Recording: Absolutely Free with Contact

Artist: Absolutely Free with Contact Contemporary Music

Songs: [new song] + Two Cares Due None^*

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Festival – Day 2), September 3, 2016.

Absolutely Free with Contact Contemporary Music - [new song]

Absolutely Free with Contact Contemporary Music - Two Cares Due None

A lovely day, warm in the sun with a cool breeze, the Intersection Festival once again filled Dundas Square with music of all kinds, offering a counterpoint to business at usual in the ad-basked concrete canyon. With Tad Michalak (of Burn Down the Capital/Feast in the East) again taking a leading role in curating the day, the music had nods to the festival's more chamber music-intensive past while upping the noise and weirdness reverberating off the surrounding walls. That had a sort of push-pull effect on the passers-by, sometimes drawing them in, sometimes causing evident confusion and moving along.

The night ended with a headlining set that was true to Intersection's past while completing a satisfactory arc for the day. Bringing together Contact Contemporary Music — the event's founders — with adventurous local rock trio Absolutely Free pushed them both a little away from their usual sonic spheres. At the start, with the band playing some songs from their regular setlist, it felt a bit more like mere tacked-on orchestral adornment, but as the set progressed, that balance shifted. By the end, with the band presenting some of their soundtrack work the larger ensemble felt quite integral to the whole — and I don't imagine we'll see so many chances for the band to tackle this on so grand a scale on stage again.

[Absolutely Free will be playing a short set (billed as "Absolutely Free vs Absolutely Free") tonight (September 28th) at the Forms Festival at the Great Hall.]

^* Does anyone know the title to these? It seems fair enough to assume the closing soundtrack piece is from Two Cares Due None, but I'm not sure if this was a series of cues or a more extended composition. Please leave a comment if you know these!