Mas Aya’s (Brandon Valdivia) bewitching Máscaras is a melding of disparate elements that add up to more than the sum of their parts. It’s the latest recording from this Nicaraguan-Canadian multi-instrumentalist who has produced or performed with Sandro Perri, U.S. Girls, Picastro, John Oswald, and many others. Valdivia’s soloist pseudonym Mas Aya derives from theContinue reading “Mas Aya. Máscaras.”
Genre Archives
Frank Denyer Probes the Unconscious
In composer Frank Denyer’s dream, he is watching a small monkey that is inexplicably nestled in the flames inside a stove that closely resembles the one in Denyer’s kitchen. The scenario elicits many questions: How did the monkey manage to get in there in the first place, and then remain unnoticed? How is he evenContinue reading “Frank Denyer Probes the Unconscious”
Araz Salek, Inquisitive Traditionalist
The adage about needing to learn the rules before breaking them is a finger-wag directed at young, ambitious artists, cautioning them not to stray from convention until they’ve reached their coveted but elusive destination: mastery. But could the inverse of that be just as true—that one needs to abandon everything they’ve learned in order toContinue reading “Araz Salek, Inquisitive Traditionalist”
OKAN. Espiral.
Since forming the Toronto-based Afro-Cuban jazz duo OKAN in 2017, Magdelys Savigne and Elizabeth Rodriguez have been trumpeting their island’s eclectic sounds free of a Western filter or figure, steadily becoming stars of Canada’s growing global sound. On the heels of their EP Laberinto, OKAN has released the full-length Espiral, which takes their sound to more vivid and confidentContinue reading “OKAN. Espiral.”
Pantayo. Pantayo.
Pantayo is five Toronto-based women who bring ancient Philippine kulintang music and modern Western pop styles together in a fascinating, startling, and exciting new hybrid. The band members—Eirene Cloma, Michelle Cruz, Joanna Delos Reyes, and sisters Kat and Katrina Estacio—play the kulintang, an instrument that consists of eight brass gongs on a wooden rack, asContinue reading “Pantayo. Pantayo.”
Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, 35th Edition.
There has always been something slightly enchanted about FIMAV’s existence. Sheltered in a small city between Montreal and Quebec City, Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville is devoted to musique actuelle (music of the moment), which embraces improvised music, free jazz, avant-rock, electronica, harsh noise, folkloric projects, and uncategorizable sonic eruptions from around theContinue reading “Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, 35th Edition.”
Bagpipes Blew My Mind
My partner Emily and I moved to Glasgow from Toronto a year ago. The first TV shows we saw included a pipe-band championship and a shepherding competition. Both were brilliant to listen to. We thought that’s what TV was going to be here. It isn’t. And aside from the guys on Buchanan St. playing “ScotlandContinue reading “Bagpipes Blew My Mind”
Psiw-te npomawsuwinuwok kiluwaw yut
The first time I heard Jeremy Dutcher on the radio, I was driving my son and some of his non-Native teammates to soccer practice in Peterborough. I had tuned in to the CBC a few bars into Dutcher’s single “Honour Song,” and the fifteen-year-old boys in the car fell silent. “Holy Simpson [read Mom], a NishContinue reading “Psiw-te npomawsuwinuwok kiluwaw yut”
Sam Shalabi and the Evolution of a Global Aesthetic
Sam Shalabi’s insightful musical take on the world can provoke both discomfort and laughter. On his numerous solo albums, he meshes guitar, oud, and field recordings into an electroacoustic collage. He leads a wide variety of small and midsize groups that encompass a who’s who of Montreal improvisers, as well as musicians of international renown,Continue reading “Sam Shalabi and the Evolution of a Global Aesthetic”
Listening To Art, Seeing Music.
Listening To Art, Seeing Music, described in the media materials as a “multi-sensory journey of discovery,” and launched in early 2018 at Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum, encompasses about a dozen installations dotted around the museum within its permanent collection, in its restaurant, courtyard, and hallways. Reflecting the museum’s mixed mandate as both an artistic andContinue reading “Listening To Art, Seeing Music.”