Various Artists – Innova Recordings, Innova 2010: Music with Sound
A vital, thrilling sampler of American contemporary classical
Innova Recordings was founded in 1982 by an organization called the American Composers Forum so that composers, that most embattled and consistently maligned species of contemporary music makers, would be able to record the forward-thinking, fresh and visceral music they were making. This was music that had a firm foothold in no markets — not pop, not rock, not even traditional classical. This is music that defines itself by all of the things it isn't, or only sort of is: classical, but not old; modern, but not Modernist; melodic, but not Pop. It slips under or beneath every classification crack there is. When you are faced with a lack of labels as severe as this, you can almost start to understand why people go around calling it ridiculous things like "art music" or "serious music" — anything to give it a name and to draw people's attention to it.
The American Composers Forum just called it "music" — and recorded it in volume. When it began, the Saint Paul, Minnesota-based group had a very narrow, pragmatic focus: It recorded Minnesota composers who had been awarded the prestigious McKnight Fellowship. Since 1994, however, as its purview has grown, it has matured into a label that documents all the thrilling stuff happening at the fringes of the American contemporary scene. Well, now they've put the most vital swath of their catalogue on sale, and this sampler, right here, is free: That means you don't have even the slightest excuse anymore not to be clued into this music. Whether it's the fiery iconoclast cellist Maya Beiser, who has worked with Brian Eno, played with Bang on A Can, and recently performed Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" for 12 cellos; the conductor Gil Rose and his inimitable Boston Modern Orchestra Project ensemble, which continually and fearlessly tackles music no one else is playing; or Harry Partch, the musical hermit who had to invent his own instruments and tuning system to write the music he heard in his head, the musicians on this sampler are some of the smartest, most vital artists that you probably know nothing about. Fix that.
