Colin Fisher. Reflections of the Invisible World. Colin Fisher is busy. For nearly two decades his musical output and collaboration have touched many corners of the Canadian experimental scene—he is known as one half of psych duo Not The Wind, Not The Flag, as a frequent collaborator with artists such as Caribou, and as a solo artist[...] Read more

Recordings Brennan McCracken Issue 139

Terry Uyarak. Nunarjua Isulinginniani. Terry Uyarak made headlines earlier this year when he and a friend set out from their Igloolik, Nunavut, home on a traditional Inuit polar-bear hunt, travelling into the wild for ten days on dog sleds without GPS or phones. The self-taught musician has shown that same level of intrepid[...] Read more

Recordings Jesse Locke Issue 138

Meredith Bates. If Not Now. Vancouver violinist Meredith Bates has a long history of performing and improvising with other like-minded musicians. Founder and leader of the improvisational sextet Like the Mind and of the multimedia collaboration Sound Migrations, she has also recorded and performed with Peggy Lee, Leah[...] Read more

Recordings Mary Dickie Issue 139

Marc Sabat and the Harmonic Space Orchestra. Gioseffo Zarlino. The notes that accompany this new release by Berlin-residing Canadian composer and string player Marc Sabat epitomize one of the greatest difficulties around composing in Just Intonation (tuning systems derived from the harmonic series). Though his notes are precise and succinct, it is all[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 138

Lina Allemano Four. Vegetables. The Toronto-based Lina Allemano Four—the experienced musical chefs who sauté the ingredients in this six-course musical feast—have been cooking on trumpeter Allemano’s originals since 2005. Alongside her gritty and dulcet trumpet textures are reed garnishes from[...] Read more

Recordings Ken Waxman

Dominique Fils-Aimé. Three Little Words. In 2018 Montreal-based jazz artist Dominique Fils-Aimé released the first album of a trilogy exploring the shifting genres and experiences of African-American history and culture. The blues-inspired Nameless explored African sounds that morphed into the blues during enslavement. The[...] Read more

Recordings Chaka V. Grier

Angelica Sanchez & Marilyn Crispell. How To Turn The Moon. How to Turn The Moon is a trip. This fresh duo album from New York avant-garde heavy-hitters Angelica Sanchez and Marilyn Crispell takes two pianos to expansive and unexpected places. The potential for sonic deluge in the pairing of similar instruments is magnified by the piano’s[...] Read more

Recordings Jennifer Thiessen Issue 138

LAL. Meteors Could Come Down. Since the release of their 2000 debut record Corners, Toronto-based electronic duo LAL have become known both for their songs celebrating resistance and community and for their unwillingness to be placed in a neat box by the mainstream Canadian music industry. While these same notions loom[...] Read more

Recordings Max Mertens Issue 138

Saman Shahi. Breathing in the Shadows. Iranian-Canadian composer Saman Shahi is full of surprises. He writes music for anything from films to electric guitars, makes rock fusion music, and directs concert bands. On Breathing in the Shadows, his debut album, he pulls yet another compositional style from his massive toolkit in[...] Read more

Recordings Vanessa Ague Issue 138

Kind Mind. Kind Mind. Near the end of the eighteenth century, the German theorist Friedrich Schlegel proposed the fragment as an emergent refashioning of the form of criticism. Inherent to the short form of the fragment was a questioning of wholeness: for Schlegel, the fragment was not a recovered piece of some[...] Read more

Recordings Brennan McCracken Issue 138

JunctQín Keyboard Collective. reTHiNK. On reTHiNK, JunctQín Keyboard Collective presents an eclectic collection of piano compositions new and old that vibrantly showcases their broad range. While this trio, comprising Elaine Lau, Joseph Ferretti, and Stephanie Chua, has been performing together for more than a decade,[...] Read more

Recordings Vanessa Ague Issue 138