The word lutalica, invented by writer John Koenig in his Web-site and YouTube series Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, denotes the parts of one’s identity that are uncategorizable. For West Coast flutist Mark Takeshi McGregor, the word calls to mind the dissonance between his Japanese, Australian, and Canadian heritage and the Eurocentric nature of most classicalContinue reading “Mark Takeshi McGregor. Lutalica.”
Genre Archives
Lori Freedman. Solor.
The title of Montrealer Lori Freedman’s latest disc, Solor, could be a play on solo and Lor(i), but based on the recording’s explosive music, it could also be referring to the volcanic island of Indonesia of the same name. The seven works include five Freedman compositions, written between 2002 and 2018, and two improvised works.Continue reading “Lori Freedman. Solor.”
Hugh Marsh. Violinvocations.
Electric violinist Hugh Marsh’s impressively varied list of collaborations includes projects with Bruce Cockburn, Bauhaus’s Peter Murphy, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Iggy and The Stooges, the film scores of Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams, and—most recently—recordings with Joseph Shabason and Jon Hassell. It was the latter who instigated the oblique strategy behind Marsh’s latest solo release:Continue reading “Hugh Marsh. Violinvocations.”
Trauma of My Mouth
In the spring of 2018, Chinese archeologists announced that they’d unearthed a four-thousand-year-old collection of jaw harps (kouxian in Chinese) at the Shimao ruins, a prehistoric site in Shenmu City in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. These artifacts, which were carved from bone, are the oldest jaw harps ever discovered, but various historic versions of theContinue reading “Trauma of My Mouth”
Luke Nickel Transmits a Living Score
Luke Nickel has written me a piece. No, wait. That’s not quite right. Luke Nickel has left me a series of sometimes vague, sometimes specific instructions via audio recordings of his voice, which I am only allowed to listen to once, so that I might create a piece. Confused? Let me explain. Over the courseContinue reading “Luke Nickel Transmits a Living Score”
Colin Fisher. V Le Pape.
V Le Pape, the debut solo album by Toronto guitar-and-electronics whiz Colin Fisher (Not the Wind, Not the Flag; Fake Humans; much else besides), invites comparisons as much to the works of New-Age experimentalist Laraaji as it does to classics of the loopy, psych-ambient solo-guitar subgenre it more obviously inhabits, such as Manuel Göttsching’s InventionsContinue reading “Colin Fisher. V Le Pape.”
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?”
Daniel Lentz. River of 1,000 Streams.
Daniel Lentz is one of a number of composers who emerged in the wake of American minimalism and used some of the movement’s primary tenets to leverage a distinct, hard-to-pin-down voice. But the sweeping River of 1000 Streams, a work for solo piano and cascading delays, is anything but minimal. It’s more like a slow-motionContinue reading “Daniel Lentz. River of 1,000 Streams.”
Tim Beattie. Of Spectra.
The debut release from young, award-winning Toronto classical guitarist Tim Beattie is filled with compositions that subtly shift, the way sunlight does in a room throughout the day. Merging classical guitar and electronics, Beattie, producer Connory Ballantyne, and engineer William Crann, have assembled a mediative batch of Beattie works that move between textures and moodsContinue reading “Tim Beattie. Of Spectra.”
Kelly Moran. Bloodroot.
You know you’re onto a captivating recording when you’re so mesmerized by the music that you barely notice the unusual manner in which it was created. Pianist Kelly Moran employs various preparations, including screw-and-bolt obstructions à la Cage and long tones sustained via ebows and inside-the-piano string plucks, recording them all for further electronic manipulationContinue reading “Kelly Moran. Bloodroot.”