Featured Articles

Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society THERE'S AN ENGAGING CATCH-AS-CATCH-CAN LOOK to Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society, something that immediately conveys a certain spontaneity, yet disguises—slightly—the complexity of the music. During the band’s North American tour in May 2015, which[...] Read more

Featured Article Stuart Broomer Issue 123

MUSICWORKS UNVEILS 2016 CONTEST WINNERS MUSICWORKS UNVEILS 2016 CONTEST WINNERS   Vancouver musician Craig Aalders and B.C. poet Tom Wayman win top marks in Musicworks’ 2016 Electronic Music Composition and Sonic Geography Writing Contests   For the first time in Musicworks contest[...] Read more

Sound Notes

Jessica Moss Explores the Orchestra Within If there is a through line connecting traditional Eastern European klezmer, indie rock, and experimental drone music, it can be found in the work of Jessica Moss. Whether her music is acoustic or electronic, post-rock or post-classical, a stark and dramatic amplified violin performance or a[...] Read more

Featured Article Mary Dickie Issue 143

Scott Thomson Among bike bells, olives, and music maps, Scott Thomson lounges in his Montreal apartment, seeming to enjoy a relaxed summer evening. Later, the sight of his trombone—on a stand nearby—will remind him he has a lot of work to do.   Scott is working on new piece to[...] Read more

In the Works Gloria Lipski Issue 111

Sami Blanco’s Experimental Atmospheres Yellowknife-based experimental electronic-music artist Sami Blanco plays me a snippet of a soundbank he made for late-night broadcast on Yellowknife’s francophone radio station, CIVR-FM, familiarly known as Radio Taïga. Emerging from a Korg MS2000—the virtual analog[...] Read more

Sound Bite Laura Stanley Issue 134

Mariana Vieira’s The Unexpected Encounter with Diversity Electronic music has the potential to free composers and sounds from physical and cultural constraints while also bringing those elements closer together. Composer Mariana Vieira has been exploring ideas in this creative space since her undergraduate studies in composition at Escola Superior[...] Read more

Sound Bite Jennie Punter Issue 143

Gil Delindro’s instruments of nature Earlier this year, an eight-foot-across circle of solid ice was hung from the ceiling of Winnipeg’s RAW: Gallery of Architecture and Design. Why would anyone in the world’s second-coldest city (after Ulan Bator, Mongolia) want that legendary cold brought indoors? The occasion was[...] Read more

Visions of sound Jonathan Bunce Issue 119

What's Inside Musicworks 149? ON THE COVER Brendan Grey and the Evolving Ethos of Super Duty Tough Work  As Winnipeg hip-hop ensemble Super Duty Tough Work (SDTW) hits the ten-year mark, founder and MC Brendan Grey, sits down with writer Abiola Regan to talk about tapping in to his family’s[...] Read more

Featured Article STAFF Issue 149

Christine Sun Kim Explores the Politics of Sound “Low frequencies just being abstract and shit — High frequencies be like anal and micromanaging for no good reason — Silence oblivious as ever”   These words are handwritten in a drawing that was included in an exhibition of new works by[...] Read more

Sound Notes Christopher Willes Issue 123

Resonant Frequencies I first encountered Alanna Stuart on a mid-November evening in 2018. After an exhilarating trudge through the snow-muted streets of Toronto’s Stanley Park neighbourhood, I made what felt like a heroic landing at Array Space, where a few dozen or so hearty souls were gathering for a[...] Read more

Sound Notes Jennie Punter Issue 141

Another Timbre’s Canadian Composers Series “I earn my living as a sound recordist on TV programs,” Simon Reynell relates. “I don’t put creative energies into that, but it’s well paid, so I don’t have to work more than an average of six days a month, which allows me to spend most of my time on the[...] Read more

Sound Notes Julian Cowley Issue 128

The Warp and Weft of Kelly Ruth In the history of musical instruments, the questions asked are pretty standard: Who played it? What did they play? How did it evolve? Kelly Ruth’s instrument, the weaving loom, carries an entirely different kind of history. It brings to mind mythology, solitary artisans, beautiful[...] Read more

Featured Article Ian Crutchley Issue 130