Yann Tiersen – Ker al Loch (Four Ways) EP

Not a single in the traditional sense, Yann Tiersen’s Ker al Loch (Four Ways) is a contemplative solo piano work that fits in well with his back catalog of contemporary classical music and soundtrack work.  The gem of the EP for me was the track 11 5 18. 1 12. Continue Reading

Ahmed Essyad – Moroccan Electroacoustic Music

From the ever-magnificent Sub Rosa Label: “Composer Ahmed Essyad was born in Salé, Morocco, in 1938. After studying music at the Rabat Conservatoire (Morocco) he moved to Paris in 1962, where he became a student of Max Deutsch and, later, his assistant. Trained in the avant-garde practices of Western musical Continue Reading

Steve Layton – Introspection

Our dear friend Steve Layton’s latest work is a collection of minimalist music, including the first work, Gospodi pomiluj (Lord have mercy) which has a, dare I say it, holy feel to it.  I owe Steve a great debt for introducing me to many modern classical musicians through his website, Continue Reading

Alessandra Celletti – Stop Femicides

Femicide, like most other –cides, is a pernicious evil, and women suffer atrociously in parts of the world, but despite the provocative title, this album is more of a celebration of some rather amazing songs influenced by ladies, interpreted by our dear friend Alessandra Celletti.  Some of the covers were Continue Reading

Brooklyn Rider – The Wanderer: Live From Paliesius, Lithuania

Brooklyn Rider are one of America’s best contemporary classical music quartets and they simply don’t receive the exposure they so richly deserve.  In this album, the first six tracks are dedicated to modern composers like Osvaldo Golijov from Argentina and Gonzalo Grau, who hails from Venezuela.  Both come from a Continue Reading

Nick Sudnick – Opera of the Sixth Hour

Zga bandleader Nick Sudnick has been busy composing his Opera of the Hours series, and this installation might be his most creative yet.  It has the passion of Rock-In-Opposition with a touch of Frank Zappa’s general weirdness.  This is in keeping with what I remember of the old Soviet avant-garde Continue Reading

OpensoundOrchestra – String Quartets

Today, we have some fine contemporary classical music coming out of Russia.  Fancy Music usually deliver consistently good albums, and this one is no exception.  The Opensoundorchestra interpret the works of newer composers such as Nastasya Khrushcheva, Elmir Nizamov, Anatoly Palaev, Vladimir Kobekin, Vladimir Martynov and zhokhowski

Divertissement Сhamber Orchestra, Sergey Kuryokhin – Re:SEASONS

Sergey Kuryokhin was as fine a composer as he was an improvisor.  The Divertissement Orchestra, led by violinist Ilya Ioff, reinterprets one of Kuryokhin’s finest compositions from his album The Sparrow Oratorium.  Well-played, indeed. Alisa Ten: vocals [1, 2, 4] Vera Chekanova: vocals [2, 3, 4] Lidia Kovalenko: violin [1], Continue Reading