“Released on the intrepid Bright Shiny Things label, Ex Machina is an eclectic mix of music for saxophone quartet, tightly performed and flawlessly recorded in generous, in-your-face sound…”
Read More
“New York-based chamber quintet SybariteS's latest genre-bending album is irresistible”
Read More
“These talented, technically astute, rhythmic and musical saxophonists shine throughout.”
Read More
“There’s not a dull moment on an album brimming with the quintet’s trademark energy and drive.”
Read More
"Virtuosic to the core, the DSQ executes all seven pieces with infectious energy and conviction, which makes the performances seem all the more definitive."
Read More
“an extraordinary mash-up of what feels like Block’s addled memory of Bach, and a live phonographic collage. The effect is that of a bizarre aural kaleidoscope, where fragments of Bach’s suites are tessellated into bluegrass, eerie electronics, a jazz-funk drum machine, or gospel singing, as the ‘phonographer’, DJ-like, syncs speech and recordings into Block’s improvisations. “
Read More
“The wonderfully monikered fivesome has emerged over the last 15 years as one of America’s hippest new music ensembles thanks to a series of smart commissions and eclectic recordings such as 2017’s uber-groovy Outliers. Their latest album showcases a host of new music for string quintet – in their case, a string quartet plus double bass – and proves that they’re just as good live.”
Read More
“As one might expect, the resulting collage of sounds, words, and noises is by turns eerie, funny, disconcerting, and deeply beautiful. “
Read More
“there’s a refreshing freedom and a sense of exploration in his beautiful playing here, a feeling of “let’s see where this goes” with delightful results.”
Read More
“I've rarely heard the Suite No 6 Prelude's earthy lilt unfold to Block's supple degree”
Read More
“Jessica Meyer - Ring Out In which supremely talented violist Meyer reveals herself as a delightfully varied, and emotionally connected, composer.”
Read More
“Jessica Meyer is the violist in the new-music collective counter)induction, a New York group that includes a core ensemble for performances, non-playing composers who are on the roster and write for the ensemble, and musicians like Meyer, who both play and compose. Her collection, Ring Out (Bright Shiny Things) is a superb introductory sampler that touches on a variety of Meyer’s compositional concerns.”
Read More
“When I began composing, I did not recognize at the time where this deep need to do so came from … I knew that I wrote music in response to events in my life, but I did not realize until recently that the process of becoming a composer was also the catalyst for growing into a new version of myself …” Jessica has told The Violin Channel."
Read More
“The song takes on a different feel in this all-strings setting, but Block and company maintain the eerie, chilling vibe of Monroe’s recording by bringing the lonesome.”
Read More
“What sets this recording apart from the Jesse McReynolds disc is the mid-century folk revival, which opened up folk songs to original or even experimental interpretation. Either such interpretations work, or they don't. As the saying goes, the worst thing you can do to a folk song is not to sing it. Block is kind to the music in that way, and beyond that, he captures its spirit even in settings far removed from the originals.”
Read More
RING OUT | GRAMOPHONE
"In each of Jessica Meyer’s differently configured works from the last five years, knife-edge anticipation opens on to unexpected, often ecstatic musical realms, always with a personal touch and imaginatively written for the instruments."
Read More
RING OUT | Rafael's Music Notes
"...music that is endlessly inventive, rules-defying, surprising, lyrical when called for, and even bluntly forceful at times. The composer is a young violist who not long ago decided that yet another gig playing her fiddle would not completely fulfill her artistic impulses. And then she wrote."
Read More
RING OUT | Textura
"The New York-based artist infuses her first composer-portrait album with a fierce, impassioned attack; in doing so, she no doubt inspired those joining her to do the same...contrasts of dynamics, tempo, and texture are exploited plentifully, the music alternating rapidly between elegiac and raw."
Read More
“Anything goes in the performances at times, with normal string playing being replaced by a whistle, unison singing and chanting, rhythmic clapping and percussive effects on the instrument bodies in some vibrant and decidedly upbeat music. “
Read More
“Darker Things, their debut album, displays their admirable technique and musicality, as well as the surprising tonal, timbral and emotional range possible on just two bassoons.”
Read More