How do you think and write about sound outside of metaphor? Is music necessarily tethered to other aspects of our sensuous and interior lives? Or can we appreciate its meaning more essentially—as energy and dynamics, waves and reverberation? These questions come up around the work of many contemporary musicians working in and around unconventional composition.Continue reading “Markus Floats’ Motion Emotion”
Genre Archives
Indweller. Living Gem.
Indweller is the new collaborative duo of Toronto-based multidisciplinary audiovisual artist and producer Ilyse Krivel (eternalrealworld) and multi-instrumentalist Colin Fisher. Living Gem, their remarkable debut, showcases their complementary approaches, while probing the very nature of collaboration. Krivel recorded Fisher performing saxophone, guitar, and drum parts, and then constructed each song out of those building blocks,Continue reading “Indweller. Living Gem.”
Musicworks launches the Marcelle Deschênes Prize in Electronic Music / Prix Marcelle Deschênes pour la musique électronique
Please share this news with your friends, collaborators, and community. Musicworks launches the Marcelle Deschênes Prize in Electronic Music / Prix Marcelle Deschênes pour la musique électronique as part of its annual Electronic Music Composition Contest [this was announced in September 2020] Donor-supported annual prize awards $300 to a self-identified female or non-binary composer 2022 EMCContinue reading “Musicworks launches the Marcelle Deschênes Prize in Electronic Music / Prix Marcelle Deschênes pour la musique électronique”
Sarah Albu and Vergil Sharkya’. Intoxidation.
Experimental vocalist Sarah Albu and composer and sound-artist Vergil Sharkya’ have come together to create a radiant sonic force. The duo’s first release, the eight-track digital-only issue Intoxidation, is full of the type of unabashed raucousness that involuntarily elicits a perk of ears shortly followed by several nods of acceptance. Highly imaginative track titles like Mâchoire deContinue reading “Sarah Albu and Vergil Sharkya’. Intoxidation.”
Casey Koyczan Resonates the Future
In early July 2020 it was my pleasure to interview Tlicho Dene interdisciplinary artist Casey Koyczan. He is extremely generous and open. I have done my best to represent our conversation in order for readers to discover and understand his creative practices. Focusing on the Northwest Territories, specifically Yellowknife, where he lived for several years,Continue reading “Casey Koyczan Resonates the Future”
Witch Prophet. DNA Activation.
Witch Prophet is a fitting name for Ayo Leilani, whose enchanting, bold, and malleable vocals, hypnotic rhythms, and profound lyrical wisdom conjure powerful stories. Her latest release, DNA Activation, both lives up to and expands on the achievement of her stunning 2018 solo debut, The Golden Octave. Here the Ethiopian-Eritrean-Canadian singer-songwriter sings in English, Amharic,Continue reading “Witch Prophet. DNA Activation.”
The Audible Connections of Xuan Ye
On Xuan Ye’s website, layers of text, symbols, and images float across the home page like something halfway between poetry and code. The site is an ever-changing digital archeology of her artistic works across a wide range of sonic and visual media. All of it defies categorization. In concert programs, the first sentence of herContinue reading “The Audible Connections of Xuan Ye”
Alex Buck’s Screaming Trees
Convergence is often the magical force in the creative process that leads to an ear-catching work. Two or more seemingly disparate elements meet in the imagination of an artist who unites them into something new that resonates with both universal and personal meaning. This is the story behind Brazilian composer Alex Buck’s evocative eight-minute sonicContinue reading “Alex Buck’s Screaming Trees”
Winners of Musicworks’ 2019 Electronic Music Composition Contest Announced . . . at Last!
After a month delay due to challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, Musicworks is thrilled to announce the winners of its 2019 Electronic Music Composition Contest. We thank composer entrants for their patience. Brazilian composer Alex Buck, who is currently based in California, won first prize with his composition Screaming Trees. An article about BuckContinue reading “Winners of Musicworks’ 2019 Electronic Music Composition Contest Announced . . . at Last!”
Buffy Sainte-Marie reflects on Illuminations
“God is alive / Magic is afoot / Alive is afoot / Magic never died.” Those words, written by Leonard Cohen and sung by Buffy Sainte-Marie, open a doorway into the mystical world of Illuminations—one of the most musically beguiling, technologically groundbreaking, and undeniably brilliant albums of the 1960s folk era. Unlike a few ofContinue reading “Buffy Sainte-Marie reflects on Illuminations”