OSTERMEIER, M. - TINY BIRDS (CD)

"'Tiny Birds' is the new work by Marc Ostermeier. A resident of Baltimore, Maryland, Marc works as a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He also happens to be the co-founder of Words On Music and the Tench record label. He defines much of his music as being 'skeletal piano melodies' which seems pretty accurate given the sparse nature of 'Tiny Birds'. Yet, amongst the gorgeous little melodies at play here, there is a careful depth of sound design from a variety of found sounds and field recordings. Apart from the simplicity of his piano structures, there is a tellingly beautiful contribution from violinist Christoph Berg (Field Rotation). It is just the kind of album we love around these parts: namely, a work that takes its time to develop as it sees fit, without any need to rush to its restrained conclusion." (label info)