Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson’s Crop Circles is an exercise in balance, while still maintaining a great sense of musical freedom. Brooklyn-based Halvorson plays guitar on the collaboration album alongside Switzerland-native and pianist, Courvoisier, also currently working in Brooklyn. The two work democratically, shifting leads and complementing the other’s sound in a way that seems
Alberta native, Jessica Ackerley works with drummer, Nick Fraser and bassist, Mat Muntz on her debut album, Coalesce (available on Bandcamp). The record is a study of space through the relationships between sound and silence. The title suggests an intention of sound. Before listening, we are made aware of a “coming together.” As the album
William Hooker has been playing on the New York scene for many years. I first heard about him not long after I returned to New York City in 1973. I had been living in Boston, playing with David S. Ware’s band Apogee. Ware met Hooker at some point and recorded on one of his earliest
Natura Morta’s Environ (Neither/Nor Records) released early this year, is a fusion of musical purity and avant-garde noise expression. Environ is pure in the way the band works with a limited amount of instruments to create such a wide range of sound. The album features Frantz Loriot on viola, Sean Ali on bass, and Carlo
“Badlands is the second full length album by composer Jeremiah Cymerman’s apocalyptic chamber ensemble, Pale Horse. Recorded in February 2015, Badlands, picks up where their self-titled 2014 debut left off, with emphasis on dark ambient soundscapes built by the acoustic trio of clarinet, cello, and drums. Over the course of two long form compositions, the
