(Swales and Angels) collects together some recent chamber works from Kentucky-born, Brooklyn-based composer Beth Anderson. This is the first full-length disc devoted to Anderson's work in primarily instrumental forms; her electronic pieces of the 1970s are contained in a separate collection, (Peachy Keen O). The essential difference between the two is that (Swales and Angels) contains music which, on the surface, is easy to digest, non-experimental in style and attractive to the ear - not quite "pretty" as critic Kyle Gann termed it. But it is also not backward-looking or based in Western traditional forms - Anderson's "Swales" are fresh and open, reminiscent of a rural landscape, a nice cold drink of water, or a small pond with some cattails and Queen Anne's lace growing around it. Formally the music unfolds in a manner rather like the way things unfold in nature, along an unpredictable path, but with familiar elements on the way. (Swales and Angels) is easily the most satisfying recording of contemporary music issued so far this year (2004) and should not be kept a secret. Anderson's work represents a new wrinkle in the fabric of current-day music which will please many listeners who may have given up in despair on the "new music" composed late in the last century. (Beth Anderson) was part of that scene also, but has in a sense "grown up." Anderson's music, which even in the era of "new music" was always about communication, has grown up with her. The listener will delight in this mature, unsentimental chamber music which nonetheless speaks of a love of old things, distant memories and cherished knick-knacks. Don't miss this one. - David N. Lewis, copyright 2004 All Media Guide
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