Karen Solie's MODERN AND NORMAL

There's been a plethora, a veritable potpourri, of pronouncements lately on Solie's second, including James Pollock's excellent take on all three of her releases, so I'll just leave a few footnotes. "Determinism" is my favourite: the ambiguity slides into a universal problem. Something to do with abiding human nature. And "Bomb Threat Checklist" is good. (I can see where Patricia Young's "Tormenta" came from, unless it's just a coincidence.) Solie's repeated phrase-sentences can at times be irritating in their summary authority, not because of the tough tone, but from either an unearned conclusion or a filling-in-the-blank cement-load on top of fine, floating suggestion. Substantive. Inventive. More bullseyes than in Short Haul Engine.