Category Archives: Reviews of music: live and recorded

Writers on Music: This album is the Bad Boy

It Might Take Long
Mindil Beach Markets (2013)
Produced and engineered by Sean McLean Carrie

Reviewed by Yasuko Thanh

Five guys.  Energetic, solid, toe-tapping rhythms. This music swaggers.

If this CD were a person, he’d be the “bad boy.” Shock of hair covering one eye. Tough guy. But with something else about him, too. In the way he moves. Something that says, I drink alone. And when he does, he sometimes cries.

Fans who’ve come to appreciate this band’s diversity won’t be disappointed. Track 7 starts out like a lullaby.  Almost as sweet as chocolate kisses with those little foil wrappers.  But the band’s website accurately warns that “light-hearted danceable jams” are tempered by “dark rock” including “a song about the zombie apocalypse.”

I can imagine playing this CD while driving in my car with an elbow out the window. Hanging at the beach, sand in my toes. Or cleaning empties off the kitchen table while clouds roll by outside dirty panes of glass.

There’s some great guitar work here. An I-mean-business style of playing that forces the listener to sit up and pay attention. Do not be fooled by the feel-good innocence of some of these songs. Tracks like those of a roller coaster switch quickly and the next thing you know you’re being taken on a wild ride through other sounds. Good ol’ fashioned rock, sunshine-reggae, even glimmers of punk.The songs flow into each other.  And as they do so, they inform each other. They add to the story to create a new whole.

In the past, I’ve stumbled by accident on great bands. Wandered into a gig, wet from the rain, looking more for shelter than music. This CD reminded me of those times  when I’ve not anticipated much but discovered something unexpected.

 

Yasuko Thanh’s short story collection Floating Like the Dead (M&S) was a Quill & Quire Best Books of 2012 selection.

Award-winning folkies do it again . . . beautifully

Long Gone Out West Blues
By Pharis & Jason Romero (2013)
Recorded by Ivan Rosenberg; mixed and mastered by David Travers-Smith

Reviewed by Jessica Benini  

Long Gone Out West Blues is an authentic folk, roots and bluegrass album uniting traditional classics alongside timeless songs written and performed by Pharis and Jason Romero. This down to earth duo has made a home in the wilderness near the hamlet of Horsefly, BC, home of Pharis’s family for five generations. Not only do they make beautiful music, they also work as a team custom building J. Romero Banjos, a company Jason started in Northern California where he originates. Their music reflects their hard working and organic lifestyle, welcoming you with a laid-back sound of blended harmonies combined with Jason’s smooth banjo licks and Pharis’s thoughtful lyrics.

Traditional songs such as “Across the Bridge,” “Wild Bill Jones,” “It Just Suits Me,” along with Jason’s banjo version of the classic fiddle tune, “Sally Goodin,” are gracefully honored with their renditions. Pharis and Jason’s own songs such as “Long Gone Out West Blues,” “Sad Old Song,” “Come On Home, The Little Things Are Hardest In The End,” acknowledges loneliness while finding inner strength when life brings you down and leaves you with a positive feel. Escaping the weight of the world, your own fears and prisons, and finding rest in the stillness where there is nothing else but you and your thoughts.

One of my favorites is “Lost Lula,” an instrumental and tribute to their dog Lula that never came home, lost to the wilderness on some unknown adventure. It echoes a haunting call into the sunset.

Their previous album A Passing Glimpse, won New/Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards, as well as Americana Album of the Year at the 2012 Independent Music Awards. Long Gone Out West Blues is just as strong and fantastic for any occasion–whether you are sipping on homemade iced tea on a hot summer afternoon or in a cozy cabin drinking whiskey in the middle of nowhere. And it will most likely inspire you to buy a J. Romero banjo in support of this genuine couple and their passion for music.

 

Jessica Benini is a West Coast Folk singer/songwriter and voice, guitar & harmonica teacher based in Victoria, BC.

Retro pop inspires nostalgia . . . or confusion

Heartthrob
Tegan and Sara (2012)
Produced by Greg Kurstin, Justin Meldal-Johnsen and Rob Cavallo

Reviewed by Chris Ho

Reaching for new heights, the Canadian indie duo Tegan and Sara released their seventh studio album at the end of January and recently announced their 2013 Summer Tour with the indie-pop sensation, Fun.

It’s tempting to consider Heartthrob as a huge departure from the sisters’ signature guitar-driven indie rock that earned them their fame, although it’s been a somewhat natural progression. With the success and attention they received from their collaboration with dance-pop icons Tiesto and David Guetta, it’s no surprise that Heartthrob expresses the poppy, synth-driven side of Tegan and Sara.

However, if you were expecting the same sort of fresh and innovative pop sensibility found in previous tracks like “Feel It In My Bones,” or ‘”Alligator,” you may be slightly disappointed. With a few exceptions, nearly all of the songs from the new album are produced and written in a style that is extremely reminiscent of 80’s and 90’s pop, (which could very well brainwash the listener into either working out to “Body Break” Youtube videos or feeling a sudden urge to attend an 80’s-themed party). Or if you’re me, you put on Olivia Newton John’s “Let’s Get Physical,” after hearing the first song and hit single, “Closer.”  Be warned.

Nonetheless, with over-exaggerations aside, Heartthrob is a very honest album underneath all of the candy-coated dance beats and synth-bass lines. While the lyrics are simpler than what a Tegan and Sara fan would have come to expect, they are still ones we can relate to and are sung with a sense of conviction and honesty. Needless to say, the confessional style of Tegan and Sara’s songwriting remains throughout, even as it becomes saturated with a somewhat overwhelming amount of 80’s and 90’s pop influences. This is apparent in songs such as, “I Was A Fool and “Goodbye, Goodbye,” where everything from the vocal melodies to the synth lines and ambient elements seem to transport to listener into an episode of Dawson’s Creek or Saved By The Bell.

So as the album winds down and almost ends on a note that reminds you of a more serious side of  The Spice Girls, (as might be argued for the chorus of  “Now I’m All Messed Up”), one will either be overjoyed with nostalgia, or confused as to where this creation might fit in with modern-day pop.

 

Chris Ho is a UVic graduate and Victoria-based singer-songwriter.

Life Underwater needs a little air

Life Underwater
Laurelle & Alexander (2012)
Boom Ting Recordings

Reviewed by Andrea Routley

Laurelle & Alexander’s debut-EP lives up to its name, with wet sounds of electric guitar and piano, and a synthesized wash to flood the remaining space, from gurgling, and in utero-like heart beats, to gulping bass details. Self-described as “Hippies with Computers,” they are clearly the west-coast variety; their saturated sound reflects the biodensity of coastal rainforest, and the submerged feeling of life under a canopy of grey cloud.

Life Underwater offers listeners five songs, two remixes, and an instrumental interlude called “Dream Wave,” a full-on hippy number, complete with the sound of the ocean waves lapping on the shore. And all of this is free to listeners. Every track contains an array of instrument sounds, yet they never feel cluttered. But the tracks that stand out for me are the ones that parse these sounds the most. They give me a chance to surface from the blur—after all, life may be underwater, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to breathe. Laurelle’s dry, breathy vocal tone and soprano range has a subtle forcefulness to it that could have cut through the damp and saved many of these tracks from drowning, but it is submerged in vocal effects: reverberating and far away, it’s lost in the wash.

Still, there are some stellar tunes on here, and any fan of ambient electronic will love this EP. “Moon Kids” has the catchiest melody, with a little retro 80s mellow-rock guitar that’ll make you feel like pretending you were actually cool in the 80s (or even alive). (How I wish this great melodic hook didn’t disappear after the first 45 seconds!).  And my personal favourite, “Lost Stardust,” because who doesn’t love a snare drum? And why do I love that snare so much? Because the presence of that one sound does so much to balance out this slippery sonic slope, giving my ear a little traction.

Laurelle & Alexander are currently working on a full-length album, Across Oceans, to be released later this year. I’m excited about what this talented pair will deliver, but hoping they’ll remember to breathe.

Fun Game: How many water puns can you count?

 

Andrea Routley is a writer and musician based in Victoria, BC. Reviewing other people’s music makes her nervous about what people will say about her upcoming album, “After We’re Here.”

Dubeau revisits cinema and gaming moments

Silence, on joue! (A Time for Us)
Angèle Dubeau & La Pieta (2012)
Game Music

Reviewed by Aaron Shepard

Angèle Dubeau, a stellar violinist, is one of Canada’s most accomplished and celebrated classical musicians. Along with La Pieta, the all-female ensemble that has accompanied her since 1997, she has recorded rich, exuberant interpretations of composers such as Philip Glass, Arvo Part and John Adams that are faithful to the spirit of the original, yet accessible to a broad audience. Her signature sound of virtuoso musicianship, lush orchestrations and warm production values invariably smooths the edges from the more experimental pieces. Not that you’ll find anything too edgy in Silence, on joue! This collection of soundtrack covers is about giving the people what they want. Featuring selections from films as varied as Memoirs of a Geisha, The English Patient, Modern Times, and Cinema Paradiso, Silence will tug at the heart and memory strings of cinephiles. Some tracks, like “Over the Rainbow” and “Concerning Hobbits,” are instantly recognizable, while songs from Hana-Bi and L’odyssee d’Alice Tremblay are a bit more obscure. Regardless, they all tend toward the romantic, the pensive and the uplifting, and are perhaps too similar, too polished, to truly excite.

I’m not saying these songs lack sophistication. Composers like Ennio Morricone, John Williams and Joe Hisaishi, while mainstream, are too brilliant to turn out mere sugary pap, while Dubeau and La Pieta’s thoughtful instrumentation lends subtle depth to even a sentimental piece like “My Heart Will Go On.” If there is nothing unexpected here, these near-flawless interpretations offer a pleasurable, nostalgic journey for the listener.

Game Music, stretching the boundaries of classical music through interpretations of video game theme songs, is the more interesting of the two collections. Here, Dubeau and La Pieta capture the sense of magic and fantasy inherent in epic games and offer a glimpse into the gamer’s experience of being in another world, similar to the way one can be transported by a very good film (or very good film music). The maturity of many tracks demonstrates the extent to which video games have evolved in terms of narrative complexity and even emotional depth.

Like Silence, Game Music is easy on the ears, but also far more diverse and challenging for both musician and audience. Several songs–like “Heavy Rain,” “Final Fantasy” and “Secret of Mana”–are surprisingly beautiful, balancing tense, ominous crescendos with quiet interludes. “Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross” soars with Middle-Eastern violins and galloping hand drums reminiscent of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project. “Tetris,” with its harpsichord and an exuberant, Tchaikovsky-esque string section, is a far cry from the clunky, electronic version I remember from my youth. Meanwhile, the upbeat “Angry Birds Theme”–from the immensely popular kids’ game–is one of Dubeau’s most purchased tracks on iTunes.

In both collections, one senses Dubeau’s respect for the music, her belief in the ability of each song – yes, even the tired Titanic love theme – to exist apart from the scenes and images for which it was originally created. Through that respect and sincerity, she’s succeeded in giving the songs of Game Music and Silence a life of their own, freeing them to become soundtracks for new memories and associations: perhaps a comfy chair by the fire on a rainy day, or the view from a seaside cottage, if the listener is lucky enough.

 

Aaron Shepard, a former musician, is shopping his first novel around publishers’ desks and writing his second.

Cage teaches us how to inhabit our world

Cage 100 Festival
Victoria Symphony Orchestra
Tania Miller, conductor
Tzenka Dianova, piano
Rick Sacks, percussion
Alix Goolden Hall
Saturday, November 17, 2012

Reviewed by Jennifer Messelink
Sit. Breathe. Listen.

When was the last time you sat in intentional silence with a hundred people, including an orchestra? The Victoria Symphony, directed by Tania Miller, gave us the opportunity on Saturday night at Alex Goolden Hall, performing works by Charles Ives, John Cage and the world premier performance of Rick Sacks’ Water Music. Victoria is host to The Cage 100 Festival. Curated by UVIC professor of composition Christopher Butterfield, the festival celebrates the centennial birth of American composer John Cage, his influences, and his lasting legacy.

The program began with three works by Charles Ives: Tone Roads No. 1 and No. 3 and The Unanswered Question. Charles Ives was a significant influence on John Cage; both composers used music in new forms, often employing elements of chance and non-traditional techniques. The Unanswered Question is an early example of aleatoric music, or music composed by the principles of chance operations. The work is a collage of three elements, the strings and solo trumpet in the distance off stage, and the woodwinds on stage. The dialogue is notated, but still allows for improvisation through the exchange between the groups. Director Tania Miller commented that, “for music over one hundred years old, Ives’ ideas of polytonality are still fresh, and taking us in new directions. We don’t need to follow tonality, we can go in many directions and at the end come together.”

The Victoria Symphony skillfully presented the tension of Ives’s dissonant chords and extreme dynamics, under layers of familiar tunes of another time. It was a pleasure to hear this music in a live performance.

No John Cage festival would be complete without his most famous, and most notorious work: 4’33”. We live in a world of constant background noise, people talking endlessly on cell phones, the blare of radio and commercials in most public spaces. To sit in silence in a concert hall feels, perhaps more radical now than ever. The ritual of preparation for the performance was usual, but there was noticeable anticipation in the air. The entire orchestra arrived onstage, tuned their instruments and . . . silence. Sitting quietly, one becomes acutely aware of the ambient noises: a car passing outside, whispering in the distance, chairs creaking, shifting, a cough. Applause.

The music of both Ives and Cage is extremely visual, and elements of both could be heard in Rick Sacks’s world premiere of Water Music. Familiar melodies layered on each other, a march and fanfare, and a large percussion section made this work thick with textures and bright sonorities. This work was also visual like Cage and Ives, but in a more direct way. As the work began, a large clown fish and a huge shark floated above the stage and through the audience. It was a fun and effective visual tool, but I found the handlers with their remote controls chasing the watery creatures throughout the hall more than a little distracting.

After Cage’s The Seasons came his Concerto for Prepared Piano, performed by Tzenka Dianova. John Cage experimented with prepared piano to the extent that it became otherworldly, a totally different instrument. The effect is extraordinary when experienced live. When Dianova played a chord, what was expected was not what was heard. The orchestra played with style, very little vibrato and open, bright sonorities. The Concerto for Prepared Piano was written in traditional form, but the effect is distorted yet absolutely beautiful.

Charles Ives and John Cage were revolutionary, both in their compositions and philosophy. The Victoria Symphony handled a challenging, and unusual program, and made it remarkably accessible. John Cage believed life itself can be art, but instead of creating it, we would be altered by it. Let us raise a toast to the centennial birth of John Cage, and to our continued awareness of our place on the canvas.

Jennifer Messelink is a music lover who’s not afraid of silence

 

 

 

Hush little babies, listen up: Sweet Lowdown Releases Third Album, “May”

May

The Sweet Lowdown

The Sweet Lowdown 2012

Produced by Adrian Dolan

Reviewed by Andrea Routley

If you’re a Sweet Lowdown fan, you probably fell in love with them for their rich bluegrass harmonies, formidable musicianship, and old-time folk sound. You’ll be thrilled with their third album (with 12 tracks), May.

As always, Sweet Lowdown delivers banjo and fiddle solos that impress the most experienced musicians, and for the rest of us, make us nod dumbly, follow with, “Wow. She’s good.” And just so you don’t forget that, May includes four instrumental tracks incorporating elements of bluegrass, celtic folk and even Indian-style melodies and arrangements as in “Lucknow,” a song inspired by an Indian city which banjo player Shanti Bremer visited. I’m not usually big on instrumental numbers, but I was sucked into this one instantly, with the fiddle mimicking a harmonium’s drone and the crazy Indian gypsy melodies in the banjo.

But May delivers an overall sound that I feel is signature Sweet Lowdown. With simple song forms, unadorned vocals, and three-part harmonies, May offers a kind of folk lullaby. The opening track, “The Heart Is A Hollow Thing,” evokes this lullaby quality not only musically, but lyrically, with lines like, “sticks and stones, Oh, hollow bones, bird take wing, fly high and sing.” This song is written by primary vocalist Amanda Blied (formerly of Balkan Babes), and her love of lullaby is evident in her other compositions, too, like “Hushabye,” which she calls “a lullaby for hard times,” and “What Goes Up,” a song about tobogganing on the winter solstice: “So just like Jack and Jill, we’ll go back up the hill. Just to ride right back down again like friends.” I loved this one for the Sarah Harmer-like melodies. You know the kind–the ones that feel like they’re coming to an end, but there’s still those last two words that carry the line downward in that suprising way.

I was also happy to hear Blied rip it up a little, vocally, in the cover of “Reuben’s Train.” Why “Reuben’s Train” in this album of water imagery, snow and flowers? Because every Canadian folk album must have a train song, of course!

But Blied isn’t the only songwriter with surprises. Banjo player Shanti Bremer showcases her talents in that exciting instrumental, “Lucknow,” and title track, “May.” And Bremer is a singer, too, with two of these songs on the album, “Please Take Me Home,” and “Drink It Down.” Bremer’s voice almost sounds timid on their previous album, but here she sings with steady confidence, while maintaining that angelic quality. Bremer pulls the album into the political with “Drink It Down,” a song about water rights and the impending shortage, and how she considers this in the context of the water-rich Pacific Northwest.

My favourite song on this album, though, is “Let It Go,” by fiddle player Miriam Sonstenes. It is the only song she sings, and I’m not sure why. Sonstenes voice has a clear, straight-forward quality that gives it a youthful naivety which I really loved. “Let It Go” is a song about visiting “old haunts with a dear old friend,” as Sonstenes writes in the insert. Having just recently visited my hometown for an old friend’s memorial service, I found myself connecting deeply with this piece. Sonstenes evokes a connection with place simply and poignantly with lines like “for every grain of sand there’s a tear that I have cried.” But my music-self loved the chorus best. With phrases of three measures, this asymmetrical pattern propelled the song forward in an unhurried yet exciting way. It’s a simple thing, but has a big effect. And you can always count on Sweet Lowdown to offer those simple yet stunning little juicy bits, whether in their stellar musical leads or little unexpected melodic thoughts.

 

You can see The Sweet Lowdown live–and pick up their new CD– at their CD Release show Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Victoria Event Centre:  Doors open at 7 p.m, tickets $13.

 

 

Victoria bands make it to Goolden

 

Woodsmen and Leisure Suit
Alix Goolden Hall

Reviewed by Cara Spangler

The “After Halloween Show” on November 2 at Alix Goolden Hall was in many ways much better than Halloween: no “Monster Mash,” no grimacing at awkward costumes; just a celebration of some of Victoria’s finest young musicians.

Alix Goolden welcomed a mixed ages crowd into its wooden pews, creating a mindful, music-focused energy – a welcome change from standing ear-deep in stereo at Victoria’s typical club venues. The century old organ served as a dramatic backdrop for the spacious stage.

“Most Victoria bands aspire to play at Alix Goolden,” says Oliver Brooks, lead singer of Leisure Suit, already seen performing in the Hall at this year’s Rifflandia festival. But for Woodsmen, Dogwood Line, and Bonfire Blondes, the opportunity was brand new and well deserved.

Woodsmen’s burgeoning musical venture has given the six-piece band an astounding confidence that easily filled the Hall despite their usual wall of dancing fans. This time, the fans stood respectfully in the back, swaying to “Wade in the Dark,” akin to ethereal choir music in the pillowy acoustics.

Before the final song, “I Got Time,” lead singer Maryse Bernard announced the possible last performance of drummer Graeme McDonald, which sent fans dancing to the front of the stage for the second half of the song.

“That was surprising,” says McDonald of the tribute. “I looked down for two seconds and suddenly half the audience…”

“I almost started crying,” Bernard finishes.

Leisure Suit followed Woodsmen, bringing the audience into a dreamy, post-rock meditation. “The Whale Song” turned Alix Goolden into a haunted submarine as Brooks’ slid a drumstick across the strings of his guitar to produce a sonar-like echo.

The four members huddled briefly after the last song of the set, offering to play an impromptu encore of a new song, which received encouraging cheers from the audience.

“It was contentious whether or not to play the last song,” says Brooks after the show. “It’s not done yet.”

Members of Leisure Suit met and wrote their first EP while some of them were still attending St. Michael’s University School. Woodsmen, together for just over a year, are to record this week with Sam Weber of Jets Overhead. Alix Goolden Hall may provide the famous acoustics, but there is no faking the talent of these young and motivated musicians.

Cara Spangler is a writing student at UVIC

Lovely listening but no easy answers

 

 

 

Terra Hazelton and Her Easy Answers
Herman’s Jazz Club October 26, 8:00 pm
Terra Hazelton, vocals
Nathan Hiltz, ukelele, guitar
Kelby McNair, drums
Bruce Meeko, bass
Patrick Boyle, trumpet

Reviewed by Jennifer Messelink

We sometimes forget what a vast country Canada is, but Terra Hazelton reminded us how far she had to come from Toronto, in her Ford Escort, to get here, to Herman’s Jazz Club. Hazelton, along with her musical partner Nathan Hiltz and local musicians Kelby McNair, Bruce Meeko and Patrick Boyle, performed a fabulous selection of 1920s jazz combined with distinct expressions of Canadian culture.

The multi-talented Hazelton is described by some as a Renaissance woman; she is a Canadian singer, Genie-nominated actress, and radio personality originally from B.C. Now a staple on the Toronto jazz scene, she leads her own band ‘Terra Hazelton and Her Easy Answers.” Victoria was the final stop on tour to promote her new recording “That’s All,” a trio album recorded live off the floor, and as she explained, the most sentimental recording she has done.

This is for all the broken hearts out there.

Hazelton is at home when singing love songs. Her powerful, sweet and growly vocal range perfectly combines old-school jazz with a modern cynicism. Speaking of her repertoire of love songs, she explained, “I can’t afford therapy, so I do this.” The first song of the evening “I’m Confessing,” by Louis Armstrong began with Nathan Hiltz on the ukelele, accompanied by an easy drums and walking bass. The ukelele was a popular standard instrument during the jazz age, and Hiltz played it with style and depth. Throughout the 1920s, the ukelele was popular with musicians and amateur players, higher pitched than the guitar, less resonant but with a light, transparent sound. Hiltz moved easily to the guitar on the popular songs “You’re Driving Me Crazy, and “Trouble in Mine.” The ensemble (who had never played together before Friday) communicated playfully with the audience and each other.

Hazelton’s original song “There’s a Cry,” based on the Canadian poet Robert Service’s poem “The Lure of Little Voices,” expressed her Canadian voice. The solo guitar, and folk-like character, was distinctly Canadian, but the dissonance and jazzy chords at the end were unique to this ensemble. She spoke highly of the next song “Keeping You in Mind,” written by Mary Margaret O’Hara, an established musician, songwriter and sister of SCTV cast member Catherine O’Hara.

Humorous and sarcastic with a sweet disposition, Hazelton is at ease performing and fun to watch. Throughout the evening she expressed her hatred of love, in a tone that was a bit sweet and a bit salty. She asked if anyone in the audience was in love and was shocked when some answered yes; allegedly, Torontonians don’t believe in love. The Ballad “Am I Blue?” moves through minor keys to end with a bright timbre on a major chord. Does Hazelton really hate love? The repertoire she chose said it all. Although she confessed that she is “not a therapist, just a sad, sad girl,” I think that, like the rest of us, she would rather have heartbreak than nothing.

Jennifer Messelink is a Victoria writer

 

 

Egoyan signature concert intriguing, educational

Pianist Eve Egoyan,
With David Rokeby
Works by Egoyan/Rokeby, Alvin Curran, Erik Satie, Per Nørgård
October 13, 2012, Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
Reviewed by Kelvin Chan

I must confess that I have never been the biggest, medium, or even smallest fan of Erik Satie. Known as one of the most eccentric composers in the history of Western music, he composed in a unique, daring, sometimes downright weird style that puzzles the listener. For instance, where would you find tempo markings like, ”Again. Better. Again. Very good. Amazingly. Perfect. Don’t go too high. Without noise. Far off.”? The answer is The Crooked Dances, one of the two sets of three miniatures from the Cold Pieces that Egoyan performed at her signature concert. Oh, and they are actually easy listening in comparison with a majority of Satie’s output—that is, their mainly consonant, slowly changing harmonies blend into one another, and their brevity gives listeners a clear enough sense of Satie’s style without irritating the ear-drums too much.

But that was the latter half of the concert. It was obvious that the first half, which featured Surface Tension, a multimedia collaboration between Egoyan and her husband David Rokeby, was the main feature of the night. The concept behind the piece is intriguing: a disklavier, or computer interface for an acoustic piano, is connected to a grand piano, whose sound production sends signals to the interface and the laptop computer connected to it (controlled by Rokeby), and those signals will then generate visual patterns that are finally displayed on a large projector screen on stage. Sounds complicated, but it was a remarkable attempt to extend the role of the piano to a visual, as well as acoustic instrument. The work is divided into five improvised movements, and each of them supplies unique visual material for the pianist to work with. My favourite was the second movement, where each pitch class on the piano was mapped to a different colour in the projection, and where different intensities of sound produced circular shapes of corresponding sizes. As Egoyan’s blazing flurry of octaves and cluster chords culminated in an enormous wave of sound, the circles on screen spiraled into a violent whirlwind. Unfortunately the performance was then briefly interrupted by a technical issue involving Rokeby’s computer, but it was sorted out promptly and all was back on track before the audience lost too much of its concentration.

The fourth movement was another highlight in the thirty-minute piece, as three-dimensional blocks were used by the piano to construct a massive tower of abstract geometrical shapes. Throughout the movement, Egoyan appropriately varied her impromptus in register, dynamics, articulation, and even playing techniques (there was an instance where she elbowed the lowest depths of the keybed furiously). Egoyan’s wide array of touch treated the audience to a visual splendour of stunning colours, textures and moods. It certainly helped that the Steinway grand she played on, which was supplied by Tom Lee Music, had been masterfully tuned and voiced beforehand. Never in my four years studying at the School of Music have I heard such a gloriously sounding instrument—not to mention it was three feet shorter than the full-size Model D’s that reside in the recital hall.

What to make of the night, then? It was a valuable experience for those who haven’t been exposed to many contemporary works and sound installations. If nothing else, the diverse techniques employed in these new works allowed the capabilities of a well-prepared Steinway grand to be showcased in full glory. That, in and of itself made the night stay true to its spirit as a remarkable celebration—Satie notwithstanding.

Kelvin Chan is a fourth-year music student at the University of Victoria