Daniel Robert Lahey's "Strings Hosting" features five pieces in the intersection between ambient music and post-modernist classical music. In "Clarinets, Piano and Strings (Thing 554)" the composer takes the listener on a lively and sometimes dissonant tour of the three named instruments. The latter two of the three pieces entitled "Dream Frontiers 1 (Thing 551)", "Dream Frontiers 2 (Thing 552)" and "Dream Frontiers 3 (Thing 553)" explore tone and melody in a fresh and often delightful way. Each features appealing melodies presented without the burden upon the listener of any cloying sweetness. The album concludes with "Gentle Horns and Strings (Thing 555)", a piece with a feeling of remote majesty that hearkens back a bit to Sibelius. The five pieces of "Strings Hosting" fit neatly together, providing a blend of disparate sounds and styles that make for a good listen.
