experimental
Album Review: Michael Scott Dawson – ‘The Tinnitus Chorus’ : A poignant and moving ambient statement crafted through collaboration.
Saskatchewan sound artist and producer Michael Scott Dawson is someone who’s both artistically prolific and restless. A stalwart for the Torontonian We Are Busy Bodies label, he’s released three solo albums plus two other records as a lead member of post-rock minimalists Peace Flag Ensemble, and all since 2020. But Dawson’s momentum has been cruelly …
Album Review: Federico Balducci & fourthousandblackbirds –‘Succulent Succubus’ : probing and powerful philosophical-drone music bursting with ideas.
Writing about any music released via the defiantly unconventional Difficult Art and Music imprint should not be a straightforward undertaking and maybe the task exposes the gaping flaws in the reviewing game. What is good, why compare, what is shallow, why is this deep and who says so? All a reviewer really does is say …
Album Review: Belong – ‘Realistic IX’: The illusive ambient-shoegaze duo return, their deceptive power undiminished.
Things may come and things may go but the shoegaze dance still unravels. Thirty years on from a time when Catherine Wheel were possibly the most important thing in the world to a small herd of droopy fringed teenagers, some of the scene’s more prominent pioneers have been having another moment. Ride have heaved themselves …
Album Review: Passepartout Duo And Inoyama Land – ‘Radio Yugawara’ : A sublime collaboration delivers a fresh and fulfilling ambient statement.
Living with music, living through music, living inside music are descriptions which could all get thrown around when trying to capture Passepartout Duo’s relationship with their sound art. The sonic partnership between pianist Nicoletta Favari and percussionist Christopher Salvito which began in 2015, thrives on constant travel, seeking out new collaborations as well as inspirational …
Album Review: Colin Fisher – Suns of the Heart : Spectacular sound sculptures with an internal energy.
“Distinctly gifted musician”, “Canadian mainstay”, “master sonic storyteller” are all quotable snippets which journos have rustled up for multi-instrumentalist and composer Colin Fisher. But as you dig into his sprawling catalogue you begin to realise that for once these aren’t empty words, if anything they’re an understatement. Here is a musician who’s been energising the …
Track: Sound artist extraordinaire, Michael Scott Dawson previews new album with the achingly poignant ‘Present Day’.
You could say that Saskatchewan sound artist and producer Michael Scott Dawson is a key contributor to the We Are Busy Bodies catalogue. Since 2020 he’s gifted the label three solo albums and two collections as a lead member of the post rock minimalists Peace Flag Ensemble, but those numbers only hint at his significance. …
Album Review: Jeff Mills – The Eyewitness
“Trauma and the shock effect of it – the leftover residue of harsh reality so impactful that it shapes the way you imagine, envision and calculate your position in regard to everything and everyone around you. A new type of psychological radius evolves. Boundaries are reinforced. Relationships are recessed. A damaged brief system float aimlessly. …
Album Review: PC Nackt – Der Einzige und sein Eigentum
This music is a memory of an experience, a dream, open to speculation, a fleeting moment to close your eyes and see the beauty with your ears, an invitation to own time and choose your perspective on the crystal of possibilities. It is a zooming into the perspective of a creator – an encouragement to …
Album Review: Qoa – SAUCO: The Argentinian sound artist’s ambient hymn to a living landscape.
LA based, Argentinian Qoa (aka. Nina Conti) is a digital sound artist and illustrator who focuses on tuning in and responding to the non-human world. That involves the composer’s serious engagement physical and imaginary, with plants and animals, streams and undergrowth, winds and weathers, and from this starting point developing a musical connection with the …
Track/Video: Icelandic composer/multi-instrumentalist Davidsson previews his emotional debut album with the restorative ‘On Thin Air’.
Revered Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds’ new OPIA project (a part festival, part musical community, part record label kind of thing) is adding another artist to its roster to keep emerging Costa Rican pianist Sofi Paez company. They’ve just announced that Icelandic composer and musician Davidsson will release his debut solo album ‘Lifelines’ through their portal …