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Retribution Gospel Choir
S/T
Caldo Verde Records (www.caldoverderecords.com)
 

An additional project for Low front man Alan Sparhawk, Retribution Gospel Choir is an outlet for the singer/guitarist/songwriter’s more experimental leanings. It features walls of distorted guitars, free form instrumental excursions, and rougher lyrics than Low’s recordings, but still retains some of the best facets of Sparhawk’s primary gig. Wonderfully crafted hooks buoy the slowcore ballads and midtempo rockers that populate Retribution Gospel Choir. We get to see another side to Low material too, as the band reinterprets “Take Your Time” and “Breaker,” the latter serving as a rollicking, tuneful, and economical revision of the original. Sparhawk enlists strong collaborators in drummer Eric Pollard (who’s also an excellent support vocalist) and bassist Matt Livingstone (also a member of Low); Mark Kozelek produces. Often, “side projects” are musically slight, justifying the pejorative connotation of the moniker; but Sparhawk has more than enough creativity for two bands, as amply evidenced here.
 

-Christian Carey

Antietam
Opus Mixtum
Carrot Top Records (www.carrottoprecords.com)
 

Opus Mixtum, a new double-disc recording from indie band Antietam, is their second release since back from an extended hiatus. It might seem a deadly risk for a trio to release 26 songs at once; but there’s abundant sonic and compositional variety here. The group’s core – bassist Tim Harris, vocalist/guitarist Tara Key, and drummer Josh Madell – augment their sound by playing additional instruments and enlisting guest musicians: violinist Katie Gentile, trumpeter Mark Howell, and guitarist Rick Rizzo.
Pieces such as “Red Balloon Waltz” and “1-2-1″ are multi-layered experimental rock that compare favorably to recent Sonic Youth.   Key is a strong vocalist and talented guitarist; she shines on rousing songs such as “RPM” and “Needle and the Eye.” The latter piece features particularly fascinating guitar textures and excellent interplay between Harris and Madell.
While not entirely incorrect, the assessment of the recording as “Disc 1 – loud, Disc 2 – soft” is an overgeneralization; the first CD contains a delightful, subtle, piano-led miniature entitled “Emphatic” and CD 2′s “It’s Not about You” certainly rocks out.  That said, the recording’s second half seems to be emphasize the band’s more intricately arranged numbers.  ”The Gate Closed” combines strings – cello, double bass, and violin – as well as several layers of acoustic guitars. Howell’s trumpet adds a floating linear complement to Key’s hushed vocals and four-to-the-bar strumming on “Hasten.”  
Opus Mixtum is a wonderfully rich, variegated recording – one of the few recent double albums that require its extended duration to share all of its rich aspects. It reasserts Antietam’s place as a vibrant, musically sophisticated, and abundantly relevant contributor to the indie rock scene.

-Christian Carey

Charles Wuorinen
Archaeopteryx
Albany Records Troy 992 (www.albanyrecords.com)
 

Charles Wuorinen turns seventy in June; appropriately, a spate of recordings released this year document pivotal works from his considerable oeuvre. The latest installment in Albany Records’ Charles Wuorinen Series underscores Arnold Schoenberg’s significant influence on Wuorinen’s compositional approach. The disc features two pieces from the 1970s: Archaeopteryx, a concerto for bass trombone, and Hyperion, a work for chamber orchestra. Also included is Wuorinen’s arrangement for two pianos of Schoenberg’s Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31 and Anton Webern’s arrangement of the Five Pieces for Orchestra for the same forces.  
 

Hyperion is an insightful exploration of the challenges posed by pitch centricity within the 12-tone universe. Pitches C and A vie for supremacy throughout the work. Despite this seemingly traditional pitch struggle – in tonal terms one could see this as a contest between major and relative minor key centers – the foreground pitch relations are significantly more chromatic than any “neo-tonal” composition.  That said, Hyperion revels in various swerves, tonal “puns”, if you will, that cleverly confound expectations. In addition, a lively gestural vocabulary, led by fanfare-like brass excursions, adds to the overall excitement.                    
 

Bass trombonist David Taylor and the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, conducted by the composer, give an engaging performance of Archaeopteryx. The concerto frequently employs registral extremes – pitting the soloist against altissimo piccolo flourishes, for instance – to dramatic effect. The result is a work that has a craggy, terraced profile, reminiscent of the composer’s Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky, but navigating a more Schoenbergian harmonic palette.    
 

The Schoenberg arrangements are suitable counterparts to the Wuorinen works; what’s more, they allow listeners to hear these pieces afresh. Gone are the fascinating, evocative orchestrations of the original versions; the piano duo incarnations instead encourage us to focus on the virtuosic interplay of pitch and rhythm in these early works of atonality (Five Pieces) and twelve-tone composition (the Variations). Denuded of orchestral ‘color,’ they still demonstrate powerful dramatic structures and Schoenberg’s mastery of technique.
 

-Christian Carey

Evangelista
Hello Voyager
Constellation Records (www.cstrecords.com)
 

Carla Bozulich is known for her work in post-punk groups such as Ethyl Meatplow and the Geraldine Fibbers; but since the turn of the millennium, she’s explored experimental terrain of a more post-rock variety. Some might think that combining the terse and direct aesthetics of punk with the extended formal structures, plethora of instruments, and musico-grammatical complexities of post-rock would prove a strange marriage. Under most circumstances, this assessment wouldn’t be far off the mark. However, Bozulich has wisely surrounded herself with the crème de la crème of post-rockers; musicians such as Nels Cline, Tara Barnes, and a host of instrumentalists from groups on the Constellation imprint’s roster.
 

Some of the most affecting tracks incorporate perhaps the least punk of ensembles: classical stringed instruments. Featuring arrangements by contrabassist Thierry Amar and violinist Jessica Moss, “For the Li’l Dudes” is a work of haunting, expressionist-tinged beauty. It is rivaled by “The Blue Room,” which blends a hollow, ghostly apparition of Bozulich’s voice with the aforementioned string ambience and shimmering 12-string arpeggiations from Nels Cline.
 

Bozulich rocks out too, caterwauling on “The Frozen Dress,” creating a ruckus on the ironically titled “Smooth Jazz,” and exploring an intriguing No Wave/avant-rock hybridization on “Winds of Saint Anne.” Perhaps the most fascinating track is the album closer “Hello, Voyager!,” a percussion-heavy 12-minute long jam that combines spoken-word narration with free improvisations from some of Montreal’s finest experimental music-makers.
 

-Christian Carey  

Under Byen & the Danish Radio Sinfonietta
Siamesisk
Paper Bag Records (www.paperbagrecords.com)

A few memorable prog-rock epics notwithstanding, rock acts and orchestras often combine like oil and water. Happily, experimental band Under Byen and the Danish Radio Sinfonietta overcome many of the practical and aesthetic challenges posed by such a hybridized ensemble, creating Siamesisk, a memorable and rewarding EP for the Paper Bag imprint.
It certainly helps that composer Thorbjørn Krogshede and arranger Karsten Fundal craft deft orchestrations. Revising four songs from the Under Byen release Samme Stof Som Stof and adding a fifth composition new to this release, they create a vibrant suite that thrives in the concert hall while denying none of the band’s pop-inspired immediacy. Henriette Sennenvaldt, whose tremendous vocal flexibility encompasses ardor-filled expression and ethereal floating lines, is an ideal foil for the myriad timbres evoked by the ensemble. Kudos are also in order for the Danish Radio Sinfonietta and its conductor Henrik Vagn Christensen; they perform with a great deal more commitment and sympathy than many concert outfits in crossover contexts.
-Christian Carey

Garrick Ohlsson

Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 5

Bridge 9250 (www.bridgerecords.com)

I haven’t yet heard the fourth volume of Garrick Ohlsson’s Beethoven sonata set for Bridge, but this fifth installment trots out the warhorses and puts them through their paces! The CD includes the Pathétique, Moonlight, and Waldstein sonatas, and Ohlsson proves eminently capable of surmounting the challenges posed by this formidable triumvirate.  
 

Ohlsson’s tremendous sensitivity to dynamic shadings and his ability to provide a suppleness of phrasing are particularly affecting components of his playing; they greatly abet his rendition of the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata, making an often hackneyed-sounding excerpt quite moving. He’s also capable of blazing through Beethoven’s virtuosic passages, performing the Allegro con Brio from the Waldstein with impressive technical finesse, balanced with a concomitant sense of its weighty dramatic shape.
 
While all three sonatas are give memorable performances, Ohlsson’s Pathétique  is the most provocative. The pianist creates a burly and tempestuous first movement, fills the second with rubati, and takes a deliberate pace in the final rondo. Those familiar with the more “caffeinated” tempi and visceral thrust found on recordings such as those by Brendel, Serkin, and Schnabel may find Ohlsson’s version disquieting at first. However, its appeal lies in its abundant clarity and insightfully drawn contrasts: nuances that may require more time to execute, but inspire thoughtful listening.  
 

-Christian Carey
 

Dub Trio

Another Sound is Dying Ipecac Records (www.ipecacrecords.com)

Laromlab (www.myspace.com/laromlab)

S/T

Mushpot  Records (www.mushpotrecords.com)

Sometimes, one wonders how nostalgia for the 1980s has managed to last longer than the decade itself! Old haircuts and faded wardrobes may cause one to cringe, but some cultural artifacts are well worth revisiting.  On his self-titled CD for Mushpot Records, electronic musician Laromlab  employs 8-bit video game sound chips to fashion “Chiptunes:”  music redolent in Atari ambience. While evoking both the sounds and styles of ancient arcade games could easily lapse into kitsch, the tunes here are sparkling, lithe, and playful creations. True, your inner child  may occasionally reach for a joystick or look for a roll of quarters while listening to the CD, but  Mario and Donkey Kong can only wish they had such hip tunes  accompanying them.

 -Christian Carey  

A quick note to add an “amen” to Jerry’s acclaim for Jenny Lin’s new recording of music for piano and orchestra by Ernest Bloch.

http://www.sequenza21.com/index.php/723

Lin’s performance of the Concerto Symphonique is the most intense and riveting music-making I’ve heard on CD this year. The recording also serves as a happy reminder that Ernest Bloch is a strong composer; his work deserves much more attention than it currently receives. I’m planning to review the CD for one of my other outlets, Signal to Noise.

Rob Brown Ensemble
Crown Trunk Root Funk
Aum Fidelity (www.aumfidelity.com)