classical
New Music: Max Richter – ‘AD ASTRA’ soundtrack
A sci-fi thriller set in the future, AD ASTRA stars Brad Pitt as an elite astronaut who travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and …
Album Review : Steve Reich’s ‘Pulse/Quartet’
Steve Reich is the kind of musical figure that lives within several different worlds. He began in tape experimentations, looping, and sound phasing while making social and political statements in the mid-60s. His piece “Come Out” is a dizzying and hallucinogenic piece of sound manipulation that also served as a voice for the civil rights …
Track: Echo Collective – Pyramid Song
Echo Collective, the multi-faceted Belgian collective who have worked with some of the most important players in modern composition, have released their first album Echo Collective Plays Amnesiac on !K7 While this is a beautiful and fresh approach to Radiohead’s classic album, it’s hard to say how the die hard fans will react to it. …
See: Poppy Ackyord releases new video for ‘Paper’
On her recent album Resolve, her first for One Little Indian, post-classical composer Poppy Ackroyd stepped away from using manipulated field recordings, instead using prepared instruments – paper over the piano strings one of her ideas, to create something rather unique. Its a deeply personal album to her, saying in her own words “Resolve is …
Album Review: Anna Von Hausswolff – Dead Magic
Not magic, but Dead Magic is what Gothenburg born musician has focused on in her new (fourth) album, out tomorrow (2nd March) via City Slang. The title suggests the paradox chosen by Anna von Hausswolff – opening the doors to disturbance and anxiety,the idea that somehow things which created such wonder and imagination are dying, …
News: Erased Tapes to re-release Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s final album Union Cafe
To mark the 20th year since his untimely passing, Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s mainstay Simon Jeffes son, Arthur, who carries on his fathers legacy under the name Penguin Cafe, has colluded with the brilliant Erased Tapes label to re-release the PCO’s final studio album ‘Union Cafe’ on December 1st, including a vinyl edition, the first time …
Album Review: Christine Ott – Only Silence Remains
Christine Ott is french composer, pianist and ondist……..a what? well a Ondes Martenot is an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot with which she has played for opéras and bands such as Yann Tiersen, Radiohead, Tindersticks or Oiseaux-Tempête. ‘Only Silence Remains’ is her second album and is a blend of Modern-classical, Cinematic and Contemporary music. …
Festival Review: London Contemporary Music Festival
Spreading a festival over seven murky London nights is an ambitious move. Not only is it near-impossible to attend every single event, but one also gets an overbearing sense that the programme will wear itself thin over the week. Not so. Even though some work photographed better than it sounded and certain performances engaged the …