New York, 1978, kindred composers Philip Corner and Carles Santos meet at the Bosendorfer piano of Charlemagne Palestine to record four-hand piano versions of Corner's pieces "Chord" and "Gong!". The result is a long-flowing distillation of the source of the two composers' affinity: avant-garde practice of austere artistic devotion at play with perfect imperfections of the uncontainable human spirit.
The pianist, composer, and producer Gideon Broshy who is known for building musical clouds and swarms from sharp figures, using improvisation, synthesis, and MIDI, announces his debut record, Nest, via New Amsterdam Records. Nest features TIGUE's Matt Evans (drums), the Silk Road Ensemble's Mantawoman (dulcimer), Hub New Music's Gleb Kanasevich (clarinet), and Grammy-winner William Brittelle (production).
Owls, the inverted string quartet hailed as a "dream group" by The New York Times, and whose original, visceral, and personal performances defy categorization, are releasing their debut album, Rare Birds, via New Amsterdam Records. Owls's all star lineup is comprised of world renowned soloists, as well as current and former members of yMusic, Aizuri Quartet, and Kronos Quartet: Alexi Kenney (violin), Ayane Kozasa (viola), Gabriel Cabezas (cello), and Paul Wiancko (cello). The album was produced by Grammy-winner William Brittelle. For fans of: Kronos Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, yMusic, Meredith Monk, Joe Hisaishi, Terry Riley
From Bach to Brahms, Mahler to Messiaen, any composer worth their salt has written for the pipe organ. And so when James McVinnie put the idea to Tristan Perich to write for the king of instruments, it was perhaps not a surprise that the New York contemporary-classical composer had already considered the possibilities of marrying his signature 1-bit electronic music with an instrument that has reverberated down the centuries. The resulting piece that started with a conversation between the two back in 2016 is undoubtedly Perich's most ambitious work to date. Infinity Gradient is an hour-long symphony in seven movements for organ and 100 speakers in 1-bit audio, recorded for this album at London's Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre, where McVinnie was artist-in-residence throughout 2024. The 100 speakers are set across the stage - a recurring element in Perich's work for over two decades, this time featuring four giant subwoofers, 24 medium-sized speakers, and 72 small speakers - against the backdrop of RFH's imposing organ; the piece is as visually striking to look at as it is to listen to. (In addition to being available in stereo, Infinity Gradient will also come in multichannel Dolby Atmos.)
The slyly absorbing new volume from Michigan-based musician Erik Hall understands the contemplative joy in repetition. Solo Three is the culmination of what Hall describes as a loose trilogy, following his radical reinterpretation of Steve Reich's minimalist masterpiece Music for 18 Musicians, and his subsequent rendition of Simeon ten Holt's Canto Ostinato, a winding work of Dutch minimalism. This time, Hall boldly reimagines works by four distinct contemporary classical composers: Glenn Branca, Charlemagne Palestine, Laurie Spiegel, and, again, Steve Reich. It is a particular grouping that exists through Hall's singular lens for magnetic repetition and harmonic resonance. The resulting program unravels subtly but masterfully, each piece a kind of contrapuntal bliss a touch livelier than the last, all building to the Reich-ian reprise-an apt bookend to the series. Altogether, Hall has crafted a richly varied homage to four pillars of American minimalism, an elegant mix of accessibility and discovery. As ever, he performed and multitrack-recorded all the parts himself without loops, programming, or sequenced instruments, his solitary method still arguably novel to the classical canon. Meanwhile, within the context of modern production, this analog approach works as a gentle rebellion against a culture of faceless automation, instilling these recordings with a flesh-and-blood human touch. "It's just so much more interesting to actually play every note," Hall says. "You then get them directly juxtaposed, and as they repeat, all of those micro-differences between them create a sort of living, breathing magic." That living, breathing magic imbues every crevice of Solo Three, making it not just a stirring tribute to four giants of 20th-century minimalism, but a reflection of how their influence continues to reverberate today.
Pneuma is a cycle of eight compositions by double bassist and composer Henry Fraser, released by Kou Records, exploring breath, resonance, and the evolving relationship between form and improvisation. Approaching his solo practice as a collaboration with the instrument itself, Fraser works directly with the bass's materiality and acoustic properties, allowing sound, space, and structure to emerge together through deep listening. Recorded, mixed, and co-produced by Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Thurston Moore) and Ben Greenberg (Uniform, Marc Ribot), the album expands Fraser's previous solo language through an extended melodic register, layered textures, and carefully sculpted studio interventions. Drawing from both pre-composed motifs and newly improvised material, Pneuma unfolds across a series of concise movements, each giving shape to a distinct rhythmic or harmonic idea while contributing to a larger continuous form. Captured with an emphasis on natural dynamics and spatial detail, the recording preserves the full physical presence of the instrument, foregrounding the bass's resonance, overtones, and quiet micro-gestures. Certain pieces are built from multiple stacked performances, dramatically widening the music's scale and expressive range. The result is an intimate yet immersive listening experience - acoustic music that feels simultaneously tactile and expansive. Pneuma documents Fraser at a moment of artistic clarity, reaffirming his commitment to process-driven composition and attentive sonic practice.
If music... showcases star countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski in 17 songs and arias by three composers of the Baroque era: Purcell, Handel and Fux. Perhaps unexpectedly, he is partnered not by an ensemble of period instruments but by a pianist - his long-standing colleague Michal Biel. "On this album we have combined arias and songs that inspire and speak to us, " says Jakub Jozef Orlinski. "I love thinking of albums as pages out of my diary. They are a statement of where I am as an artist." As Michal Biel, who draws on all the possibilities of a Steinway grand piano, freely admits: "If music... is not an answer to the question of how to perform these masterpieces with historical authenticity." He sees each aria or song as "a carefully considered transcription that reveals it's appeal transcending instrumentation".
To celebrate Gustavo Dudamel's final season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon proudly presents his final album as leader of the ensemble: Tales of Prokofiev. The two-part release begins with a unique interpretation of 'Peter and the Wolf,' with riveting Hollywood legend and EGOT-winner actress Viola Davis, as narrator. Featuring 10 tracks on vinyl with design elements by the acclaimed artist Alexandra Grant.
Blarf is comedian and actor Eric Andre's musical project. Most people know Eric as an actor (in Bad Trip, Happy Gilmore 2, and "The Righteous Gemstones"), and for his surreal, boundary-pushing comedy career, with an eponymous Emmy Award-winning show on Adult Swim and standup shows toured around the world. But few know Eric Andre as a bona fide musician who attended the prestigious Berklee School of Music, where he specialized in standing bass. In 2019, Eric launched Blarf with the experimental plunderphonics album Cease & Desist, released in partnership with Stones Throw Records. In it's review of Cease & Desist, Pitchfork said: "The frenetic, sample-heavy album from Eric Andre's clown alter-ego is hard to take seriously, which is probably the point." Now, Blarf brings his disruptive energy to a new body of work that is both an extended comedic bit and entirely, unironically serious: Film Scores For Films That Don't Exist. Inspired by composers like Ennio Morricone and Vangelis, whose signature sound is as iconic as the films they soundtracked, Eric enlisted a full orchestra to bring his compositions to life, recording in Los Angeles and Budapest. Blarf brings together multiple facets of Eric's career to date: public figure, serious musician, actor and comedian, and outsider artist. Landing somewhere between the symphony and the moshpit, Film Scores for Films that Don't Exist is a project only Blarf could make. Film Scores... was executive and record produced by Prateek Rajagopal, a composer for film and TV whose credits include The Mandalorian. Director Lance Bangs, known for his work on Jackass and Portlandia, documented the entire recording process.
Mauricio Kagel's Acustica (1968-70), composed for experimental sound producers and loudspeakers, stands among his most ambitious and radical works. Combining electro-acoustic tape material created at WDR with acoustic performances on roughly 200 graphic-score cards, it embodies Kagel's idea of instrumentales theater - where sound, gesture, and performer presence merge into a single dramatic and musical act. The work explores an expanded field of musicality, using invented instruments and found objects to free sound from traditional performance conventions. Avantgarde Vinyl Series features limited and numbered editions pressed on 180g vinyl with original artwork and a newly designed, beautifully crafted collector's sleeve with new liner notes by Bradford Bailey. Mastered and cut from the original analog 1/4-inch, 2-track tapes by Rainer Maillard and Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios.
If you could actually hear an abstract expressionist painting, it would probably sound a lot like the work of Morton Feldman. And that's no accident: Feldman hung out in '50s and '60s New York with Jackson Pollock, Philip Guston (whose work graced the cover of Feldman's first album), and Robert Rauschenberg. Like the paintings of his visual artist peers, Feldman's work emphasized tonal color over structure, rhythm, or melody, the traditional building blocks of music. It also employed the musical equivalent of painterly "negative space" with it's use of silence and stasis; that Feldman and John Cale were enormous influences on each other will come as no surprise. So, it makes sense that Feldman would dedicate probably his two most celebrated compositions to two giants of the New York scene: abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, whose famous Chapel adorns this LP's front cover, and writer and critic Frank O'Hara, whose own work drew inspiration from the same sources as Feldman's. Rothko Chapel and For Frank O'Hara first were released in 1976 on a seminal album from the Odyssey imprint on Columbia Records; for it's 50th anniversary and first LP reissue, we've had it pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at Gotta Groove Records for the quietest listen achievable, using new transfers from the original master tapes. Profound, career-defining work that opened the door for latter-day ambient composers like Brian Eno to walk through.
'There's something about sitting there-just me, the keys, and the silence. No beats, no drops. Only raw emotion. ' Amid the euphoric rush of electronic dance music, Armin Van Buuren found space in the quiet to write his most honest music yet. As someone who knows better than anyone what moves a crowd, he set out to discover what moved him. And often, that instrument is the piano. Containing 15 intimate piano songs, this album shows a different side to the world-famous DJ and producer: more personal, more emotional. First recorded on his Steinway, then arranged into proper scores alongside piano teacher Geronimo, this body of work is saturated with the vulnerability of stepping beyond his comfort zone: swapping the grandiosity of the mainstage for rich piano tones lingering in silence. It's pure, reflective, and as much as the beat-driven music he's released over his storied career-100% Armin Van Buuren. Piano is available on a 2LP set, complete with 16-page booklet including pictures and liner notes by Armin. LISTEN: https://www. Youtube. com/user/arminvanbuuren * 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL * DELUXE HEAVYWEIGHT SLEEVE * INCLUDES 16 PAGE BOOKLET * BRAND NEW ALBUM FEAT. 15 INTIMATE PIANO SONGS, INCLUDING A COVER OF ROBERT MILES 'CHILDREN' * BLACK VINYL Track listing: Side A 1. Here For you 2. Longing 3. Sonic Samba 4. Fathers and Sons Side B 1. Be My Lighthouse 2. Waltz 3. Temporality 4. Setting Sail Side C 1. Autumn Leaves 2. Equanimity 3. Ballerina 4. Synchronicity Side D 1. Clouded Window 2. Soaring Kite 3. Children
Nocturnes Remodelled is a striking 2025 release from acclaimed Scottish composer Craig Armstrong, offering a fresh perspective on his 2021 album Music for 2 Pianos. This collection features twelve reimagined pieces, each transformed by a global roster of collaborators across electronic, ambient, and post-classical genres. Artists such as Alva Noto, Mogwai, Robert Ames, aus, and Scott Fraser bring distinct sonic identities to Armstrong's minimalist compositions, creating immersive soundscapes that blur the lines between acoustic intimacy and digital abstraction. The album also includes remixes by Armstrong himself and his son Jack Armstrong, adding a personal layer to the project. From Berlin to Tokyo, Glasgow to London, the remodelling process reflects a cross-cultural dialogue rooted in texture, emotion, and spatial depth. The result is a contemplative yet forward-thinking body of work, ideal for fans of Max Richter, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and ambient experimentalism. Mastered for clarity and dynamic range, both the CD and vinyl editions offer a pristine listening experience tailored to each format. Whether for collectors of modern classical or curators of ambient playlists, Nocturnes Remodelled is a refined and resonant addition to Armstrong's celebrated discography.
VSQ Performs The Weeknd is a special vinyl-only compilation of 14 tracks from VSQ's two-volume EP set of string quartet covers celebrating the four-time Grammy winning artist. This vinyl exclusive honors over a decade of The Weeknd's sensuous sound while offering a new perspective on his dark and evocative R&B style. By se ing songs like "Save Your Tears," "Starboy," and "Earned It," to strings, VSQ invites The Weeknd fans to experience the visionary artist through an unlikely lens: a traditional quartet made up of two violins, viola, and cello. This collector's edition comes on magenta and blue color-in-color vinyl, with full-color inner sleeve.
Triple 180gm vinyl LP pressing housed in triple gatefold jacket. Now on vinyl, Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho releases Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Works, on which he lays his focus on the music of Ravel. Having loved the French composer since childhood and immersed himself in him while studying at the Paris Conservatoire, Cho has chosen to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth in 2025 by recording his complete solo piano music and the two piano concertos.
I recorded the entire album during the summer of 2024 in a barn on Faro, using a 1920 Steinway grand piano and a Juno-60 synthesiser through a Nagra tape recorder. Matti Bye is one of Sweden's most acclaimed and distinctive composers for film, theater, and sound art. With a background in silent film accompaniment, he has developed a unique musical language where the piano often meets tape loops, analog synths, and field recordings. His music blends neoclassical sensitivity with ambient textures, and has been heard in award-winning films such as Tove, Never Alone, and Young Royals. He has released numerous albums, including Capri Clouds (2024) and Between Darkness & White Snow (2023), and collaborates regularly with artists like Lau Nau, Linda Fredriksson, Anna von Hausswolff, and Roland Ponti- nen. Bye has received two Guldbagge Awards for Best Original Score and the HARPA Nordic Film Composer Award. His music has been performed at venues such as MOMA in New York, the Venice Biennale, Cinema Ritrovato, and the Thai Film Archive.
Macroscope, the fifth album and Mack Avenue debut by his adventurous trio The Nels Cline Singers, provides a measure of the long-running group's staggering range. Captivating and continually surprising, the album finds the instrumental trio with the slyly deceptive name veering in one off-kilter direction only to suddenly be overwhelmed by another drastic stylistic shift, often within the space of a single tune. Serrated psychedelia becomes consumed by soulful Brasiliana, blissed-out electronica overwhelmed by garage-rock skronk. Then there's the wholly unexpected "Red Before Orange," where a howling Hendrix-inspired solo suddenly erupts in the middle of a slick lounge-jazz number, Cline unleashing the inner George Benson that few of us expected he even had.
