Tag Archives: jazzcore

The Best Thing I’ve Heard All Week: Kilter – La suspendida

by Dæv Tremblay


I’ve been a huge fan of the progressive metal band Kilter since their Axiom album back in 2020, and they’ve kept busy with the amazing Sys album and, coming in March, La suspendida. This upcoming album is an experience on a whole other level.

First off, the album is sold as a jazz-metal opera about a woman discovering herself through death, and for this occasion they brought together Folterkammer singer Andromeda Anarchia, the impossibly cool Growlers Choir, and the Seven Suns string quartet, and that’s without mentioning dancers Fanny Coulm and Yutaka Nakata, who are central to the … Read more

Live Show Review: Poil Ueda and John Zorn at the FIMAV

by Dæv Tremblay

FIMAV, photo by Martin Morissette

It is well known that I seldom venture out of the comforts of my abode to seek the fellowship of likeminded individuals in a live music ritual. However, upon seeing the delightful programme that the FIMAV (the French acronym for Victoriaville’s International Contemporary Music Festival) had to offer this year, I was tempted—and later fulfilled these temptations—to journey beyond the borders of my realm and into the unknown. You have to hand it to the organizers of this festival for the awe-striking programme: Poil Ueda (opening the festivities), Ikue Mori, Zoh Amba, Fred Frith, Guy… Read more

Backxwash, Adapar, Cydemind, and Horse Lords

by Dæv Tremblay

Backxwash – His Happiness Shall Come First Even though We Are Suffering


Backxwash—Montréal-based rapper Ashanti Mutinta—just released their new album: His Happiness Shall Come First Even though We Are Suffering, the final part of the trilogy that began with 2020’s God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It. So-called “horror rap”, this is some real heavy hip-hop on the more experimental side of things. I mean, it’s got features from Pupil Slicer (mathcore) and Ghais Guevara (another experimental hip-hop artist I like), so I’m already sold on it! As dmaestaz puts it so brilliantly… Read more

John Zorn, Levi Nice, Atte Aho, and 417.3

by Dæv Tremblay

John Zorn, played by Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith – Suite for Piano (Tzadik)

Suite for Piano
Official Tzadik website
You have to believe me when it comes to Zorn material, as there’s no official preview of most of his music to be found online. However, Suite for Piano, despite its rather boring title and appearance, is one of his best works recently. First off, this release was inspired by Schönberg and Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and is Zorn’s take on various musical forms for piano—the prelude, the allemande, the scherzo, the menuet, and the gigue to name a few—played by … Read more

Ode and Elegy, Hikes & Into It. Over It, Simulacrum, and Delvoid

by Dæv Tremblay

Ode and Elegy – Ode and Elegy



Odes are for the living; elegies are for the dead. What is the right word, then, for someone, or something, that we know will die? Perhaps… both.

Ode and Elegy reached me in a most humble manner. They sent a short email with their album and very few information. I listened to it, and was immediately submerged. With a little bit of research, I was able to find out that this is in fact a new name for the Pax Cecilia, a band that had an immense influence on me—as well as … Read more