Recording: Del Bel

Artist: Del Bel

Songs: The Stallion + Let's Stay Together [Al Green cover]

Recorded at SPK Polish Combatants Hall ("Wavelength FIFTEEN - Night 2"), February 14, 2015.

Del Bel - The Stallion

Del Bel - Let's Stay Together

My notes for this gig can be found here.

Gig: Wavelength FIFTEEN - Night 2

Wavelength FIFTEEN – Night 2 (feat. Ginla / Last Ex / Del Bel / The Acorn / Lowell)

SPK Polish Combatants Hall, Saturday, February 14, 2015.

The Present is an uncertain place, lacking the hopeful glow of The Future and the retrospective adjustability of The Past. The middle of three nights of the Wavelength festival — thematically split into Past, Present and Future — was no less so, feeling a little inadequately stirred up. Which is to say, that although I liked most of the bands on the bill on their own merits, juxtaposed against each other the night's curation felt too safe, lacking any sudden left turns.

Maybe that notion of safeness was also lingering in my mind after the afternoon's artist talk with Art Bergmann, who complained about the suffusion of bland "beigeness" in the world at large. So, yeah, on the whole, this night was a little too beige.

There were good vibes in the room, mind, and it's always nice to be able to take in a show at the Polish Combatants Hall, where even a healthy crowd (as this gig had) meant you'd still have some elbow room, and the high walls behind the stage also make it an excellent canvas for General Chaos' visuals. I was glad to see that there were heaps of young first-timers out at this all-ages show, even if the big draw for them turned out to be a fairly uninterestingly generic pop singer.

Opening the night was Ginla, a duo on their studio recordings but playing as a trio live with guit, moog and drums. Offering some hazy popstuff, the tunes as of yet offer a bit more atmosphere than hooks. Attending to their gear, there's not much showmanship, making them a bit more suited to the bedroom studio than the stage — although having the live drums in the mix adds a spark. The sensibility was also a bit too straight-ahead to really stand out, so hopefully there's a weird leap forward yet ahead for the group, though there's already potential on display here.

Listen to a song from this set here.

Last Ex is also a core duo performing live as a trio. Simon Trottier and Olivier Fairfield, who play together as members of Timber Timbre, started the project to further the work they did on an unreleased film soundtrack. Both of those touchstones are present on their album and in the material they performed live, though Last Ex hews more towards cinematic abstraction than anything you'd head on a Timber Timber record. Live, they were joined by Mathieu Charbonneau, who also plays with them in TT — though his former work in epic-instrumentalists Torngat is also a fitting sonic touchstone here.

Their set started a bit roughly, with Trottier having some guitar problems. Fairfield would also have some issues with his drumside synth, but when things were smoothed over, this was a satisfying set. Their expansive sound is a natural fit for Constellation Records, but their music doesn't have the grand sweep of, say Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Do Make Say Think, preferring instead self-contained hazily evocative sonic miniatures. There's also enough forward thrust for it to be more than just background-y instrumental music, but this was arguably not the best situation to spotlight that, as the crowd largely treated this as something to chatter over.

Listen to a song from this set here.

Del Bel's mid-bill slot also doubled as the album release show for their self-titled sophomore effort. That probably made it additionally frustrating for the band that their set was plagued with sound issues and technical difficulties, including a recalcitrant synth that was vexing bassist Tyler Belluz to no end. Even after a pause to set that right, the mix was still wonky.

But things improved as the band persevered, and at least the last few songs sounded pretty great. The icing on cake came when horse-stealing death ballad "The Stallion" was chased with a "schmaltzy" closing cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" — that juxtaposition perhaps getting to the heart of what makes Del Bel so appealing. And if nothing else, going out on a high note mostly obviated the memories of the rough start.

Listen to a couple songs from this set here.

A post-album pause turned into a few years of hiatus for Ottawa's The Acorn, with frontman Rolf Klausener devoting his energy to co-founding the Arboretum Festival and dance-oriented side project Silken Laumann. The rhythmic pulse of the latter seems to have stuck with him, as several of the songs in a set filled with new material were based around simple drum-machine beats. Those rhythm tracks seemed to keep both the tunes and the parka-clad Klausener rooted in place at first, but as he warmed up he stripped off layers and heaved some Valentine's Day condoms into the crowd. Some of the new material sounded a little staid next to the couple familiar ones that were mixed into the set, but it's possible that the new material will find its pulse in time.

Listen to a song from this set here.

The night was capped off by Elizabeth Boland, who performs as Lowell. (She was backed on stage by an un-introduced Matt Fong on guitar.) I'd say that her electro-pop stylings more or less missed the mark, but would also note they were exceedingly popular with the enthusiastic young crowd that was there to see her. Boland wobbled a bit when technical problems took her beats and vocals out of the sound system, but after being unsure whether she should retreat from the stage while things were worked out, she eventually managed to own the moment with the help of a megaphone and some crowd interaction. So points there for fast thinking and keeping things interactive, but there wasn't much to recommend in her songs.

That closed the night out on a rather beige note, but at least there was still the Future to look forward to.

Recording: Del Bel

Artist: Del Bel (feat. Bruce Peninsula)

Song: Sails of Gold

Recorded at SPK Polish Combatants Hall ("Wavelength 620"), October 3, 2014.

Del Bel - unknown

Though it's said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, Del Bel's return from a mini-hiatus was greeted with chatty indifference from the bulk of the crowd at this show. Their loss, as the band brought a whole bunch of tasty new material from their forthcoming sophomore album. Like the older stuff, it's metaphorically pitched somewhere between Lisa Conway's shy sorry-for-not-making-eye-contact demeanour and Ty Belluz's audacious belt buckle — slyly funky and subtly surging. A couple of the songs, including this one, featured several members of Bruce Peninsula on backing vocals.

Recording: Del Bel

Artist: Del Bel

Song: Excerpt from a live score to Adolf Trotz's Überfall

Recorded at CineCycle ("Wavelength 559: Scoring CineCycle"), April 16, 2013.

Del Bel - Überfall [excerpt]

Full review to follow. Wavelength's creative musical spirit went head-to-head with Images' characteristic push past the limits of the movie screen at this night with three bands tackling scores to classic experimental films. Trotz's expressionist short, filled with symbolism-laden camera tricks, was nicely mirrored by the spooky undertones of Del Bel's music here. But there was also a funky propulsion at play, as if Chic had been sent off to spend a night in a darkened gothic castle.

Recording: Del Bel

Artist: Del Bel

Song: Dusk Light

Recorded at The Piston ("Wavelength 549"), September 5, 2012.

Del Bel - Dusk Light

Full review to follow. Packing their seven-member road configuration onto The Piston's modest stage, there were a couple interesting new entries in Del Bel's setlist tonight — to find out what they are, you should head to one of the remaining shows on their mini-tour in Hamilton, London and Guelph over the next few nights. And in the meantime, here's one that wasn't a surprise in the setlist, but was particularly well-executed.

Recording: Chrome and the Ice Queen

Artist: Chrome and the Ice Queen

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Great Hall (SummerWorks Opening Party), August 9, 2012.

Chrome and the Ice Queen - unknown

Full review to follow. Live, with Tyler Belluz's louche basslines and an insinuating horn section behind Lisa Conway's vocals, C&tIQ turned out to be more disco noire than I was expecting. If claims of this being their last show are true, they'll leave a fine EP to linger in our memories, as well as this newer song.

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

Recording: Del Bel ft. Bry Webb

Artist: Del Bel ft. Bry Webb

Song: No Cure For Loneliness

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Wavelength 543), June 1, 2012.

Del Bel ft. Bry Webb - No Cure For Loneliness

Full review to follow. Bry Webb took the stage to join with Del Bel in a live rendition of their new joint single — the first exclamation point in a rather extraordinary set.

Recording: Del Bel

Artist: Del Bel

Song: Slave to The Deep

Recorded at El Mocambo, March 9, 2012.

Del Bel - Slave to The Deep

Full review to follow. I'd been meaning to check out Del Bel's atmospheric pop stylings for a little while now and the band's dark lushness behind Lisa Conway's voice didn't disappoint.