AtoZ

Growing up in New England, John Adams was fascinated by marching bands, smalltown orchestras, and his grandfather’s dancehall – anything that presented music as a communal pursuit. That obsession would inform his operas and classical pieces, making him one of the most significant composers of the last 50 years. Chronicling his long tenure on Nonesuch, Collected Works shows the breadth of his work, which incorporates jazz, folk and the kaleidoscopic repetitions of minimalists like Philip Glass and Steve Reich. More intriguing, though, is Adams’ abiding interest in music as a means of interrogating US history and culture: his first opera, 1987’s Nixon In China, was controversial for its political subject matter, while Shaker Loops, completed in 1983, takes inspiration from the Shaker sect and uses winds and strings to explore the idea of spiritual ecstasy.

Extras: 8/10: New essays and liners, plus unreleased track “Scratchband”.

STEPHEN DEUSNER

David M Allen made his name producing Cure albums between 1984–1992, but in 1980 he found himself working at Martin Rushent’s Genetic Studios during preparations for The Human League’s Dare. Left alone for a fortnight, Allen taught himself to use the brand-new Roland gear Rushent had been sent from Japan, composing half-a-dozen new wave nuggets on one of the first digitally controlled modular synths in the UK. There’s a touch of early League in “The Sound Of Muzak”, while the naïve pop of “You And I” might have come out on Mute. “Drowning On The Wave Of Dublife” nods to the solo experiments of Pete Shelley. A promising debut, then – what else is in the vault? Extras: None. PIERS MARTIN