Kevin Press
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It used to be said that the best way for an artist to know if they’d got their new album right was to listen to a cassette copy in the car. Given the large percentage of listeners that would hear their music behind the wheel, it was the best possible soundcheck. Car audio has come…
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At this time of year, references to houses take on a more evocative dimension. While it is doubtful that Geneva Skeen intended to dabble in the otherworldly, if ever there was a piece that captured what a haunted home sounds like it is her “The Sonorous House.” It opens with enough rattles, creeks and muffled…
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“Good-bye, I’m leaving now.” So begins one of this year’s finest vocal performances. Tess Parks’ smoky barroom vocals aren’t all swagger. Her performance on this self-titled effort is too accomplished to be described with that kind of shorthand. She is a new Hope Sandoval, more soulful and less abstruse. When paired with Anton Newcombe, front…
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Montreal-based composer Monique Jean’s take on electroacoustic music has been described as “engaging a present that happens now.” Credit François Couture with that sharply written phrase. Indeed, there is an abrasiveness to her work that feels urgent and forceful. Her new release Troubles features two vivid examples. The first is “T.A.G.” The title is an…
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Billie Holiday – The End Of A Love Affair: The Audio Story 0.00 Feldermelder – Another Place 0.49 Charles Mingus – The Clown 5.11 Dinner Is Ruined – A Smile is a Lie 17.14 Penelope Trappes – Connector 22.25 Brian James Griffith – Morph 26.04 Antoine Chessex – London 2015 30.10 Keisuke Matsuno, Moritz Baumgärtner…
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Nico Walser has produced a second volume in his “music of water, wood and bones” trilogy. Guide to the Sunken Citadel follows the March release of Ghosts of Forsaken Ships. These six new tracks have been described as both new classical and ambient. I hear a lot more of the latter, which is not to…
