Madawaska Quartet. Prefab. This long-awaited CD debut by the Madawaska Quartet reinforces the ensemble’s place as a powerful triple threat in the new music scene. Threat one is the ensemble’s surprising aptitude for developing ear-pleasing new repertoire. The results can be heard here in two world premi[...] Read more

Recordings Jason van Eyk Issue 109

Eric Leonardson & Steve Barsotti. Rarebit. Leonardson and Barsotti have both fashioned their own peculiar sonic contraptions that provide all manner of congruently peculiar noises over the span of this disc.   Each track encompasses its own world, constructed of noises that are both highly physical and also difficult[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 109

Zu. The Way of the Animal Powers. This vinyl re-release of the 2005 The Way of the Animal Powers finds Zu (Massimo Pupillo on bass, Jacopo Battaglia on drums, and Luca T Mai on saxophone) teamed up with Fred Longberg-Holm on cello. Longberg-Holm brings extra scintillation to a group known for aggressive and intricate punk-[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 108

John Zorn, Fred Frith. Late Works. It helps, I think, to imagine John Zorn as the rude one in this couple, and Fred Frith as the polite one. In their collaborations, as in their work outside those collaborations, alto saxophonist (and Tzadik label maven) Zorn waved a rude goodbye to listenability ages ago; his followers must[...] Read more

Recordings Andrew Hamlin Issue 108

Toddler Body. Survival Smokers. Recently the mainstream of independent pop and rock has introduced certain safe yet conspicuously weird tics into their already carefully tweaked lexicon of self-conscious poses. Given that pseudo-psychedelic, fake lo-fi pop geared to fashionable teens is at an all-time high, it’s[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 108

Linda Catlin Smith. Ballad. Something about Linda Catlin Smith’s music has always struck me as paradoxical. On the one hand, her work is irrefutably about tone colour, yet her focus on melody and her avoidance of extended techniques undermines this impression. Her work also comes off with the utmost clarity, as[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 108

David Sait, Glen Hall, Gino Robair, Ladonna Smith. Postage Paid Duet–Vol. 2. With the Postage Paid Duets, Toronto musician David Sait brings us a remarkable collection of improvisation. His instrument, the guzheng (or Chinese zither), is rather unique in the improv world, and his platform for improvisation—by mail—also adds another layer of novelty to[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 108

Terry Riley. Autodreamographical Tales. Over, under, and through Terry Riley’s undeniable influence and worth, lies his whimsy. Some of his pieces make heavier use of humour than others, but a lighthearted view of the multiverse and a reverence for mutability has marked his style over more than forty years of prominence as a[...] Read more

Recordings Andrew Hamlin Issue 108

Tim Olive. The Specialist. There are noise albums that attempt to make the biggest racket out of the most number of accessories possible and then there are those that rely on a sparse economy, choosing to pull gnarled sounds out of the smallest of setups. Tim Olive’s The Specialist is in the latter camp.[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 108

Sainkho Namchylak, Nick Sudnick. Not Quite Songs. Sainkho Namchylak, a native of Tuva, is relatively well known for her brilliant accommodation of throat-singing techniques to free improvisation, using a body of traditional techniques to create music of extraordinarily expressive power, mixing high-pitched metallic sounds and multiphonics[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 108

Christof Migone. Disco Sec. Packaged like an LP, this is a visual and aural catalogue of Christof Migone’s 2008 exhibition Disco Sec—a self-portrait made up of his own record collection. The package serves up a lush documentation of the artwork in the show, including Rimmed Record, a series of rims from the[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 108