Alexandra Gardner “Luminoso”
It's not often that I'll post a promotional mp3 on this site, but this fine album's title track, "Luminoso", deserves it, being in my estimation more likely than most to break through the slurred imposition of surfing the net and all the content that goes with it.
This is one of the few recent composition albums to really grab my attention as virtuosic, tasteful, and exploratory all at the same time. Gardner, though perhaps a little too keen on using the Papyrus font on her releases (yet endearingly so), is one of the most unique and rewarding musical voices engaged in electro-acoustic composition that I've heard in a long, long time. She seems to have equally good footing in minimalist practices as she does in rhythmic complexity and electronic techniques.
Interstingly, the Innova label, who's responsible for the glorious new edition of Steve Reich's Music For 18 Musicians by the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble and the lovingly comprehensive Harry Partch "Enclosures" series of releases, has also released this disc.
Alexandra Gardner's homepage can be found here, and her next performance is in New York, NY at The Stone in support of Kathleen Supové & Jennifer Choi on December 9th, followed by an appearance at the Icebreaker IV festival in Seattle late January.