Musicwhore.org Music and memory

Antoine Reicha, Reicha Rediscovered, Vols. 1 and 2 (Ivan Ilić)
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, The Beethoven Connection
Brooklyn Rider, Healing Modes

2020 marked the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, and ensembles all over the world programmed events around it. Then SARS-CoV2 spoiled the parties.

A number of artists opted to offer counterpoints to Beethoven rather than perform his works. Brooklyn Rider commissioned works by women composers on the theme of healing as a reaction to the Beethoven string quartet, op. 132. These works, interspersed with the op. 132 itself, are collected on Healing Modes.

With The Beethoven Connection, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet put together an album of Beethoven contemporaries not named Hadyn or Mozart. In a similar vein, two albums by Ivan Ilić explore the keyboard works of Antoine Reicha, a friend of Beethoven.

On all four releases, Beethoven lurks in the wings but never casts a shadow.

Flake Music, When You Land, It’s Time to Return

The Shins before they became The Shins.

Keola and Kapono Beamer, Honolulu City Lights

Any list of the best Hawaiian music albums will place Honolulu City Lights near or at the top. Before I developed my contrarian world view in high school, I had actually liked the title track. I was 5 years old.

I’ve gone on record disparaging Hawaiian music, and I do still wish there were a stronger push to strain the music’s borders. But in the last year, I’ve mellowed my stance, mostly because it takes too much energy to hold onto that much snobbery.

So my younger self may be surprised — perhaps disappointed — that I’ve joined the critical consensus on this album.

Garbage, Garbage

I had a promo copy of this album I was supposed to review for the college paper, but I had started to realize a lot of the stuff being sent by major labels really sucked. So I gave this album a half-hearted listen, then passed it onto another writer to cover. And I was a Butch Vig fan to boot.

Tags: anton reicha, brooklyn rider, flake music, garbage, ivan ilic, jean-efflam bavouzet, kapono beamer, keola beamer, picks, purchase log