Michael Sumsion pays tribute to Ennio Morricone, the king of spaghetti western scores and a pioneer who transformed the sound of cinema. The death of the Italian composer, conductor, orchestrator and trumpeter Ennio Morricone at the age of ninety-one calls time on one of the great, innovative and versatile careers in music. Though he became world-famous for his evocative and … [Read more...] about Ennio Morricone: A Tribute To An Illustrious Career
Sufjan Stevens: America – Single Review
The whisper-voiced, folk-strumming chronicler of the human condition, Sufjan Stevens dangles the opulent, twelve-minute unburdening of America as the first weighty taster of his forthcoming The Ascension album. The singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens once famously joshed about making an album for each of the USA’s states, but he remains preoccupied by the health of the Union. … [Read more...] about Sufjan Stevens: America – Single Review
Dirty Projectors: Flight Tower – Review
Dave Longstreth's expansive Brooklyn experimentalists Dirty Projectors regroup for a new, pocket-sized four-tracker that reinvigorates and recalibrates their blissful art-pop. Flight Tower is the second in a planned run of five EP releases for Dave Longstreth’s Brooklyn-based glitch-art-rock collective. Now bolstered by the presence of Maia Friedman, Felicia Douglass and … [Read more...] about Dirty Projectors: Flight Tower – Review
James Krivchenia: A New Found Relaxation – Review
James Krivchenia, The Big Thief drummer's second ambient album, ploughs the internet for an assured antidote to anxious and turbulent times that subverts the tropes of New Age. James Krivchenia’s second solo outing, A New Found Relaxation, continues and re-affirms the Big Thief drummer’s predilection for melding samples from the internet with field recordings and ambient … [Read more...] about James Krivchenia: A New Found Relaxation – Review
Luke Schneider: Altar of Harmony – Review
The pedal steel guitarist Luke Schneider ventures into New Age ambience on a serene and medicinal set, displaying a command of cosmic synthesis and introspection. The respected Nashville pedal steel player Luke Schneider has been much in demand as a session player for many years, lending his weepy tones to hippie-cowboy/girl material by the likes of William Tyler, Margo … [Read more...] about Luke Schneider: Altar of Harmony – Review
Zachary Cale: False Spring – Review
The Brooklyn singer-songwriter’s new double, his first album in five years, creeps up on the listener with its unbusy, melodic country-folk explorations of love, loss and the passage of time. On False Spring, Zachary Cale’s first record since 2015’s Duskland, the Louisiana-born, New York-based troubadour encapsulates a bittersweet mood that’s soaked in the fraught … [Read more...] about Zachary Cale: False Spring – Review