Architek Percussion are a four-piece from Montreal playing contemporary music and creating quite a ripple in the new music world in Canada, where they have toured extensively. They’re keen on commissioning new work in the field and have performed or premiered over 50 pieces since they began in 2012.
Six Changes (NO LABEL ARC001) turns out to be as percussion heavy as you’d expect – lots of marimbas or xylophones and some piano, but there are other instruments in evidence too. From photos of band, it seems that laptops are also allowed (which might raise an eyebrow among purist classical fans of chamber music), and the drummer makes no secret of his rock influences in his work. When we say “rock” however it’s the kind of experimental post-rock such as Tortoise, one of the influences tagged in the helpful, discursive press release. They’re also not afraid to aspire to a Steve Reich condition, even if their music is a shade too languid to fully pass muster in that particular parade; the group can’t really deliver the “tension” that seemed to come naturally to Reich as he composed his stark, grid-like exercises. It might be because our Canadian friends are a shade too quick to fill every space, inhabit every bar with musical incident rather than allow a little air and space into the work – in spite of their “minimalist” claims.
Even so, much to enjoy in this set of compositions all written by member Ben Duinker and Architek Percussion; lots of cross-rhythms and fascinating pulses, lilting along in a pleasant manner, wedded to tunes that aren’t really melodies so much as pleasing strings of notes, and performed with one eye on the rock music trope of climaxes and crescendoes, signalled by an increase in volume and tempo. (28/04/2022)