Bang on a Can - Cheating, Lying, Stealing (CD)

All Music Guide

New York's ~Bang on a Can festival has made a few interesting strides in infusing classical composition with the fire and openness of rock music; many of the results may come off as more "Downtown"-style wankery, but much of the music compiled on Cheating, Lying, and Stealing (composed by seven Bang on a Can "all-stars") manages to get past this into rather appealing territory. Musicians like Annie Gosfield add the clang and discordance of the Downtown scene to classically-shaped pieces; Frederic Rzewski transforms simplistic folk melodies into a virtuousic piano composition; Hermento Pascoal adds elements of dissonance and atonality to the plush roots of Brazilian jazz; and David Lang, Evan Ziporyn, Louis V. Vierk, and Nick Didkovsky contribute pieces as well.

- Nitsuh Abebe, All Music Guide