The six works on Toronto-born, Strasbourg-based composer Samuel Andreyev’s brilliant new disc were conceived separately over the span of a decade. Yet the album’s gripping first two minutes serve as a perfect introduction to his world. Vérifications begins in a matted jumble of jagged dance-like rhythms stridently proclaimed by a trio of wind instruments andContinue reading “Samuel Andreyev. Music with no Edges.”
Genre Archives
Kyle Gann. Hyperchromatica.
Kyle Gann’s eccentric and extravagant double-disc set Hyperchromatica is easily one of the year’s most fascinating releases. So don’t let him convince you otherwise: his tacky titles for the work’s movements (“Spacecat” and “Galactic Jamboree,” for example), the relentless annotation of his liner notes, and the somewhat wanting fidelity of the recording itself certainly couldContinue reading “Kyle Gann. Hyperchromatica.”
Kukuruz Quartet. Julius Eastman—Piano Interpretations
One outcome of the streaming era—not a necessary one, but a likely one—is the devaluation of liner notes. It’s not that they don’t exist; for example, George Lewis’s excellent notes to this collection of Julius Eastman piano works by the Kukuruz Quartet appear both in the CD booklet and as a PDF with the downloadContinue reading “Kukuruz Quartet. Julius Eastman—Piano Interpretations”
Vancouver New Music Festival: Quartetti—A festival of string quartets.
This year’s Vancouver New Music annual fall festival was devoted to string quartets. At Quartetti, which ran for three days at the Orpheum Annex in downtown Vancouver, audiences were treated to diverse performances of a wide array of pieces from Black Dog String Quartet (Vancouver), Quatuor Bozzini (Montreal), JACK Quartet (U.S.A.), Quartetto Maurice (Italy), PendereckiContinue reading “Vancouver New Music Festival: Quartetti—A festival of string quartets.”
Maria de Alvear, Rebel By Nature
Contradiction is a huge theme in contemporary experimental music. Today’s most potent works situate the listener at hitherto unimaginable thresholds between seemingly irreconcilable points. While many artists use paradoxical scenarios as compositional devices, Spanish-German composer Maria de Alvear is one of those rare artists whose creative foundation actually reflects these contradictions. De Alvear’s defiantly uniqueContinue reading “Maria de Alvear, Rebel By Nature”
Wow & Flutter make breathing room
The phrase “wow and flutter” typically refers to flawed analog recordings—ones with imperfections that cause the pitch to oscillate, either slowly or quickly. When Toronto-based wind players Bea Labikova, Kayla Milmine, and Sarah Peebles decided to form an improvising trio together in late 2017, Wow & Flutter felt like the natural name choice: it’s exactlyContinue reading “Wow & Flutter make breathing room”
Sound Symposium XIX.
The nineteenth iteration of the biennial Sound Symposium was distinguished by its colloquium, new awards, and of course, world premieres of risk-taking works. The event opened with the Indigenous Improvisation Colloquium: Freedom and Responsibility; and heritage ceremony and cultural ontology soon became the themes that were threaded throughout the ten days of Symposium performances. Raven Chacon, aContinue reading “Sound Symposium XIX.”
Suoni per il Popolo Festival: 18th Edition
Like the accordion played in the large improvising ensemble GGRIL, this year’s Suoni per il Popolo expanded in some dimensions and contracted in others, while continuously bellowing out fascinating sounds. Some years the festival has unfolded over a full month, but the 2018 edition ran just under three weeks; while the first festival was presentedContinue reading “Suoni per il Popolo Festival: 18th Edition”
Juliet Palmer. Rivers.
Juliet Palmer is not the first artist to draw parallels between the body’s circulatory system and the tree branches, streams, and rivers in the natural landscape, but she has an undeniably unique spin on it: she’s doubtless the first person to set Emily Dickinson’s poetry to ultrasound recordings of human blood flowing. Despite the intriguingContinue reading “Juliet Palmer. Rivers.”
Eve Egoyan. Maria De Alvear: De Puro Amor & En Amor Duro.
Fluid music. That is the first notion that comes to mind while listening to Maria De Alvear’s De Puro Amor & En Amor Duro, played by the Toronto-based pianist Eve Egoyan. Listening to this double album feels like swimming in the middle of a benign sea. Waves are constantly moving around you everywhere. Some areContinue reading “Eve Egoyan. Maria De Alvear: De Puro Amor & En Amor Duro.”