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Classical Playlist:
Conrad Tao, 'Scrapyard
Exotica' and More
Conrad Tao, 'Scrapyard
Exotica' and More
artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com
October 7, 2015
by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
Originally published in artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com
(Link︎︎︎)
‘SCRAPYARD EXOTICA’ Del Sol String Quartet (Sono Luminus) I could be wrong, but I’m guessing it’s been a while since you’ve rocked out to a string quartet recording. See if your foot can stay still once you put on this funky disc of rhythmically infectious (if often warped) music played by the adventurous Del Sol String Quartet. Mason Bates’s irresistibly oddball collection of four bagatelles layers electronics and percussive accents on top of a crisp, angular score. Mohammed Fairouz’s “The Named Angels” is a smooth cocktail of Middle Eastern dance tunes and film-noirish Minimalism. Ken Ueno’s “Peradam” offers a heady brew of harmonies flickering with microtones, harmonics and vocalizations that draws heavily on the individual talents of the versatile Del Sol players, which in the case of the violist Charlton Lee includes eerily accomplished samples of Tuvan throat singing.
(CORINNA DA FONSECA-WOLLHEIM)
(CORINNA DA FONSECA-WOLLHEIM)