Recording: Treeotica

Artist: Treeotica

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Geary Lane ("Summer Sesh @ Geary Lane"), July 26, 2014.

Treeotica - [excerpt]

Who says we can't have nice things? Local promotion duo Man Finds Fire launched their new venue with an afternoon party, showing off a beautiful space nestled in a warehouse-like building in the industrial strip by Dufferin and Dupont. The main floor features a large (but not imposingly cavernous) open area, with a bar and couches and tall white walls that give the whole thing the feel of a modern art gallery. There's even a comfy upstairs patio with a nice view of the railway tracks and the city beyond. Recently used for film work, the room also sounds more like an intimate hall than a reverberating cave. It's a bit off the beaten track, but well-worth heading out for. Promising to specialize in more experimental sounds (their next couple shows are already announced), let's wish MFF great success and a long tenure at Geary Lane.

I've encountered David Shelly before as a busker, and remember wishing I had more time to linger and listen to the strange electroacoustic sounds he wrung from a tree branch rigged with a cello string and run through a distortion pedal. Shelly brought some of that outside feeling to this set, deploying both glowing toy birds and recorded birdsong as background to humming twangs that built up into some sort of avant diddley bow percussion. Intriguing stuff, and I hope to hear him again, both on stage and on street corners.