Montréal’s Ambiances Magnétiques label, one of many imprints distributed by the venerable DAME is announcing two exciting new releases due out on April 17th, 2026 on CD and digital formats. First of them, the near-hour’s worth of music, Platanus, contained on the first duo recording from multifaceted artists Scott Thomson (trombone) and Allison Cameron (crackle synthesiser, keyboards, tapes) pulls listeners into a uniquely disorienting topography.

Their exchanges are neither deliberate and delicate nor assertively gestural and mostly evade typical markers of directionality. Instead, Thomson and Cameron collectively paint a confounding scenery—a place that feels perched precariously on the cusp between dreaming and wakefulness. Within this wobbly frame, their interplay variously foats, wafts, gurgles, and drifts, a curious assortment of textures and murky hues. It leaves an indelible impression yet without actively articulating or resisting form.

Platanus is dedicated to the memory of Nobuo Kubota, the extraordinary Canadian improviser and intermedia artist who passed away in September of 2025 at the age of 93. Kubota’s connection to the strange and inventive music-making that unfolds here may be indirect but it’s also substantial. In the liner notes, Thomson recalls a 2009 residency that Cameron held at his erstwhile Toronto venue Somewhere There, where “Allison proposed a trio with me and the inspiring polymath, Nobuo Kubota, whose syllable-spitting vocals almost demanded to be called shamanic. It was an eye-opening experience, one of many that I lived during those heady, music-drenched days.”

Additionally, one of the key (and rarest) elements in what Thomson calls the “quirky kaleidoscopy of [Cameron’s] instrumentation” here was a gift from Kubota. The Crackle Synthesiser is a deluxe variation on the more common STEIM Cracklebox/ Kraakdoos where the Cracklebox’s metal contacts (which actually place the variability of the human body within its circuitry) are augmented with many additional controls.

Cameron is noted for her unusual sonics in both her written-out music and her improvisational practice. Thomson’s commendable palette on the trombone makes him an ideal co-conspirator, and their chemistry is only compounded by their mutual willingness to inhabit the restless, engrossing quasi-stasis unfurled here. Platanus is a quietly potent recording that doesn’t so much defy conventions as slide between them.

Canadian artists Allison Cameron & Scott Thomson are out with the album Platanus, and this is a production that resides somewhere in the experimental music section. This is very much a minimalist experience, with the saxophone combined with keyboards, electronic sounds and tape effects as the sounds and instruments used. The three long improvisations all ebb and flow between minimalist expressive attitudes and more melody-oriented but still expressive escapades, more often than not with a more twisted, expressive use of the saxophone complemented with noise effects, rhythm details or minimalist melody-oriented sounds from what I’d broadly describe as the electronic part of this equation. Often with a bit of an otherworldly feel created by these combinations, and just about always with expressions that reside in the more unusual compartments of the music universe. A production to seek out by those who tend to enjoy minimalist experimental music explored in an expressive and improvised manner.

Much of the music on this weeks offering has a quiet ambience which offers a healing solace in these crazy times. There is some noisy stuff as well, to shake things up, plus the usual selection of current featured releases and old favourites.

An abstract affair, chronicling the duo of noted Toronto-based composer-improviser Allison Cameron and Montréal’s Scott Thomson (on trombone). The woozy, intangible space they construct spontaneously together is thoroughly compelling; Thomson’s formidable timbral command pairs beautifully with Cameron’s unusual instrumentation which showcases the Crackle Synthesizer (a more flexible sibling to the Crackle Box) but also employs other keyboards (audibly the Casio SK-1) and tapes. What they produce collectively resists easy description and that’s precisely what makes it so resonant. Their elusive semi-hush feels as like something was piped in from another reality. The release is dedicated to the memory of Nobuo Kubota, the extraordinary Canadian improviser and intermedia artist who passed away in September of 2025 at the age of 93. The duo had played as a trio with Kubota, and the aforementioned Crackle Synthesizer in fact used to belong to the elder artist.

The experimental music landscape of Canada finds a new, deeply resonant anchor in Platanus, a collaborative duo recording by composer-improviser Allison Cameron and trombonist Scott Thomson. Released via the esteemed DAME (Distribution Ambiances Magnétiques Et cetera), the album is a woozy, intangible journey into a “semi-hush” reality that defies easy description.

Dedicated to a Legend

Platanus is dedicated to the memory of Nobuo Kubota, the extraordinary Canadian intermedia artist and improviser who passed away in September 2025 at the age of 93. The connection to Kubota is both spiritual and physical: the duo once performed as a trio with the “inspiring polymath,” and a key instrument on this record — the rare Crackle Synthesizer — was a personal gift from Kubota to Cameron.

This instrument, a deluxe variation of the STEIM Cracklebox, places the human body directly into the circuitry, creating unpredictable and raw electronic textures that Kubota himself once pioneered.

A Masterclass in Timbral Chemistry

The album thrives on the unique synergy between its two creators:

Allison Cameron: A fixture in Canadian experimental music since the 80s, Cameron is celebrated for her “quirky kaleidoscopy” of instruments. In Platanus, she blends the Crackle Synthesizer with the toy-like sounds of the Casio SK-1 and tape loops, creating liminal spaces that interrogate the listener’s attention.

Scott Thomson: A trombonist with formidable timbral command, Thomson is a key figure in the Montréal and Toronto improvisational scenes (and current director of FIMAV). His ability to produce unusual, vocal-like tones on the trombone makes him the perfect foil for Cameron’s electronic abstractions.

Beyond Convention

Rather than following the high-energy tangles of traditional free jazz, Platanus unfurls in a state of “restless quasi-stasis.” It is a quietly potent recording that doesn’t so much defy conventions as slide between them, feeling as though it were “piped in from another reality.”

Das Montréaler Avantgarde-Label Ambiances Magnétiques erweitert seinen Katalog um zwei bemerkenswerte Neuerscheinungen, die am 17. April 2026 auf CD und digital erscheinen werden. Beide Produktionen werden über den traditionsreichen Vertrieb DAME (Distribution Ambiances Magnétiques Etcetera) zugänglich gemacht und spiegeln eindrucksvoll die künstlerische Bandbreite des Labels wider: vom literarisch inspirierten Jazz bis zur radikal offenen Improvisation.

Platanus: Klangräume zwischen Elektronik und Posaune

Deutlich abstrakter präsentiert sich die zweite Veröffentlichung des Labels. Platanus dokumentiert die Zusammenarbeit der in Toronto lebenden Komponistin und Improvisatorin Allison Cameron mit dem Montréaler Posaunisten Scott Thomson.

Gemeinsam erschaffen sie ein schwebendes, beinahe körperlos wirkendes Klangfeld, das sich vollständig aus spontaner Improvisation entwickelt. Thomsons ausgeprägtes Gespür für Klangfarben und Timbres verbindet sich dabei mit Camerons ungewöhnlicher Instrumentierung. Eine zentrale Rolle spielt der Crackle Synthesizer, ein flexiblerer Verwandter der experimentellen Crackle Box. Darüber hinaus kommen weitere Keyboards — hörbar etwa ein Casio SK-1 — sowie Tonbandmaterial zum Einsatz.

Das Resultat ist eine Musik, die sich einfachen Kategorien entzieht und gerade dadurch eine starke Sogwirkung entfaltet. Die fragile, halb entrückte Klangwelt wirkt mitunter, als würde sie aus einer anderen Realität in den Raum hineinströmen.

Das Album ist dem kanadischen Improvisationskünstler und Intermedia-Pionier Nobuo Kubota gewidmet, der im September 2025 im Alter von 93 Jahren verstarb. Cameron und Thomson hatten zuvor häufig gemeinsam mit Kubota musiziert; der auf der Aufnahme verwendete Crackle Synthesizer gehörte ursprünglich dem verstorbenen Kunstler.

Beide Alben erscheinen am 17. April 2026 auf CD und in digitalen Formaten. Vorbestellungen werden in Kürze über die Plattformen des Labels möglich sein.

Mit Le sourire und Platanus unterstreicht Ambiances Magnétiques einmal mehr seine Rolle als wichtiger Motor der nordamerikanischen Improvisationsszene — zwischen literarisch inspiriertem Jazz und radikal offener Klangforschung.