Join Flotation Device as we pay our respects to Tom Johnson (1939–2024), composer, critic, uncompromising minimalist and cultivator of performative failure. We draw a connection forward to Donnacha Dennehy and backwards to Satie by way of Virgil Thomson. And the late Peter Brötzmann also gets posthumous attention with two new releases, including a recording of his final public performances in February 2023. Lotte Anker, Kamil Piotrowicz, Thomas Strønen and Brandon Seabrook offer new recordings, while Kevin Juillerat updates Cage’s prepared piano. Brooks Williams uses newfangled AI to make instrumental sounds go in and out of recognizability, while Joan La Barbara does the same for her voice using vintage analog technology. Our 50 years ago in the avant-garde feature returns with Giya Kancheli’s enigmatic Fourth Symphony (does its Soviet-approved quincentennial dedication to Michelangelo conceal a less compliant ideological message?), and an Arvo Pärt cameo rounds out the playlist.
