#1 at Amazon: Phil Kline’s "Around the World in a Daze"

For the last week, Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze has appeared daily as the #1 Bestseller in Amazon’s Indie Classical rankings.

It’s great to see new music top the charts. We think this is a tribute to Phil’s wonderful music, which has inspired excellent reviews in such publications as The New York Times, Fanfare, New York Magazine, Stereophile, and many more.

Also, this double DVD release is currently on sale for $14.93, so that helps too.

Read more about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze.

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#1 Amazon Bestseller: Phil Kline’s "Daze" from Starkland

Today at Amazon, Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze appears as the #1 Bestseller in Amazon’s Indie Classical charts.

Excellent reviews in such publications as The New York Times, Fanfare, New York Magazine, Stereophile, and many more have undoubtedly helped.

Read more about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze.

A related recording, Starkland’s Immersion, today ranks at #11.

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Bestseller #4 at Amazon: Phil Kline’s "Daze" DVD from Starkland

Today at Amazon, Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD appears as the #4 Best Seller in Amazon’s Indie Classical sales rankings. It’s likely the first time a new music surround DVD has charted so high there.

The robust sales probably result from fine reviews in such publications as The New York Times, Fanfare, New York Magazine, Stereophile, and many more, as well as some recent promo efforts from Starkland plus Amazon’s special sale price.

Read more about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD.

Also, Starkland’s Immersion DVD registers as #36, meaning that today Starkland has 2 new music surround DVDs in this Top 40 list.

Read more about the Immersion DVD.

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Fanfare: “poetry and mystery” heard in Phil Kline’s "Around the World in a Daze" surround DVD from Starkland

In the latest issue of Fanfare, Robert Carl reviews Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD. He finds that “the whole thing breathes with a certain poetry and mystery.”

Carl writes that The Housatonic at Henry Street, which uses recorded ambiance near Kline’s home on New York’s Lower East Side, “is a very rich and evocative piece, a haunting Ives tribute/elegy.”

Phil Kline (L) and Tom Steenland
check out the ambiance at the corner
of Henry and Rutgers in New York

He next mentions the “ravishing vocal harmonies” found in The Wailing Wall.

Carl then remarks that the “tour de force” Pennies from Heaven “starts as a trickle and becomes a downpour, creating textures of great complexity, yet always clear and direct in its impact.”

He concludes that Daze “has attractive and entertaining things throughout, and sometimes it really takes off.”

Read more about Phil Kline’s Around the World in a Daze DVD.

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Phillip Bimstein: “True American Original” found on 2 Starkland CDs

Phillip Bimstein’s music has charmed audiences and critics far and wide for many years. Airplay of his delightful Garland Hirschi’s Cows has generated hundreds of calls to radio stations (especially after being heard on NPR’s All Things Considered). His 2 Starkland CDs have been praised by such publications as The New York Times, Stereophile, and Wired.

The latest review emerges in -- Sweden. Stephen Fruitman writes at Sonomu:

“One of those true American originals, Chicagoan Philip Bimstein once went for a hike in Utah and never came back. Since settling there he has made a name for himself as environmentalist, two-term mayor of Springdale, and composer whose music has been widely performed and generously rewarded.”

Fruitman begins with comments on Bimstein’s first Starkland CD, describing the composer as “a musical Studs Terkel, interviewing ordinary folks about their work and lives and then editing it into a cohesive story with broad appeal.” He adds:

“His first collection of pieces, Garland Hirschi´s Cows, proved to be his breakthrough…The standout is "Dark Winds Rising", a labour of love, commitment and belief, music by someone who refuses to remain a bystander while his planet and its people are being poisoned. He allows three generations of a Paiute Indian family from Arizona to create a narrative about tradition and the threats modern, profit-driven society pose to it.”

Read more about Phillip Bimstein’s Garland Hirschi’s Cows CD.

Writing about Bimstein’s second CD from Starkland, the Sonomu scribe states:

“In his latest collection, Larkin Gifford's Harmonica, Bimstein introduces us to pit bosses in Vegas, a beer-slinger at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and an elderly man´s nostalgic story about his first harmonica... At times uplifting, at others merely momentarily entertaining, but what's wrong with that?”

Read more about Phillip Bimstein’s Larkin Gifford’s Harmonica CD.

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