ACL 2023 ~ Top Ten Modern Composition

The year’s most beautiful music can be found here, from soft piano to soaring strings, humble ensemble to booming orchestra.  This was a banner year for modern composition, which even recruited one of the world’s biggest post-rock bands into its

ACL 2023 ~ The Year’s Best Album Covers

How important are album covers?  While no one has the time to listen to all the new music being released, everyone has time to look through the covers.  In the old days, they would be on display at a music

ACL 2023 ~ The Year’s Best Winter Music

At A Closer Listen, we make a clear distinction between winter music and music that is released in winter.  Winter music is evocative of the season and latitudes in which snow and ice take up permanent residence.  The catch is that some

Cicada ~ Seeking the Sources of Streams

One of the highlights of the early year, Seeking the Sources of Streams sounds just like its title and its inspiration.  Piano notes sparkle like sunlight on water; strings swirl like eddies around stones.  The music sounds as cool and crisp as