Martin Bresnick's 2005 album My twentieth century is a collection of five highly varied chamber pieces composed in what may be described as a "soft" modernist style, i.e., one informed by some techniques of post-serialism but mellowed by minimalism and neo-Romanticism. This is perhaps why Bresnick's nostalgia for the "radicalized" twentieth century is hard to associate with his music, despite indications in the liner notes; since he seems a product of the century's last decades, where the avant garde revolution capitulated to more conservative influences, Bresnick's music is far from confrontational, and rather more accommodating to tonality, pleasant sonorities and associations with popular music. The quietly reflective Grace for two marimbas and strings (2000), the whimsical Songs of the Mouse People for cello and percussion (1999), and the two fusion works for ensemble, Fantasia on a Theme by Willie Dixon (2001) and My Twentieth Century (2002) seem too calm and collected to resemble the creative chaos of the avant garde at its most challenging. Perhaps only Tent of Miracles for saxophones (1984) has the tang of the old school in its abundant multiphonics and abrasive timbres, and Tamur Sullivan's multi-tracked performance has the bite of the roughest experimental music. The performances by the various musicians are otherwise well-mannered and agreeably clean sounding, and New World's reproduction is vibrant and focused.