In May and June 2010, I visited the island of Bali in Indonesia for 17 days, mostly the cultural center of Ubud, where I went to amazing art museums, galleries, shops and restaurants by day, and attended performances every night featuring gamelan music and dances such as the Baris, Barong, Fire, Jauk, Kecak, Legong, Mekepung, Tari Belibis, Taruna Jaya and Oleg Tambulilingan. Balinese dancers are among the most beautiful ever, with their delicately painted faces, intricately patterned costumes and mesmerizing movements. Now cue up some Balinese gamelan music and enjoy the Dancers of Ubud slide show over on Flickr! (For the best results, click the full screen icon in the bottom right corner on the Flickr slide show.)

Jody Redhage has been described as New York City’s singing cellist, which obviously means she sings and plays cello. Personally, I’d rather listen to her be quiet, choke her cello and force it to sing, but unfortunately, that’s not what happened on her second CD, of Minutiae and Memory. Instead, I got treated to the next best thing: eight tracks that form a whole album full of lovely chamber + electro-acoustic music. It all brims with such enticing elements as melodic cello lines backed up with a percolating electronic tapestry; breathy vocal gasps all cut up and layered, backed up with a mournful cello sawhorse; straightforward singing of a Norwegian table prayer; lush cello drones with delayed electronics, and ambient outdoor sounds—much of it punctuated with Jody’s clear, melodic singing. When all is said and done, it’s a gorgeous affair. Chalk up another nice one for New Amsterdam.

Label: New Amsterdam Records Catalog Number: NWAM031 Format: CD Packaging: Digi-Pak Tracks: 8 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: New Amsterdam Records, NJ, MySpace, Official

First there was MC Escher, then came MC Donalds (better known as Mickey D’s), followed by MC Hammer. Now, MC Maguire takes his rightful place upon the world (sound) stage. Like his previous album, Trash of Civilizations, Nothing Left to Destroy sprinkles a gleeful pee all over the world of genteel music-making as it pits a solo instrumentalist against a barrage of sound samples. Brandishing an ancient Chinese melody played on violin and four disco beats as its primary source material, “The Discofication of the Mongols” chronicles the progress of Western popular music as it steamrolls over traditional music around the globe. Rest assured, you can’t dance to this sonic onslaught–unless you’re in the midst of a grand mal seizure. “S’Wonderful” replaces the violin with a flute and really packs a stuttered punch! Combining the process of the medieval quodibet (the inclusion of popular melodies into a larger piece) and the current musical trend of mash-ups, this chaotic quilt digs up, transmogrifies and layers such sounds as MGM musicals, gangster movies, big bands and a seemingly endless amount more. Maguire’s music may sound cacophonous, but it is actually carefully composed. Fans of the INA-GRM label will love this stuff, and it would be fun to sneak this CD into the punk bin, what with its punk rock-looking album cover. If there really is nothing left to destroy, I wonder what MC Maguire’s next album will sound like?

Label: Innova Catalog Number: innova 813 Format: CD Packaging: Jewel case Tracks: 2 Total Time: 62:04 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: Discogs, Last.FM, Official, The Squid’s Ear, Twitter

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Lately, I’ve ben jammin’ with Benjamin. Well, not actually jammin’, but more like spelunking with his CD, Recombinant Nocturnes, which sends me floating through the middle of the night on a pissed mist hovering over a subterranean river of molasses. Scored for solo and duo piano and a couple of tracks with very subtle electronics, the Nocturnes live up to their name and lay down in front of the refrigerator for a long winter’s nap. These off-kilter tinkles, rumbling outbursts and lone pensive chords form a gorgeous journey through the graveyard shift. The closing track, which is especially doom-filled and oppressive, sounds like it was lifted straight out of some forlorn scene from the X-Files. This album would fit right in on the Cold Blue label.

Label: Innova Catalog Number: innova 784 Format: CD Packaging: Digi-Pak Tracks: 13 Total Time: 62:37 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: Amazon, University of Richmond

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Peter Ivan Edwards, also known as PIE, is an American-born composer and baker now based in Singapore. (I had no idea there was an avant-garde classical scene down there!) His first collection of baked goods, Object Lessons, consists of four recent era aural cupcakes with expiration dates that ranged from 2005-2009. The oven opens wide inside a “Dark Room,” a stop / start-style percussion ensemble workout based on a scattershot compositional technique that grabs you by the ears and forces you to pay close attention to the sonic properties of each and every instrument. This piece is vaguely reminiscent of Edgard Varese’s classic “Ionisation” from 1931, although it’s not so forward-lurching. Scored for solo piano, “Carve and Color” operates in a similar manner. Inspired by viewing abstract expressionist paintings up close then far away, its many and varied notes emulate splattered paint drops as they range from short-lived intricate, rapid runs to banging dissonance (up close) to a single note slowly repeated in a quiet, candle-lit room (far away). This is the central compositional theme in the composer’s work. “Schnappchenjagd” heads right back into the same percussion field–but this time solo–that we first visited in the “Dark Room.” Closing out the album in surprising fashion is “Hareu! Hareu!” for solo guitar, in which actual melodic lines are plucked in between the odd lone note, creating a forlorn yet warm sonic Cubist painting. If you like the taste of academic music pie, the time is nigh to fork up a slice of Object Lessons.

Label: Albany Records Catalog Number: TROY1213 Format: CD Packaging: Jewel case Tracks: 4 Total Time: 52:50 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: Amazon, YSTCM, Official

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Although you’ve probably never heard of Keeril Makan, and his CD Target may not be available at Target, that shouldn’t stop you from seeking it out, buying a copy and letting it float straight into your head like a vivid sonic onslaught straight outta the Large Hadron Collider. Spanning a decade, from 1998 through 2007, these four fairly wide-ranging avant-garde classical works somehow form a cohesive whole. Kicking off the proceedings is, of course, track 1, which is actually called “2.” Since when did 2 become 1? And is 2 the numeral the same as two the word? I thought Grease was the word. What about three? Is it the same as seven? Does 2+2=5? The world may never know.

But, Keeril Makan’s “2″ certainly knows how to play with your head–using nothing but violin and percussion! Its non-climactic, insistent, one-note rhythm stops and starts, proceeds faster, then slower–sometimes simple, sometimes complex–rushes past, then stops on a ping pong ball, only to get all contemplative, ending in just the kind of Xenakis-like Brillo Pad scrapefest that I’m more than happy to enter at any moment. “Zones d’Accord” puts an alternate tuning on a cello then sends it on its way, flowing like jello over a sandpaper-coated ribbon–sometimes quiet and meditative, sometimes suddenly exploding into a cup of raucous cole slaw composed of raw open string saw with a heap of harmonics flitting through the air.

Composed of text concerning the imperial wars of aggression the United States government has been waging in the Middle East for a decade, the title track offers up a serious workout for a mezzo soprano and a chamber ensemble as it veers from regular songform to crazed micro-tonal crescendos to a rock-like insistence that only a mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin and family friend could love. Although “Resonance Alley” was Inspired by James Tenney’s piece for solo tam tam, “Having Never Written a Note For Percussion,” it’s definitely not a rip-off. Scored for three cymbals and a gong, it spends nearly a half hour bringing the album to a close with a flow motion aural mist comprised of rhythmic tapping, pinging and rub-a-dub washing that will take you on an effortless journey far beyond the local laundromat. Brandishing four slabs of sonic excellence, Target really is right on target, and easily ranks as one of the best avant-garde classical albums of 2011, or any other year. This is really strong stuff.

Label: Starkland Catalog Number: ST-217 Format: CD Packaging: Jewel case Tracks: 8 Total Time: 69:10 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: Amazon, The Glass, Official, Other Minds, Starkland

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Dedication is an apt title for a CD full of pieces by a myriad of composers dedicated to the Prism Quartet for their 20th anniversary in 2004. I was surprised as punch that they’ve been around since 1984. That’s a long-ass time–longer than George Orwell’s nervous system if you laid it all out end to end! Mostly inhabiting the one to three-minute range, these songs range all over the musical feed lot. From lightweight, bouncy and spiffy lines to homely, held tones that segue on a train-flattened quarter into a briar-filled sour patch. From perky and melodic to shrill foghorn blasts to lilting cartoon morning music, the Prism Quartet manhandles it all like the seasoned pros they are.

What with its quiet drones and super low-key atmosphere, my favorite track is, predictably enough, Matthew Levy’s “Meditations,” Too bad it’s only a couple of minutes long. Another good one is Frank Oteri’s “Seeming Partial,” which is the perfect soundtrack for some poor sap whose wife just dumped him right after he lost his job and got diagnosed with a brain tumor. This CD comes complete with a thick-ass booklet featuring notes on all of the pieces and composers. Regarding the front cover design, four out of five gangster rappers surveyed commented, “Aw, hail naw! That photo look dope as f%$# with they faces chopped off like that and re-pasted at the bottom.” I find myself very much in agreement. Who knows what the Prism Quartet has in store for their 30th anniversary coming up in 2014? Hopefully, a 74-minute rendition of James Tenney’s “Saxony.”

Label: Innova Catalog Number: Innova 800 Format: CD Packaging: Jewel case Tracks: 23 Total Time: 57:53 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: Amazon, Baskweb, Official

Text ©2011 Arcane Candy

Hey Dave, just checking in. What have you been up to? I got your new CD, Logistic Minutia, in the mail. Thanks for sending it. Your name’s missing from the cover, though. I’m surprised no one in Editorial caught that. Mom’s kind of upset. I had to do a double take, I mean a Web search just to make sure this is actually your music. Yep, it is–in all of its avant classical / rick, I mean ruck, I mean rock hybrid glory. Just in case you’re unfamiliar with your own latest music, what it all adds up to is a 20-minute, four-song, short-but-sweet EP in which an electic guitar, bass and drum kit supplies a heavy groove as synths flit about, and a brass section consisting of trombones, trumpets and a French horn wax periodically melodic, woozy like a drunk floozy and occasionally more dissonant than a disrespected dentist. In a nutshell, Logistic Minutia is the perfect treadmill workout music for any robot kangaroo on a permanent Mountain Dew high. I’ll bet you didn’t know any of that that, Dave. P.S. I was just wondering, is Jeff Nelson from Minor Threat your dad?

Label: Dnel Music Catalog Number: Ain’t none Format: CD Packaging: Cardboard sleeve Tracks: 4 Total Time: 21:30 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: Amazon, Atlas and the Anchor, Bandcamp

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Fadensonnen is back in Black for their third color-titled half-hour EP. (I can’t wait until they cross the entire color spectrum and end up at Burnt Sienna or Turquoise.) The opening track, “Night of Sharoque Coughs,” features some lonesome guitar picking that is occasionally interupted by schizo workouts on the drum kit. “Sweet Judy Brown” is the first song in the Fadensonnen canon with vocals, which remind me a lot of the singing on The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy. Careful, guys–you might attract a fanbase. “Gnid Gnid” shuts down the album in a more atmospheric rock vein with tin cans dripping in the background as distant drums throb and the guitars chime and moan on into a lengthy, churning din. Here’s hoping that PD and RD will be joined by R2D2 and C3PO on their next EP for a Fadensonnen quartet take on the bar scene from Star Wars.

Label: Fadensonnen Records Catalog Number: 003 Format: CD-R Packaging: Digi-Pak Tracks: 3 Total Time: 32:17 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: Official, YouTube

Text ©2011 Arcane Candy

Whereas Fadensonnen’s first album, Grey, was named after the most well-known type of alien, White pays tribute to that most beloved paranormal phenomenon: the ghost. (Punching the cobweb-covered clock at just 25 minutes, it seems that the latter could have been included on the same disc as the 30 minute long former.) Shyly boasting just two tracks, the EP kicks off in high gear with the duo of PD and RD a-pickin’ and a-grinnin’ their way through “Slit the Moon,” whipping up a dense, sloppy electric guitar maelstrom supported by a backbone of simple, Velvety drum thwack. “White of Ice” flip-flops the mood with a much more subdued sound stage filled with spacious drones that hover like body wash mist in a dank dressing room as gently-picked melodies tease some downwardly mobile stripper’s alcohol-logged head into a stupor.

Label: Fadensonnen Records Catalog Number: 002 Format: CD-R Packaging: Digi-Pak Tracks: 2 Total Time: 25:01 Country: United States Released: 2011 More: Official, YouTube

Text ©2011 Arcane Candy