Appuyé par ses collègues de Klaxon Gueule Bernard Falaise (guitare) et Alexandre St-Onge (contrebasse), et par l’organiste Jesse Levine (Balai Mécanique), le percussionniste Michel F Côté renoue ici avec une certaine idée du jazz. Il y a par moments des ambiances à la Medeski, Martin & Wood, mais avec du déjanté et du brinquebalant dans le mélange. Il y a aussi beaucoup de liberté dans le jeu des musiciens, tellement même que l’on s’étonne de les voir chaque fois aller dans le même sens. Les trouvailles sonores de Levine et Falaise sont particulièrement mises de l’avant, mais chacun des musiciens redouble d’inventivité et le mixage de Côté, qui cimente le tout, est impeccable. Du grand art. (4/5)

Absolute novelty on actuellecd.com, Plat album by Fenaison (group formed of Rémy Bélanger de Beauport, Charity Chan, Kris Covlin). “Listening to Fenaison reminds me why I enjoy improvisation. They make music that is passionate, mysterious, and full of contradictions — careful and abandoned, melodic and noisy, peaceful and edgy, logical and surprising — music that doesn’t make sense. In other words, it’s alive! And well…” Fred Frith

Describing (juste) Claudette? Michel F Côté explains: “Style-wise, Claudette is not easily labeled. As usual, I’m avoiding sure-fire categories. This is nameless music. The musicians and the band have names, but the music they create doesn’t. There, now figure it all out! All right, in the name of kindness and to reassure those who absolutely need markers, we’ll pretend that (juste) Claudette is at the crossroads of Bruire, Klaxon Gueule and Flat fourgonnette (Mescal Free Style). Although, it would be pure luck if it happened to be true. Let’s say that (juste) Claudette is resistance to repetition.”

Another CD in the series “the many sides of Antoine Berthiaume”. In 2003 Berthiaume debuted with Soshin a cd of duets with Fred Frith and — just on time — with Derek Bailey. Followed by Leaves and Snows, a trio with Quentin Sirjacq on piano and Norman Teale on electronics, showing again improvisation from another angle. With Michel Donato and Pierre Tanguay, Berthiaume released a jazz album: Ellen’s Bar. For his newest collaboration Bertiaume takes again another route, combining improvisation with soundscaping. He is joined now by MaryClare Brzytwa on flute and electronics, making use of electronic and sampled sounds. She is a new name for me. Brzytwa studied improvisation with Joëlle Léandre, composition with Fred Frith, etc. She is member of the all female free improvisation outfit Slow Children. Berthiaume plays guitar and effects, in a way that is often difficult to trace the guitar in the soundscapes they paint. Together they produce an album of quiet electronic based improvisations. At times even very ambient, like in the track Punch. In a track like By the Name they came close to the song-format. In the last track Alitron Berthiaume plays in Bailey-like way, accompanied by environmental sounds coming from Brzytwa. In all the pieces the input of both is blended carefully and successfully into one whole of organic sound-manipulations. I would say this is a very interesting and engaging work that should interest those who are into crossovers between improvisation and soundmanipulation.

The new album Agrégats by Guido Del Fabbro offers 13 pieces orchestrated for acoustic instruments with a touch of electronics, and performed by a shapeshifting ensemble. It also proposes a repertoire which has a foot in traditional folk music and another in avant-rock territory. Agrégats is an intense work performed by an unmatched ensemble, whose conductor will definitely surprise you.