“Rob Clutton’s Cluttertones are one of Toronto’s most compelling bands, pulling together threads from the city’s jazz, traditional folk, and contemporary chamber music scenes. Underlying the band’s deceptively complex exterior are simple, memorable melodies that reveal Clutton’s interest in the traditional vernacular songs of the African and European folk who found themselves in North America. Composed of four musicians who have played together in many different combinations in the Toronto scene over the decades, the Cluttertones' music reflects both the musicians' familiarity with each other and a commitment to exploring Clutton’s quiet, patient compositions. These compositions call for something beyond individual virtuosity, as the  listener hears a singular, collectively-developed language where melody, angular chords, singing, and acoustic and electronic timbres co-exist in the same sonic space. Put another way, The Cluttertones play songs, in the very traditional sense of the word. The magic of the band comes from how those songs are creatively obscured by seemingly-unrelated sounds, and the fun in listening comes from following the threads of the songs through a largely improvised open world of sonic textures. This is a band of improvisers, not necessarily an improvising band, in the contemporary sense of the term.  Clutton’s music is based simultaneously on the distinct individual voices of the band members and on a deeply personal set of musical priorities that are his alone. In Tim Posgate, Ryan Driver, and Lina Allemano, Clutton has found players whose musical breadth match his own, yet who also understand the creative potential of plugging themselves into someone else’s song-stream. There are many ways to listen to and to hear The Cluttertones, for their music sounds at once like a comfortable conversation between old friends and a continual reaching for something new to talk about. For the listener, there is more than ordinary joy in feeling like you know what you are going to get with The Cluttertones, but still being surprised when you get it.” - Pete Johnston