Roxanne Turcotte is an electronic composer/artist based in Montréal. She began her career as a member of rock and jazz groups, but slowly gravitated towards electroacoustic music. The term is a wide-ranging umbrella for a number of styles, including tape music, electronic music, musique concrete, and computer music. As she began to explore this direction deeper, Roxanne became involved in creating music for multimedia projects.

She has been involved with the preeminent Canadian electroacoustic label Empreintes DIGITALes since 1994, when they released her first CD in the genre, titled Amore. Her style has been called “cinema for the ear,” and the description certainly is applicable to the music contained on the new Désordres [album]. The forward-thinking Empreintes DIGITALes label have been releasing music on the DVD-Audio format for some time now, and that is how Désordres is available. It is a great choice for an artist such as Roxanne, as the disc holds over 114 minutes of music, and also contains some great visuals and downloads.

Désordres opens with the 17:38, six-part Attractions. This works as a fine introduction to the artist. The piece is a series of miniatures, composed as part of a sound and light installation which appeared in 2005.

The centerpiece of the set follows, the 11-part, 40:47 tour-de-force titled Musée sonore. I think Roxanne’s own words work best in describing this adventurous piece: “11 sonic scripts, where ambient sounds, gadget sounds, and nature sounds have a story to tell. Clinks, creaks, knocks, shakes, whistles, squeals, mechanisms, electrifying material, cogs, tinkles — they all have a life of their own.”

A series of four- to five-minute songs follow these lengthy pieces, but Roxanne has not yet finished with the extended compositions. Espace vital is possibly the most intriguing recording on the disc. For one thing, it is a very collaborative effort. The composition was written by Roxanne, with words written and sung by Élise Turcotte, plus the additional vocals of Laure Fugère. There is also a marvelous acoustic piano portion, which is played by Christian Parent.

The electroacoustic music of Roxanne Turcotte is an amazing thing to hear. Her utilization of synthesized music and sound collage is incredibly creative, and brings a cinematic quality to the compositions. It is little wonder that she also creates and performs music for television, cinema, radio, the stage, the Internet, and circus arts, in addition to her sound, music, and visual installations. Désordres is a great way to get to know this ground-breaking musician, and one place to find it is at the Empreintes DIGITALes site.

This album — the third electroacoustic music DVD-A by Pierre Alexandre Tremblay of [iks], Splice, and De type inconnu — just won a 2011 Opus award, and it’s well deserved. The works are sophisticated, strong, bass-heavy, and gorgeously spatialized in 5.1 sound. Ces énigmes lumineuses is a gem of aural mystery, and the videomusic piece Walk That Way. Tuesday, Turn is a simple yet effective superimposition of electornic feedback and mechanical pulse. Out of seven works, only For Ever Now Soon an End seems to long and uneventful.

The Qwartz Pierre-Schaeffer 2012 will be given at the 8th Gala of the Qwartz Electronic Music Awards on March 29, 2012 at the Centquatre in Paris (France). Francis Dhomont joins the previous awardees (the prize is given since 2006): Bernard Parmegiani; Henri Pousseur, Otavio Soares Brandão; Jean-Claude Risset, Beatriz Ferreyra, Max Mathews; Åke Parmerud, Roger Cochini; François Bayle; and Éliane Radigue.

I have known electroacoustician Pete Stollery for a long time — almost since I started hosting Délire actuel. Fifteen years ago, he was one of the very first composers to send me material for my show. The works that ended up on his first empreintes DIGITALes releases, I had first heard and broadcasted them from DAT tapes he had mailed me. What a pleasure, then, to listen to this new album (a CD, not a DVD-A). Six works made between 2004 and 2007. Stollery has become a master in the art of lively acousmatic music. He has gained the aesthetic perfection of a Jonty Harrison, the elegance of a Francis Dhomont, and the soul… of Pete Stollery. The short Serendipities and Sychronicities represents the best of what can be found in this genre, including in terms of narrative/inspiration (it derives from Delia Derbyshire’s life and work). And Scènes, rendez-vous is a rereading/reimagining of Claude Lelouch’s famous short film C’était un rendez-vous. Strongly recommended.

Francis Dhomont will give a conference and a master class and will present two concerts at the annual festival Suona Francese on May 9, 2012 in Perugia and on May 10 in Rome in Italy.