Recording: Spek Won

Artist: Spek Won

Song: Spek Won - E(ART)H

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 20, 2016.

Spek Won - E(ART)H

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

Wavelength's ongoing alliance with Manifesto (whose festival is coming up September 9th to 18th) brought Spek Won to the Island. Backed with a full live band and Shi Wisdom on backing vox, there was a smooth, Roots-y edge to his hip-hop tracks. The sound was more head-nodding than bounce-inducing, but that fit the afternoon vibe quite perfectly.

Recording: Cory Latkovich

Artist: Cory Latkovich

Song: selections from two performances by In Synch

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 20, 2016.

Cory Latkovich - In Synch [version 1, intro music]

Cory Latkovich - In Synch [version 1]

Cory Latkovich - In Synch [version 2]

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

Aubyn O'Grady's In Synch performance was a highlight of last year's Camp Wavelength, presenting an amateur synchronized swimming routine with equal parts whimsy and gravitas. Despite the burden of now having to deal with raised expectations, the troupe raised their game and presented an even more impressive performance this year, with more elaborate costumes, thoughtful staging as well as some live music. The latter was provided by Cory Latkovich on cello and MAX patch, mixing swooning strings with some slightly-menacing subsonic frequencies. The group performed the routine twice, so this is also a chance to listen to two different improvised takes on the same idea — the first has a smoother sheen while the second take sounds like it's moving into slightly choppier waters.

[In an entirely-different sonic galaxy, Latkovich's avant-prog/kosmische group Imaginary Flesh will be re-emerging on Saturday at the highly-recommended Intersection Festival.]

Recording: Casper Skulls

Artist: Casper Skulls

Song: Glories^*

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 20, 2016.

Casper Skulls - Glories

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

I'd last seen this group in a more rough'n'ready sonic environment, so having them up on the fully teched-out big stage made rather a difference, giving their dynanic range more room to breathe. With some space to stretch out, there's more room to enjoy cuts like this one, which, instead of punching out a single's insistent hook instead goes on a little journey — out somewhere between the marquee moon and the diamond sea.

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

Recording: HEX

Artist: HEX

Song: Always Me^*

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 20, 2016.

HEX - Always Me

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

Campers got a rock'n'roll wake up call to start Saturday with an energy jolt from bad-ass trio HEX. Another inspiring product of Girls Rock Camp, it almost does a disservice to point out these players' youth, as there was nothing lacking in their composure or attitude, bringing a Sleater-Kinney-ish guit-guit-drums lineup and some of Babes in Toyland's canabalistic howl.

[HEX will be playing Smiling Buddha alongside Beige and Sigil (a new project with members of Frigs/HSY) on Thursday, September 15th.]

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

Concert Listings Roundup #164

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:

Intersection Day 1 (feat. Elliott Sharp / Thin Edge New Music Collective / Soupcans) / Soybomb 2016-09-02 (Friday) [FB event]

Intersection Day 2 (feat. Absolutely Free with Contact / Imaginary Flesh / Kyle Brenders Ensemble / Gates / Raphael Weinroth-Browne / Michael Snow & Mani Mazinani / Brian Ruryk / Elliott Fienberg's Sound Spaghetti) / Yonge-Dundas Square 2016-09-03 (Saturday – free! outside! all day long! all ages + family-friendly!) [FB event]

I've been a longtime fan of the cognitive dissonance provided by the Intersection fest, which presents creative and experimental music in the middle of the blinking billboard oasis of Yonge-Dundas Square. As with last year, Tad Michalak (Feat in the East/Burn Down the Capital) is helping out with the booking and the lineup is a real doozy, including noise godhead Brian "Piece of Shit Guitar" Ruryk, the return of avant-progsters Imaginary Flesh, Kyle Brenders' large-format electroacoustic assemble and a headlining set matching rockers Absolutely Free with Contact Contemporary Music. It's free and will be happening all day long.

Plus, there'll be a different sort of cognitive dissonance the night before in a paid show co-curated with the Music Gallery that brings chamber music to famed DIY/punk venue Soybomb — and mixes in a set from slop-punk legends Soupcans.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Fisher/Hundevad/Gennaro (Carl Didur) / Array Space 2016-08-30 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Nick Fraser/Myk Freedman/Rob Clutton / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-30 (Tuesday)

Wolf's Nacho Wednesdays presents Abundant Habitat (feat. Nick Storring / Slowpitchsound / Manticore / Cetacea) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-31 (Wednesday – early + late slots!) [FB event]

Taktus ["contemporary compositions for dual marimbas"] / Toronto Music Garden 2016-09-01 (Thursday – free! all ages! outside!) [more info]

Nick Fraser/Kenny Warren / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-09-01 (Thursday)

OKNO (Silver Pools / Chobo) / Rivoli 2016-09-01 (Thursday) [FB event]

Eucalyptus / Island Café 2016-09-02 (Friday – early show! island vibes!) [FB event]

Blood Ceremony [Lord of Misrule album release party!] (Comet Control / Hollow Earth) / Lee's Palace 2016-09-02 (Friday) [FB event]

Elsa (Vallens / Kurt Marble) / Smiling Buddha 2016-09-02 (Friday) [FB event]

Freeer [Free-Uhr] Records BBQ (feat. Tradition / Andre Charles Theriault / SGVBRIII [Susan Grace Van Beek Rogers III] / Stucco) / a yard on Beaconsfield 2016-09-03 (Saturday – afternoon/evening event!) [FB event]

Xenia Rubinos (Lido Pimienta) / The Drake Underground 2016-09-03 (Saturday – early show!) [more info]

Ashkenaz Festival (feat. Lemon Bucket Orkestra) / Harbourfront Centre – Brigantine Room 2016-09-03 (Saturday – free!) [more info]

Nite Comfort 37 (feat. SlowPitchSound & Germaine Liu / Heraclitus Akimbo) / Handlebar 2016-09-04 (Sunday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Optical Sounds Showcase: American Invasion (feat. The Veldt / Your 33 Black Angels / Dyr Faser / B-17) / Double Double Land 2016-09-04 (Sunday) [FB event]

photo by Melissa Goldstein

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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!

Lunchtime Live! (feat. Lido Pimienta) / Yonge-Dundas Square 2016-09-05 (Monday – free! outside! all ages! lunchtime show @ 12:30 p.m.!) [FB event]

Kiwi Jr. (Brent Randall & The Rainbow Twangers) / The Monarch Tavern 2016-09-09 (Friday) [FB event]

Audiopollination #46 (feat. Dan Tapper/Chris Palmer/Adriana Monti / Diane Roblin/David Story/Alison Keery / Yuske Frutate/Alan Bloor/James Bailey) / Array Space 2016-09-10 (Saturday) [FB event]

Somewhere There Presents (feat. Linsey Wellman [solo sax] / Aldcroft/Sorbara/Wellman Trio) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-09-10 (Saturday) [FB event]

Several Futures and Jonathan Culp [A New Place To Dwell release! "live multi-screen Super 8 film mashup, with driving musical accompaniment"] (Cameron/Cole/Perri/Rampersaud) / Array Space 2016-09-13 (Tuesday) [FB event]

HEX (Beige [tape release!] / Sigil [members of Frigs/HSY) / Smiling Buddha 2016-09-15 (Thursday) [FB event]

The Luyas (The Magic) / Double Double Land 2016-09-16 (Friday) [FB event]

Pow Wows [7" release party!] (Old Code / The New Enchanters) / Hard Luck Bar 2016-09-16 (Friday) [FB event]

Music Gallery History Series (feat. Jeremy Strachan) [talk] / Canadian Music Centre 2016-09-17 (Saturday – free! early event @ 5 p.m.!) [FB event]

Holger Schoorl 40th birthday concert (feat. Ken Aldcroft/Parmela Attiriwala/Kyle Brenders/Jonnie Bakan/Scott Gabriel/Pete Johnston/Cory Latkovich/Rob MacDonald/Kayla Milmine/Paul Newman/Matthew Pencer/Nicole Rampersaud/Michael Savona/Heather Saumer/Scott Thomson/Mitch Yolevsky/Mark Zurawinski / Ancient Egypt [Holger Schoorl/Kyle Brenders/Pete Johnston/Scott Thomson]) / Array Space 2016-09-17 (Saturday) [FB event]

Bellwether4 / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-09-27 (Tuesday) [FB event]

ZUZE ["more afrofunk music of Iran"] / Burdock Music Hall 2016-09-30 (Friday) [FB event]

Snowblink (GREX and the Drumheller Horn Section) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-08 (Saturday) [FB event]

Bernardino Femminielli (Elliott Vincent Jones / Cindy Lee) / The Baby G 2016-10-08 (Saturday) [FB event]

Snowblink ["an intimate multi-sensory experience"] / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-09 (Sunday) [FB event]

Oozing Wound (Cellphone / Luge) / The Baby G 2016-10-16 (Sunday) [FB event]

Recording: L.atasha A.lcindor

Artist: L.atasha A.lcindor

Songs: Talk My Shit + I'm Alive

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 19, 2016.

L.atasha A.lcindor - Talk My Shit

L.atasha A.lcindor - I'm Alive

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

When I first saw L.atasha A.lcindor a.k.a. L.A. on the island last year, I noted she played "a charismatic set that made her the night's de facto headliner", and that was pretty much the case once again, being the talk of the late-night crowd after her engaging set. Being able to project her dextrous wordplay on stage is no mean feat, and it's even more impressive that she managed to pull it off while throwing down some dance moves and interacting with the crowd. Best of all, her set made the space feel both close and intimate — especially on a talk about facing her own anxieties before "I'm Alive" — and Coachella-sized as she got the crowd worked up.

Recording: Operators

Artist: Operators

Song: Mission Creep

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 19, 2016.

Operators - Mission Creep

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

Operators were so relaxed out on the island that they apparently forgot to bring out one key synthesizer while setting up, leading to a somewhat-awkward delay just as they were about to start their set. That misstep aside, Dan Boeckner was clearly enjoying the surroundings and the festival vibe, presenting his songs about grim rural upbringings and other dark subjects with a certain jauntiness. The music, including the tunes from this year's Blue Wave full-length, has a similar tension, sometimes registering like the Bee Gees on PCP. The band's "festival pacing" needs a bit of fine-tuning, ending their set on a low-energy note that made the call for an encore seem a little perfunctory. But while their minor mishaps might kill the momentum in a different setting, it all fit in just fine with Camp Wavelength's take-it-as-it-comes mellow vibe.

Recording: Jef E. Barbara's Black Space

Artist: Jef E. Barbara's Black Space

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 19, 2016.

Jef E. Barbara's Black Space - unknown

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

After some quieter time away, Jef Barbara (now Jef Elise Barbara) has returned with a hot single, a new backing band and a set of new material. Creating room for textured groove explorations, the new material finds the glam in melding the cosmic and the quotidian (the title "Spacecraft Dinner" captures that juxtaposition nicely). Deep bass, sax licks and Elena Stoodley's backing vox brought it all together, even re-appropriating some doot-de-doo's from Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" in this cut.

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

Recording: For Esmé

Artist: For Esmé

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 19, 2016.

For Esmé - unknown

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

Martha Meredith and co.'s mix of Stacey Q Hi-NRG cotton candy and Metric-y death disco is a bit more naturally suited for a late-night club than a late-afternoon field, but their exuberance fit right in with the festival's vibe. They even managed to mix a couple new songs into their set, including this one providing an antidote to hate.

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

Recording: M.A BEAT!

Artist: M.A BEAT!

Song: Morocco

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Camp Wavelength), August 19, 2016.

M.A BEAT! - Morocco

Following and expanding on the template of last year's successful festival, Wavelength returned to the island with a meticulously-executed event that included an exciting range of music and a beach full of art beside festival headliner Lake Ontario. It also managed to be a stress-reducing rather than a stress-inducing time — rather like a weekend at the cottage, even if the city was just out of view.

This crew from France were making their first Canadian foray and, as such, were something of an unknown quality as they lead off the festival. But their mix of sample-based experimental grooves, dual percussion, proggy keyboards and a hint of bass clarinet was a tasty mix, propelling itself with forward momentum but presenting lotsa tasty textures along the way.

Recording: Bryan Qu Large Ensemble

Artist: Bryan Qu Large Ensemble

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Somewhere There's Second Sunday Series), August 14, 2016.

Bryan Qu Large Ensemble - [excerpt]

Over the course of the summer, this agglomeration has convened a handful of times to experiment with large-group free improvisation. Under the nominal leadership of saxophonist Bryan Qu (another young player from the U of T crew that's seeping into the city's creative music scenes) there's no conducting or prearranged cues, which makes it somewhat surprising that the group approaches things with relative restraint. Although the music crests in a series of Ascensions, you can generally follow individual players without things getting lost in a clamourous blow-out. The group were eleven deep this time out, as as far as I can work out, the contingent included: David Baldry (trumpet), Mark Ballyk (percussion), Evan Cartwright (drywalling tools), Belinda Corpuz (voice), Brandon Davis (bass), Emily Denison (trumpet), Chris Pruden (keyb), Alexei Orechin (guitar) Raphael Foisy-Couture (electronics), Vicky Mettler (guitar), and Bryan Qu (saxophone).

Recording: Ali Berkok + Diane Roblin

Artist: Ali Berkok + Diane Roblin

Song: [third piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Somewhere There's Second Sunday Series), August 14, 2016.

Ali Berkok + Diane Roblin - [third piece]

A rare opportunity to hear two noteworthy players exchanging ideas on a pair of grand pianos, this set saw Diane Roblin and Ali Berkok improvising from a series of pre-written "snippets" ranging in mood from clomping and rollicking to hushed and serene. This piece saw Berkok getting inside the piano, plucking the strings and caressing them via an e-bow, eliciting a meditative response from Roblin.

Recording: Afrafranto

Artist: Afrafranto

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Harbourfront Centre's Concert Stage (Habari Africa Festival), August 14, 2016.

Afrafranto - unknown

I only managed to make it down for a few hours on Sunday, but I hear there was a lot of excellent music and more going on at Harbourfront's Habari Africa Festival, overseen by local hero Nadine McNulty of Batuki Music. I did manage to catch these great local purveyors of Ghanaian palmwine and highlife music. I missed the release party for their Nsadwase album (which doesn't seem to have found its way online yet) but it's always worthwhile to catch these grooves live as they ripple outwards from Pa Joe's guitar.

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

Recording: Eric Chenaux

Artist: Eric Chenaux

Songs: Skullsplitter + Social Living [Burning Spear cover]

Recorded at Burdock Music Hall, August 13, 2016.

Eric Chenaux - Skullsplitter

Eric Chenaux - Social Living

Now that Eric Chenaux's local shows are more-or-less annual events, each one feels like a chance at rediscovery, and a moment of frisson at encountering his advanced/debased guitar style once more. More unstable than radium, it even seems that there are even more dimensions of wobble and melodic shifting than previously. Essaying some of the pieces from last year's Skullsplitter alongside older tunes, there was also his usual dip into his bag of reinterpretations, here giving a wildly-deconstructed take on a Burning Spear number that dallied sideways momentarily into Jerome Kern's showtune "I Dream Too Much".

Recording: Ryan Driver

Artist: Ryan Driver

Songs: unknown^* + It's Tulip Season

Recorded at Burdock Music Hall, August 13, 2016.

Ryan Driver - unknown

Ryan Driver - It's Tulip Season

The feeler of pure joy brought some of his pop constructions to this night, opening things up for his collaborator and fellow rat-drifter Eric Chenaux. Backed by Charles James (double bass) and Michael Davidson (vibes), Driver played keyb and guit, rolling out a few new songs alongside older ones. There's a yodel, there's an ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi, there's a contradiction and there's no contradiction.

[Ryan Driver's Sextet will be playing its monthly dose of beautifully-wobbly standards at The Tranzac on Friday night (August 28th).]

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

Concert Listings Roundup #163

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:

Wolf's Nacho Wednesdays presents Abundant Habitat (feat. Ylang Ylang / Isla Craig / Not The Wind, Not The Flag / "special surprise") / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-24 (Wednesday – early + late slots!) [FB event]

There's been a great string of happenings lately at The Tranzac's Nacho Wednesdays, and things are getting kicked up another notch this week and next with a pair of nights booked by Manticore's Zoë Alexis-Abrams. Both nights are totally solid top to bottom (and sprawl over the usual early and late slots) — so order up some nachos and settle in for the evening.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

BRINKS [David French/Michael Davidson/Dan Fortin/Fabio J Ragnelli] / The Emmet Ray 2016-08-22 (Monday – early!) [FB event]

Destroying Angel (Clara Engel / Moon Sunn Moon / Cetacea) / Coalition 2016-08-22 (Monday) [FB event]

Saint Dirt Elementary School / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-23 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Somewhere There Presents (feat. Titanium Riot / The Knot [CD release!] / Brenders + Zukerman) / Ratio 2016-08-23 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Manticore (Within / Cares) / Array Space 2016-08-23 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Prince Nifty (Baby Cages [solo] / Egosystem / Fresh Flesh) / Holy Oak Café 2016-08-23 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Robin Buckley/Emily Denison/Karen Ng/Nilan Perera / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-23 (Tuesday)

Alex Samaras & Friends / Holy Oak Café 2016-08-25 (Thursday – early!) [FB event]

Hamilton Trading Co. (Shawn Clarke / Courtney Dubois / Fern Tips) / The Central 2016-08-25 (Thursday) [FB event]

Live on the Patio (feat. Aline Morales) / Roy Thomson Hall Patio 2016-08-26 (Friday – free! outside! early show, sets @ 6:30 and 8:00 p.m.!) [more info]

Badlands (Sarah Ayton / James Irwin & Apey0) / Holy Oak Café 2016-08-26 (Friday – early!) [more info]

Invocation Residency Series (feat. Arrington de Dionyso [full band!] / Doom Tickler / Ben Grossman / Array Space 2016-08-26 (Friday) [FB event]

Deliluh [Hours release party!] (Nighttime / Ryanescence [new project from Ryan Carley]) / Nowhere Gallery 2016-08-26 (Friday) [FB event]

Queer Bengali Dance Fundraiser (feat. LAL) / Unit 2 2016-08-26 (Friday) [FB event]

Julie Doiron (LUKA / Nick Ferrio) / Menalon Restaurant – back patio 2016-08-26 (Friday) [FB event]

Death Cookie Soup no. 7: Punk Rock Cabaret (feat. readings + live music by Panic Breakfast) / The Central 2016-08-26 (Friday) [FB event]

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-26 (Friday)

Pierre Kwenders (Casey Mecija) / Yonge-Dundas Square 2016-08-26 (Friday – free! all ages! outside!) [more info]

Weaves [record release show!] (She-Devils / Poster Boy) / The Horseshoe Tavern 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

Ambient Apsylum 2016 ["ambient music/visuals/performance"] (feat. Snowday / Jakob Thiesen / naw / Treeotica / DreamSTATE / Leelee Mishi) / High Park Labyrinth 2016-08-27 (Saturday – free! all ages + family friendly! outside!) [FB event]

D I Α N E T I C S . V ["two floors of video/drones/dance/noise/performance"] (feat. Jonas Bers / Philip Baljeu / David Jones & Carolyn Ellen / Cares / Unsay / Xuan Ye / Sapphogeist / Mandelbrut / Vanessa Bee Rieger) / Electric Perfume Gallery 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

Arrington de Dionyso & Pierre-Luc Simon (Raphael Foisy-Couture/Vicky Mettler/Colin Fisher) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

Audiopollination #45.3 (feat. Alex Cunningham/Branko Dzinovic / Alex Cunningham/Myk Freedman/Karen Ng / Alex Cunningham [solo violin]) / Array Space 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

XHE & Healing Power present: WET TECH (feat. New Chance / SourPussy / Tax Haven / Charzar@hotmail.com / XHE Reservoirists) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

Holy Mount (If We Are Machines / Death Panels / Zener Cards) / Handlebar 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

Will Kidman (EONS / Misha Bower) / Church of St. Andrew by-the-lake 2016-08-28 (Sunday – afternoon show, doors @ 4:00 p.m.!) [FB event]

Cell Memory & Castle If (Hexzuul / Psychic Pollution / Mystic Triangle) / Monarch Tavern 2016-08-28 (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!

Fisher/Hundevad/Gennaro (Carl Didur) / Array Space 2016-08-30 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Freeer [Free-Uhr] Records BBQ (feat. Tradition / Andre Charles Theriault / SGVBRIII [Susan Grace Van Beek Rogers III] / Stucco) / a yard on Beaconsfield 2016-09-03 (Saturday – afternoon/evening event!) [FB event]

Optical Sounds Showcase: American Invasion (feat. The Veldt / Your 33 Black Angels / Dyr Faser / B-17) / Double Double Land 2016-09-04 (Sunday) [FB event]

Nite Comfort 37 (feat. SlowPitchSound & Germaine Liu / Heraclitus Akimbo) / Handlebar 2016-09-04 (Sunday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Track Could Bend #18 (feat. Catholic Wilt [new project from Blonde Elvis' Jesse James Laderoute!] / Mark Hundevad & Mike Gennaro / Isla Craig [experimental set]) / Dundas Video 2016-09-06 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Deathsticks (Bonnie Trash / Alpha Strategy / High Streets / Motor Goat) / The Silver Dollar Room 2016-09-09 (Friday) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Bromp Treb / Fleshtone Aura / Julia Male) / Double Double Land 2016-09-09 (Friday) [FB event]

Team Building ["new friends and old share new songs, works in progress, thoughts in sound "] (feat. Luke Kuplowsky / Stephen Prickett / Brittany Brooks / Ian Kehoe / Myra Maines / Thom Gill / Dan Edmonds / Jason Bhattacharya / Geordie Gordon / Lisa Bozikovic / Jessie Kussin / Felicity Williams) / Holy Oak Café 2016-09-11 (Sunday) [FB event]

Rough Idea presents (feat. Grdina/Houle/Loewen / Nick Fraser & Nicole Rampersaud) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-09-14 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Twist [Spectral album release party!] (PKEW PKEW PKEW / Bobbypin) / The Baby G 2016-09-16 (Friday) [FB event]

Ricardo Dias Gomes (Ida Toninato / Kat Estacio) / The Music Gallery 2016-09-17 (Saturday) [FB event]

TRAITRS (Morthouse / Eyeballs / Basement Revolver) / The Silver Dollar Room 2016-09-17 (Saturday) [FB event]

Left Coast Tour Fundraiser (feat. LAL / Lee Reed / Mars Baby 5000) / Supermarket 2016-09-22 (Thursday) [FB event]

Walrus (Crazy Bones / Boat Culture / Father Christmas) / The Silver Dollar Room 2016-09-28 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Merchandise / Public Memory / Whimm / Big School) / The Silver Dollar Room 2016-10-03 (Monday) [FB event]

Weyes Blood (Sahara / Ducks Unlimited) / The Baby G 2016-10-29 (Saturday) [FB event]

Tuns / Lee's Palace 2016-11-04 (Friday) [more info]

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Community corner:

• Christopher Willes and Adam Kinner have brought their interactive Listening Choir project back to town as part of Art of the Danforth. "Enacting a practice of group listening, these walks offer a way of encountering the affective landscapes of public settings together, reflecting on broad notions of common space and participation." It's a really engaging adventure — I took part in last year's edition on Queen West (there's some sonic documentation here) and it was an excellent opportunity to become more present to the sound-world that surrounds us all the time. There are two more walks left on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it's free — you just need to sign up in advance.

Recording: DATU x HATAW

Artist: DATU x HATAW

Song: World Gong Crazy

Recorded at Pia Bouman School for Ballet (SummerWorks: High Blood). August 13, 2016.

DATU x HATAW - World Gong Crazy

Capping off the music shows at this year's SummerWorks Festival was this joint entry from future-R&B crew DATU and dance group HATAW. Both groups share an artistic vision of examining diasporic Filipino culture through a Canadian lens — realized here by going to church and presenting the show as an examination of rituals, Catholic and otherwise.

A true multimedia spectacular with a cast of more than twenty, this involved elaborate choreography and eye-popping costumes besides the music. Those ingredients came together in different ways for each song, pausing to take confessions from audience-members mid-way through. This track was the show-stopping climax, featuring a rap from HanHan while the dancers performed a tinikling dance. Intense, wonderful stuff. This was the clear standout of this year's crop of music shows and it seems inconceivable that it wouldn't get remounted somewhere else.

Recording: Special Costello

Artist: Special Costello

Song: Late Night

Recorded at Pia Bouman School for Ballet (SummerWorks: Sound Circuitz), August 12, 2016.

Special Costello - Late Night

Sometimes, a single moment of flotsam on the pop-culture sea can get lodged in the back of your head and become a personal beacon that endures for years. Like, say, the image of a bird and fish falling in love in an early computer-animation clip. That scene, and others from the Mind's Eye computer animation demos that were repackaged for a generation of Canadian teens as YTV's Short Circutz, was the inspiration for Basement Studio Project (Halloway Jones, Natalie Logan and Heather Rappard), who turned the theatre space into an analogue reconstruction of a computer animated landscape. Giving a huge amount of depth to the room, the audience were welcomed to wander (or dance) around the performers.

Although Jeremy Costello's project works on a different terrain than Baby Cages, the two sets were fine complements for each other. Costello's slo-mo r&b-influenced new romantic constructions were in no hurry to get where they were going, stretching out with a sort of languid satisfaction, though Nick Dourado, on drums and sax, helped nudge things along.

Recording: Baby Cages

Artist: Baby Cages

Song: Dark Arts

Recorded at Pia Bouman School for Ballet (SummerWorks: Sound Circuitz), August 12, 2016.

Baby Cages - Dark Arts

Sometimes, a single moment of flotsam on the pop-culture sea can get lodged in the back of your head and become a personal beacon that endures for years. Like, say, the image of a bird and fish falling in love in an early computer-animation clip. That scene, and others from the Mind's Eye computer animation demos that were repackaged for a generation of Canadian teens as YTV's Short Circutz, was the inspiration for Basement Studio Project (Halloway Jones, Natalie Logan and Heather Rappard), who turned the theatre space into an analogue reconstruction of a computer animated landscape. Giving a huge amount of depth to the room, the audience were welcomed to wander (or dance) around the performers.

Besides contributing to the visual concept, Halloway Jones also performed, fronting her band Baby Cages in a set of ruminative guitar pop. This was the first time I managed to catch Katie Jensen's keyb work with the band, which added some welcome extra textures. Jeremy Costello, a longtime collaborator who also played with his project Special Costello, also adds some backing vox here.

Recording: Counterstasis

Artist: Counterstasis

Song: 11:30

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 12, 2016.

Counterstasis - 11:30

En route to another gig, I only managed to do a brief stop in to say hello and check out the first chunk of the set from this combo of Bill Gilliam (piano, keyb), Joe Sorbara (perc) and Glen Hall (reeds, laptop). But I did manage to catch this engagingly goofy start to things, with a dude at the bar initiating a loud phone conversation just as the musicians were about to start. They picked up on his energy, tossing a couple overheard phrases back and forth as they got going — the opposite of stasis indeed.

Recording: Kurt Marble

Artist: Kurt Marble

Songs: Domestic + Spirit in the Sky [Norman Greenbaum cover]

Recorded at Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement (SummerWorks: Glitter Jesus), August 11, 2016.

Kurt Marble - Domestic

Kurt Marble - Spirit in the Sky

With his glam/grunge take on classic riff rock, Kurt Marble is not, perhaps, such an unlikely candidate to head down the concept album path. Like a lot of concept albums (including several that are considered stone classics) this one was a little daft as a coherent story, but it gave more than enough material for a jukebox musical that took us into the creator's mind-world. Starting with cult-y white robes and spiralling outward from there, it's salient to note of this production that it involved several costume changes and that Roxanne Ignatius' striking costume design was one of its most important elements. It also gave a chance to expand on the band's musical template with guests including Neil Rankin (in his Slime guise) and Maddy Wilde (of Moon King/Spiral Beach fame) who was also the show's co-writer.

Its central tale of the Glitter Jesus was never quite in focus and it was never clear if the whole thing was a sort of satire on hippie earth-mother peace-and-love vibes (or an ardent embrace of same) or a commentary on rockstar ego trips (or a backhanded embrace of same). In that sense, the presence of "Spirit in the Sky", an evangelical gospel song written as a sort of conceptual lark by a Jewish songwriter feels right at home with the piece's unfocused aw-sucks eschatology. But as our hero kept emerging in increasingly-fabulous outfits, eventually taking to the crowd to anoint his seekers with glitter, such concerns simply fell by the wayside. All hail Glitter Jesus!

Recording: Zoo Owl

Artist: Zoo Owl

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement (SummerWorks: Goggles Must Be Worn at All Times), August 11, 2016.

Zoo Owl - unknown

Outside, the weather was as hot and muggy as a rainforest, which felt like an extra bit of stage dressing, as a coastal rainforest is the Zoo Owl's preferred environment. Inside, the theatre was dressed to suggest a scientist's hidden bunker, the setting of an unorthodox "product demo", including Zoo Owl's signature glowing goggles. Mixing his aw-shucks keenness with some slightly-menacing undertones (including maximal corporate surveillance) this felt like the origin story of a mad scientist, flashing back to his days as an idealistic youthful do-gooder before some Terrible Accident sent him down the Wrong Path.

A deeply cinematic thinker, one gets the impression that this is the show that is going on in Bryan Sutherland's head every time he takes the stage. Here, it was enhanced into a true production that included three assistants dashing about to do his bidding with leaf-blowing "crowd scanners" and later a giant, spinning illuminated wheel. There were protagonists as well, including a red-eyed Nemesis and the mysterious Moss Man. Like a summer blockbuster film, the whole thing was a bit narratively thin but its constant momentum meant that while it plowed ahead there was no time to worry whether the underlying story hung together. Taken as a situation with these characters in this particular bunker, it made a weird kind of sense. And like a summer blockbuster, one gets the impression that a sequel could bring twice the spectacle.

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

Recording: Bloodshot Bill

Artist: Bloodshot Bill

Song: two unknown songs^*

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, August 10, 2016.

Bloodshot Bill - [encore track 1]

Bloodshot Bill - [encore track 2]

Back in town with a new album in tow, Montréal's Bloodshot Bill delivered a full dose of huffin', moanin' and snortin' his way through an hour of blues hollers and doo-wop ballads. Songs stop, start and sometimes just switch tracks — hop onto the mystery train and just let it carry you along a spell.

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

Recording: catl

Artist: catl

Song: Hot Baked Cornbread and Spice

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, August 10, 2016.

catl - Hot Baked Cornbread and Spice

It'd been far too long since I'd seen these local blues wranglers, but sometimes a bit of time away from your favourite bands gives you a chance to see 'em with fresh eyes. Which might explain why this hit me as one of the best sets I've ever seen from the band — just back from touring Germany, Jamie Fleming and Sarah Kirkpatrick's telepathic hoodoo delivery was in full force, Kirkpatrick's drums were thunderous joy-bursts and the sweaty raggedness of the whole thing felt just right. A buncha new stuff in the set, too, including this tasty side-dish.

Recording: Suitcase Sam

Artist: Suitcase Sam

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, August 10, 2016.

Suitcase Sam - unknown

The mysterious Suitcase Sam opened up this night of musical devolution, which went from his standard five-piece band, to blues-punk duo catl to solo rockabilly atavism Bloodshot Bill. Sam seems to comes from the same part of the South that The Band were from — in fact, there's so much of The Band's musical DNA grafted into his own work that covering them felt a little too on the nose. But just in case you were worried he weren't genuine, his suitcases were indeed alongside him on stage.

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

Recording: d'bi. & The 333

Artist: d'bi. & The 333

Songs: Revolution Rising + Rest in Peace

Recorded at Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement (SummerWorks), August 9, 2016.

d'bi. & The 333 - Revolution Rising

d'bi. & The 333 - Rest in Peace

Besides presenting the Audience Choice Award-winning "Afro-futurist dub-opera" Bleeders at the festival, d'bi.young anitafrika was also front and centre at this musical performance alongside a powerful backing band that featured some familiar faces such as Waleed Abdulhamid and Patrick O'Reilly. The space was left in its bare-bones black-box theatre configuration, which anitafrika used to her advantage, turning the zone between band and audience into a stage for some monologues between songs. But as a performer with immense presence, her focused eye-contact tended to create dialogical space rather than pulling all the attention onto herself diva-style.

This music pulled from her recent #CivilRightsMixtape EP and beyond, starting and ending with call-to-arms anthem "#BlackLivesMatter". The theme resonated throughout the set that racism and disempowerment must be faced with joy and heart-song to give the necessary energy for the rising-together. There were reflective and tender moments, such as the empathetic "Begging is a Ting" and "Rest in Peace" (which, besides its many spoken-word antecedants in dub poetry and talkover also nudged precisely into the same jangly-guitar sing-speak zone as The Blue Aeroplanes) and no shortage of massive energy-bursts like "Revolution Rising", which brought the audience out into that shared zone between stage and seats to sing together.

Concert Listings Roundup #162

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:

Camp Wavelength (feat. Operators / Jef E. Barbara's Black Space / For Esmé / M.A BEAT! / MATROX / Wolf Saga / Latasha Alcindor a.k.a. L.A. / Brendan Philip) / Artscape Gibraltar Point 2016-08-19 (Friday) [FB event]

Camp Wavelength (feat. Cloud Nothings / Odonis Odonis / Moss Lime / LAL / Spek Won / Casper Skulls / Hex / Guerilla Toss / Petra Glynt / Scott Hardware / Nhapitapi Mbira) / Artscape Gibraltar Point 2016-08-20 (Saturday) [FB event]

Camp Wavelength (feat. Young Galaxy / Lydia Ainsworth / Bruce Peninsula / Bart / Michelle McAdorey / Castle If) / Artscape Gibraltar Point 2016-08-21 (Sunday) [FB event]

Like a weekend at the cottage for the city-bound, Camp Wavelength is a late-summer soul-salve and sonic banquet deluxe. Mixing big names and up-and-comers and tossing them together without undue regard to genre, this is the city's smallest big festival, and one that treats its participants as more than just cattle to be herded through a chute and into the maelstrom of the cultural-fattening pens. Mellow vibes, easy beach access and all sorts of MFS faves up on stage.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Robert Diack Quartet / The Emmett Ray 2016-08-15 (Monday – early show! PWYC!) [more info]

Trios: August Residency (feat. Phil Dwyer/Dan Fortin/Ethan Ardelli) / The Emmet Ray 2016-08-15 (Monday) [FB event]

Mark Segger Sextet / Canterbury Music Company 2016-08-15 (Monday – two sets @ 7:30 and 9 p.m., same music played twice) [FB event]

Harley Alexander (Sunshine and the Blue Moon / Rogue Tenant) / Smiling Buddha 2016-08-15 (Monday) [FB event]

Aurochs (with special guest Andrew Zukerman) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-16 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

case/lang/veirs / The Danforth Music Hall 2016-08-16 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Astrid & Steven Foster + Friends / Holy Oak Café 2016-08-16 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Wolf's Nacho Wednesdays (feat. No Octopus Dances) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-17 (Wednesday – early!)

Wolf's Nacho Wednesdays (feat. Body Help) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-17 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Renny Wilson (The Effens / The Sulks / Chimpanzilla) / The Silver Dollar Room 2016-08-17 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Cousins [solo!] (Lido Pimienta / Dorothea Paas) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-08-17 (Wednesday) [FB event]

The AMBiENT PiNG: 17th Anniversary Ping (feat. Repair / Jacob Watters / Scott Stanley) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-08-18 (Thursday) [FB event]

Omni (Fresh Snow / Tough Age) / Smiling Buddha 2016-08-18 (Thursday) [FB event]

Professor Andy Dolgin's Medicinal Show (feat. The Candy Apple Jazz Band) / The Local Pub 2016-08-18 (Thursday) [FB event]

Vomitface [record release!] (Alpha Strategy / Not Of / Luge) / Smiling Buddha 2016-08-19 (Friday) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Eucalyptus / Loose Scrunchie) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2016-08-19 (Friday) [FB event]

Century Palm (Feel Alright / Blonde Elvis) / Monarch Tavern 2016-08-19 (Friday) [FB event]

Soupcans (Plasmalab / Slow Dawn) / Rok N Rave 2016-08-19 (Friday) [FB event]

Perpetual Stress presents (feat. Surinam / Albatros / Humanities / 1971) / Handlebar 2016-08-20 (Saturday) [FB event]

Switches (Planet Creature / Gold Pony / Camp Girls) / The Silver Dollar Room 2016-08-20 (Saturday) [FB event]

An Evening of Otherworldly Chamber Music (feat. The Cluttertones / Sweet Session) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-08-20 (Saturday) [FB event]

Hooded Fang (Badlands / Bile Sister) / Double Double Land 2016-08-20 (Saturday) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Tom Richards Quartet [Tom Richards/Karen Ng/Jim Sexton/Brandon Valdivia]) / The Emmet Ray 2016-08-21 (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!

Manticore (Within / Cares) / Array Space 2016-08-23 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Prince Nifty (Baby Cages [solo] / Egosystem / Fresh Flesh) / Holy Oak Café 2016-08-23 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Robin Buckley/Emily Denison/Karen Ng/Nilan Perera / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-08-23 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Ambient Apsylum 2016 ["ambient music/visuals/performance"] (feat. Snowday / Jakob Thiesen / naw / Treeotica / DreamSTATE / Leelee Mishi) / High Park Labyrinth 2016-08-27 (Saturday – free! all ages + family friendly! outside!) [FB event]

Audiopollination #45.3 (feat. Alex Cunningham/Branko Dzinovic / Alex Cunningham/Myk Freedman/Karen Ng / Alex Cunningham [solo violin]) / Array Space 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

XHE & Healing Power present: WET TECH (feat. New Chance / SourPussy / Tax Haven / Charzar@hotmail.com / XHE Reservoirists) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

Holy Mount (If We Are Machines / Death Panels / Zener Cards) / Handlebar 2016-08-27 (Saturday) [FB event]

Near Distant Ensemble (Autobahn) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-09-12 (Monday) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Julianna Barwick / Blunt Chunks) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2016-09-17 (Saturday) [FB event]

Partner (Bueller / Cupcake Ductape / Thrifty Kids) / The Horseshoe Tavern 2016-09-21 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Solids (Slow Mass / Not Of) / The Baby G 2016-09-22 (Thursday) [FB event]

Buzz Records presents (feat. Wreckless Eric / Johnny De Courcy / Rogue Tenant) / Smiling Buddha 2016-09-22 (Thursday) [FB event]

ISIS SALAM (Thick Cobra / P0st3rb0y / Bobbypin) / The Baby G 2016-09-30 (Friday) [FB event]

Mild High Club (Alex Calder / Elsa) / The Baby G 2016-10-01 (Saturday) [FB event]

X Avant XI (feat. Egyptrixx / The Dun Dun Band / Deenzi) / The Music Gallery 2016-10-13 (Thursday) [FB event]

X Avant XI: Artist Talk (feat. Pauline Oliveros) / York University – Room TBD 2016-10-14 (Friday – free! 11 a.m. start time) [FB event]

X Avant XI (feat. Pauline Oliveros/Ione/Anne Bourne/Doug Van Nort / Merganzer) [multichannel improvisational performance!] / The Music Gallery 2016-10-14 (Friday) [FB event]

X Avant XI: Deep Listening workshop (feat. Anne Bourne) / The Music Gallery Courtyard 2016-10-15 (Saturday – free! 4 to 6 p.m.!) [FB event]

X Avant XI: Reverberations (feat. Noah Mintz [psychoacoustics talk]) / The Music Gallery 2016-10-15 (Saturday – free! 6 p.m. start) [FB event]

X Avant XI (feat. Sarah Neufeld / Dialectica) / The Music Gallery 2016-10-15 (Saturday) [FB event]

X Avant XI: Music Gallery History Series (feat. Motion) / OCADU – Lambert Lounge 2016-10-16 (Sunday – free! 6 p.m. start!) [FB event]

X Avant XI (feat. Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal–Toronto Art Orchestra) / The Music Gallery 2016-10-16 (Sunday) [FB event]