Ashley Au Is Stretching Out Most music fans in Winnipeg have seen plenty of Ashley Au playing bass in recent years in a wide range of idioms—Americana, hip-hop, jazz, and sludge metal. Pausing to tally current projects, Au counts in blinks before saying, “I’m in an open relationship with maybe seven[...] Read more

Profile Daniel Emberg Issue 139

Araz Salek, Inquisitive Traditionalist The adage about needing to learn the rules before breaking them is a finger-wag directed at young, ambitious artists, cautioning them not to stray from convention until they’ve reached their coveted but elusive destination: mastery. But could the inverse of that be just as true—[...] Read more

Featured Article Nick Storring Issue 138

Sam Shalabi and the Evolution of a Global Aesthetic Sam Shalabi’s insightful musical take on the world can provoke both discomfort and laughter. On his numerous solo albums, he meshes guitar, oud, and field recordings into an electroacoustic collage. He leads a wide variety of small and midsize groups that encompass a who’s who of[...] Read more

Featured Article Lawrence Joseph Issue 130

Tom Zé FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY     The romantic Brazil—the one that ensnares tourists—does not include the Brazilian Northeast. Miles from Rio de Janeiro, this place is worlds removed from the urban sophisticates that dwell in the south.[...] Read more

Featured Article Alex Molotkow Issue 105

Cage And Duchamp's Reunion FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY   On the periphery of the dimly lit stage of Toronto’s Ryerson Theatre, four musicians are setting up musical instruments, laptops, and various musical gadgets in preparation for the evening’s all-night performance. Audio[...] Read more

Profile Chris Kennedy Issue 111

Psiw-te npomawsuwinuwok kiluwaw yut The first time I heard Jeremy Dutcher on the radio, I was driving my son and some of his non-Native teammates to soccer practice in Peterborough. I had tuned in to the CBC a few bars into Dutcher’s single “Honour Song,” and the fifteen-year-old boys in the car fell[...] Read more

Featured Article Leanne Betasamosake Simpson Issue 130

Tom Wayman’s “Elemental Musics: Selkirk Mountains” 1. ARIA   Alpine wind in the stunted firs half whispers an austere wistfulness with overtones of regret at being compelled by a harsh landscape to be mercilessly forthright: a breathy flute-note surging and fading[...] Read more

Sonic Geography Tom Wayman Issue 127

Avatar Orchestra Metaverse FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY   Avatar Orchestra Metaverse is a global collective making new music within the virtual-reality platform Second Life, an online three-dimensional program that allows users to interact through in-world avatars (users’ digital[...] Read more

Visions of sound Tina M. Pearson Issue 106

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

An Inexhaustible Source of Wild Music In the 1970s, electronic music studios at the University of Toronto and McGill University sparked exciting ideas in guitar composition. With a focus on the evolution of Canadian works for guitar and electroacoustics, guitarist and composer Amy Brandon tracks key events and works from[...] Read more

Featured Article Amy Brandon Issue 137

music, interrupted A barrage of media releases announcing the cancellation or postponement of concerts and festivals—in my hometown of Toronto, in music hubs across Canada and beyond—began hitting my inbox with increasing intensity the second week of March. Like many who actively follow, attend,[...] Read more

Editorial Jennie Punter Issue 136