For the Record: April 26, 2024.
Fill your ears with excellent sounds from composer Robert Carl… plus dozens of listings for today's new arrivals and upcoming releases.
For the Record rounds up details about new and pending recordings of interest to the new-music community: contemporary classical music and jazz, electronic and electroacoustic music, and idioms for which no clever genre name has been coined, on CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital-only formats… you name it.
This list of release dates is culled from press releases, Amazon, Bandcamp, and other internet stores and sources, social-media posts, and online resources such as Discogs. Dates cited typically correspond to initial U.S. release, and are subject to change. (Links to Amazon, used when all else fails, do not imply endorsement.)
These listings are not comprehensive—nor could they be! To submit a forthcoming recording for consideration, email information to nightafternight@icloud.com.
All opinions expressed herein are solely my own, and do not express the views of any employer.
The lead-in.
It’s been a busy week and I’m pressed for time, so I’ll be brief: Robert Carl is a sensational composer whose music should be far more widely known, and Infinity Avenue, new today on the Neuma label, offers a healthy representative sampling of instantly appealing works, from solo guitar with processing to trombone tentet and onward to chamber orchestra with laptop.
The entire album is streaming free of charge on Neuma’s Bandcamp page, so you have no excuse not to dip in.
Also on Bandcamp are two earlier collections of Carl’s music, previously available on Innova. There’s Roundabout, for varying forces…
…and Shake the Tree, devoted to piano music.
If you enjoy Infinity Avenue – which you will – then by all means, keep on going.
A few more recent Neuma releases worth exploring:
Glass Farm Ensemble - Nieuw Amsterdam - compositions by Frederic Rzewski, Willy Burkhard, Henk De Vlieger, Yvonne Troxler, Elizabeth Hoffman, Louis Andriessen, and Edward Stämpfli
Bandwidth - Where Songs Go at Night - compositions by Annika Socolofsky, Ingrid Arauco, Hendrik Hofmeyr, Chelsea Komschlies, and Anna Weesner
Austin Oting Har - The World Between Worlds/Ataraxia - Laura Wachsmann, Jeremy Boulton, Jackson Tuynman
And some further don’t-miss releases from other labels today: Nick Dunston, Lainie Fefferman, Kenneth Kirschner, Tomeka Reid, James Romig.
New this week.
John Adams/Peter Sellars - Girls of the Golden West - Julia Bullock, Davóne Tines, Paul Appleby, Hye Jung Lee, Elliot Madore, Daniela Mack, Ryan McKinny, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic/John Adams (Nonesuch)
Akropolis Reed Quintet, Pascal Le Boeuf, Christian Euman - Are We Dreaming the Same Dream? (Bright Shiny Things)
Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin - Ghosted II (Drag City)
Robert Carl - Infinity Avenue - performances by Robert Carl, Matthew Russo, Matt Sargent, Robert Black with Large Furniture, Foot in the Door, Crane Percussion Ensemble, and others (Neuma)
Nick Dunston - COLLA VOCE (Out of Your Head)
Andrea Ermke - Walks (Sacred Realism)
Lainie Fefferman - Here I Am - performances by Lainie Fefferman, Charlotte Mundy, Meaghan Burke, Mellissa Hughes, Martha Cluver, Caroline Shaw, and Transit (New Focus)
Stacy Garrop - Terra Nostra - Michelle Areyzaga, Leah Dexter, Jesse Donner, David Govertsen, Uniting Voices, Northwestern University Chorale, Alice Millar Chapel Choir, Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra/Stephen Alltop (Çedille)
Carlo Giffoni - Dream Walker (Ideologic Organ)
Peter Gordon and Love of Life Orchestra - LOLO Tonic (Live at Tonic, New York, 2007) (Adjacent)
Andy Graydon - A Crepuscular Protocol (Rural Situationism)
Jules Archive - Platonic Tales (Hidden Harmony)
Kenneth Kirschner - Three Cellos - Christopher Gross (greyfade)
Julien Knowles - As Many, As One (Biophilia)
Christina Kubisch & Trondheim Voices - Stromsänger (Important)
Scott McLaughlin - we are environments for each other - Mira Benjamin, Zubin Kanga (Huddersfield Contemporary Records)
Nu Jazz - Live Jazz (self-released)
Rama Parwata - Ceases (Cassauna)
Bobby Previte - Pathways for Drum Set (Open World; limited edition physical release, no streaming)
Tomeka Reid Quartet - 3+3 (Cuneiform)
James Romig - Ring (Parallax Music Press)
Elif Yalvaç - Vection (Éliane Tapes)
Upcoming releases.
May 3
Kirsten Carey, Aaron Edgcomb - Mature Defense Mechanism (Relative Pitch)
Yedo Gibson - Conic Tube (Relative Pitch)
Maria Reich - INTERDEPENDENZEN (Relative Pitch)
Zosha Warpeha - silver dawn (Relative Pitch)
May 24
Melaine Dalibert - Eden/Fall (Ici d'ailleurs)
June 7
Altus - Mythos (Biophilia)
June 27
Fuubutsushi - meridians (Cached Media)
June 28
Kim Cass - Levs (Pi Recordings)
July 12
Mark Guiliana - MARK (Edition)
Summer 2024
Matt Mitchell Trio - Zealous Angels (Pi Recordings)
Find many more upcoming releases in For the Record: The Master List.
Photographs by Steve Smith, except where indicated.