It’s impossible to pigeonhole the music of The Burning Hell. Their songs span multiple genres, and the lyrics can be apocalyptic, political, and funny. The band’s off-the-grid DIY ethos is guided by the core of singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalists Mathias Kom and Ariel Sharratt (a third member, producer and musician Jake Nicoll, is currently on parental leave). TheyContinue reading “The Off-Grid Adventures of The Burning Hell”
Author Archives: Musicworks
Chuck Copenace is redefining jazz fusion
Chuck Copenace is breaking down barriers in his art form, much as Jeremy Dutcher did in merging his classical music training with the words of the Wolastoqiyik people on his two Polaris Music Prize-winning albums. On his 2023 album Oshki Manitou, Copenace constructed a unique jazz fusion, bringing Ojibway sweat-lodge melodies into the world ofContinue reading “Chuck Copenace is redefining jazz fusion”
The Parallel Multiverses of Kalaisan Kalaichelvan
Mariam gathers her resolve. What happened to Asad after that road accident? She dons her headscarf with determination. In the background, the instrumentals of the song Seenay lag jao na (Asim Raza, arranged by Sohail Abbas) fade out, leaving Saima Jehan’s singing undisturbed. Replacing the music, echoing conch horns encroach underneath the vocals with perverseContinue reading “The Parallel Multiverses of Kalaisan Kalaichelvan”
Rita Ueda’s Intercultural Music
Birdsong filled the air at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on the evening of March 28, 2024. It wasn’t works of Beethoven, Respighi, or Messiaen—all of whom found muses in European birds—and it wasn’t particularly tuneful birds being invoked, either. “The vast majority of Canadian birds are not songbirds,” Rita Ueda, the composer of Birds Calling…Continue reading “Rita Ueda’s Intercultural Music “
José Maceda decolonizes the mind
The original DIY ethos of making a mixtape—hovering by the radio and hitting “record” on the cassette recorder when the music starts—imparts personal identity on a physical object: It’s an act of curating one’s nostalgia. During my teenage rebellion years in Southeast Asia, I turned to classical music, tuning my radio with calculated precision. MyContinue reading “José Maceda decolonizes the mind”
Allison Burik Explores Ancient Ideas in Experimental Spaces
On their new album, Realm, Montreal-based composer and improviser Allison Burik uses guitar, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, and voice to create an imaginary ecosphere inspired by Nordic mythology—otherworldly soundscapes that would not feel out of place in a Game of Thrones episode. From the squalling ostinato and spine-chilling throat-singing that give wings to “Be theContinue reading “Allison Burik Explores Ancient Ideas in Experimental Spaces”
Bilal Nasser Centres Community
“I haven’t learned a notated piece of music by a composer in five years. I don’t want to be a cover artist!” Palestinian-Canadian guitarist Bilal Nasser says with a laugh, speaking via Zoom from the University of Windsor’s Liberation Zone (a space organized by the school’s Palestinian Solidarity Group) in May. Nasser, who began studyingContinue reading “Bilal Nasser Centres Community”
Brendan Grey and the Evolving Ethos of Super Duty Tough Work
Being a rapper in Winnipeg is kind of like being anything else in Winnipeg—except a hockey player. You are underestimated, overlooked, and fighting to be seen by the outside world. Winnipeg has been discredited, made fun of, and skipped over in the conversations around the history of Canadian hip-hop, but its contributions can’t be discounted.Continue reading “Brendan Grey and the Evolving Ethos of Super Duty Tough Work “
Evan Parker in Canada
Evan Parker has had a long and fruitful relationship with Canadian musicians and audiences. His first North American tour in 1978 introduced his uncanny solo soprano saxophone techniques to audiences in Toronto and Vancouver as well as affording chances for him to play with various ad hoc ensembles, including Michael Snow and the CCMC atContinue reading “Evan Parker in Canada”
Evan Parker’s Evolutionary Collective Music
Contemporary music has been blessed by transformational figures such as Pauline Oliveros, Éliane Radigue, and Anthony Braxton, philosopher–composers who further the musical lineages of Olivier Messiaen and John Cage, among others. British saxophonist and free improvisor Evan Parker, who recently turned eighty, is surely among them. In 1968, Parker, then in his mid-twenties, appeared onContinue reading “Evan Parker’s Evolutionary Collective Music”