Recording: Darlene Shrugg

Artist: Darlene Shrugg

Song: Freedom Comes in a Plastic Card^*

Recorded at Comfort Zone ("All Toronto's Parties 2"), May 24, 2014.

Darlene Shrugg - Freedom Comes in a Plastic Card

Full review to follow. The first ATP show brought together bands selected by five different live music purveyors in a cool mix'n'match marathon. Upping the ante, the night-time portion follow-up brought a full line-up of recombinant bands (some of them special one-offs) to create a completely unique night. (It should also be noted that this also served as Wavelength's 600th show. Congratulations Wavelength!)

Although the night's headliner fit right into the mandate of combined forces, Darlene Shrugg is indeed an ongoing, working project. Formed from the ashes of Tropics, this sees that duo's Slim Twig and Simone T-B joined with U.S. Girls' Meg Remy as well as Ice Cream's Amanda Crist and Carlyn Bezic. The result didn't particularly sound like any of those groups, instead emerging a a fuzz-heavy proto-hardrock Detroit stomp — intense and chaotic but convincingly held together by its own internal logic. And then melting your face off.

You can also check out some more pictures from the day on the MFS facebook page.

^* Thanks to Jesse for passing the title to this one along.

Recording: Nature

Artist: Nature

Song: Heater

Recorded at Comfort Zone ("All Toronto's Parties 2"), May 24, 2014.

Nature - Heater

Full review to follow. The first ATP show brought together bands selected by five different live music purveyors in a cool mix'n'match marathon. Upping the ante, the night-time portion follow-up brought a full line-up of recombinant bands (some of them special one-offs) to create a completely unique night. (It should also be noted that this also served as Wavelength's 600th show. Congratulations Wavelength!)

Man Made Hill and Sexy Merlin are two phenomenal talents in their respective one-man bands, each exploring their own dancefloor-ready terrain. But combined in band form (with percussion by Jesse Locke and monster bass by Brandon Hocura) the grooves multiplied into a sort of avant go-go breakdown explosion. In a night of great music, this was the standout — I've heard whispers that this one was not intended as a one-off performance; perchance let us hope that is true.

You can also check out some more pictures from the day on the MFS facebook page.

Recording: Abra Cadaver

Artist: Abra Cadaver

Songs: Pigdaters + We Caught The Chill^*

Recorded at Comfort Zone ("All Toronto's Parties 2"), May 24, 2014.

Abra Cadaver - Pigdaters

Abra Cadaver - We Caught The Chill

Full review to follow. The first ATP show brought together bands selected by five different live music purveyors in a cool mix'n'match marathon. Upping the ante, the night-time portion follow-up brought a full line-up of recombinant bands (some of them special one-offs) to create a completely unique night. (It should also be noted that this also served as Wavelength's 600th show. Congratulations Wavelength!)

Julie Reich played in the live version of Wolfcow before her solo project Bile Sister took off, so it wasn't too much of a leap to see her co-fronting this amalgamated unit with Greydyn Wolfcow. But together, they took on the air of a Bizarro World Sonny and Cher, pumping out off-kilter pop nuggets in bulk, tossing lyrical fragments back and forth. There's a lot of longstanding bands that can't come up with as many hooks and ideas as this putative one-off.

You can also check out some more pictures from the day on the MFS facebook page.

^* Thanks to the commenters that helped me get these titles correct!

Recording: Wildlife Rodeo

Artist: Wildlife Rodeo

Songs: [first section] + Caroline, No [version]

Recorded at Comfort Zone ("All Toronto's Parties 2"), May 24, 2014.

Wildlife Rodeo - [first section]

Wildlife Rodeo - Caroline, No [version]

Full review to follow. The first ATP show brought together bands selected by five different live music purveyors in a cool mix'n'match marathon. Upping the ante, the night-time portion follow-up brought a full line-up of recombinant bands (some of them special one-offs) to create a completely unique night. (It should also be noted that this also served as Wavelength's 600th show. Congratulations Wavelength!)

Opening the night was this collaboration between Mike Smith (currently sometimes working under the moniker Famous Wildlife Movies) and Matt "Doc" Dunn (of Transcendent Rodeo and much more). The dual-synth setup pointed to some of Smith's recent work, but the cosmic expansiveness definitely felt inspired by Dunn. This presents the start and end of the set — there was a loose cable somewhere in the early going, but that just added a sort of serene glitchy indeterminacy to the proceedings. File under: bliss.

You can also check out some more pictures from the day on the MFS facebook page.

Recording: Bong Water

Artist: Bong Water

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Bellvue Square Park (All Toronto's Parties 2), May 24, 2014.

Bong Water - unknown

Full review to follow. The first ATP show brought together bands selected by five different live music purveyors in a cool mix'n'match marathon. Upping the ante, the follow-up not only threw together some one-off recombinant bands, but also took its daytime sets to the streets and shops of Kensington market.

Sprawled out on a blanket at the west end of the park — over by Al Waxman — this combination of HVYWTR and Skull Bong managed to integrate themselves into the environment rather than imposing themselves on it. Playing quietly enough not to overpower the park's other patrons, this was a sort of general outdoor ambient field. Both of these groups are fairly flexible in the sorts of sounds they can generate, but this hewed a bit closer to HVYWTR's abstract dancefloor-isms than Skull Bong's hazy bricolages.

You can also check out some more pictures from the day on the MFS facebook page.

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

Recording: Castlevania

Artist: Castlevania

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Krudar Muay Thai ("All Toronto's Parties 2"), May 24, 2014.

Castlevania - unknown

Full review to follow. The first ATP show brought together bands selected by five different live music purveyors in a cool mix'n'match marathon. Upping the ante, the follow-up not only threw together some one-off recombinant bands, but also took its daytime sets to the streets and shops of Kensington market.

The first of the day's musical mashups came with this pairing of most of Ketamines (including frontman Paul Lawton) with Castle If's Jess Forrest. Playing on the soft floor of a martial arts training facility, the band delivered a coiled synth/punk attack. Lawton handled most of the vox, but for the grand finale cover of "Sister Ray", Forrest took the mic and ranged into the crowd. No MMA flying-elbows takeouts ensued.

You can also check out some more pictures from the day on the MFS facebook page.

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

Recording: Valerie Dour

Artist: Valerie Dour

Song: unknown^*

Recorded in front of A Homerun ("All Toronto's Parties 2"), May 24, 2014.

Valerie Dour - unknown

Full review to follow. The first ATP show brought together bands selected by five different live music purveyors in a cool mix'n'match marathon. Upping the ante, the follow-up not only threw together some one-off recombinant bands, but also took its daytime sets to the streets and shops of Kensington market.

After some mellow grooves from Isla Craig in Café Pamenar's backyard patio, the action shifted to the other end of Augusta. On the first really warm day of the year, the market was filled with people, and while bearded hipsters evaluated vintage ceramic coffee cups in the background quite a few passers-by paused to check out this set from Dan Miller's solo project. Miller has also recently been an onstage member of Digits, and there was a similar electro-pop sensibility at work here — but where Digits leans towards R&B-isms, Miller instead offered a cover of Nirvana's "School". Which isn't to say there isn't some smoothness in Miller's extant recorded offerings, but it also worked out pretty well with a jury-rigged guerrilla sound system.

You can also check out some more pictures from the day on the MFS facebook page.

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

Recording: MATROX

Artist: MATROX

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Garrison ("All Toronto's Parties"), November 22, 2013.

MATROX - unknown

Full review to follow. Toronto's DIY show promoters have generally been more mutual admirers than competitors, and now, this is the first flowering of a new commitment to work together. Wavelength, Weird Canada, Silent Shout, Feast in the East and Pleasence Records each picked an act for this joint show, which packed The Garrison with music and other diversions.

PEOPLE OF EARTH! The Interplanetary Robots known as MATROX have descended upon us. Very little is known about them or their purpose on our planet. They claim they are here to entertain, which sounds like a peaceful mission, but their presence may be related to unconfirmed reports of invading krautrock replicants. If you are summoned by MATROX, be warned that your critical faculties may be overpowered by their groove rays, rendering you helpless to do anything but dance.

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

Recording: Lido Pimienta

Artist: Lido Pimienta

Song: Goodbye

Recorded at The Garrison ("All Toronto's Parties"), November 22, 2013.

Lido Pimienta - Goodbye

Full review to follow. Toronto's DIY show promoters have generally been more mutual admirers than competitors, and now, this is the first flowering of a new commitment to work together. Wavelength, Weird Canada, Silent Shout, Feast in the East and Pleasence Records each picked an act for this joint show, which packed The Garrison with music and other diversions.

Taking the stage with a headliner's confidence, Lido Pimienta challenged the audience to overcome their own apathy and preconceptions while still inviting them to join in with her futuristic Colombian grooves — and by set's end, that extended to welcoming the crowd up on stage for a big dance party.

Recording: Young Guv

Artist: Young Guv

Song: Crawling Back to You

Recorded at The Garrison ("All Toronto's Parties"), November 22, 2013.

Young Guv - Crawling Back to You

Full review to follow. Toronto's DIY show promoters have generally been more mutual admirers than competitors, and now, this is the first flowering of a new commitment to work together. Wavelength, Weird Canada, Silent Shout, Feast in the East and Pleasence Records each picked an act for this joint show, which packed The Garrison with music and other diversions.

Keeping busy, as always, both with Fucked Up as well as his other "solo" projects, Ben Cook still has found time to put together a new version of his power pop unit. There was a whole bunch of new songs here, not miles removed from what we've heard before, but perhaps torqued a bit, say, from something that sounded like it might have been playing over the end credits of an 80's teen comedy to something you might have heard on an 80's college radio station.

Recording: Ken Park

Artist: Ken Park

Song: He Says I'm An Island (I Won't Try And Find Him)

Recorded at The Garrison ("All Toronto's Parties"), November 22, 2013.

Ken Park - He Says I'm An Island (I Won't Try And Find Him)

Full review to follow. Toronto's DIY show promoters have generally been more mutual admirers than competitors, and now, this is the first flowering of a new commitment to work together. Wavelength, Weird Canada, Silent Shout, Feast in the East and Pleasence Records each picked an act for this joint show, which packed The Garrison with music and other diversions.

Scott Harwood was a last-minute injury replacement in the lineup, but his one-man laptop-free dance grooves fit right in. (Oh, and by the way: this one used to sound like this, but not any more.)

Recording: Holiday Rambler

Artist: Holiday Rambler

Songs: August 16, 1942 [story] + Made for Him

Recorded at The Garrison ("All Toronto's Parties"), November 22, 2013.

Holiday Rambler - August 16, 1942

Holiday Rambler - Made for Him

Full review to follow. Toronto's DIY show promoters have generally been more mutual admirers than competitors, and now, this is the first flowering of a new commitment to work together. Wavelength, Weird Canada, Silent Shout, Feast in the East and Pleasence Records each picked an act for this joint show, which packed The Garrison with music and other diversions.

While the chatty crowd filtered in to the room (and threatened to drown out the performance), man-out-of-time D. Alex Meeks related his gothic tales with unconcerned beneficence. Presented in glorious monophonic sound.

Recording: Rookie Lights

Artist: Rookie Lights^*

Song: O Canada

Recorded at The Garrison ("All Toronto's Parties"), November 22, 2013.

Rookie Lights - O Canada

Full review to follow. Toronto's DIY show promoters have generally been more mutual admirers than competitors, and now, this is the first flowering of a new commitment to work together. Wavelength, Weird Canada, Silent Shout, Feast in the East and Pleasence Records each picked an act for this joint show, which packed The Garrison with music and other diversions.

Befitting the momentousness of the event, the night started with the national anthem, sung in the contemporary style of slowing things down one thousand per cent.

^* This combo's name could, in fact, be Rookie Light or Rookie Lite — this is what I heard from the stage. I'm note sure this is a band per se, as one source tells me they were found outside The Garrison before the gig, practising their harmonies on the sidewalk. Leave a comment if you know the proper moniker!