Another living room-sized show that felt perfectly cozy at Le Monde, giving the artists time to stretch out and play an unrushed set where the music dictated the duration. A treat, as always to see Matt Smith (a.k.a. Prince Nifty) in action, here on percussion, laptop and treated vocals. He was joined by Colin Fisher, this time out on analog synth, lap steel (as heard in the extract here), tanpura, guitar and saxophone. Some really nice meditative stretches with the diversity of sounds embellishing the predominating droneform.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
Friendships, when measured over decades, rarely can be represented as a continuous or straight line. But that means time adds its own wrinkles and peculiarities that make it unique. So, too, for bands that exist over decades — and Not The Wind, Not the Flag are surely both. Brandon Valdivia and Colin Fisher don't get as many chances to perform together as they used to, but their deep sonic connection is definitely intact. Playing outside of the limits of a bar/gig-type set allowed that to really shine, as the pair had time to let several zones unfold — including an extended percussion duo to start things off. From there, Fisher moved between saxophones and guitar while Valdivia had a lot of kit on hand to thunder along or provide quiet sympathetic textures as required. Word on the street is that the duo have plans to make a long-awaited new studio recording this year, so keep an ear out for further appearances.
You know it's not business as usual when you arrive for a DMA recital at the music school and greet your candidate as he's setting out a big jar of earplugs for the audience. Coordinating the proceedings in a Meshuggah t-shirt, Nolan Hildebrand's afternoon of music presumably had the requisite rigour required by his professors, but kept things wrapped in noise show aesthetics.
With an eight-channel speaker array set up around the auditorium, many of the pieces used spacialization effects quite nicely, moving from the interstitial audio collages to the performaces on stage. There was an inneresting variety to those as well, ranging from Hildebrand's own solo improvisations for modular synth (with some cool sound-triggered visualizations) to pieces for violin and MAX patch, to a percussion ensemble, to the all-star group (Colin Fisher, Patrick O'Reilly, Louis Pino) joining Hildebrand on this piece.
Track Could Bend's one hundred and first show was originally conceived as a reflection on the very first one back in April 2015, and a reprise of Allison Cameron's solo performance was duly booked. When illness caused a last-minute change in plans (look for a make-up date for A.C. in a couple months!) the call went out to some friends of the series — and to everyone's great fortune, Colin Fisher was available. Bringing guitar and soprano saxophone, Fisher navigated through his arc of effects and expression pedals, zooming out from the ethereal to the sputtery, imploding into shimmer and feedback.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (March 4th) with sets from M.D.N.R. (Max Donaldson and Nate Robertson) plus Del Stephen's Totoloto.]
The autumn has brought a welcome cluster of shows from Tad Michalak's Burn Down The Capital promotional arm, mixing touring artists (many with a long relationship with BDtC) with local legends and emerging artists, many of them taking place in the cozy basement space at Collective Arts' taproom. (Important note: there's one last show in this burst coming up this Saturday.)
So it was no surprise to see a (these days somewhat-rare) appearance from Not The Wind, Not The Flag to open up this night, giving Brandon Valdivia and Colin Fisher a slightly-abbreviated slot to enable their musical mindmeld, sharing a pulse with the former's percussion and the latter moving from guitar to saxophone (as heard in this extract). Fully satisfying to hear these friends palying together, still fully in sync even when playing less together.
This night out at the TONE Festival reached back for some strong Healing Power vibes: not only had that scene/label issued some essential music (together and individually) from the night's co-headliners, but it was also a treat to hear HP co-principal DJ SlightBreezy (aka Wolf Nessel) slingin' and manipulating tunes between sets.
A "solo album" is rarely a one-person endeavour, so it made sense to see Colin Fisher celebrating the release of Suns of the Heart alongside key collaborator David Psutka who helped use the recording process to elaborate upon Fisher's realtime propensity for building and manipulating layers of sound. That meant the first half of the set was in duo mode, nudging up against some of the album's textures before closing out with an extended solo improvisation for guitar and sax.
Sometimes, when a Big Event beckons, you just have to seize the initiative and throw the party that you want to be a part of. Hence this little shindig, with a pretty fabulous lineup of local luminaries and a room full of well-wishers — what more could you ask for?
Bringing some solo explorations for guitar and saxophone, Colin Fisher moved from fluid flows to metallic spatters.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
With John Oswald needing to depart a little early after the main part of this set, the remaining musicians decided they had a little left in the tank and called up Colin Fisher (who had played in the earlier set) from the audience. Bringing his customary energy, it was intruiging to note how much different this sounded from what had become before in a delightful ten-minute rager.
You can check out footage of the full piece over on youtube:
[Josh Cole will be presenting his trio Kind Mind — this version with Ted Crosby on sax — in his residency slot next week (Tuesday, May 14th) in the Southern Cross.]
Essentially a warm-up show for the forthcoming full-on album release celebration (see details below), this night saw most of the Dun-Dun Band gathered together (but with "only" two sax players). Digging into tracks from Pita Parka, Pt. I (as well as its in-the-can sequel) the players were in sync through Craig Dunsmuir's fragment-suites, moving from rollicking lockgroove tumbles to some considered stately rumbles.
[That release celebration will be happening in The Tranzac's Main Hall next week (Thursday, May 16th), with an opening set from Allison Cameron, Mira Martin-Gray and Josh Cole.]
*Thanks to Josh for passing along the title to this one!
Just some casual solo magic from Colin Fisher, granulating sounds on guitar and switching over to sax.
[Ayal Senior & Friends will be back in the Tranzac on Sunday (March 10th), with sounds from Ayal and Kurt Newman, Blake Howard, and Andrew Furlong plus Eye-Duh Kho, Jonathan Adjemian, and Nick Flanagan.]
Always keeping a hand in with a variety of ensembles, pianist Diane Roblin presented a matinée with this occasional trio that saw her joined by Jeff Luciani (drumkit) and Colin Fisher (sax, guit). Adding some synth swells to the piano rolls, there was an appealing sonic range here and lots of joyful interplay — definitely suitable for watching the leaves tumbling down in the background.
Given how my camera was overwhelmed by the daylight streaming in behind the players, you won't see any of those leaves tumbling down (and rendering the foreground in a rather murky way), but you can check out some footage of this full set over on youtube:
Some excellent programming here from guitarist/saxophonist Colin Fisher, bringing himself and frequent sparring partner Mark Hundevad (vibes) together for two sets with C'est la fête, a trio of younger players Adrian Russouw (double bass), William Hunt (piano), and Mateos Labbe-Phelan (drumkit). The trio-plus-guests format meant there were opportunities for some big crescendos, but also chances to find space in dropping down to solos and duos. The younger players here also very much held their own, and this was, to use a technical term, some "high-level shit", suitable for the stage of any jazz festival you could name.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
[C'est La Fête are playing (alongside cnrkrtz/%%30%30 and Owen Kurtz) at Parkdale Provincial Park on Friday (September 1st). Keep an eye out for more music presented by Colin Fisher at the next Musical Universalis on Friday, September 8th.]
Most usually seen exploring on guitar or saxophone, it's always a treat to see Colin Fisher bring out one of his other instruments — in this case, a tanbur that kept his fingers flying as he wound around though a series of shifting themes.
You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:
[Ayal Senior & Friends returns to the Southern Cross on Sunday, July 9th with the host (in duo mode alongside Kurt Newman) joined by Marilyn Yogarajah, Del Stephen's Wurld of Xo '42 and Nick Flanagan.]
Due to a confluence of things, I've decided to start posting in the instagram account I've been not using for the past few years. Feel free to follow @mechanicalforestsound if that's your kind of thing.
Andre Ethier & Drew Smith (& friends) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-19 (Saturday)
Diane Roblin Presents (feat. Colin Fisher/Jeff Luciani/Diane Roblin) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-20 (Sunday – early!) [FB event]
Ex Machina [works by Olivier Messiaen, Mari Alice Conrad, Bekah Simms, James O'Callaghan, Gordon Fitzell] (feat. Standing Wave Ensemble) / St. George by the Grange 2022-11-20 (Sunday). $35.00. [FB event]
Imaginary Familiars [Bill Gilliam's solo, spoken word improvisations for voice and prepared piano] (Marbyllia [Margaret Maria/Bill Gilliam]) / Array Space 2022-11-20 (Sunday). $PWYC, livestream available. [FB event]
Livestream nation:
Freesound has an intruiging online show of "Music for Piano" performed by Wesley Shen premiering on Thursday (November 17th), with pieces by Anna Höstman and Juro Kim Feliz.
It happened this week...
...on November 15, 2015 at The Imperial Pub's back room.
I think "Many People" was at first merely meant as a description of this agglomeration of friends assembled by Karen Ng, but we might as well treat it as a de facto band name. (It turns out that every once in a while, everyone you invite out for a gig is able to make it, when you were only expecting some fraction of them to be able!)
With eight (and later nine) musicians playing, it was unsurprising that there were some crowded honk'n'squeak blastoffs, but for the most part, folks gave each other space, stepping back to let shifting smaller sub-groups stand out and letting the ensemble sections work as texture-knitting rather than volume competition.
There are visible signs of forward progress with Craig Dunsmuir's beloved precision groove bigglyup band — rumours of intense rehearsal schedules, plus whispers of recording and mixing sessions — all of which has culminated in a three-month takeover of Josh Cole's Tranzac residency. This night saw a possibly-unprecedented turonout (on stage) with ten musicians on hand. (There's a certain flexibility in the lineup given that any of these busy musicians could be unavailable on any given day.) There's also a sense that the jams are being formalized into "songs" — where once they were identified by strings of numbered fragments, now titles are taking their place (even if some are perhaps still just placeholders, often taking a name from the venue where the piece was first performed).
The full lineup for this night was:
Craig Dunsmuir
Mike Smith
Blake Howard
Jay Anderson
Josh Cole
Kurt Newman
Ted Crosby
Karen Ng
Colin Fisher
Brodie West
[The Dun-Dun Band will be completing their three-month stay at The Tranzac next Wednesday (October 19th) in the late slot.]
Having been a fair few years since seeing this pair celebrating a mutual album release, it was a treat to see them jam out in celebration of the new Tactile Stories. As always, Genenaro brought energetic volume on the drumkit, which Fisher complemented on sax and guitar. The night closed with "a little light jazz" in quartet formation with gusts Andrew Furlong and Patrick Smith, who had opened up the evening.
You can also watch some footage from this set over on youtube:
Returning after a couple pandemic hiatus years, the Intersection Festival made its way back to the concrete expanse of Yonge-Dundas Square, bringing abrasive and strange sounds to the wider public. Keeping to the main stage (except for Kristina Guison's circular sander art installation), this was a bit more of a stripped-down affair than years past, but the organizational caution meant things went off without a hitch. Even on a Labour Day weekend afternoon, downtown feels a little less hectic than it used to be, but it was nice to be outside and run into some familiar faces for the first time in so long.
Colin Fisher seems to be a fixture at these YDS shows, both with regular groups, as asideman, and bringing out-of-town guests along to play. This set fell into the latter category, with Fisher being joined by legendary NYC free-jazz drummer Marc Edwards. "We're gonna rip for you," Fisher commented before the pair launched into it and 'nuff said.
A double-shot of espresso, musically speaking, Colin Fisher brought some fiery improvisations for guitar and sax, spattered and stretched through his pedalboard.
Bringing a set of new (and not yet named) compositions, Colin Fisher (on tenor sax and guitar) lead this imposing grouping through two sets of fiery unburdening. Mark Hundevad (percussion) and Andrew Furlong (double bass) drove things along, but the night's real hero was Naomi McCarroll-Butler (alto and clarinet) who was fully inspired throughout.
Founded as a blog about one curmudgeon's love affair with the em dash, Mechanical Forest Sound has grown to become a community-based archive of local musical culture. Assuming that "independent music" isn't just boys with guitars and "culture" isn't just some sort of pageant, MFS is an investigation of a wide range of artists, reflecting on concerts as shared experiences, acts of citizenship and a chance to get down — fuzzy photographs and clear-sounding original live recordings a specialty.
Current manifestations of this project include Track Could Bend, a monthly concert series featuring "improvised music and weird rock offshoots", presented in a casual environment.
At one point I wrote full-on concert reviews, and for longer I thought I would catch up and write about shows in the past. But these days, because of, y'know, life, do not expect much in the way of full show reviews — but live recordings with blurbs will be posted as quickly after the fact as is feasible.
You can also check out full sets uploaded to the Live Music Archive. [not currently active]
N.B.: All recordings should be available & playable. If you come across any broken links, invisible or non-functioning players, etc, please leave a comment and I will tend to it ASAP.
ALSO N.B.: I'm perpetually on the lookout for a new place to stash my MP3's online. If you know of any place that allows a couple gigs of stuff to be openly linked to for streaming, drop me a line!
All MP3's on this blog are audience recordings shared as a reminder of the excitement of seeing live music. If you are an artist who doesn't want their music shared in this way, please contact me and I shall remove it forthwith.
What Is: noncompliance: The inputted value is unusual [workshop & performance] (feat. Rrose / Auto Feeder / Parkdale Pirate Radio) / Sandbox 2025-05-07 (Thursday). $20/$25/$30 PWYCA. [more info]
Longing and Belonging: Music for Piano by Armenian Composers (feat. Eve Egoyan) / University of Toronto (Walter Hall) 2026-05-07 (Thursday). $free. [more info]
More Noise Please! presents: Cacophonyous Cataclysm (feat. V. Vecker / Unfeeling / THRTDSPLY / Jania K / Dept of Loss / Emergency Euphoria / Humbucker Music [Nick Storring/Jason Doell/Mira Martin-Gray/Colin Cudmore] / Del Stephen's Glib Trot Gleaning) / BSMT 254 2026-05-07 (Thursday). $15/PWYC. [FB event]
What Is: noncompliance: No memories available (feat. Qiujiang Levi Lu / Aliyah Aziz / Husna Farooqui) / Sandbox 2025-05-08 (Friday). $20/$25/$30 PWYCA. [more info]
Musica Universalis (feat. C'est la fête Large Ensemble [William Hunt/Adrian Rossouw/Mateos Labbes-Phelan/Maxwell Stover/Colin Fisher with special guests Karen Ng & Mark Hundevad) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-05-08 (Friday) [more info]
What Is: noncompliance: Confirm humanity [workshop & performance] (feat. Shara Lunon / Nidus / Christina Dovolis) / Sandbox 2025-05-09 (Saturday). $20/$25/$30 PWYCA. [more info]
Liquid Architecture (feat. Tomasz Krakowiak / Eric Paglia) / St. Matthew’s Clubhouse 2026-05-09 (Saturday). $10 (cash or e-transfer). [FB event]
Labyrinth Ontario with Efrén López / Aga Khan Museum 2026-05-09 (Saturday). $50 (regular)/$45 (friends of the museum)/$37.50 (students and seniors)/$20 (limited rush tickets). [FB event]
O Sacrum Convivium, Music for Corpus Christi (feat. The Tallis Choir) / St. Patrick's Church 2026-05-09 (Saturday). $35 (general), $30 (seniors), $15 (students). [FB event]
Girma Woldemichael [Nafqoté CD release concert] / The Redwood Theatre 2026-05-09 (Saturday). $20, all-ages. [FB event]
Toronto Improvisers Orchestra / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-05-10 (Sunday – noon)
Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / JOYSHAPE / Ryan Dugre / Nick Flanagan) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-05-10 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]
Wolf Eyes (Knurl / Ayal Senior) / The Baby G 2026-05-10 (Sunday). $33.18, 19+. [FB event]
Jazz Rat Monday (feat. Patrick Smith/Nancy Walker/Eric West/Mark Godfrey) / Dina's Tavern 2026-05-11 (Monday). $pwyc. [more info]
New Works for Improvising Musicians (feat. Nick Fraser's Special Topics [Nick Fraser/Josh Cole/Max Stover/Kae Murphy]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-05-11 (Monday)
Not Dead Yet presents (feat. One Leg One Eye / Efrim Menuck) / St. Stephen-In-The-Fields 2025-05-13 (Wednesday). $26.67, all-ages. [FB event]
Never Was [Brandon Davis/Bea Labikova/Patrick O’Reilly/Joe Sorbara] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-05-13 (Wednesday)
TONE Presents (feat. Eric Chenaux & Ryan Driver / Rafael Toral / Masahiro Takahashi & Brodie West) / Standard Time 2025-05-14 (Thursday). $33.64 advance/$35 door, all-ages. [FB event]
Night Owls (feat. Bob Wiseman / Lily Frost) / Hugh's Room 2026-05-14 (Thursday). $42.85 (General Admission), $27.27 (Student / Arts Worker / Underemployed). [FB event]
AMRITA [debut album release!] [Anita Katakkar & Kayla Milmine with special guests: Jonathan Kay & Zaynab Wilson] (Zaynab Wilson) / Array Space 2025-05-14 (Thursday). $30 [includes a copy of the new CD and a drink]. [FB event]
The Dan Pitt Trio [Dan Pitt/Alex Fournier/Nick Fraser] / Sellers & Newel 2026-05-17 (Sunday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]
Jazz Rat Monday (feat. Patrick Smith/Rebecca Hennessy/Max Simpson/Trevor Falls) / Dina's Tavern 2026-05-18 (Monday). $pwyc. [more info]
Playscape Emporium: Paint, Play ["The audience will witness the creation of various painted works, following the story of a painting as told by the brush."] (feat. Duo Cichorium / Constant Yen / Rowan Campbell / Charli/Fahmid/Joe/Mira) / Array Space 2026-05-21 (Thursday). $25.00 (or Pay What You Want); livestream: $12.00 (or Pay What You Want). [more info]
By Divine Right (Casper Skulls / The Will Powers) / Dina's Tavern 2026-05-22 (Friday)
Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Cole Pulice / SpeariNg [Karen Ng & Charles Spearin] / Grace Scheele) / Collective Arts 2026-05-23 (Saturday). $22.89, 19+. [FB event]
Parade [Stefan Hegerat/Chris Pruden/Patrick O’Reilly/Laura Swankey] (Joyshape) / Burdock Music Hall 2026-05-23 (Saturday). $16.95. [more info]
Jazz Rat Monday (feat. Patrick Smith/Nancy Walker/Eric West/Mark Godfrey) / Dina's Tavern 2026-05-25 (Monday). $pwyc. [more info]
Geordie Gordon [River Round release celebration, full band with horn section!] (José Contreras) / Burdock Music Hall 2026-05-27 (Wednesday). $20.34. [more info]
Sook-Yin Lee with Dylan Gamble [72RHR release celebration] / Sonic Boom 2026-05-29 (Friday). $free, all ages
Battute e Pizzicato: Celebrating the 17th-Century Guitar (feat, Musicians of the Egg) / Church of the Redeemer 2026-05-31 (Sunday). $30 (general admission), $20 (students/arts workers). [FB event]
TONE presents: Double LP Release (feat. Glissandro 70 / Khôra & Mas Aya / Sweet Lips) / Standard Time 2025-06-04 (Thursday). $28.27, all ages. [FB event]
The Mike DeiCont Trio [Mike DeiCont/Leland Whitty/Eric West] / Sellers & Newel 2026-06-07 (Sunday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]
Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Fuji||||||||||ta / Evicshen) / The Garrison 2025-06-10 (Wednesday). $30.14, 19+. [FB event]
TONE & Not Dead Yet present (feat. Afrorack / Phèdre / Arc & Texture) / BSMT 254 2025-06-16 (Tuesday). $34.49, 19+. [FB event]
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