From the intimacy of a solitary piano to the harmony of an ensemble or the mysterious alchemy forged in the studio where the analog is fused with the electronic, here is a selection of some especially memorable journeys in modern, neo & post classical music released during the past year.
Adrian Lane- All the Secrets All the Smiles
Info: https://oscarson.bandcamp.com/album/adrian-lane-all-the-secrets-all-the-smiles
Adrian Lane is a UK-based artist who creates instrumental neo-classical & ambient music along with abstract textural mixed media paintings many of which can be found on the cover of his albums as is the case with this lovely offering. Always one to work with a diverse instrumental palette, Adrian here uses piano, bowed instruments, and brass to perform a beautiful assortment of heartfelt melodies. This is a record full of simple and sublime pleasures steeped in wistful introspection.
All the Secrets All the Smiles was released May 3, 2024, on limited edition CD, vinyl LP, and digital by the Oscarson label.
Ava Rasti – The River
Info: https://avarasti.bandcamp.com/album/the-river
Iranian composer Ava Rasti conceived her deeply meditative album The River during an artist residency at Fabrica, a communications and research center based in Italy. In it Rasti explores connections between location and memory and how narration is affected by perspective and time – a concept she illustrates by paraphrasing the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “We never step in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and we are not the same human being”. The nearby Piave River offered a wellspring of inspiration for the music on the album as the composer gives consideration to the contrast between the peace and clarity she found there and its tumultuous, often violent history as the scene of major battles in both the 19th and 20th centuries. From a compositional perspective, the concept is implemented by taking fragments from famous classical pieces and replaying them over and over until they became unrecognizable. It is an ambitious project to say the least, but a deeply thought provoking one that succeeds not just on a cerebral level, but on an emotional one as well due to the human qualities with which it is imbued.
The River was released December 6, 2024, on limited edition vinyl LP and digital by FatCat Reocrds.
Blurstem – Ocelli
Info: https://blurstem.bandcamp.com/album/ocelli
An artist of many facets, Chris Bartels makes music of different kinds under a variety of aliases. The origin of his Blurstem project goes back to 2015 when he and his wife bought a house in which they found an old spinet piano that he made a connection with. While piano does feature in some of his other projects, for Blurstem he was inspired to create music that embodied the essence of this particular instrument, music that seeks to create an interplay between what he describes as “raw intimacy and moments of grandiosity and spaciousness”. Ocelli explores those ideas in a way that is very satisfying to listen to, drifting organically between pastoral ambiance and more dramatic moments that border on the cinematic.
With ‘Ocelli’, I wanted to delve into the tension between intimate, introspective moments and soundscapes juxtaposed with grand, expansive atmospheres. It’s about pushing the Blurstem project to new sonic and emotional frontiers.
Chris Bartels
Ocelli was released digitally on June 21, 2024 by Western Vinyl.
Brueder Selke – Stimmen in Prague
Info: https://oscarson.bandcamp.com/album/brueder-selke-stimmen-in-prague
A successor and compliment to the more intimate Belka & Strelka (2023), which was a studio crafted distillation of a show recorded in a Dresden jazz club, Stimmen in Prague is a virtually unabridged live recording of a concert by Breuder Selke in the Czech capital at the Palác Akropolis as part of the 2022 edition of the “Spectaculare” music festival. The album captures a live performance brimming with creative energy and propelled by a penchant for improvisation, something the brothers felt their audience could appreciate given their shared history of life shaped by the experience of state-prescribed socialism behind an Iron Curtain. Given the opportunity to use a more expansive set up, the performance features Sebastian’s Klingenthal cello and Daniel’s grand piano together with a wide palette of electronic modules, sound generators and other effects. All of this allowed for a vibrant and exhilarating interplay between the two poly-instrumental composers achieved through “listening to each other’s voices” which was preserved fantastically in the final mix by the mastering of Rafael Anton Irisarri.
Stimmen in Prague was released November 22, 2024, on CD, vinyl LP, and digital by the Oscarson label. Both the CD and LP come in either a standard or in handmade copper foil book cover editions. A corresponding one-hour concert film has also been released which captures both the live performances and insightful commentary by Sebastian & Daniel.
Danny Clay – No More Darkness, No More Night
Info: https://laaps.bandcamp.com/album/no-more-darkness-no-more-night
Danny Clay is an American composer and educator whose work really extends beyond music into games, puzzles, and other forms of discovery and improvisation. No More Darkness, No More Night is his second release on the Laaps imprint joining a pair of albums that appeared on other labels also curated by Mathias Van Eecloo, namely Stills (2016) which was actually the inaugural release on the loosely related IIKKI project, and Archive (2014) which came out on Eilean Rec. during its planned 100 album run. An artist and a label could hardly be more suited given Clay’s penchant for playful experimentation and the Laaps M.O. which follows a sort of ‘exquisite corpse’ motif in which the introductory track of each album must incorporate sounds from the closing track of its predecessor. Strings on the album are performed by the Friction Quartet accompanied by Clay’s unconventional but quite tender ministrations on the pedal steel leading them through a slow, out-of-time reverie that is as plaintive as it is meditative.
No More Darkness, No More Night was released March 28, 2024 on limited edition CD, vinyl LP, and digital by Laaps and features artwork by Anni Leppälä.
Francesca Guccione – The Geometry of Time
Info: https://linktr.ee/francescaguccione
While the concept of time is intrinsically bound to all music, only artists with a certain kind of vision can expand our perception of it through the sounds they create. One such artist is Francesca Guccione. A violinist who has performed in many cities around the world and a composer with a master’s degree in composition and film scoring, Guccione melds classical and electronic elements into highly evocative pieces of music that are both introspective and potently cinematic in equal measure. The Geometry of Time is her second full-length album, but the first for the Neue Meister imprint placing her alongside contemporary luminaries such as Federico Albanese, Sophia Jani, and Robot Koch.
The album is about how the passage of time is differently felt by each of us and in each track, I’ve tried to investigate the various forms it can have.
Francesca Guccione
The Geometry of Time was released October 19, 2024 on vinyl LP, CD, and digital by Neue Meister.
Glowworm – Harvest
Links: https://glowwormmusic.bandcamp.com/album/harvest
Glowworm is a project that features the music of guitarist Kevin Scott Davis and pianist & vocalist Asia Dojnikowska. Both musicians are classically trained, Dojnikowska having formally studied classical piano for 12 years in Poland, and Davis with a degree in music composition in America. Far from being an academic effort, however, “simple beauty” is what the duo aspires to create. At the heart of the album is the braiding of Davis’ guitar & synth layers and Dojnikowska’s piano and ethereal voice work into a delicate weave while additional depth & color are added in the form of string arrangements performed by Annasara Lundgren & Gerda Holmquist, Maciej Sadowski and Małgorzata Znarowska, and French horn parts by Gal Guttman. Add Matthew Kidd (Slow Meadow) at the mixing boards and the journeyman mastering of James Plotkin and the all the facets that make up this musical gem are complete
Harvest was released digitally on March 29, 2024, via Post Dog Productions.
Hania Rani – Nostalgia
Info: https://haniarani.bandcamp.com/album/nostalgia
Hania Rani’s Ghosts was the album that occupied this slot in our 2023 review and she appears here again in 2024 quite fittingly with this stellar live performance recorded with a string ensemble at an album release concert held in the Witold Lutosławski’s Concert Studio at the Polish Radio in Warsaw. As the album notes explain, this was more than just a simple concert. Hania considers it a celebration of a beloved space she considers an important part of her life both personally and professionally. As wonderful as her studio albums are, she truly shines as a live performer. Every track here is stunning from fiercely virtuosic excursions to the quietest tender notes. The CD and LP editions come with a special collection of photos she took of the studio after performance.
Nostalgia was released September 27, 2024, on limited edition vinyl 2xLP, CD, and digital by Gondwana Records.
Illuminine – Dear Piano #3
Info: https://illuminine.ferry.fan/dearpiano3
The third edition of piano-based interpretations of songs from Kevin Imbrechts’ Illuminine project is an especially lovely one. It brings together seven distinctive artists from around the globe including past collaborators such as Hideyuki Hashimoto, and Daigo Hanada as well as Mattia Vlad Morleo Martin Rott, Klangriket, Megan Perry Fisher, and Daniel Rosenholm. A real treat for lovers of dreamy, atmospheric, and beautiful piano music.
Dear, Piano #3 was released digitally in June 2024.
Jacob Pavek – NINA
Info: https://jacobpavek.bandcamp.com/album/nina
It was very nice to see Jacob Pavek return with his first studio album in over five years. Recorded at Midwestern Records in his hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota, NINA is described as “the cumulation of four years of both life’s harmony and strife, captured on piano”. As on opening track “Quiet Sun”, sometimes that dampened piano is the solitary instrument while on other tracks Pavek is joined by strings and voice. Of course, we should not be surprised at the depth and beauty on display – after all Pavek has previously opened shows for Jóhann Jóhannsson and composed an Emmy-nominated documentary soundtrack.
NINA was released digitally on June 14, 2024, by Midwestern Records.
Joep Beving & Maarten Vos – Vision of Contentment
Info: https://ltr.lnk.to/visionofcontentment
Vision of Contentment is the first collaboration between Dutch composer & pianist Joep Beving and Berlin-based producer and cellist Maarten Vos. Most of the album was recorded in the summer of 2023 in a shed hidden away in the forest outside Bilthoven, a small village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. Coinciding with the making of the record was the passing of Mark Brounen who was a friend to the two artists as well as being Beving’s manager and ultimately the album becomes a personal tribute as well as a somber reflection. It is one that goes beyond grief and sadness, however. Vos describes the music as “a sonic landscape that encourages imaginative exploration” while Beving hopes it will encourage “a search for harmony and understanding”. Perhaps most poignantly of all, the label describes the deeply felt music on the record as “ultimately full of love”.
Vision of Contentment was released July 19, 2024, on limited edition vinyl LP and digital by LEITER and features cover art by Alex Coma.
Julia Gjertsen – Shadow Light
Info: https://modernarecords.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-light
Julia Gjertsen is a pianist and composer who lives in Oslo, Norway and whose music is characterized by a delightfully inventive blend of electronics and ambient textures with layered piano melodies. In addition to commissioned work and collaborations with other artists, Julia has developed a body of solo work in the form of singles, EPs, and albums which often center on personal themes inspired from nature and a sense of place to states of mind and past memories. Shadow Light is an album she composed in the solitude of the Swedish forest and uses music to explore a wide array of themes which Julia tells us includes “rootlessness, war, shame, and our connection to nature, while also seeking moments of peace and presence amidst the trees, birds, and the interplay of light and shadows.“
Shadow Light was released June 18, 2024, on limited edition vinyl LP & digital by Moderna Records and features artwork by artwork by Ashlee Gillespie.
Klangriket & Sjors Mans – Origami Birds
Info: https://pianoandcoffeerecords.bandcamp.com/album/origami-birds
Sadako Sasaki was only 2 years old when the atom bomb fell on Hiroshima and though she sadly passed away at the age of 10, she is remembered today as a symbol of irrepressible hope and optimism, and it is in this light she serves as inspiration for this poignant record by Fabian Rosenberg (aka Klangriket) and Sjors Mans. The Origami Birds of the title are a reference to the many paper cranes young Sadako folded while in the hospital in the hope that she would get well according to the terms of a Japanese legend. The soundscapes the album comprises were developed via remote collaboration between the two musicians involving over 500 video calls over the course of a three-year period. Strong melodic themes and the repetition of poetic stanzas keeps the listening experience reassuringly pointed to true north while emotional depth and resonance comes in the form of contributions by Dan Berglund on bass along with a string quartet led by Daniel Migdal performing arrangements by Julia Nilsson. Origami Birds is a lovely album to be sure, but it is even more lovely as a reminder of the profound power of releasing beautiful things into the world, even in a world such as ours.
Origami Birds was released digitally on March 1, 2024, by piano and coffee records and features artwork and design by London-based illustrator Jordan Amy Lee.
Max Richter – In a Landscape
Info: https://maxrichter.lnk.to/InALandscapeID
The ninth solo album by acclaimed composer Max Richter is the first he has composed in the serene setting of his new studio in rural Oxfordshire. Following a series of intense conceptual projects, In a Landscape finds Richter recalibrating by turning inward to reflect on his own present as well as voices from the past that have been influences such as the music of Bach and Purcell and the poetry of Keats, Wordsworth and Anne Carson. The album was made with a comparatively modest palette of string quintet, grand piano, Hammond organ and MiniMoog along with tape delays, vocoders and reverbs with Richter using a deliberately minimalist approach that he defined for himself. That does not mean this is not a generous offering. At 19 tracks, it is still a monumental work, but it has a harmonious elegance borne of simplicity.
I’m always looking for ways to get to the essence of things, to get to the simplest version of everything.
In A Landscape was released September 6, 2024, on vinyl LP, CD, and digital by Decca Records.
Otto A. Totland – Exin
Info: https://ltr.lnk.to/Exin
Exin is the latest full-length solo album by Norwegian composer and self-taught pianist Otto A. Totland, also known for his work in ambient-classical-drone duo Deaf Center. His first on Nils Frahm’s LEITER imprint, the record follows a trilogy of albums released on Sonic Pieces that have garnered millions of streams, namely Pinô (2014), The Lost (2017), and Companion (2021). Fans of those albums, and of elegant solo piano music in general, will find much to love in this collection of 16 vignettes and miniatures. Impeccable as ever, Totland’s work remains just as the label describes it, both “emotionally eloquent” and “technically elegant”.
Exin was released June 14, 2024, on limited edition vinyl LP and digital by LEITER and feature cover artwork by Rune Warhuus.
Philip G. Anderson – What Makes Us
Info: https://philipganderson.bandcamp.com/album/what-makes-us
What Makes Us is the fourth full-length solo album by American composer Philip G. Anderson. He means it as nothing less than a look a look into “what makes us human, our connections, our voices, our artistic expressions” and as such it marks a departure from more intimate felted piano sound at the core of his previous works. Here the tones are exceptionally bright and expressive with the human element greatly enhanced by lyrics & vocals from Ohio-based singer/artist Willingness along with frequent collaborators Laura Masotto and Ardie Sun on strings.
In our current world of algorithmic driven content, playlist emphasis, and generative artificial intelligence, I fear we are losing sight of what makes human’s artistic expression special, and that true artistic expression is being lost and with it, a part of our humanity.
Philip G. Anderson
What Makes Us was released digitally on November 23, 2024, and features artwork & design by Philip himself.
Slowburner – Life Happens in the Interim
Info: https://slowburnermusic.bandcamp.com/album/life-happens-in-the-interim
Élvio Rodrigues returns with the first full-length album as Slowburner in five years and it will be both eye and ear-opening to listeners who may enjoyed Sunday Mornings are for Piano. With Life Happens in the Interim, he takes listeners on an uplifting, kaleidoscopic journey that is far more expansive. Introspective interludes on the piano are present here as well, but so are bass, drums, synths, electronics which are all treated with slick production to create music that matches the mood of the cosmic cover art. Exemplified in the music & video for the exhilarating showpiece “All the Possibilities of the Universe”, Élvio brings all these elements together to create an open-minded immersive mental space filled with music.
Life Happens in the Interim was released September 13, 2024, on limited edition vinyl LP and digital.
Sofi Paez – Silent Stories
Info: https://linktr.ee/sofipaezmusic
Sofi Paez is a pianist & composer born in San José, Costa Rica whose music is inspired by daily life and the nature that surrounds her and centers around a blending of piano and electronic textures with voice using both the Spanish and English language. The occasion of her debut full-length album coincides with her being chosen by none other than Ólafur Arnalds as the first signing for a new record label which is part of his new OPIA Community multidisciplinary initiative launched this year. Silent Stories is Sofi’s heartfelt personal narrative expressed in music and which she hopes can “create a space where others can find solace and understanding”.
Within each of us lies a unique story —a collection of inner struggles that we conceal, silent battles that can often go unnoticed. These challenges subtly infiltrate our lives, yet they never deter us from pressing forward. Somehow, we discover the resilience to continue, repeatedly finding the strength to keep on going.
Sofi Paez
Silent Stories was released June 11, 2024, on vinyl LP & digital by OPIA Community.
Taylor Deupree – Sti.ll
Info: https://taylordeupree.ffm.to/sti_ll.OYD
Sti.ll is the result of an ambitious multi-year collaboration between Taylor Deupree and arranger/producer Joseph Branciforte to completely reimagine Deupree’s seminal electronic album Stil. (2002) using only analog instruments such as clarinet, vibraphone, cello, double bass, flute, and percussion. The project required Branciforte to transcribe the exploratory and repetitive music of the original into notated which was then realized by an ensemble of notable New York based musicians (Madison Greenstone, Ben Monder, Laura Cocks, Christopher Gross, and Sam Minaie) alongside Branciforte and Deupree themselves. Its description as “landmark recording situated between the electronic and acoustic worlds” is spot on. Complementing the audio release is a hardcover book edition that includes reflections by the artists involved, Branciforte’s arrangements in full score, and studio photography by Deupree.
Sti.ll was released May 17, 2024, on orange vinyl 2xLP and digital by Greyfade and features cover art by Marcus Fischer. Readers may also enjoy checking out a recent interview with Taylor published here on the blog in October.
William Ryan Fritch – Adhesion
Info: https://williamryanfritch.bandcamp.com/album/adhesion
Based in Petaluma, California, William Ryan Fritch is an award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist who has composed the music for over 100 documentary and narrative films. As a recording artist and songwriter, he has released more than 30 albums many of which can be found on the wonderfully eclectic Lost Tribe Sound imprint. The latest of these, Adhesion, is the final installment in a trilogy of albums reflecting on global water crises affecting life on this planet. As those familiar with Fritch’s work well know, his use of instrumentation is incredibly creative and diverse. The primary instrument on the record was custom built for Fritch in 2022, a Cristal Baschet which is a unique kind of organ made of chromatically tuned glass rods which require the performer to play with wet fingertips. The inventiveness does not stop there as Fritch adds four complementary instruments – a cello with 12 foot metal springs attached from each string to a section of a piano soundboard, an analog ribbon synthesizer transduced through a chau gong, a tenor saxophone played directly in front of multiple wind gongs and aluminum resonators, and an upright bass using the multiple springs to attach to the head of a bass drum – all recorded with special mic’ing techniques that create as dramatic and volatile a soundscape as you are likely to have heard in recent memory.
Adhesion was released digitally on December 6, 2024, by Lost Tribe Sound and features artwork and design by R. Keane.
