Recording: Kapali Carsi

Artist: Kapali Carsi

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Toronto Public Library – Parkdale Branch (SHHHH – Day 2), May 7, 2016.

Kapali Carsi - [excerpt from first piece]

So many things I like here, wrapped up in one package. Not only was this a celebration of an awesome new initiative from the Toronto Public Library where anyone with a library card can borrow a musical instrument, it was celebrated with a couple shows in the program's home branch. I didn't make it out on the Friday where the event's co-organizer Kyle Knapp played a quieter show with his Deliluh project, alongside solo efforts from Dorothea Paas and Dave from Soupcans (a new solo endeavour called Stucco). But Sunday afternoon (a free!, all ages!, afternoon! show — which for me is like seeing a row of cherries come up on the slot machine) moved things down to the Parkdale library's mysterious basement — home, it turns out, to an auditorium that awesomely looks like it was last redecorated c. 1985. This show got pretty loud, though apparently the bunker-like building is soundproofed enough that that didn't disturb the patrons above. I would love to see more shows like this — the mind reels at the possibilities of the communities that could be brought together in this space.

This solo bass noise/drone project from Kevin Hainey has been around for more than a decade, running parallel to his work on the recently-shuttered Inyrdisk label. Despite putting out more than a half-dozen releases from the project, ranging from harsh noise to meditative rumbles, this was his first time presenting it live in performance. Crouched and turned away from the audience, Hainey tapped and flicked at the strings of the bass sitting on top of his amp as he shaped the sounds through amp and pedal knob-twisting.