Scott Thomson. Pal o’Alto. Trombonist Scott Thomson has split much of his creative life between Montreal and Toronto. On this series of improvised duets with alto saxophonists, he explores key musical relationships in the two cities, playing with four distinctive musicians: Montrealers Yves Charuest and Jean Derome[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 139

Walter Smetak. Smetak & Interregno. The first comprehensive biographical article on Walter Smetak in English was published in Musicworks 121 (2015). Since then, interest has been growing: in 2017 the BBC Radio show Hear and Now dedicated an episode to his work; Smetak was the only artist to receive a full chapter in Sound Art[...] Read more

Recordings Neil Leonard Issue 139

claire rousay. A Softer Focus. Over the past while, prolific and multifaceted Canadian-American artist claire rousay has managed to find visibility and acclaim while maintaining a firm commitment to creative restlessness and sonic ambiguity. Recent outings have tended to showcase an evocative blurred-Polaroid approach[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 139

Ocelot. Ocelot. A program of carefully assembled small-group jazz and improv, Ocelot, the eponymous debut from the new trio Ocelot, features playing and composing by British-born reedist Yuma Uesaka, Vancouver pianist Cat Toren, and American percussionist Colin Hinton. Throughout, the near-gossamer sheen of[...] Read more

Recordings Ken Waxman Issue 139

Naoto Kawate. Three Guitar Tunes. The faintest hints of the 1960s hit parade radiate off these three beautiful instrumental pieces for electric guitar by the Japanese composer Naoto Kawate. We are reminded, at arm’s length, of the optimistic twang of the Ventures or the crisp strummed chords of the Archies. But there[...] Read more

Recordings Kurt Newman Issue 139

Insides. Soft Bonds. Simon Reynolds’s well-known essay on post-rock was published in the U.K. magazine The Wire in May 1994. Though today the genre tag tends to connote a particular sound, in the context of Reynolds’s piece, post-rock was more of a tenuous label for a diverse bunch of curious bands[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 139

Godspeed You! Black Emperor. G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! Epic multi-part compositions, long crescendos, drones and field recordings, gloomy moods giving way to cathartic orchestral climaxes—yes, it’s another Godspeed You! Black Emperor album. There are now more post-reunion albums than pre-hiatus ones, and the recent output has taken[...] Read more

Recordings Daniel Glassman Issue 139

Dániel Péter Biró. Mishpatim (Laws). “You must not carry false rumours.” These words from the Book of Exodus are the first to be heard in Dániel Péter Biró’s large-scale cycle of works, Mishpatim (Laws), composed between 2003 and 2016 and released on two CDs on the German new-music label[...] Read more

Recordings Jonathan Goldman Issue 139

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[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 139

Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, 37th edition. Interrupted—like most music festivals—by the global pandemic, Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) prided itself on being one of the first organizations to resume live programming, albeit with strict COVID-19 protocols, and its all-Canadian lineup[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Alex Pelchat

Joseph Shabason. The Fellowship. On the first track of Joseph Shabason’s third solo album, The Fellowship, the voice of a child emerges from a sepia-toned gloom, repeating in various speak-singing phrasings, “Did you get a good picture?”   Legacy, intergenerational interdependence, and our[...] Read more

Recordings Tom Beedham Issue 139