At the end of February, publisher G. Schirmer, Inc. announced that it had acquired the catalogue of Julius Eastman and would be restoring, publishing, and promoting his works, putting the composer among the ranks of Tan Dun, Terry Riley, Kaaija Saariaho, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and Tom Waits. It’s quite a distinction for a composer who diedContinue reading “Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental.”
Genre Archives
Keiji Haino and John Butcher. Light Never Bright Enough.
It’s not unusual in improvised music to find unlikely partnerships onstage. English saxophonist John Butcher and Japanese singer-guitarist-percussionist Keiji Haino might seem like such a pair. Much of Butcher’s work is refined exploration of the saxophone’s sonic possibilities, employing circular breathing, multiphonics, percussive elements, and feedback to create shifting textures that merge machines and theContinue reading “Keiji Haino and John Butcher. Light Never Bright Enough.”
The Journey: Editor’s Note, Musicworks 130
In late 1977, somewhere in Toronto, the poet and noted arts programmer Victor Coleman, Music Gallery cofounders Peter Anson and Al Mattes, and music artists John Oswald and Andrew Timar convened to discuss establishing an artist-run print forum to serve the Canadian creative-music community. In early 1978, Musicworks made its debut as a section insideContinue reading “The Journey: Editor’s Note, Musicworks 130”
What’s Inside Musicworks 130?
Musicworks turns 40 this year. It’s been quite a journey from the DIY newsprint tabloid published in 1978 to Musicworks 130—our first-ever full-colour issue! Buy the print issue (or print+CD combo) from our shop, or start your subscription today. On the Cover Montreal guitarist, oud player, and composer Sam Shalabi has been active across a diversityContinue reading “What’s Inside Musicworks 130?”
Spring 2018
Civvie. Inheritance.
Weaving is a frequent metaphor for music-making, especially when the interplay of discrete elements creates a single cohesive texture. The Winnipeg trio Civvie’s overcast, mahogany-hued sonics lend themselves to such a metaphor, but their peculiar instrumentation adds another dimension to that analogy. In fact, it’s no longer a metaphor in their case: percolating beneath longContinue reading “Civvie. Inheritance.”
Ka Baird. Sapropelic Pycnic.
Nothing will ever remain the same. There is no such thing as firm ground that will give stability and security. Ka Baird’s solo album Sapropelic Pycnic revolves around the theme of transformation, in various senses. She processes the sounds of her flute, of her voice—multiplying, speeding up and slowing down. Sometimes her singing sounds angelic,Continue reading “Ka Baird. Sapropelic Pycnic.”
send+receive: a festival of sound, v.19
For a festival of any stripe to last until its nineteenth edition suggests a deep commitment by its organizers to maintaining the attention of their audience. crys cole, director of send+receive, builds the festival around a different theme every year, going with “outside of the box” for the 2017 edition. The result was a programContinue reading “send+receive: a festival of sound, v.19”
Spool: Music in the Margins
CERTAIN LABELS are very much the product of a particular vision and exude cohesion of an almost iconic order—one that even seems to magically weather shifts in taste and approach. ECM’s elegant black and white photography, sans serif typeset, and crisp, reverberant sonic profile is a universe unto itself, carefully sculpted by its founder ManfredContinue reading “Spool: Music in the Margins”
What’s Inside Musicworks 129?
BUY THE WINTER 2017 PRINT ISSUE OR THE PRINT+CD ISSUE FROM OUR NEW SHOP! Take a peek at what’s between the covers and the tracklist on the CD: ON THE COVER: Geronimo Inutiq The music and media art of Geronimo Inutiq recently attracted attention from the New York Times, which described his piece in the 2017 Musée d’ArtContinue reading “What’s Inside Musicworks 129?”