Composition and Theory Professor Eric Moe’s latest album, Uncanny Affable Machines is now available from New Focus Recordings. The album features  performances by several of Moe’s long-time collaborators including Jessica Meyer (viola), Yihan Chen (pipa), Lindsey Goodman (flute), and Paull Vaillancourt (drumset), along with Moe himself.

Three of the six tracks contrast solo instruments with fixed media. For the title track, Meyer’s viola engages energetically with a dense and rhythmic backdrop of synthesized sounds; Chen’s pipa punctuates a canvas of percussion and blues vocals on The Sun Beats the Moutain Like a Drum; and Goodman’s flute responds to the friendly wait staff, Patty, in Let Me Tell U About R Specials.

The rhythmic intensity that characterizes much of the music in this collection is emphatically encapsulated in Cross Chop, performed by Paul Vaillancourt on drumset.

Moe contributes performances for two of the more reflective works, And No. Birds Sing for microtonally tuned keyboard, and Frozen Rain, Summer Dreams for piano.

Uncanny Affable Machines is available on iTunes, Naxos Direct, Arkiv Music, Bandcamp, and directly from New Focus Recordings. Get your copy today and enjoy Moe’s richly inventive compositions!