Recent Reviews:

Pitchfork (April 9, 2008)

New Music: Christopher Bissonnette:

Canadian sound sculptor Christopher Bissonnette certainly sounds right at home on the Kranky label. While his mix of orchestral instruments and electronic sounds brings to mind the last two Stars of the Lid records in terms of texture, "A Touch of Heartbreak", taken from his forthcoming sophomore record In Between Words, carries a dramatic jolt more vigorous and dynamic than SOTL's eminently patient approach. Beginning with streamlined and airy tones, Bissonnette gradually introduces a churning mess of white noise that threatens to overtake the track but never quite does; heard loud, this is deceptively pulse-quickening stuff that refuses to remain in the background.

Boomkat (April 15, 2008)

This Canadian ambient composer follows-up his wonderful Kranky debut album, Periphery, with an evolved approach to orchestral/electronic soundscaping. For this latest set of compositions Bissonnette augments his electronic tones with a prominent use of field recordings and various spatially engaging sonic elements, such as the zen-like processed bell chimes of 'Tempest' or the symphonic precipitation heard on 'Orffyreus Wheel'. In keeping with this fusion of man-made ambience with sources from the natural world, 'A Touch Of Heartbreak' is (syn)aesthetically like some frost-covered surface, impenetrable and steady - rich in textures that sound neither quite organic, nor electronic, leaving you in an ambiguous between-space, part real, part synthetic. In Between Words is somewhere between the accessible cinematics mapped out by the likes of Deaf Center or Marsen Jules, and the more abstract foggy expanses of drone you'd hear from fellow Canadian Kranky artist, Tim Hecker. This album is a notable step forward from 'Periphery', demonstrating a maturity and diversification of techniques, all of which suggests Bissonnette is an artist you'd be well advised to invest your time in. Highly Recommended.

Foxy Digitalis  Michael Wehunt (4 March, 2008)
"This is a decidedly darker and grainier Bissonnette. "Provenance" throbs with something approaching menace even as it bursts through clouds into brilliant sunlight. Even as my eyes were happily closed throughout the record, I was let down by the fact that the majority of droners in the world compose music that has a similar aim as this. Why the 9 rating then? Well, even though these six tracks scratch an itch that's easier to reach, the depth of Bissonnette's compositional skills is still astounding. The pristine clarity of "Periphery" has fallen away to a reluctant wonder given to both hope and a piercing melancholy. "Orffyreus Wheel" is tempered with washes of noise and clattering sounds as it reaches upward in emotion, and "Tempest" is a sort of avant-garde abstraction I'd have never expected from Bissonnette. "The Colonnade" and "Jour et Nuit" close out the album with seventeen glorious minutes that soar majestically. Still the grit wears through, but every grain is essential. Christopher Bissonnette could have easily duplicated "Periphery" a couple more times before anyone grew weary, but instead he's proven that he's in the upper echelon of ambient artists today. 9/10"

Exclaim Magazine  Dimitri Nasrallah (April 2008)

Though In Between Words is Windsor, ON resident Christopher Bissonnette’s second album for Kranky, Bissonnette has been a part of the fragmented Canadian ambient landscape for years now as a member of the Thinkbox Collective. Thinkbox Collective was necessarily a compendium of its numerous members and their divergent tastes, so whereas the Thinkbox output always varied greatly depending on the release, ranging from dark techno to guitar experimentation to noise, ever since Bissonnette made the jump to Kranky, he’s been exploring the subtle side of longer, drone-ier ambient guitar music. Fittingly, none of the six tracks on In Between Words jumps out and grabs the listener, or even aims for jarring atmosphere. Rather, Bissonnette opts for quiet guitar tonalities that wash over the audience one layer at a time. 2005’s Periphery was a darker work, but here he explores the minor chords for music that’s equally subdued but leaves a brighter aura. Granted, ambient music has more captivating producers — one thinks of Oren Ambarchi, for example, using his guitar in just an abstract way to more immediate effect. But In Between Words rewards those willing to pay close attention, especially in the more distinct passages that make up the second half of the album.

April 01, 2008

The follow up to Periphery, In Between Words,  will be available domestically on April 15, 2008.

In Between Words is a collection of works, that continue Christopher Bissonnette’s explorations into orchestral and spatial acoustics. Cultivating an increasing interest in field recording and found sounds, Bissonnette has woven spatial ambience into these new compositions, while still concentrating on moments of near empty space between 'instruments'.

Inspired by the continuous din, the constant low-level hum of urban background noise, interspersed with all manner of mechanically created sounds, Bissonnette finds in this a near-melodic soundtrack to his daily life. On the final track "Jour Et Nuit", this seems most apparent as one can almost hear sparse traffic of a highway in the sweeping long tones.

Using orchestral sound sources as well as recording his own sounds to manipulate and process, Bissonnette has crafted a symphony of six movements, with melodies as ghostly apparitions that fade in and out of view. Recorded as spontaneous mixes, these compositions maintain a sense of organic fluidity while creating passages of escalating tension.