reilly doesn't like Without Mercy, but he just might be wrong.
Luke Cissell Is Joyfully All Over the Map with ‘Thinking/Feeling’
Musical polymath and classical composer Luke Cissell releases another album that's impossible to categorize but very easy to love.
20 Questions: Kaada
From quirky pop to classically-affected modern compositions, John Erik Kaada has returned with his first solo album in nine years, so wants to do what any regarded musician would: talk about Homer Simpson and Norwegian environmental policies.
Jean-Michel Blais Takes Things into His Own Hand(s) on ‘Dans Ma Main’
Jean-Michel Blais manages to transform simple motifs into weightless complex structures into (as Paul Simon noted in a different context) "angels in the architecture".
Ketil Bjørnstad’s Beautiful Ode to Solitary Travel
Pianist Ketil Bjørnstad, singer Anneli Drecker, and poet Lars Saabye Christensen have created an unassuming masterpiece with A Suite of Poems.
