Showing posts with label ami spears. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ami spears. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Recording: Bardo

Artist: Bardo

Song: unknown*

Recorded at The Baby G, May 6, 2018.

Bardo - unknown

Ami Spears — who until recently had been pursuing her solo sonic investigations as Blue Light — takes a new turn here. Joined on stage by Patrick Flegel (who has recently been performing as Cindy Lee), the pair brought some brooding atmospheric heaviness, though (as with this piece) occasionally breaking the surface of the drone oceans for some (slightly nostalgic?) poppier moments.

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

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Recording: Schönsee

Artist: Schönsee feat. Grier Coppins

Song: [last section]

Recorded at Owl's Club (Two Floor Fundraiser), January 26, 2018.

Schönsee feat. Grier Coppins - [last section]

The Raw Materials crew have been using the cozy Owl's Club on Dovercourt as a hub for a little while now (even passing along some info for others on how to put on their own shows there), so when they found out the building was facing some impending bills for roof repairs, they pitched in to put together this rager to both literally and figuratively raise the roof. It was a real treat to see Schönsee (who've apparently traded their slash for an umlaut) back in action and adding some droning rumbulations to the night. This closing section, featuring Grier Coppins (formerly of fusion-y Celtic groovers Rare Air and many other projects) on bagpipes was a really uplifting close to the set, with the drone-meets-drone feeling like a genuine gesture of allyship from the room's visiting rock weirdos to the space's usual Legion Hall denizens.

Friday, September 1, 2017

Recording: Deliluh

Artist: Deliluh

Song: Bulls Run Free

Recorded at Home Baking Co., July 27, 2017.

Deliluh - Bulls Run Free

A special night for Deliluh, celebrating the release of their Day Catcher album. With his talent for community-building, frontman/guitarist Kyle Knapp found a cool alternative space (almost right on his own doorstep, no less) to create a DIY venue for this show, giving the proceedings a basement party vibe and space to stretch out a bit on the intros and on this more meditative song.

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Recording: Blue Light

Artist: Blue Light

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Handlebar (Track Could Bend #28), July 4, 2017.

Blue Light - [excerpt from first piece]

A too-rare appearance from Ami Spears in solo mode, this set of beautiful music featured slightly-gritty keyboard ambience with little hints of deftly-controlled feedback from gentle brushes of her violin strings. Superb stuff, and we should hope for more frequent solo outings from someone emerging as a strong electroacoustic artist.

[Track Could Bend returns to The Steady tonight (August 1st) with Invisible Out's social media complications, Tom Richards' shoreline synth drones and BABEL's last ever (!?) performance.]

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Recording: Deliluh

Artist: Deliluh

Song: No I.D. Denied

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, January 27, 2017.

Deliluh - No I.D. Denied

A question mark had been hanging over the Silver Dollar's future for months, but this was the night that officially marked the beginning of the end, with a firm closing date suddenly giving a sense of finality about things — and a jolt to a music community suddenly seeing an epidemic of venues closing. On stage, Deliluh were in Saturday Night rock'n'roll mode — augmented with James Burling (keyb) and Alex Low (guit) there was an Academy of Sciences fam-jam vibe to this different lineup to the last time I caught 'em. The steps made toward stripping back/quieting down are either on hold or being allowed to co-evolve with a newfound heavy abandon as the band focused on stretched-out Pavement jam/drones.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Recording: Blue Light

Artist: Blue Light

Song: [second section]

Recorded at Toronto Public Library – Parkdale Branch (SHHHH – Day 2), May 7, 2016.

Blue Light - [second section]

So many things I like here, wrapped up in one package. Not only was this a celebration of an awesome new initiative from the Toronto Public Library where anyone with a library card can borrow a musical instrument, it was celebrated with a couple shows in the program's home branch. I didn't make it out on the Friday where the event's co-organizer Kyle Knapp played a quieter show with his Deliluh project, alongside solo efforts from Dorothea Paas and Dave from Soupcans (a new solo endeavour called Stucco). But Sunday afternoon (a free!, all ages!, afternoon! show — which for me is like seeing a row of cherries come up on the slot machine) moved things down to the Parkdale library's mysterious basement — home, it turns out, to an auditorium that awesomely looks like it was last redecorated c. 1985. This show got pretty loud, though apparently the bunker-like building is soundproofed enough that that didn't disturb the patrons above. I would love to see more shows like this — the mind reels at the possibilities of the communities that could be brought together in this space.

Ami Spears has worked in several projects, from beloved drone-rockers Ostrich Tuning to ambient/noise duo Schønsee (to say nothing of her recently-ended stint in Crosss and recently-begun stint in Surinam). This solo outing saw her shape sounds from her (beloved, semi-broken) keyboard with a few pedals, mixing minimalist ambient repetition with crunchy noise granulation. This middle section's creamy tones was at the more relaxing end of the spectrum — quite beautiful stuff.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Recording: Schønsee

Artist: Schønsee

Songs: [excerpt from an improvisation, in three parts]

Recorded at Smiling Buddha, January 19, 2015.

Schønsee - [excerpt, part 1]

Schønsee - [excerpt, part 2]

Schønsee - [excerpt, part 3]

I'd only caught bits'n'pieces of this collaboration between Ami Spears (ex-Ostrich Tuning) and Scarlett Rose, but perhaps the most telling was when they backed Surinam's Matt Mason to perform as Suicide at the Death to T.O. Hallowe'en show. Droney, dirty keyboard sounds are the main element here, used in the service of long-unfurling improvisations. Elegantly performed, with a confidence to not rush things, it's worth reproducing a good chunk of their set here. Not much (or anything?) in the way of a web presence yet, so you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for further gigs.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Recording: Ostrich Tuning

Artist: Ostrich Tuning feat. Daniel Lee

Song: Something's Gone Wrong Again [Buzzcocks cover]

Recorded at Holy Oak Café ("Taking drugs to play music for kittens to take drugs to" – Chi Chi Fundraiser), September 30, 2012.

Ostrich Tuning - Something's Gone Wrong Again

Full review to follow. Pets are members of our families, and the financial burden of sudden health problems can create a lot of angst. After Chi Chi, companion to Ostrich Tuning's Ami and Ian, needed emergency care, they put together this special night to help defray the costs. Besides a silent auction of black cat-related art, they called on some friends to join them on stage. Here, Daniel Lee (Hut, Hooted Fang, Phèdre, etc.) pitches in vocals on this classic.