Prolific Montréal-based experimental label No Type hit the jackpot with the stunning CD debut of Dustin Craig’s newest alter identity. Oakland’s Craig, who records also as Elasticlego, delivers a thematically consistent, listener-friendly IDM gem with this 7-track release. At the risk of taking away from the originality of the EP, I might describe it as the genius offspring of Akufen’s short-splice sample methods and Timbaland’s catchy breakbeat production. Or, alternately, KRS-One meets Boards of Canada. Thick, heady hip hop beats flow under a perfectly textured barrage of staccato rap snippets. Missy Elliott on ketamine, perhaps? We Remain Faded’s only drawback is its 38-minute length, but sources inform us that Headphone Science’s full length, Consider The Problems, is due out later this year. Cutting edge Discman food.

Coin Gutter are a new duo from Canada, who play out a lot. Apart from some released CDRs, this is the first real CD, more widely available. They come round more in the No Type style of recentely, taking their inspirations from 80s industrial music and 90s glitch music. Lift With the Knees, the opening piece is a tour de noise in full force that slowly dissolves in a mighty drone and then adds some rhythms to it. This track takes up more than half the disc’s space here and is most of the times quite an ambient piece. Unlikely influences ranging from Merzbow to Zoviet France drop here. In the eight remaining short(er) pieces (I must admit that i don’t understand why they didn’t cut the first track in seperate tracks), Coin Gutter is more single focussed on sounds and atmospheres. Ending with a glitchy piece Southern Yukon / Northern BC (perhaps parts of Alaska), Coin Gutter manages to absorb many influences, from noise to ambient and glitch, but I must say that I was quite pleased with their mixture of these various influences. Maybe sometimes the small progress in music comes out of the right cross-over between various influences.

Two more releases on No Type, the label with some slight connections to empreintes DIGITALes. Upon until now most of the releases were rhythm based, the one by A_dontigny and Diane Labrosse is more along the lines of improvised, electronic music — dare I say, more along the lines of labels like Grob and Erstwhile? Of course, in matters like this, this is a live recording, of a year ago in the neat place of La Casa Del Popolo. It’s hard to guess what goes into the computer and sampler, source-wise I mean, but it’s all closely linked together. A broading atmosphere, sizzing drones open up here and only half way the more typical laptop sounds come alive, those that sound like tweaking sounds through max/msp programs. The two stay together throughout the entire disc, finding sounds that are alike, but each works on their own level. They work with a sound palette that is quite supplementary to each other. In the final track média tactique, they even offer a very slow dub piece that drowns in the use of the extra sounds. It’s good, sturdy improvised electronic music, with not much news under the sun, alas.

You are invited to see Coin Gutter and Phil Thomson perform at the Scotia Bank Dance Centre (Vancouver) on August 22, 2003. The performance will be held in the Faris Studio, and will feature an 8-loudspeaker, 5-channel sound system. Using samplers, computers, circuit bent toys, Coin Gutter mix it together to create music that straddles genres. This is not a night of precision laptop noodling, this is a live performance. Phil Thomson is currently working on his MFA at Simon Fraser University.

From September 13 to December 14, 2003, the Lachine Museum hosts the interactive installation “Sound Journeys / Journées sonores.” Public soundwalks are also organized by Andra McCartney on September 27 and 28.

The double CD compilation of the biennial competition for acousmatic composition Métamorphoses 2002 is offered at a 20% discount. Discover the prized works of Gobeil, Jean and Normandeau.