Vancouver's V.Vecker seems to operate somewhere between a bandonym and an ensemble — based around saxophonist Keith Wecker, the project is sometimes solo, sometimes a trio, and at this touring gig, a duo. There was a bit of troubleshooting required at the top of this set, so I'm not sure if all the synths were acting according to plan, leaving the audience a bit unsure if the set, which was on the short side, was due to a succinct presentation or being cut short for technical reasons. I liked what I heard, especially this closing section with Wecker's sax, so hopefully we'll get another chance to hear him around these parts.
This solo project from Max Klebanoff (of local death metal unit Tomb Mold) hewed the closest to noise in this night of electronic explorations — which is to say his tightly-focused sounds (laced with atmospheric field recordings) had a propensity to detour down darker avenues whenever it seemed like they might veer towards melodic pleasantness.
Back (for now) in town, Bryan Bray lead off this night of drifting electronic explorations with a two-stage process, with some tape-loop-esque long-tail guitar drone sculptures being engulfed by synthtones, before flipping back towards the origin point.
The call is out for next round of Tranzac residencies for April through September. Hit the link and get yourself a stretch of dates in Toronto's best music room!
Audiopollination (feat. Rabia Agha/Yoshi Maclear Wall/ Meryem Alaoui / Mike Smith/Em Wright / Matthew Endahl/Matt Collins / Mickle32/Elizabeth Lima) / Array Space 2025-01-10 (Friday). $10 (cash or card), livestream available. [FB event]
Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!
Shows this week:
Tranzac New Year's Eve (feat. Joseph Shabason & The Welcome To Hell Tentet / Sandro Perri & Friends / Jane Inc) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-12-31 (Tuesday). $30 Adv. / $32 door. [FB event]
Back from tour and in fine form after fighting the elements across Western Canada, guitarist Dan Pitt and company (Alex Fournier on bass, Nick Fraser on drums plus Patrick Smith and Naomi McCarroll-Butler on woodwinds) tore it out in this homecoming romp. Celebrating the rease of Horizontal Depths, the group's second album, the ensemble moved through most of the album's pieces, exploring moody zones and blistering rockers like this set-opener.
You can check out some more from this show over on youtube:
The second edition of the trivia/experimental music CLUE NOTE residency featured sounds that would have been right at home in the previous month's Hallowe'en-themed show. Working in terrain less "musical" and more "radiophonic workshop", there were some eerie and occasionally creepy vibes being generated despite the whimiscal nature of some of the soundmaking implements (balloons, slinkies, bird calls, etc.). In this stretch, Mark Zurawinski is doing some processing to Germaine Liu's balloon-squawks that renders them to something like the laments of the ghosts of Victorian children, while Nick Storring brought out a whole tickle trunk's worth of implements and microphones rather than his cello, adding squeaks and grinding burrs.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
[Bumped from its regular room and timeslot by NYE festivities, CLUE NOTE has a special matinee edition coming up (Sunday, December 29th, in the Tranzac's Living Room) with trivia on the theme of "2024: The Year in Review" and "improvised spiritual freak folk" from Erin Corbett, Niamh Girling, Mira Martin-Gray, Kurt Newman, and Marilyn Yogarajah.]
Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!
Shows this week:
Lina Allemano Four / The Emmet Ray 2024-12-18 (Wednesday – 6 p.m.). $10 advance / $15 door. [FB event]
Playscape Emporium: Of dances and dreams (feat. Angela Blumberg Dance / Teething / Adrian Berry) / Array Space 2024-12-19 (Thursday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [more info]
Henri Fabergé Crashes The Creskins Ball ["A festive night of comedy,music & mayhem"] (feat. Gwynne Phillips / Briana Templeton / Kayla Lorette / Roger Bainbridge / Miguel Rivas / Alex Tindal / Clare McConnell / Adam Niebergall / Sharjil Rasool / Johnny Spence / Steve Foster / Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll / Sarah Bennett / Juliann Wilding / Nicole Passmore / Jackie Pirico / Sarah Ruba / New Chance / Anh Phung) / 918 Bathurst 2024-12-19 (Thursday – early show @ 6 p.m., late show @ 8:30). $27.96. [FB event]
Some solo journeys from Marilyn Yogarajah saw trumpet loopscapes being augmented by piano lines. Easy to get lost in while you stare out the window watching autumn rolling in.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
Some psychedelic explorations from Ayal Senior (here on bass and space echo) alongside Marilyn Yogarajah (piano/trumpet). Some deep zones here, but not to get ahead of things too much, this was just setting the stage for things to get even more triple.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
Although the TIO will play freely when the numbers are low (or when the mood otherwise strikes), when there's a larger group the use of conduction leads the sounds to interesting places. Here, Eugene Martynec was having some computer trouble and took a break from troubleshooting to wrangle the ensemble, pulling things together to move from long tones to pointillistic daubs.
This off-site Music Gallery show took place in one of the less-familiar wings of the Allan Gardens conservatory — not alongside the turtles or under the tropical plants but in the smaller children's conservatory space which was, at least at the moment, cleared out of plant life and serving more as an event space. (Although, to be sure, there were plants aplenty — and for sale — in the adjoining space.) Still a visually appealing (if someone sonically impure) spot for a show, and it felt like a cozy spot to lean in and listen to a couple of contrasting sets.
A titan of the European improvisational scene, French double-bassist Joëlle Léandre might have been mildly jetlagged at this show, but still interacted with her instrument with constant joy and a sense of discovery. Cellist Rémy Bélanger de Beauport was an effective foil, matching both tiny, quiet gestures and unorthodox techniques. Even with a serious depth of playing at hand, things weren't taken too seriously, as evidenced by the way a couple of the pieces ended with laughter from performers and audience alike.
This off-site Music Gallery show took place in one of the less-familiar wings of the Allan Gardens conservatory — not alongside the turtles or under the tropical plants but in the smaller children's conservatory space which was, at least at the moment, cleared out of plant life and serving more as an event space. (Although, to be sure, there were plants aplenty — and for sale — in the adjoining space.) Still a visually appealing (if someone sonically impure) spot for a show, and it felt like a cozy spot to lean in and listen to a couple of contrasting sets.
The night began with a trio, led by bedroom laptopist Masahiro Takahashi, here joined by Joseph Shabason (sax and fx) and Bram Gielen (fretless bass), adding lush textures to his gently-drifting pieces, creating a greenhouse-ready chill-out zone.
*Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!
CLUE NOTE: trivia and creative music (vol 3) (feat. Erin Corbett/Niamh Girling/Mira Martin-Gray/Kurt Newman/Marilyn Yogarajah) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-12-29 (Sunday – noon). $PWYC ($10 suggested) [FB event]
Tranzac New Year's Eve (feat. Joseph Shabason & The Welcome To Hell Tentet / Sandro Perri & Friends / Jane Inc) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-12-31 (Tuesday). $30 Adv. / $32 door. [tickets + more info]
Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!
Shows this week:
Brodie West Quintet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-11 (Wednesday – early)
Slipstreams (feat. Grace Scheele & Arie Verhuel v.d. Ven / Dylann Miller / Carolina Lopez) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-11 (Wednesday). $pwyc. [more info]
fuzZfest 2.0 (feat. Ben Bennett/Raphaël Foisy/Karen Ng / Eric Laska / Battle Milk) ["home-cooked vegetarian meal included"] / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-12-12 (Thursday). $15 (cash/card) or pwyc. [FB event]
Not a Band [Secrets EP Release Party!] (feat. Wilderness Adventure Ride / Triage Eclair) / Collective Arts 2024-12-12 (Thursday). $15/PWYC. [FB event]
Second Fridays (feat. Chiquitamagic / Brodie West / Stones, Breeze, and Tinder) / Canadian Music Centre 2024-12-13 (Friday). $15; $10 for students. [morfe info]
Musica Universalis (feat. C'est la fête / Cetacea) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-13 (Friday)
It happened this week...
...on December 12, 2015 at The Great Hall's basement (Long Winter 4.2).
Rebecca Bruton's recent visits hereabouts have revolved around her Swanherds project, but this mini-tour with Darren Williams instead saw her tackling a "transparent tracing" of Martin Arnold's retelling of the old Scottish ballad "Tam Lin". Martin's reworking of the piece was crafted for The Reveries and the Array Ensemble, so it exudes a wobbly maximalism, making Bruton's version an interesting flip into unadorned minimalism. Although given that it runs over forty minutes, there's a sense of spacial expansion at play here as well — time to really lean back and dig into the sounds in a setting where the context of listening to something this spare for so long actually creates the conditions to slow the mind down enough to hear what's creeping in between the notes.
Besides brushing up against that endlessly ambling "Boring Formless Nonsense" that much of Arnold's work is associated with, Bruton's refolkification also brought to mind Picastro's sleepy drift as well as Wyrd Visions' stretched-out-like-toffee balladry. The similarly-spare retelling of her own "Nora, Listening" that started the set shows that there's space for these techniques to echo more broadly within her work.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, December 3rd), with sets from Dept. of Loss (Fan Wu/Phil Hamilton) and Pigeon Dance (Victor/Lenny/Clay).]
This former Torontonian (now based out west in Kelowna) was making his first local appearance in over a decade, giving an opportunity for folks in these parts to get acquainted with his solo saxophone work. Playing many of the compositions from his recent Musical Idiot album, and offering a flow of snappy, cutting banter, the music moved from intense arguments to reflective, circular reflections.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, December 3rd), with sets from Dept. of Loss (Fan Wu/Phil Hamilton) and Pigeon Dance (Victor/Lenny/Clay).]
To set the stage for a couple touring visitors, this night began with some new sounds from some locals. Eschewing their regular instruments, this pair are relative newbies at saxophone, allowing them to approach things with true beginner's mind. It's a bit of a cliché (and one I'm fond of) to compare improvisation to conversation, but this felt very much like hanging out with a couple friends and hearing chatter pass back and forth — sometimes leading to monosyllabic rebuttals, sometimes to dense clusters of ideas, and sometimes just breaking down in laughter.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, December 3rd), with sets from Dept. of Loss (Fan Wu/Phil Hamilton) and Pigeon Dance (Victor/Lenny/Clay).]
Second Fridays (feat. Chiquitamagic / Brodie West / Stones, Breeze, and Tinder) / Canadian Music Centre 2024-12-13 (Friday). $15; $10 for students. [morfe info]
Roasted Chestnuts IX (feat. Queer Songbook Orchestra) / Hart House Theatre 2024-12-20 (Friday). $32. [more info]
Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / The Sympathetic String Band / Nick Flanagan / Way Bad Stone) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-08 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]
Lostworldsounds [Heartbroken Yesterdays Fleeting Tomorrows album release celebration!] (Man Meets Bear / guests from Ghostlight) / The Sun Room at 918 Bathurst 2024-12-08 (Sunday). $15/PWYC (no one turned away for lack of funds). [FB event]
Video hits:
If I tell you that Parade (the band) is made up of Parade: Laura Swankey, Patrick O'Reilly, Chris Pruden and Stefan Hegerat and I tell you that the animation in this video was done by Bea Labikova you're just gonna click right on it, right?
Bandcamp corner:
After taking November off, there's one last Bandcamp Friday coming up to close out the year. A good time to pick up some digital stocking stuffers! I've got lots of stuff on my list, but here's a couple picks:
It happened this week...
...on December 4, 2014 at The Music Gallery (Emergents I).
Founded as a blog about one curmudgeon's love affair with the em dash, Mechanical Forest Sound has grown to become a community-based archive of local musical culture. Assuming that "independent music" isn't just boys with guitars and "culture" isn't just some sort of pageant, MFS is an investigation of a wide range of artists, reflecting on concerts as shared experiences, acts of citizenship and a chance to get down — fuzzy photographs and clear-sounding original live recordings a specialty.
Current manifestations of this project include Track Could Bend, a monthly concert series featuring "improvised music and weird rock offshoots", presented in a casual environment.
At one point I wrote full-on concert reviews, and for longer I thought I would catch up and write about shows in the past. But these days, because of, y'know, life, do not expect much in the way of full show reviews — but live recordings with blurbs will be posted as quickly after the fact as is feasible.
You can also check out full sets uploaded to the Live Music Archive. [not currently active]
N.B.: All recordings should be available & playable. If you come across any broken links, invisible or non-functioning players, etc, please leave a comment and I will tend to it ASAP.
ALSO N.B.: I'm perpetually on the lookout for a new place to stash my MP3's online. If you know of any place that allows a couple gigs of stuff to be openly linked to for streaming, drop me a line!
All MP3's on this blog are audience recordings shared as a reminder of the excitement of seeing live music. If you are an artist who doesn't want their music shared in this way, please contact me and I shall remove it forthwith.
Audiopollination (feat. Rabia Agha/Yoshi Maclear Wall/ Meryem Alaoui / Mike Smith/Em Wright / Matthew Endahl/Matt Collins / Mickle32/Elizabeth Lima) / Array Space 2025-01-10 (Friday). $10 (cash or card), livestream available. [FB event]
Musica Universalis (feat. Ben Dwyer/Spencer Cole/Colin Fisher) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-01-10 (Friday) $20 suggested donation
Labyrinth Ensemble presents (feat. Araz Salek/Roa Lee/Sasan Salaseli) / Bata Shoe Museum 2025-01-12 (Sunday – 1 p.m.). $free with registration. [FB event]
Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / Michelle Breslin / David Sait / Nick Flanagan) 2025-01-12 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]
Toronto Electronic Music Open Mic (feat. Timothy 1105 / Gruve Collective / Antibes / Nye Da / Alisa Vox Raw / naw / Paul Hillier / Time God Uly / Phurniture / Hilary Martin / Hozerz / Cetacea / Inchoate / dreamSTATE / Dre / Gary Duke) / Handlebar 2024-01-13 (Monday)
CMC Presents (feat. Zoma Maduekwe) / Canadian Music Centre 2025-01-23 (Thursday). General Admission: $15 Advance, $20 at the door; CMC Members and Arts Workers: $12 Advance, $15 at the door; Students: $10 anytime. [more info]
New Encounters ["new works and arrangements by Maria-Eduarda Mendez Martins, Pouya Hamidi, Morgan-Paige Melbourne, and Eldritch Priest"] (feat. Array Ensemble) / Array Space 2025-02-01 (Saturday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [more info]
The Mike DeiCont Trio [Mike DeiCont/Leland Whitty/Eric West] / Sellers and Newell 2025-02-07 (Friday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]
The Joe Sorbara Sextet [Ted Crosby/Tania Gill/Michael Herring/Rebecca Hennessy/Aline Homzy/Joe Sorbara] / Sellers and Newell 2025-02-15 (Saturday). $25 minimum donation. [more info]
The Patrick Smith Trio [Patrick Smith/Lowell Whitty/Dan Pitt] / Sellers and Newell 2025-03-02 (Sunday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]
Behaviours: Data (feat. Anando Gabo / Marelena Pellegrino / Technology of Creative Consciousness) / Array Space 2025-03-13 (Thursday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [more info]
Freesound Presents: Music for Solo Instruments (feat. Michael Murphy / Amahl Arulanandam / Matti Pulkki) / Array Space 2025-03-20 (Thursday). $22.63. [more info]
Playscape Emporium: Arcade-palooza (feat. Render File / Jason Leaver PuzzSoft) / Array Space 2024-05-15 (Saturday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [more info]
Freesound Presents: Violin // Trumpet // Melodica [featuring new work by Martin Arnold] (feat. Aysel Taghi-Zada/Émilie Fortin/Martin Arnold) / Array Space 2025-06-28 (Saturday). $22.63. [more info]
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