Those who have been following the more left-field sounds in modern music for at least the last two decades might have the name Glissandro 70 embedded somewhere in their memory. At the same time, the Constellation record label and the names of Toronto musicians Craig Dunsmuir and Sandro Perri, who are solo artists in their own right, might be a bit closer to current memory, particularly Perri, who has been a bit more prolific than Dunsmuir’s ‘regular’ gig with Dun Dun Band.
Yet, twenty years ago, Dunsmuir and Perri came up with a self-titled Glissandro 70 album, only to revive their joint work under this banner now with a new offering: G70 2: Bones of Dundassa. And whatever the two were doing as solo artists or within their other projects, there are only brief glimpses of that. For example, Perri made a name for himself as a sort of left-field singer-songwriter, with the only glimpse of that work here coming with the introductory, Arthur Russell’s ‘Lucky Cloud’, with a guest appearance of trombonist Peter Zummo.
Otherwise, as Glissandro 70, Perri and Dunsmuir go all the way into a sort of gliych revival as heard through the ears of original krautrockers like Neu!, with Jeremy Strachan jazzing up ‘Five Five Three’ with his sax improv and Ryan Driver adding flute to another version of the same track. With the penultimate track ‘You The Vandal’ featuring Dunsmuir’s guitar up front and with another set of vocals serving as a sort of bookend with the opening track, as proof that there is more to avant-garde music than just electronics and strange beats. The closing remix of ‘Bolan Muppets’ by Dan Bodan comes as a sort of summary of the whole album.
Yes, it is an experimental album all the way, but experimental with a sense of purpose, making it music with substance.
