Concert Listings Roundup #125

You can read more about why I'm doing listings here. Long story short: This curated and decidedly non-comprehensive list contains nothin' but shows that I am going to/would go to if I had more time.

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Gigs of the week:

Silent Shout Festival (feat. Lydia Ainsworth / Ben Gunning / Lockbox / Hush Pup) / Smiling Buddha 2015-12-04 (Friday) [FB event]

Silent Shout Festival (feat. Phèdre / JOOJ / Scott Hardware / New Chance) / Smiling Buddha 2015-12-05 (Saturday) [FB event]

The good folks at Silent Shout took some time away from live music curation, but they are returning with a big splash to celebrate their five-year anniversary. Their ecumenical vision of electronic music means that the two nights are pretty diverse, and both shows are rather stacked — including several faves from around these parts. Also not to be missed are two new musical reincarnations from familiar faces, including Laura Barrett's Lockbox and Scott Harwood's post Ken Park reformulation as Scott Hardware.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Ali Berkok/Jim Sexton/Dennis Song / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-12-01 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Track Could Bend #9 (feat. Doomsquad / New Chance / Rub Out the Word) / Dundas Video 2015-12-01 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Tanya Tagaq (Owen Pallett) / Massey Hall 2015-12-01 (Tuesday) [FB event]

troubleshooting~ v8 (feat. Brian Abbott/Zach Clark/Ted Phillips) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-12-02 (Wednesday – early!) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Versa / Mikatron) / Ratio 2015-12-03 (Thursday) [FB event]

Bob Wiseman (Priya Thomas) / Holy Oak Café 2015-12-03 (Thursday) [more info]

Neu Wave Tapes presents: dual tape release (feat. Eyeballs / Cell Memory / Processor) / Smiling Buddha 2015-12-03 (Thursday) [FB event]

---- ---- (Greys / Mexican Slang) / Lee's Palace 2015-12-04 (Friday) [more info]

Karen Ng/Jonathan Adjemian/Colin Fisher [solos, duos + trio!] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-12-05 (Saturday – early!) [FB event]

Soupcans [Soft Party release show!] (Cellphone / Running / Plasmalab) / CineCycle 2015-12-05 (Saturday) [FB event]

Man Made Hill (Prince Nifty) / Holy Oak Café 2015-12-05 (Saturday) [FB event]

Feast In The East 55 (feat. Fat As Fuck / Mannerisms / Haolin Munk) / Jam Factory 2015-12-05 (Saturday) [FB event]

The Outer Limits: A night of alternative art and music (feat. Bit Reduction / KLNR / HEXZUUL) / Orb 2015-12-05 (Saturday) [FB event]

---- ---- (Weaves / Mimico) / Lee's Palace 2015-12-05 (Saturday) [more info]

Nite Comfort 28 (feat. Ambsace / Andrew Roy) / Handlebar 2015-12-06 (Sunday) [FB event]

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Add these to your calendar:

Reminder: This post only contains this week's updates — the full listings can always be found over on the right-hand sidebar!

Array Session #35 (feat. Cheryl Ockrant/Rick Sacks/David Story/David Woodhead) / Array Space 2015-12-07 (Monday) [more info]

Soundstreams: Electric Messiah ["a stripped down, surround sound electro-improv Messiah for today's Toronto"] (feat. Christine Duncan/Carla Huhtanen/Gabriel Dharmoo/Jeremy Dutcher/John Gzowski/Doug Van Nort/Electroacoustic Orchestra of York University/SlowPitchSound) / The Drake Underground 2015-12-07 + 2015-12-08 (Monday + Tuesday) [more info]

The Glenn Gould School New Music Ensemble: Strange Luminescence / Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, F--- S------ Centre 2015-12-08 (Tuesday – free noon-hour concert!)

U.S. Girls (Animalia / Bad Channels / Elliott Vincent Jones)] / The Hoxton 2015-12-10 (Thursday – $3 with RSVP) [FB event]

Diane Roblin/Nick Fraser/Rob Clutton/Kyle Brenders / Musideum 2015-12-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Maylee Todd's Virtual Womb ["a multi medium/media experience including projections, dancers, installation and music."] / The Great Hall 2015-12-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Byron Westbrook (Dirty Inputs / Fleshtone Aura / Germaine Liu) / Ratio 2015-12-13 (Sunday) [FB event]

Fresh Flesh (CHOBO / Cirroo / Ghost People) / Handlebar 2015-12-13 (Sunday) [FB event]

Henri Fabergé Presents One Hell of a Creskins! / 120 Church St. 2015-12-16 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Kurt Marble (Fill Spectre / Bueller) / Smiling Buddha 2015-12-17 (Thursday) [FB event]

Holiday Band Slam 2K15 (feat. PONY / Vallens / The Seams) / Smiling Buddha 2015-12-19 (Saturday) [FB event]

Burdock Holiday Show for Girls Rock Camp (feat. April Aliermo / Robin Dann / Steven Foster / Don Kerr / Maya Killtron / Simone Schmidt / Mia Sheard / Raven Shields/ "surprise guests" / "secret house band") / Burdock Music Hall 2015-12-20 (Sunday) [FB event]

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Community corner:

• Youth in Toronto Music: Trends, Barriers and Experiences. Youth make up one of the biggest and most enthusiastic groups of music enthusiasts, but do they have the corresponding means to control and shape their own participation? On Thursday, Demo Magazine and Wavelength are co-presenting a panel discussion on youth perspectives on the local music scene at Hart House's Arbor Room. The event is free and should serve as a chance for the contingent of former youth to listen to and support the next wave of musicians, programmers and fans.

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Song: Candy Mountain

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, November 27, 2015.

Dilly Dally - Candy Mountain

Sometimes it seems like you blink and just all of a sudden, a band that you've been going to see for a while are suddenly rock stars. This wasn't actually the release party for Dilly Dally's Sore, but it was the first chance for a larger crowd to get together and see them since it dropped and it brought out a packed house of fans — genuine know-all-the-words, mosh-to-the-slow-ones fans. For their part, the band cranked out the tunes with enough lurching imprecision to maintain their raw grandeur while Katie Monks seemed to be occupying the stage with a greater sense of presence than before. Quite an impressive sight all around.

Recording: The Beverleys

Artist: The Beverleys

Song: Lemonade

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, November 27, 2015.

The Beverleys - Lemonade

For a band that I used to see quite a lot, it was a long gap for me since I last caught The Bevs in action. Now, with their debut album on the street, there's a few new tweaks evident in their sound, including the deployment of some harmony vox in this one. There's a confident precision in their live sound now that might force them to amend their "junk punk" self-description.

Recording: Vallens

Artist: Vallens

Song: Devour

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, November 27, 2015.

Vallens - Devour

A totally stacked bill, and even a good crowd on hand for the first band to see Robyn Phillips' dreamgaze project start things off. This one starts off a bit like a power ballad, but keeps turning up the "power" dial on the effects pedal. With the big-room PA at the 'Shoe pushing up the bottom end, there was an almost physical presence to the songs.

Recording: Michelle McAdorey

Artist: Michelle McAdorey

Songs: Two Tickets + Pocahontas [Neil Young cover]

Recorded at Monarch Tavern, November 18, 2015.

Michelle McAdorey - Two Tickets

Michelle McAdorey feat. Colin Cripps - Pocahontas

The batch of new songs that Michelle McAdorey has been tending to for the past couple years have finally emerged on the wonderful new Into Her Future album, filled with wisdom, wanderlust and yearning. Celebrating the album's release (as well as a beautiful video by Yuula Benivolski) McAdorey and band showed off the songs' rootsy atmospherics to a full house. Taking a break from the brand new, McAdorey also invited Colin Cripps, her musical partner from Crash Vegas, to play a couple of that band's most recognizable songs, including a lovely, stripped-down duo arrangement of "Smoke".

Recording: Gravitons + Not The Wind, Not The Flag

Artist: Gravitons + Not The Wind, Not The Flag

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space, November 16, 2015.

Gravitons + Not The Wind, Not The Flag - [excerpt]

Just as they went into their mini-hiatus with a special guest collaboration, shredcore duo Gravitons returned with a special event, celebrating the band's tenth anniversary by joining forces with Not The Wind, Not the Flag. The result was a set of continuously-shifting collaborations that went all the way from Brandon Valdivia's genteel vibraphone caresses to abrasive noise crunch-offs. This section from the middle catches the foursome in full attack mode.

Recording: Man Made Hill

Artist: Man Made Hill

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Array Space, November 16, 2015.

Man Made Hill - unknown

As is so often the case, Randy Gagne came armed with a whole new batch of pithy songs on topics such as scab dentistry and cool babies — and, in his continuing series of transformative covers, he tackled Lee Aaron's "Whatcha Do to My Body". But perhaps the biggest surprise came when he was joined by his Tranz DeFoncé bandmate Jeremy Dennis on sax for a couple instrumental tracks that sounded like some sort of debased new age/no wave hybrid, including this one with some hints of "Tubular Bells" in its DNA.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Colby Nathan

Artist: Colby Nathan

Song: Autumn Gold

Recorded at The Imperial Pub's back room, November 15, 2015.

Colby Nathan - Autumn Gold

Alongside Karen Ng from Somewhere There, I had the opportunity to help put together a night for some new out-of-town pals. Up from Kennebunk, Maine, Colby Nathan's set included a contact mic'd slinky, a wall of looped reed organ and some other noisy elements, especially when tour-mate Matt Robidoux was up on stage with him. But there were some delicate lo-fo folk laments underneath it all that added emotional heft to the musical bricolage.

Recording: Matt Robidoux

Artist: Matt Robidoux

Songs: Matt Robidoux - [noise] + [unknown song]^*

Recorded at The Imperial Pub's back room, November 15, 2015.

Matt Robidoux - [noise]

Matt Robidoux - [unknown song]

Alongside Karen Ng from Somewhere There, I had the opportunity to help put together a night for some new out-of-town pals. Matt Robidoux, out of Greenfield, Massachusetts, crated a fairly delightful environment on the stage, not only setting up a miniature circus tent (that he would later crawl inside for one particularly quiet, intimate song) but also suspending his guitar in mid air to thwack away at it and adding the percussive shake of a metal measuring tape at one point — but there were also some more melodic moments emerging the ringing, crunching noise sections.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: YlangYlang

Artist: YlangYlang feat. Matt Robidoux

Song: New Language

Recorded at The Imperial Pub's back room, November 15, 2015.

YlangYlang feat. Matt Robidoux - New Language

Alongside Karen Ng from Somewhere There, I had the opportunity to help put together a night for some new out-of-town pals. This show came with a surprise bonus: when Catherine Debard came down from Montréal with the headliners, it was quickly agreed on all sides that she had to get up on stage for a quick set. Playing three stretched-out drone-pop songs, her set segued right into Matt Robidoux's, so the end of this one mixes her electronic sounds with Robidoux's full-contact extended-technique guitar noise.

Recording: Blunt Chunks

Artist: Blunt Chunks

Song: [second piece]

Recorded at The Imperial Pub's back room, November 15, 2015.

Blunt Chunks - [second piece]

Alongside Karen Ng from Somewhere There, I had the opportunity to help put together a night for some new out-of-town pals. Caitlin Woelfle O'Brien was the first to pop into my mind for local content on the bill — she refers to her improvisational work as "noise", but while that might lead someone to expect something harsh or discordant, the result is generally quite ethereally beautiful, employing layers of ascendant vocal loops.

[Blunt Chunks will be playing at the next Long Winter on Saturday, December 12th.]

Recording: Colin Fisher

Artist: Colin Fisher

Song: Microtonal Lap Steel Improvisation [edit]

Recorded at The Imperial Pub's back room, November 15, 2015.

Colin Fisher - Microtonal Lap Steel Improvisation [edit]

Alongside Karen Ng from Somewhere There, I had the opportunity to help put together a night for some new out-of-town pals. Matt Robidoux had helped put together a show for Not The Wind, Not The Flag on his New England turf, so it was a no-brainer to ask Colin Fisher to come out and be a part of this show. Always working on some new angles, Fisher brought out his microtonal guitar (with its disorienting frets) as well as his recently-acquired lap steel, which he played with a just-intonation microtonal tuning. But no music theory is required to enjoy this beautiful bit of work.

Recording: PONY

Artist: PONY

Song: My Only One

Recorded at The Great Hall's BLK BOX ("Long Winter: Year Four, Volume One"), November 13, 2015.

PONY - My Only One

Returning once more to bring some cultural glow to the darkest part of the year, Long Winter kicked off its fourth season — once again building on three years of experience while trying some new wrinkles. As has happened in the past, the season's first event felt a bit like a "dress rehearsal" for the year, less reliant on a big headliner as the thousand little logistical wrinkles of throwing a one-night-festival got worked out. So while a new liquor licence meant drinkers weren't confined to the floor of the main hall (easing the huge bottleneck there) there were still some flow issues, including a couple sets in the restaurant that were (as far as I could tell) utterly inaccessible to event-goers. Another slow evolution is that, perhaps more than ever, it felt as if it was the non-musical component was central to the night as a whole, with music filling in the leftover space instead of vice versa. Of course there was still a lot of music — I caught at least part of no fewer than eleven sets. It's crowded and a little claustrophobic, but there ain't nothing else in the city like Long Winter.

I've been meaning to see this band for quite awhile now — their recordings hint at an affinity for some things I love a lot — one imagines you could sit down with this group and have a pleasing chat about Slumberland Records and every band that Amelia Fletcher's been in. Recommended for anyone whose definition of Can-Rock includes cub and jale.

[Volume Two of this year's series is already announced for Saturday, December 12th (do note that it's not on its usual Friday) with music from Isla Craig, New Chance, LUKA, Nailbiter, Petra Glynt, LAL, Blunt Chunks and much more. The LW crew is also taking over the AGO as part of the Gallery's First Thursdays series next week.]

Recording: Dilettantes

Artist: Dilettantes

Song: Middlebrow

Recorded at The Great Hall's BLK BOX ("Long Winter: Year Four, Volume One"), November 13, 2015.

Dilettantes - Middlebrow

Returning once more to bring some cultural glow to the darkest part of the year, Long Winter kicked off its fourth season — once again building on three years of experience while trying some new wrinkles. As has happened in the past, the season's first event felt a bit like a "dress rehearsal" for the year, less reliant on a big headliner as the thousand little logistical wrinkles of throwing a one-night-festival got worked out. So while a new liquor licence meant drinkers weren't confined to the floor of the main hall (easing the huge bottleneck there) there were still some flow issues, including a couple sets in the restaurant that were (as far as I could tell) utterly inaccessible to event-goers. Another slow evolution is that, perhaps more than ever, it felt as if it was the non-musical component was central to the night as a whole, with music filling in the leftover space instead of vice versa. Of course there was still a lot of music — I caught at least part of no fewer than eleven sets. It's crowded and a little claustrophobic, but there ain't nothing else in the city like Long Winter.

Although this sonic artefact registers as hardcore, that misses a lot of what was making this group interesting. Toss in a Molière reference and some roll-on-the-floor theatricality and spike the whole thing with a glam edge and there was a lot to unpack in the band's lightning-fast, twelve minute set.

[Volume Two of this year's series is already announced for Saturday, December 12th (do note that it's not on its usual Friday) with music from Isla Craig, New Chance, LUKA, Nailbiter, Petra Glynt, LAL, Blunt Chunks and much more. The LW crew is also taking over the AGO as part of the Gallery's First Thursdays series next week.]

Recording: Calvin Love

Artist: Calvin Love

Song: I Wanna Know

Recorded at The Great Hall ("Long Winter: Year Four, Volume One"), November 13, 2015.

Calvin Love - I Wanna Know

Returning once more to bring some cultural glow to the darkest part of the year, Long Winter kicked off its fourth season — once again building on three years of experience while trying some new wrinkles. As has happened in the past, the season's first event felt a bit like a "dress rehearsal" for the year, less reliant on a big headliner as the thousand little logistical wrinkles of throwing a one-night-festival got worked out. So while a new liquor licence meant drinkers weren't confined to the floor of the main hall (easing the huge bottleneck there) there were still some flow issues, including a couple sets in the restaurant that were (as far as I could tell) utterly inaccessible to event-goers. Another slow evolution is that, perhaps more than ever, it felt as if it was the non-musical component was central to the night as a whole, with music filling in the leftover space instead of vice versa. Of course there was still a lot of music — I caught at least part of no fewer than eleven sets. It's crowded and a little claustrophobic, but there ain't nothing else in the city like Long Winter.

This Edmonton singer was less of a streetwalkin' cheetah than his recent Hallowe'en jaunt would indicate, leaning more on sophisticated rock crooning and backed by the crunch of his eponymous band. The night's de facto headliner, the group certainly played with a "big room" mentality.

[Volume Two of this year's series is already announced for Saturday, December 12th (do note that it's not on its usual Friday) with music from Isla Craig, New Chance, LUKA, Nailbiter, Petra Glynt, LAL, Blunt Chunks and much more. The LW crew is also taking over the AGO as part of the Gallery's First Thursdays series next week.]

Recording: Sahara

Artist: Sahara

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Great Hall's BLK BOX ("Long Winter: Year Four, Volume One"), November 13, 2015.

Sahara - unknown

Returning once more to bring some cultural glow to the darkest part of the year, Long Winter kicked off its fourth season — once again building on three years of experience while trying some new wrinkles. As has happened in the past, the season's first event felt a bit like a "dress rehearsal" for the year, less reliant on a big headliner as the thousand little logistical wrinkles of throwing a one-night-festival got worked out. So while a new liquor licence meant drinkers weren't confined to the floor of the main hall (easing the huge bottleneck there) there were still some flow issues, including a couple sets in the restaurant that were (as far as I could tell) utterly inaccessible to event-goers. Another slow evolution is that, perhaps more than ever, it felt as if it was the non-musical component was central to the night as a whole, with music filling in the leftover space instead of vice versa. Of course there was still a lot of music — I caught at least part of no fewer than eleven sets. It's crowded and a little claustrophobic, but there ain't nothing else in the city like Long Winter.

Although this trio's website just shows a loop of shaky desert footage, it doesn't look like they're trying to be too mysterious, as their facebook page helpfully reveals their identities and lists an affiliation to Hand Drawn Dracula's Artificial sub-imprint. Those two points help us triangulate to Joseph Elaschuk's former project Mausoleum, which issued an EP on HDD and shared a certain dry, goth-y undertone to this band. But there doesn't seem much to be much music from this project online yet. The song title "No Water" (which was on the very cool cassingle given away at Long Winter) just adds to the band's near ungoogleability, but the band says that'll be the first song on their forthcoming EP.

[Volume Two of this year's series is already announced for Saturday, December 12th (do note that it's not on its usual Friday) with music from Isla Craig, New Chance, LUKA, Nailbiter, Petra Glynt, LAL, Blunt Chunks and much more. The LW crew is also taking over the AGO as part of the Gallery's First Thursdays series next week.]

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? It's called out at the start, but I can't quite make it out. Please leave a comment if you know!

Recording: The Muscadettes

Artist: The Muscadettes

Song: Growing Pains

Recorded at The Great Hall's BLK BOX ("Long Winter: Year Four, Volume One"), November 13, 2015.

The Muscadettes - Growing Pains

Returning once more to bring some cultural glow to the darkest part of the year, Long Winter kicked off its fourth season — once again building on three years of experience while trying some new wrinkles. As has happened in the past, the season's first event felt a bit like a "dress rehearsal" for the year, less reliant on a big headliner as the thousand little logistical wrinkles of throwing a one-night-festival got worked out. So while a new liquor licence meant drinkers weren't confined to the floor of the main hall (easing the huge bottleneck there) there were still some flow issues, including a couple sets in the restaurant that were (as far as I could tell) utterly inaccessible to event-goers. Another slow evolution is that, perhaps more than ever, it felt as if it was the non-musical component was central to the night as a whole, with music filling in the leftover space instead of vice versa. Of course there was still a lot of music — I caught at least part of no fewer than eleven sets. It's crowded and a little claustrophobic, but there ain't nothing else in the city like Long Winter.

Somewhat surprisingly, the night's best music was to be found down in the basement, which hosted a larger cohort of bands than usual while the Conversation Room played host to Benjamin Kamino's dance piece. I first discovered this Montréal crew in a back yard on a summer day, and while that is probably the natural environment for their sunny pop-rock, they got the crowd dancing down in the Great Hall's dank, dark recesses.

[Volume Two of this year's series is already announced for Saturday, December 12th (do note that it's not on its usual Friday) with music from Isla Craig, New Chance, LUKA, Nailbiter, Petra Glynt, LAL, Blunt Chunks and much more. The LW crew is also taking over the AGO as part of the Gallery's First Thursdays series next week.]

Recording: Sasha Chapin

Artist: Sasha Chapin

Song: Number One Dad

Recorded at The Great Hall ("Long Winter: Year Four, Volume One"), November 13, 2015.

Sasha Chapin - Number One Dad

Returning once more to bring some cultural glow to the darkest part of the year, Long Winter kicked off its fourth season — once again building on three years of experience while trying some new wrinkles. As has happened in the past, the season's first event felt a bit like a "dress rehearsal" for the year, less reliant on a big headliner as the thousand little logistical wrinkles of throwing a one-night-festival got worked out. So while a new liquor licence meant drinkers weren't confined to the floor of the main hall (easing the huge bottleneck there) there were still some flow issues, including a couple sets in the restaurant that were (as far as I could tell) utterly inaccessible to event-goers. Another slow evolution is that, perhaps more than ever, it felt as if it was the non-musical component was central to the night as a whole, with music filling in the leftover space instead of vice versa. Of course there was still a lot of music — I caught at least part of no fewer than eleven sets. It's crowded and a little claustrophobic, but there ain't nothing else in the city like Long Winter.

Leading off the night in the still-quiet Main Hall, Chapin treated the giant space the same way he would a cozy living room — starting conversations with individual audience members between songs and pausing for a question-and-answer session.

[Volume Two of this year's series is already announced for Saturday, December 12th (do note that it's not on its usual Friday) with music from Isla Craig, New Chance, LUKA, Nailbiter, Petra Glynt, LAL, Blunt Chunks and much more. The LW crew is also taking over the AGO as part of the Gallery's First Thursdays series next week.]

Concert Listings Roundup #124

You can read more about why I'm doing listings here. Long story short: This curated and decidedly non-comprehensive list contains nothin' but shows that I am going to/would go to if I had more time.

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Gig of the week:

Dilly Dally (The Beverleys / Vallens) / The Horseshoe Tavern 2015-11-27 (Friday) [FB event]

Wow! What a tremendous fucking lineup, with three great rock bands sharing the bill. Expect a packed house for this night with two local Buzz bands celebrating their debut full-lengths — Dilly Dally's Sore and The Bevs' Brutal canonize some of the tracks that those in the know have been rocking out to for a while now.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Music: Racism, Power + Privilege 101 [not a gig! but very important!] ("discussions, questions + answers" feat. Alaska B / Cris Derksen / Damian Abraham / Max Mohenu / Simone Schmidt / Kim De Laat / April Aliermo) / The Music Gallery 2015-11-24 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Beams [November Tuesdays residency!] (Torero) / The Dakota Tavern 2015-11-24 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Raphael Weinroth-Browne/Diane Roblin/Heather Segger / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-11-25 (Wednesday – early!) [FB event]

Slight (Bantam Wing / BART) / Burdock Music Hall 2015-11-25 (Wednesday) [FB event]

EONS (Merganzer / Melody McKiver) / Burdock Music Hall 2015-11-26 (Thursday) [FB event]

The Cosmic Cinema Trike (human powered film projection with live manipulation of 35mm film loops feat. live ambient sounds by the Bubble Pop Collective and Roger Wilson] / CineCycle 2015-11-26 (Thursday) [FB event]

Strands (Sasha Chapin / Blunt Chunks) / Double Double Land 2015-11-26 (Thursday) [FB event]

Norman Blake and Joe Pernice with Special Guests [November Fridays residency!] / The Dakota Tavern 2015-11-27 (Friday – early!) [more info]

DUST / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-11-27 (Friday – early!)

Scott Merritt with Jeff Bird (Sandro Perri) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2015-11-27 (Friday) [FB event]

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-11-27 (Friday)

Evening Hymns / The Drake Underground 2015-11-27 (Friday) [more info]

Dany Laj & The Looks [Word on the Street vinyl release party!] (Kensington Hillbillys / Boat Culture) / The Old Laurel 2015-11-27 (Friday) [FB event]

DDL 6TH Anniversary (feat. Prince Nifty / Carl Didur / Fresh Flesh / Whip Kisser) / Double Double Land 2015-11-27 (Friday) [FB event]

Gnosis (feat. David Virelles w/ Román Díaz) [world premiere!] / The Music Gallery 2015-11-27–2015-11-28 (Friday & Saturday) [FB event]

Live in the Stacks (feat. Jennifer Castle) / Toronto Public Library – Yorkville Branch 2015-11-28 (Saturday) [FB event]

The Diableros [You Can't Break the Strings in Our Olympic Hearts 10-year anniversary show] (Yardlets / Terror Lake) / The Garrison 2015-11-28 (Saturday) [FB event]

Germaphobes [EP release!] (Blonde Elvis / Kurt Marble / Plasmalab) / Soybomb 2015-11-28 (Saturday) [FB event]

Sensi Splurge (feat. JOOJ / Petra Glynt) / Kapisanan Philippine Centre 2015-11-28 (Saturday) [FB event]

Rough Idea + Somewhere There Present (feat. Frode Gjerstad Trio / Nick Fraser + Jay Hay) / Ratio 2015-11-28 (Saturday) [FB event]

Ride the Tempo Presents Girls Night (feat. L CON / Nyssa) / Handlebar 2015-11-29 (Sunday) [FB event]

Ken Aldcroft's Convergence Ensemble / The Emmett Ray 2015-11-29 (Sunday)

Queer Songbook Orchestra: Billy's Birthday, a Billy Strayhorn Centennial / Burdock Music Hall 2015-11-29 (Sunday) [FB event]

Thin Edge New Music Collective: Light Show /The Music Gallery 2015-11-29 (Sunday) [FB event]

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Add these to your calendar:

Reminder: This post only contains this week's updates — the full listings can always be found over on the right-hand sidebar!

troubleshooting~ v8 (feat. Brian Abbott/Zach Clark/Ted Phillips) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-12-02 (Wednesday – early!)

Feast In The East 55 (feat. Fat As Fuck / Mannerisms / Haolin Munk) / Jam Factory 2015-12-05 (Saturday) [FB event]

Nite Comfort 28 (faet. Ambsace / Andrew Roy) / Handlebar 2015-12-06 (Sunday) [FB event]

Audiopollination #37.1: Self-Curation Project (feat. Wendalyn Bartley/Martin van de Ven/ Adele Armin / Cathy Campbell/Darlene Cuevas / Matt Miller/Nathan Petitpas/Nicolas Buligan / John Creson/Ted Philips/Adam Rosen) / Array Space 2015-12-08 (Tuesday) [FB ebent]

Audiopollination #37.2 (feat. Craig Pederson, solo trumpet, plus trios with Michael Lynn/Tania Gill / Karen Ng/Bennett Bedoukian) / Array Space 2015-12-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Aluminum Origami [Avesta Nakhaei/Chris Weatherstone] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-12-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Long Winter, Volume 4.2 (feat. Lydia Ainsworth / Isla Craig / Allie / New Chance / LUKA / Nailbiter / Petra Glynt / Mitchell Akiyama / Great Death / LAL / Blunt Chunks / Egyptrixx) / The Great Hall 2015-12-12 (Saturday – all ages!) [FB event]

Recording: Chandra

Artist: Chandra

Song: Kate

Recorded at Jam Factory, November 12, 2015.

Chandra - Kate

Last year's initial encounter between Chandra Oppenheim and Bile Sister (celebrating the re-issue of her 1980 Transportation EP) has blossomed into a full-on new wave tour with a local all-star band that featured Julie Reich, David Jones, Victoria Cheong, Jesse Locke, and Nyles Miszczyk. Dressed in stylish black, they generated a serious synth and melodica-driven new wave groove in a tightly-paced half hour set. No time for chit-chat, just dance!

Recording: Bile Sister

Artist: Bile Sister

Song: Dissolving in the Neck^*

Recorded at Jam Factory, November 12, 2015.

Bile Sister - Dissolving in the Neck

When I caught Bile Sister in its newish duo reformulation at the Healing Power Summer Bass party back in July it felt a little like a work in progress, but now things are shaping up very nicely. With Julie Reich playing bass in addition to her other sonic manipulations and David Jones on keyb and drumpad there's a stripped-down rigour to the tunes, but still space for some squelchy funk explorations — and, as with this one, for groovy blipulations as well.

^* Thanks to David Jones for passing along the title to this one!

Concert Listings Roundup #123

You can read more about why I'm doing listings here. Long story short: This curated and decidedly non-comprehensive list contains nothin' but shows that I am going to/would go to if I had more time.

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Gig of the week:

Michelle McAdorey Band [Into Her Future record release party!] / Monarch Tavern 2015-11-18 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Lots of tough choices to be made this week, and this top recommendation could just as easily have gone to Monday's Gravitons 10th anniversary show, Thursday's Presencia or the two-night psych spectacle of the Night Owl Festival. You should dig into those below, but I think the one I'm anticipating the most is the celebration for long-awaited release of Michelle McAdorey's Into Her Future. Finely-crafted songs with deep roots and the soulful contemplation that comes with the urgent patience of moving through life.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Gravitons [10th anniversary special!] (feat. Not The Wind Not The Flag / Man Made Hill) / Array Space 2015-11-16 (Monday) [FB event]

Rob Grieve/Cory Latkovitch (Karen Ng/Mike Gennaro) / Musideum 2015-11-17 (Tuesday) [FB event]

PJ Party [PJ Harvey tribute!] (feat. Brooke Manning / Ghislain Aucoin / Ida Maidstone / Kritty Uranowski / Lana Leprich / Mekele / Cam Lee / Lauren Wilkins / Harass Kilpack) / Holy Oak Café 2015-11-17 (Tuesday) [more info]

THE AMBiENT PiNG presents (feat. sLAB / Tom Price / Northumbria) / Ratio 2015-11-17 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Beams [November Tuesdays residency!] (Stonetrotter) / The Dakota Tavern 2015-11-17 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Alex Bleeker & The Freaks (Anamai) / Smiling Buddha 2015-11-17 (Tuesday) [more info]

Bob Wiseman (Finchler / Bert Sugar) / Burdock Music Hall 2015-11-18 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Josh Cole Quartet [Karen Ng/Ryan Driver/Brandon Valdivia/Josh Cole] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-11-18 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Butcher Boy (Clara Engel / Jordaan Mason) / D-Beatstro 2015-11-18 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Presencia ["a new platform to promote the work of artists engaging in intercultural dialogue through music, with a focus on Latin diaspora identities" — official launch!] (feat. Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra / A New Tradition / Lido Pimienta / Mas Aya / Primitiva) / The Great Hall 2015-11-19 (Thursday) [FB event]

Marilyn Lerner/Andrew Downing / Musideum 2015-11-19 (Thursday) [FB event]

Zords (Boybitch / Fresh Flesh / Avem Ondo) / Holy Oak Café 2015-11-19 (Thursday) [FB event]

Yonatan Gat [of Monotonix] (Surinam / Kappa Chow) / The Silver Dollar Room 2015-11-19 (Thursday) [FB event]

Discover 416 Presents: Fall For T.O. Festival (feat. Dirty Frigs / EV REE WUHN / Walrus / shy kids / Little Junior / Jaunt) / The Garrison 2015-11-19 (Thursday – free with RSVP!) [FB event]

Norman Blake and Joe Pernice with Special Guests [November Fridays residency!] / The Dakota Tavern 2015-11-20 (Friday – early!) [more info]

Man Made Hill [Totally Regular release party!] (Wolfcow [Codie's Rodeo release party also!] / Kappa Chow) / 8-Eleven 2015-11-20 (Friday) [FB event]

Cindy Lee (Schønsee / Bodies That Matter) / Double Double Land 2015-11-20 (Friday) [FB event]

Night Owl Festival (feat. Christian Bland and The Revelators / Heaters / Tess Parks / Saffron Sect / The Auras / MIMICO) / Adelaide Hall 2015-11-20 (Friday) [FB event]

Moonwood (Jo Passed / Eyeballs) / D-Beatstro 2015-11-20 (Friday) [FB event]

Ronley Teper's Lipliners / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2015-11-20 (Friday)

Toy Piano Composers: To Be Announced 3 / The Music Gallery 2015-11-21 (Saturday) [FB event]

Ben Gunning [Massive Love Record Release] / Burdock Music Hall 2015-11-21 (Saturday) [FB event]

Night Owl Festival (feat. Night Beats / Mexican Slang / L.A. WITCH / Hooded Fang / B-17 / Fill Spectre) / The Horsehoe Tavern 2015-11-21 (Saturday) [FB event]

Beds (Hush Pup / Zones / Shy Kids) / Handlebar 2015-11-21 (Saturday) [FB event]

Delaware House Presents: The Eclectic Barn (feat. Canon Bros. / Barbara / Jose Contreras / Lake Forest) / Delaware House 2015-11-21 (Saturday) [FB event]

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Add these to your calendar:

Reminder: This post only contains this week's updates — the full listings can always be found over on the right-hand sidebar!

Slight (Bantam Wing / BART) / Burdock Music Hall 2015-11-25 (Wednesday) [FB event]

The Cosmic Cinema Trike (human powered film projection with live manipulation of 35mm film loops feat. live ambient sounds by the Bubble Pop Collective and Roger Wilson] / CineCycle 2015-11-26 (Thursday) [FB event]

Live in the Stacks (feat. Jennifer Castle) / Toronto Public Library – Yorkville Branch 2015-11-28 (Saturday) [FB event]

Ride the Tempo Presents Girls Night (feat. L CON / Nyssa) / Handlebar 2015-11-29 (Sunday) [FB event]

Ken Aldcroft's Convergence Ensemble / The Emmett Ray 2015-11-29 (Sunday)

Track Could Bend #9 (feat. Doomsquad / New Chance / Rub Out the Word) / Dundas Video 2015-12-01 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Versa / Mikatron) / Ratio 2015-12-03 (Thursday) [FB event]

Soupcans [Soft Party release show!] (Cellphone / Running / Plasmalab) / CineCycle 2015-12-05 (Saturday) [FB event]

Shining Wizard (Not The Wind, Not The Flag / Brahja Waldman / Keep Them Alive) / Ratio 2015-12-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Surinam (DAS RAD / Champion Lover / Alpha Strategy) / Smiling Buddha 2015-12-18 (Friday) [FB event]

Nightmare Before Xmas II (feat. Big|Brave / Jessica Moss / Gates / Northumbria) / Geary Lane 2015-12-19 (Saturday) [FB event]

Recording: Alexandr Nabokov + Buck McKenzie

Artist: Alexandr Nabokov + Buck McKenzie

Song: Alexandr Nabokov + Buck McKenzie - [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space ("Audiopollination 36"), November 10, 2015.

Alexandr Nabokov + Buck McKenzie - [excerpt]

Another night in Audiopollination's ongoing self-curation series saw a series of duets. This pseudonymous duo closed out the night with the evening's noisiest sounds, starting with loops of erhu and guitar, pausing for a piano detour before ending in feedback-lacked shouts.

[This year's self-curation series concludes Tuesday, December 8th at Array Space.]

Recording: Manuel Morales + Kayla Milmine

Artist: Manuel Morales + Kayla Milmine

Song: [excerpt from second piece]

Recorded at Array Space ("Audiopollination 36"), November 10, 2015.

Manuel Morales + Kayla Milmine - [excerpt from second piece]

Another night in Audiopollination's ongoing self-curation series saw a series of duets. Manuel Morales, who had been involved in some tasty flute exchanges earlier in the evening, was on piano for this set with Kayla Milmine. Working more through meditative exchanges than fiery jousts, by set's end, Milmine was turned to face Morales, her soprano sax pointed into the grand piano's chamber for a little extra resonance.

[This year's self-curation series concludes Tuesday, December 8th at Array Space.]

Recording: Andrew Kay + Brian Abbott

Artist: Andrew Kay + Brian Abbott

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Array Space ("Audiopollination 36"), November 10, 2015.

Andrew Kay + Brian Abbott - [excerpt from first piece]

Another night in Audiopollination's ongoing self-curation series saw a series of duets. This pairing saw Andrew Kay's sax and Brian Abbott's prepared guitar crest through several waves of agreeable-wiggly drones and skittering pitch-shifted loops.

[This year's self-curation series concludes Tuesday, December 8th at Array Space.]

Recording: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Artist: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Song: [excerpt from third piece]

Recorded at Array Space ("Somewhere There's Second Sundays"), November 8, 2015.

Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro - [excerpt from third piece]

No surprise that this pairing's set contained a lot of high-octane interchanges, with Fisher blasting through the walls (mostly on on tenor) and Gennaro hitting like a battering ram. (He'd eventually lean over and pull the floor tom from a nearby drumkit to augment his own.) But there were also interchanges like this where things slowed down a bit — but still pretty dense with musical ideas and energy.

Recording: N/A/D/S 4tet

Artist: N/A/D/S 4tet

Song: Untitled #1 [composer: Karen Ng]^*

Recorded at Array Space ("Somewhere There's Second Sundays"), November 8, 2015.

N/A/D/S 4tet - Untitled #1

Drawing its acronym from the last names of its four members, this new unit combining the talents of Karen Ng (alto sax), Chris Adriaanse (double bass), Emily Denison (trumpet), and Noah Sherman (drums) was making its debut. They played a selection of new pieces from the members, including tuneful new selections from Adriaanse and Denison as well as this one grittier one from Karen Ng.

^* The group played three pieces in a long suite, with Karen Ng's piece sandwiched between ones from Emily Denison and Chris Adriaanse. So I'm guessing here on where the piece starts and ends — hopefully I'm close!

Recording: 416 Festival Spoken Word Band

Artist: 416 Festival Spoken Word Band feat. Brent Peers / John Oughton / John Evans

Songs: unknown^* / Elegy for Larry Dubin / A Thanksgiving Prayer [composer: William S. Burroughs]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival – Night 1), November 4, 2015.

Brent Peers + 416 Festival Spoken Word Band - [track 3]

John Oughton + 416 Festival Spoken Word Band - Elegy for Larry Dubin

John Evans + 416 Festival Spoken Word Band - A Thanksgiving Prayer

This year's edition of the 416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival lead off by tacking a form of collective improvisation it had never attempted before, with a house band (Bill Gilliam, Ambrose Pottie, Michael Lynn, Glen Hall) playing behind a series of poets and spoken word artists. They quickly picked up on the vibe of each piece, whether meditative or frightening (or anywhere in between), effortlessly complementing the speakers' words. Though the night's performers were a little unbalanced, there was definitely a lot of range in the speakers' techniques and tones.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: SlowPitchSound

Artist: SlowPitchSound

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Dundas Video ("Track Could Bend #8"), November 3, 2015.

SlowPitchSound - unknown

Anyone just looking at turntablist Cheldon Paterson's means of sonic production is liable to be fooled about what he's capable of getting up to. With curious ears and a stack of records, his live-mix productions are as likely to sound like prog-rock abstractions as beat science. In fact, in this selection, the thing that came to mind for a point of comparison was actually some of Not The Wind, Not The Flag's recent electro/textural work. Showing some burgeoning lines of creative enquiry, Paterson also welcomed dancer Libydo to the stage to add another element of realtime interaction.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Jack Vorvis + Scott Thomson

Artist: Jack Vorvis + Scott Thomson

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Dundas Video ("Track Could Bend #8"), November 3, 2015.

Jack Vorvis + Scott Thomson - [excerpt, part 1]

Jack Vorvis + Scott Thomson - [excerpt, part 2]

Percussionist Jack Vorvis has a good name in Toronto's improvised music community. He's played with CCMC, cut a duo album with Michael Snow, and more recently had a recurring duo with Jeremy Strachan. He's been playing around less lately, which made this appearance with trombonist Scott Thomson a noteworthy event. Besides his occasional shouts of joy that punctuated the set, he brought a most unusual drumkit, stripped down to a giant bass drum and floor tom — and the three overlapping cymbals that create the crinkling-tinfoil texture that underpins this segment. Ridiculously tasty stuff, so hopefully we'll be hearing some more from this pairing.

Recording: Pale Eyes

Artist: Pale Eyes

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar ("Nite Comfort 27"), November 1, 2015.

Pale Eyes - unknown

Ben McCarthy's Pale Eyes is a solo project merging industrial dance beats with a pop sensibility. There were some pleasing moments here, especially when, as at the start of this song, he let his groove skitter along for a bit.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Ellson Graywell

Artist: Ellson Graywell

Songs: two unknown pieces^*

Recorded at Handlebar ("Nite Comfort 27"), November 1, 2015.

Ellson Graywell - [first section]

Ellson Graywell - [final section]

Ellson Graywell is a new-ish outlet for Dwayne Slack. Known as a meticulous sound tech, his recorded material has a rigourous sonic design, but for the project's live debut, he wisely decided not to try and replicate that intense density. Instead, with a table of mixed hight-tech/low-tech gear and a guitar, he created a series of soundscapes that moved from looming ambience to postrock throb/wub. There were a couple points where the gear behaved in unexpected ways, which is usually the best part of music like this, showing that the performer is walking the figurative tightrope without a safety net.

^* Does anyone know the titles to these? Please leave a comment!