Ah, Constellation. Folks at the Montreal-based label may or may not object to such an obvious comparison, but I swear its operations and persistently solid output are not unlike the reliability of the Earth’s revolutions around the Sun. Even if it’s easy to get distracted with local activities (or releases from other labels), we can assume through some nigh-intangible force that things are as they have been for a long time. The respective talents of Matana Roberts, Colin Stetson, GY!BE, and more are keeping things musically innovative, and current weather conditions brought on by the different seasons still serve as the go-to topic for elevator small-talk. Why yes, it certainly did feel like the wind was going to pick me up and throw me into a dense field this morning.
Why yes! Constellation is attempting to improve its already lauded reputation with the addition of three new artists to its roster. Those artists are: Off World, a project of Toronto-born experimental folk musician Sandro Perri, whose 2011 album Impossible Spaces swayed with lovely simplicity; Automatisme, an electronic venture of Quebecois William Jourdain that generally seems quite variable and glitchy; and Jason Sharpe, a composer and saxophonist who you’ve maybe heard as a prior member of Matana Roberts’s Coin Coin band. Sharp’s debut full-length under his own name will be coming soon, though more than a few Montrealers are reportedly familiar with his experimental work already.
Here are three tracks that Constellation has graciously uploaded as an intro to all three artists: