Bleep

The Canon, the second volume of Craig Leon’s Anthology Of Interplanetary Folk Music, finds Leon summoning the spirit of his early successes. A close associate of artists like The Ramones and Talking Heads back in the day, Leon also made great strides outside of the world of NYC punk rock. Those who are aware of the influential musician’s work will know that his early 1980’s LPs Nommos and Visiting are crucial pieces in the development of industrial, ambient and avant-garde synth music.

Here we see Leon working with instruments and compositional techniques similar to those he used back in the day to create synth-scapes of incantatory power. Cassell Webb, the folk singer who had success in the 80’s and early 90’s, contributes - and apparently, if you listen close enough, you can hear also the one and only John Malkovich somewhere in the mists of this record.

Tracks like ‘Standing Crosswise In The Square’ and ‘The Gates Made Plain’ are the auditory equivalent of landing on the moon, and as such it’s no surprise that they recall the output of artists like Joanne Forman and Midori Takada. This astral quality also links The Canon back to Nommos and Visiting in the way that, once again, Leon is using the creation myth of the Malian Dogon tribe as a guiding principle for these compositions.

Craig Leon’s resurgence of interest continues with The Canon, the latest LP in his Anthology Of Interplanetary Folk Music series.