I will forever praise Leo Feigin, the courageous figure who introduced me to new post-Soviet music. My first purchase from his renowned Leo Records was the album that introduced me to Sergey Kuryokhin, Russia’s most radical pianist and multi-instrumentalist. Kuryokhin impressed musicians traveling there and later collaborated with several Americans, Continue Reading
Contemporary Classical
Wim Mertens & Glenn Branca – Belly Of An Architect (Original Soundtrack)
For no other reason than having a good memory about the great Wim Mertens and the late Glenn Branca, I present you this minimalist classic soundtrack, one of Mertens’ best works.
Valgeir Sigurðsson – Architecture of Loss
Going through my archives, I came across a release from 2012 by an Icelandic composer named Valgeir Sigurðsson. I remembered that this was one of the first purchases I made on Bandcamp. 16,481 releases later, I can still come back to this release, a quite experimental one.
Jeff Gburek – Rounded Sleep (for Eliane Radigue)
Perhaps the most important contemporary experimental musician, Éliane Radigue, has passed away. Jeff Gburek offers a wonderful tribute in her honor. Words fail at the moment.
The Genius Orthodox Composer You’ve Never Heard Of – Sir John Tavener
Time is precious these days, so there won’t be a post today. Instead, I’d like to share an article about the late Sir John Tavener. He was a composer who gained the attention of the Beatles but later turned away from avant-garde music to embrace Orthodox hymnody, focusing on creating Continue Reading
Antonio Russek, Raúl Pavón, Roberto Morales, Vicente Rojo Cama – Música Electroacústica Mexicana
Although the price for the download is somewhat steep at around $40, the single track by Antonio Russek included in this compilation, released by Aurora Central Records, is an excellent example of Mexican electroacoustic music—a genre that often flies under the radar and doesn’t receive much attention.
Éliane Radigue – Asymptote Versatile
This performance marks the debut of this work at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. From Soundohm: “Asymptote Versatile sows the seeds of Radigue’s exploration of long durational forms, bridging a 50-year gap between the school of composers she met in 1960s New York and her 2011-onwards OCCAM OCEAN series, where she Continue Reading
Avram & Dumitrescu – Performed by Hyperion Ensemble – Sacrum et Profanum
Ana-Maria Avram and Iancu Dumitrescu were a husband-and-wife duo renowned in the spectralism genre. Avram passed away suddenly in 2017, but her body of work continues to be performed regularly and is well-documented, as evidenced by this release. Dumitrescu remains active as a composer and, from the latest recordings I Continue Reading
Duo Noire – Night Triptych
Thomas Flippin and Christopher Mallett are Duo Noire, who perform astounding guitar duets. From their Bandcamp site: “Duo Noire’s playing throughout is virtuosic, sensitive, and calibrated beautifully to the style of each work. “Night Triptych” contributes an hour’s worth of important new music into the repertoire, presenting works that will Continue Reading
Colin Stetson – SORROW – a reimagining of Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony
There is something about the contrabass clarinet that is achingly sad to hear. American-Canadian composer Colin Stetson has an already impressive body of work, but his interpretation of Henryk Górecki’s most iconic composition is something else to behold. As he states on his Bandcamp site: “The concept was simple, and Continue Reading