Monday Roundup #27

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:

• Another reopening update, this time from The Garrison and Baby G.

• Meanwhile, here's a chance to catch up with Matt Smith (a.k.a. Prince Nifty) and Victoria Cheong (a.k.a. New Chance) as they interview each other and chat about artistic explorations. (And a reminder that New Chance's Real Time is now out in the world!)

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Video hits:

• A new video from Brandon Valdivia's Mas Aya project gives a sneak peak into the forthcoming Máscaras album, coming out this fall on Telephone Explosion.

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It happened this week...

• ...on July 25, 2014 at Ratio.

I Have Eaten the City - [second part]

• ...on July 19, 2015 at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge

Alaniaris - Cantabella

[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.]

Recording: Alaniaris with Alexei Orechin

Artist: Alaniaris with Alexei Orechin

Song: No Sengah

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Music By & For Ken Aldcroft XVI), April 11, 2018.

Alaniaris with Alexei Orechin - No Sengah

Alaniaris, which had been one of Ken Aldcroft's longstanding bands, made its return to this memorial series with guitarist Alexei Orechin sitting in alongside bassist Michael Kaler and drummer Mark Zurawinski. Orechin handled the tricky rebetiko rhythms with aplomb, managing to inject a bit of his own nimble style into the process.

[Alaniaris and Alaniaris-adjacent music can be heard at The Tranzac on the afternoon of the third Sunday of the month.]

Recording: Alaniaris

Artist: Alaniaris

Song: Teke in the Minor

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination #53.1), April 8, 2017.

Alaniaris - Teke in the Minor

Michael Kaler and Mark Zurawinski have been trying some some different musical guises in Alaniaris' duo format. Instead of the garage-rockin' bass/drums power duo they previously exhibited, they went back to their rebetiko roots here, playing a set in folk mode, with acoustic strings and "jangly feet".

[You can also check out some footage of this set over at Audiopollination's youtube page. Audiopollination is on hiatus until September, when its self-curated series will resume.]

Recording: Alaniaris

Artist: Alaniaris

Song: Junction

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Music By & For Ken Aldcroft, I), December 14, 2016.

Alaniaris - Junction

Since Ken Aldcroft's passing, Michael Kaler and Mark Zurawinski have been exploring how to continue the rip-roaring rebetiko excursions they used to share with him. It looks like Alaniaris will now vary in instrumentation and bring in some guest performers, but this set saw the debut of a bass/drums "power duo" format. Kaler is exploring the use of a loop pedal to deploy lead and rhythm parts together. In the meantime, this trip back to the dry, pre-gentrification Junction puts his bass' brooding tone to good use.

[Alaniaris are still holding down their monthly slot at The Tranzac, so you can see 'em on Sunday (January 15th) at 3 p.m. "Music By & For Ken Aldcroft" returns to The Tranzac on Wednesday (January 11th) with sets by Mike Gennaro (solo percussion), Anthony Argatoff/Andrew Furlong/Mike Gennaro/Joe Sorbara and My Misshapen Ear (Anthony Argatoff/Andrew Furlong/Joe Sorbara).]

Recording: Alaniaris

Artist: Alaniaris

Song: Trickster

Recorded at Dundas Video (Track Could Bend #6), September 1, 2015.

Alaniaris - Trickster

Avant-rebetiko rockers Michael Kaler (bass), Mark Zurawinski (drums) and Ken Aldcroft (guit) brought out their nine-step zeibekiko rhythms for a few groovy excursions.

[The next Track Could Bend will be at Dundas Video on Tuesday, October 6th. Alaniaris will be playing their regular monthly residency show at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge this Sunday (September 20th) from 3 to 5 p.m.]

Recording: Alaniaris

Artist: Alaniaris

Song: Cantabella

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 19, 2015.

Alaniaris - Cantabella

Michael Kaler, Ken Aldcroft, and Mark Zurawinski continue their ongoing monthly residency (on the third Sunday of every month), bringing their improvisor-sharpened skills to the surf-like grooves of Greek rebetiko. Intricate and punchy, it's hard not to punctuate the ends of the songs with a cheered exclamation.

Recording: Alaniaris

Artist: Alaniaris

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac - Southern Cross Lounge (The Second Annual Somewhere There Creative Music Festival – Show 1 late set), February 21, 2014.

Alaniaris - unknown

Full review to follow. Self-proclaimed purveyors of "rebetiko/surf/jazz/rock/improv", this trio rocks out in fine style — a groovy reminder of the fact that creative improvised music can take many forms. And if you like the sounds of this, you should check out the live stuff they have up on their bandcamp — and also check them out at The Tranzac, on the third Sunday afternoon of every month.

^* Michael Kaler called out the title of this one, but I couldn't quite make it out — something along the lines of "Ego Phenomena Mangus". Please leave a comment if you know the proper title!