Ooh! Review a CD!

William Schuman's Symphony No. 9 has been on my regular playlist long enough--just look at the listening journal entries! Still, I've had great affection for this composer since I was a schoolboy and got to play in a band that performed his George Washington Bridge. In fact, the first time I bought compact disks, one contained his seventh symphony. This CD is a recent acquisition, of course, featuring both his fourth and ninth symphonies as well as two short orchestral works, Orchestra Song and Circus Overture, performed by the Seattle Symphony with Gerard Schwarz conducting.

Mr. Schwarz has been a friend to mid-20th-century composers when it comes to recordings and he keeps that reputation intact here. We're lucky to get a band as good as the Seattle group for a relatively obscure composer like the late Mr. Schuman--especially on the budget label Naxos. This is a sign of the changing fortunes of the classical music recording industry. A few years ago, Naxos would have recorded these works with some obscure East European orchestra of dubious standards. Still, the Seattle is not exactly the Berlin Philharmonic and while the winds and percussion are superb, the string sound isn't ideal at times--given the thick harmonies, Schuman works need rich string sounds.

William Schuman (never to be confused with Romantic composer Robert Schumann) is a unique voice in American composition. A former president of the Juilliard Music School, Mr. Schuman wrote remarkable orchestral works with clotted, dense harmonies that seem to sometimes possess a life of their own, sounding as if they are in motion even when unmoving. He always had clear ideas about using the sections of the orchestra as individual units and these works are mostly evidence of that mature style: the brass soars, the woodwinds ornament, the percussion thumps and jingles, and the strings surge. I've never seen works from Mr. Schuman as easy, tuneful romps (OK, even the brisk passages with complex rhythms seem to lumber). These frequently lack humor, but they strain against the bonds of traditional harmony and rhythm, even as they conform to them (this isn't chaotic stuff). To me, this is the sound of mid-century, industrial America.

Overall, the works here are strong, if not Mr. Schuman's best. The orchestra is good and the conducting is first-rate.

7 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• Frederic Chopin: Nocturnes, disk 1
• Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band: XXL
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10
• Sofia Gubaidulina: 'Stimmen... Verstummen'
  

CD review time already?

William Schuman's Symphony No. 10, conducted by Gerard Schwarz, is part of a phase I went through a while back when I realized I didn't have all the Schuman works I wanted. In my haste to get all his symphonies, I marked my Amazon.com wish list with a couple of CDs I actually didn't really need. This is one of them. A girlfriend bought this before I realized it contained only the 7th and 10th symphonies--and I already had recordings of both. Hence, I mark this by the conductor to distinguish from the 10th symphony disk conducted by Leonard Slatkin. There are worse things than having two performances on separate recordings when it comes to Schuman symphonies.

The 7th symphony shows Mr. Schuman's characteristic style of dense, slow-moving, dark harmonies, but it's less monumental in feeling and the leavening of folk-melody elements actually give the work a light-footed feel that's not only unusual for William Schuman, but very pleasant. The 10th symphony, subtitled "American Muse" is a self-consciously "major work". Again, it's huge and filled with thick, tense harmonies, but the structure is clearer than the 7th, helping things move along, despite clocking in at over a half-hour. Oddly, despite the title, the folk melodies aren't as pronounced as the 7th, but the pleasures of this work come from broader themes embedded in Mr. Schuman's typically rich writing.

Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony once again show that their long relationship recording American composers is a boon to all of us interested in the topic. It's a shame that musicians like William Schuman, Howard Hanson, and Walter Piston (among others) don't get a better hearing, especially with exemplary recordings like these.

8 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Kenny Wheeler: Music For Large & Small Ensembles, disk 2
• György Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals
• Bill Nelson: The Strangest Things
• Kevin Puts: Dark Vigil
• Claudio Monteverdi: Il Sesto Libro Dei Madrigali
• Possum Dixon: (eponymous)
• Konono No. 1: Congotronics
  

CDs listened to today:

• Esa-Pekka Salonen: L.A. Variations
• Kelly Willis: What I Deserve
• Matias Aguayo: Are You Really Lost
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
• Peter Apfelbaum and the Hieroglyphics Ensemble: Signs of Life
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (conducted by Gerard Schwarz)
  

Sometimes, Bill Maher can be a real sanctimonious jerk.

But that doesn't mean he's wrong. Check out his profanity-laced review of, um, jerks of the year. You'll probably agree with me that not all of his choices are ideal, but it's still funny...

I'm sorry that it was posted at the Rolling Stone web site, which is a display of horrible web design.

CDs listened to today:

• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
• Fats Navarro: The Fats Navarro Story, disk 1
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• Edgar Meyer: Quintet
• Poe: Haunted
• Konono No. 1: Congotronics
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10
• Arild Plau: Concerto For Tuba And Strings
  

Whose fault is it?

I was sick a good part of last week, my recent posts are undoubtedly fruits of lying in bed for four days with little to do all day. One of the thoughts I have now that I'm feeling better is this: what could I have done to avoid the illness? I'm certainly not saying it's all my fault that I got a nasty cold--these things happen. But am I taking care of myself to the best of my ability to stay healthy? Not only avoiding colds, but overall?

The answer, of course, is no, I'm not doing all I can. And I won't do all I can, but I might try to do better. Hey, nobody's perfect, but there's room for improvement here. I could sleep more and better, eat better, wash my hands more often, work less, stress less, and exercise more. I'm not playing blame the victim, but when a bad thing happens to me, I feel like I need to consider things and decide if it's worth it to make the changes needed to avoid a re-occurrence. In a way, this is related to a rape-prevention thing a friend forwarded to me recently. If you're raped, or get a cold, or any of a zillion bad things between those opposite ends of the "bad things" spectrum, it's truly not your fault and sometimes, they happen when you've taken no risk at all. But there are things you can do to reduce the overall risk those bad things will happen to you.

Naturally, nobody is willing to do everything they should to avoid the bad things in life--risks are a natural part of life--but I'm one of those people who thinks a lot about these tradeoffs. I'm willing to try and focus a little better on the things I mentioned to avoid colds, particularly sleep, stress, and fitness (I'm already pretty good about hand-washing, honest). Perversely, our efforts to reduce risk don't always pay off and sometimes, the efforts aren't necessary--you just never really know. So we all just need to find a balance and be satisfied with our honest efforts.

Maybe I should devote a little more time to what I should consider doing to prevent a burglary at my house?

CDs listened to today:

• Matias Aguayo: Are You Really Lost
• Joan Tower: Concerto for Orchestra
• Various Artists: Logical Progression, disk 1
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
• Hebert Vazquez: String Quartet No. 1
• Kai Winding, J.J. Johnson & Bennie Green: Trombone By Three
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel
  

Let's review a CD, shall we?

Naïve from KMFDM was released in 1990 and was withdrawn from release, edited, and re-released due to a copyright hassle involving an apparently unauthorized audio sample used in one track. Later versions of this disk lack the offending sample, but I'm proud to say that my copy is the original, un-edited version! Apparently, KMFDM fans are passionate enough that the used disk commands a nice premium in the used market, so if you think you have an original, don't sell it without checking the value first.

KMFDM is a good example of what was called industrial music back in 1990, with metal-tinged guitars merging with sampled sounds, drum loops, and drum machines. The grooves are danceable but not nimble, and the singing is typically guttural growling while the songs explore ugliness and brutality in a fashion that might disturb more delicate listeners (especially those who might find fascist imagery disturbing in a German band--but they clearly revel in things that are completely antithetical to that movement, so don't go making accusations). Even the cover art, by Brute, reflects this unholy melange of force, anti-authoritarianism, and sex (I store this face-down at the office). How dark, yet playful does this get? A favorite track of mine features the refrain, "I want to go to hell," while another revels in the sheer sonic glory of a machine-tinged wall of guitars to exult, "you'll be god-like!"

I have often found the Cookie Monster-stylings of metal and industrial singers not so much off-putting as kind of goofy and cartoonish, but singer Sascha colors his singing with enough real feeling and melody to give KMFDM a beautifully ugly kind of melodiousness that suits the sound of the grinding, chugging guitars and thumping bass notes accompanying him. He sounds especially good in his native German, although the lyrics in both English and German have a feral simplicity--goth kids looking for their Romantic poetry should look elsewhere. This is an album that won't make you angry; it'll make you realize you're glad you're angry.

9 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
• Edvard Grieg: From Holberg's Time
• KMFDM: Naïve
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• Fats Navarro: The Fats Navarro Story, disk 2
• Bill Watrous: Manhattan Wildlife Refuge
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
• Juraj Filas: Sonata For Trombone And Piano (At the end of the century)

I know a dirty little secret.

When you read coverage of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most important measure of inflation for us as consumers, you might not realize that many of the news agencies use the core CPI. That measurement excludes food and fuel prices--you know, two of the things you're most likely to purchase every day. Every administration does this, to hide the real inflation rate for consumers by arguing that grocery, gasoline, natural gas, and fuel oil prices are "too volatile" for true long-term analysis.

I suppose that's true. Still, as consumers, our real cost of living includes food and fuel and we should have accurate analysis of the actual expense we incur in our daily lives--including seeing the costs go down when gasoline drops precipitously. With fuel costs spiraling out of control due to increased demand in developing economies (hello, China and India), instability of supplies (courtesy George W. Bush and staff), and a weakening US Dollar (again, thank you George W. Bush and staff), we need to know the truth. It's true that the cost of fuel is beginning to creep into our other costs (perversely, the most sensitive item to fuel costs is food), but that takes time and is a filtered, secondary effect. Hiding these numbers is part of an effort by governments to avoid the consequences of their policies and decisions. The current government will pay if fuel continues as another hidden tax for a mismanaged federal budget and huge war deficit. It's just that I would prefer NOT to pay hidden taxes like this that affect me more than the wealthy.

How about a tax increase for the top incomes!

CDs listened to today:

• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Leonard Slatkin conducting)
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Central Park North
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Requiem
• Peter I. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• Various Artists: Legally Stoned, disk 1
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
  

Back at home tonight.

I finished up my visit to Vancouver today, returning in the late evening. I explored Vancouver itself today, wandering around the town in the rain (safely hidden from the elements in my rental car, for the most part). I've grown accustomed to thinking of Western US cities as having newish suburbs, unlike the Eastern cities with suburbs that are much older than any town in the West. Vancouver disproves that, being roughly 180 years old. I'm a lazy thinker in not realizing this (the West Coast cities are much, much older than the Mountain West), but at least I'm attentive enough to notice!

However, outside of an older downtown and an historic park (complete with a re-created fort), Vancouver is very much like the older suburbs in the Mountain West towns. The homes are primarily modest wood-frame buildings--in fact, I didn't see any "McMansion" homes until today. I imagine I may have missed some wealthier neighborhoods in my wanderings, but the town seems nicely free from that sort of suburban "backfill" development we see in the Denver area. As time goes by, the huge houses that fill empty areas in the suburbs and urban centers disturb me more and more as eyesores and enemies of sensible urban design.

Outside of the residential neighborhoods, Vancouver has a large port facility on the Columbia river--complete with a big railroad terminal--and a downtown that looks like it has seen better days. The neighborhoods belie this bit of decay with large retail "power centers" anchored by busy discount stores and plenty of smaller retailers. As much of an urbanist as I feel I am, a town like Vancouver makes me think that maybe the downtown isn't needed. On the other hand, I'd need to see a thriving cultural scene before I withdraw my view that suburbs are for raising kids safely and economically, but cities are for living and vitality.

My friend's home, which I visited several times, is a really good example of how suburban living is good for the kids. His home is on a cul-de-sac, the dreaded bane of urbanists everywhere, where it appears to be the smallest home on the block. That's always ideal for property values, since the other, more expensive homes tend to push up your home's value. Even better, his house backs up to a spacious public park, which has gotta be the best situation I've ever seen. It's a great place for him and his family, even if it can seem a bit small with two energetic kids and a few pets running around. I envy that!

CDs listened to today:

• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5
• Aphex Twin: Richard D. James Album
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel
• Alban Berg: Lulu Suite
• Ingram Marshall: Hymnodic Delays
• Robert Russell Bennett: Symphonic Songs for Band
  

My iPod isn't what it used to be.

Today, I was traveling and found that my iPod now only runs about four hours on a full charge. It's served me well, having been with me to Europe (twice), nearly every day at work and, well, most every day when I wasn't at work! It's been with me much more frequently than all those wireless phones I always carry, too. If you restricted me to only one device, my listening journal should tell you it would be my iPod.

While I love the way the device keeps me musically interested at all times, I can't say I'm really thrilled about the prospect of buying a new one. The newer iPods have more features, such as video, internet, games, and color displays (hey, my iPod is really, really old), but all I want is music playback. I don't want to pay $200-$400 for a gadget that not only has features I don't want, but is also incompatible with my computer! Yes, my machine is so old that I need to replace it for full compatibility with currently-offered iPods.

Still, there is one reason to grab a new iPod Classic. I've never had an MP3 player (this is my 4th Pod) that could hold all my digital music at once. My collection is currently about 120 GigaBytes and the larger Classic model holds 160 GigaBytes. Finally! Room to grow!

CDs listened to today:

• Samba Mapalanga: Ujumbe
• Robert Russell Bennett: Suite Of Old American Dances
• Elvis Costello: Spike
• Alban Berg: Lulu Suite
• Elliott Carter: Sonata for Piano
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
• My Morning Jacket: Z
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel

Happy New Year!

This joke is probably not the politest, but it's clean:

Q: How many kids with ADD does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Wanna go ride bikes?

CDs listened to today:

• Touch And Go: I Find You Very Attractive
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
  

OK, fun from work--and I have permission to reprint the fun part.

A friend sent me an ESPN.com blog item about football and I noticed that the author, Bill Simmons, lets his wife post a few words as part of the larger post. You can read her hilarious rant here. It's essentially a colorful look at the inner life of a pregnant woman, short-tempered and impatiently waiting for the big day. I shared the bit with my teammates at work, commenting that our teammate who is similarly pregnant is more even-tempered than that! My colleague responded with an even funnier rant than the one I shared. With her permission, I now pass it to you. Enjoy!

Are you serious?

Here's my list, and it's just from this morning:

• Sorry to the 5 cars that I cut off this morning on the way to work who were driving 54 in a 55 MPH zone. I was in a hurry.
• Sorry to the guy in front of me in the drive thru at Starbucks who didn't pull up far enough because he was afraid to get his Lexus SUV too close to the car in front of him... I couldn't pull up to order without getting within 2.5 inches from his back bumper. I was in a hurry.
• Sorry to my 2 year old who told me to go away when I tried to wake her up to get her in the shower. Mommy shouldn't have said "you have to get up every day of your life, get used to it!!!!" I was in a hurry.
• Sorry to the organizers of the last 5 meetings that I've replied "tentative" to - just because. I'm being proactive because I could go out on maternity leave any minute now. I'm in a hurry.
• Sorry to my boss, who's reading this and wondering how it is that I have time to just write inane emails. I'll get back to work right now. I'll hurry!

CDs listened to today:

• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
• Elliott Carter: The Minotaur
• Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones: (eponymous)
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"
• Jean Francaix: Wind Quintet No. 1
• Matias Aguayo: Are You Really Lost
• Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
  

I have evidence of the downfall of Western Civilization.

In a couple of weeks, NBC will premiere a pilot for a renewed version of Knight Rider, the moderately awful TV series from the early 1980s that brought David Hasselhoff to stardom. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Well, there's a writer's strike so they recycled some old scripts for camp effect!" Apparently, it's not a comedy--this was an original script written by actual union professionals!

CDs listened to today:

• Sofia Gubaidulina: Concerto For Bassoon And Low Strings
• Korn: Issues
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Lontano
• Fats Navarro: The Fats Navarro Story, disk 3
• Bill Watrous: The Tiger Of San Pedro
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel
• Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 8
• Claudio Monteverdi: Il Secondo Libro Dei Madrigali

CDs listened to today:

• Maurice Ravel: String Quartet
• Frank Sinatra: The Best of the Columbia Years, 1943-1952, disk 1
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
• The Thrills: So Much For The City
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
  

I have an executive function!

There's a lot of bull floating around about diet, exercise, medicine, and so on. I lean heavily on the research and opinion from the New York Times, where the reporters on these issues tend to be actual, trained experts in the subject on which they report, rather than just the good reporters you see at smaller newspapers or TV reporters. They also seek opinion pieces and articles from leading experts like the one I read the other day.

The article is an argument to ignore those stupid brain activity games where the manufacturers claim they'll improve your acuity or your memory or whatever else you might worry about. The authors recommend plain old exercise--you know, aerobic stuff: walking, running, old-fashioned aerobics, or whatever. It also conforms to my prejudices!

The main thing I like is how they describe the set of abilities that combine to govern decision-making and activities as the "executive function". We all have one!

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Visions de l'Amen
• Pixies: Surfer Rosa
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
• Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians
• Frank Sinatra: The Capitol Years, disk 3
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel
• Humphrey Searle: Symphony No. 2
• Trash Can Sinatras: Cake
  

I've decided I'm allowed to get lazy now and then.

So here's another video for you. I gather this is an ad for a fictional product from a little-seen Mike Judge movie, Idiocracy. You may recall he's the evil genius behind Beavis and Butthead, plus he's the creator of Office Space. The gag here is that the future will be a land of morons completely formed by the worst of mass-marketing and Hollywood. Here's a product from the movie, now with it's own ad (apparently, you can actually buy this stuff):




CDs listened to today:

• Stephen Scott: Minerva's Web
• Justin Timberlake: Justified
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• Edgard Varese: Ameriques
• Various Artists: Music From The Morning Of The World
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (conducted by Gerard Schwarz)
• Alban Berg: Lulu-Suite
  

CD review time again!

I don't recall from whom I bought The Annuals' Be He Me, but I remember why. I hadn't bought much besides jazz CDs for my "not classical" purchases for a while (I actually make a habit of buying half classical, half not-classical disks--pop CDs, I usually call them) and I was tired of it. Still, I'd been conservative about the pop CDs at the time, waiting to hear a few songs thoroughly before deciding on my purchase. That wasn't working because all the disks I had auditioned had been disappointments. It's that sort of conservative, wait-and-see approach that left me buying the more-reliable jazz artists. I knew that, so I did what has rewarded me in the past: look for an unheard recent release that's getting a lot of critical buzz. It may have been a visit to AllMusic.com or the New York Times online where I found the inspiration to get The Annuals' CD, I really don't recall.

I'm pretty happy I made this decision to buy Be He Me. It's not a recording for the ages, it's not exciting enough to meet that high standard, but it's very satisfying. The band's sound is flexible, blending piano, guitar and atmospheric electronics with mostly mid-tempo or slower tunes--more acoustic guitars and piano than electric choices. When they do choose to make more rhythmic tunes, the funk is a bit slow and graceful. You won't find jackhammer tempos, or much histrionic singing! Like Spoon, a similar-sounding bad, the melodies are singable, which is a strength. Still, the singer, Adam Baker, is not exactly secure in his voice (a common failing in what the pop-music press call "indie" bands), which is a weakness, but not a failing, considering the somewhat detached mood that wraps around most of this album. And it's that remote emotional tone that keeps this album from matching the brilliance of an act like Spoon. Consistency is nice when the tunes are so pleasing, but these guys need to shake things up with a little excitement to reach full potential.

7 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Shulamit Ran: O the Chimneys
• The Sea and Cake: The Fawn
• My Morning Jacket: Z
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 3
• Talking Heads: Remain In Light
• Esa-Pekka Salonen: L.A. Variations
  
• Jesus Guridi: Sinfonia Pirenaica
• Matias Aguayo: Are You Really Lost
  
• Yoshihisa Taïra: Hiérophonie
  

CDs listened to today:

• Bernard Rands: Canti dell'Eclisse
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 7
• Thicke: A Beautiful World
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Peter Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
• Various Artists: Logical Progression, disk 2
  

CDs Listened to today:

• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
• 3rd Bass: Derelicts of Dialect
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Various Artists: Music From The Morning Of The World
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
• Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson: The Great Kai & J.J.
  

Following up!

My, um, entire readership (you know who you are) has been asking, what about the hotel charges from my visit to Vancouver/Portland? The story is that the hotel processed my bank card for the wrong amount--charging me for only one night instead of five. Well, karma didn't work for me and I wound up getting charged for the full amount after I pointed the matter out. Oh well, at least I'm not dishonest on that one!

CDs listened to today:

• 24-7 Spyz: Harder Than You
• Juraj Filas: Sonata For Trombone And Piano (At the end of the century)
• Richard Wagner: Siegfried-Idyll
• Various Artists: Shades of Technology, A Drum and Bass Journey
• Bill Watrous: The Tiger Of San Pedro
• Cuong Vu: Vu-Tet
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10
• Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret
  

I know you want a CD review now.

This disk was a gift from a former girlfriend. She bought it off my Amazon.com wish list where I had placed it on a whim. I probably wouldn't have bought this myself; I use that wish list a bit like a placeholder list for items I might buy--after a little consideration. But this is the sort of risk I take in order to expand my horizons, musically speaking. If you occasionally take a risk and listen to something you wouldn't ordinarily hear, you never know what you might find.

I put this disk on my wish list because it's named for the Pyrenees mountains and at the time, I was still pretty jazzed by my two-week bicycle ride there.

The disk is Sinfonica Pirenaica, by Jesus Guridi. The symphony is a rather traditional four-movement work. Labeled as three movements, the middle movement is really two--a fast and a slow inner movement. While the harmonies aren't overly dissonant, they are rich and they support some beautiful melodies and straightforward rhythms. Some of the development sections seem a little wayward and Mr. Guridi seems to have mistaken plainness for stylistic unity. Nothing here will jump out as exciting and the handling of orchestral timbres is a trifle uninteresting.

The Bilbao Symphony is featured here, led by Juan Jose Mena, and they create a polish to the sound that highlights the work's tunefulness at the cost of shining a spotlight on the frumpy soundscape. I'd be happy to hear more from this band. The disk closes with a dance excerpt from Guridi's ballet, Amaya, and the orchestra sounds like it's having a bunch of fun.

6 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Esa-Pekka Salonen: L.A. Variations
• Olivier Messiaen: Trois Petites Liturgies de la Presence Divine
• The Philosopher Kings: (eponymous)
• Matias Aguayo: Are You Really Lost
• Steve Reich: Different Trains
• Frank Sinatra: The Best Of the Columbia Years, 1943-1952, disk 3
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9