Fast ’n’ Bulbous. Waxed Oop.   Few artists have ever merged and transformed genres with the raw energy and freedom of Don Van Vliet, who under the alter ego of Captain Beefheart (and his Magic Band) merged Chicago blues, backbeats, free-jazz reeds, and lyrics that mingled science fiction, news stories, memoir,[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 106

Nicolas Bernier, Jacques Poulin-Denis. Sur Fond Blanc.   It is not always easy to translate music composed for a theatrical setting back to a purely sonic form. Incidental music often relies on a different type of physicality, both in the movement of bodies through space and in the placement of speakers to facilitate the sound itself becoming[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 106

Jorge Lima Barreto. Zul Zelub.   Melding inside-and-outside piano explorations with the pulsations of a randomly tuned shortwave radio or with pre-recorded ambient sounds issuing from four CD players, Jorge Lima Barreto creates an altogether unique, double-barrelled program here. A veteran Portuguese pianist, academic,[...] Read more

Recordings Ken Waxman Issue 106

Ganesh Anandan and Hans Reichel. Self Made.   Ganesh Anandan and Hans Reichel are instrument inventors as well as musicians, and this CD consists largely of duets between the two, recorded during a meeting in Wuppertal, Germany. Anandan, born in Bangalore, Southern India, and long resident in Montreal, performs on two different[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 106

Chris Abrahams and Clare Cooper. Germ Studies for Guzheng and DX7. As befits its name, Germ Studies for Guzheng and DX7 is a series of 198 miniatures, most ending in mere seconds, improvised on guzheng and the DX7 synthesizer. Partly intended, it seems, as a lark—the two-disc set comes with humorous illustrations of each germ, drawn by fellow musicians[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 106

Paul Steenhuisen. Sonic Mosaics. Conversations with Composers. Sonic Mosaics is a collection of interviews conducted by Paul Steenhuisen with thirty-two contemporary music composers between September 2001 and November 2004. Most of these were originally published in Wholenote Magazine, a monthly Toronto publication covering all aspects of musical[...] Read more

Books Allison Cameron Issue 105

empreintes DIGITALes turns twenty Canada has an abundance of resources including petrol-soaked sand, hockey fans, and electroacoustic music. These national assets can be found, respectively, in Alberta, in bars, and at <electrocd.com>. Most countries have no way of knowing what their electroacoustic scene consists of,[...] Read more

Recordings John Keillor Issue 105

Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon. Ulrichsberg, Austria. April 30–May 2, 2009. A site-specific performance that took into account the dimensions and machinery of a still-functioning 1853 linen factory, a resounding interface between pulsating electronic and acoustic instruments, and a full-force finale involving a mid-sized band were among the notable performances at 2009[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Ken Waxman Issue 105

Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival. Montreal, Quebec. June 3–30, 2009. Nightly touring an edition of the Suoni per il Popolo Festival means visiting with audiences as diverse as the musical menu itself. Without fail, the annual Montreal festival that urges guests to “Liberate your ears” brought to the fore exciting and diverse programming in more[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Deanna Radford Issue 105

Open Ears Festival. Kitchener, Ontario. April 24–May 3, 2009. Open Ears, as the name implies, is a festival designed to awaken the listening ear—to present new experimental music and to expand our listening experience. This year, Edwin Outwater, the music director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, posed two thematic questions, variations on the[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Megan-Fay Rothschild Issue 105

MUTEK_10. Montreal, Quebec. Over the past ten years, MUTEK has become an internationally recognized electronic music festival and the largest of its kind in Canada. This year MUTEK_10 exceeded my expectations by offering unprecedented richness, quality, and depth, making it a milestone year on many levels.Over the past[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Andrea Ayotte Issue 105