Take the Dog Sled

773811283206 copyAnd now, as they say, for something completely different.  Take the Dog Sled is a short piece in eight movements by Canadian composer Alexina Louie scored for instrumental ensemble and Inuit throat singers.  The movements have titles like Bug Music and Sharpening the Runners on the Dog Sled.  The style is mostly a kind of high energy playful minimalism with quite a lot of percussion and percussive effects from other instruments.  It’s often quite onomatopoeic.  There are also some quite beautifully, hauntingly evocative passages.  The throat singers are used sparingly but to good effect.

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