Tin Hat

Video Premiere: Tin Hat’s “A Cloud on a Leaf”

Tin Hat: The Rain is a Handsome AnimalTin Hat: The Rain is a Handsome Animal (New Amsterdam, 8/28/12)

A few weeks ago, the ever-daring Tin Hat collective released another new adventure — a 17-song exploration of the modernist work of poet EE Cummings, with each member offering his or her own interpretation.

“A Cloud on a Leaf,” the album’s opener, is another beautiful, wandering chamber-folk piece, this time penned by clarinetist Ben Goldberg and sung by violinist Carla Kihlstedt. Kihlstedt’s vocal arrangements are integral to the album, and here she offers a melodic interpretation of Cummings’s “Speaking of Love (of… (LV)),” whose punctuation, capitalization, and spacing break the rules in the poet’s typical style.

In the song’s live-style video, the four members present a shuteye performance with a disturbing twist — especially from a distance. Stay strong for the final stare-down at the song’s conclusion.

William Brittelle

MP3 Premiere: William Brittelle & ACME’s “Future Shock for String Quartet, Mvmt. 2”

William Brittelle & ACME: Loving the Chambered Nautilus William Brittelle & ACME: Loving the Chambered Nautilus (New Amsterdam, 6/26/12)

“Future Shock for String Quartet, Mvmt. 2”

[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/02-Future-Shock-for-String-Quartet-Mvmt.-2.mp3|titles=Future Shock for String Quartet, Mvmt. 2]

In the summer of 2010, Brooklyn-based composer/performer William Brittelle released Television Landscape, an art-rock epic that combined rock, pop, and classical in infectious song structures. Next month, Brittelle makes his return with Loving the Chambered Nautilus, composed for (and likewise performed by) the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), a talented collection of chamber players. On Nautilus, Brittelle focuses more on progressive arrangements, creating a highly psychological, imaginative experience of true musical sustenance.

100 Unheralded Albums from 2010

Among the thousands of under-appreciated or under-publicized albums that were released in 2010, hundreds became our favorites and were presented in ALARM and on AlarmPress.com. Of those, we pared down to 100 outstanding releases, leaving no genre unexplored in our list of this year’s overlooked gems.