Flotation Device rounds up some of 2024's best new recordings of contemporary Western art music, including offerings by Adam Rudolph, Tyshawn Sorey, Matt Mitchell, Gabriel Prokofiev and Sylvie Courvoisier, plus one more look at Klangforum Wien’s 70th birthday tribute to Beat Furrer. Plus, Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri pay their unconventional respects to Bartók’s pioneering ethnographic recordings. Caroline Shaw and Žibuoklė Martinaitytė explore the colors of the earth and the human voice in new choral albums, while Ed Pettersen and Henry Kaiser offer a new take on an old Irish ballad. Elliott Sharp jams on mandocello while Brian Andrew Inglis embraces the recorder as an avant-garde instrument. And a 65th birthday tribute to standout Bang on a Can’er Evan Ziporyn, plus a memorial to Northwest sax icon Wally Shoup round out the program.
Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell. Annotated playlist and photo credits in Comments.
