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Reclaiming Chinatown

In many respects, the year 2020 was a time of reckoning for Asian Americans.Hot on the heelsof the landmark Asian ensemble-cast blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians, South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho made history with Parasite, which took home the first Academy Award for Best Picture ever to be received by a subtitled film. After a decades-longContinue reading “Reclaiming Chinatown”

John Oliver. Isolation Journals.

Vancouver’s multifaceted John Oliver is a renowned composer and guitarist with vast experience—from opera to electroacoustic music. With COVID-19 restrictions limiting live performance opportunities over the past many months, it has been fascinating to observe the multitude of approaches that musicians have employed to keep the creative juices flowing. Here, Oliver contributes two innovative lockdownContinue reading “John Oliver. Isolation Journals.”

Listening Conditions

We tend to think of an emergency as something sudden—the kind of jarring, life-and-death situation that leaps out at us with abrupt urgency. And when we think about what an emergency sounds like, that assumption is often fresh in our minds: sirens, clatter—noises sharp and loud that aggressively hold our attention. But what happens whenContinue reading “Listening Conditions”

David Psutka Augments Creative Spaces

In 2019, David Psutka was approached by Karen Vanderborght to compose the soundtrack for her augmented reality documentary Grey Matter AR, which she had started developing a few years earlier. Vanderborght, who describes herself as an extended reality (XR) creative, had begun by filming interviews with ten Canadian seniors from different backgrounds. These subjects includedContinue reading “David Psutka Augments Creative Spaces”

Cold Wave

A sad-looking polar bear drifts on a shrinking ice sheet in a vast, deep-blue sea under a bright, blue sky. Scenes like this have long been used to illustrate climate change, and they are more than symbolic. Polar regions are warming at more than twice the rate of the rest of the world. The meltingContinue reading “Cold Wave”

Endlings. Human Form.

Endlings is the duo of John Dieterich—best known as a guitarist for the bent-rock outfit Deerhoof—and composer, artist, and performer Raven Chacon. Much of their new album Human Form feels damaged and sweet in equal measure, its peculiar sonics tumbling all over you like an upturned bushel of bruised fruit. From a listener’s standpoint, theContinue reading “Endlings. Human Form.”

Neither Here Nor There: Musical Identity in the Global Flow

It is impossible to stand still nowadays in the face of worldwide security concerns. With climate change, wars, oppressive political climates, and alarming epidemics, the ability to move around physically has become a humanitarian necessity for many. The commodification and hyperrealism of the Internet produce spaces that everyone now negotiates with trepidation. The rise ofContinue reading “Neither Here Nor There: Musical Identity in the Global Flow”