William Brittelle’s Spiritual America has drawn from classical music, punk rock, and electronica to produce music that is at once free-ranging and a thrill to experience.

PLAYED BY CADILLAC MOON ENSEMBLE, WITH AUDIO PROCESSING BY AARON ROCHE
November 16, 2017

FEATURING MIVOS QUARTET AND PIANIST KARL LARSON
October 20, 2017

You remember your ancestors who have passed away. But bangsokol also gives hope to people who are still alive … It’s good to not only think about death, but also about the living.

Bowery Ballroom
February 4, 2016

Mr. Dorman lets his Baroque influence run wild. The works are concise three-movement forms in the standard configuration, but he has not entirely removed the rhythmic complexities that drive his other works.

It may seem surprising to hear that Vivian Fung, born and raised in Edmonton, has built an international reputation as a classical music composer that has led her to a commissioned orchestral work for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, as a way of introducing its 2015 season in September. But there it is. Fung knows no bounds, nor does her compositional groove.

Nina Simone's creepy-while-somehow-soothing voice is a perfect paint for the canvas that the string-heavy beat provides.

The angular melody, dissonant background strings and Simone’s nervous, vibrato-laden voice establishes a menacing presence.

It manages to balance its weird orchestra breakdown with a rather contemporary beginning and ending.

“Roots albums, no matter the landscape around them, always feel sturdy, firm—responsible, in the classic Gangstarr way.”

In “…And Then You Shoot Your Cousin,” The Roots prove their mastery of mixing high and low culture for diverse audiences. It’s a headier album, but one rife with significance.

“It’s a curious turn, but one that finds them as oddly whimsical and satisfying as ever.”

The musicians weren’t the same Roots band seen regularly on NBC’s “Tonight” show with Jimmy Fallon. They included the Metropolis Ensemble — the conductor Andrew Cyr, a string quartet and four singers — and the jazz pianist D. D. Jackson, who wrote dramatic, somberly dissonant arrangements for the ensemble.

All preconceived notions of ‘hip-hop’ are tossed out the window, as the transcendence of the sometimes one-dimensional genre is epitomized here.