Larry Ryan: Caught In The Net

Late in September, an imposing box landed in music shops. It contained 10 CDs, a 191-page booklet and art by Chuck Close, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Wilson and Francesco Clemente, all dedicated to the 40-year career of Philip Glass. This is Glass Box: A Nonesuch Retrospective encompasses the American composer's chamber music, symphonies, operas, concerti, film scores and music for dance. At nearly £90 it is a fairly expensive outlay. In the meantime, Nonesuch is streaming large swathes of the set at www.nonesuch.com/albums/a-nonesuch-retrospective. The American label Nonesuch has a range stretching from Wilco to Amadou & Miriam to The Wire soundtrack to Glass and everything else in between. You can negotiate it all with "Nonesuch Radio" – www.nonesuch.com/radio. Here you can listen to the random "Nonesuch... [read full story]