Dustin O’halloran Piano Solos Vol.2 vinyl is a Redbird/Cobraside repress of O’Halloran’s 2006 album, his second collection of solo piano compositions, released in the year when his film score work for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette brought his name to a much wider audience than solo classical piano recordings typically reach.
Dustin O’halloran Piano Solos Vol.2 vinyl: The Album on Its Own Terms
Piano Solos Vol.2 arrived in 2006 and extended the approach of the first volume: solo piano compositions working in a modern classical idiom that sits closer to the ambient end of contemporary composition than to the conservatory tradition, with genuine feeling in the writing rather than virtuosity as the primary value. The album found its widest audience through the Marie Antoinette connection, but it stands fully on its own outside that context. The compositions are specific, unhurried, and recorded with clarity rather than atmospheric processing. They demonstrate a piano writer who has things to say with the instrument and knows how to say them without padding or self-indulgence.
The Film Score Connection and What It Actually Means
O’Halloran’s work for Sofia Coppola placed his solo recordings in front of an audience that might not have found them through normal channels for contemporary classical piano music. The film’s use of post-punk and new wave alongside O’Halloran’s compositions created an unusual context for the solo work: simultaneously anachronistic and current, which is precisely the position the best of this kind of recording tends to occupy. His subsequent scoring work for Like Crazy and An American Affair extended the reputation without requiring the solo albums to change what they were doing.
The Redbird/Cobraside Repress
For collectors who want the solo piano volumes on vinyl, the repress of Vol.2 is the correct version to acquire. Magnet’s must-hear assessment and the BBC’s praise both accurately reflect what the album delivers. Modern classical solo piano that respects its audience. For the collector who wants the solo piano volumes on vinyl rather than digital, the Redbird/Cobraside repress of Vol.2 is the correct version to acquire. Magnet was right, the BBC was right, and the album has held up across the years since. The repress makes it available again.
