Episode 400 of The Moderns goes up Sunday. Starting the new year off with such a satisfyingly round number has got me thinking about ways I can do a little house cleaning. I’ve opted for a more minimalist website design, as a start. The new logo features a crop of a capital M in the Braggadocio font — proving once more that my design skills come standard. You’ll hear a minor shift on Sunday’s podcast too. I’m moving from 30-minute to 60-minute sets. More music, less me. Something I think we can all get behind.
The big shift is the introduction of this newsletter, which will replace my Friday Five lists. It’ll feature one spotlight release, plus a listing of other notable new recordings. This will give me an opportunity to highlight more music, and get back to writing short album reviews.
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Stefan Christoff — Tonality in Motion
First up is a gorgeous collection of solo piano pieces by Montreal-based Stefan Christoff.
Christoff is a journalist and social activist, in addition to his work as a multimedia artist. His visual art and photography have been exhibited across Canada. And he has been producing solo and collaborative recordings since 2012.
His latest picks up where he and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter left off with In the wind now, an inspired, understated beauty. That 2024 release on Shimmering Moods Records deserved far more attention than it received.
This new solo disc comes from the same visit to Scholes Street Studio in Brooklyn, in August 2023.
“I felt strong strides of emotional intensity that would shift and bend within each track, Christoff writes in the album notes. “I was impacted by the ways that the sunlight was shining that day in the city.”
Christoff’s performance is warm and unhurried. There’s a quiet confidence in his playing that commands attention. Tonality in Motion has a timeless quality that’s in keeping with its personal setting. The work is not a reflection of our time, it is a documentation of what it feels like to live in a time like this.
Also new this week
Wil Bolton’s new one is Concrete Botany, an album based on field recordings made around his East London home — he likes to take what he describes as “psychogeographical walks.”
JP Hartnett’s new collection of improvised prepared piano was recorded this summer in South East London. There’s a complexity to his approach that makes this solo performance sound more like a duo recording. Wonderful.
M-PeX combines Portuguese guitar with piano and electronics on Dialugus.
Two new tracks from the deservedly celebrated Merzbow under the title Pendulum. Fierce as ever.
The taâlem label has produced its annual pay-what-you-like homework compilation. This one marks a decade of fascinating new-year collections. Wonderful stuff.
Kevin Press
The Moderns 