Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra Ride the Wind

Published Mar 16, 2018

Much has been made of the level of harmonic and melodic density and sophistication present in jazz solos. Since the advent of bebop, when th...

Robbie Basho Live in Forli, Italy, 1982

Published Feb 18, 2018

Robbie Basho's world encompassed the whole school of American Primitive guitar (John Fahey, Leo Kottke, et al). His fingerstyle technique wa...

Tal National Tantabara

Published Feb 05, 2018

Tal National don't waste time trying to convince you. The opening title track roars out of the speakers with all the ferocity of a Black Fla...

The Khan Jamal Creative Arts Ensemble Drum Dance to the Motherland

Published Jan 15, 2018

There is a lot going on this 1972 live performance release by Khan Jamal. Some of it is shockingly prescient and contemporary, touching on M...

Hamad Kalkaba Hamad Kalkaba and the Golden Sounds 1974-1975

Published Jan 15, 2018

Analog Africa, once again, digs in the dusty crates and bar jukeboxes and comes up with another jewel of African music. Hamad Kalkaba is fro...

Various The Rough Guide to Holy Blues

Published Sep 27, 2017

[groove] [September 29] [7/10] First off, back in the day, "holy" and "blues" really couldn't be referred to in the same sentence witho...

Microtub Bite of the Orange

Published Jun 21, 2017

Microtub's Bite of the Orange is a curiously engaging release of what are, essentially, tuba drones. The engaging part is how quickly one is...

Zeitkratzer Performs Songs From the Albums "Kraftwerk" and "Kraftwerk 2"

Published Jun 21, 2017

Zeitkratzer have made a name for themselves as a classical New Music ensemble that take nearly impossible non-classical works and excel in t...

Chicago/London Underground A Night Walking Through Mirrors

Published Jun 21, 2017

Rob Mazurek has been relentless in his musical charge through the 21st century, from his large ensemble Exploding Star Orchestra to His Chic...

Moondog 100 with Nexus and the Mike Smith Company The Music Gallery, Toronto ON, December 3

Published Dec 04, 2016

In the annals of American outsider music, there are a couple of composers who, despite a pretty crusty demeanour and a highly unconventional...

Olivia Block Dissolution

Published Nov 22, 2016

Olivia Block's new release is comprised of two long tracks involving found sounds, instruments, microcassettes and radio signals, and, accor...

Supersilent Supersilent 13

Published Nov 22, 2016

From the opening electro-Cambodian court music ritual vibe on Supersilent 13, one readily grasps the wide-ranging possibilities that follow...

Wadada Leo Smith America's National Parks

Published Nov 22, 2016

When a conceptual theme is applied to a musical work, regardless of genre, it puts a focus of intent that affects the composer and performer...

Egyptrixx / Dun Dun Band / deenzi The Music Gallery, Toronto ON, October 13

Published Oct 14, 2016

The Music Gallery's annual X-Avant festival opened with a bang last night (October 13). The first set featured the piano/flute/electronic du...

Lee "Scratch" Perry Must Be Free

Published Sep 21, 2016

Lee Perry's monolithic stance in the world of music is unassailable. Simply put, the man is one of the authors of dub and has traversed not...

Kate Carr It Was A Time of Laboured Metaphors

Published Apr 29, 2016

This is an album of soundscape and ambience, with individual spheres and staging events within each. Carr's attention to detail is apparent,...

Ali Berkok Never Get Lost For Long

Published Apr 29, 2016

Solo works of any kind give great insight into the character of an artist: the way he or she thinks, how the thought processes play out in t...

Travis Laplante & Peter Evans Secret Meeting

Published Mar 30, 2016

The state of virtuosity these days has been pushed into a state of critical mass. There are many musicians out there who have a firm grip on...

Alan Licht, Tetuzi Akiyama Tomorrow Outside Tomorrow

Published Mar 30, 2016

On Tomorrow Outside Tomorrow, Licht, Akiyama and guests Oren Ambarchi and Rob Mazurek have created two distinct longform excursions into the...

Rich Brown Abeng

Published Mar 30, 2016

The call of the cow horn blown to summon the old communities of Jamaica lurks mysteriously in Abeng.   While fans of reggae may have encou...