Dictaphone: Poems From A Rooftop (CD, Sonic Pieces, April 2012)

This record has a wonderfully fresh take on the modern classical template, and I can't quite put my finger on what it's doing. We get sonorous chimes, tinkling pianos, and atmospheric strings. We get some jazzy touches, like the soulful reed instruments and the percussion's tendency towards soft brushes and hand-claps. We get a subtle washes of static, and snatches of samples. (There is one straight-forward vocal track, Rattle, and I have to say I find it jarring in this context.) The whole thing is gently propulsive, which makes a change, and there are some interesting tonalities at work. Whatever it does, I think it's smashing. (Also, I approve of the film-geek-friendly track titles.)

I bought this directly from the label.

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