Schoenberg in Hi-Fi: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 presents a consuming, mid-century lounge reimagining from composer Aaron Wyanski. This eclectic album reframes Arnold Schoenberg’s avant-garde atonality through a late 1950s exotica lens, combining sophisticated orchestration, vibrant jazz rhythms, and engagingly free-flowing vocals from Anna Elder.
“Mondestrunken” opens the album with ravishing intrigue, exemplary of the album’s dynamic tonal range as a melding of smoky brass and hypnotic rhythms infuse seamlessly within more excitable aspects, like Elder’s escalating vocal emotion and the unfurling of expressive brass work. The ensuing “Colombine” kickstarts with a more initial vocal ferocity, exuding an operatic feeling as colorful organs and jazzy guitar dexterity bolster the stream-of-consciousness vocal entrancement. “Der Dandy” continues the album’s strong start, presenting an anxious sense in its jazz-inclined rhythms, brassy resonance, and Elder’s shifty vocals, alternating from heightened pitches to a concluding whispered mystique.
A particular standout success shows in “Madonna,” which expands from a grooving, late-night jazz rhythm section and woozy brass to a fantastic feeling of structural momentum, especially apparent around midpoint when a slight pause bursts into a flash of whirring percussive energy and vibrant orchestration. The album continues to enthrall in its stellar listening experience, full of savvy musicianship and expertise. “Raub” also shows well in its vocal briskness and cinematic string tones. Aaron Wyanski’s Schoenberg in Hi-Fi: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 thoroughly compels in both its highly specific concept and experimental prowess.
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“Madonna” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
