The TANK Center for Sonic Arts Find a New Way to Interpret Beethoven
National Sawdust Ensemble’s work on Slow Beethoven recasts Beethoven’s Opus 131 as something wholly new, recasting it as a contemporary classical dirge.
contemporary classical
The Nuanced History Eluvium’s Many Clockwork Fables
Ambient maestro Matthew Robert Cooper (Eluvium) is two decades into his career, and on his latest LP, overcomes surprising obstacles physical and geographical.
Erik Hall Creates Minimalist Compositions with Warm Beauty on ‘Canto Ostinato’
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Erik Hall shares his second installment of a trilogy with a tribute to Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt on Canto Ostinato.
Faten Kanaan Revels in Ever-Molting Textures on ‘Afterpoem’
Faten Kanaan’s musical molting feels more organic than the repetition in Steve Reich or Philip Glass; her music doesn’t rely on an unwavering framework for effect.
Stephanie Lamprea Creates a Fearless Interpretation of an Avant-Garde Song Cycle
Colombian-American soprano Stephanie Lamprea brings a spectacular amount of vocal technique to a challenging, unique, and weirdly playful piece of music.
Anne H. Goldberg-Baldwin Interprets Bespoke 21st-Century Compositions on ‘Permutations’
Composer Anne H. Goldberg-Baldwin tackles 15 contemporary pieces for solo piano on her deeply felt and surprisingly varied album, Permutations.
Phillip Golub Gives Processed-Based Composition an Uncommon Warmth on ‘Filters’
Approached as neo-classical minimalist jazz, Filters is a triumphant solo debut from Phillip Golub and another fascinating album from greyfade.
Greg Davis Dives Into Compositional Properties of Prime Numbers with ‘New Primes’
On New Primes, Vermont experimentalist Greg Davis explores process-based composition, with a little help from a record label that revels in the concept.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith Plays Seriously and Seriously Plays on ‘Let’s Turn It Into Sound’
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has created a mirror of our tumultuous modern world in Let’s Turn It Into Sound where we can see our faults and boundless possibilities.
Nancy Mounir Mines Music from Egypt’s Past to Write Its Profound Musical Future
Sampling recordings over a century old, Egyptian composer Nancy Mounir delivers an album where the past and present converse to help write the future.
Kajsa Magnarsson and Marta Forsberg Make Eccentric Sound Art on ‘Kompisitioner’
Kajsa Magnarsson and Marta Forsberg entertain the more adventurous listener with their variegated worlds of sonic experimentation and this thoughtful exploit into high-concept sound art.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Brian Chase Joins Pianist/Composer Anthony Coleman for ‘Arcades’
Anthony Coleman and Brian Chase’s Arcades is a celebration of sound, sound reacting to sound, and the effect of two musicians constantly upping the ante.