Monday Roundup #39

In the absence of concert listings, my regular Monday dispatches have fallen off. After bringing some life to the blog with the "bumping into" series, I figure I should get back in the groove. I'm guessing that this will be a bit like what used to get shoved into the end of the post when I was doing listings — some bandcamp suggestions, nods to a few livestreams, and sundry community notes (email me if you have anything that needs broadcast in the latter category!). Plus maybe a look back through the MFS archives.

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Community notes:

• Building on the theme and vibe of this year's X Avant shows (see below!), The Music Gallery has unveiled a new community-building initiative. "Following the theme for this year’s X Avant Festival, You In Mind, the Music Gallery is hosting a series of five events from November through March dedicated to artists whose projects or organizations are not supported by public funding or otherwise do not have the means to present in venues of our scale." Unleash your dreams for filling the space at 918 Bathurst with sounds and click here for more info.

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X Avant:

Taking tentative steps into appraising Where Things Stand, the first X Avant festival curated by Artistic Director Sanjeet Takhar is about renewal and reconnection, "to listen, process, and artistically empower the diverse communities in Toronto." These four nights offer limited, safely-distanced in-person seating as well as a Name-Your-Price livestream option. There's a lot to experience over four nights:

• X Avant XVI: Listen (Thursday) Music and spoken word co-presented with RISE Edutainment. Spoken Word Artists: Eyeda Sophia, Nathan Baya, Nasim, and Moël. Musical & Visual Producers: Nathan Smith and Vanese Smith.

• X Avant XVI: Reasoning (Friday) A free screening of a new documentary from Bonjay's Alanna Stuart, launching a new solo project. (Also streaming free on Thursday on the MG's Twitch channel.)

• X Avant XVI: Process (Saturday) An eight-hour drone, suitable for sonic washing. Featuring: Labyrinth (Araz Salek, Amely Zhou, Yang Chen), Bachelard, Colin Fisher, Short Bloom, Kat Estacio, Debashis Sinha, LordAUK & Zones, and Labyrinth (Naomi McCarroll-Butler, Pedram Khavarzamini, Scott Peterson).

• X Avant XVI: Embody (Sunday) A co-presentation with Native Women in the Arts, in celebration of Indigenous communities and the lessons they have to share. Featuring Oneida Nation group The Ukwehuwe Connection.

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In the mix:

• Speaking of drones, there's a new Drone Brunch mix posted — drift along with some sounds from YlangYlang, Badge Epoch, Nurse With Wound, Stenorette, Witxes, pä, Jakob Rehlinger, and zakè & marine eyes.

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It happened this week...

While X Avant is at the front of our minds, here's a couple sonic samples from the festival's first years at 918 Bathurst:

• ...on October 11, 2017 at 918 Bathurst (The Music Gallery's X AVANT XII – Night 1)

Man Forever - Twin Torches

• ...on October 19, 2019 at The Music Gallery (X AVANT XIV: Forward – Night 3).

Willi Williams and New Chance - Home

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]