Category: other-music

Monty Adkins – Borderlands

‘Borderlands’ is an extended meditation for multitracked cellos recorded by cellist William Mace. The composition ‘comprises of six interludes and six extended panels, each comprising twenty-eight short melodic fragments. Each panel uses the same fragments to form new melodies and harmonies.” – but for the listener it feels – and can be enjoyed – as one single uninterrupted piece.
A piece in which every single detail has its place, a piece that conveys that everything is as it should be. A very, very comforting piece.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir – Aerial

Right from the opening track it’s obvious that “Aerial” is something else, almost beyond comparision!
It took me some time to grow accustomed to this album. It requires some dedicated listening, on the right moment.
But ultimately, the raw beauty of the distictive textural palette grabbed me, and didn’t let go.
Only to leave me wondering why I had not heard of Anna Thorvaldsdottir before.

Bad Sector – Kosmodrom

Bad Sector’s “Kosmodrom” was originally released in 2005 but sold out within a few months. It is dedicated to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (Russian pioneer of astronautic theory), and shows this dedication by including original Soviet sound devices (like the Aelita synthesizer and the electro-optical ANS), mixed with space mission dialogues and fragments from transmissions of the mysterious spy channel (‘numbers’) radio stations.

Dedicated to all Soviet/Russian cosmonauts – and also recommended to all wannabe astronauts that enjoy drifting away into outer space (while not leaving home)!

Various Artists – Touched Two

Charity compilations come in all forms & sizes, but “Touched Two” is one of truly megalomaniac proportions. I really don’t know where to begin here. This “review” is the very first I ever write without having listened to the album at least a few times. How can anyone éver review a 255 track compilation that presents over 22 hours of music?

John Luther Adams – Become Ocean

“Become Ocean” was inspired by the oceans of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, and the references to the endless oceanic movement are clear from the very beginning. Like there are different ways to look at the ocean’s movement, there are also are different ways to listen to this piece: you can just ‘follow the larger structure’, but you can also focus on the multitude of details underneath it..

“It may be the loveliest apocalypse in musical history” – Alex Ross, The New Yorker

Max Richter; J. Peter Schwalm: Transformed & Recomposed

Throughout musical history, composers have always taken fragments of other composers’ work and used them to re-compose completely new compositions. Before “electricity”, their choice of instruments was ‘limited’ to that of the classical orchestra settings. And now time has passed, they all sound ‘classical’ to contemporary ears.
But when contemporary composers – especially from ‘rock’ or experimental field – reworks classical compositions, incorporating electronic media – hell breaks loose in purist camps on both sides.

At least, that’s how it used to be – some years ago. It seems things have changed a bit since we’re more accustomed to the culture of ‘sampling’.