CLEM
In the early 80’s, avant-garde radio moguls Peter Moser and Alex Douglas (of Co-Op Radio’s famed Alien Soundtracks program) published a semi-regular zine titled CLEM: Canadian List of Electronic Music. The list operated as a catalog of recent electronic, synth, experimental, and “music of intelligence and feeling” from around the world. For many it was the go-to guide for left-field music at a time when information was not widely available.
Twenty five years later, no comprehensive discography of Canadian electronic music is readily available, despite our modern advances in information exchange. It is my goal to start such a list. To what end? Perhaps, eventually, it will function as a complete discography and review of all such releases and serve as a focal point for information regarding Canada’s unique contributions to this scene.
The list will be separated into two categories: Electronic Music – Individuals and Electronic Music – Ensemble / Group. The distinction between the two is done in an effort to include groups like Winnipeg minimal synth legends Class Info in the same list as composer Barry Truax. This not an attempt to place a subjective importance between the two; however, I think we can all agree there is an intangible difference (and noteworthy interaction) between the methods and sounds of electronic composers juxtaposed with adjective-punk ensembles who took advantage of electronic techniques and were experimental in their own right. I have restricted the list from the year 1965 to 1988. These dates may change in the future. I will, however, restrict the list to vinyl, cassette, and reel-to-reel formats.
If you have any records, cassettes, or reels of this type of music and would like to contribute, please send an e-mail to: aaron [at] cantorrecords [dot] com. Information should look like:
Artist
“Album” (Label, City, Province, Date, Format)
Notes
(If possible, including a scan of materials would be excellent)
Best,
Aaron Levin
PS – I would like to thank the contributions of:
Marcel Dion (Departures radio program 1982 – 1991 CJSR FM 88.5 Edmonton)
Electronic Music – Individuals
Bernard Bonnier
“Casset-Tête” (Amaryllis, AMA-84001, Montreal, Quebec, 1984, LP)
- Sub-titled “musique concrète.” Early work in “sampling” and “break beat” music collages. Recommended.
Emily
“Neat And Tidy In Your Mind” (Mo-Da-Mu, MDM15, Vancouver, BC, 1985, C-30)
- Emily is Emily Faryna. This cassette features multiple heavy, heavy synth work-outs, reverb-drenched vocals, drum machine, and some ambient electronics. Highly recommended for anyone and especially fans of minimal synth or avant synthesizer noise in a more song-oriented setting. Really great stuff. The more “pop” oriented tracks remind me of Snowy Red.
Davis Joachim
“guitar / guitare” (Radio Canada International, RCI-392, Montreal, Quebec, 197?, LP)
- CBC issued avant-guitar with one long piece linking Joachim’s guitar to a synthesizer. Very nice.
“Canadian Music for Classical Guitar” (Melbourne, SMLP 4025, Montreal, Quebec, 1975, LP)
- The original cover features a brown illustration of a guitar and makes this seem to be straight classical guitar. Like Joachim’s RCI LP, one side is avant-guitar and the other side features more guitar-synthesizer combinations. Recommended.
David Keane
“Aurora” (Cambridge Street Recordings, CSR 8502, Vancouver, BC, 1985, LP)
- Second and only vinyl release on Barry Truax’s Cambridge Street Recordings imprint (to my knowledge). Ambient electronics from another infamous Canadian. Keane is originally from Ohio but became a Canadian citizen in 1974 after attending Queen’s university.
Jean Piché
“Heliograms” (Melbourne, SMLP 4045, ??, Quebec, 1982, LP)
- Last LP released on mysterious Melbourne label is a lovely ambient electronic affair. Recommended.
R. Murray Schafer
“Loving” (Melbourne, SMLP 4035/6, ??, Ontario, 1979, 2LP)
- Celebrated Canadian composer releases a 2LP of narration and vocals. However, the second side of the second LP features some nice magnetic tape manipulation and electronic music.
Barry Truax
“Sonic Landscapes – Electronic and Computer Music by Barry Truax” (Melbourne, SMLP 4033, Vancouver, BC, 1977, LP)
- Superb electronic compositions by this infamous Canadian composer. Recommended.
“Sequences of an Earlier Heaven” (Cambridge Street Recordings, CSR 8501, Vancouver, BC, 1985, LP)
- Unique recordings composed for the vinyl medium. Self released on Barry’s own Cambridge Street Recordings label.
Electronic Music – Ensemble / Group
Class Info
“inside” (Classified Records, CRI 8125, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1983, LP)
- infamous 5-song EP of dark minor-key minimal synth. Recommended.
Interspecies Music
“Whalescapes” (Music Gallery Editions, #5, Toronto, Ontario, 1977, LP)
- Multi-media performance group involved in the study and human interpretation of the sounds produced by other species. Free-jazz / avant affair with synthesizers. Often sounds vaguely like ambient electronics, othertimes quite intense multi-instrumental improvisations. Recorded at the infamous Music Gallery in Toronto. Comes with two inserts.
William Kuinka and Robert Bauer
“Guitar Extensions” (Melbourne, SMLP 4028, Toronto, Ontario, 1975, LP)
- The Bauer tracks are the one to look out for. Like the Joachim LP’s, they feature guitar and synthesizer connections that produce very interesting results. Recommended.
Land of Giants
“cannibal dolls / seven men” (AV Records, AV 0112, Toronto, Ontario, 1982, LP)
- 12″ single by Toronto minimal synth band. Fast and high-energy. There is an official CD reissue of the 12″ along with nine (!!) unreleased demos recorded between 1982 and 1985. The reissue can be purchased through the band’s website www.landofgiants.ca Recommended.
Music Gallery Editions
The recordings released through the Music Gallery (on their Music Gallery Editions imprint) are not all electronic, but are definitely highly creative improvised and avant-garde recordings. I will include a seperate list of their catalog (with your help) for fun.
Interspecies Music
“Whalescapes” (Music Gallery Editions, #5, Toronto, Ontario, 1977, LP)
CCMC
“Volume Three” (Music Gallery Editions, MGE 6, Toronto, Ontario, 1977, LP)
- Third release by much loved ensemble that includes: Casey Sokol, Michael Snow, Allan Mattes, Nobuo Kubota, Larry Dubin, and Peter Anson. CCMC stands for Canadian Creative Music Collective. I recommend all their releases.
Here is a list of Music Gallery editions without notes.
MGE 1 CCMC: Volume I
MGE 2 CCMC: Volume II
MGE 3 Artist Jazz Band: Live at the Edge
MGE 4 David Rosenboom: On Being Invisible
MGE 5 Interspecies Music: Whalescapes
MGE 6 CCMC: Volume III
MGE 7 Peggy Sampson: Viola da Gamba
MGE 8 The Canadian Electronic Ensemble
MGE 9 Sokol/Chadbourne:Guitar & Piano
MGE 10 The Glass Orchestra
MGE 11 Vic D’or: 33/3
MGE 12 Kaiser/Oswald:Improvised
MGE 13 Nihilist Spasm Band: Volume II
MGE 14 Sonde
MGE 15 Larry Dubin and the CCMC (3LP)
MGE 16 Iroquois Social Music
MGE 17 Sur la Cote Nord
MGE 18 Lubomyr Melynk: KMH
MGE 19 Northern Whales
MGE 20 ???
MGE 21 James MacDonald: Solo Horn
MGE 22 CCMC: Volume 4 – Free Soap
MGE 23-28 ???
MGE 29 David Keane: Lya
MGE 30 Kondo/Kaiser/Oswald: Moose & Salmon
MGE 31 ???
MGE 32 CCMC: Volume 5 – Without a Song
MGE 34 Composers Brass: Canadian Anthology
MGE 35 David Mott: From Distant Places
