Music

Big respect to Rattle, a record company which has been releasing New Zealand recordings ...beyond the regimented lines of classical and contemporary boxes for some years now.

MARK AMERY Pavement Magazine

There is a warmth and attractiveness about the whole project, and this extends right throughout every detail..

Gillian Bibby MUSIC IN NZ

The music is fascinating and varied hectic and yet beautiful, exciting  yet always with a sense of innate taut structure, noisy and yet also involving a world of contemplation.

Gillian Bibby MUSIC IN NZ

There is no excuse for not treating yourself ... Get spiked!

William Dart THE LISTENER

...everything I could have hoped for. New Zealand Music at its best, imaginatively chosen, sensitively played, and with a satisfying warmth to the recorded piano sound.

Heath Lees, New Zealand Herald

This is vital, wholly original, instantly appealing, obviously important music.

Jim Svejda KUSC FM (USA)

This is vital, wholly original, instantly appealing, obviously important music.

Jim Svejda KUSC FM (USA)

Its an album to me that I'm going to keep living with because every time I put it on there's something new..

Manu Taylor & Eva Radich RadioNZ Nine To Noon

You've got this incredible sax and percussion that winds through it.. I mean I'm just stunned..

Manu Taylor & Eva Radich RadioNZ Nine To Noon

Beautiful production from Rattle records..

Manu Taylor & Eva Radich RadioNZ Nine To Noon

In classical music terms, this is The Lord of the Rings

Gilbert Wong Metro

There are moments in View from Olympus, where the frenzy of the wine-crazed Maenads seems to know no bounds.

William Dart NZ Herald

American saxophonist Joshua Redman blows it cool and velvety in Omnifenix, Psathas' first Saxophone concerto…

William Dart NZ Herald

But even here, when the tempo picks up, expertly propelled by the biggest band in the land under Marc Taddei, the delirium is such that even Lance Philips' drumkit cadenza seems an oasis of measured calm…

William Dart NZ Herald

The colours in View from Olympus spill and radiate from the first page where Michael Houstoun's piano and Pedro Carneiro's xylophone twinkle in a Stravinskian grotto…

William Dart NZ Herald

The reverberant slow movement, dedicated to the composer's children, is a shimmering wonder; a three-minute encore, Fragments like a jazzy tribute to a Satie Gnossienne…

William Dart NZ Herald

The recording does every shift of mood and sound the fullest justice.

William Dart NZ Herald

First of all, I have to say, Rattle Records deserve a lot more love. There's a great package, there's a lot of information there; it's a wonderful recording. ..

Manu Taylor & Kathryn Ryan RadioNZ Nine To Noon

It's just great. I found it very meditative - I thought a lot when this was playing. And it's a good thing over the Christmas break.

Manu Taylor & Kathryn Ryan RadioNZ Nine To Noon

Rattle continues its run of recordings of New Zealand music with this disc ... Packaged with minimalistic elegance, this absorbing anthology contains an eclectic mix of music played with quiet authority by Houstoun.

Christchurch Press, Christopher Moore

There's a vein of fun running through the recording, especially in Mike Nock's edgy, freewheeling compositions. A delightful recording which must win new friends for solo piano performances.

Christchurch Press, Christopher Moore

…stunningly imaginative arrangements..

John Button THE DOMINION

Jack Body can fairly claim to be New Zealand's most important composer after the late Douglas Lilburn..

John Button THE DOMINION

…fascinating listening

Aaron Watson CAPITAL TIMES

…the star turn is Rattle Records' Pulse.

William Dart THE LISTENER

..a pioneer in New Zealand music..

Tony Parker NZ MUSICIAN

On You Hit Him He Cry Out

… everything I could have hoped for. New Zealand Music at its best, imaginatively chosen, sensitively played, and with a satisfying warmth to the recorded piano sound.

Heath Lees, New Zealand Herald

This is a very important album.

CONCERT FM

The producers have struck an ideal balance between the experimental and easy-listening for the popular ear, challenging preconceptions of New Zealand contemporary classical as 'difficult'...

Mark Amery PAVEMENT