Recordings
Clarence Barlow. Musica Algorithmica. For a significant number of listeners, the idea of music being driven by an algorithm or other such organizational scheme can be a source of trepidation. And perhaps that’s justified. When the rigour of the formal features feels stronger than the material itself, the deficiencies of[...] Read more
Overleaf. Overleaf. The recently formed Overleaf assembles three of Toronto’s most distinct yet unsung voices in a compelling and elusive amalgam. Synthesist (and occasional bamboo flutist) Heidi Chan (aka Bachelard), saxophonist Kayla Milmine, and Mira Martin-Gray, who has an uncharacteristically[...] Read more
Samuel Andreyev. Music with no Edges. The six works on Toronto-born, Strasbourg-based composer Samuel Andreyev’s brilliant new disc were conceived separately over the span of a decade. Yet the album’s gripping first two minutes serve as a perfect introduction to his world. Vérifications[...] Read more
Kyle Gann. Hyperchromatica. Kyle Gann’s eccentric and extravagant double-disc set Hyperchromatica is easily one of the year’s most fascinating releases. So don’t let him convince you otherwise: his tacky titles for the work’s movements (“Spacecat” and “Galactic Jamboree,[...] Read more
Kukuruz Quartet. Julius Eastman—Piano Interpretations One outcome of the streaming era—not a necessary one, but a likely one—is the devaluation of liner notes. It’s not that they don’t exist; for example, George Lewis’s excellent notes to this collection of Julius Eastman piano works by the Kukuruz Quartet appear[...] Read more
Sarah Davachi. Gave in Rest. Calgary-born and currently resident in Los Angeles, Sarah Davachi has quickly developed a significant reputation creating music that is ambient, minimalist, and highly compelling. She recently spent a summer in Europe exploring her fascination with the acoustic properties of ancient churches[...] Read more
Petra Glynt. My Flag Is A Burning Rag of Love. Petra Glynt is a sonic swashbuckler. Her electronic art-punk music reveals an unapologetic originator whose politics are integral to everything she produces (including her subversive. rainbow-coloured artwork). Her self-produced sophomore release, My Flag Is a Burning Rag of Love, which was[...] Read more
Ida Toninato / Jennifer Thiessen. The Space Between Us. The debut duo album of rising improvising stars Ida Toninato and Jennifer Thiessen, The Space Between Us, is an intimate, nuanced dialogue between baritone sax and viola d’amore. The players weave around each other in a sophisticated conversation, often overlapping, in agreement,[...] Read more
The Cluttertones with Lee Pui Ming. Leeways. Bassist Rob Clutton has been composing for his group the Cluttertones for over a decade, modelling his work for a quartet that includes trumpeter Lina Allemano and guitarist–banjoist Tim Posgate, with Ryan Driver playing analog synthesizer and singing. The approach is unusual,[...] Read more
Castle If. Sector 3. Castle If (Jess Forrest) creates an analog synthscape as the futuristic backdrop for her latest recording, Sector 03. Inspired by William Gibson’s 1984 sci-fi novel Neuromancer, Forrest conveys an anxiety about technology as she examines a future in which disorder is magnified.[...] Read more
Joseph Shabason. Anne. Saxophonist and electronic composer Joseph Shabason’s 2017 debut recording Aytche was a warm, charismatic release that invited repeated listening, even though its influences occasionally swam pretty close to the surface. The credits on Anne, his latest, actually include Gigi Masin (one[...] Read more
Brodie West Quintet. "Clips." There’s something different afoot in saxophonist Brodie West’s quintet, its singular construction of a jazz combo with alto saxophone, piano, bass, and drums—as traditional as Brubeck to that point—and a departure from the norm with a second set of drums. The sound[...] Read more
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