{"product_id":"flexible-music-flexible-music","title":"Flexible Music: Flexible Music - COMPACT DISCS","description":"\u003cb\u003eTitle: \u003c\/b\u003eFlexible Music\u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \u003cb\u003eArtist: \u003c\/b\u003eFlexible Music\u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \u003cb\u003eLabel: \u003c\/b\u003eNew Focus\u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \u003cb\u003eProduct Type: \u003c\/b\u003eCOMPACT DISCS\u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \u003cb\u003eUPC: \u003c\/b\u003e884501126472\u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \u003cb\u003eGenre: \u003c\/b\u003eClassical\u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \u003cb\u003eRelease Date: \u003c\/b\u003e2010-03-09\u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \u003cb\u003eNumber of Discs: \u003c\/b\u003e1\u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \n                                         \u003cbr\u003e\n                                         \n                                         \n                                         Flexible Music is: Haruka Fujii: percussion Dan Lippel: guitars Tim Ruedeman: saxophones Eric Huebner: piano Hout- Louis Andriessen Flexible Music- Nico Muhly Around the Bend- John Link Closing Time- Ryan Streber Sustenance Variations- Orianna Webb Throw Down or Shut Up- Vineet Shende 'The quartet known as Flexible Music derives it's name from the title of the Nico Muhly piece that the group plays on it's new disc. Like that score, the program's other works by Louis Andriessen, John Link, Ryan Streber, Orianna Webb, and Vineet Shende take percussion, piano, saxophones, and guitars through fascinating textural, rhythmic, and coloristic terrain. The results are varied and vital, a feast of intimate musical possibilities. The disc's springboard is Andriessen's beguiling Hout, which has been recorded by several other ensembles. Dutch for 'wood', the piece is a canon that finds the instruments chasing each other at pell-mell speed, occasionally stopping in their tracks amid the hypnotic activity, sensual gestures and group exclamation points. Muhly's Flexible Music is exactly that. Inspired by video games, it's energy is relentless, with swirling, punching ideas momentarily relaxed with lyrical lines. In Link's Around the Bend, something surprising is always lurking, from exotic tambourine sighs to quickly shared fragments, dreamy piano lines and sudden outbursts. An electric guitar broods in Streber's Closing Time, which is animated through saxophone flights and feisty interaction. Tidbits emerge from hushed moments, and the saxophone and guitar have extended solos before the music fades away. The aura veers from the frisky to the still in Webb's Sustenance Variations, whose punchy chords and confrontational episodes find a keen balance amid lines of haunting poetry. Shende pays homage to James Brown in Throw Down or Shut Up, whose vigorous activity includes vocal grunts, riffs, shifting rhythms and a sassy finish. The members of Flexible Music are undaunted by the repertoire's formidable demands. Haruka Fujii (percussion), Eric Huebner (piano), Timothy Ruedeman (saxophones), and Daniel Lippel (guitars) appear to relish the sense of discovery that these composers have invested in their captivating creations.'- Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone August 2009 '... Flexible Music, a young and vigorous New York City-based quartet. Aggressiveness, virtuosity, and seamless ensemble playing are obviously Flexible Music hallmarks, and these strengths are revealed immediately with a blistering account of Louis Andriessen's Hout, the piece that one imagines was the catalyst that brought the quartet together. While calling any work a tour de force may seem terribly cliche, it's really the only term that aptly describes Hout. It's a relentless piece, beginning with what seems like a never-ending canon at the 16th note.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTracks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1.1 Hout \u003cbr\u003e1.2 Flexible Music \u003cbr\u003e1.3 Around the Bend \u003cbr\u003e1.4 Closing Time \u003cbr\u003e1.5 Sustenance Variations \u003cbr\u003e1.6 Throw Down or Shut Up\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAudio Sample:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n                                           \u003ci\u003eAll soundclips are provided by Tidal and are for illustrative purposes only. For some releases, the tracks listed may not accurately represent the tracks on the physical release.\u003c\/i\u003e\n                                           \u003cbr\u003e\n                                           \u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.tidal.com\/albums\/11004785\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width:100%;height:700px\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"Flexible Music","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39931334557767,"sku":"14919046","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2976\/0132\/files\/1513709.jpg?v=1747347004","url":"https:\/\/tower.com\/products\/flexible-music-flexible-music","provider":"Tower Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}