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Victor Gama builds a brave new soundworld Wherever Victor Gama plays, you can be sure clusters of people will be jostling to percuss the upturned metal bowls of his tipaw (so called because the surface of the instrument looks like the pads of a tiger paw), to bow the eight metal strings of the tahra, or simply to wander the length[...] Read more
The Combine Project The Combine Project (2004-09) is a series of kinetic sound sculptures constructed from an abandoned 1964 Allis-Chalmers All-Crop combine harvester. I discovered it ten years ago on a property my wife and I purchased when we moved from Toronto to rural Ontario. The piece of outdated farm[...] Read more
Debashis Sinha “La montaña. El cuervo. Cada mota de polvo elevada por mis pasos alberga incontables palabras,” intones the deeply resonant voice, as the rhythmic sound of footsteps fades up and a single gong-stroke repeats slowly. This is Kailash, a radiophonic work by[...] Read more
The Mystical Instruments of Walter Smetak In March 2014, I found myself facing the late Walter Smetak’s Pindorama, a seven-foot-two-inch-tall instrument installation comprising seven calabash gourds arranged in a diamond-like formation and resting on a bamboo pedestal. Dozens of clear plastic tubes with flute mouthpieces fixed[...] Read more
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
Musicworks 132 The final issue of Musicworks' 40th anniversary year features first-person stories, collaborative creativity, and a hint of chocolate. Buy it now! On the cover: Darcy Spidle Nova Scotia writer Darcy Spidle played in punk bands, ran the Divorce record label, and[...] Read more
The Restless Art of Radwan Ghazi Moumneh It’s Friday night in Montreal, and a who’s who of local musicians is packed into the back room of Casa del Popolo to check out the first public appearance of Master of Masters My Master. Nobody knows anything about the music they are about to hear. All they have to go on is an[...] Read more
Quatuor Bozzini Quatuor Bozzini is poetry, sweat, talent, idealism, determination, love, survival, fate, and a wonderful wild dance with the spirits. For fifteen years, the Montreal ensemble has steadfastly explored the notion of what contemporary music means today. The players are irrepressible creators[...] Read more
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
Matthew Cardinal’s Asterisms Asterisms, Matthew Cardinal’s debut solo album, creates audial desire paths, not necessarily conjuring anything concrete in my mind’s eye but moving like a current—or a river—that I’m compelled to be swept up in. Asterisms is a pleasure to listen to, and I’ve[...] Read more
Neither Here Nor There: Musical Identity in the Global Flow It is impossible to stand still nowadays in the face of worldwide security concerns. With climate change, wars, oppressive political climates, and alarming epidemics, the ability to move around physically has become a humanitarian necessity for many. The commodification and hyperrealism of[...] Read more
The Sonic Transmissions of Geronimo Inutiq Winter was ending. You could tell, because the sun had returned. Geronimo Inutiq borrowed his sister’s Ski-Doo and rode it past the Iqaluit city limit. The horizon stretched out in all directions: no trees, no buildings, just sky and ice, illuminated by light. “You feel quite[...] Read more
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