Two New Vinyl LPs Available from Butterscotch Records and Cantaloupe Music

Two New Vinyl LPs Available in October from Butterscotch Records and Cantaloupe Music

Fantasias for Theremin and String Quartet (Butterscotch Records)
Carolina Eyck, composer & thereminist with American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME)
Available on CD, Limited Edition Green Vinyl LP, 96k 24bit WAV, 44.1 16bit WAV
Worldwide Release Date: October 14, 2016

Restless (Cantaloupe Music/Naxos)
Ken Thomson, composer; performed by Ashley Bathgate, cello & Karl Larson, piano
Available on Vinyl and Digitally
Worldwide Release Date: October 28, 2016

About Fantasias for Theremin and String Quartet

World-renowned theremin virtuosa Carolina Eyck andAmerican Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) will release Fantasias for Theremin and String Quartet on October 14, 2016 via Butterscotch Records. Eyck composed these six Fantasias specifically for the 12” vinyl LP format, a practice reminiscent of early-60s Nonesuch releases. All performances were recorded in full takes with no editing. ACME tracked Eyck’s quartet scores first, and then Eyck overdubbed her deft, fluid, single-take improvisations—thus the fitting title Fantasias. The result is an organic virtuosity that leads the listener through a wide range of sonic environments across the six pieces. Eyck’s striking theremin performances on Fantasiasshowcase her dead-aim intonation, her command of microtonality, her fluid melodicism, and—perhaps most importantly—her utter lack of self-consciousness as an improvisor. This latter quality is no accident, as Eyck has practiced improvisation for years, and has even studied techniques typically aimed at athletes for entering flow-states and shutting down critical inner dialogue.

Notable is that Fantasias was conceived as a 12” vinyl LP from the beginning, this largely due to the insistence of producer and label head Allen Farmelo who co-conceivedFantasias with Eyck. Farmelo maintains that, “The LP is a musical form unto itself, not unlike a symphony or a sonata, complete with explicit structures and implicit expectations. The LP format outlived its physical constraints through the digital era, a testament to its tenacity as an abstracted art form.” Structurally, there are three pieces per side, each of carefully plotted run-length, which form intentional musical arcs—both per side and across the entire LP—not unlike movements in a larger work. Farmelo’s essay that accompanies the LP explores these concepts and others in greater detail.

Carolina Eyck and ACME will give the world premiere live performance of Fantasias at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in NYC on November 4, 2016. The ACME players on Fantasias are Ben Russell, violin; Caroline Shaw, violin (album); Yuki Numata Resnick, violin (live concert); Caleb Burhans, viola; and Clarice Jensen, cello and ACME artistic director.

www.carolinaeyck.com | www.acmemusic.org | www.butterscotchrecords.net

About Restless

Composer and Bang on a Can All-Stars member Ken Thomson releases his next album Restless distributed byCantaloupe Music/Naxos on October 28, 2016. Restless includes Thomson’sRestless (2013-2014) and Me Vs. (2012) performed by Bang on a Can All-Stars cellist Ashley Bathgate and Brooklyn-based dynamic virtuoso pianist Karl Larson. This album marks Bathgate and Larson’s recording debut as a duo. The composer and performers decided to release Restless primarily on vinyl, with each piece neatly taking one side, in a nod to the vinyl albums of Thomson’s childhood, as well as a way of suggesting to listeners that they digest each piece individually, in its entirety. The album will also be available digitally.

Restless follows Ken Thomson’s 2013 album Thaw (Cantaloupe Music) performed by the JACK Quartet, which was named the No. 1 Classical CD of 2013 by Rhapsody and was featured on NPR's list of “10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing.” iTunes wrote, “While Thomson can be a prankster, these suites show a serious side worth hearing,” while Time Out New York described the album as, “Brainy, gritty and visceral, the music leaps off the disc.”

Thomson, Bathgate, and Larson have worked together on many Bang on a Can projects throughout the years, collaborating on new music through the All-Stars (of which Bathgate and Thomson are members), the Summer Music Festival at Mass MoCA, worldwide tours, and more. Thomson says, “Working with Ashley and Karl over the process of putting together Restless was really phenomenal. The two of them, who had played together but never this deeply, began to develop this intense and empathetic rapport. It's especially notable because Restless is not really a cello solo with piano but a real duo. During the recording session, the perfectionism of both of them really became clear, but each honored the other generously. Since doing this piece, they have started to play Brahms together and other repertoire to pair with this piece in concert – some might say it’s totally ‘backwards’ to start from the new piece and then go into standard repertoire together, but that is what is happening naturally for them. It's a great ongoing relationship to watch develop.”

Restless (2013-4) for cello and piano and Me Vs. (2012) for solo piano are two of Thomson’s most substantial chamber works. Both pieces consist of multiple movements, last approximately 20 minutes, and are major additions to the solo piano and cello/piano duo traditions. While their forms and instrumentation are a clear nod to traditional idioms, Thomson’s signature blend of jazz, punk, and modern art music is still boiling at the surface. These works highlight the composer’s masterful manipulation of tension and energy. The music churns, building in a wave of dissonance and density while never leaving traditional harmony behind.

www.ktonline.net | www.ashleybathgate.com | www.karllarsonpiano.com | www.cantaloupemusic.com

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