John Psthas - Album Covers

The music of John Psathas has a special place with the Rattle Records catalogue. John and Rattle have grown together. They have been mutually supportive for nearly 20 years. Rattle's third release, the compilation CD Different Tracks (1993), was effectively a statement of intent for the record label, a selection of compositions and artists that clearly indicated the direction it would pursue. John's Matre's Dance was one of the standout pieces on that CD, and a year or two later both Dan Poynton's You Hit Him he Cry Out (1997), which featured Waiting For the Aeroplane) and John's album debut, Rhythm Spike (1998), were receiving enthusiastic acclaim. But this was nothing compared to what was to follow. View From Olympus (2006) was one of the most significant album releases of the decade. The album, three concertos performed by the NZSO under the baton of Marc Taddei, featured the extraordinary Michael Houstoun on piano, American jazz giant Joshua Redman on saxophone, and the Portuguese percussion maestro, Pedro Carneiro. The album stayed near the top of the classical music charts for an unprecedented 6 months, and would remain in or near the top ten selling albums for much of 2007. Ukiyo, a collaboration with Pedro Carneiro, was released in early 2010. The compositions were all written for vibes, marimba, loops and sequencing, and Pedro was joined by Jeremy Fitzsimmons, Hamish McKeich and Stroma. The album comes to a beautifully self-reflexive conclusion with Tim Prebble's One Study Remix. Now, in March 2011, John and Rattle will release Helix, a selection of superb chamber pieces written for (and performed by) NZTrio, NZ String Quartet and Donald Nicolson (piano). John once again provides some skilfully composed sequences, and in one piece plays gamelan. The music on Helix is some of John's most beautiful, and the album concludes with a very poignant nod to his earlier Waiting for the Aeroplane with Waiting : Still.