Recording: The Highest Order

Artist: The Highest Order

Song: Had a Good Run

Recorded at Prairie Drive Park (Feast in the East 69), July 7, 2018.

The Highest Order - Had a Good Run

A most pleasant day out in the park ended with a set from The Highest Order, mixing some stretched-out groovers with some jukebox nuggets like this one. A good enough set to bring out the local fire department, and a conclusion to an excellently-organized day providing food and entertainment to the locals and bringing some of the "downtown music crowd" even further east than usual into this big city.

[The Highest Order will be warming things up for The Weather Station at the Mod Club on Saturday September 29th. Feast in the East will be back inside at Matt Durant Studio on Saturday, September 15th featuring some heavy weirdness from Whimm, Slurry, Cruise and Leucrocuta.]

Recording: Eric Landry

Artist: Eric Landry

Songs: Nightmare Train + Peaceful Sioux Village, Until...

Recorded at Recorded at Prairie Drive Park (Feast in the East 69), July 7, 2017.

Eric Landry - Nightmare Train

Eric Landry - Peaceful Sioux Village, Until...

The citified version of nature on offer in Prairie Drive Park is shaped and marked by its human inhabitants more forcibly than some far-off forest, but it still felt like a suitable space to present Eric Landry's songs and stories, which quite often draw strength and inspiration from the natural world. As the day's humidity turned toward dusk's damp, Landry let his guitar do a lot of the talking, mixing in a few more instrumentals than at his last performance in these parts. And, showing off the depth of his songbook, this set actually didn't overlap that much with that previous show — it'll be a real occasion when his long-awaited album finally emerges, and hopefully that'll give him cause to return to the city once again.

[Feast in the East will be back inside at Matt Durant Studio on Saturday, September 15th featuring some heavy weirdness from Whimm, Slurry, Cruise and Leucrocuta.]

Recording: Faun Fables

Artist: Faun Fables

Song: Ydun

Recorded at Prairie Drive Park (Feast in the East 69), July 7, 2017.

Faun Fables - Ydun

Feast in the East's third excursion to Prairie Drive Park lead off with some suitably rustic sounds from Oakland's Dawn McCarthy and Nils Frykdahl. The music refracted various strands of folk music — mostly those that feature songs about mysterious goings-on in darkened forests, making this appearance at the edge of Scarborough (at a most pleasant park trailing off into one of the city's many ravines) feel especially apt.

[Feast in the East will be back inside at Matt Durant Studio on Saturday, September 15th featuring some heavy weirdness from Whimm, Slurry, Cruise and Leucrocuta.]

Recording: Jessica Stuart x Michael Davidson

Artist: Jessica Stuart x Michael Davidson

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #40), July 3, 2018.

Jessica Stuart x Michael Davidson - [excerpt 1]

Jessica Stuart x Michael Davidson - [excerpt 2]

One of the city's busier musicians, Jessica Stuart's other contexts include fronting her namesake indie soul-prog trio and serving in Canada's finest Radiohead tribute band, and I'd been hoping to have her do some experimenting at TCB for quite a while now. Not only did Stuart bring out a vintage Ibanez delay pedal to explore with, she also enlisted the assistance of Michael Davidson, the city's #1 vibraphone guy (purveyor of Monk's Music and found in a wide range of ensembles) who himself wanted to try out a loop pedal. That let them explore some lovely soundscapes, as well push further outside from that zone, a very pleasing encounter to round out the night.

[You can find Jessica Stuart playing all over the city, but your next chance will be Thursday (August 30th) at her extra-early-slot Tranzac residency, trading some songs with Harley Card. Track Could Bend will be back downstairs at Wenona next Tuesday (September 4th), featuring sets from Saturn City, Sarah Tracy and Very Many.]

Recording: American Standard Trio

Artist: American Standard Trio

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #40), July 3, 2018.

American Standard Trio - [excerpt]

Although this was the first official show for this unit, its constituent members have worked together in other projects — and were working together enough in finding this project's sonic space that their first tape (issued by Heretical Objects Cooperative) was out before this first gig. Self-consciously applying the tools of "noise" music to the structures of free jazz, the trio have found their own path into the cut'n'paste electroacoustic realm, with glubbering spoken word samples, abstract piano stabs and disembodied violin all finding their way into the mix. And though this audio sample might imply a fairly serious musical mentality, their live presentation (which included visuals reconstructed from videogame cutscenes) broadened that context into a more playful realm.

[Dame Cook (one-third of American Standard Trio) is performing at Nite Comfort, this Sunday (September 2nd) at Handlebar. Track Could Bend will be back downstairs at Wenona next Tuesday (September 4th), featuring sets from Saturn City, Sarah Tracy and Very Many.]

Recording: Fleshtone Aura

Artist: Fleshtone Aura

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #40), July 3, 2018.

Fleshtone Aura - [excerpt]

Settling into a new home in the basement of Wenona Lodge, it was a thrill to lead off a chapter with one of the community's musical stalwarts. Andrew Zukerman's synthbursts included a few of his Pinteresque pauses early on, then built up an off-kilter rhythm from there — although this was a solo set, one could sense the influence of his collaborative dance works being incorporated into his musical practice.

[Track Could Bend will be back downstairs at Wenona next Tuesday (September 4th), featuring sets from Saturn City, Sarah Tracy and Very Many.]

Concert Listings Roundup #265

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 1/The Music Gallery's Departures Series (feat. Suzanne Ciani [film + concert] / Louise Campbell) / Revue Cinema 2018-08-31 (Friday) [FB event]

Intersection Day 2 (feat. The Cosmic Range / TONSTARTSSBANDHT / Nadja / Insect Ark / Pantayo / Craig Dunsmuir's Dun Dun Band / Contact Contemporary Music / Deenzi / Allison Cameron / Tina Pearson [sound installation]) / Yonge-Dundas Square 2018-09-01 (Saturday – free! outside! all-ages + family-friendly! manifestation of strange sounds in unusual spaces!) [FB event]

Intersection Day 3 (feat. Dunn/Haas / Roughhousing / junctQín) / Canadian Music Centre 2018-09-02 (Sunday) [FB event]

Profiting again from its association with Burn Down the Capital's Tad Michalak, Intersection is once more bringing a day of joyfully-skewed sounds to the ad-blasted concrete valley at Yonge-Dundas Square. A totally superb day of free performances is surrounded by two fab ticketed events — though if you haven't managed to grab one yet for Susan Ciani's quadraphonic performance you might be scrambling at this point. The hidden gem is Sunday's comedown session at stately Chalmers House, celebrating the new duo album from Doc Dun and Andy Haas.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Colin Fisher/Kurt Newman/Mike Gennaro / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-27 (Monday – extra early set @ 6 p.m.!) [FB event]

Tara Kannangara/Rob Grieve/Alex Fournier/Colin Hinton [playing Paul Motian tunes and Motian-related music] / The Emmet Ray 2018-08-27 (Monday) [FB event]

Ryan Driver (Dana Sipos / Dana Gavanski) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-08-27 (Monday) [FB event]

Spencer Cole/Josh Cole/Nicole Rampersaud/Colin Fisher / Pamenar 2018-08-28 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Lina Allemano Four (Titanium Riot) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-28 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Jessica Stuart presents (feat. Harley Card / Jessica Stuart) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-30 (Thursday – extra-early set @ 5 p.m.!) [FB event]

Aurochs / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-31 (Friday – early!)

Harley Card/Mike DeiCont/Laura Swankey/Victor Vrankulj / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-31 (Friday) [FB event]

Owl's Club fundraiser (feat. Alpha Strategy [LP release!] / Clamps / Persons / Greydini / Eyeballs/ Bile Sister) / Handlebar 2018-08-31 (Friday) [FB event]

Nerd Noise Night (feat. Odonis Odonis / More or Les / Wordburglar) / The Rec Room 2018-09-01 (Saturday) [FB event]

Chris Pruden/Laura Swankey/Patrick O'Reilly / The Rex Hotel 2018-09-02 (Sunday – early!) [FB event]

Nite Comfort 59 (feat. Dame Cook / Carlo Conda / Handlebar 2018-09-22 (Sunday – PWYC!) [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!

Mike DeiCont/Nick Fraser/Karen Ng/Brodie West / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-09-09 (Sunday) [FB event]

Nick Fraser Quartet w/ Tony Malaby / The Rex 2018-09-12 (Wednesday) [FB event]

THE AMBiENT PiNG (feat. Ortiz / Shimmer Crush) / Handlebar 2018-09-12 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Secret Sign (Valerie Dour / Girls Rituals / LONER) / Handlebar 2018-09-13 (Thursday) [FB event]

Zula (Rapport / Loji / Zoë Alexis-Abrams) / The Baby G 2018-09-14 (Friday) [FB event]

Future States (L CON / Goosebump) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-09-16 (Sunday) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Paul de Jong / Charles Spearin / Joni Void + Sarah Pagé) / Handlebar 2018-09-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

Night Owl Festival Night 1 (feat. MIEN / Yamantaka//Sonic Titan / Petra Glynt / Whip Kisser) / Velvet Underground 2018-09-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

Wavelength 765 (feat. Joyfultalk / Mimico / Invisible Out) / Array Space 2018-09-28 (Friday – all ages!) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Jerusalem In My Heart / Sarah Pagé) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-10-03 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Keiji Haino / Brian Ruryk) / Jam Factory 2018-10-09 (Tuesday – all ages!) [FB event]

Invocation presents (feat. Charalambides / Kapali Carsi) / Array Space 2018-10-12 (Friday) [FB event]

The Burning Hell (David Newberry) / The Baby G 2018-12-19 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Recording: Newman-Abbott-Milmine

Artist: Paul Newman/Brian Abbott/Kayla Milmine

Song: [1st set improvisation]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 2, 2018.

Paul Newman/Brian Abbott/Kayla Milmine - [1st set improvisation]

In an extra-early set that cruised the boundaries between performance and open rehearsal, this trio (frequent collaborators in all possible combinations) settled into the blissful coolness of the Southern Cross on a sticky, sweltering day to try out some new compositions. Surveying mockingbirds, the Moon, and The Beagle, the pieces had plenty of drift, distortion-bursts and even some deflating balloon squeaks. Given their keen interest in the material (and a modest, undemanding audience) the trio decided to survey a couple of the pieces again in a second set. They also closed out each of the sets with an improvisation, and given these players' familiarity with each others' conceptions, those spontaneous pieces had a similar feel to where they had just been with the through-composed work.

Recording: Baby Cages

Artist: Baby Cages

Songs: Flowers + Polly

Recorded at Owl's Club, June 29, 2018.

Baby Cages - Flowers

Baby Cages - Polly

A brightly-coloured celebration in support of the new bitter melon (an ambitious project that also exists as a video album) saw the band, a half-dozen wide, in neon fruity finery. Focused on the new release, Halloway Jones and co. offered up a concise set, showing off the new songs' diverse moods — ranging from the tautly-drawn Cate Le Bon-ish spareness to the lush and tender balladry heard in this pair. The release of a project is always a marker of beginnings and endings, so it was a treat to hear the fuller arrangements here, including Katie Jensen's vibraphone, before the band transforms into new shapes.

Recording: Deathsticks

Artist: Deathsticks

Songs: Buzzkill + Mountain Men

Recorded at The Garrison's front room, June 28, 2018.

Deathsticks - Buzzkill

Deathsticks - Mountain Men

This Ottawa duo jammed out some metallic slop-punk nuggets with a casual telepathy like they were just casually hanging' out in their basement. The shouty vocals were often indistinct (as they often are on the pair's recorded output as well) but they pulled into focus enough to get their sentiments across — or as drummer Laura Klinduch would shout, "what the fuck's goin' on?"

Recording: Stargoon

Artist: Stargoon

Song: [first section]

Recorded at The Garrison's front room, June 28, 2018.

Stargoon - [first section]

Bespoke feedback-crafter Matthew Fava had to sit this one out, so straight-horn theorist Kayla Milmine was drafted to add some soprano sax to this set. That gave a refreshing new twist to some older strategies, and a chance to explore dynamics in a different way than usual. This opening segment of the set shows how things things recombined enroute to achieving disco-kosmische escape velocity.

[No Stargoon-related escapades on the immediate horizon, but at always, Kayla Milmine will be all over the city making music. One noteworthy upcoming show is an appearance by Wow & Flutter (Kayla Milmine, Bea Labikova & Sarah Peebles) at the Music Gallery on Friday, September 21st, opening things up at the Brodie West Quintet's release celebration.]

Concert Listings Roundup #264

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:

Castle If [Sector 03 album release!] (Scott Hardware) / The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst 2018-08-25 (Saturday) [FB event]

It will be a thrill to see Jess Forrest make her return to The Music Gallery — though things have changed a bunch in less than a year and a half since her previous MG performance. Now settled in and ready to launch their second season at 918 Bathurst, expect further developments (and new chairs!) from the Music Gallery as they continue to discover how to fully occupy their new space. And meanwhile, Forrest has gone from an "Emergent" to celebrating the long-awaited release of her sci-fi concept album Sector 03. It's also a slightly bittersweet occasion as Forrest has indicated that after this she'll be stepping back from live performance for the foreseeable future, so that makes this an even more essential show.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Jeff LaRochelle Quartet [Luan Phung/Søren Nissen/Ian Wright/Jeff LaRochelle] / The Emmet Ray 2018-08-20 (Monday) [FB event]

Tetsuo (Love Children of the Apocalypse) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-21 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Ken McDonald 4 (Moneyhouse) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-21 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Pantayo (Liz Hogg / Goosebump) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-08-22 (Wednesday – early show @ 6 p.m.!) [FB event]

Are We Not Devo? We Are Not! [Andrew Payne/Sarah Ford/Alex Hamlyn/Mike Simpson/Jesse Locke] [covering perform Devo's first album on the 40th anniversary of its release!] / The Baby G 2018-08-22 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Thin Edge New Music Collective [works by Brian Harman, Kotoka Suzuki, Kenji Sakai, Takahiro Kuroda, Yuka Shibuya, Takeo Hoshiya, Linda Catlin Smith] / Array Space 2018-08-22 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Falcon Jane [album release!] (L CON / nutrients) / The Gladstone Hotel 2018-08-23 (Thursday) [FB event]

Digits (Most People / Cage / Jazz Funeral) / Handlebar 2018-08-23 (Thursday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Robert Grieve [solo guitar] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-23 (Thursday) [FB event]

Double EP Release Concert (feat. Kohen Hammond / Mingjia Chen & Tortoise Orchestra) / Heliconian Club 2018-08-23 (Thursday) [FB event]

Fake Humans (Nilan Perera/Lina Allemano) / Pamenar Café 2018-08-23 (Thursday) [FB event]

Nhapitapi / Island Café 2018-08-24 (Friday – all ages! PWYC!) [FB event]

Short Memory 4 [Pete Johnston/David Aaron/Jake Oelrichs/Bob Wiseman] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-24 (Friday – early!)

Friendly Rich with Nihilist Spasm Band (Dinner is Ruined Band) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2018-08-24 (Friday) [FB event]

Moonwood [cassette + 7" release celebration!] (Dark Bird) / The Dupe Shop 2018-08-25 (Saturday – afternoon show! PWYC! all ages!) [FB event]

Ancient Shapes (New Swears) / Lee's Palace 2018-08-25 (Saturday) [FB event]

Body Break (Prom Nite / WLMRT / Scorpio Rising) / Faith/Void 2018-08-25 (Saturday) [FB event]

The Cluttertones (Thom Gill) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-26 (Sunday – early!) [FB event]

Furniture Music VI (feat. Colin Avery Hinton / No Seas) / Red Eye Espresso 2018-08-26 (Sunday) [FB event]

Awakebutstillinbed (Jordaan Mason / Found Objects / Hesitate) / The Baby G 2018-08-26 (Sunday) [FB event]

Synaptic Circus Sundays (feat. Gemaine Liu/Brodie West/Andrew Zukerman / TBA) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-26 (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!

Ryan Driver (Dana Sipos / Dana Gavanski) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-08-27 (Monday) [FB event]

Lina Allemano Four (Titanium Riot) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-28 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Dust / Environmental Outdoor Classroom @ Tommy Thompson Park 2018-09-03 (Monday – outside! performance at dusk!) [FB event]

Zoe Guigueno [EP Release!] (Alex Lukashevsky) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-09-03 (Monday) [FB event]

Track Could Bend #42 (feat. Saturn City / Sarah Tracy / Very Many) / Wenona Lodge 2018-09-04 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Audiopollination 63 (feat. michael lynn/Ryan Kinney/Adriana Monti / Edgar Sibelius/Adam Scime/Jacqueline C. Leung / David Story/Alex Whyte/MJ Wright / Kayla Milmine/Dawne Carleton) / Array Space 2018-09-08 (Saturday) [FB event]

BART (Wax Atlantic / Matt "Doc" Dunn) / Monarch Tavern 2018-09-08 (Saturday) [FB event]

Lonely Parade [LP release!] (Bike Thiefs / Gloin / Labradoodle) / Duffy's Tavern 2018-09-14 (Friday) [FB event]

Sounding Difference: the text scores of Pauline Oliveros [participatory listening and sounding choir] (feat. Anne Bourne with special guest Daniela Gesundheit) / The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst 2018-09-15 (Saturday – afternoon event! free with registration!) [FB event]

Feast In The East 70 (feat. Whimm / Whip Kisser / Slurry / Leucrocuta) / Matt Durant Studio 2018-09-15 (Saturday – all ages!) [FB event]

Baanya [tape release!] (Ryan Carley) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-09-16 (Sunday – early show @ 5:30!) [FB event]

Not Of [LP release!] (Nailbiter / Cellos) / The Baby G 2018-09-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

Machine Moon / Rampancy + Rob Michalchuk / Beggin' for Oxys / Faith/Void 2018-09-28 (Friday) [FB event]

Silent Shout (feat. Plazas / New Chance / Katie McBride / Isla Den) / Handlebar 2018-09-29 (Saturday) [FB event]

Destroyer [solo] (Andre Ethier / Sandro Perri) / The Great Hall 2018-10-21 (Sunday) [FB event]

Exploded View feat. Anika (Forma / Dusted) / The Garrison 2018-11-03 (Saturday) [FB event]

Jennifer Castle (Jeremy Dutcher) / The Danforth Music Hall 2018-12-15 (Saturday) [FB event]

Recording: Isla Craig

Artist: Isla Craig

Songs: Faraway Blue + Bold Poachers [traditional, feat. Martha Farquhar-McDonnell]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 24, 2018.

Isla Craig - Faraway Blue

Isla Craig - Bold Poachers

The release of Isla Craig's The Becoming (on vinyl from Pleasence Records) felt like a worthy occasion for celebration. Perhaps because I'd been watching these songs emerge for several years now it felt especially joyful to witness this culmination and this beginning. Soulful excursions with slick, languid grooves, the tunes were delivered with a stageful of friends and close collaborators, including her band with Evan Cartwright (drums), Bram Gielen (bass) and Johnny Spence (synth) augmented by Jonathan Adjemian (synth) and Vic Cheong (backing vox) throughout. There were also guest turns from Colin Fisher on sax plus a duet with Martha Farquhar-McDonnell — the latter on a Steeleye Span-inspired number linking folksongs of the bygone forest emerald green with the folksongs of the city we're in today.

[Isla Craig will be performing at the second annual Venus Fest, on Saturday, September 22nd at The Opera House alongside Bully, Partner and Vallens.]

Recording: Eiyn Sof

Artist: Eiyn Sof

Songs: Heavy Low + [piece for vocal loops]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 24, 2018.

Eiyn Sof - Heavy Low

Eiyn Sof - [piece for vocal loops]

Isla Craig's album release show featured another excellent vocalist opening up the night, with Melissa Boraski offering a solo take on some of her psych-folk concoctions. Besides journeying through her songbook, the set also ended with a demonstration of her prowess on the loop pedal, assembling an intricately-constructed piece on the fly.

Recording: Fake Humans

Artist: Fake Humans

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 23, 2018.

Fake Humans - [excerpt]

Celebrating Exegesis (this project's debut recording, which has so far only partially emerged online) Carl Didur and Colin Fisher entered into the same zone for some deep sonic hermeneutics. Didur provided a seamless mix of taishogoto, synth, keyb and space echo while Fisher marked the set's transitions while shifting from guzheng to drumkit to sax, both enfolding and navigating the parallel dimensions of inner and other space.

Recording: Mark Hundevad

Artist: Mark Hundevad

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 23, 2018.

Mark Hundevad - [excerpt]

Fake Humans' musical space is vast and cosmologically ecumenical, so it was befitting to see some different types of sounds in the opening sets of their album release party. As an improviser who can surprise with his deft facility on several instruments, it was not surprising (but fully astonishing!) to see Mark Hundevad sit at the piano for this tribute to his friend and mentor Cecil Taylor. Rollin' and clompin', there were raucous variations on some of Taylor's themes here, as well as a few more introspective lacunae.

Recording: Blisk

Artist: Blisk

Songs: unknown song + two unknown songs^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 23, 2018.

Blisk - unknown song

Blisk - two unknown songs

Fake Humans' musical space is vast and cosmologically ecumenical, so it was befitting to see some different types of sounds in the opening sets of their album release party. Offering some pan Eastern-European vocal drones and whoops, Blisk opened the night with some enthusiastically melancholy songs. Folk dances, wayward brides and warnings about mermaids all made an appearance, backed by hand percussion and a bit of accordion and drone pipes. Wonderful stuff, with a sense of a different musical sensibility emanating from another time and place.

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

Concert Listings Roundup #263

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:

The 17th Annual Small World Music Festival (feat. Daraa Tribes / Vieux Farka Touré) / Harbourfront Centre (Concert Stage) 2018-08-17 (Friday – free! outdoors! all-ages + family-friendly!) [more info]

There's a lot to delve into at Small World's 17th Annual Music Festival, moving this year to Harbourfront Centre for the weekend. But the true highlight is a free concert with one of the world's great guitar players. Joyfully effortless virtuosity (and plenty groovin'!) should go down just perfect down on the lake shore, so this one is not to be missed.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Meandering Streams of Consciousness [Cheryl Ockrant/Mickie Lynn/Rod Campbell/Avesta Nakhaei] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-13 (Monday – extra-early slot, 6 to 8 p.m.!) [FB event]

The Holy Oak Family Singers Present: Lightfoot (feat. Tamara Lindeman/Thom Gill/Luke Kuplowsky/Ben Whiteley/Felicity Williams/Alex Lukashevsky/Robin Dann/Ben Gunning/Evan Cartwright) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-08-13 (Monday) [FB event]

Ornate Presents (feat. Mike DeiCont [solo bass]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-14 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Bloom (Tryal / Sea Beau) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-08-14 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Dan Friedman/Kurt Newman/Allison Cameron (William Davison/Allison Cameron) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-15 (Wednesday – early!) [FB event]

Josh Cole Quartet [Nicole Rampersaud/Michael Davidson/Brandon Valdivia/Josh Cole] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Moon King (Nyssa / Mother Tongues) / Lula Lounge 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

John Kameel Farah [Strands EP release!] / Monarch Tavern 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Tania Gill Quartet [Tania Gill/Lina Allemano/Nico Dann/Rob Clutton] / The Rex 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Topography [Dave Riedstra] (Velvet Crystals [Emilie Gelinas-Noble/Austin Lamarche/Olivia Shortt/Katherine Watson]) / Array Space 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

AMBiENT PiNG's 19th Anniversary (feat. Whisper Room [Aidan Baker/Neil Wiernik/Jakob Thiesen] / Weep, O' Mine Eyes) / Handlebar 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Nidus [Marc Couroux/Jason Doell/Matthew Ramolo] (Reductive Transduction) / Celestina 2018-08-16 (Thursday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Dusted [LP Release!] (Sauna / Sahara) / Monarch Tavern 2018-08-16 (Thursday) [FB event]

Music in Trillium Park (feat. Cris Derksen Trio / Wolf Saga) / Trillium Park @ Ontario Place 2018-08-16 (Thursday – free! outside! all-ages and family-friendly!) [FB event]

Rotten Column (Crying High / Big Buff / Hag) / Ozzy's Palace 2018-08-17 (Friday) [FB event]

Camp Wavelength (feat. SUUNS / TOPS / Zaki Ibrahim / Maylee Todd / Sydanie / Nate Husser / chastity / Helena Deland / Rapport / Moscow Apartment) / Fort York (Garrison Common) 2018-08-18 (Saturday) [FB event]

Dancing in the Park (feat. HanHan w/ Datu and Hataw) / Aga Khan Park 2018-08-18 (Saturday – free! outside! all-ages + family-friendly!) [more info]

Ace of Wands [10,000 Feet EP Release!] (Beams / Ron Hawkins / When Particles Collide) / The Horseshoe Tavern 2018-08-18 (Saturday) [FB event]

Camp Wavelength (feat. Chad Vangaalen / Yamantaka//Sonic Titan / FRIGS / Casper Skulls / Mauno / Bernice / TRP.P / Boyhood / Aidan Baker) / Fort York (Garrison Common) 2018-08-19 (Sunday) [FB event]

Diane Roblin Presents "Neighbourly Music" (feat. Diane Roblin/Brian Abbott/Kayla Milmine) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-19 (Sunday – early!)

Slip, Slop, Slap: Experiment! (feat. KASHKA / L CON) / Handlebar 2018-08-19 (Sunday) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Joe Sorbara 5 [Tania Gill/Rebecca Hennessy/Michael Herring/Andrew Kay/Joe Sorbara] / Joe Sorbara 4 [Irene Harrett/Andrew Kay/Jonathan Kay/Joe Sorbara]) / The Emmet Ray 2018-08-19 (Sunday – PWYC!) [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!

Digits (Most People / Cage / Jazz Funeral) / Handlebar 2018-08-23 (Thursday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Robert Grieve [solo guitar] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-23 (Thursday) [FB event]

Awakebutstillinbed (Jordaan Mason / Found Objects / Hesitate) / The Baby G 2018-08-26 (Sunday) [FB event]

Intersection 1/The Music Gallery's Departures Series (feat. Suzanne Ciani [film + concert] / Louise Campbell) / Revue Cinema 2018-08-31 (Friday) [FB event]

Intersection Day 2 (feat. The Cosmic Range / TONSTARTSSBANDHT / Nadja / Insect Ark / Pantayo / Craig Dunsmuir's Dun Dun Band / Contact Contemporary Music / Deenzi / Allison Cameron / Tina Pearson [sound installation]) / Yonge-Dundas Square 2018-09-01 (Saturday – free! outside! all-ages + family-friendly! manifestation of strange sounds in unusual spaces!) [FB event]

Intersection Day 3 (feat. Dunn/Haas / Roughhousing / junctQín) / Canadian Music Centre 2018-09-02 (Sunday) [FB event]

Bidiniband (Paul, Doug and Phil) / Linsmore Tavern 2018-09-06 (Thursday) [FB event]

DDL Unlimited Presents (feat. The Space Lady / New Chance / Carl Didur featuring Mike McLean / Bearbara) / The Boat 2018-09-13 (Thursday) [FB event]

Brodie West Quintet [Clips album release!] (Wow and Flutter [Kayla Milmine/Bea Labikova/Sarah Peebles]) / The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst 2018-09-21 (Friday) [FB event]

Meandering Streams of Consciousness [Rana Mireskandari/Anoush Tabaei/Bea Labikova/Peter Lutek/Rod Campbell/Avesta Nakhaei/Aline Homzy/Cheryl Ockrant/Rob Clutton] / Burdock Music Hall 2018-09-29 (Saturday – early show @ 6 p.m.!) [FB event]

Laura Swankey [Once More EP release!] (ZOË / b mcc-b & nxmie) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-10-04 (Thursday) [FB event]

X AVANT XIII (feat. Tasman Richardson / See Monsters / CreeAsian) / The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst 2018-10-11 (Thursday) [FB event]

X AVANT XIII (feat. Maria Chavez / Geronimo Inutiq / respectfulchild) / The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst 2018-10-12 (Friday) [FB event]

X AVANT XIII (feat. Los Poetas [CD release!] / Above Top Secret / Ziibiwan) / The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst 2018-10-13 (Saturday) [FB event]

X AVANT XIII (feat. Narcy / Jennifer Kreisberg / Lillian Allen) / The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst 2018-10-14 (Sunday) [FB event]

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Bandcamp corner:

• Just in case you need to decompress, or to consider something intricate and lovely, David Sait has just released this new set of solo improvised guzheng instrumentals.

Recording: Oren Ambarchi & Will Guthrie

Artist: Oren Ambarchi & Will Guthrie

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Jam Factory (TONE Festival/The Music Gallery's Departures Series), June 19, 2018.

Oren Ambarchi & Will Guthrie - [excerpt]

The night's visiting headliners closed their eyes and generated an expanding sonic sphere, slowly amping up rumbles and drones into an extended peak at maximum velocity. The long, steady swelling-up was buoyed by Ambarchi's mess of wires and electronics (creating at times an almost hurdy-gurdy tonality) and nudged ever forward by Guthrie's rolling/roiling percussion.

[The Departures Series will be returning on August 31st with a film screening and live quadraphonic performance from Suzanne Ciani, which is itself the first event of the Burn Down The Capital-curated Intersection Festival.]

Recording: Jazz Bras Dot Com

Artist: Jazz Bras Dot Com

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Jam Factory (TONE Festival/The Music Gallery's Departures Series), June 19, 2018.

Jazz Bras Dot Com - [excerpt]

If it takes a festival invite or other similar situation to facilitate the logistics of bringing this pan-continental trio together, then a helluva lot more festivals need to get with the program, as this was fabulous stuff. Mixing Elisa Thorn's harp, Jessica Ackerely's guitar and Laura Swankey's treated vocals, this felt like an expansive conversation between three old friends, where deeper connections held together what might seem like nonlinear superficial riffing — three parallel lines meeting at infinity, sort of a musical equivalent of ye olde impossible trident.

[Laura Swankey, JBDC's local representative, will be celebrating an EP Release of her work for solo voice and electronics with a show at Burdock on Thursday, October 4th. The Departures Series will be returning on August 31st with a film screening and live quadraphonic performance from Suzanne Ciani, which is itself the first event of the Burn Down The Capital-curated Intersection Festival.]

Recording: Retired

Artist: Retired

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Jam Factory (TONE Festival/The Music Gallery's Departures Series), June 19, 2018.

Retired - unknown

This jazz-punk quartet lead off an excellent night of rampaging sonic explorations at the Jam Factory. Spread out in a line across the stage zone they pushed out a walloping wall of sound — Adam Hanrahan's bass drowned out Alex Howard's sax a bit, but when they leaned in to focus (such as on the slow-simmering piece heard here, building up from from a menacing Freeze drone and some looped step oscillations from Hanrahan's bass) it was powerful stuff.

[The Departures Series will be returning on August 31st with a film screening and live quadraphonic performance from Suzanne Ciani, which is itself the first event of the Burn Down The Capital-curated Intersection Festival.]

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

Recording: The Revival Ensemble

Artist: The Revival Ensemble

Songs: Amad + Blue Pepper (Far East of the Blues) [composers: Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (TONE Festival), June 17, 2018.

The Revival Ensemble - Amad

The Revival Ensemble - Blue Pepper (Far East of the Blues)

One of TONE Festival's more ambitious undertakings, this event saw reedist Ted Crosby wrangling a stage full of local improvisers (and incorporating the members of openers Sick Boss Löve) to form a thirteen-member orchestra interpreting (and bursting outward from) Duke Ellington's The Far East Suite. Organized into three "days", these mini-suites stretched out the original themes, deepened the grooves and gave plenty of chances for individual members to shine with solos.

As far as I could tell, the ensemble was:

• Ted Crosby - reeds
• Lisen Rylander Löve - reeds
• Karen Ng - reeds
• Alan Mackie - violin
• Lina Allemano - trumpet
• Rebecca Hennessy - trumpet
• Ryan Brouwer - trumpet
• Michael Davidson - vibraphone
• Scott Thomson - trombone
• Harley Card - guitar
• Cole Schmidt - guitar
• James Meger - bass
• Dan Gaucher - drums

Recording: Sick Boss Löve

Artist: Sick Boss Löve

Song: [second section]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (TONE Festival), June 17, 2018.

Sick Boss Löve - [second section]

Before enfolding into an even larger ensemble later in the evening, this quartet already represented a pooling of resources. Vancouver's Cole Schmidt (guit), James Meger (bass) and Dan Gaucher (drums/synth) have been exploring together as Sick Boss for a while now (joined by many West Coast/Drip Audio all-stars from time to time) and on this tour were augmented by Gothenburg's Lisen Rylander Löve (sax/vox/electronics). At the outset, the group were striking glancing blows off each other before burrowing into some shared sonic spaces, with Löve adding textures + manipulated sounds to deepen the mind-meld.

Concert Listings Roundup #262

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:

Track Could Bend #41 (feat. Debashis Sinha / Luyos MC / No Seas) / Wenona Lodge 2018-08-07 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Shaking off the long weekend doldrums, there's entirely too much going this week, so once again there's hard choices to be made (Thursday, for example, has no fewer than three excellent shows going down, and the weekend is pretty jam-packed, including excellent African music throughout at Harbourfront's Habari Festival) but in the summer rush of it all, take care not to miss the modest pleasures, like Tuesday's stacked bill at Track Could Bend. Settling into the cozy basement digs at Wenona Lodge, expect a variety of flavours, from Alexei Orechin's ambient/noise for tapes'n'guitar, to Luyos MC's soft power kulintang fusions to Debashis Sinha's electroacoustic investigations.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Colin Fisher/Josh Cole/Spencer Cole / The Emmet Ray 2018-08-06 (Monday) [FB event]

Greene/Theriot (b mcc-b & Kristen Zimmer / Kontraband Kollektif) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2018-08-06 (Monday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Jessica Moss [Aug. 6th] / KGD [Aug. 7th]) / The Phoenix 2018-08-06–2018-08-07 (Monday–Tuesday) [FB event]

The Mike Smith Company / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-07 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Peripheral Vision (FNQ [Bryan Qu/Kurt Newman/Nick Fraser]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-07 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Greene/Theriot (Cory Harper-Latkovich / Kontraband Kollektif) / Glad Day Bookshop 2018-08-08 (Wednesday – early show @ 7 p.m.!) [FB event]

Lina Allemano/Nate Renner/Mark Segger / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-08 (Wednesday – early!)

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Sarah Davachi / Uxvae / Moth Ash) / The Baby G 2018-08-09 (Thursday) [FB event]

Music in the Park (feat. Kamancello / Castle If / Absolutely Free) / Ontario Place (Trillium Park) 2018-08-09 (Thursday – free! outside! all-ages!) [FB event]

Rob Clutton/Colin Fisher (act tbh [Trevor Turple/Connor Bennett/Aaron Hutchinson]) / Pamenar 2018-08-09 (Thursday – cozy back patio!) [FB event]

Lina Allemano Quartet featuring Michael Davidson / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-10 (Friday – early!) [FB event]

Nifty & Colin Fisher / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-10 (Friday) [FB event]

Riparian Acoustics presents (feat. Késia Decoté / Dog Days of Summer [Allison Cameron/ Kurt Newman]) / Array Music 2018-08-10 (Friday) [FB event]

Habari Africa Festival (feat. Songs of the Azmari / Fatoumata Kouyate & Mabinty Sylla / Sona Jobarteh) / Harbourfront Centre 2018-08-10 (Friday – free! all-ages + family-friendly!) [FB event]

Minibeast [w/ Mission of Burma's Peter Prescott] (Insect Factory / Not Of) / The Baby G 2018-08-10 (Friday) [FB event]

HIDE (Kontravoid) / The Garrison 2018-08-10 (Friday) [FB event]

Habari Africa Festival (feat. Indian Ocean Roots / Slimflex / Haiba & Hassan el Hadi / Barnes/Woldemichael Ethio-jazz Quartet / Africa All-Stars [Alpha Yaya Diallo/Madagascar Slim/Donne Roberts/Kofi Ackah/Ebenezer Agyekum/Mabinty Sylla] / The Ace of Africa w/ Blandine) / Harbourfront Centre 2018-08-12 (Saturday – free! all-ages + family-friendly!) [FB event]

Manifesto Discovery Series: RPM 2-Year Anniversary & Mixtape (feat. Drezus / Ziibiwan / Obuxum / DATU / Wolf Saga) / The Root Down Studio 2018-08-11 (Saturday) [FB event]

Audiopollination #62 (feat. James Bailey/Neil Wiernik / Jeff Luciani/Del Stephen/Maxwell McEachern / Brett Despotovich/e1e/Erik Kinsella / Mickle32/Mira Martin-Gray) / Array Space 2018-08-11 (Saturday) [FB event]

Heavy Traffic: The Music of Intrusion ["electronic compositions for low loudspeakers"] / Canadian Music Centre 2018-08-11 (Saturday) [FB event]

Ayal Senior (Kurt Newman's Nashville Minimalism Unit / Nick Flanagan [comedy]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-12 (Sunday – afternoon show, 3 to 5 p.m.!) [FB event]

Habari Africa Festival (feat. Alpha Yaya Diallo / Élage Mbaye / Tich Maredza Band with Ruth Mathiang & Elvis Bokosha) / Harbourfront Centre 2018-08-12 (Sunday – free! all-ages + family-friendly!) [FB event]

Zine Dream After Party (feat. Petra Glynt / Time / Sea Beau / Scarlett Rose) / The Baby G 2018-08-12 (Sunday) [FB event]

The Titillators [Thom Gill/Tania Gill/Germaine Liu/Ryan Driver/Philippe Melanson] / The Emmet Ray 2018-08-12 (Sunday – PWYC!]) [more info]

Lina Allemano Four / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-12 (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!

Ornate Presents (feat. Mike DeiCont [solo bass]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-14 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Tania Gill Quartet [Tania Gill/Lina Allemano/Nico Dann/Rob Clutton] / The Rex 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Topography [Dave Riedstra] (Velvet Crystals [Emilie Gelinas-Noble/Austin Lamarche/Olivia Shortt/Katherine Watson]) / Array Space 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

AMBiENT PiNG's 19th Anniversary (feat. Whisper Room [Aidan Baker/Neil Wiernik/Jakob Thiesen] / Weep, O' Mine Eyes) / Handlebar 2018-08-15 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Ace of Wands [10,000 Feet EP Release!] (Beams / Ron Hawkins / When Particles Collide) / The Horseshoe Tavern 2018-08-18 (Saturday) [FB event]

Tetsuo (Love Children of the Apocalypse) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-08-21 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Moonwood [cassette + 7" release celebration!] (Dark Bird) / The Dupe Shop 2018-08-25 (Saturday – afternoon show! PWYC! all ages!) [FB event]

Bekah Simms [impurity chains album launch!] (feat. Katherine Watson/Carla Perrotta/Émilie Fortin/Adrian Irvine/Emilie Gelinas-Noble/Amahl Arulanandam/Andrew Noseworthy/Phil Albert/Stephanie Chua/Evan Bowen/Pratik Gandhi) / Canadian Music Centre 2018-09-08 (Saturday – free with rsvp!) [FB event]

Feels Fine [EP release show!] (Camp Girls / Nezzy) / The Baby G 2018-09-13 (Thursday) [FB event]

FASTER presents (feat. Carl Ludwig Hübsch/Pierre-Yves Martel/Philip Zoubek / Magiceyeimage) / Gerrard Art Space 2018-09-15 (Saturday) [FB event]

Harrison² [Harrison Argatoff/Mike Murley/Steve Wallace/Harrison Vetro] / The Emmet Ray 2018-09-30 (Sunday) [FB event]

Doldrums (Crying High) / Monarch Tavern 2018-10-05 (Friday) [FB event]

Fucked Up / The Horseshoe Tavern 2018-10-19 (Friday) [FB event]

Alternate Forest ["a multidisciplinary adventure revealing some magic powers within our world's forests"] (feat. SlowPitchSound and Lybido) / Array Space 2018-10-26–2018-10-28 (Friday–Sunday) [FB event]