A rescoring of skateboard company Toy Machine’s seminal 1996 video “Welcome To Hell,” Shabason’s improvisational jazz album defies easy description. It’s the auditory analogue to skateboarding itself: a kaleidoscope of saxophone, organ, concrete, and adrenaline. It’s a concept album, but its concepts are copious and contradicting. The multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer has crafted a world as bewildering and awe-inspiring as the idea of hell itself.
Featuring Cindy Lee, Nemahsis, Wyatt C. Louis, and more — These Canadian artists all commandeered our headphones this year in a compelling way.
