Asamisimasa

Simon Steen-Andersen - Pretty Sound: Solo And Chamber Music is a 2011 compact disc by Asamisimasa. This was released by Dacapo.

On the face of it, his carefully hand-written scores move notes across a page, using minimal resources to create elegant formal shapes whose simple repetitions or drones gather cumulative weight as they go. But in, these sounds evoke a vivid imaginative world, from the humdrum - the chime of a clock, a siren's wail, the whirr of an air-conditioning system - to the sublime. Unlike most composers, Crane deals with beauty quite unapologetically, and this is a very beautiful album.

Places of Sounds and Words is a work for vocalists, ensemble, and sounds from the “real” world: from parks, squares, stairways, conversations, and arguments.

Accordionist and composer Frode Haltli follows up last year's acclaimed Hubro release, 'Avant Folk', with a smaller-scale yet equally inspired album that is built once again on the combination of traditional Nordic folk forms with influences drawn from world music and contemporary composition/improvisation.