Gordon Grdina's Box Cutter
New Rules for Noise 416
By Thomas Quinlan
New Rules for Noise is an apt title for this album from experimental, jam-style jazz rock fusion band Gordon Grdinas Box Cutter. Named after guitarist Gordon Grdina, Box Cutter also features bassist Karlis Silins, drummer Kenton Loewen and clarinettist Francois Houle, the latter playing a primary role on the album, setting this band apart from other jam bands. The quartet are tight, whether theyre playing groovy dance floor numbers, slow burn ballads or more experimental free-form creations. Aside from a dominant clarinet, the music also reveals a lot of interesting guitar wankery, including feedback and Sonic Youth-style pick-scraping. Unfortunately, the disparate sounds of each instrument sometimes connect to create chaotic music that can border on cacophony, as on The Good News and Plan of Attack. At other times, like with The Bad News, the music is so stripped down and bare that theres almost nothing going on. Fans of Captain Beefheart and Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis may find the improv experimentation enjoyable but jazz and rock fans will probably find the more straightforward songs a little more appealing. (Spool)
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Aidan Bakers Nadja have been receiving more and more attention for their incredible fusion of metal, ambience and experimentation. Between his solo work and his doom-y Nadja project, Bakers racked up well over 20 recordings in the last year. ARC, though, have been relatively less active. The r
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Phillys Shot x Shot quartet delivered a striking debut a couple years back with their self-titled disc for High Two. Recorded in a hugely reverberant church, it showed the quartet reworking gritty free-bop into grandly overarching soundscapes. Their newest disc has more conventional acoustics but
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"I'm sorry, I'm so soaked!" Elizabeth Powell apologizes as she approaches and immediately leans in to greet me with a hug despite the fact that, just moments before, the skies emptied a sweltering hot summer's worth of pent-up precipitation over downtown Toronto....
Check out the hottest new releases in Canada this week, including: The Clientele Minotaur, Deep Dark Woods Charlie's, Hot Panda How Come I'm Dead, Interpol S/T, Parkas You Should Have Killed Us When You Had the Chance, Philip Selway Familial, Rae Spoon Love Is A Hunter...
From their sunny harmonies and chipper arrangements, Magic Kids appear to be the offspring of a Wilson brother or three. Like Big Star before them, these sprightly 20somethings sound more like your standard pop act from California, but instead call Memphis, TN home. Magic Kids are proud of their...
