As mass media continues to promote music as another instantly consumed product, the likelihood of new sounds — or even older ones — being ignored because they don’t fit the style of the moment intensifies. This is especially true when it comes to improvised music. But with the holiday season looming, more committed listeners may be seeking gifts for those who appreciate challenge rather than comfort in their music. Here are some CDs from 2013 that fit the bill. They include ones by established players, younger stylists plus important reissues. […]

Another reed experimenter is Montreal-based clarinetist Lori Freedman, whose seven improvisations on On No On are with percussionist John Heward. Related to the cerebral texture and timbre experiments of Butcher/Buck or Parker/Lytton, there’s no chordal instrument present to smooth the interface. The chief pleasure of these tracks is noting the substance of Freedman’s reed flurries and the strategies Heward pulls from his kit to parry her thrusts. Using his palms as often as sticks, Heward’s whacks or rolls are singular replies to the reed solos which frequently extend like run-on sentences, adding violent or narrowed projections to make a point. Marimba-like reverberations are called into play on those rare occasions when Freedman’s output turns legato. Overall while technical prowess is the point, by the final Improvisation 7, the narrative turns from squeaks and shudders to an almost jaunty melodiousness. […]

Lori Freedman is leaving for Europe at the end of May for a series of concerts with Nexus, Trio Law and solo. She will be at Amsterdam, at La Haye (Pays-Bas), at Cologne (Allemagne) and at Paris (France). Details are available on her webpage.

Look out for the “red labels” and find a 25% discount on selected albums until June 30, 2010. CDs from DAME Musicians presented at FIMAV and FMC plus many titles from new labels.

• Browse the list of «red labels»

Amongst the many artists invited at the 2010 Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV), we noticed the presence of Érick d’Orion and Les Filles électriques on May 21 2010, Jim Denley, Philippe Lauzier Pierre-Yves Martel, Éric Normand, Kim Myhr and Malcolm Goldstein on May 22, 2010, as well as René Lussier, Lori Freedman, Martin Tétreault and Nancy Tobin on May 23, 2010.

The next Mercredimusics will feature Lori Freedman, Pierre Labbé, Nancy Tobin, Danielle Palardy Roger and Émilie Girard-Charest on May 5, 2010, at Casa Obscura in Montréal.