Tight Sweater: Real Quiet Plays the Music of Marc Mellits

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (41 ratings)
Sample Album
Tight Sweater: Real Quiet Plays the Music of Marc Mellits album cover
Album Information
EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 18   Total Length: 56:01

eMusic Review 0

Avatar Image
Brian Wise

eMusic Contributor

04.22.11
Classical music that frequently pulsates with the rock and funk sounds of the '70s.
2006 | Label: Endeavour Classics / IODA

Marc Mellits is a composer in his 40s who is just starting to gain wider recognition for a growing catalogue of works written for the Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, among other groups. His music frequently pulsates with the rock and funk sounds of his '70s childhood, as well as the techniques of minimalism, without relying on them entirely. With titles that suggest Frank Zappa, Mellits's miniatures are catchy and appealing, with frantic bits of Saturday morning cartoon music. “Fruity Pebbles,” for conventional piano trio, quotes both Rachmaninoff and the “Brady Bunch” theme. The group Real Quiet — pianist Andrew Russo, cellist Felix Fan, and percussionist David Cossin — plays Mellits'witty pieces with assuredness.

Write a Review 3 Member Reviews

Please register before you review a release. Register

user avatar

Engaging

SoNotASonata

I had not heard of Mellits before I downloaded this album, but I am looking forward to getting more of his music. The sense of fun and playfulness in this music is obvious from the song titles alone; any composer who gives his movements titles such as "Pickle Trousers" and "Shagadellic" is obviously not taking himself too seriously. Most of this music is rhythmic, patternized, evocative of Steve Reich in a lighter mood. Virtually any song sample will tell you whether you'll enjoy this music or not. I enjoy it a great deal, although this album is probably not the best choice for dinner music; think of it more as fodder for an uptempo classical mix. For the curious, the movement which quotes and fragments the "Brady Bunch" theme is 4LB, the fourth movement of Fruity Pebbles.

user avatar

Great for Steve Reich fans

EMUSIC-FFFFFFFF

This is a really pleasant album, and for me was a pleasant surprise. Most closely evokes Steve Reich, but should be interesting to any fan of minimalism and rhythmic precision.

Recommended Albums

eMusic Features

Minimalism and Its Discontents
0

Minimalism and Its Discontents

By Jeff Morris, eMusic Contributor

Minimalist music, as it came to be known, grew out of the New York downtown scene in the 60's. Its steady pulse and consonant structure offered a welcome repast from the somewhat alienating serial music which seemed to have run its course. But what influenced those cascading patterns, textured drones and shifting rhythmic landscapes? And where have others taken minimalism beyond its formalist constraints. This program will trace a dotted line from the influences to the… more »

0

New Classical Meets Rock

By Brian Wise, eMusic Contributor

There's long been a particular breed of composers who have sought ways to blur the dividing lines between popular culture and high art. Renaissance masses were often based on popular love songs. Haydn wrote string quartets based on gypsy music. Stravinsky and Debussy borrowed from ragtime jazz to add spice to their musical language. For today's young composers, and for those who grew up during the '60s and '70s, pop music has become the lingua… more »