Freida Abtan. The Hands of the Dancer/The Temple of the Dreamer. With her second release, Montreal-based composer Freida Abtan expands her very personalized idiom of abstract electronica. While she has assimilated the clarity of sound processing and the bold gestures of the Montreal acousmatic scene, her music is haunted by a resonant gothic murkiness[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 111

Hammeriver. Hammeriver is an ensemble brought together by Australian harpist Clare Cooper to pay tribute to the lasting influence of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. It is an interesting collection of players for this type of project, incorporating Austrian improvisers Christof Kurzmann and Werner[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 110

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[...] Read more

Books François Couture Issue 110

Franya J. Berkman. Monument Eternal: The Music of Alice Coltrane. In the five years before her death in 2007, Alice Coltrane was subject to a considerable critical reappraisal. The release of her back catalogue on CD and the live performances she gave with her son Ravi Coltrane in support of her 2003 album Translinear Light seemed to arrive at just the[...] Read more

Books Chris Kennedy Issue 110

Montreal’s Constellation Records Montreal’s Constellation Records rose to prominence around the turn of the millennium, following the explosion of Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s popularity. While it’s sometimes tempting to allow that band and similar acts on the label’s roster to sum up Constellation[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 110

Montreal New Music International Festival: 5th Edition. Montreal, Canada. February 18–26, 2011. Being assigned to cover a new music festival such as Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques is somewhat like being thrown into a different space-time (and sound) continuum—one suddenly has the impression that new music is all there is to be heard all over the city, with ensembles,[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Marc Hyland Issue 110

Colin Stetson. New History of Warfare Vol. 2: Judges. Saxophonist Colin Stetson’s solo outing displays his interest in multiphonics, spiralling repetition, and circular breathing. Inviting comparison to veteran Toronto player David Mott, Stetson’s playing exhibits an even coarser and more carnal tone than that of his forerunner. His[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 110

Rouge Ciel. Bryologie. Bryologie, named intriguingly for the study of mosses, is the third CD by the Montreal quartet Rouge Ciel, founded in 2001. When the group began recording, some of the members were around twenty years of age, and the band maintains that same personnel, with Guido Del Fabbro on violins, banjo,[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 110

Alvin Lucier. Almost New York. Although Alvin Lucier is known primarily for his work with waveforms and spatial acoustics, Almost New York features compositions written for conventional musical instruments. In these pieces, he adapts some of his explorations in reverberation, providing a different way of approaching his[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 110

Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa. Cosmophony. The word cosmophony  is an amalgam of Greek roots that translate literally as “sound of the universe.” It’s also the rubric under which the outrageously talented Vancouver pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa has united her favourite composers for this adventurous debut album[...] Read more

Recordings Jason van Eyk Issue 110

Joane Hétu. Récits de neige. This is the third and final CD in Hétu’s series of compositions about snow performed by her Ensemble Supermusique. It’s divided into four multi-part segments—La Neige, Jamais froid, Rafales, and Paysages—but there are overarching patterns here, a profound[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 110