Recording: LordAUK/A L M A/Jessica Deutsch

Artist: LordAUK/A L M A/Jessica Deutsch

Songs: Jack and the Beanstalk [excerpt] + What a Wonderful World [Louis Armstrong cover]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst's Sun Room (Ambient soundscapes for babies to adults), April 6, 2025.

LordAUK/A L M A/Jessica Deutsch - Jack and the Beanstalk [excerpt]

LordAUK-A L M A-Jessica Deutsch - What a Wonderful World

Who are concerts for? How are they organized to suit different audiences? Limitations of "concert infrastructure", probably more than limitations of imagination mean these questions aren't too often poked at — but this trio has been putting their minds to how to present music for the younger set, filling the floor with blankets and making a cozy zone for young ones and parents to soak in some Sunday afternoon sounds.

This experiment lead to some important observations — the youngest bebbers do well with the ambient sounds, and can float along with an unrushed drift, while the older toddlers, eager to move and grab the world, are more engaged by something exciting and interactive. There were gestures in both those directions here, with a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk having a few dramatic flourishes as well as some spacious unfurling between episodes. More shows to follow, I'm told, expanding on the lessons learned here, so keep an eye out.

Given the relaxed atmosphere at this show, these clips have a field recording quality to them with some foreground murmurings co-existing with the music, but that's okay too — I hear babies cry, I watch them grow / They'll learn much more / Than I'll ever know.

Recording: A L M A

Artist: A L M A - [excerpt]

Song:

Recorded in The Sun Room at 918 Bathurst, February 2, 2025.

A L M A - [excerpt]

Picking a room with good acoustics and good vibes to play an acoustic set, Isla Craig also picked pal Allie Blumas to open things up and set the mood. In their A L M A persona, Blumas brings spa music/new age vibes, offering a meditation exercise as much as a musical experience. Stripped back from previous offerings, the tools here were Digitakt and voice, with lots of space to relax in.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

#mfs15 playlist: Alma

MFS has turned fifteen! My introductory thoughts on this landmark can be found here, but long story short: I asked some folks from the MFS community to help me celebrate by picking some selections from the archives, and possibly sharing some thoughts or stories.

Today's list is from ALMA (a.k.a. Allie Blumas).

[Ed. note: This is tentatively the last one of these lists being shared, and I picked this one to go out on for the wonderful way it reinterprets the exercise, sharing something new-to-me instead of digging theough the catacombs. There's still a lot of music out there to explore.]

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I picked these tracks because they all express my love of new agey, spa, meditation music as well as my love of experimentation, improv and avante garde music. All of these songs were made in one sitting during the years 2020-2021. During these years I wanted to explore the process of making music from a less performative place. All of these songs were recorded in a moment of need to release an emotion or expression. Because of this I wanted to share them with the world in the exact way they had come out of me. None of these expressions have been edited, mixed, masterd or altered in any way. These explorations exist in their original and singular forms to best convey the moment and headspace that I was in when they arrived. These explorations exist as a kind of meditative practice on presence and impermanence.

A L M A · Flute 2

A L M A · Piano Exploration 1

A L M A · Some Kind Of Dance

A L M A · Other New Age One

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As well as being a musician I am also a dancer and death doula. I recently made a Death, Dying & Grief Workbook that included a guided meditation on impermanence. I wanted to include this meditation because It dances around themes expressed in the other 4 tracks, but is also something that requires a different kind of listening and engagement.

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Congrats to Joe on 15 amazing years of MFS. I've had the pleasure of participating at TCB a few times, once with a group and once as a solo. We are incredibly lucky to have Joe doing this amazing and important work of documenting the experimental music scene and through that documenting the history of something that means so much to so many people. I feel honoured to be included and so lucky to have connected with Joe and so grateful to all the work that he's been doing with MFS. Here's to 15 more years!
Happy 15th Anniversary.

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You can always click on the tags below to look for more stuff from these artists. Has there been five or so songs posted here that made an impact on you? If you'd like to get in on the action and make a list, feel free to send me an email: mechanicalforestsound@gmail.com.

Recording: Alma

Artist: Alma

Song: [excerpt from first section]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #86), December 5, 2023.

Alma - [excerpt from first section]

One of the joys of Track Could Bend is playing the long game, getting a chance to observe musicians over time and checking in with their continuities and creative disruptions. By chance, Allie Blumas had last played TCB eight Decembers ago as part of Doomsquad. They'd brought a more chilled-out sound than their usual rippling avant-dancefloor grooves to that set, and that was a zone that Blumas was returning to in this gently-drifting set of spa music featuring live-looped keyb, voice, flute and bass recorder.

You can check out the full set over on the TCB playlist on youtube:

[Start your new year off right next Tuesday (January 2nd) when TCB returns with new sounds/concepts from Sara Constant's SOUP and Phil Hamilton's battle milk.]