New music

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This article was published 07/11/2019 (2481 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

POP & ROCK

iskwē
acākosīk (Iskwē music)

In the past seven years, iskwe, an Irish/Cree/Métis singer-songwriter and performer who grew up in Winnipeg, has become one of the most expressive Indigenous musical artists in Canada, blending the sounds of her mother and grandfather’s culture with dramatic, almost gothic, electro-alternative rock and pop.

Her second album, 2017’s The Fight Within, earned Polaris Prize consideration and a Juno Award nomination, and acākosīk (pronounced acha-ko-suk, it means stars) should make iskwē a household name.

(About that name: iskwē grew up in Treaty 1 territory with the English name Meghan Meister, and her performing moniker is an abbreviation of her Cree name, waseskwean iskwew, which means “blue sky woman.”)

Although acākosīk is a 22-minute, seven-track collection, it’s being called an album rather than an EP, and it does make a singular artistic statement. At its heart is iskwe’s profound determination to bring mainstream attention to the Indigenous fight for social, cultural and political recognition and reconciliation.

That struggle is expressed almost immediately in the album’s first song, Breaking Down, a propulsive blend of pulsing, neo-industrial synthesizer, keening guitar, atmospheric keys, tribal chants and a lyric that declares, “It took me all this time to speak my mind, you pushed me down so far I thought I’d died — because of you.”

The message continues on Unforgotten, an anthemic rallying cry (first released last year) featuring throat-singing from Tanya Tagaq, tribal drumbeats and a rousing Ojibwe singalong that calls on the spirits to help save their people.

Little Star, meanwhile, is a heart-rending electro-pop lament for lost young people such as Tina Fontaine and Coulton Boushie, and Sweet Tuesday, acākosīk’s most personal song, tells the intimate tale of the passing of a friend.

The record is officially released Friday, Nov. 8. Make sure you hear it.

★★★★ out of five

Stream these: Unforgotten; Little Star; Sweet Tuesday

— John Kendle

 

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ROOTS/COUNTRY

Various Artists
Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots — Bloodshot Records’ 25th Anniversary Compilation (Bloodshot Records)

For the past quarter-century, independent Chicago-based record label Bloodshot Records has been the purveyor of some of the best roots, insurgent country and quasi-punk music anywhere.

Most music fans of practically any stripe will likely have a Bloodshot release or three that hold high esteem in their collections. This authoritative 22-track compilation delivers a wide-ranging selection of artists and sounds, yet somehow the grand disparities all find a comfortable home here. Setting the sumptuous table is the cheery, outlaw country sound of Wild Earp & the Free For Alls, storming through their The Last Honky in Chicago. It’s a homage of sorts to the classic Bakersfield sound, joined by the Hoyle Brothers’ A Little Bit Of Buck and the Western Elstons’ Toast That Lie, also solid examples of that style.

Long-serving U.K.-based Bloodshot artist Jon Langford (the Mekons, the Three Johns, Pine Valley Cosmonauts) delivers I Am A Big Town with punk/folk zeal and finds common ground with the rough-and-tumble playfulness of Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds (Lay Me Down) and a totally sideways cover of Tears for Fears’ Head Over Heels by Rookie, as well the kinetic Yeah Yeah Yeah from Los Gallos.

On a less raucous note, there’s Freakwater’s exceptional version of the Rolling Stones’ heroin ballad Sway — in which you can understand the words — the incomparable Robbie Fulks’ bluegrass classic-in-the-making Lonely Ain’t Hardly Alive, and Tammi Savoy and the Chris Casello Combo’s taut rockabilly track If It’s News to You.

Here’s to praying that in another 25 years, we’ll still have this wildly eclectic independent label continuing to deliver the kind of music that is so invigorating to hear. Congratulations, Bloodshot Records.

★★★½ out of five

Stream these: Carry Me Home; Givin’ It All Away

— Jeff Monk

 

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CLASSICAL

Javier Perianes
Ravel — Jeux de Miroirs (Harmonia Mundi)

This new release — ostensibly a concept album — partners two versions of Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, including its original keyboard guise performed by Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, with its later orchestrated arrangement of four of its original six movements brought to life by the Orchestre de Paris led by Josep Pons. The twin recordings are in turn bookended by the 19th-century French composer’s always enthralling Alborado del gracioso — including both solo piano and orchestral versions — excerpted from his five-movement piano suite, Miroirs.

It’s a novel idea that allows listeners to compare and contrast its different interpretations, and ultimately draw their own conclusions as to which genre better captures Ravel’s imagistic writing. However, arguably this musical experiment is wholly unnecessary if one has access to their own recordings, with the album itself beginning to feel slightly disjunctive — not helped by the lone excerpt from Miroirs with less becoming, well, less without its accompaning movements.

Despite all this, Perianes delivers a fine performance throughout the piano suite, with highlights including his crisply executed Toccata, and thoughtful Forlane, with its fuller orchestration also revealing a palette of rich timbral colour. It’s also fascinating to compare the other offerings, such as the Rigaudon, with the larger-scale version brimming with vitality due to a dynamic orchestration.

The middle of this musical sandwich is Perianes performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, which brings all players together as a unified force and further showcases the pianist’s bravura, as well as Pons’s sensitive direction. Another highlight is its effervescent finale, Presto, delivered with fearless attack by all.

★★★½ out of five

STREAM THIS: Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, III: Presto

— Holly Harris

 

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ELECTRONIC

Richie Hawtin
Close Combined (Plus 8 Records)

During the formative years of techno, Richie Hawtin, the London-born, Canadian-raised producer and DJ, made clandestine trips across the river to Detroit from his hometown in Windsor, Ont., to witness ground zero for the development, growth, production and evolution of the genre.

Embodying the resilience and spirit of Detroit, techno quickly became international and the artists that created its DNA — Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson — became some of the most revered artists in any genre. These artists weren’t just playing back other people’s music, but pushing the notion of what a DJ was and how they performed.

Not much has changed in Hawtin’s vision of DJing. He continues to push things forward through technological progress while constantly searching for new music and sounds. Close Combined, an audiovisual live set that combines concerts in Glasgow, London and Tokyo, feels like an amalgamation of the past three decades of his work.

This hybrid live/DJ setup is meant to bring the audience closer to the performer, creating a layer of transparency and a window into the process while giving Hawtin spontaneity and synchronicity. The result is on-the-spot deconstruction and recontextualization of tracks by artists such as newcomer Charlotte de Witte, veteran Edit Select or Mental Resonance from Argentina — sometimes on the same track.

This setup allows Hawtin the most freedom within the music to manipulate, deconstruct, reconstruct and reintroduce as something entirely never to be heard again. The ability to introduce multiple musical elements from various sources is redefining what it means to DJ.

★★★★ out of five

— Anthony Augustine

 

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JAZZ

Chick Corea Trio Trilogy 2 (Concord)

Pianist Chick Corea, along with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade, recorded an album called Trilogy in 2014 that had many clamouring for a followup.

This two-CD live album is the result. During his lengthy career, Corea has recorded in avant-garde, mainstream, free jazz, fusion, duet and large-ensemble settings. Without doubt, however, he shines in the small-group context with players who share his prodigious talent. McBride and Blade meet this requirement. (Blade’s band was terrific at the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival gala night this year.)

The music here moves into slightly more experimental directions than the first Trilogy, with extended tracks allowing fascinating freedom for improvisation from all three members.

It can be argued that the jazz trio has been one of the most important anchors in jazz history. If so, this album demonstrates why. It has huge variety; familiar riffs, unusual interpretations of familiar tunes — in short, it has the whole package. Improvisational threads feed off to the next soloist in a way that shows their full familiarity with each other.

The whole experience allows one to simply relax and enjoy trio jazz in completely top form. The Thelonious Monk tune Crepuscule With Nellie (with Corea apologizing for a lifetime of calling it “Crepuscule for Nellie”) is beautifully constructed. Corea favourites like 500 Miles High and La Fiesta are standouts along with a more rarely recorded Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. This is simply beautiful, accessible jazz from three guys who truly know what they’re doing.

★★★★½ out of five

Stream these: La Fiesta; Now He Sings, Now He Sobs

— Keith Black