★We Are Busy Bodies
Universal Synthesizer Interface Volume Three
Universal Synthesizer Interface Vol III by Kristen Roos explores analog synthesizer landscapes with intricate sequencer programming and expansive rhythmic patterns. Released by We Are Busy Bodies, the album’s six tracks build lush, propulsive electronic architectures—melding modular arpeggios, pulsing bass, and shimmering effects into a hypnotic and meticulously detailed journey.
Synthetic - A Synth Odyssey: Season 4
Synthetic: Season 4, the final installment in Rich Aucoin’s quadruple-album saga, is a landmark in ambitious electronic artistry. Recorded over five years and utilizing 103 vintage and rare synthesizers—including the Buchla Electric Music Box and Ondes Martenot—the album traverses cinematic ambient, analog-driven techno, and experimental pop across fifteen intricately crafted tracks.
Synthetic - A Synth Odyssey: Season 3
Synthetic: Season 3 by Rich Aucoin continues the Canadian artist’s ambitious four-part electronic saga, zeroing in on dance and rave music influences with vintage synthesizer textures. Recorded across multiple studios between 2020 and 2024, the album features ten energetic tracks—a journey through nostalgic sounds, analog warmth, and kinetic club reverie.
Holy to Dogs
Holy to Dogs, the newest album from The MIDI Janitor, is a haunted, downtempo odyssey of outsider electronics and dusty, dreamlike beats. Vancouver’s Jonathan Orr repurposes scavenged MIDI controllers and obsolete synths, producing spectral melodies, melancholy textures, and a pulsating DIY spirit that veers between ambient, hauntology, and rusted techno.
Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark
Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark, the third full-length from Gwenifer Raymond, finds the Welsh guitarist deepening her American primitive explorations with a turbulent, spectral intensity. Across ten instrumental tracks for solo guitar and banjo, Raymond braids the darkness of Appalachian nights with the cosmic anxieties of science fiction, displaying fierce dexterity and meditative nuance.
Horizoning
Horizoning, the sole album from Stefan Gnys, emerges as a deeply atmospheric and personal artifact of 1969, where raw, introspective songwriting meets lo-fi folk production. Long considered a Hamilton cult rarity, the reissue preserves Gnys’s solitary voice and sensitive arrangements—acoustic guitar, subdued backing, and confessional lyrics—making each note resonate with fragile honesty.
Electric Taal Band
Electric Taal Band, the eponymous debut from Electric Taal Band, is a vibrant Toronto project that forges unexpected connections between Punjabi percussion, cosmic jazz, and modern electronics. Channeling inspirations from Little India crate-digging to club experiments, the record traverses rhythms and textures with a fearless, exploratory spirit.
A Gradual Awakening
A Gradual Awakening by Danna and Clement is a landmark Canadian ambient album created in and with the wilds of Ontario during the early 1980s. Built with analog synthesizers and field recordings, the duo’s introspective soundscapes reflect deep environmental and personal connection, evoking both spirit and subtle change across gently unfolding musical landscapes.
Beach of the Pliocene
Beach of the Pliocene, a sought-after release by Ken-ichiro Isoda, epitomizes Japanese ambient’s capacity to conjure landscape and memory. The album blends flute, guitar and environmental sounds in a meditative journey that merges gently melodic lines with the resonance of the ocean, functioning equally as a balm for modern anxieties and a portal for contemplative listening.
The Tinnitus Chorus
The Tinnitus Chorus, a new album from Michael Scott Dawson, is a collaborative ambient project reflecting on his personal experience with tinnitus. Joining forces with an eclectic cast from the worlds of experimental folk, jazz, and electronics, Dawson weaves tape loops, gentle melodies, and field recordings into a quietly unified journey through sound and vulnerability.
Allen's Soul Bag
Allen’s Soul Bag is a standout reissue from Allen Kwela Octet, capturing the spirit and sophistication of South African jazz in the early 1970s. The album, newly remastered from vinyl and pressed in a limited run, offers emotive ensemble playing and rich melodic invention, showcasing Kwela’s expressive guitar against vibrant horns, piano, and rhythm section.
Pita Parka, Pt. II: Nim Egduf
Pita Parka, Pt. II: Nim Egduf, the latest release from Dun-Dun Band, is a hypnotic excursion through polyrhythmic landscapes and global traditions. Guitarist Craig Dunsmuir leads a ten-piece ensemble in Toronto, weaving intricate ostinato riffs with jazz, Afrobeat, and ambient influences, resulting in a set of four expansive compositions that enchant and provoke.
Everything Is Possible
Everything Is Possible, the third album from Peace Flag Ensemble, pushes the boundaries of jazz improvisation and ambient experimentation. Led by Jon Neher’s lyrical piano and complemented by subtle electronic flourishes from Michael Scott Dawson, the group’s ensemble dialogue traverses gentle melodic passages and unexpected textural turns, resulting in a collection that is both introspective and quietly assertive.
Orbital
Orbital is the debut album from Orbital Ensemble, a Toronto-based jazz fusion group melding psychedelic grooves, Brazilian MPB influences, and intricate improvisation. The resulting LP weaves together melodic openness, vintage moods, and crisp ensemble playing, offering an immersive sonic experience that feels both exploratory and deeply rooted.
Broken Shoes
Broken Shoes, the reissued LP from Soweto, thrives on the vibrant interplay of jazz and funk, capturing an era where rhythmic conversation takes precedence over polished surfaces. With each groove, the band conjures a sense of lived experience, reframing classic township forms in a manner both contemporary and respectful of the genre’s roots.
Tract: A Composition of Agitprop Music for Electromagnetic Tape
"A Composition of Agitprop Music for Electromagnetic Tape" by İlhan Mimaroğlu is a collage of political sound art blending revolutionary texts, manipulated electronics, and the vocal performance of Tülay German. Recorded from 1972–74, it transforms agitprop tradition into a radical meditation on freedom and dissent.
Rhythmetic: The Compositions of Norman McLaren
Pioneering Scottish-Canadian animator Norman McLaren (1914-1987) - creator of seminal short films Dots, Neighbours, Synchromy and many more - is remembered in first ever release of soundtrack works, self-composed from the 1940’s to 1970’s and forecasting the following half-century of electronic music. Norman McLaren was once described by composer, music theorist, and mathematician Milton Babbitt as “the first electronic musician.” In addition to his pioneering work in animation, the electronic s…
Alex Express
Hailing from Cape Town, tenor saxophonist Winston Mankunku Ngozi (1943-2009) is a venerated figure in the pantheon of South African jazz. Inspired by Coltrane while rooted in indigenous folklore, he released the classic album Yakhal’ Inkomo at the outset of his career with the Mankunku Quartet in 1969. Backed by the Cliffs, Alex Express documents Mankunku’s return to the studio in 1975 with a handful of new and original compositions and his inimitable tone on full display. Shaking off the burden…
The Peacemaker
Hailing from Alexandra and nicknamed "Ratau" (meaning "lion"), saxophonist Mike Makhalemele (1938-2000) was a force of nature with a robust yet soulful tone and seemingly endless breath. He embraced the pop music scene as an enthusiastic collaborator and staked his territory at the intersection of township grooves with modern currents in soul, funk and disco. As a solo artist, he delivered a formidable run of albums in the 1970s that that made him the most prolific recording artist in South Afri…