Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound Performs Aphex Twin

1	Cock / Ver 10
2	Logon Rock Witch
3	Meltphace 6
4	Blue Calx
5	Fingerbib
6	Gwerly Mernans
7	4
8	Prep Gwarlek 3B
9	Omgyjya Switch 7
10	Cliffs
11	Jynweythek Ylow
12	Mt. Saint Michel
13	Avril 14th

Barnes & Noble

The ensemble Alarm Will Sound has been making a big splash in new-music circles since the turn of the millennium, releasing a highly praised Steve Reich disc to complement their adventurous concert programming. Although recording a set of acoustic arrangements of works by electronica mastermind Aphex Twin (a.k.a. Richard D. James) could be seen as a bid for mainstream crossover, it certainly doesn't reflect any artistic compromise: Aphex Twin's albums from the 1990s were as revolutionary in the sonic possibilities they realized as virtually any other music of their time, no matter the genre. Somewhat curious, though, is the choice to derive more than half the tracks here from the 2001 album Drukqs -- not typically considered Aphex Twin's most innovative hour. Still, it's never less than thrilling to hear the young musicians of Alarm Will Sound -- recent alums of the Eastman School of Music, led by virtuoso conductor Alan Pierson -- find their way through rhythms and harmonies that traditional instruments were never meant to navigate; and the arrangements, mostly by members of the group, are impressively creative and diverse in their own right. If you put the CD on blind, you could easily think you were listening to the work of a hot young avant-garde composer, one who had absorbed the music of precursors like Ligeti, Adams, and Michael Torke and layered the influences on top of some very disorienting rhythmic patterns. It may be hard for some listeners to get the electronic originals out of their minds, but from the roller-coaster ride of "Cock/Ver 10" to the placid ambience of "Jynweythek Ylow" and beyond, comparisons of this sort hardly even seem relevant, since the results of this experimental journey stand up so brilliantly on their own. Scott Paulin

Atlanta Journal Constitution

The dense crash-and-burn sonic layers of "Mt. Saint Michel" -- the most interesting and exhilarating composition on the CD -- pushes the players almost to the breaking point. This is extreme virtuosity and, more interestingly, heart-felt playing. [Grade: B] Pierre Ruhe