Monday, January 31, 2022

Monday Roundup #55

Someday this space might be mostly concert listings again, but for now Monday roundups might include a romp through the MFS archives, 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!).


Community notes:

  • Audiopollination is returning to its pre-pandemic "self-curated" format for its shows coming up in March, April and May, giving performers to improvise in a safe zone but still outside of one's usual context. Series host Mike Lynn notes: "If it is safe I will allow a live audience - If it isn't, than we can livestream it from Array space with no audience." To sign up, you just have to head over to the spreadsheet here.

Livestream nation:

  • Track Could Bend is back tomorrow (Tuesday, February 1st) with two sets (solo performances in times of covid anxiety) from Paul Newman and Lina Allemano, premiering on youtube at 7 o'clock and 8 o'clock respectively. Come and hang out "live" in the chatroom, or catch 'em any time later on at those same links.

Video hits:

  • Big archive find from Ryan Driver this week — he has shared the recently-rediscovered "only known video footage of Canadian experimental music ensemble The Reveries". This recombination of Rat-Drifters saw Driver alongside Eric Chenaux and Doug Tielli featuring strangely-melted tunes courtesy of the members' mouth-speakers.

In the mix:

  • Check out this "eclectic and blissful" MailTape mix, guest-curated by Del Stephen.

Bandcamp corner:

  • Special reminder that Bandcamp Fridays are back for the next few first-Fridays-of-the-month, including this Friday. (The full schedule for now is on February 4th, March 4th, April 1st, and May 6th.) Dust off your wishlists and support the artists you love!

It happened this week...

  • ...on February 5, 2018 at Burdock Music Hall (Megaphono Roadshow).

Willie Thrasher - Blue Blue Sea

[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.]

Monday, January 24, 2022

2021 Gig List

Note: this is rather truncated due to a global pandemic.

Nidus / Cedarvale Ravine 2021-09-11 (Saturday)

Labyrinth Ensemble with Lamia Yared / Aga Khan Museum 2021-11-13 (Saturday)

X Avant XVI: Listen (feat. Eyeda Sophia & Nathan Baya / Nasim & Moël) / The Music Gallery 2021-10-14 (Thursday)

X Avant XVI: Process (feat. Labyrinth [Araz Salek/Amely Zhou/Yang Chen] / Bachelard / Colin Fisher / Short Bloom / Kat Estacio / Debashis Sinha / LordAUK & Zones / Labyrinth [Naomi McCarroll-Butler/Pedram Khavarzamini/Scott Peterson]) / The Music Gallery 2021-10-16 (Saturday)

Labyrinth Ensemble with Lamia Yared / Aga Khan Museum 2021-11-13 (Saturday)

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2021-12-04 (Saturday)

Monday Roundup #54

Someday this space might be mostly concert listings again, but for now Monday roundups might include a romp through the MFS archives, 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!).


Video hits:

  • "Let's put our lonely minds together, ride out the lonely weather." A new video from KASHKA for the song "Isolation" (from last year's soft EP) manages to capture the micro-zeitgeist quite nicely — bundle up, get outside and try to feel less stuck in yourself.

Livestream nation:

  • Tuesday night (January 25th) is a good time to gather (virtually) at The Tranzac to catch a set from Lina Allemano's Titanium Riot. (For proof of this assertion, check out the archive pick below!)
  • It feels strange to think that Exit Points — which barely debuted in the flesh before making its pandemic pivot online — is approching its second anniversary. Show number twenty-three features a pair of curated duos (Sara Constant & Thispatcher plus Louis Pino & Rayonism) as well as its usual community open-call collaborfations. Watch or join in on Wednesday (January 26th).
  • After a couple in-person events in the dip between waves, Long Winter is pivoting back to its "Long Winter TV" format, with a new compilation of music, art and discussion on Thursday (January 27th) with sounds from Obuxum, Odonis Odonis and more.

It happened this week...

  • ...on January 26, 2016 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

Lina Allemano's Titanium Riot - [excerpt from third piece]

[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.]

Monday, January 17, 2022

Monday Roundup #53

Someday this space might be mostly concert listings again, but for now Monday roundups might include a romp through the MFS archives, 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!).


Community notes:

  • It's all too easy to feel pessimism regarding the future of live music, especially in this increasingly-unaffordable city, so this piece of pragmatic utopianism from Tom Beedham might help to engender some consideration of brighter futures. (From the online New Feeling magazine, itself a product of ponderings on practical positivity that you should be keeping an eye on.)

Livestream nation:

  • Understory's first season concludes with one more "unclassifiable pan-Canadian remote collaboration". Two trios create improvisation-driven, "exquisite corpse"-style pieces employing music/ sound, scavenged footage, and more. The final instalment's two trios are: Bea Labikova/Brandon Auger/Jennifer Thiessen and Jing Xia/Leslie Ting/Nicole Rampersaud. It goes live online on Thursday (January 20th) at 8 p.m.

In the mix:

  • New drone mix like a sonic blanket for wintertime. Harp, harmonica, piano, clarinet — an orchestral electroacoustic zone? With tracks by Andrea Cortez, Elisa Thorn, Sachi Kobayashi, Michele Andreotti, Matthew Fava, John Snijders, Kaja Draksler & Eve Risser, Steve Reich and Musicians, Sascha Rosemarie Höfer, and Ann Southam.

It happened this week...

  • ...on January 22, 2014 at the Holy Oak Café. [remember how foggy the windows got during a show on a cold winter's night?]

Doug Tielli - Cow Worries

[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.]

Monday, January 10, 2022

Monday Roundup #52

Someday this space might be mostly concert listings again, but for now Monday roundups might include a romp through the MFS archives, 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!).


Community notes:

  • I note in passing this marks a year that I've been doing Monday dispatches in this format, so probably time to update the header a bit. Otherwise, no news to report in these cold + isolated times. I do recommend making the effort to call/text/message someone you haven't seen for awhile, even if you're feeling self-contained under your blankets.

Livestream nation:

  • Audiopollination returns on Friday (January 14th) with a duo performance from Bill Gilliam & Eugene Martynec (piano and computer-assisted electroacoustic sounds, respectively), streaming live from Array Space.

It happened this week...

  • ...on January 11, 2013 at The Great Hall ("Long Winter, Vol. 3").

Vag Halen - 20th Century Boy

S.H.I.T. - Eraser + Feeding Time

Light Fires - The Better

[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.]

Monday, January 3, 2022

Monday Roundup #51

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.


Community notes:

  • Well, not much going on, now and for the next couple weeks. Stay cozy, go for a walk and maybe take the opportunity to check in with the folks that you're missin'.

Livestream nation:

  • Track Could Bend's online incarnation is ready to go tomorrow night (Tuesday, January 4th) with pre-recorded live sets from Saturn City and William Davison + Bob Vespaziani. The sets will stay up on youtube, but you're welcome to come hang out in the live chat on Tuesday!

Bandcamp corner:

  • Four new songs from Ian McPhedran's "pop" project, with layers of haze wrapped around songs exploring "Psychedelic Hermeneutics" and other concerns.

It happened this week...

  • ...on January 7, 2011 at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Out of This Spark 4th Anniversary Concert).

Richard Laviolette & The Oil Spills - Funeral Song

The Pale Mornings - I'll Be There

[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.]