Interpretation takes the sensory experience of the work of art for granted, and proceeds from there. What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more. —Susan Sontag, “Against Interpretation” “My work speaks for itself and doesn’t need to be explained,” Charlemagne Palestine insists,Continue reading “Charlemagne Palestine Pulls Out the Stops”
Author Archives: Musicworks
Community Muse
As I approach the finish line of my first issue as editor of Musicworks, I am keenly aware of the sonic geography that surrounds me. Pharoah Sanders’ Message From Home is playing in the background. My dog is snoring nearby. The kitchen appliances are humming. But beyond the familiar sounds of my late-night working groove,Continue reading “Community Muse”
Lisbon, Portugal
FULL TEXT AVAILABLE ONLY IN PRINT EDITION A wolfman wanders Lisbon’s Praça do Comercio, the broad public square facing the Tagus River estuary leading to the sea. It is nearly midnight. He is bearded, shirtless, and his bare feet slap the calçadas, the white stones that pave the city. He eyes the moon, tips hisContinue reading “Lisbon, Portugal”
True Confessions Of A Church-goer
That’s me in the spotlight . . . or, more accurately, that’s me in the third pew, left of centre aisle. In the photograph, I am the small mass of auburn hair lit up by the white glare of the big screen at the opening night gala of the 2013 Images Festival, the venerable and very large spring-timed celebrationContinue reading “True Confessions Of A Church-goer”
Buffalo New Music
FULL TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY Buffalo has long held an aura of adventure for me. The first time I visited the city, I was intrigued by the impressive collection of modernist work at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, where I returned often in the 1970s, driving from Toronto with a carful of my fellowContinue reading “Buffalo New Music”
John Wynne
FULL TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY A chill-blue image of ocean waves projects across the join of two white walls. At first the image appears still, but then you notice the waves undulating gently. On a table in front of the image, and housed in a small casket with its lid raised, twelve hearingContinue reading “John Wynne”
Gordan Monahan
Gordon Monahan’s voice floats to me across the Internet from his farm, the Funny Farm, his home base in Meaford, Ontario. Monahan was recently awarded a 2013 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, and is already planning a series of installations for 2013, the soonest of which will be a piece for HammerContinue reading “Gordan Monahan”
Jennifer Walshe Spins a Fine Tale
The centenary of Dadaism is only three short years away, but there’s still time for curators and arts organizations across the world to program fitting tributes to the full multiplicity of artists involved in the movement. Irish radio, for example, will be honouring Dublin’s Dermot O’Reilly, Kevin Leeson, and Brian Sheridan, the Guinness Dadaists whoseContinue reading “Jennifer Walshe Spins a Fine Tale”
Colin Stetson’s Sound Story
Stories in which the protagonist blossoms, finds themselves, or rediscovers their roots appear everywhere. Their ubiquity makes it awfully tempting to replicate this narrative when telling the story of a solo artist who has arrived at a uniquely focused sound world. Yet sometimes it’s more powerful, and more in line with reality, to illuminate theContinue reading “Colin Stetson’s Sound Story”
SlowPitch’s “Emoralis”
On a rainy April evening in Toronto, in the darkened hush of historic St. Anne’s Anglican Church, the first frame of the 2013 Images Festival appear—a live black-and-white projection of the deft hands of turntable artist SlowPitch. As the frames progress, you can literally hear and see a needle drop. Then comes a hard tectonicContinue reading “SlowPitch’s “Emoralis””