Mogwai As the Love Continues Rock Action/Temporary Residence Ltd. On February 26th, twenty-five years into their recording career, Mogwai hit #1 on the UK charts. The band’s two previous full length releases were in the Top 10 in the UK, but the success of As the Love Continues, their tenth album, is remarkable. Known forContinue reading “Mogwai – “As the Love Continues” (CD Review)”
Category Archives: Recordings
Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion (CD Review)
Caroline Shaw Sō Percussion, Dawn Upshaw, and Gilbert Kalish The Narrow Sea Nonesuch CD/DL Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion Let the Soil Play its Simple Part Nonesuch CD/DL The last live performance I saw before the pandemic hit New York was Caroline Shaw with Sō Percussion at Miller Theatre, which I wrote about for MusicalContinue reading “Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion (CD Review)”
Blue Gene Tyranny Boxed Set (CD Review)
“Blue” Gene Tyranny Degrees of Freedom Found Unseen Worlds 6XCD boxed set/digital Composer and pianist “Blue” Gene Tyranny passed away in December 2020 of complications due to diabetes. The boxed set Degrees of Freedom Found, a generous six-CD compilation of tracks from 1963-2019, was already in the works and contains liner notes by Tyranny. Thus,Continue reading “Blue Gene Tyranny Boxed Set (CD Review)”
Sergio Merce, “En lugar de pensar” (CD Review”
Sergio Merce En lugar de pensar (Instead of thinking) Wandelweiser CD “The name of the album is about this feeling that I have. I believe that playing music is a non-cerebral thought form; thought in the sense of being a channel to see, to reveal, a channel that opens through intuition, observation and attention butContinue reading “Sergio Merce, “En lugar de pensar” (CD Review””
Louis Andriessen on Nonesuch (CD Review)
Louis Andriessen The Only One Nora Fischer, soprano Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor Nonesuch Records Louis Andriessen is in poor health. The eighty-one year old composer finished his last work, May, in 2019. It received a belated premiere (sans audience due to the pandemic) in December 2020 by Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century andContinue reading “Louis Andriessen on Nonesuch (CD Review)”
Marco Stroppa on Kairos (CD Review)
Marco Stroppa Miniature Estrose – Primo Libro (1991-2003, revised 2009) Erik Bertsch, piano Kairos CD Pianist Erik Bertsch’s debut recording for Kairos is of composer Marco Stroppa’s most highly regarded piano works, the first book of Miniature Estrose. Bertsch was the first pianist to perform it in its entirety in Italy. The overall arch ofContinue reading “Marco Stroppa on Kairos (CD Review)”
Five Experimental Recordings
Five Experimental Recordings Anna Heflin The Redundancy of the Angelic: An Interluding Play Shannon Reilly, Emily Holden, violins; Anna Heflin: viola, voice, composer, writer Infrequent Seams cassette and download “I’m sitting on a galaxy. Stars and moons blanket the deep red spa chairs. I rest on constellations. Space itself supports me. Luna lifts me.” ThusContinue reading “Five Experimental Recordings”
Douglas Boyce: Hunt by Night (CD Review)
Douglas Boyce Hunt By Night: Chamber Works by Douglas Boyce counter)induction; Trio Cavatina; Beth Guterman Chu, viola; Schuyler Slack, cello, Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano New Focus CD In selecting the fifteenth century “L’Homme Arme” tune as the centerpiece for his quintet by the same name, composer Douglas Boyce demonstrates an affinity for connecting music of theContinue reading “Douglas Boyce: Hunt by Night (CD Review)”
Rhodri Davies – Transversal Time
Rhodri Davies Transversal Time Ryoko Akama: electronics Rhodri Davies: pedal harp, electric harp Sarah Hughes: zither Sofia Jernberg: vocals Pia Palme: contrabass recorder Adam Parkinson: programming Lucy Railton: cello Pat Thomas: piano, electronics Dafne Vicente-Sandoval: bassoon Confront Recordings Co-commissioned by Huddersfield Festival, Chapter, and Counterflows Multi-instrumentalist Rhodri Davies created the piece Transversal Time in 2017.Continue reading “Rhodri Davies – Transversal Time”
Artist of the Year – Igor Levit
2020 Artist of the Year – Igor Levit I was fortunate last year to hear pianist Igor Levit’s US debut, where he played a Beethoven concerto with an ebullient demeanor that was truly stirring. He has remained a touchstone artist for me throughout the pandemic. Levit has been generous in sharing mini-recitals via his TwitterContinue reading “Artist of the Year – Igor Levit”
