Standard Form is a Toronto-based print shop that has been putting out books and music for the past five years, averaging a couple of releases a year that range from avant jazz to post rock, from the likes of Feuermusik, Canaille, and I Can Put My Arm Back On You Can’t. This last year hasContinue reading “Toronto’s Standard Form.”
Genre Archives
Festival International Musique Actuelle Victoriaville 27 Edition. Victoriaville, Quebec. May 19–22, 2011.
FIMAV has a distinctive character, from its unlikely location in rustic Victoriaville, an hour’s drive from Quebec City, to its insistence on celebrating so many musical frontiers: free jazz, rock, electroacoustic improvisation, DJs, and sound-art installations. Despite its rich history, “Victo” isn’t resting on its laurels. Following its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2008, there have beenContinue reading “Festival International Musique Actuelle Victoriaville 27 Edition. Victoriaville, Quebec. May 19–22, 2011.”
Adam Linson, Systems Quartet. Figures and Grounds.
Currently working in Montreal, Adam Linson is a bassist with a highly developed interest in improvisation that combines the real-time integration of acoustic instruments and sound processing. In the past he’s recorded as a soloist, in duo with sound processor Joel Ryan, and with Evan Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. First gathered and recorded in Berlin, Linson’sContinue reading “Adam Linson, Systems Quartet. Figures and Grounds.”
Keiji Haino. Un autre chemin vers l’Ultime.
Keiji Haino is a master instrumentalist—particularly of loud instruments—so this album featuring his unamplified voice comes as a bit of a surprise. Recorded by sound artist Eric Cordier, these recordings find Haino improvising in a small church and in a quarry in Normandy. Haino works hard to feature the full range of his voice, fromContinue reading “Keiji Haino. Un autre chemin vers l’Ultime.”
Daniel Kernohan, Editor. Music is Rapid Transportation… From The Beatles to Xenakis.
I’m an avid music collector with wildly eclectic tastes, and this book spoke to me like few books have before. I instantly connected with the accounts by the seven individuals involved in the project. In the book’s first section, music enthusiasts and contributors Lawrence Joseph, Dan Lander, Donal McGraith, Bill Smith, Alan Stanbridge, Scott Thomson,Continue reading “Daniel Kernohan, Editor. Music is Rapid Transportation… From The Beatles to Xenakis.”
Jason Kahn / Asher. Planes and Jason Kahn / Günter Müller / Christian Wolfarth. Limmat.
These two recordings provide a chance to hear Swiss-based improviser Jason Kahn in two sets of collaborations, both of which feature him improvising on analogue synthesizer with his fellow musicians. Planes finds Kahn in Boston in live performance with the Massachusetts-based sound artist Asher, who is credited with recording and playback devices. Kahn’s slow analogueContinue reading “Jason Kahn / Asher. Planes and Jason Kahn / Günter Müller / Christian Wolfarth. Limmat.”
Vancouver New Music Festival. Scotiabank Dance Centre, Vancouver, B.C. October 21–23
The Vancouver New Music Festival, under the artistic direction of Giorgio Magnanensi, is known for inviting performers from the breadth of the contemporary art world, featuring emerging artists alongside international celebrities, the whole lot unapologetically challenging the audience with demanding performances. In presenting such a wide range of artists, the festival often evokes controversy. “IContinue reading “Vancouver New Music Festival. Scotiabank Dance Centre, Vancouver, B.C. October 21–23”
Seattle Phonographers Union.
The Seattle Phonographers Union collectively weave together gathered field recordings in real-time to create wafting auditory mirages. As each piece hovers through different combinations of environmental sounds, a milky, dreamlike logic unfolds and establishes a certain gestural rhythm. Hallucinatory aural images coalesce and then dissipate as sound combinations wax and wane lazily. Initially, this surrealContinue reading “Seattle Phonographers Union.”
Eric Leonardson & Steve Barsotti. Rarebit.
Leonardson and Barsotti have both fashioned their own peculiar sonic contraptions that provide all manner of congruently peculiar noises over the span of this disc. Each track encompasses its own world, constructed of noises that are both highly physical and also difficult to trace back to an actual source. You can almost feel the itchyContinue reading “Eric Leonardson & Steve Barsotti. Rarebit.”
Electric Eclectics 5. The Funny Farm, Meaford, Ontario. July 30–August 1, 2010.
True to its moniker, Electric Eclectics is more than just a head-spinningly diverse festival of modern music. It’s also a truly eclectic experience. Equal parts experimental music festival, bush party, camping trip, participatory art happening, and gathering of lovable misfits, EE is a one-of-a-kind event. In five short years, it has become a must-see summerContinue reading “Electric Eclectics 5. The Funny Farm, Meaford, Ontario. July 30–August 1, 2010.”