Recording: Freaky Boos

Artist: Freaky Boos

Song: [first section]^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Tiki Room), February 5, 2020.

Freaky Boos - [first section]

Touring up and down the 401 to celebrate the release of their debut full-length, Becky Katz, Aaron Hutchinson and Jackson Darby once again explored the chaos and community that comes in working together to tear things apart. Always joyfully askew, this set was also incredibly dense and action-paced, with co-ordinated sonic attacks imploding into moments of solo exploration. Unified by a projection of a ticking countdown clock, this set both had a loosely-choreographed structure and a building dramatic tension: something is gonna happen, so you better sit back and try and get comfortable while you try and figure out what.

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

Recording: Joyful Joyful

Artist: Joyful Joyful

Song: unknown [edited excerpt]^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Tiki Room), February 5, 2020.

Joyful Joyful - unknown [edited excerpt]

One of the striking things about seeing this drone-hymn band in action is the serene patience with which things build. There was a gorgeous slow accumulation to Dave Grenon's synthscape that I abbreviated here — partially to accentuate the song's end zone, where some musicians (Allie Blumas, Liz Lima, Del Stephen) from the night's earlier acts were drafted in to add some additional textures behind Cormac Culkeen's triumphal/mournful vocals.

[Joyful Joyful will be opening things up at Joyfultalk's album release celebration, coming up on Monday, March 16th at The Burdock.]

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

Recording: Our Way to Fall

Artist: Our Way to Fall

Song: Mirror and Egg

Recorded at The Tranzac (Tiki Room), February 5, 2020.

Our Way to Fall - Mirror and Egg

Officially settling on a name since their previous performance, this trio of Liz Lima (voice, clarinet), Del Stephen (synths, field recordings, poems) and Joe Strutt (tapes, effects, kalimba) mixed together some soundscapes and poetry, with this piece including some live-manipulated vocals.

photo by Luiza.

Recording: Blümon

Artist: Blümon

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Tiki Room), February 5, 2020.

Blümon - unknown

This mysterious group turned out to be a duo between Allie Blumas and Charlie Murray, taking a break from a busy schedule as a popular wedding band. Hilarity ensued while jammin' on some keyboard presets, flute, and bass recorder. If you listen closely, you can hear a bit of Camp Combo's lounge exotica creeping in from the Southern Cross at the start of this one before things go galloping off.

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

Recording: Tidal Pool

Artist: Tidal Pool

Song: [third piece]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #59), February 4, 2020.

Tidal Pool - [third piece]

Hamilton's Connor Bennett has been exploring space expansion with this solo saxophone project. His recent lathe-cut 7" (each with a unique live take of the same pieces!) explored the sort of slow development familiar to those who appreciate Paul Newman's work. There were a couple of these pieces in his live set as well, but another path he is exploring (as heard in this piece) involves the use of a homemade drone box. Besides acting as an underlying background tone, Bennett would also hold the bell of his sporano sax over the speaker opening and use it as a resonating chamber, adjusting the tone just by changing the fingering on the instrument. It's a subtle effect, but less subtle than you might imagine, and quite captivating to see in person, where the ear can pick out the delicate pitch changes a bit more clearly.

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (March 3rd) with sets from JP Carter & Friends (including Aline Homzy, Ashley Urquhart, and Joe Sorbara), Les Trois Lynx Roux (Émilie Fortin, Germaine Liu, and Cory Harper-Latkovich) and Suit World (Alex Hamlyn, Alex McLaren, and Vannessa Barnier).]

Recording: Yunjin Claire Lee

Artist: Yunjin Claire Lee

Song: Launching in 12

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #59), February 4, 2020.

Yunjin Claire Lee - Launching in 12

I first encountered Lee as a pianist, but lately she has been branching out into electronic processing (which is quite prominent in her recent solo album) and from there into experiments with synthesis. The patiently-building zips and zworps here have a pleasingly sci-fi feel, a tasty ride on a spaceship heading for unexplored territory.

[Yunjin Claire Lee will be playing at the first night of the Women From Space Festival, Thursday March 5th at Burdock Music Hall. Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (March 3rd) with sets from JP Carter & Friends (including Aline Homzy, Ashley Urquhart, and Joe Sorbara), Les Trois Lynx Roux (Émilie Fortin, Germaine Liu, and Cory Harper-Latkovich) and Suit World (Alex Hamlyn, Alex McLaren, and Vannessa Barnier).]

Recording: Pete Johnston 4

Artist: Pete Johnston 4

Songs: Surrender Before Then + Centuries After Now

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #59), February 4, 2020.

Pete Johnston 4 - Surrender Before Then

Pete Johnston 4 - Centuries After Now

In keeping with bassist-composer Pete Johnston's usual naming scheme, this group should really be called the See Through 4 — except for the fact that he's already got one of those, with a totally different lineup. I have been told that his Branding Team is hard at work ironing out this paradox, but in the meantime, here were some new tunes, specially jazz-reduced for this lineup including Lina Allemano (trumpet), Michael Davidson (vibes) and Jake Oelrichs (percussion). Word is that this unit did some recording, so expect to hear more from them the next time Lina Allemano is back from Berlin.

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (March 3rd) with sets from JP Carter & Friends (including Aline Homzy, Ashley Urquhart, and Joe Sorbara), Les Trois Lynx Roux (Émilie Fortin, Germaine Liu, and Cory Harper-Latkovich) and Suit World (Alex Hamlyn, Alex McLaren, and Vannessa Barnier).]

Recording: S W A N H E R D S

Artist: S W A N H E R D S

Songs: Swanherds + The Turning Larch

Recorded at the Canadian Music Centre (CMC/Riparian Acoustics presents), January 23, 2020.

S W A N H E R D S - Swanherds

S W A N H E R D S - The Turning Larch

This set would have been worth seeing based just on the familiar local faces on stage, including Laura Swankey, Zoë Alexis-Abrams, Ryan Driver, D. Alex Meeks and Pete Johnston — maybe especially so as all were being credited with "whistling" alongside their usual instruments. But all expectations were detourned by the presence of Rebecca Bruton, who had assembled this group as the space-built-in unit S W A N H E R D S. The Banff-based Bruton is a composer, noise-maker and song-singer — all of which were hinted at here, though this set hewed toward the latter. Positing an avant-garde tradition on the same country path k.d. lang once trod down, the songs took in the birds, trees and horses observed in her local environment, brought to life with that aforementioned whistling, as well as singing saws and some occasional yodels.

[This season of CMC Presents concerts will be concluding at the Burdock on Thursday, March 5th with a special co-presentation with the Women From Space Festival featuring Elisa Thorn, Claire Yunjin Lee, Amy Brandon, and Susan Alcorn.]

Recording: Ways

Artist: Ways

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at the Canadian Music Centre (CMC/Riparian Acoustics presents), January 23, 2020.

Ways - [excerpt]

This pairing of Brodie West and Evan Cartwright was frequently spotted around town a few years back, but had gone to ground for a spell. With an album due in a couple months, the next phase is now opening up as the pair are putting themselves back in the mix. The time away has definitely lead to some refinements in the pair's sound, which on this showing was presented with a renewed sense of elegant restraint. Evan Cartwright's percussion was not so much propelling things along as keeping them aloft, while West's saxophone was more suggestive of a sphere expanding than a path taken.

[Ways will be back in action on Thursday, March 5th at the launch party for A Pigsty in a Single Grain of Rice, recent collages by Andrew Zukerman at Likely General, where they will be interpreting a graphic score by Zukerman. West and Cartwright will also be performing as members of Eucalyptus at the band's annual residency at Hirut restaurant, every Sunday in March (except the first Sunday). This season of CMC Presents concerts will be concluding at the Burdock on Thursday, March 5th with a special co-presentation with the Women From Space Festival featuring Elisa Thorn, Claire Yunjin Lee, Amy Brandon, and Susan Alcorn.]

Recording: Fisher/Cartwright/Crosby

Artist: Colin Fisher/Evan Cartwright/Ted Crosby

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Karen Ng Presents), January 22, 2020.

Colin Fisher/Evan Cartwright/Ted Crosby - unknown

More action from this trio, who are continuing to refine the pieces I saw them working on a little while back. For those catching up, Ted Crosby is doing the sax work here, with Colin Fisher sticking to guitar — and for fans of his free-flowing improvised work, it's interesting to see him using his tools with measured precision. Pedalheads will take note of his work on the Count to 5 here, with some sweet birdwarbles in this piece.

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

Recording: Dwyer/Cole/Steinwall/Farncombe

Artist: Ben Dwyer/Josh Cole/Emily Steinwall/Ewan Farncombe

Songs: two untitled pieces^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Karen Ng Presents), January 22, 2020.

Ben Dwyer/Josh Cole/Emily Steinwall/Ewan Farncombe - untitled #1

Ben Dwyer/Josh Cole/Emily Steinwall/Ewan Farncombe - untitled #2

The previous couple times I had seen Ben Dwyer playing it was on double bass, so this served as a reminder how capable he is on saxophone as well. And also as a composer, as this was a set of new pieces he's working on, dwelling in a sweetly-melancholic, atmospheric ballad-y zone. ("Is this a suite?" on audience member asked after the first few pieces. "it's not a suite, it's a... vibe," Dwyer responded.) Flanked by Emily Steinwall on tenor up front, the saxes were given a frame by Josh Cole's bass and Ewan Farncombe's keyboards, unrushed by percussive interference.

^* Remind me to update this when these pieces get names!

Concert Listings Roundup #342

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 Sweetest Noise: A Birthday Celebration of Justin Haynes (feat. Rebecca Campbell with Lina Allemano/Andrew Downing/Nick Fraser/Tania Gill/Thom Gill/Craig Harley/Jean Martin/David Travers-Smith/Kevin Turcotte) / Hugh's Room 2020-02-24 (Monday) [more info]

Soundstreams Encounters: Making it all up? [performance and discussion] (feat. Nick Storring / Chris Pruden / Araz Salek / Rob Clutton) / Gladstone Hotel 2020-02-24 (Monday – free with RSVP!) [FB event]

CMC/Riparian Acoustics Present ["solo and duo works for flute and cello, with some works featuring electronics"] (feat. Amahl Arulanandam/Sara Constant) / Canadian Music Centre 2020-02-25 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Furniture Music (feat. Pat Boyle & Friends [Pat Boyle/Meghan Gilhespy/Ernie Tollar/Alex Fournier/Paul Fitterer] / Queasy Weasel [Bea Labikova/Ashley Urquhart/Caleb Klager/Stefan Hegerat]) / Wenona Lodge 2020-02-25 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Lina Allemano's Titanium Riot / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-25 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Exit Points #1 (feat. Glen Hall/Curtis Whitaker/Michael Palumbo / Raph Roter/Hryso Maheras/Rob Cruickshank) / Hirut Restaurant 2020-02-26 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Scott Hardware (Lee Paradise) / The Boat 2020-02-26 (Wednesday – rescheduled show!) [FB event]

Music by Harry and Furlong (feat. Harry Vetro's Adolescence Ensemble [Meghan Noelle Gilhespy/Madeleine Ertel/Ben Frost/Harrison Argatoff/Naomi McCarroll-Butler/Dan Pitt/Patrick O'Reilly/Noah Franche-Nolan/Yunjin Claire Lee/Hayden Farrar/Harry Vetro] / Ian McGimpsey) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-26 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Appetite For Deconstruction No.1 [Improvised experimental music curated by experimental artist Mike Barber. Each evening is divided in two parts — guest artists will perform their sets which will be sampled and used as the raw materials for Barber's closing set.] (feat. Jakob Rehlinger/Autotectonic/Mike Barber) / Wenona Lodge 2002-02-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

The Holy Oak Family Singers Revue (feat. Thom Gill/Luka Kuplowsky/Robin Dann/Felicity Williams/Ben Whiteley/Ivy Mairi/Joseph Shabason/Alex Lukashevsky/Evan Cartwright/Carmen Elle/Alex Samaras/Ben Gunning) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

It's Been Fun! [“End of an Era” party] (feat. Slutcode / Body Butter / ZA / Loji) / Handlebar 2020-02-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

Aurochs / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-28 (Friday – early!)

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-28 (Friday)

Freesound 02 [works by Laurence Crane, Pauline Oliveros, Paolo Griffin, Maya Verlaak] (feat. Freesound Ensemble) / The Music Gallery 2020-02-28 (Friday) [FB event]

Young Guv (Pretty Matty / BLANKS) / The Garrison 2020-02-28 (Friday) [FB event]

M.I.N.D. [album release show!] / The Dupe Shop 2020-02-29 (Saturday – all-ages! free!) [FB event]

Dai Fujikura Mini-Marathon (feat. The Array Ensemble / Thin Edge New Music Collective) / Array Space 2020-02-29 (Saturday) [FB event]

Erin Corbett (Miserable Weekend / Output 1:1:1) / The Cavern Bar 2020-02-29 (Saturday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Brooklyn Bohach/Laura Swankey/Noah Franche-Nolan/Yunjin Claire Lee/Zachary Cardwell / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-29 (Saturday) [FB event]

First Sunday Jam #3 (feat. Maggie Keogh/Daniel Easty/Robert Chapman/Chris Banks/Spencer Cole + jam to follow!) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2020-03-01 (Sunday) [FB event]

Emergents II (feat. Bakarlari) / The Music Gallery 2020-03-01 (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!

M.I.N.D. [album release show!] / The Dupe Shop 2020-02-29 (Saturday – all-ages! free!) [FB event]

Spring On Winter [Patrick Grant/Raf Reza/Daniela Gassi/Ashley Beattie] (C.R. Gillespie) / Sellers & Newel 2020-03-03 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Ghostlight (Eiyn Sof) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-03-04 (Wednesday) [FB event]

In Between Sounds #107 (feat. Lorde Awesome) / The Only Café 2020-03-05 (Thursday) [FB event]

Carmen Elle (Within / Hiroki Tanaka) / Handlebar 2020-03-05 (Thursday) [FB event]

Action Packed Vol. 2 (feat. Bloodshot Bill / Ichi-Bons / The Shook Boys) / The Dakota Tavern 2020-03-07 (Saturday) [FB event]

Processor (Bile Sister / Memorex) / Duggan's Brewery 2020-03-07 (Saturday) [FB event]

The Furniture Music Composition Workshop #15: Graphic Score Edition ["bring your graphic scores, text score, mixed media, literal sketch prompts, whatever and see how they play out in the hands of another"] (feat. Ben Frost/Bjorn Kriel/Michael Palumbo/Reknee Harrett) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2019-03-08 (Sunday – 5 to 7 p.m.!) [FB event]

Lina Allemano [Glimmer Glammer solo trumpet CD release!] (Bloop!) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-03-08 (Sunday) [FB event]

The AMBiENT PiNG (feat. Your Winters Are Like Summers Here / notsawry) / Handlebar 2020-03-11 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Joyfultalk [A Separation of Being LP release!] (Joyful Joyful) / Burdock Music Hall 2020-03-16 (Monday) [FB event]

Tough Age (So Young / Elmer Flood) / Handlebar 2020-03-21 (Saturday) [FB event]

Praises [EP Release!] (Queen of Swords / Secret Sign) / Monarch Tavern 2020-03-27 (Friday) [FB event]

So Sensitive (Rapport / So Young) / The Baby G 2020-04-08 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Recording: Ryōkan Blues Band

Artist: Ryōkan Blues Band

Songs: To Pi Ssu Yao [from a poem by Du Fu] + If Your Heart Remains Unchanged + Formal Meditation + I Found a Coin in My Bag [from poems by Ryōkan]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), January 22, 2020.

Ryōkan Blues Band - To Pi Ssu Yao

Ryōkan Blues Band - If Your Heart Remains Unchanged

Ryōkan Blues Band - Formal Meditation

Ryōkan Blues Band - I Found a Coin in My Bag

It's quite exciting to see that this endeavour, started as a side project to Luke "Luka" Kuplowsky's "name band", has branched off to claim its own identity. Essentially a vehicle for the musical setting of poetry, the heart of the thing remains in the Ryōkan and Rumi texts that the project started off with — but things are growing (enough that the band could play two short sets at this show!) to include a wider range of poets as well. Regardless of the source, there's an admirable dedication to serving the text here — if a poem is four terse lines, it doesn't need to be given a bridge and a second verse and what have you, it can just occupy the space of those original distilled thoughts.

[There probably won't be any be any Ryōkan, but Luke Kuplowsky will be celebrating a birthday at a special Holy Oak Family Singers Revue in the Southern Cross on Thursday (February 27th).]

Recording: So Sue Me

Artist: So Sue Me

Song: One Zero^*

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng), January 21, 2020.

So Sue Me - One Zero

I'm not sure if the band name of this group fronted by guitarist Alex Lukashevsky is meant to stick or just to be a whimsical placeholder (he also has an upcoming solo show where he's being billed as Alex "Bad Baby" Lukashevsky, which raises similar questions) but there is definitely something fascinatingly cool going on here. Joined by Evan Cartwright (percussion, steel drum), Mike Overton (bass) and Ryan Driver (synth), Lukashevsky lead the crew through three longer songs, pop tunes at their heart, but tackled with no wave yelps and howls in a series of weird, throbbing grooves. A bit like a genially-lobotomized Deep Dark United, these two-chord vamps staggered and tripped around the room in a pretty awesome way.

^* Thanks to Alex for passing along this (possibly temporary) title!

Recording: Baron/Vespaziani/O

Artist: Simone Baron/Bob Vespaziani/Cheryl O

Songs: [two excerpts from an improvisation]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge, January 21, 2020.

Simone Baron/Bob Vespaziani/Cheryl O - [2nd piece, excerpt 1]

Simone Baron/Bob Vespaziani/Cheryl O - [2nd piece, excerpt 2]

Cheryl O put together this early "dinner hour" show to get a chance to play with the visiting accordionist Simone Baron, a co-conspirator when the pair were at the Banff Centre. She also brought frequent collaborator Bob Vespaziani along, and although the resultant trio of accordion, cello and percussion might have looked to a casual onlooker like something that might be playing pleasant tunes at the edge of a European sidewalk café, there were definitely some stranger currents flowing here. Although the trio indeed improvised through some gavottes and tarantellas, things were destabilized by wavedrum clatter, whistles, and a dedication to exploring the percussive sounds that an accorion body can generate.

[Cheryl O's unQuartet will be sharing a night with Clara Engel on Friday, March 27th at The Amsterdam Bicycle Club.]

Recording: The BABEL Ensemble

Artist: The BABEL Ensemble

Song: Release of the Spirit [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Remembering Arachnidiscs), January 19, 2020.

The BABEL Ensemble - Release of the Spirit [excerpt]

Jakob Rehlinger needed only some moderate prodding to put together an event celebrating the winding down his Arachnidiscs label after a twenty-year run — though once he was committed, he ran with the idea, turning the event into a proper funeral, complete with wreath and memory book. He also had the idea of combining some of the label's alumni into one-off ensembles for this show.

The prize of the night was a release celebration for the label's swan song, Thirteen Exquisite Corpses by Rehlinger's ambitious (and rather beautiful) BABEL Ensemble project, where each of the participants "improvised to a series of minimal synthesizer drones provided by Rehlinger, unaware of each others' addition, which Rehlinger then edited into cohesive works." This live set assembled four musicians (M. Mucci, Matthew Fava, Dominic Marion and Kayla Milmine) who had participated, and were edited together on the project's first disc. The resultant piece, like the album, was entrancingly cohesive, and a worthy dirge to wrap things up.

[Jakob Rehlinger will be making some solo sounds at the first instalment of Appetite For Deconstruction, a new series convened by Mike Barber, next Thursday (February 27th) at Wenona Lodge.]

Recording: M. Mucci/Khôra/Totenbaum Träger

Artist: M. Mucci/Khôra/Totenbaum Träger

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Remembering Arachnidiscs), January 19, 2020.

M. Mucci/Khôra/Totenbaum Träger - [excerpt]

Jakob Rehlinger needed only some moderate prodding to put together an event celebrating the winding down his Arachnidiscs label after a twenty-year run — though once he was committed, he ran with the idea, turning the event into a proper funeral, complete with wreath and memory book. He also had the idea of combining some of the label's alumni into one-off ensembles for this show. Dominic Marion (who released a solo side on an Arachnidiscs split tape as well as being half of Mad/Mod) proposed a set with this trio attempting to capture the mood of Mucci's Secret Midnights album. The upshot, from Mucci's lap steel, Marion's guitar and Matthew Ramolo's modular synth, was some beautifully-atmospheric zones.

Recording: Heraclitus Akimbo & Beard Closet

Artist: Heraclitus Akimbo & Beard Closet

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Remembering Arachnidiscs), January 19, 2020.

Heraclitus Akimbo & Beard Closet - [excerpt]

Jakob Rehlinger needed only some moderate prodding to put together an event celebrating the winding down his Arachnidiscs label after a twenty-year run — though once he was committed, he ran with the idea, turning the event into a proper funeral, complete with wreath and memory book. He also had the idea of combining some of the label's alumni into one-off ensembles for this show. This first set brought together the occasionally-abrasive Beard Closet with the usually-quieter Heraclitus Akimbo, but there was a nice meeting in the middle here, with the former adding some field recordings and guitar tones to the latter's synth-churring. Then things did get a bit noisy.

second photo by Jakob Rehlinger.

Recording: Laurie Anderson

Artist: Laurie Anderson

Song: The Art of Falling [The Birds and The Wall]

Recorded at Koerner Hall (21C Music Festival), January 18, 2020.

Laurie Anderson - The Art of Falling [The Birds and The Wall]

Laurie Anderson, along with cellist Rubin Kodheli, brought "The Art of Falling" to a performance at a packed Koerner Hall, a longform piece weaving together stories, song fragments and musical improvisation in a series of meditations on loss and life. It was definitely at its best when it focused on the hypnotic weave of Anderson's relaxed cadence, getting the audience to close their eyes and listen to her like a drivetime DJ who's eschewed the traffic report for a pressing update on the state of the listener's soul. This section involves a re-telling of Aristophanes' play The Birds as a commentary on today's wall-builders.

Recording: Matthew "Doc" Dunn & Friends

Artist: Matthew "Doc" Dunn & Friends

Songs: Call Me The Drift + Pearly Gates [U.S. Girls cover]

Recorded at The Baby G, January 16, 2020.

Matthew "Doc" Dunn & Friends - Call Me The Drift

Matthew Doc Dunn & Friends - Pearly Gates

Holding a belated release celebration for Upper Canada Blues, the third salvo in Dunn's recent spate of "song" albums, a reshuffled group of musical comrades took the stage like to provide the rollicking rootsy swagger to complement Dunn's slide guitar playing. Like a boozy post-concert jam between George Harrison and The Grateful Dead, this music sometimes lurched drunkenly, but felt all the more sanctified for it.

Recording: Lavender Bruisers

Artist: Lavender Bruisers

Song: I Would Have Lifted You Up

Recorded at The Baby G, January 16, 2020.

Lavender Bruisers - I Would Have Lifted You Up

Having expanded from a solo endeavour to a full band, Kritty Uranowski's pop project is gaining more rock momentum (deployed to good effect on a cover of David Berman's "Margaritas at the Mall"). Even as the rhythm section (of Jesse Locke and Matt Learoyd) extends the anthemic disco vibes (and New order-ish bassline) in this track, it's still Uranowski's charismatic presence that lifts things up.

[Lavender Bruisers will be performing Friday (February 21st) at Long Winter.]

Recording: Mr. Joy

Artist: Mr. Joy

Songs: two unknown songs^*

Recorded at The Baby G, January 16, 2020.

Mr. Joy - unknown #1

Mr. Joy - unknown #2

Coming from the floaty, unrushed end of the psychedelic spectrum, this quartet brought some languid grooves to open up the night. The sort of band whose vision would have been unachievable in the past without having to haul around a mellotron, songs were as often as not instrumental, and bumping up against pop concision before ambling off into other supple soundrealms.

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

Concert Listings Roundup #341

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:

Kurt Newman Jazz Trio [Kurt Newman/Rob Clutton/Blake Howard] / The Emmet Ray 2020-02-17 (Monday – early! PWYC!) [more info]

Pete Johnston 4 [Lina Allemano/Michael Davidson/Jake Oelrichs/Pete Johnston] / The Emmet Ray 2020-02-17 (Monday – PWYC!) [more info]

Dan Pitt Quintet [Patrick Smith/Naomi McCarroll-Butler/Dan Pitt/Alex Fournier/Ethan Ardelli] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-18 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Music Hosted by Karen Ng presents: Improvising Music (feat. BUDi / Special Costello / ADO) / Wenona Lodge 2020-02-18 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Allison Cameron Presents (feat. Allison Cameron/Mira Martin-Gray/Mark Zurawinski / Allison Cameron/Germaine Liu/Laura Swankey) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-19 (Wednesday – early!)

Mike DeiCont Presents (feat. Allison Au/Mike DeiCont/Mac Rogers/Eric West) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-19 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Friendly Rich & the Flower City Tire Fire [Friendly Rich/David Sait] (Brigitte Bardon't) / Wenona Lodge 2020-02-20 (Thursday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Caleb Klager/Bjorn Kriel/Jon Catanus / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-20 (Thursday) [FB event]

No Frills ($keleton Club / Condo / Raymans) / Monarch Tavern 2020-02-21 (Friday) [FB event]

Long Winter 8.4 (feat. Mil-Spec / Korydor / Laps / Tallies / Isla Craig / Hua Li / Backxwash / Witchrot / Scorpio Rising / Lavender Bruisers / Tongue Patrol) / Workman Arts 2019-02-21 (Friday) [FB event]

Tort Residency (feat. Tort / BuDi) / Houndstooth 2020-02-21 (Friday) [FB event]

CCMC / Array Space 2020-02-21 (Friday) [more info]

Duniya Salaam (feat. Baaba Maal) / Aga Khan Museum 2020-02-21–2020-02-22 (Friday–Saturday) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Mark Morgan / Carl Didur / New Tendencies) / Burdock Music Hall 2020-02-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

coexisDance 98 (feat. Donald Carr/Claire Yunjin Lee/Jessica Houghton/Michael Lynn/Jade Delaronde Maggie Lucas/Natalie Abdou/Candice Irwin/Jane Enkin/Kousha Nakhaei/ Candice Irwin Natalie Abdou/Claire Yunjin Lee/James Bailey/Michael Lynn/Jessica Houghton/Kousha Nakhaei/Donald Carr/Jane Enkin) / Array Space 2020-02-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

TIO Celebrates Mike Hansen (feat. Toronto Improvisors Orchestra with Mike Hansen) / Array Space 2020-02-23 (Sunday) [FB event]

The Ossingtones [Bruce Cassidy/Diane Roblin/Phill Albert/Mark Zurawinski/Glen Hall] / The Emmet Ray 2020-02-23 (Sunday – PWYC!) [more info]

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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!

Furniture Music (feat. Pat Boyle & Friends [Pat Boyle/Meghan Gilhespy/Ernie Tollar/Alex Fournier/Paul Fitterer] / Queasy Weasel [Bea Labikova/Ashley Urquhart/Caleb Klager/Stefan Hegerat]) / Wenona Lodge 2020-02-25 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Exit Points #1 (feat. Glen Hall/Curtis Whitaker/Michael Palumbo / Raph Roter/Hryso Maheras/Rob Cruickshank) / Hirut Restaurant 2020-02-26 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Scott Hardware (Lee Paradise) / The Boat 2020-02-26 (Wednesday – rescheduled show!) [FB event]

Appetite For Deconstruction No.1 [Improvised experimental music curated by experimental artist Mike Barber. Each evening is divided in two parts — guest artists will perform their sets which will be sampled and used as the raw materials for Barber's closing set.] (feat. Jakob Rehlinger/Autotectonic/Mike Barber) / Wenona Lodge 2002-02-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

Dai Fujikura Mini-Marathon (feat. The Array Ensemble / Thin Edge New Music Collective) / Array Space 2020-02-29 (Saturday) [FB event]

Track Could Bend #60 (feat. JP Carter & Friends [JP Carter/Aline Homzy/Ashley Urquhart/Joe Sorbara] / Les Trois Lynx Roux [Émilie Fortin/Germaine Liu/Cory Harper-Latkovich] / Suit World [Alex Hamlyn/Alex McLaren/Vannessa Barnier]) / Wenona Lodge 2020-03-03 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

A Pigsty in a Single Grain of Rice: collages by Andrew Zukerman [opening reception with musical performance] (feat. Ways) / Likely General 2020-03-05 (Thursday) [FB event]

Honeymoon Phase [Defect EP release!] (Mhihkhaihlhah x Chastity Platinum / Animal Party) / 254 Lansdowne 2020-03-05 (Thursday) [FB event]

VC2 Cello Duo / Canadian Music Centre 2020-03-06 (Friday) [FB event]

Away Forward [album release party!] (People) / Duggan's Brewery (basement) 2020-03-06 (Friday) [FB event]

Queerly Beloved: Wild Combination (A Portrait of Arthur Russell) [film screening + live set] (feat. The Holy Oak Family Singers) / Paradise Theatre 2020-03-06 (Friday) [FB event]

Motorists [EP release!] (Safe) / The Beguiling (basement) 2020-03-07 (Saturday – early!) [FB event]

Planet of the Loops (feat. Dustin Good / Cheryl O / Jordana Talsky / Andrew Aldridge) / Roland Inspiration Centre 2020-03-12 (Thursday – free!) [FB event]

Premieres IX (feat. Thin Edge New Music Collective) / Array Space 2020-03-20 (Friday) [FB event]

Batuki Music Society presents (feat. Prince Yannick) / Alliance Française 2020-03-21 (Saturday) [FB event]

Exit Points #2 (feat. Claire Yunjin Lee/Cayce Fisher/Joel Ong/Scott McGregor Moore/Kieran Maraj/Curtis Whitaker/Michael Palumbo) / Hirut Restaurant 2020-03-25 (Wednesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

New Musical Resources: A Composition Workshop and Concert [series includes workshops on March 24–26] (feat. Brodie West Quintet) / Canadian Music Centre 2020-03-27 (Friday) [FB event]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Les Filles De Illighadad) / The Garrison 2020-06-22 (Monday) [FB event]

Recording: Allemano/Ng/Howard/Cole

Artist: Lina Allemano/Karen Ng/Blake Howard/Josh Cole

Songs: [two excerpts from an improvisation]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), January 15, 2020.

Lina Allemano/Karen Ng/Blake Howard/Josh Cole - [excerpt 1 from set 1, first piece]

Lina Allemano/Karen Ng/Blake Howard/Josh Cole - [excerpt 2 from set 1, first piece]

Overlappingly similar to a quartet that had played the Tranzac the month before, this group brought back Blake Howard's picnic blanket of broken cymbals and Lina Allemano's trumpet, mixing in a different bassist (Josh Cole, on electric) and saxophonist (Karen Ng). Grabbing onto ideas and sticking with them to see where the paths lead, this group could nevertheless take some quick turns from abstract rattles to tuneful atmospheres.

Recording: Microtonal Gong Sho

Artist: Microtonal Gong Sho

Songs: [excerpts from two improvisations]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Octopus Presents), January 15, 2020.

Microtonal Gong Sho - [excerpt from 1st piece]

Microtonal Gong Sho - [excerpt from 3rd piece]

The group name for this ad hoc ensemble was both whimsical and an on-point description. Field-testing a recently-acquired set of homemade gongs (spread out in front of them like a picnic blanket), Germaine Liu and Mark Zurawinski sounded out some traditional gong-bongs but also just as many unorthodox rubbings and clankings. They were flanked on one side by Brian Abbott (adding feedback swoops and phase shifter tickbursts on his microtonal guitar) and Sarah Peebles (on shō and cracklebox) on the other.

[Coming up on Wednesday (February 19th), Octopus will be presenting two different trios, each with Allison Cameron — the first set will see her being joined by Mira Martin-Gray and Mark Zurawinski while Germaine Liu and Laura Swankey will be featured in the second.]

Recording: Nilan Perera & Mira Martin-Gray

Artist: Nilan Perera & Mira Martin-Gray

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Octopus Presents), January 15, 2020.

Nilan Perera & Mira Martin-Gray - [excerpt from first piece]

A savvy pairing at this Octopus-curated evening at The Tranzac saw prepared guitarist Nilan Perera and no-input feedback mixist Mira Martin-Grey joining forces. A top talent at subtle looping on his Boomerang, Perera's bow-drones and plucks fit right in with Martin-Grey's noise swells. Her drone-tones and strong sense of pitch allowed the feedback sounds to blend in quite satisfactorily with the e-bow tincan rattles and other delicate chime-sounds — the dual output often sounding like one signal buzzing with sympathetic interference.

[Coming up on Wednesday (February 19th), Octopus will be presenting two different trios, each with Allison Cameron — the first set will see her being joined by Mira Martin-Gray and Mark Zurawinski while Germaine Liu and Laura Swankey will be featured in the second.]

Recording: Fisher/Zurawinski/DeiCont/Furlong

Artist: Colin Fisher/Mark Zurawinski/Mike DeiCont/Andrew Furlong

Songs: [three excerpts from an improvisation]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Jazz and Otherwise Improvised Musics), January 14, 2020.

Colin Fisher/Mark Zurawinski/Mike DeiCont/Andrew Furlong - [first piece, excerpt 1]

Colin Fisher/Mark Zurawinski/Mike DeiCont/Andrew Furlong - [first piece, excerpt 2]

Colin Fisher/Mark Zurawinski/Mike DeiCont/Andrew Furlong - [first piece, excerpt 3]

Wrapping up his Jazz and Otherwise Improvised Musics series after a year of presenting shows in Wenona's basement, bassist Andrew Furlong put together this farewell set that saw him joined by Colin Fisher (guitar, saxophone), Mark Zurawinski (percussion) and Mike DeiCont (double bass). Besides presenting the somewhat-unusual sight of seeing two double basses playing side-by-side, the latter's presence also represented a hand-off of sorts, as DeiCont will be taking over booking the second-Tuesday-of-the-month slot from here on in.

[Remember to check out Mike DeCont's curated selections on the second Tuesday of the month — the first passed by this week, but the next one up will be here on March 10th.]

Recording: Diane Roblin & Kayla Milmine

Artist: Diane Roblin & Kayla Milmine

Song: Nefertiti [composer: Wayne Shorter]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Jazz and Otherwise Improvised Musics), January 14, 2020.

Diane Roblin & Kayla Milmine - Nefertiti

Using a handful of pieces (including ones by Monk and Carla Bley) as springboards for improvisation, this pairing for piano and soprano sax found room to get dense, stretch things out, and end with a laugh.

Recording: Fournier/Melanson/Perera

Artist: Alex Fournier/Phil Melanson/Nilan Perera

Songs: [three improvised selections]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (SynapticCircusSundays), January 12, 2020.

Alex Fournier/Phil Melanson/Nilan Perera - [excerpt from first piece]

Alex Fournier/Phil Melanson/Nilan Perera - [second piece]

Alex Fournier/Phil Melanson/Nilan Perera - [third piece]

Nilan Perera's self-curated set at this SynapticCircus night saw him on electric guitar and joined by the rhythm section of Alex Fournier (double bass) and Phil Melanson (drumkit). The latter was especially fun to watch — in all of his recent work with quiet, subtle percussion, one can forget that he's still a helluva drummer — even if he's still taking things outside in sets like this when he, say, puts away his sticks and pulls out his garden trowels.

[SynapticCircusSundays will be back at The Tranzac on Sunday, March 8th.]

Recording: Driver/Gill/Urquhart

Artist: Ryan Driver/Tania Gill/Ashley Urquhart

Song: Monk Musical Chairs [excerpt] [composer: Thelonious Monk]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (SynapticCircusSundays), January 12, 2020.

Ryan Driver/Tania Gill/Ashley Urquhart - Monk Musical Chairs [excerpt]

Another conceptual coup at Nilan Perera's SynapticCircusSundays residency saw three noteworthy local pianists taking turns on selections from the Monk songbook. The catch here was that the songs were presented continuously — one pianist would start a song, then slide over midway through as the next joined them for a four-handed middle section before the new pianist would complete the piece and begin another.

[SynapticCircusSundays will be back at The Tranzac on Sunday, March 8th.]

Recording: Del/Liz/Joe with Ayal Senior

Artist: Del/Liz/Joe with Ayal Senior

Song: [collaboration, in two parts]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior Presents), January 12, 2020.

Del/Liz/Joe with Ayal Senior - [collaboration part 1]

Del/Liz/Joe with Ayal Senior - [collaboration part 2]

Ayal Senior's second Sunday afternoon residency at the Tranzac continues to be a relaxed zone to mix different flavours of music, usually alongside the comedy stylings of Nick Flanigan. As a consummate host, Senior will usually try out a musical idea or two, but just in a short burst to leave time for his guests. There was enough time left over at the end though for a collaborative jam, with Senior joining in with the trio of Del Stephen, Liz Lima and Joe Strutt for some electronic ghost sounds and clarinet seagull songs.

Ayal Senior has also shared some video documentation from this set:

[Ayal Senior will be presenting more music and comedy at the Tranzac on the afternoon of the next second Sunday of the month, which'll be March 8th.]

Recording: Del/Liz/Joe

Artist: Del/Liz/Joe

Song: Salut la mer

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior Presents), January 12, 2020.

Del/Liz/Joe - Salut la mer

This new project from Del Stephen (synth, poems), Liz Lima (clarinet, voice) and Joe Strutt (tapes, effects) came together over the holidays for a recording session and then bounced out into the world ready for further explorations. The band has a name now, but it didn't then — but there's definitely an easy sense here of finding some suitable zones to linger in.

Ayal Senior captured some video footage from this set:

[Ayal Senior will be presenting more music and comedy at the Tranzac on the afternoon of the next second Sunday of the month, which'll be March 8th.]

Recording: Ayal Senior

Artist: Ayal Senior

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior Presents), January 12, 2020.

Ayal Senior - [excerpt]

Ayal Senior's second Sunday afternoon residency at the Tranzac continues to be a relaxed zone to mix different flavours of music, usually alongside the comedy stylings of Nick Flanigan. As a consummate host, Senior will usually try out a musical idea or two, but just in a short burst to leave time for his guests. Here, he's getting his tenori-on, er, on, and getting plenty milage out of some delay pedal warps.

[Ayal Senior will be presenting more music and comedy at the Tranzac on the afternoon of the next second Sunday of the month, which'll be March 8th.]

Recording: Kiwi Jr.

Artist: Kiwi Jr.

Songs: Murder in the Cathedral + Wicked Witches

Recorded at The Gladstone Hotel's Ballroom (Long Winter 8.3), January 11, 2020.

Kiwi Jr. - Murder in the Cathedral

Kiwi Jr. - Wicked Witches

It must be interesting times for this ascending local quartet — their debut album Football Money (whose terrain ranges from the Dufferin Mall to the New Ho King restaurant) came out in these parts nearly a year ago, but has recently gotten a worldwide re-release that'll keep these as "new" songs for further-flung audiences. But the band is showing no sign of fatigue with tunes that have formed the backbone of their repertoire for a few years now, still leaning into them with slacker intensity.

[Long Winter is back on Friday, February 21st, returning to Workman Arts for a night of art and music — including sounds from Mil-Spec, Korydor, Laps, Tallies, Isla Craig, Hua Li, Backxwash, Witchrot, Scorpio Rising, Lavender Bruisers and Tongue Patrol.]