Groove - Motherboard - Granularism

Twelve-tone music, the musical revolution proposed by Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and others at the beginning of the 20th century, doesn't exactly have a reputation for being particularly accessible today. But this isn't an immutable law of nature; it's a historically grounded convention. That things can be different is demonstrated by none other than biosphere conservationist Chris Korda. For Granularism (Kevorkian Records, December 8), she has developed specific compositional and sound design techniques that soften the harshness and dissonance inherent in the principle of an equal and even distribution of notes across the tonal spectrum. Implemented with polyphonic synthesizers or the piano, she creates highly interesting soundscapes that exist outside the conventions of neoclassical or dark ambient music, yet can be perceived as pleasant. You can read more about how this works here. Suffice it to say: it works.