Nico Muhly

In just a little over a quarter century on this earth, Nico Muhly has collaborated with the lofty likes of Philip Glass, Björk, Antony, Will Oldham, the National, Rufus Wainwright, and many others. Which, of course, makes the rest of us mid-twenty-somethings feel both lazy and mildly angry.

But don't be mad at Muhly, who's doing us all a favor: he's helping coax classical music out of the dusty symphony halls of yore and off into a brand new era of sound. He did it in 2006 with his Speaks Volumes LP, and he'll have another go come July 22 when Brassland issues his sophomore set, Mothertongue. The disc sports contributions from a trio of frequent Muhly compatriots: violist Nadia Sirota, folkie Sam Amidon, and Icelandic producer Valgeir Sigurðsson.