Nowa Muzyka
Check out the debut album of British composer and pianist James Batty. Batty is a classically trained pianist and winner of several prestigious music competitions. His first record, "Sanctuary (Overtones and Deviations" – released in May 2016 on Moscow-based Frozen Light (CD) and Washington-based Zeromoon (digital version) – he worked on continuously for three months. It's interesting the way the artist uses not only the pure, unadulterated sounds of upright and grand piano, but also reaches for electronics, ambient sounds and other acoustic instruments. While composing, Batty was inspired by the paintings of Jo Baer (whose work stands side-by-side with Mark Rothko's), sculpture of Henry Moore and films of Michael Haneke. What struck me most on "Sanctuary (Overtones and Deviations" were the harmonic systems played on the piano that freely resonate on multiple levels with the other elements James Batty has put into his electroacoustic compositions.
Łukasz Komła