A striking blend of orchestral and goth music, this album is a slow-burner that is equal parts heart wrenching, sexy, and meditative.
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“William Brittelle – Spiritual America – Wye Oak, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Metropolis Ensemble/Andrew Cyr (New Amsterdam/Nonesuch; due May 3, 2019)”
“Wye Oak, The Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and Metropolis Ensemble join together to perform a song-cycle written by composer William Brittelle, and a Wye Oak piece reimagined by Brittelle, on Spiritual America, due out May 3 via Nonesuch. The first single from the project, “Forbidden Colors,” places Jenn Wasner’s vocals over a multilayered chamber orchestra piece.”
For this world is too ___ for you, Emily Wells works in the space between art-pop and neoclassical chamber music using electronic and acoustic instruments and hip-hop production in elegant layers to support her singular and dramatic vocals.
Emily Wells’ This World Is Too ____ For You is a gorgeous orchestration of how “too much” we can feel the world, life, or a person is within our sphere.
Discovering Well’s music feels like finding Narnia on Spotify. I keep returning to the trove of music trying to unpack all the little bits all the while worried that I’m going to miss the larger picture.
“Violinist, singer, composer and producer Emily Wells confirms the release of her forthcoming album.”
William Brittelle’s Spiritual America has drawn from classical music, punk rock, and electronica to produce music that is at once free-ranging and a thrill to experience.
Mr. Dorman lets his Baroque influence run wild. The works are concise three-movement forms in the standard configuration, but he has not entirely removed the rhythmic complexities that drive his other works.
Mr. Kaplan played “New Dances of the League of David,” a 60-minute suite that incorporates new miniatures by this 21st-century band of composers into Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze,” a project commissioned by Lyrica Chamber Music and Metropolis Ensemble.
Nina Simone's creepy-while-somehow-soothing voice is a perfect paint for the canvas that the string-heavy beat provides.
The angular melody, dissonant background strings and Simone’s nervous, vibrato-laden voice establishes a menacing presence.
It manages to balance its weird orchestra breakdown with a rather contemporary beginning and ending.
The composer and pianist Timo Andres’s take on the “Coronation” (otherwise known as the Piano Concerto No. 26 in D) felt necessary — not a lark but a surprisingly moving dazzler.
“Roots albums, no matter the landscape around them, always feel sturdy, firm—responsible, in the classic Gangstarr way.”
In “…And Then You Shoot Your Cousin,” The Roots prove their mastery of mixing high and low culture for diverse audiences. It’s a headier album, but one rife with significance.
“It’s a curious turn, but one that finds them as oddly whimsical and satisfying as ever.”
All preconceived notions of ‘hip-hop’ are tossed out the window, as the transcendence of the sometimes one-dimensional genre is epitomized here.
Putting the record on the turntable is an immersive experience that I consider to be synonymous with hip hop as the music will not only radiate through your body but will also touch your soul.
In The Roots’ …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, pianos and strings clash in explosions of third-stream jazz, French electro-acoustic pioneer Michel Chion brings noise, deep-blue tones vibrate like Miles Davis' Porgy and Bess.