While Toronto local PETER KALYNIUK is not exactly a prolific releaser of recorded documents, his music is still a highly coveted treasure to the few individuals who are lucky enough to have had the chance to hear of his music by word of mouth. By way of a chance electronic meeting on Napster chat back in 2000, Kalyniuk made contact with the well-known local New England musician ARKM Foam, and it is because of this relationship that Kalyniuk’s music is known, as it prompted Foam to put out Peter’s first official release on his label, Canada Goose Tapes. This tape, which was a two side split between a 2001 recording called “Willy’s Songs” and a 2005 recording called “Digital Dimentia” gave listeners beyond Toronto a chance to hear Kalyniuk’s extremely unique and fascinating pieces. Created by means of multi-track layering of several keyboards, all playing melodic and obliquely related contrapuntal puzzle pieces to a highly complex yet always intensely catchy and groovy tonal picture. Fast forward to 2014 and turn your attention to Peter’s recent output on his soundcloud page and you will see that the basic formula behind the music is absolutely the same, though perhaps the realization of this already extremely focused compositional vision is even more refined.

Generally, Peter’s music consists of up to three or four layers of keyboards under a bed of percussion, each part playing some sort of cyclical rhythmic melody that has it’s own unique identity, and each part can be equally heard as THE inherent melody, or the subject of a perceived “forefront” assessment in the mind. This creates a very rich effect, as there is much information in Kalyniuk’s music for the mind to zero in on at any given time during one of his pieces, and hearing the piece as one unified whole can lead to an extremely psychedelic experience for the listener. Take the few tracks that are the newest on the soundcloud page for example: highly rich and complex pieces that are in no way directly referencing any particular musical tradition or esthetic, yet are tightly secured with a deep foundation in what makes all music (for lack of a more sophisticated term), good. Don’t take my word for it though; listen to the music yourself.