NICO MUHLY Mothertongue (Bedroom Community) Rating: NNNN
While Björk reinvents herself as a composer and increasingly forgets music is actually for listening to, her pianist (and more importantly Philip Glass protege and virtuoso composer) Nico Muhly seems hell-bent on making records that are at once out-there contemporary and utterly listenable.
Granted, we do experience what may be the first known recording of whale meat splashing in a bowl (along with the sound of a comb being dragged through tangled hair and a mezzo-soprano chanting her address and Zip code), but these three suites get under your skin in a good way, none more so than the final track, a haunting gothic tale of sororicide sung by fellow Vermonter Sam Amidon.
Muhly joins Final Fantasy at the Music Hall, Wednesday (August 27).
