Jocelyn Morlock. Cobalt. Cobalt, Jocelyn Morlock tells us, is one of the most poisonous elements, but it’s hard to imagine anyone dying of exposure to this Vancouver-based composer’s music—unless it was from a surfeit of beauty. Her strongest pieces can be described in a single word: numinous;[...] Read more

Recordings Alexander Varty Issue 119

Digital Primitives. Lipsomuch & Soul Searchin’… This two-disc release features a trio of free-jazz stalwarts who do not engage in your standard squawk session. Instead, they slice ninety-four minutes into nineteen funky cuts, as much influenced by country blues, rock, and various world musics as by modern strains of jazz.[...] Read more

Recordings Lawrence Joseph Issue 119

Hecker. Articulação. Much of Florian Hecker’s downright preposterous music could easily be regarded as the absurdist vanishing point of technological vanguardism in computer music. Both boisterously noisy and eerily austere, with its hyperactive bursts of sound, his music often feels as though it’s[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 119

Jean Derome, Malcolm Goldstein, Rainer Weins. 6 improvisations. Saxophonist Jean Derome, violinist Malcolm Goldstein, and guitarist Rainer Wiens are pillars of Montreal’s improvised music community who retain their sense of whimsy and their willingness to test the limits. Frequent associates in varied contexts, they meet for the first time as a[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 119

Rob Power. Touch. Percussionist Rob Power, based in St. John’s, Newfoundland, is a musical jack of all trades, although contrary to the conclusion of the popular saying, he is seemingly a master of all of them. In addition to teaching at the percussion faculty at Memorial University, he performs with[...] Read more

Recordings Jamie Drake Issue 118

Zacht Automaat. Zacht Automaat. Since forming in 2010, Zacht Automaat (the duo of multi-instrumentalist Carl Didur and Oxford resident Michael McLean, mostly guitar and bass) have released no fewer than eleven albums in various limited formats. Now they’re given the deluxe treatment with a sort of best-of double LP ([...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 118

GGRIL. Combines. The GGRIL (Grand Groupe Régional d'Improvisation Libérée) is one of Canada’s few large improvising ensembles, a feat made more improbable by their location in relatively isolated Rimouski. From a population of 46,000, bassist Éric Normand has managed to[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 118

Juan Blanco. Nuestro Tiempo / Our Time. Through most of the twentieth century, Cuban composer Juan Blanco (1919–2008) was an active and collaborative creator and cultural leader in his homeland—primarily, though not exclusively, through his work in electroacoustic music. “No Cuban composer epitomized musical[...] Read more

Recordings Jennie Punter Issue 118

Tuen Verbruggen & Arve Henriksen. Black Swan; The Bureau of Atomic Tourism. Second Law of Thermodynamics. These two recent CDs give a strong picture of the breadth of Belgian percussionist Tuen Verbruggen’s playing, showcasing a duo in studio and a live performance as part of a sextet.   Verbruggen’s duet with the Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen was done[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 117

Mecha Fixes Clocks. Beau comme un aéroport; Pink Saliva. Il parait que. These two CDs, released on Eric Normand’s Tour de Bras imprint, have in common the trumpet of Elwood Epps and the drums of Michel F. Coté, both players dynamic forces on Montreal’s improvised and musique actuelle scenes. Coté’s work, both as a composer[...] Read more

Recordings Mike Chamberlain Issue 117

Beverley Johnston. Woman Runs with Wolves. Woman Runs with Wolves, percussionist Beverley Johnston’s fifth solo release on Centrediscs, is undoubtedly her most eclectically programmed to date. Pulling from her sixty-plus commissions of Canadian composers’ work, the selections range across two decades of creation to shape[...] Read more

Recordings Jason van Eyk Issue 117