At Starkland, I have produced and promoted these releases.
Tod Dockstader
Quatermass
“Strong recommendation ... a highly imaginative pioneer... The style and texture vary tremendously, from the ebullient Water Music to the surreal Quatermass.”
—The Washington Post
Tod Dockstader
Apocalypse
“The obsessive care with which Starkland have compiled these extraordinary recordings should ensure that Dockstader will be remembered as the innovative, visionary figure he undoubtedly was.”
—The Wire
FROM A TO Z
“Full of fresh, inventive sonorities and often a genuine sense of fun.”
—Stereo Review
PAUL DRESHER
Casa Vecchia
“Four works... by one of the best and most
original of post-minimalist composers.”
—Stereo Review
Phillip Bimstein
Garland Hirschi’s Cows
★★★★½ “Outstanding in his field... [Bimstein] has used digital sampling technology to tell wry and moving stories, and to elevate the mundane to the level of high art... brilliantly original...
Here is a talent to watch.”
—Stereophile
CHARLES AMIRKHANIAN
Walking Tune
“The art of audio collage has been reinvented here... I'm reminded of Brian Eno's music for imaginary films, although Charles takes this idea much farther.”
—Laurie Anderson
GUY KLUCEVSEK
Transylvanian Softwear
“Recording of Special Merit”
—Stereo Review
Jay Cloidt
Kole Kat Krush
“A wonderful, accessible, and yet challenging album from one of new music's brightest lights.”
★★★★”
—All-Music Guide
GUY KLUCEVSEK
Free Range Accordion
“Another excellent album.”
—All-Music Guide
IMMERSION
13 surround-sound, hi-res pieces,
commissioned by Starkland
Paul Dolden, Paul Dresher, Ellen Fullman, Phil Kline, Lukas Ligeti, Ingram Marshall, Merzbow, Meredith Monk, Bruce Odland, Pauline Oliveros, Maggi Payne, Carl Stone, Pamela Z
Recognized as an historic first.
“Not only a fascinating array of musical innovation but a persuasive exploration of the possibilities of surround sound ... The care that went into this disc is carried through to the stylish onscreen graphics [and] the excellent printed program notes.”
Music ★★★★ Recording ★★★★★
—Sound & Vision
“A number of 'firsts' in an exceptionally enjoyable program.”
—Billboard
“Starkland's Immersion was the first DVD-A project released featuring works composed specifically for the new surround medium. The disc features 13 new music pieces from some of the world's most ambitious electroacoustic composers.”
—Pro Sound News
ROGER KLEIER
Deep Night, Deep Autumn
“He has a knack for creating rich,
beautiful textures, which really shine
because of the expert production.”
—American Record Guide
ROBERT EEN
Mystery Dances
“Wow! What a stew you’ve made here in this new CD. It smells and tastes delicious.”
—Weekend Edition, NPR
PAMELA Z
A Delay Is Better
“Sheer genius from the most gifted and enterprising vocalist/composer/audio artist in the US since the heyday of Joan La Barbara and Meredith Monk... The effects are stunning... Essential.”
—The Wire
PHILLIP BIMSTEIN
Larkin Gifford's Harmonica
“An engaging introduction to... his quirky electro-acoustic compositions... The irresistible charm of Mr. Bimstein's music has less to do with technology than with his uncanny knack for finding the music of everyday life.”
—New York Times
PHIL KLINE
Around the World in a Daze
A major, 65-min work commissioned by Starkland exclusively for hi-res surround-sound.
Recognized as an historic first.
“A special-project disk in which Kline created, out of extravagant electronic means... an audio-visual feast that balances hipster zen with the seriousness of Bach and Wagner.”
—The New Yorker
“Mr. Kline, the electronic experimenter who deploys fleets of boomboxes to achieve his preferred textures, is hard at work... The best pieces [include] ‘Pennies from Heaven,’ an 18-minute tapestry of tactile, bell-like timbres and descending scales... ‘The Maryland Sample’ is an appealingly harmonized vocal setting... ‘Svarga Yatra’ [features a] meditative string quartet score, played with an ethereal, plush tone by Ethel, that catches the ear.”
– New York Times
“This adventurous music... ranges widely from ambient recordings that are surprisingly musical, to complex constructions that emerge as lyrical... The accompanying DVD offers... a fascinating interview with Kline.”
– Stereophile
“Very noteworthy… An electro-acoustic DVD extravaganza.”
– Washington Post
“Best of the Year”
– American Record Guide
“A set of sensational études.”
– New York Magazine
VINCENT PERSICHETTI
Piano Sonatas 10 & 11
“An important reissue: Ellen Burmeister's performances are authoritative, and Starkland's remastering serves them well.”
—Audiophile Audition
KEERIL MAKAN
Target
“A sound world in which music emerges unexpectedly out of violent textures,
gestures and cries.”
—Gramophone
GUY KLUCEVSEK
Polka From The Fringe
The most comprehensive edition of Klucevsek’s massive polka project, with commissioned works from: Mary Ellen Childs, Anthony Coleman, Tom Cora, Guy De Bievre, Dick Connette, William Duckworth, Steve Elson, Carl Finch (of Brave Combo), Fred Frith, David Garland, Peter Garland, Daniel Goode, Rolf Groesbeck, Robin Holcomb, Phillip Johnston, Joseph Kasinskas, Aaron Jay Kernis, John King, Mary Jane Leach, David Mahler, Bobby Previte, Bill Ruyle, Elliott Sharp, Carl Stone, Lois V Vierk, William Obrecht, and Peter Zummo.
“As a cultural cross-dresser, Klucevsek has few equals in bending genres wherever he finds them. His latest recording, 'Polka From the Fringe,' is a two-CD collection of new polkas he got from a wide range of classical new music, jazz and indie pop composers. It’s a riot, and an addictive one at that.”
—Los Angeles Times
INGRAM MARSHALL
Alcatraz
“Best Classical Albums 2013”
—The Big City
“[Marshall’s] score has a better sense of atmosphere than much of the music produced by his minimalist influenced peers [and] there are ravishing individual passages.”
—The Wire
PAUL DOLDEN
Who Has the Biggest Sound
“A fascinating and intriguing release… A great addition to the quirky but ever interesting catalog of Starkland [that] is consistent with the high sonic standards by which Starkland is known… Highly recommended.”
—New Music Buff
“Who Has the Biggest Sound? [offers] an incredible amount of information very well organized and reproduced… The Un-Tempered Orchestra… grows more beautiful within its murky dissonances with each listen.”
—The Wire
MARTIN BRESNICK
Prayers Remain Forever
“An exciting recording [that] should be a revelation to those who don’t know his work.”
—New York Times
“Each of this disc's works...speak eloquently and powerfully...Highly recommended.”
—Gramophone
ELLIOTT SHARP
The Boreal
“Sharp's music can be radiant, ethereal, alluring and overwhelming. A magnificent disc.”
—5 against 4
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
On the Nature of Thingness
Winner 2016 Best Contemporary Classical Album
—Independent Music Awards
INSTRUMENTS OF HAPPINESS
Music from Tim Brady,
Antoine Berthiaume, Rainer Wiens
“Classical Pick”
—Philadelphia Inquirer
GUY KLUCEVSEK
Teetering on the Verge of Normalcy
“A wonderful new CD”
—Brooklyn Rail
TOD DOCKSTADER
From the Archives
“Best of the Year List”
—Steve Smith, National Sawdust
“Best of the Year List”
—George Grella, The Big City Blog
“Its striking originality is beyond doubt... incredibly multi-textured... fascinating combinations of sounds.”
—Stereophile
DAVID LEE MYERS
Ether Music
“Dreamier meditations”
— New York Times
NAKEDEYE ENSEMBLE
Storylines Crossing
Gold Medal: Best Debut Album,
Gold Medal: Best Ensemble Album
— Global Music Awards
PETER GARLAND
The Landscape Scrolls
“Peter Garland’s wonderful The Landscape Scrolls… has a rise to sheer joy and fall that justifies its 50-minute length… Garland’s notes and an introduction by John Luther Adams add to the enjoyment of the audiophile recording.”
— Gramophone
TIM BRADY
Music for Large Ensemble
“As a composer, Brady is entirely of his time,
which is to say, eclectically rooted in the full
range of modern styles, from neo-Romanticism
to experimentalism and Minimalism
[as well as] art-rock.”
— Allan Kozinn
ŽIBUOKLĖ MARTINAITYTĖ
In Search of Lost Beauty…
“A cordial recommendation for what is one
of the most significant releases thus far from the enterprising Starkland label.”
— Gramophone
INSTRUMENTS OF HAPPINESS
The Happiness Handbook
“Six colorful, thought-provoking works [that] offer an inviting glimpse of the varied approaches these composers bring [to] dealing with the electric guitar and its resources.”
— Allan Kozinn
KATHLEEN SUPOVÉ
Eye to Ivory
“Intimate, violent, roaring, serene”
—Joan La Barbara
DANIELLE BUONAIUTO
Marfa Songs
“An accessible, inspiring,
and eclectic album”
—The Sybaritic Singer
GUY KLUCEVSEK
Citrus, My Love
“Generously imbued with
melodic charm and grace”
—The Wire
KOTOKA SUZUKI
Shimmer, Tree
“Both surface allure and exquisite detail”
—John Chowning
Tim Brady
Symphony in 18 Parts
for solo electric guitar
“A solo guitar symphony might raise some eyebrows, but this 50-minute piece by the Canadian composer-performer Tim Brady made me a believer.”
— New York Times
GUY KLUCEVSEK
Hope Dies Last
“Everything is instantly and insistently appealing”
— Steve Smith
JU-PING SONG
Monad
“Because of Ju-Ping’s extraordinary concentration and gift for conveying character, I found myself riveted throughout the course of the album.”
—Jed Distler