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HCMF 2014 revisited: Howard Skempton – Oculus (World Première)

Posted on January 23, 2015 by 5:4 in HCMF, Premières | Leave a comment

One of the smallest works receiving their first performance at HCMF 2014 was Howard Skempton‘s two-minute Oculus, for solo piano. Despite such brevity, it’s a beguiling curiosity of a piece; indeed, ‘Skemptonian’ might be a good adjective for music that is weird, amusing and a bit baffling all in equal measure, as Oculus is. Which is not to say it’s incomprehensible; although Skempton speaks of using two major and minor chords (thereby employing all 12 notes of the chromatic scale … →

HCMF 2014 revisited: Anna Þorvaldsdóttir – æquilibria (UK Première)

Posted on January 20, 2015 by 5:4 in HCMF, Premières | 1 Comment

i went to Huddersfield last November not knowing anything about Icelandic composer Anna Þorvaldsdóttir‘s music; two months on, following an HCMF première and a CD release (review coming), that’s happily no longer the case. In many ways æquilibria, the work of Þorvaldsdóttir’s receiving its first UK performance at HCMF, serves as something of a paradigm for her work as a whole. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a composer from a country characterised and constantly being altered by shifting geological activity, her music … →

The Dialogues: Gareth Davis

Posted on January 18, 2015 by 5:4 in The Dialogues | 1 Comment

For the next couple of weeks, i’m going to spend some time revisiting some of the most interesting new works heard at HCMF 2014. As a prelude to that, i’m very pleased to announce a new occasional series on 5:4 called The Dialogues, featuring myself in conversation with assorted musical luminaries. This first episode is with the clarinettist Gareth Davis, who was in Huddersfield giving the world première of the contrabass clarinet version of Elliott Sharp’s audio-visual work Sylva Sylvarum. Our dialogue begins with an in-depth exploration … →

Mix Tape #32 : Best Albums of 2014

Posted on January 1, 2015 by 5:4 in Best of the Year, Mix Tapes | Leave a comment

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Many, many thanks to all of you who have followed the blog through the last 12 months, particularly to all those who have commented and tweeted in response or retort. As usual, here’s my new year mix tape featuring a track from all forty of my Best Albums of the Year. i said yesterday how 2014 had been a breathtaking year, and listening to this 3-hour condensed version of its best music, i really think that … →

Best Albums of 2014 (Part 2)

Posted on December 31, 2014 by 5:4 in Best of the Year | 3 Comments

Bringing the main course to an end, here’s the conclusion of the countdown of my forty best albums of 2014. It’s been a breathtaking year. 20 | Salvatore Sciarrino – Cantare con silenzio Easily one of the strangest albums of the year, from a composer who continues to push back the boundaries of what constitutes contemporary classical music. Two of the three works on the disc focus on the flute, sometimes violently foregrounding it while elsewhere it becomes lost amidst heavier forces. The oldest … →

Best Albums of 2014 (Part 1)

Posted on December 30, 2014 by 5:4 in Best of the Year | Leave a comment

And so to the main course: the countdown of my forty best albums of the year; part 2 will follow tomorrow. 40 | Bora Yoon – Sunken Cathedral Korean-American composer & singer Bora Yoon’s latest album is a fascinating intermingling of traditional and experimental elements that Yoon describes as “a sonic journey through the chambers of [the] subconscious”. Her songs are personal yet aspire to and evoke heights of mystical ecstasy; my review summed up Sunken Cathedral as “heady, even intoxicating stuff, with … →

Best EPs of 2014

Posted on December 29, 2014 by 5:4 in Best of the Year | 4 Comments

It’s that time once again, so as the year starts to sputters to its close, here’s my annual round-up of the best encounters i’ve had with 2014’s crop of new releases, beginning with the top 10 EPs. 10 | Deaf Center – Recount Feel the solemnity; Norwegian duo Erik Skodvin and Otto Totland’s latest missive comes drenched in autumnal melancholy, an aimless piano picking its way through the penumbral space that is ‘Follow Still’ while the ground shifts beneath. Ominous sounds lurk … →

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