Modernists

This expansive ensemble tackles arrangements of Varèse, The Beatles, and more. Modernism was a genre created to develop art through attention to form and dissonance and to emphasise the horrors of everyday life. The goal of Alarm Will Sound’s record, however, is to penetrate those dissonances in order to find moments of meaning and beauty. Big Spinoff follows the pointillistic lines of Webern and the colour and buoyancy of Messiaen, while M. Marks’ arrangement of The Beatles’ “Revolution 9” presents modernism through the lens of popular music, setting side by side the brilliant pop of The Beatles and the terrifying expressionism of the modernists.