Various Artists
Variations In Time: A Jazz Perspective
By Kevin Jones

Much respected Montreal-based DJ Andy Williams turns to the once mighty social soapbox of jazz and its many far-reaching musical offshoots to form the root of the compilation Variations In Time, a collection that aims to highlight the genre’s most abrasive communicative qualities. The freeform horn and bass phrasings that litter the Avram Fefer Trio opener “Loss (for Flo)” make known from the start this set’s diversion from the straight and narrow, an idea continued in poet Clifton Joseph’s biting Monk tribute “A Chant For Monk.” Things settle down a bit with the motoring, calypso-tinged, vibraphone lead of Eval Manigat’s “Ra-Monk” before ratcheting up again for Billy Bang’s agitated trumpets and hypnotic chug on “Echo Vamp 1678.” Masterful poet/professor Amiri Baraka brings the disc to climax in his characteristically pointed style over a reworking of Stevie Wonder’s “All I Do” on “Nightmare Bush’It Whirl,” marking one of many standout cuts on this better treatment of jazz’s many variations. (Public Transit)
Nico Muhly - Mothertongue
Far beyond just a string arranger in demand for bands like the National, Björk and Will Oldham, Nico Muhly is a highly accomplished composer with a degree from Julliard. Yet, Muhly’s compositions actually are more musical accompaniments to his thought experiments. On the four-part “Mothertongue,” he ...Read More

The electric vigour that fires out of the opening track of Year Zero's debut LP is sure to catch you off guard. Fierce yet grounded, relentless but positive and so effortlessly unwavering to the very end of the 16 tracks, Year One is both excitingly familiar and so fresh in their skill and ma... Full Review
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Dir. by Edgar Wright
His hilarious first two features were genre parodies: Shawn of the Dead (zombies) and Hot Fuzz (buddy cops), but in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, director Edgar Wright is inventing a whole new film genre: the videogame/comic/action mash-up, with great success.

Base... Full Review
Arty For the Ages
There's been a longstanding debate over whether or not videogames can be art, but even infamous critic Roger Ebert admitted: "That a game can aspire to artistic importance as a visual experience, I accept."... Read More
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