Thomas DeLio - Selected Compositions III (1986 - 2017) [Neuma Records]

With the final in a series of reviews covering the work of American composer Thomas DeLio it's about time to further examine the compilation album "Selected Compositions III (1986 - 2017)", released via Neuma Records in 2019 and covering mainly electroacoustic works as well as a few percussion pieces. Opening with a combined triple of compositions dubbed "Trois Visages" DeLio fuses short expressive percussion bursts with actual, non-modified yet shouted or whispered male vocals and his trademark approach to minimalism, leaving enough room for silence to breathe whilst Modern Classical string-based passages unfold whereas the six parts of the "Limn"-series scattered over the album rely mainly on cut up layers, often of one word or even sub-syllable size, of various voices in combination with metallic electro-acoustic tones whilst the 1984/1985 created two piece "Against The Silence..." closes the album with approx. 20 minutes of stripped down, scientific sinewave signals and crystalline retrofuturist computational noises alongside ghostly, scattered percussion movements. If you're familiar with Minimal Music and / or academia-informed contemporary this compilation album defo has things to offer for you and might be the most accessible amongst Neuma Records attempts to fully cover the works of Thomas DeLio within the labels catalogue.

Album artwork on Instagram!