Tag

New Focus Recordings

Roberta Michel -- Photo by Manuela Rana

Roberta Michel’s “Hush” Takes Listeners through Profound and Meditative Soundworlds

Some albums have the power to shift the listener’s mood: to excite, stimulate, slow down, or soothe.
Author
Chrysanthe Tan
Sarah Goldfeather in

Video Premiere: Exceptet Performs “Mouth Full of Ears” by Sarah Goldfeather

The stoic opening of “Mouth Full of Ears” belies its rambunctious, minimalist, alt-pop e...
Author
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Yi-Ting Lu -- Photo by Ian Liu

Yi-Ting Lu Showcases Technical Mastery and Mercurial Experimentalism on Debut Album

I’ve never understood what I’m supposed to do at the beach. Should I swim and embrace frivolity? Sho...
Author
Thulasi Seshan
James Díaz -- Photo by artist

In Enigmatic Debut Album, Composer James Díaz Recasts Violin as Electronic Instrument

Picture an electrically charged violin that buzzes and swells as it rotates inside a compressed magn...
Author
Esteban Meneses
Ekmeles -- Photo courtesy of the artists

Ekmeles’ Sophomore Album is a Striking Display of Technique and Wild Experimentation

We Live the Opposite Daring, the sophomore album from the New York-based vocal sextet Ekmeles, is im...
Author
Sofía Rocha
JACK Quartet -- Photo by Shervin Lainez

Anatomy of a Commission: Performers as Commissioners

Designed for both music creators and their collaborators, “Anatomy of a Commission” is a digital res...
Author
Austin Wulliman
Olivia de Prato -- Photo by Andrej Grilc

Finding Nuance in Every Detail, Olivia De Prato Explores the Intricacies of the Self on “Panorama”

Home, identity, and self are ideas that apply to everyone navigating their way through life; each st...
Author
Kevin Baldwin
Iranian Female Composers Association members Niloufar Iravani, Nina Barzegar, Nasim Khorassani, Anahita Abbassi, Mahdis Golzar Kashani, and Mina Arissian

New Album by Iranian Female Composers Association Brings to Light Distinguished Middle Eastern Voices

Compelling and deeply touching, with grace and passion in equal measure, Sirventès is a collection o...
Author
Sofía Rocha
The Crossing Carols After a Plague

The Crossing Shares Pandemic Stories on “Carols After a Plague”

The Philadelphia-based chamber choir The Crossing has long supported musical works that tackle socia...
Author
Clover Nahabedian
Kimia Hesabi Nemāno Gaona

On “Nemāno Gaona,” Kimia Hesabi Synthesizes Iranian Folk and Contemporary Classical Music

In the ancient Iranian language Avestan, “Nemāno Gaona” translates to “colors of home.” On her debut...
Author
Clover Nahabedian
Finola Merivale--Photo by Emma O'Halloran

5 Questions to Finola Merivale (composer)

Tús, the debut album by Irish composer Finola Merivale, engages listeners with an experimental langu...
Author
Julia Kuhlman
The Understanding of All Things by Kate Soper featuring Sam Pluta

Kate Soper and Sam Pluta Fracture What is Known on “The Understanding of All Things”

In many of her works, composer and vocalist Kate Soper negotiates and defies genre. She lets us cons...
Author
Tracy Monaghan
Alicia Lee Conversations With Myself

Alicia Lee’s Conversations With Myself Resonates from the Depths of Isolation

Although pandemic-related isolation is threatening to become a subgenre, clarinetist Alicia Lee’s ne...
Author
Esteban Meneses
Editor's Picks: 2021 New Music Albums

Editor’s Picks: 2021 New Music Albums

I think this is finally the year where I knowingly sacrifice I CARE IF YOU LISTEN’s SEO, becau...
Author
Amanda Cook
Ensemble Dal Niente confined. speak.

Ensemble Dal Niente’s “confined. speak.” Contemplates Pandemic Paradoxes

Ensemble Dal Niente, a staunch Chicago-based purveyor of new music, is not like other groups. Since...
Author
Esteban Meneses
Michae; Compitello performs Nina C. Young's Heart.throb

Video Premiere: Michael Compitello Performs Nina C. Young’s Heart.throb

Of all the things one might expect to find at a post apocalyptic dance club, a lonely snare drum pro...
Author
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Wavefield Ensemble--Photo by Rob Davidson

Track Premiere: Wavefield Ensemble Performs Jessie Cox’s Space Travel From Someplace Else

A chorus of otherworldly whispers, harmonics, scrapes, and multiphonics usher in Jessie Cox’s...
Author
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Akropolis Reed Quintet Ghost Light

Akropolis Reed Quintet’s New Album Ghost Light Softly Haunts

The video trailer for Akropolis Reed Quintet’s new album Ghost Light (New Focus Recordings) ho...
Author
Stephanie Boyd
Susie Ibarra Talking Gong

Susie Ibarra Evokes Land and Community in Talking Gong

On composer-percussionist Susie Ibarra’s portrait album, Talking Gong, the dialogue between these re...
Author
Nebal Maysaud
Wang Lu An Atlas of Time

An Atlas of Time: Wang Lu Explores the Imperfect Cartography of Memory

Two years have passed since the release of Wang Lu’s debut album Urban Inventory, making the release...
Author
Jennifer Jolley
2020 albums

Editor’s Picks: 2020 Contemporary Classical Albums

If this year has delivered any sort of message about our field, it’s that artists will inevita...
Author
Amanda Cook
Transient Canvas--Photo by Robert Torres

Track Premiere: Transient Canvas Performs Emily Koh’s \very/ specifically vague

Today’s track premiere features Transient Canvas (Amy Advocat, bass clarinet; Matt Sharrock, m...
Author
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Shaw Chang and Diana Golden--Photo by Pierre Lidar

Track Premiere: Diana Golden and Shawn Chang Perform DBR’s Femiel

Today’s track premiere features cellist Diana Golden and pianist Shawn Chang performing Femiel...
Author
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Image

Of Being: Ning Yu Examines Temporality and Existence

In her solo debut album Of Being (New Focus Recordings), pianist Ning Yu presents three new works re...
Author
Matthew Younglove
1 2 3

Never Miss an Article

Sign up for our newsletter and get a weekly round-up of I CARE IF YOU LISTEN content delivered straight to your inbox every Friday.