(08.14.05) With Alan Pierson conducting a rather large orchestra of over 20 players, engaging the work of Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin), you’ve got a contemporary blend of stimulating lunacy at hand. Venture to say that giving the primarily digital cup-up techno maestro the horns-of-plenty-effect is quite a jolting tickle to ye olde palette. In almost 70 minutes these musicians really make a play for waffling away with distortion and angst for a sideline that is partly tongue in cheek, partly quite luminous, like an overture to a grande play. This sort of treatment sort of fortifies the barriers between classical music and contemporary composition, and veers back and forth into and out of the land of pop. Each track is arranged by one of the players and the percussion is really solid, especially on “Blue Calx.” This reminds me of walking into a mall when I was a kid and experiencing the Hammond organ self-players for the first time… something Lawrence Welk-y about it, all Technicolor and sweet. It’s a great Sunday listen. 3/5
Alarm Will Sound: Performs Aphex Twin is out now on Cantaloupe Music.
