My goodness, this is perfect free improvisation for the Halloween season! The tension on this record is unmatched. The cover art complements the almost manically off-center playing of this impressive quartet, led by Canadian pianist Karoline Leblanc, American cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, and two astounding Portuguese improvisers, Marcelo dos Reis and Continue Reading
Canada
Kazdoura – Ghoyoum غيوم
Thanks to my dear brother in music, Yasen, for introducing me to Kazdoura, a Canadian band that has roots in both Syria and Lebanon. From the band’s Bandcamp site: “Rooted in Levantine Arabic music and fueled by genre-bending experimentation, Kazdoura’s debut album Ghoyoum is a vibrant fusion of Arabic Maqams, Continue Reading
RematriNation – ᎠᏌᏃ ᎩᎦᎨ (The Red Dress)
Symphonic rock still lives! RematriNation is a trio fronted by keyboardist and vocalist Lisa LaRue, and the music is something quite special, blending progressive rock with indigenous influences from the band members (Cherokee, Yaqui, and Ecuadorian mestizo). The music is solid, beautifully recorded, and it’s definitely satisfying a need I’ve Continue Reading
Mother Mother – Hayloft I (Official Video)
It’s been years since I watched a relatively new music video. As someone old enough to remember when MTV first started (“Video Killed The Radio Star,” indeed…), I used to love the cheesiness of the early videos. Filmmakers, however, caught on to how great a new medium the music video Continue Reading
Various Artists – Artoffact Records 2025 Sampler
Artoffact Records, Canada’s premier electronic music record label, looks to have had a banner year in terms of releases. Still, the only recognizable name I see is Rhys Fulber, best known for his work with Front Line Assembly and Delerium. Still, it sounds like this kind of music is in Continue Reading
Bloemfontein – Improvisational Sessions Volume Three
Unfortunately, the Canadian band Bloemfontein is no longer active, as they appear to be on a permanent hiatus. Still, the band produced several albums of excellent post-rock music—not the metal variety, but rather the atmospheric instrumental style that I personally prefer much more.
Colin Stetson – SORROW – a reimagining of Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony
There is something about the contrabass clarinet that is achingly sad to hear. American-Canadian composer Colin Stetson has an already impressive body of work, but his interpretation of Henryk Górecki’s most iconic composition is something else to behold. As he states on his Bandcamp site: “The concept was simple, and Continue Reading
Kyle Bobby Dunn – Fervency
It has been a long time since we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a work by Canadian composer and sound sculptor Kyle Bobby Dunn, but here he is with an ambient / electroacoustic work from 2009 that has been re-released. From Kyle’s Bandcamp site: “Originally available as a digital release Continue Reading
Trajectories – Quiet on Kökar
Trajectories is a troupe from Quebec who produce electroacoustic music. From their Bandcamp site: “The album Quiet on Kökar was conceived of during a recent artist residency undertaken on the small island of Kökar in the Åland Archipelago in Finland, experimenting with a variety of recording set-ups and collaborative compositional Continue Reading
NFFFactory – CVDropOVT
NFFFactory are a psychedelic jazz fusion band out of Montreal, Quebec. Think of bands Weather Report and the work of Jean-Luc Ponty, but with a more updated sound.