Ryan Scott - 21st-Century Canadian Snare Drum [Collection QB]

Another recent album put out on the circuit on the Collection QB label on February 13th, 2k26 is "21st-Century Canadian Snare Drum", a nearly 100 minutes spanning 2CD longplay release by Toronto's percussion icon that is Ryan Scott who, instead of presenting an extended solo take on his instrument of choice, a sole showcase of virtuosity, precision and his innate technical mastery, chose a different path, commissioning composers to write pieces with a distinct emphasis on the snare drum, yet with - for the most part that is - complimentary layers, minimalist often, yet also clearly distinguishable, adding depth, meaning and atmosphere to a body of work consisting of fourteen brand new works laid out and conceived between 2k21 and 2k23. Opening with Andrew Staniland's "ANTIGRAVITYDRUM" the first CD starts with an intense, almost threatening metallic roll of a distinct piercing quality followed by an highly dynamic ebb and flow of feathering rythmatic changes and chiming layers of additional electronics of both percussive and playful retrofuturistic nature whereas Bekah Simms's "Skinscape IV" seemingly focuses on swirling electro-acoustic explorations and manipulations of the drumhead more adjacent to experimental electronic music - Glitch, Cold Ambient and Illbient come to mind here - than traditional drumming and Christina Volpini's "Only Ghosts" amalgamates suffocating low end movements, spine-tingling electrical buzzings of ever changing intensity and emerging swarms of drum rolls for an extra eerie nocturnal feel which surprisingly dissolves into Ambient'esque harmonies later on. CD 2 starts with Brian Current's "Infantry", a piece as militant, Industrial-leaning and energetic as its title suggests, layered with cut up vocal fragments and drum instructions as a means of spine-tingling sonic storytelling which also might resonate with those following the musings of the FoundSound x collage scenes and therefore probably one of our personal favorites on here whilst Jason Doell presents a series of complex polyrhythms backed by what seem to be percussive emulations of submarine sonar pings followed by extended periods of silence in "Of Material Signs And Breaks", Hiroki Tsurumoto experiences an enchanted episode of mystical Ambient underwater magic backed by harsh, aggressive drum bursts and rumbles in "Equipo De Sonido" before Nicole Lizee's "The Far Night.FM" rounds things off with the crystalline beauty of Electronica-infused synth harmonies and live drums which fall together in an almost AFX like manner and atmosphere just to lay out a rough framework of what's to be expected from this one which will probably resonate with followers of Electroacosutic Composition and other adjacent electronic experimentalisms more than with those expecting a classic and traditional approach to drumming. Intredasting.

Album artwork on Instagram!