Streetcars in Vienna are blessedly quiet. The machines—brand new, high-tech plastic platforms—announce themselves on approach with only a slight electric hum. I now react to their high pitch with the same short sprints I used to make to catch the lumbering College streetcar in Toronto. Riders of streetcars in Vienna are blessedly quiet. This isContinue reading “The Blessed Riders of Streetcars in Vienna”
Genre Archives
Victor Gama builds a brave new soundworld
Wherever Victor Gama plays, you can be sure clusters of people will be jostling to percuss the upturned metal bowls of his tipaw (so called because the surface of the instrument looks like the pads of a tiger paw), to bow the eight metal strings of the tahra, or simply to wander the length ofContinue reading “Victor Gama builds a brave new soundworld”
Margaret Noble’s Safer Is Better
With an underground club DJ’s flair for performance and a conceptual artist’s commitment to the rigorous investigation of ideas, San Diego interdisciplinary artist Margaret Noble explores in her sound work Frakture the resonance in contemporary society of George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. First presented as a solo electronic–acoustic performance at the experimental musicContinue reading “Margaret Noble’s Safer Is Better”
Music from the New Wilderness
What can sound tell us about a place? Listen to British Columbia, and it might sound something like Music from the New Wilderness, a multimedia performance work that conjures B.C.’s past and evolving present by incorporating historical and current field recordings into new compositions. One piece relies on the fast-changing sounds of a remote coastalContinue reading “Music from the New Wilderness”
Suoni per il Popolo, 13th Edition.
Long-running festivals conserve freshness by avoiding stale recipes based on previous successes. Montreal’s Suoni per il Popolo retains the same inviting aroma as the nearby twenty-four-hour bagel factories. With 150 sets of music, film, and workshops spread over eighteen days of nonstop activity, borders between genres dissolve and unpredictable combinations coalesce. Guest curators Ken Vandermark,Continue reading “Suoni per il Popolo, 13th Edition.”
The New Sounds of Lebanon
The experimental music scene in Beirut, Lebanon, may exist in relative geographic isolation from other global movements of a similar ilk, but over the past fifteen years it has become a dynamic hub for a dense concentration of fiercely independent musical voices. From humble beginnings and tiny numbers, the close-knit community has grown and thrived,Continue reading “The New Sounds of Lebanon”
Charlemagne Palestine Pulls Out the Stops
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”
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”
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”
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”