Valgeir Sigurðsson – Kvika

Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurðsson is a classical composer who has developed into the country’s leading light in terms of modern classical music. From his Bandcamp site: “Valgeir has become a master of sound to get lost in. Through his layering of his collaborators’ instrumental and vocal parts and a nuanced Continue Reading

Adrian Copeland – If This Were My Body

Sublime.  There’s no other word for it.  If you enjoy modern classical music, especially by composers like Gorecki, Ligeti or Penderecki, Canadian composer Adrian Copeland has something here which will appeal to you, with long, mournful drones, sparse instrumentation, and a rough, melancholic feel to the tracks.  Track 4, Heir Continue Reading

Nyokabi Kariuki – Peace Places: Kenyan Memories

When I hear the words Avant-garde in relation to contemporary classical music, I think normally of some me composers who pull out old, clichéd tropes. This release from Kenyan composer Nyokabi Kariuki is so stunningly weird that the album has given itself the right to be termed Avant-garde correctly.

Jóhann Jóhannsson – Drone Mass

Though it’s been four years, the loss of Jóhann Jóhannsson due to an overdose has left a massive hole in contemporary classical music, drone, experimental music, post-rock and so many other genres his work touched on. This opus, performed by the legendary Paul Hillier and backed my ACME, is as Continue Reading

Nick Sudnick – Opera of the Fifteenth Hour

24 Rush Hours is a series done by Zga composer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Sudnick, and this is #15 of 24.  The two long pieces are a pastiche of art-rock (think Rock-In-Opposition like Art Bears or the composers Alfred ’23’Harth and Heiner Goebbels).  Add an element of Bertolt Brecht-like lyrics for Continue Reading

Midori Hirano – And I Am Here

According to Midori Hirano’s Bandcamp site, “this album was initially released on staaltape by Rinus Van Alebeek in 2015 as a very limited edition of cassette tape.” It’s a gem of experimental music because Hirano’s background blends a classical music, a commercial music background, and what would end up being Continue Reading

Chris Conway – When Pianos Dream

Though his bio on Bandcamp calls him a superlative jazz pianist, I would have to add that Chris Conway handles modern classical music with as much aplomb.  He has also worked with some stellar musicians, including Guy Barker, Andy Sheppard, Stan Sulzman, Martin Speake and the legendary Finnish sax player Continue Reading

Atli Örvarsson – Wolka

Iceland is one of those countries who seem to produce musicians at an incredible rate in comparison to the size of its population.  Atli Örvarsson is one of a handful of gifted soundtrack composers to hail from the island nation, and is the first one I can think of who Continue Reading