Cold Blue Two is an anthology of fourteen new, previously unrecorded works—many of them written just for this CD. Enthralling music by John Luther Adams,...

Cold Blue Two is an anthology of fourteen new, previously unrecorded works—many of them written just for this CD. Enthralling music by John Luther Adams, Gavin Bryars, Rick Cox, Michael Jon Fink, Jim Fox, Peter Garland, Daniel Lentz, Ingram Marshall, Larry Polansky, David Rosenboom, Phillip Schroeder, Chas Smith, and James Tenney. Performers include Sarah Cahill, Guy Klucevsek, ETHEL, Formalist Quartet, John Schneider, and other fine musicians, including many of the composers themselves. It was a WQXR Q2 Music “Album of the Week” in 2012. “Darkly lyrical, evocative.... Whether plaintive, hypnotic, or enigmatic, this is music that is cool but not unemotional—and always a rich, twilit blue.” [John Schaefer, host of WNYC’s New Sounds] “This record pretty much kicks ass—an alluring, arresting document from a brilliant cast of composers.” [composer-performer Glenn Kotche] “The music by Daniel Lentz that opens this anthology, a solo cello line harmonically enriched through overdubbing, is graceful, understated and tinged with melancholy. The closing piece, Jim Fox’s filmic Colorless sky became fog, shares those qualities. They seem to define a Cold Blue soundworld, although these 14 previously unissued tracks, some specially commissioned, accommodate diverse and individualistic composers…. This is a post-experimental label, presenting work that subtly channels lessons learnt from radical sources into music that is unapologetically attractive and accessible.” [Julian Cowley, The Wire] “Superb…music that exemplifies refinement without at the same time being overly burdened by formality and convention.” [Textura (Cold Blue Two was on Textura’s “Best of 2012” list.)] “Listen closely: there is almost always a sharp edge hidden among these glistening surfaces…. The most casual listen to this haunted music-box, as often eerie or melancholy as it is soothing, is an unsettling experience, a quiet disquiet. Cold Blue the label and Cold Blue the anthologies are aptly named: cold and like a glacier or a clear winter sky, this music is as shiver-inducing as it is lovely.” [Daniel Stephen Johnson, Q2 Music, WQXR] “A sampler that confirms the tradition of American experimental music to be alive, well and in safe hands.” [Int’l Record Review] “A panoramic view of Cold Blue’s offerings, which are quite varied and yet make a powerful unified statement. These works could be described as beautiful oddities—some even devastatingly gorgeous, but always with a twist. Even if unapologetic beauty is not your cup of tea, worry not—upon close listen each one of these works sports frayed edges, chipped corners, or other subtle disturbances that turn it into a highly personal proclamation…. Each work contains treasures to be discovered within, and the heart-on-sleeve honesty of the works is not something one hears often.” [Alexandra Gardner, NewMusicBox]