Sigfusdottir / Nordic Affect - Clockworking - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

On March 16, 1968, the United States Army killed over 500 unarmed civilians in the hamlet of M? Lai, Vietnam. The unimaginable brutality of the event impacted all those who witnessed it firsthand, including helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson, who, against orders, intervened to save Vietnamese lives. Thompson's story is the basis of the opera M? Lai, composed by Jonathan Berger (music) and Harriet Scott Chessman (libretto) for Kronos Quartet, Vietnamese multi-instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ, and vocalist Rinde Eckert. This definitive recording of M? Lai captures the visceral, phantasmal depictions of Thompson's grief, horror, and guilt as he is haunted by persistent memories of that cataclysmic day, half a world and nearly four decades away. Tense and unforgiving, M? Lai is Incha gripping affair, beginning to endInch (New York Times). Presented here alongside recollections by Vietnamese survivor Tr?n Van Ð?c, it is a memorial to all the M? Lai villagers killed on that grim day. Album Tracks 1. My Lai Lullaby 2. First Landing Flight 3. First Landing Descent 4. First Landing The Ditch 5. Second Landing Hovering 6. Second Landing Bunker 7. Third Landing Postcard 8. Third Landing Fishing 9. First Landing Descent (Excerpt) 10. Third Landing Fishing (Excerpt)

Textura Raindamage is an album best appreciated on headphones, when you've got the time to really let it seep into your brain. Titled H e (a) r the album features 7 world premiere recordings, including a soundscape which lends it's title to the album by the group's artistic director; composer and violinist Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir. The work H e (a) r connects to ecology, acoustics and embodiment; drawing on encounters and what happens in the connection. Many of the instrumental works are a continuation of Nordic Affect's longstanding collaboration with some of the exciting talent to emerge out of Iceland in recent years, many of which were featured on the 2015, Clockworking. The title track was chosen for NPR's Songs We Love series and featured in various best-of-the-year lists, including Steve Smith's for Night After Night, The Chicago Reader, and The New Yorker. In addition to composing her own music, Ms. Markan Sigfúsdóttir has toured the world with indie band amiina and recorded and collaborated with a range of other bands and artists. Her compositions have been performed in Iceland, Australia, Europe and the US. A continuation of the solo work 2 Circles, found on the Clockworking album, is Point of Departure by composer, cello player, and singer Hildur Guðnadóttir. Hildur has been manifesting herself at the forefront of experimental pop and contemporary music. Her output has encompassed four solo albums, and numerous works for theatre, dance performances and films. H e (a) r also features Reflections and Impressions by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, a recipient of Lincoln Center's 2018 Emerging Artist Award and 2018 Martin E. Segal Award. Anna Thorvaldsdottir frequently works with large sonic structures that tend to reveal the presence of a vast variety of sustained sound materials, reflecting her sense of imaginative listening to landscapes and nature. A new collab

It is definitely stimulating and challenging for an arranger to create unity between a folk trio and a chamber orchestra; let alone between different styles of music and instrumental playing. The Nordic Symphonic project; with it's meeting of the Nordic trio and a classical orchestra; is a great example of the kind of musical cross-fertilisation one can only dream of. In this collaboration Nordic's intricate swing-based style is set against the broader sound palette of the orchestra the trio sets off on a whirlwind adventure; with sounds from across the whole planet; and the orchestra follows along. Album Tracks 1. Fuffe (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom, a. Lofberg and M. Zetterlund for Orchestra) [05 02] 2. Bruce (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom, E. Rydvall and M. Zetterlund for Orchestra) [04 46] 3. Metropolitan (Arr. H. Hjortek for Orchestra) [04 21] 4. 8-Bitar (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom, a. Lofberg and M. Zetterlund for Orchestra) [04 41] 5. Nordic Symphonic Suite (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom for Orchestra) [10 03] 6. S Igrid Och Småfolket (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom, a. Lofberg and M. Zetterlund for Orchestra) [06 18] 7. Chicken - Hen (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom, a. Lofberg and M. Zetterlund for Orchestra) [03 51] 8. Morsis (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom, a. Lofberg and M. Zetterlund for Orchestra) [05 30] 9. Döden (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom and M. Zetterlund for Orchestra) [06 34] 10. Variación Andina (Arr. K.-J. Ankarblom, a. Lofberg, E. Rydvall and M. Zetterlund for Orchestra) [04 12