Brook / Loadbang - Old Fires Catch Old Buildings [CD]

The intrepid quartet loadbang exists in the margins between chamber music, new music, and the unnameable music that is the intersection between their unprecedented instrumentation (baritone voice, bass clarinet, trombone, trumpet) and the fantastical concoctions that it inspires in composers. If this release, loadbang's third (and second on New Focus) can be summed up in no other way, it is certainly at least a testament to the fact that composers approach this ensemble with a sense of freedom and otherworldly creativity they might not find in themselves with more conventional instrumentations. The deftness with which the ensemble fields these diverse scores and renders them expressive and moving is further testament to their musicianship and commitment. New York City-based new music chamber group loadbang was founded in 2008. They have been praised as 'cultivated' by The New Yorker, 'an extra-cool new music group' and 'exhilarating' by the Baltimore Sun, 'inventive' by the New York Times and called a 'formidable new-music force' by TimeOutNY. They have premiered more than 250 works, written by members of the ensemble, emerging artists, and today's leading composers.