Recording: YlangYlang

Artist: YlangYlang feat. Ashley Obscura / Anna Mayberry / Victoria Cheong

Songs: three unknown titles^*

Recorded at Polish Combatants' Hall SPK (Long Winter 6.2), December 9, 2017.

YlangYlang feat. Ashley Obscura - unknown

YlangYlang feat. Anna Mayberry - unknown

YlangYlang feat. Victoria Cheong - unknown

I was sad to have missed this year's first Long Winter (at my home base of The Tranzac, no less!) but was pleased to see the series return to the SPK's mirrored bunker for another go-round. Using the downstairs dining room and the upper main hall, there was music back and forth all night — plus the usual mix of comedy, art and Vish Khanna's Long Night talk show. In a marked contrast with the comedy show that immediately preceded it, Catherine Debard brought some quiet introspection to the night. Since I had seen her perform in the fall, her uncertain landscapes were set askew even further when her musical gear was stolen. The generosity of friends and fans has since allowed her to get going again, but this unique set saw her forced into a different approach, telling the crowd, "I asked friends of mine to send me poetry that I cut and pasted and added to this chunk of ambient music that I prepared for Long Winter, 'cause for me winter is an emotional, sad, isolating kind of thing." As she meditated and practised some yoga to the tracks, the crowd in the room was mostly indifferent, which meant that their lack of attention costed them an opportunity to recognize the voices of some amazing artists on her tracks. (The full roster included Allie Blumas and Georgia Webber as well as the ones here.) The beauty of this set wasn't fully apparent at the time, so it's worth presenting a larger dose than usual straight from the mixer so you can ruminate on these words and sounds while you look out a window at a frozen landscape.

^* Does anyone know the titles to these? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Wolfcow with Anna Mayberry

Artist: Wolfcow with Anna Mayberry

Song: Enhanced Texture, Part 2

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Mixed Input Festival – Night 2), September 17, 2017.

Wolfcow with Anna Mayberry - Enhanced Texture, Part 2

This festival was convened by local experimental film collective Pleasure Dome as an attempt to deepen the collaborative experience between musical and moving image artists, which was manifested in a variety of ways over two nights.

Greydyn Wolfcow used this festival set as an opportunity to push the band into some different territory, eschewing the pop-nugget sized "hits" for one set-filling longform piece. Driven by a discordant industrial thrum (provided by current bandmembers Chris Worden, Ian Sequeira and Jon Shapiro) that loomed like a toxic emission from a chemical plant, the piece was tied together by the vocal refrain of "evidence, evidence, evidence", while a corporate product analysis slideshow (the powerpoint of the '80's!) was projected onto the stage. Meanwhile, Anna Mayberry's movement portion channelled the band's bad hoodoo, like a sullen teenager driven from lurking at the side of the room into their own moshpit as some sort of emotional exorcism.

Recording: Greys

Artist: Greys

Songs: Linus and Lucy [Vince Guaraldi Trio cover] + Chick Singer (feat. Anna Mayberry)

Recorded at The Garrison ("Buzz Records Presents a Very Special Krampus Party"), December 6, 2014.

Greys - Linus and Lucy

Greys feat. Anna Mayberry - Chick Singer

It was genuinely exciting to see that no spin was required for the "local label makes good" angle with Buzz Records packing The Garrison on a Saturday night with a young and excited crowd. A lot of hard work and a lot of pulling for each other has brought the label's bands to a new level and there was a palpable sense of being part of a moment in the room.

Back home after taking their début long-player on the road for good chunks of the year, Greys seemed eager to fuck with their formula a little, leading off their set with the festive sounds of the Charlie Brown Christmas special and, later on, bringing up HSY's Anna Mayberry (who can be found in less shriek-y circumstances in her ANAMAI solo project) to flip the script on "Girl Singer".