Scene Magazine

Toronto-based musician/teacher Andrew Downing has for some time been part of a new wave (no, not that ‘new wave’) of adventurous Canadian composers and instrumentalists moving forward into the 21st Century without ignoring the virtues and lessons of the 20th. On this ambitious outing his compositions act as instrumental soundtracks for two landmark silent fi lms, Impossible Voyage and The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari. True to the fantastical nature of both works, the sounds here summon forth all the menace and surrealism taking place on the big screen. Infl uences as wide as klezmer, Weill and mid-60s European movie music help form the sonic landscape. The pieces themselves are beautifully thought through compositionally and equally well-realized by an ensemble of players from the growing GTA new music scene.
– Rod