Doggin' it!

Moondog is a legendary yet under appreciated composer and performer of contemporary classical music. He was born in Kansas in 1916 and grew up near Indian Reservations, which had an affect on his musical taste. He was blinded as a teen and learned Braille. That's how he learned about music. He became a self-taught performer and composer, eventually becoming a street person in NYC for many years. He spent the last 20 years of hi life in Germany. His music, unfortunately is rarely performed even though he influenced many of the minimalists composing today.

You can bank on it

Jillian Banks grew up in Tarzana, California. As a young girl, she started writing songs after a friend gave her a keyboard. Banks started uploading her music in 2013. She finally released her first full-length recording, "Goddess" in 2014, which was followed by 2016's "The Altar". She has a moody, rich voice and her music is a blend of downtempo pop, R&B, and electronica.

"Roger that."

Here's my prediction, Maggie Rogers is going to be a huge sensation. She has one of the most amazing voices I've heard in in a long time.  and she has great taste in the in the mixing room.  She says one of her favorite inspirations is Bjork., which is a good thing in my opinion.  Maggie's  a recent graduate from college and has released a couple of CDs on her own. She recently released a single "Alaska" which went viral on Youtube.  And she has a CD in the making. I just think she's someone you're going to hear from in the near future. What a great talent. And what a great voice.

Neu Music

Sarah Neufeld is hard to classify. She was part of Arcade Fire and was a co-founder of Bell Orchestra. Her new music is here for you to listen to. You just have to listen to her and decide for yourself. Good stuff.

Middle Aged

Trio Mediaeval produces some of the most beautiful music I've heard in a long time. When I heard them on the radio recently, it was truly a driveway moment. I waited in the car in a parking lot until the DJ announced who they were. The three sopranos sing mainly early music, but also perform folk and contemporary classical music. For the most part they sing unaccompanied. And since they're on the ECM label, their recordings are perfectly flawless. They were formed in Oslo, Norway in 1997, and have toured extensively both in Europe and the United States.

Craig's List

Craig Armstrong is a Scottish composer and onetime jazz pianist. He originally made his mark in composing for films such as Moulin Rouge and Simon West and has also done scores for popular tv show like Six Feet Under. More recently he has devoted himself to contemporary classical music, which has a bit of a contemplative, new-age feel to it. (And I mean that in a good way. I heard a piece by him on a local (Detroit) classical radio station and was bowled over by it subtle beauty.

What's New?

If you live in the Greater Detroit area, I encourage you to check out the group New Music Detroit. The don't perform nearly as often as I'd like, but when they do, they always draw a good crowd. NMD is mainly made up of current and ex members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. They're devoted to performing music of modern classical composers. Most of their music is quite assessable and will open up your ears to just how good modern classical music can be. The group presents a whole day of music titled "Strange Beautiful Music, once a year at the Music Box at Orchestra Hall in additional to other concerts throughout the year. To find out more, be sure to visit their website: http://www.newmusicdetroit.com

Making Majic

Majical Cloudz is the Canadian duo of Devon Walsh and Matthew Otto. They perform simple, low-fi synth pop that's minimalist yet quite catchy. Devon has a beautiful voice. And it's refreshing that he's pretty average looking--unlike all the beautiful young stars these days. They won the Polaris Prize in 2013 and were invited to join Lorde on her 2014 tour. Majical Cloudz have 2 CDs out, both worth a listen.

Part time genius

Argo Part

Argo Part, is an amazing composer from Estonia. He writes mostly sacred  music, but his music has been used in soundtracks for several movies. Check these out. Some very powerful musical scores.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!

Ruby Amanfu has had an interesting life to say the least. She was born in Ghana but was raised in Nashville since the age of three. She was encouraged by a couple of locals to record an album, which she did in 1988. Since then she's toured extensively and she's recorded several cds including one with Jack White. She does an amazing job with covers, making them her own. Enjoy!