Experimental
-
A pair of extraordinary 60-plus-minute works dropped last week. Like a lot of lengthy pieces, both are immersive listening experiences that are memorable for more than just their running time. The similarities end there however. It’s difficult to imagine two recordings, released on the same day, less alike than this pair. Florian Hecker’s Inspection II…
-
Full marks to The Helen Scarsdale Agency for its decision to celebrate release #50 with a 10-cassette package housed in this handsome wooden box. We’ve seen a number of labels celebrate landmark releases with compilations, collaborations and so forth. This one outdoes them all. The package features work by Alice Kemp, Fossil Aerosol Mining Project,…
-
The moment my daughter Grace was born, I was filled with a sense of my mother. It wasn’t that she was named for her, or that I’ve ever been a believer in reincarnation. Staring into her bright blue eyes and at her orange-brown hair for the first time, I felt as though a figure I’d…
-
Brooklyn’s Clarice Jensen has established an international reputation as an accomplished cellist, composer and collaborator. Her resume includes recordings and performances with a long list of heavyweights: Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter and Blonde Redhead among them. She’s also artistic director of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble. Drone Studies is her second solo release. As the…
-
Norway’s Guro Skumsnes Moe and Ole-Henrik Moe describe their new disc as their “first attempt to explore the musical possibilities in rather extreme registers.” It is certainly extreme, but rarely in the conventional loud-and-fast mode. Instead, The Noise Is Rest features more restful extremes than noisy ones. At various times, the disc sounds like a…
-
I received a note from Ludovica at Modern Matters, promoting a pair of new releases on the Nyege Nyege Tapes and Hakuna Kulala labels. I’ll return to both in a moment. First, I’d like to share something that’s been on my mind for some time. This (I hope) will explain why I often say no…
The Moderns 