Each is a diverse collage of environmental and electronic sounds, choral groups and acoustic ensembles. Brégent’s Atlantide uses the myth of the lost kingdom of Atlantis as an allegory for contemporary society, a schizophrenic place where ‘singularists’ and ‘pluralists’ vie for control of the race. He sees this radio drama as an antidote, “a radiophonic alarm… to draw people out of their daily lethargy.” Atlantide’s powerful, almost visual images go to a place deeper than a mere ‘message’ could, delivering its sounds directly to the soul. Golgot(h)a traces the walk of Christ to his crucifiction. The ensemble consists of horns, sampled voices, organ and natural percussion. This is not so much a work of faith as a potent social commentary, an angry, sometimes caustic sound assembloge charting the darkness of human society and the strength of the individual human spirit. Both works need to be aired in full, and deserve your airtime.

Ce journal musical d’Amérique centrale qui mêle électronique, bruits quotidiens, paroles folkloriques, politiques et bien d’autres choses, en monde coloré, ne veut être ni un document ethnographique, ni un reportage journaliste.

Kristoff K.Roll is not a person, it’s two. A duo. They travelled through Central America and recorded the sounds they met underway. The result was edited and used as a basis for a radioplay. It took some two years to finish. It shows. This is no usual sound collage presented as a composition, the sounds are carefully edited and placed in such a way that the atmosphere can be sensed by the listener. One is present at funny and mesmerizing situations that these two people have met. One feels the situation of a long busride with people crammed in the vehicle, interesting but comfortless. This is one of the best travel-radioplays I have ever heard. Soundrecordings are excellent, editing is mostly very exciting and (where needed) dreamy, laid back. There’s never a dull moment and once it’s finished I want to hear it again.

For sheer excitement, try a midi harpsichord toccata on for size. Vivienne Spiteri, harpsichordist extraordinaire, has produced a phenomenal disc of aggressive and insightful new electroacoustic music for an old instrument. For fans of mechanistic music, David Keane’s Turbo Toccata will be a sure hit. Others will find fulfillment in the classicism of Bruce Pennycook’s “The Desert Speaks.” The harpsichord has always lent itself to virtuosity, and Spiteri capitalizes on this: The energy level is high on this disk — the tension never lets up. One highlight is the amplified breathing down your neck of the hair-raising “jardin secret ii,” (secret garden ii) for tape and harpsichord, by Kaija Saariaho. As the liner note says, “au diable le conformisme!” (To hell with conformity!).

De la production discographique locale retenons deux étiquettes: empreintes DIGITALes, qui occupe avec une vitalité exemplaire le secteur de la musique électroacoustique, et Analekta qui travaille à l’élaboration d’un catalogue plus conservateur. Créée à Montréal, empreintes DIGITALes est maintenant distribuée avec un succès toujours croissant en Europe (notamment en France, en Angleterre et en Allemagne), aux États-Unis et au Japon.

Afin de répondre aux exigences du medium qu’il défend, l’éditeur ajoutera, dès le mois prochain une autre collection de disques de plus courte durée (environ 40 minutes); sous le nouveau nom de «compact-compact» seront ainsi publiés les compositeurs suivants: Mario Rodrigue (Alchimie, cinq pièces pour bande), Roxanne Turcotte (Amore, cinq pièces pour bande), Wende Bartley (Claire-voie, trois pièces pour bande et une pièce mixte), Randall Smith (L’oreille voit, cinq pièces pour bande).

À la liste d’empreintes DIGITALes viendront se greffer: Gilles Gobeil (La mécanique des ruptures, l’intégrale pour bande et 2 pièces mixtes), Robert Normandeau, son deuxième disque (Tangram, cinq pièces pour bande) et Paul Dolden (L’ivresse de la vitesse, coffret de deux DC, quatre pièces pour bande et cinq pièces mixtes).