Blue Calx

Blue Calx

Performed by Alarm Will Sound It seems like a composition assignment from that really cool young prof. who’s intent on shaking up the department: Take an Aphex Twin track (which is to say one created by electronic-pioneer Richard James) and translate it into the acoustic. The project is actually not all that unprecedented (Philip Glass… Read more »

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NewMusicBox Staff

Performed by Alarm Will Sound

It seems like a composition assignment from that really cool young prof. who’s intent on shaking up the department: Take an Aphex Twin track (which is to say one created by electronic-pioneer Richard James) and translate it into the acoustic. The project is actually not all that unprecedented (Philip Glass arranged an orchestral version of “Icct Hedral” released in 1995).

Alan Pierson and Alarm Will Sound have more than earned their concert hall and their street cred with challenging and well-executed programming, and those unfamiliar with Aphex Twin in the original will likely enjoy the same spirit here. Fans, however, may find the whole experiment a little silly, along the lines of the Chris O’Riley/Radiohead project. Of the arrangements turned in here by twelve composers working alone and in teams, Caleb Burhans’s “Blue Calx” is the least giggle inducing, but that’s because it sounds the least like a traditional chamber ensemble.

—MS