Guardian: Five Stars for Alarm Will Sound's "Dazzlingly Well Played, Startlingly Good" Nonesuch Debut

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Alarm Will Sound's Nonesuch album debut, a/rhythmia, is out now and features works that take a different approach to rhythm. The Guardian gives the album a perfect five stars, citing the group's "technical virtuosity" and the album's "exuberant mix" of pieces, "dazzlingly well played, and a startlingly good beginning to their association with Nonesuch."
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Alarm Will Sound's Nonesuch album debut, a/rhythmia, was released earlier this month and features works by Michael Gordon, Harrison Birtwistle, Conlon Nancarrow, Benedict Mason, György Ligeti, and Autechre, among others, that take a different approach to rhythm. The Guardian gives the album a perfect five out of five stars.

The group, having "carved out a distinctive niche for itself in the US new-music scene," says reviewer Andrew Clements, has made a name for itself performing a wide range of musics, "from rock and electronica to mainstream modernism, and the group's first disc for Nonesuch seems designed to show the breadth of those interests, as well as the technical virtuosity behind them."

The review calls attention to the pieces on the album by Gordon and Birtwistle, the two longest on the album, as "both ­superbly done." Add that to the complete, diverse collection of works on the album, and you get "an exuberant mix," Clements concludes, "dazzlingly well played, and a startlingly good beginning to their association with Nonesuch."

Read the complete five-star review at guardian.co.uk.

Also from the UK, The Independent recently gave the album four stars, and Metro lauded the group's musicianship, saying that "the sheer virtuosity with which the performers tackle all the complex rhythms (or rather, arhythms) is something extraordinary to hear."

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The group's next scheduled appearance is at Kampnagel in Hamburg, and a new show has been added in New York City on February 23 or next year, at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets are now available for both shows. For more information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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Alarm Will Sound "a/rhythmia" [cover]
  • Friday, September 25, 2009
    Guardian: Five Stars for Alarm Will Sound's "Dazzlingly Well Played, Startlingly Good" Nonesuch Debut
    Alarm Will Sound's Nonesuch album debut, a/rhythmia, was released earlier this month and features works by Michael Gordon, Harrison Birtwistle, Conlon Nancarrow, Benedict Mason, György Ligeti, and Autechre, among others, that take a different approach to rhythm. The Guardian gives the album a perfect five out of five stars.

    The group, having "carved out a distinctive niche for itself in the US new-music scene," says reviewer Andrew Clements, has made a name for itself performing a wide range of musics, "from rock and electronica to mainstream modernism, and the group's first disc for Nonesuch seems designed to show the breadth of those interests, as well as the technical virtuosity behind them."

    The review calls attention to the pieces on the album by Gordon and Birtwistle, the two longest on the album, as "both ­superbly done." Add that to the complete, diverse collection of works on the album, and you get "an exuberant mix," Clements concludes, "dazzlingly well played, and a startlingly good beginning to their association with Nonesuch."

    Read the complete five-star review at guardian.co.uk.

    Also from the UK, The Independent recently gave the album four stars, and Metro lauded the group's musicianship, saying that "the sheer virtuosity with which the performers tackle all the complex rhythms (or rather, arhythms) is something extraordinary to hear."

    ---

    The group's next scheduled appearance is at Kampnagel in Hamburg, and a new show has been added in New York City on February 23 or next year, at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets are now available for both shows. For more information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
    Journal Articles:On TourReviews

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