Concert Listings Roundup #325

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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This week's noteworthy shows:

Stephen Parkinson and Friends [Stephen Parkinson/Allison Cameron/Joe Strutt/D. Alex Meeks] / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2019-10-28 (Monday – late set!)

Paul Newman and Brian Abbott [CD release!] (Coin Operated Duo) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-29 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Bernice (Booty EP) / Burdock Music Hall 2019-10-29 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Robert Grieve/Patrick O'Reilly/Cassie Norton/Brandon Davis (Laura Swankey/Bea Labikova/Germaine Liu/Ashley Urquhart) / Wenona Lodge 2019-10-29 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Money House / The Emmet Ray 2019-10-30 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Batuki Music Society presents (feat. The Maghreb Project) / Aga Khan Museum 2019-11-02 (Saturday) [FB event]

Guitar Night (feat. Brian Abbott / Patrick O'Reilly / Darlene Cuevas) / Gerrard Art Space 2019-11-02 (Saturday) [FB event]

WHOOP-Szo (Fet.Nat) / The Rec Room 2019-11-02 (Saturday – all ages!) [FB event]

Jazz United Jam / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2019-11-03 (Sunday)

35 Alive! [35th Anniversary celebration concert! Works by Jason Doell, Emilie LeBel, Christopher Goddard, Cassandra Miller, Michael Oesterle] (feat. Continuum Contemporary Music) / 918 Bathurst 2019-11-03 (Sunday) [FB event]

Nite Comfort 73 (feat. Ghostlight / Khôra) / Handlebar 2019-11-03 (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!

Brodie West Quintet [Tuesdays in November residency!] / The Rex 2019-11-05 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Lisa Prank (The Effens / Feels Fine / Dumb Stupid Liars) / The Rec Room 2019-11-08 (Friday – all ages!) [FB event]

416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival (feat. Jellastica / Light Industry + Jon Brooks) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-11-08 (Friday) [FB event]

416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival (feat. HA!Man / Diane Roblin/Bruce Cassidy/Bill McBirnie / The Side Eye / Brian Abbott Project [Aki Takahashi/Kristen Moss Theriault/Rick Sacks/Bea Labikova]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-11-09 (Saturday) [FB event]

Hank the Kid (Safe) / The White House 2019-11-09 (Saturday) [FB event]

Brodie West Quintet [Tuesdays in November residency!] / The Rex 2019-11-12 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Most Popular Mic Touching Sounds (formerly Cramzac) presents (feat. Rob & Job Scalsué [Simone Schmidt & Jeremy Costello] / Beet Tahini [Alex Lukashevsky/Evan Cartwright/Zach Bines/Edwin Sheard/Felicity Williams) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-11-12 (Tuesday)

Brodie West Quintet [Tuesdays in November residency!] / The Rex 2019-11-19 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Brodie West Quintet [Tuesdays in November residency!] / The Rex 2019-11-26 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Yamantaka//Sonic Titan [performing a live score to the classic anime "Akira"] / Handlebar 2019-11-29 (Friday) [FB event]

Ducks Unlimited (Quaker Parents / PAX) / The Baby G 2019-12-05 (Thursday) [FB event]

Recording: Morton Subotnick

Artist: Morton Subotnick

Songs: Silver Apples of the Sun Revisited [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Jam Factory (Intersection Day 4), September 1, 2019.

Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of the Sun Revisited [excerpt, part 1]

Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of the Sun Revisited [excerpt, part 2]

Once more, Burn Down the Capital's Tad Michalak crosswired a couple of his curatorial endeavours, bringing together the Intersection festival and the Music Gallery's Departures series to make it possible to host an esteemed visiting musician — in this case pioneering electronic musician Morton Subotnick. His Buchla-driven compositions must have been quite mind-blowing in 1967, as they now sound entirely contemporary, with subsequent generations of synth explorers expanding on the possibilities he introduced. This set saw him playing a redux version of his seminal "Silver Apples of the Moon", live mixed in quadraphonic sound, which he used with admirable restraint, slowly shifting and expanding the soundfield.

Recording: Leucrocuta

Artist: Leucrocuta

Song: exorcise no 3

Recorded at Jam Factory (Intersection Day 4), September 1, 2019.

Leucrocuta - exorcise no 3

Once more, Burn Down the Capital's Tad Michalak crosswired a couple of his curatorial endeavours, bringing together the Intersection festival and the Music Gallery's Departures series to make it possible to host an esteemed visiting musician — in this case pioneering electronic musician Morton Subotnick. Mirroring his futuristic sounds of the past was an opening set from local synth explorer Leucrocuta, alternating austere soundscapes with blippier, beat-driven zones, and offering a gracious sense of floating, expanding space.

[Leucrocuta will be helping to get things going at Venus Fest's Merganzer album release party this Saturday (October 26th) alongside Blue Light.]

Concert Listings Roundup #324

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:

Furniture Music (feat. Tatsuya Nakatani / Dreamed Meat [Rob Grieve/Cory Harper-Latkovich]) / Wenona Lodge 2019-10-22 (Tuesday) [FB event]

The excellent Tuesday-night programming at Wenona continues, with this special event from Furniture Music adding an exclamation point. Tatsuya Nakatani's bowed cymbals and other percussive techniques always make full vibratory use of the spaces he inhabits, so this up-close-and-personal encounter should be an intense experience.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Dan Pitt Trio [Fundamentally Flawed CD release show!] (SALT [Patrick Smith/Naomi McCarroll Butler]) / Burdock Music Hall 2019-10-21 (Monday) [FB event]

Crystal Hibernations Number Five (feat. Soft Thoughts / Walker David / Eternal Real World) / The Tranzac (Tike Room) 2019-10-21 (Monday) [FB event]

Jim Lewis/Andrew Downing/Jean Martin / The Emmet Ray 2019-10-21 (Monday) [FB event]

The Al Purdy Songbook [Al Purdy Was Here documentary screening + live performances] (feat. Doug Paisley / Snowblink) / Hugh's Room Live 2019-10-22 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Michael Davidson's Three Piece Outfit [Robert Lee/Jacok Wutzke/Michael Davidson] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-22 (Tuesday – one set @ 10:30!) [FB event]

Aaron Corbett (Dame Cook / Annacetaminophen) / Handlebar 2019-10-23 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Lust for Youth / Kaade / Sahara) / The Garrison 2019-10-24 (Thursday) [FB event]

Art of the Uncarved Block presents (feat. Fond [vern EP release!] / Nigel Nigel / Dart Mouth) / Owl's Club 2019-10-24 (Thursday) [FB event]

RØISEN [Bryan W. Bray/Mike Duffield/Paul Erlichman/James Harris /Windsor Johnson/Warren Bray] (Michael Peter Olsen / C.R. Gillespie) / Handlebar 2019-10-24 (Thursday) [FB event]

Rob Clutton/Philippe Melanson/Karen Ng/Christopher Willes / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-24 (Thursday – 10:30 start, one set only!) [FB event]

JP Carter/Ashley Urquhart/Joe Sorbara/Brodie West / The Emmet Ray 2019-10-25 (Friday – "dinner-hour performance" @ 5:15 p.m.!) [FB event]

Glenn Hall's Ossingtones [Glen Hall/Diane Roblin/Phill Albert/Mark Zurawinski/Bruce Cassidy] / The Emmet Ray 2019-10-25 (Friday – PWYC!) [more info]

Secret Wars (The Mean) / Duggan's Basement 2019-10-25 (Friday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Most People [LP release!] (Crystal Light Collective) / Burdock Music Hall 2019-10-25 (Friday) [FB event]

Biblical (Witchrot / Fake Humans) / Monarch Tavern 2019-10-25 (Friday) [FB event]

CCMC with special guests Scott Thompson and Mani Mazinani / Array Space 2019-10-25 (Friday) [more info]

The Ryan Driver Quintet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-25 (Friday) [FB event]

The Sadies (Daniel Romano and The Outfit / Andre Ethier) / Lee's Palace 2019-10-26 (Saturday) [more info]

Kiwi Jr (No Frills / Ichi-Bons) / Monarch Tavern 2019-10-26 (Saturday) [FB event]

Venus Fest presents (feat. Merganzer [album release!] / Leucrocuta / Blue Light) / The Drake Underground 2019-10-26 (Saturday) [FB event]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Anamai [Dream Baby record release!] / Xuan Ye / Soft Matter) / St. George the Martyr Church 2019-10-26 (Saturday) [FB event]

Fifth Annual Spooktacular (feat. catl. / Shake It Like A Caveman) / The Dakota Tavern 2019-10-26 (Saturday) [FB event]

coexisDance 97 (feat. Jessica Houghton/Bea Labikova/Bill Gilliam/Rufi Oswaldo/Adele Armin/Suzanne Farkas/Hannah Bild-Enkin/Reknee Harrett/Robyn Bedford/Emily Rapley/Elliott Larson / Robyn Bedford/Bea Labikova/Suzanne Farkas/Hannah Bild-Enkin/Emily Rapley/Adele Armin/Reknee Harrett/Rufi Oswaldo/Bill Gilliam/Jessica Houghton/Elliott Larson) / Array Space 2019-10-16 (Saturday) [FB event]

Quiet Concerts [a series of experimental music performances hosted by Artist-In-Residence Christopher Willes featuring musicians and poets in an intimate low-volume concert, which is broadcast on site in a wireless headphone mix] (feat. Karen Ng & Fan Wu) / Toronto Public Library - Cedarbrae Branch 2019-10-27 (Sunday – free! all-ages! afternoon event @ 2 p.m.!) [FB event]

Autumnal Happiness - Part Two (feat. Rebecca Campbell / Kevin Breit / Ronley Teper / Georgia Webber / John Oswald's Rather Larger Acoustic Improvising Ensemble) / Church of St. Andrew by-the-lake 2019-10-27 (Sunday – "offshore matinee" @ 2 p.m.!) [FB event]

Silent Revue: Faust [screening of F.W. Murnau's 1926 classic with live score] (feat. Ugly Beauties) / Revue Cinema 2019-10-27 (Sunday) [FB event]

Sandro Perri [Soft Landing LP release!] (Sing Leaf / Robin Dann) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2019-10-27 (Sunday) [FB event]

Jazz United Jam / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2019-10-27 (Sunday)

The Solipsists ft. Reknee Harrett / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-27 (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!

Paul Newman and Brian Abbott [CD release!] (Coin Operated Duo) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-29 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Money House / The Emmet Ray 2019-10-30 (Wednesday) [FB event]

The Hollow Earth (Bards / Silver Pools) / Duggan's Brewery 2019-11-02 (Saturday) [FB event]

Track Could Bend #56 (feat. Sonja / Naomi McCarroll-Butler / Andrew Furlong/Bea Labikova/Chris Pruden/Joe Sorbara) / Wenona Lodge 2019-11-05 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Del Stephen & The Concrete Canvas Group (Small Orbit / P) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2019-11-06 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Mimico [LP release!] (Vallens / Bart) / Monarch Tavern 2019-11-07 (Thursday) [FB event]

The Schizophonics (catl.) / The Baby G 2019-11-07 (Thursday) [FB event]

Venus Fest presents (feat. Hanorah / LAL / Mackenta) / The Baby G 2019-11-09 (Saturday) [FB event]

Audiopollination 77 (feat. Paul Newman/Ashley Urquhart / Twin Mask/Jeff Luciani/Rebecca Gray / Bob Vespaziani/Arnd Jurgensen/Elizabeth Lima / MKL32/Lidija Bozica) / Array Space 2019-11-09 (Saturday) [FB event]

SynapticCircusSundays (feat. Bea Labikova/Wes Neal/Nilan Perera/Rick Sacks / Dame Cook/William Davison) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-11-10 (Sunday – early!) [FB event]

Somewhere There's Second Sunday Series (feat. Allison Cameron/Dan Friedman/Germaine Liu / D. Alex Meeks/Nichol S. Robertson) / Array Space 2019-11-10 (Sunday) [FB event]

Jazz and Otherwise Improvised Musics (feat. Coin Operated Duo [Ryan Kinney/Michael Lynn] [tape release!] / Future Proof [Bea Labikova/Raphael Roter/Yunjin Claire Lee]) / Wenona Lodge 2019-11-12 (Tuesday) [FB event]

THE AMBiENT PiNG (feat. Bonecreak Ulysses / The Body In Question + Stuart Clark) / Handlebar 2019-11-13 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. François Houle/James Meger/Joe Sorbara) / The Emmet Ray 2019-11-17 (Sunday) [FB event]

Venus Fest presents (feat. Ice Cream [Fed Up album release!] / Slash Need) / Cecil Community Centre 2019-11-29 (Friday) [FB event]

Melancholiac: The Music Of Scott Walker / The Music Gallery 2019-12-06–2019-12-07 (Friday–Saturday) [FB event]

Double Album Release Show (feat. Badge Époque Ensemble / André Ethier) / Lula Lounge 2019-12-12 (Thursday) [FB event]

Recording: Evan Ziporyn and Contact

Artist: Evan Ziporyn and Contact

Songs: Warszawa [composer: David Bowie/Brian Eno] + Everything Merges with the Night [composer: Brian Eno]

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Day 3), August 31, 2019.

Evan Ziporyn and Contact - Warszawa

Evan Ziporyn and Contact - Everything Merges with the Night

Once more, Tad Michalak's Burn Down the Capital brought a full day's worth of entertainment to the concrete canyon of Yonge-Dundas Square. Random passers-by would occasionally stop and regard the proceedings with curiosity, bemusement or disdain while in the background the thrum of the busker's amplification outside Eaton Centre seems to grow louder every year, sharing the sonic space with sirens and engine roars.

And also once more, the day in the square wrapped up with a performance from Contact Contemporary Music, revisiting and expanding upon some past strands. Bringing back Bang on a Can All-stars founder Evan Ziporyn, the group previewed a new collaborate project interpreting the music of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. Note that that doesn't just mean the music released by "Fripp & Eno" (though the pair's "Evening Star", which has been in Contact's repertoire for a while now, did indeed make an appearance) but rather pieces from each alongside their various collaborators.

Thus, there was room for a couple King Crimson reinterpretations, and by tangential association even Kraftwerk's genteel "Morgenspaziergang" found a spot in the setlist. Perhaps it's just a reflection on my taste, but I found the arrangements more satisfying on Eno's textures than on Fripp's fussy propulsion — although the environment made the bombast of the latter go over better than some of the quieter moments (such as a beautiful arrangement of the Eno/Budd piece "Not Yet Remembered" that was somewhat drowned out by the square's background sounds).

Recording: Man Forever

Artist: Man Forever

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Day 3), August 31, 2019.

Man Forever - [excerpt]

Once more, Tad Michalak's Burn Down the Capital brought a full day's worth of entertainment to the concrete canyon of Yonge-Dundas Square. Random passers-by would occasionally stop and regard the proceedings with curiosity, bemusement or disdain while in the background the thrum of the busker's amplification outside Eaton Centre seems to grow louder every year, sharing the sonic space with sirens and engine roars. Last time I caught John Colpitts (a.k.a. Kid Millions) he had a full ensemble with him, but this appearance saw him travelling only with a drone provider – no problem when he had plenty of a-list percussion pals to call upon. Colin Fisher, Brandon Valdivia, Germaine Liu and Moshe Rozenberg joined in for a whole lot of driving clatter that would alternate with some soothing drone walls.

Recording: Unnatural Ways

Artist: Unnatural Ways

Song: The Runaway Song

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Day 3), August 31, 2019.

Unnatural Ways - The Runaway Song

Once more, Tad Michalak's Burn Down the Capital brought a full day's worth of entertainment to the concrete canyon of Yonge-Dundas Square. Random passers-by would occasionally stop and regard the proceedings with curiosity, bemusement or disdain while in the background the thrum of the busker's amplification outside Eaton Centre seems to grow louder every year, sharing the sonic space with sirens and engine roars. This was perhaps the day's most strightahead rockin' set, but Ava Mendoza's trio definitely skewed towards art rock rather than power pop. Post-punk inasmuch as their extended jams echoed Television more than the Dead, there were some really interesting touches here, including Mendoza's sci-fi lyrics and bassist Tim Dahl's synth pedal shenanigans.

Recording: Retired

Artist: Retired

Song: [last section]

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Day 3), August 31, 2019.

Retired - [last section]

Once more, Tad Michalak's Burn Down the Capital brought a full day's worth of entertainment to the concrete canyon of Yonge-Dundas Square. Random passers-by would occasionally stop and regard the proceedings with curiosity, bemusement or disdain while in the background the thrum of the busker's amplification outside Eaton Centre seems to grow louder every year, sharing the sonic space with sirens and engine roars. Jazz-punks Retired took to the big stage to offer some noisy outbursts, a return to their reconsideration of Ornette's "Lonely Woman", plus some really interesting textured material.

Recording: Avrha

Artist: Avrha

Song: [2nd section]

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Day 3), August 31, 2019.

Avrha - [2nd section]

Once more, Tad Michalak's Burn Down the Capital brought a full day's worth of entertainment to the concrete canyon of Yonge-Dundas Square. Random passers-by would occasionally stop and regard the proceedings with curiosity, bemusement or disdain while in the background the thrum of the busker's amplification outside Eaton Centre seems to grow louder every year, sharing the sonic space with sirens and engine roars. Roaring back with percussive powerbursts and a multi-keyboard attack, this improvised sideline from Yamantaka//Sonic Titan's Alaska B and Brendan Swanson felt a little more determined than when I first saw 'em a couple years back, leaning hard into some zones that felt like a metal-leaning reconsideration of Bitches Brew.

Recording: Lorde Awesome

Artist: Lorde Awesome

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Day 3), August 31, 2019.

Lorde Awesome - [excerpt]

Once more, Tad Michalak's Burn Down the Capital brought a full day's worth of entertainment to the concrete canyon of Yonge-Dundas Square. Random passers-by would occasionally stop and regard the proceedings with curiosity, bemusement or disdain while in the background the thrum of the busker's amplification outside Eaton Centre seems to grow louder every year, sharing the sonic space with sirens and engine roars. Starting the day was a rare field trip for this east-end drone collective, who have been holding down a monthly residency at the Only Café for the past 8+ years under the guidance of Avery Strok. Playing seven deep at one of the side-stage zones on the floor of the square, the group shored up their sonic ramparts with plenty synth textures, sax diversions, and occasional theremin.

[You can always catch Lorde Awesome at The Only Café – just around the corner from Donlands Station — on the first Thursday of the month, so keep an eye out for the next one will on November 7th.]

Concert Listings Roundup #323

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:

The Music Gallery's X AVANT XIV: Forward – Germaine Liu's "Still Life" World Premiere (feat. Syreeta Hector/Susanna Hood/Tia Kushniruk/Heather MacPhail/Sahara Morimoto/Germaine Liu / Rebecca Hennessy/Bea Labikova/Karen Ng/Heather Saumer) / 918 Bathurst 2019-10-17 (Thursday) [FB event]

The Music Gallery's X AVANT XIV: Forward – Lido Pimienta’s "Miss Colombia" World Premiere (feat. Lido Pimienta / OKAN) / 918 Bathurst 2019-10-18 (Friday) [FB event]

The Music Gallery's X AVANT XIV: Forward (feat. Willi Williams and New Chance / Holy Hum) / 918 Bathurst 2019-10-19 (Saturday) [FB event]

The Music Gallery's X AVANT XIV: Forward (feat. Sarah Hennies / Sound Of The Mountain with Toshimaru Nakamura and Tetuzi Akiyama) / 918 Bathurst 2019-10-20 (Sunday) [FB event]

I think I said what needs to be said over at my preview post, so just click on through and review the situation over there. Two things to reinforce, though:

• First, do make a point of coming out for the panel discussions of Saturday and Sunday; and,
• definitely do remember to enter my contest for tickets to Sunday's show if you haven't already!

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Hopeful Monster (Paul Linklater) / Cameron House – front room 2019-10-15 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Music Hosted by Karen Ng (feat. See Through 4 [Pete Johnston/Nick Fraser/Marilyn Lerner/Karen Ng]) / Wenona Lodge 2019-10-15 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Infinite Monotremes / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-15 (Tuesday) [FB event]

The AMBiENT PiNG (feat. Agencies / SeniorBeatBox / Shimmer Crush) / Handlebar 2019-10-16 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Kind Mind [Karen Ng/Michael Davidson/Josh Cole] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-16 (Wednesday – one set, late start @ 10:30) [FB event]

Kim Barlow (Justin Orok / Kohen Hammond) / house show near Dufferin Station 2019-10-17 (Thursday) [FB event]

Elephant In The Room ["conversations about climate change"] (feat. Joseph Shabason / Ansley Simpson) / Burdock Music Hall 2019-10-17 (Thursday) [FB event]

An Intimate Evening ["refined, gently plugged in entertainment"] (feat. Blonde Elvis / Lake Versions) / Burdock Music Hall 2019-10-18 (Friday) [FB event]

Briefcase Shows presents (feat. The Well / Völur / Cortége / Qarafa) / The Grand Gerrard 2019-10-18 (Friday – all ages!) [FB event]

Make Some Noise (feat. HanHan) / Toronto Public Library - Sanderson Branch 2019-10-18 (Friday – free! all-ages!) [FB event]

Mermaids (Casey Sokol/Rob Clutton/Kurt Newman with special guest Brodie West) / Array Space 2019-10-18 (Friday) [FB event]

BA Johnston (Tough Age / First Base) / Junction City Music Hall 2019-10-19 (Saturday) [FB event]

Safia Nolin (Ian Daniel Kehoe / Danika Vandersteen) / Monarch Tavern 2019-10-19 (Saturday) [FB event]

Pete Johnston’s Bog Standards / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-19 (Saturday)

Quiet Concerts [a series of experimental music performances hosted by Artist-In-Residence Christopher Willes featuring musicians and poets in an intimate low-volume concert, which is broadcast on site in a wireless headphone mix] (feat. Germaine Liu) / Toronto Public Library - Cedarbrae Branch 2019-10-20 (Sunday – free! all-ages! afternoon event @ 2 p.m.!) [FB event]

Jazz United Jam / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2019-10-20 (Sunday)

Triio (Danielle Fernandes/Brent O'Toole/Joe Sorbara) / Array Space 2019-10-20 (Sunday) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Maggie Keogh & Bjorn Kriel) / The Emmet Ray 2019-10-20 (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!

Jim Lewis/Andrew Downing/Jean Martin / The Emmet Ray 2019-10-21 (Monday) [FB event]

The Al Purdy Songbook [Al Purdy Was Here documentary screening + live performances] (feat. Doug Paisley / Snowblink) / Hugh's Room Live 2019-10-22 (Tuesday) [FB event]

JP Carter/Ashley Urquhart/Joe Sorbara/Brodie West / The Emmet Ray 2019-10-25 (Friday – "dinner-hour performance" @ 5:15 p.m.!) [FB event]

Autumnal Happiness - Part Two (feat. Rebecca Campbell / Kevin Breit / Ronley Teper / Georgia Webber / John Oswald's Rather Larger Acoustic Improvising Ensemble) / Church of St. Andrew by-the-lake 2019-10-27 (Sunday – "offshore matinee" @ 2 p.m.!) [FB event]

Robert Grieve/Patrick O'Reilly/Cassie Norton/Brandon Davis (Laura Swankey/Bea Labikova/Germaine Liu/Ashley Urquhart) / Wenona Lodge 2019-10-29 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Guitar Night (feat. Brian Abbott / Patrick O'Reilly / Darlene Cuevas) / Gerrard Art Space 2019-11-02 (Saturday) [FB event]

WHOOP-Szo (Fet.Nat) / The Rec Room 2019-11-02 (Saturday – all ages!) [FB event]

Merabula [Laura Swankey/Brad Eaton/Alex Lakusta/Robin Claxton] / The Emmet Ray 2019-11-04 (Monday – early!) [FB event]

Grandma's Secret Spices 4 (feat. Aaron Corbett / 3N3RGY / Sonja) / Handlebar 2019-11-06 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Silent Shout (feat. Chevalier Avant Garde / Scott Hardware / SlowPitchSound) / Handlebar 2019-11-23 (Saturday) [FB event]

Emergents I (feat. Sarah Albu & Mári Mákó / Anoush Moazzeni) / The Music Gallery 2019-11-24 (Sunday) [FB event]

Caution Tape Sound Collective: Singles vol. 4 [compositions by Patrick Arteaga, Sophie Dupuis, Julia Mermelstein, August Murphy-King, Christina Volpini, Beat Furrer] (feat. Tristan Durie & Adam Scime) / Array Space 2019-11-25 (Monday) [FB event]

Organ Mood (Syzygy) / The Baby G 2019-12-14 (Saturday) [FB event]

Contest/Preview: X Avant XIV

X AVANT NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL XIV: FORWARD

Thursday, October 17, 2019 – Sunday, October 20, 2019

Two signs that autumn is well and truly underway: Thanksgiving has come and gone, and the Music Gallery's X Avant Festival rolls around.

This year's festival celebrates advancements and transformations — first and foremost, it's giving artists a big canvas to try something new and bold, allowing them to define their own ways "Forward". It also serves as the final Festival that will be programmed by Artistic Director David Dacks — not at all a summing up, but rather one more example of the experiment-and-refine-and-experiment-again process that has marked his tenure.

Here's what's gonna be happening at the festival:

• Germaine Liu has long been one of the city's most fascinating musicians — serious about re-exploring the idea of percussion from the inside out, but always a joyful presence to watch. The festival's first night sees the debut of her "Still Life", "a 45-minute composition/sounding installation composed of a collection of objects found in Toronto" with an ensemble including Syreeta Hector, Susanna Hood, Tia Kushniruk, Heather MacPhail, Sahara Morimoto and Liu herself. The night also begins with a Liu-selected horn ensemble of Rebecca Hennessy, Bea Labikova, Karen Ng and Heather Saumer. This night is totally going to be like seeing a phone video from The Tranzac remade for Imax.

• Friday night sees Lido Pimienta presenting some of the songs from Miss Colombia, her forthcoming follow-up to the monumental La Papessa. Pimienta is using this opportunity to assemble a special large ensemble with horns, winds and a choir. This special performance has only two shows scheduled and may very well not be re-mounted, so it's obviously not to be missed. [Advanced tickets are already sold out, so keep an eye on the MG's social media feeds for day-of-show availability!]

• Saturday sees a unique intergenerational soundclash — the sort of bold lateral thinking that Music Gallery patrons have come to expect from David Dacks — pairing reggae legend Willi Williams (known to some via The Clash's cover of "Armagideon Time") with sound-shaper Vic Cheong, whose steadily-morphing New Chance project has been bestowing cloud-meditations and dancefloor burners for a while now. Support comes from Andrew Lee's Holy Hum.

• The Festival closes with a truly epic night of sounds — the scope of Sarah Hennies' "The Reinvention of Romance" (for percussion plus cello, here provided by Nick Storring) will blow plenty minds, but there's also a transcontinental opening encounter between Montreal's Sound of the Mountain (Craig Pedersen and Elizabeth Millar) and Japanese improvisers Toshimaru Nakamura (no-input mixing board) and Tetuzi Akiyama (guitar). Prepare to have your ears expanded — and bring some dough for the merch table for this one!

There are also two panels before Saturday and Sunday's shows, drilling further into the theme of "Forward" – Friday takes a more broad overview, examining "The Future of Creative Music in Toronto" with David Dacks moderating a discussion between Michael Rancic, Jessica Cho (aka Korea Town Acid), Amanda Smith and Rich Brown. Sunday looks more closely at "the joy and pain of keeping collectives and larger ensembles together in the long term" with "Forward Together", featuring insights from Cheryl Duvall, Ange Loft, Chelsea McBride and Keysha Fresh. Both panels are free to attend, though registration via the links above is encouraged.

TICKETS + MORE INFO

Tickets start at $10 for students and Music Gallery members (making this, the start of the season, an excellent time to take out or renew your membership!) and you can grab a festival pass for $60, giving you guaranteed entry to all the shows. Find out more at the MG's website or over on facebook.

CONTEST

Thanks to the Music Gallery, I couldn't be more excited to have a pair of tickets to give away to Sunday night's show. (That is, of course, October 20th featuring Sarah Hennies plus Sound Of The Mountain & guests Toshimaru Nakamura and Tetuzi Akiyama.)

To enter, shoot me an email to mechanicalforestsound@gmail.com, with "contest" in the title and your name in the body. I'll randomly draw a winner on Wednesday, October 16th at noon.

[Full disclosure: I am a member of the Music Gallery's Artistic Advisory Committee, though that has had no bearing on the content of this preview.]

Recording: Contact Contemporary Music

Artist: Contact Contemporary Music

Song: Beneath a Landscape [excerpt] [composer: Jason Doell]

Recorded at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station (Intersection Day 1: Music For Subways), August 29, 2019.

Contact Contemporary Music - Beneath a Landscape [excerpt]

A couple years back, Intersection made its first step into presenting creative sounds in unconventional environments. This sequel moved from the core to the end of the line, exchanging a jam-packed greenhouse for plenty elbow room in the city's newest subway stations. At that literal end-of-the-line, the musicians of Contact (along with some of the night's earlier performers joining in) formed into a rough circle to begin an unhurried drone before some of them (especially those with melodicas) started to freely wander around the space.

As is often the case, composer Jason Doell attempted to downplay the notion that he actually did much composing, but there were some savvy music ideas here nonetheless. At the piece's start, one could see the musicians playing but could scarcely hear anything, as Doell had spent some time at the station, recording and analyzing its ambient hum, and then starting the musicians in that same zone. Slowly, the highs of the strings, followed by the other instruments, began to cut through the background hum as the soundfield evolved, seeping fog-like into the curved corners of the station's alien spaceship contours.

Recording: Mika Posen String Quartet

Artist: Mika Posen String Quartet

Song: Pathways [excerpt]

Recorded at Highway 407 Station (Intersection Day 1: Music For Subways), August 29, 2019.

Mika Posen String Quartet - Pathways [excerpt]

A couple years back, Intersection made its first step into presenting creative sounds in unconventional environments. This sequel moved from the core to the end of the line, exchanging a jam-packed greenhouse for plenty elbow room in the city's newest subway stations. Mika Posen (playing viola and joined by Aline Homzy and Jessica Hana Deutsch on violin and Beth Silver on cello) brought the most on-point and musically-pleasing of the night's sets to Highway 407 Station, whose very name evokes a sort of grim, romanceless utilitarianism — and where the click-clack of the fare gate behind the audience added small waves of percussion as each arriving trainload of passengers departed the station.

Her "Pathways" uses a graphic score in the shape of the subway map, the various stations marked with one of five different colours. The musicians pick their own starting station on the map and play the associated musical instruction, coming to a common held note when a train pulls in to the platform below the players and each then moving on to the next station on their score when the train departs. As such, the piece will never quite unfold the same way twice, although the various parts of the score are designed to stay in pleasing consonance in any combination.

[Mika Posen's electronic project Merganzer will be celebrating the release of its new Montage album at a Venus fest-presented show at The Drake Hotel on Saturday, October 26th, alongside Leucrocuta and Blue Light.]

Recording: Clarinet Panic

Artist: Clarinet Panic

Song: Hard Dads [excerpt]

Recorded at Pioneer Village Station (Intersection Day 1: Music For Subways), August 29, 2019.

Clarinet Panic - Hard Dads [excerpt]

A couple years back, Intersection made its first step into presenting creative sounds in unconventional environments. This sequel moved from the core to the end of the line, exchanging a jam-packed greenhouse for plenty elbow room in the city's newest subway stations. Skipping over the hurly-burly of York University, the travelling concert moved on to the very edge of the city. At Pioneer Village Station (whose sprawling, station-spanning half-million dollar interactive art installation has never been turned on) the mezzanine level above the trains has a large open area that's quite perfect for throwing a concert in — in a better world there'd be a band playing there every night.

Perhaps in tribute to the subway system's buskers, this section of the venerable "Hard Dads" had D. Alex Meeks and the other members of the ensemble flicking coins on the floor. Meanwhile, this "reduxx" phase of the Clarinet Panic's existence is seeing the project become a bit less of a "band" and more of an "ensemble" that can plug in different performers to tweak the pieces in various ways — this set saw saxophonists Olivia Shortt and Naomi McCarroll-Butler joining the core quintet, first beside them on the floor, then playing their way to the upper level, dramatically overlooking the players and audience assembled below.

Recording: Sarah Hennies & Germaine Liu

Artist: Sarah Hennies & Germaine Liu

Song: Sisters [excerpt]

Recorded at Sheppard West Station (Intersection Day 1: Music For Subways), August 29, 2019.

Sarah Hennies & Germaine Liu - Sisters [excerpt]

A couple years back, Intersection made its first step into presenting creative sounds in unconventional environments. This sequel moved from the core to the end of the line, exchanging a jam-packed greenhouse for plenty elbow room in the city's newest subway stations. The night actually began at the old end of the line, in the long tunnel running above and parallel to the tracks at Sheppard West (née Downsview) Station. As with the whole night, this was an "impure" sonic environment by design — with the hum of trains below and the footfalls of passers-by punctuating the intensity of the overtone zone generated by dual vibraphones facing each other. Hennies' vibraphone work can be almost synaesthetically overwhelming, but with some space to breathe it was quite entrancing, encouraging closer listening as the pair slowly brought the volume level down, letting the sounds get lost in the background hum.

[Both Sarah Hennies and Germaine Liu will be presenting large-scale works at next week's X Avant Festival. On Sunday, October 20th, Hennies will be performing "The Reinvention of Romance" (an epic 90-minute work for cello and percussion) in Canada for the first time, while Liu will be debuting "Still Life", a 45-minute composition/sounding installation on Thursday, October 17th.]

Concert Listings Roundup #322

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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This week's noteworthy shows:

The Legendary Pink Dots (Orbit Service / Flowers of Hell) / Adelaide Hall 2019-10-07 (Monday) [FB event]

Hopeful Monster (Drew Smith) / Cameron House – front room 2019-10-08 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Ornate Presents (feat. Fournier/Urquhart Duo) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-08 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Cramzac Presents (feat. Anne Bourne / Robin Love) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-08 (Tuesday)

Jazz and Otherwise Improvised Musics (feat. Khôra / Paul Newman) / Wenona Lodge 2019-10-08 (Tuesday) [FB event]

The Pernice Brothers / The Dakota Tavern 2019-10-09 (Wednesday – early!) [FB event]

Grün Wasser (Dregqueen) / The Baby G 2019-10-09 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Mike DeiCont/Allison Au/Jocelyn Gould/Ethan Ardelli / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-09 (Wednesday – early!) [FB event]

Madeleine Ertel/Reknee Harrett/Naomi McCarroll-Butler/Joe Sorbara / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-09 (Wednesday) [FB event]

The Pernice Brothers / The Dakota Tavern 2019-10-10 (Thursday – early!) [FB event]

Alternate Forest (feat. SlowPitchSound) / Array Space 2019-10-10 (Friday – all ages!) [FB event]

Ancient Shapes (Teenanger) / Lee's Palace 2019-10-10 (Thursday) [FB event]

Concrete Cabaret Number 4 (feat. Ronley Teper and the Lipliners / Matti Palonen / Alex Winfield / Emily Macpherson / The Zen Existential Puppet Theatre / Sequoia Erickson / Max Kelly / Rae Anna Maitland and Joy Ross-Jones) / 3030 2019-10-10 (Thursday) [FB event]

Alternate Forest (feat. SlowPitchSound) / Array Space 2019-10-11 (Friday – all ages!) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital Presents (feat. Sarah Pagé / Joni Void / Joyful Joyful) / Burdock Music Hall 2019-10-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Night Owl Festival – Day 1 (feat. No Joy / Ice Cream / Mimico / The Blank Tapes) / The Horseshoe Tavern 2019-10-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Rich Aucoin (Petra Glynt / Family of Things / Pick A Piper) / Longboat Hall 2019-10-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Colin Fisher with Christopher Willes / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-11 (Friday)

Cassette Store Day (feat. Ferrari Garden / Carl Didur / Saturn City / Tang / Clamaglamza) / The Dupe Shop 2019-10-12 (Saturday – afternoon event, music 12 to 4 p.m.! PWYC!) [FB event]

Alternate Forest (feat. SlowPitchSound) / Array Space 2019-10-12 (Saturday – afternoon show! all ages!) [FB event]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Kontravoid [Too Deep album release!] / Vatican Shadow / Minimal Violence / Xarah Dion) / 1605 Queen St. W 2019-10-12 (Saturday) [FB event]

Jeremy Dutcher / The Danforth Music Hall 2019-10-12 (Saturday) [FB event]

Coin Operated Duo [Michael Lynn/Ryan Kinney] (Heraclitus Akimbo + Laura Swankey) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-13 (Sunday – afternoon show, 3 to 5 p.m.!) [FB event]

The Furniture Music Composition Workshop #10 (feat. Kaelin Murphy/Laura Swankey/Bjorn Kriel/Phill Albert/Joe Sorbara) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2019-10-13 (Sunday – early show, 5 to 7 p.m.) [FB event]

Jazz United Jam / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2019-10-13 (Sunday)

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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!

Music Hosted by Karen Ng (feat. See Through 4 [Pete Johnston/Nick Fraser/Marilyn Lerner/Karen Ng]) / Wenona Lodge 2019-10-15 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Infinite Monotremes / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2019-10-15 (Tuesday) [FB event]

The AMBiENT PiNG (feat. Agencies / SeniorBeatBox / Shimmer Crush) / Handlebar 2019-10-16 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Elephant In The Room ["conversations about climate change"] (feat. Joseph Shabason / Ansley Simpson) / Burdock Music Hall 2019-10-17 (Thursday) [FB event]

Briefcase Shows presents (feat. The Well / Völur / Cortége / Qarafa) / The Grand Gerrard 2019-10-18 (Friday – all ages!) [FB event]

Venus Fest presents (feat. Merganzer [album release!] / Leucrocuta / Blue Light) / The Drake Underground 2019-10-26 (Saturday) [FB event]

TIO Celebrates Halloween ["F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent classic Nosferatu with live improvised musical score composed/conducted by Dan Brophy and Ruth Guechtal"] (feat. Toronto Improvisor's Orchestra) / Array Space 2019-10-27 (Sunday) [FB event]

Sandro Perri [Soft Landing LP release!] (Sing Leaf / Robin Dann) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2019-10-27 (Sunday) [FB event]

Clara Engel (Piers Oolvai) / Antikka 2019-11-08 (Friday) [FB event]

Novalima (Pisco / Mas Aya) / Lula Lounge 2019-11-19 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Toronto Sound Festival (feat. Hainbach / Korea Town Acid / ORO Records showcase with MAKS/Nailbiter/Good + BUTR) / Beverley Halls [a.k.a. SPK Polish Combatants Hall] 2019-11-23 (Saturday) [FB event]

Jennifer Castle / Longboat Hall 2019-12-21 (Saturday) [FB event]

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Community corner:

• Just a reminder that the Toronto Music Advisory Committee is reconstituting itself at City Hall with a public meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, October 8th). The fact that it's taken a year since the city election for the group to be convened might be a sign of its relative importance to the Powers-That-Be, especially after the retirement of Coun. Josh Colle, who a driving force behind the whole endeavour in Council's previous term. Still, there seems to be a few more positive community-builders edging their way onto the committee (and hopefully less "industry" deadwood) — and when it comes down to it, this is the one pipeline we have to make ourselves heard at city hall, so even if this first meeting's agenda seems to be mostly get-to-know-yous and procedural folderol, it is important that the community that it purports to represent shows up. City Hall, Committee Room 2, starting at 1:30 p.m.

Recording: The Databats

Artist: The Databats

Song: Frog Battery

Recorded at Handlebar (Grandma's Secret Spices 3: A Night Of Experimental Music), August 28, 2019.

The Databats - Frog Battery

This self-described "computer contaminant, trip-hop/glitch band and art collective" closed out this night of electronic experiments with the evening's most song-based set, but there were still plenty of sonic diversions and sampledelic sidelines (as well as this spoken word/reading based piece) to keep things interesting.

[The Databats will be opening for Stoneburner at Bovine Sex Club on Sunday, October 27th.]

Recording: Xuan Ye + Brigitte Bardon't

Artist: Xuan Ye + Brigitte Bardon't

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Handlebar (Grandma's Secret Spices 3: A Night Of Experimental Music), August 28, 2019.

Xuan Ye + Brigitte Bardon't - [excerpt]

A rare joint set from these sonic explorers found them engaging their shared passion for expropriating and deconstructing pop culture detritus from different angles. The set played out as a tableau with two subjects, each twisting their radio dials and hearing voices in the æther — and then singing back to them. Not so much a folie à deux as a small act of act of digital defiance, claiming a spot in the sonic wasteland and making a stand.

Recording: Mike Barber

Artist: Mike Barber

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Handlebar (Grandma's Secret Spices 3: A Night Of Experimental Music), August 28, 2019.

Mike Barber - [excerpt]

Mike Barber started off his set of modular synth dirges and sawtooth yawps with this PSA, a bit of postwar Rotary Club civics that sounds painfully on-point when its analysis is applied to our here and now.

Recording: Sonja

Artist: Sonja

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Handlebar (Grandma's Secret Spices 3: A Night Of Experimental Music), August 28, 2019.

Sonja - [excerpt]

Sofie Mikhaylova, who performs as Sonja, is also known as a DJ and founder of the Biblioteka Records label. She opened up this night of experimental electronic sounds with a concise set of hardware-sequenced blipzones, issuing splorps and wet glops from her synths before slowing the clock down.

[Sonja will be performing at Track Could Bend #56, coming up on Tuesday, November 5th at Wenona Lodge.]