Kronos Quartet's Floodplain is out now, and the reviews from the UK prove that Kronos's latest global exploration is as expansive as its repertoire. The Sunday Times gives the album four stars, calling it both "one of their most inspired so far" and "one of the albums of the year." The Guardian gives it four stars, too, calling the music "engaging, challenging, complex and rewarding." The Observer Music Monthly, in its four-star review, sees the Quartet "as intellectually engaging as ever." The Evening Standard gives Floodplain a perfect five stars, calling its repertoire "vivid and powerful ... music that grabs by the throat and doesn't let go." Scotland's Herald also gives it a perfect five stars, dubbing it "an entrancing journey."
Kronos Quartet's Floodplain was released worldwide on Nonesuch last week, and the reviews from the UK are proving that Kronos's latest global exploration, featuring music from Africa to Azerbaijan to Serbia, is as expansive as its repertoire. You can now watch videos of Kronos performing songs from the album at London's Barbican Hall, as part of the Ramadan Nights Festival, September 26, 2008, at nonesuch.com/media.
The Sunday Times gives it four stars. "David Harrington and his colleagues may be no strangers to border-crossing experiments," writes music critic Clive Davis, "but this journey has to be one of their most inspired so far."
Davis says that the pieces Kronos has included in this border-less repertoire "combine classical rigour with the unquenchable vitality of folk music," proving that the Quartet shows "a preternatural ability to speak in tongues. In short, this is one of the albums of the year."
Read the complete review at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk.
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The Guardian gives Floodplain four stars as well. Reviewer John L. Walters describes Kronos Quartet's recent recordings as "exemplary reminders that classical music is 'world music,' too, and vice versa," with their latest being no exception. "This generous, 12-track album is based around the concept that the world's great floodplains, such as those of the Nile, Ganges and Volga, are the cradles of humankind, and sublime sources of sustenance and fear," writes Walters, citing "several blockbusters" on the album and concluding: "Kronos's selection of music from these regions is engaging, challenging, complex and rewarding." Read the review at guardian.co.uk.
The Guardian's sister publication, The Observer Music Monthly, also giving the album four stars, describes the Quartet "as intellectually engaging as ever."
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The Evening Standard gives the album a perfect five stars and places it among the CDs of the week. Reviewer Simon Broughton too notes Kronos's ability to showcase the shared currents of classical and "world" music, saying, "there are few bands so in tune with the sounds of the world." He describes the album's music as "vivid and powerful," citing as its centerpiece "Getme, Getme," the Quartet's "transcendental" collaboration with Alim Qasimov. Broughton concludes: "It's music that grabs by the throat and doesn't let go." Read the review at thisislondon.co.uk.
The Herald out of Scotland also gives the album a perfect five stars, dubbing it "an entrancing journey."
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