Peripheral Vision: More Songs About Error And Shame

More Songs About Error And Shame by Toronto's Peripheral Vision offers sophisticated, melodic modern jazz with an esoteric bent and eclectic tastes. Co-founders Michael Herring and Don Scott are joined by Nick Fraser on drums and Trevor Hogg on tenor sax in seven original tracks that combine elements of contemporary jazz with a garage band vibe and a groovy Sixties flavor of cool that includes swinging guitars and a strong rhythmic pulse.

With tracks titles like "And the metaphysical concept of shame" and "Mycelium Running," the quartet's cerebral leanings are on plain view. But, the music is not so intellectual that it can't grab the listener with the mesmerizing musicianship of "Syntax Error," a composition with a sinuous melody that winds its way in and out of keyboard, sax and guitar.

"And the metaphysical concept of shame"' may be a mouthful of a title, but it's a track that trips along with a playful sensibility. It sounds like rather an innocent concept of shame. Perhaps in a similar vein, "Portrait of a Man in a Late Nineteenth-Century Frame" has a very modernist flavor, lit up by an imaginative bass line, hyperactive drumming and a sax line with an avant-garde sense of melody. "Mycelium Running" is a dizzying run of virtuosity, and "Chubby Cello" is a standout track that begins with a kinetic mix of sax and drumsticks like something out of a Sixties action flick.

The release was recorded live off the floor and then layered with overdubs, a treatment that lends itself to fattening the contrapuntal elements of the music. It's complex and brainy music, saved from intellectual excess by a sense of fun and the easy fluidity of long time collaborators. All tracks were composed by Herring and Scott.