Michael Patrick Brady

My review of The Balustrade Ensemble’s Capsules ran today at ALARM Magazine.

The Balustrade Ensemble puts a lot of emphasis on aesthetics, and they manage to construct imagery that clearly indicates that they’re striving for an old-world, chamber music sound. Their cover art and package design is excellent. I only wish they had given their music a little more solidity. There’s good work here, lots of potential, but in the end it’s rather light and wispy. Nothing comes together in a way that truly seizes the attention.

This is probably the most satisfied I’ve been with a 250-word review in a while, I crammed all sorts of good stuff in there.