Both Sandro Perri and Craig Dunsmuir have been actively making music in their home base of Toronto for years now Perri as organic electronic fusionist Polmo Polpo and Dunsmuir as the hypnotically minimalist Guitarkestra but no one could have been prepared for the wildly original sounds the two have been concocting together on the down low. By combining their shared interests in late minimalist sub-disco cellist Arthur Russell, as well as experimentally minded rhythm twisters like Deep Dark United, Black Dice and Animal Collective, Dunsmuir and Perri have managed to craft a singular sound that feels as foreign to Canadian soil as tropical islands. Throughout this subdued and enchanting debut, pleasant, organic cycles of stringy rhythmic grooves turn in and out of each other as pastoral flourishes of almost tribal percussion and sub-melodic detail (from cut-up vocal chants to whirring electronic sounds) dance upon them like fireflies on the moonlight. Altogether this fusion of wholly organic and rhythmically focused ideals provides a disorienting mood that is as comforting in its essence as it is jarring in its ambivalence. Glissandro 70 is a true triumph of accessible, groove-centric experimentation.
Tell us about the working environment you two created this album in. I picture both sunny afternoons and late nights in these grooves. Dunsmuir: We usually worked on the record from late afternoon til early evening at Sandros home studio. On "Bolan Muppets, you can actually hear a TTC bus go by since a window was kept open to let some air in! Perri: I have a giant palm tree in the studio.
How did the collaboration process between you guys pan out? Was there a mode of creative communication you settled into? Dunsmuir: Sandro worked the mouse pad; I was the backseat clicker. I ended up bringing the songs in to jump off from for the most part, although the reverse happened once so far for Sandros song on the See You On the Moon! compilation. Sandro has a much stronger ear for timbre and arrangement, while I probably compensate for my lack of skills in those areas through the wonky rhythms that my ears gravitate towards. Perri: We settled in almost immediately; the timing was perfect. Craig was ripe and ready with these incredible new songs and somewhat limited means, and I was very much in need of someone whom I could both help and be helped by.
Tell us about the working environment you two created this album in. I picture both sunny afternoons and late nights in these grooves. Dunsmuir: We usually worked on the record from late afternoon til early evening at Sandros home studio. On "Bolan Muppets, you can actually hear a TTC bus go by since a window was kept open to let some air in! Perri: I have a giant palm tree in the studio.
How did the collaboration process between you guys pan out? Was there a mode of creative communication you settled into? Dunsmuir: Sandro worked the mouse pad; I was the backseat clicker. I ended up bringing the songs in to jump off from for the most part, although the reverse happened once so far for Sandros song on the See You On the Moon! compilation. Sandro has a much stronger ear for timbre and arrangement, while I probably compensate for my lack of skills in those areas through the wonky rhythms that my ears gravitate towards. Perri: We settled in almost immediately; the timing was perfect. Craig was ripe and ready with these incredible new songs and somewhat limited means, and I was very much in need of someone whom I could both help and be helped by.
