Monday Roundup #189

Concert announcements:

Track Could Bend #95 (feat. Royal Jelly [Cory Harper-Latkovich/Germaine Liu/Kurt Newman/Allison Cameron/Sara Constant] / Turtle Pleasure) / Wenona Lodge 2024-09-03 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Art Spin Bike Tour & Wet Sounds ["gathering a large audience on bicycles to visit the multidisciplinary installations and performances in a one-of-a-kind event"/"a sound installation in a swimming pool led by UK-based artist Joel Cahen"] (feat. Neil Lordson / Moraa Stump / Joel Cahen (performing as PlutonOvarian) / Mira Martin-Gray & Olivia Shortt / Heidi Chan & Prince Nifty) / Earlscourt Park Gazebo/Giovanni Caboto Pool 2024-09-07 (Saturday). $27 [Bike Tour & Wet Sounds, afternoon show], $22 [Wet Sounds only, evening show]. [more info]

Batuki Music Society presents: Renaissance CD Release Concert (feat. Mis Blandine & Caza Jazz Band / Pecosse Animation) / Alliance Française Toronto 2024-09-07 (Saturday). $15 (advance), $20 (door). [tickets + more info]

undercommons collective #1 (feat. Holger Schoorl & Kayla Milmine / Victor O & friends / the rest [Joe Sorbara & Jonathan Kay]) / Annette Studios 2024-09-07 (Saturday). $15/pwyc. [FB event]

Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Senior & Newman / Greydini / Nick Flanagan / "special guest") / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-09-08 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]

Cowbird Composer Collective Meta-Residency ["new chamber music composed by Brian Abbott"] (feat. Michael Palumbo [solo modular synth] / Ryan Kinney & Meghan Cheng / Manuel Morales / Naomi McCarroll-Butler) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-09-09 (Monday) [FB event]

Liquid Architecture (feat. David Sait / Jonny Luke / Yasmine / Ryan Kinney) / Mischief Makers 2024-09-14 (Saturday). $10 (adv. tickets or cash at door), $12 (card at door). [FB event]

Mike Donovan (New Orthodox / The JDAC) / The Baby G 2024-09-16 (Monday). $23.57 advance, 19+. [FB event]

Tilman Lewis/Nilan Perera/Laura Swankey / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-09-20 (Friday – early). $pwyc. [FB event]

Dance Inside Autumn Leaves (feat. Shahriyar Jamshidi) / Canadian Music Centre 2024-09-27 (Friday). $22.63. [more info]

Andy Haas & Mike Milligan (Max Donaldson) / Sellers & Newel 2024-11-24 (Sunday). $20 minimum donation. [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Greydini (Dame Cook / Escote / Tommy Tone) / Low Bar 2024-08-27 (Tuesday). $10, 19+. [more info]

Solitary Shrew (feat. Owen & Liz / Public Library [Liz Anthonisen/Patrick O'Reilly/Owen Bulger/Mira Riselli/Alison Kerfoot]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-09-27 (Tuesday – early). $pwyc ($10 suggested) [more info]

Potions [Ben Rositsan/Steven Noronha/Josh Sparks/Aidan McConnell] (Karen Ng & Charles Spearin) / Burdock Music Hall 2024-08-27 (Tuesday). $15. [more info]

Nick Fraser Presents: music of Duke Ellington (feat. Nick Fraser and Myk Freedman) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-09-27 (Tuesday)

Trapezoid [Karen Ng/Kurt Newman/Nick Fraser/Rob Clutton] / The Emmett Ray 2024-08-28 (Wednesday – 6 p.m.). $15/$10

Siren Recordings Presents: Four generations of sonic poetry (feat. The Toronto Experimental Translation Collective / Gary Barwin / Paul Dutton / Andrew Whiteman's Poet's Workout Soundsystem) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-08-28 (Wednesday). $pwyc/$5. [more info]

Uma Nota Culture presents (feat. John Kameel Farah / Animal Party) / BSMT254 2024-08-29 (Thursday). $22.63. [FB event]

Exit Points #52 (feat. Keisha Bell/Janel Jones/Ryan Kinney/Lex Feathers/Ambrose Pottie / MAYSUN/Sihwa Park/Danika Lorèn/Michael Palumbo / Switchemups!) / Array Space 2024-08-30 (Friday). $25 ($20 advance). [FB event]

A Ryan Driver Quintet [Ryan Driver/Rob Clutton/Brodie West/Blake Howard/Tania Gill] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-08-30 (Friday). $pwyw. [FB event]

Cosmic Homeostasis / Bloor Annex BIA Stage – Bloor and Brunswick 2024-09-01 (Sunday – noon to 2 p.m.). $free, outdoors, family-friendly. [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on August 31, 2012 at The Silver Dollar.

Dilly Dally - Green

• ...on September 1, 2012 at Yonge-Dundas Square (INTERsection 2012).

Ashley Bathgate - Industry

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Monday Roundup #167

Community notes:

• Nicole Mitchell, renowned flutist, author, educator, composer, and this year's 2023-2024 John and Claudine Bailey Distinguished Visitor in Jazz, is presenting a masterclass Q&A with U of T Jazz students today (March 25th). This event is FREE and open to the general public. Space is limited and priority will be to currently enrolled Jazz students. The masterclass will take place at 4:00 pm in Upper Jazz at 90 Wellesley St. W.

• Join Spectrum Sound Bath to "bathe, rest, and play in sound" at a free event on Wednesday (March 27th) in the Sactuary at the Trinity-St Paul's Centre.

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Concert announcements:

Experimental Link (feat. Pouya Ehsaei Trio [Pouya Ehsaei/Sadio Sissokho/Peter Lutek]) / Small World Centre 2024-04-05 (Friday). $25.57. [FB event]

con:trust [contemporary music for two accordions, works by René Hirschfeld, Matt Simon, Joshua Nuñez, Jose Eduardo Muñoz, among others] / Array Space 2024-04-09 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Go: Organic Orchestra [Composed and Spontaneously Conducted by Adam Rudolph] (feat. Araz Salek/Aline Homzy/Jonathan Kay/Andrew Kay/Bea Labikova/Kayla Milmine/Majd Sukar/Heather Saumer/Patrick O'Reilly/Justin Gray/Derek Gray/Dhaivat Jani) / The Aga Khan Museum 2024-04-13 (Saturday). $40 (regular), $36 (friends), $30 (students and seniors), $20 (limited same-day rush seats). [more info]

Labyrinth Ontario's Annual Fundraiser (feat. Begüm Boyancı/Burak Ekmekçi/Selmanpak Ayduz / Naomi McCarroll-Butler & Sadaf Amini) / 918 Bathurst 2024-04-18 (Thursday) [FB event]

Tranzac Fundraiser I (feat. Sandro Perri & Friends / Masahiro Takahashi / Anne Bourne) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-04-20 (Saturday). $20 in advance, $25 at the door. [FB event]

catl. (The Kewpie Dolls) / The Dakota Tavern 2024-04-20 (Saturday). $19.56, 19+. [FB event]

BODEGA (Notaband / SAMWOY) / The Garrison 2024-04-21 (Sunday). $25.03, 19+. [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Colin Fisher/Jeff Luciani/Diane Roblin/George Koller / The Emmet Ray 2024-03-25 (Monday – 6 p.m.). $10

Lipliners 4th Wednesday of the month residency (feat. Ronley Teper & The Lipliners) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-27 (Wednesday) [FB event]

CCMC [John Oswald/Paul Dutton/Al Mattes/Casey Sokol] / Array Space 2024-03-28 (Thursday). $free, livestream available

Escote (Ex Corpse / Liz Lima / Brian Fog) / Bar Orwell 2024-03-28 (Thursday). $15 / pwyc / notaflof. [FB event]

Karen Ng presents (feat. Karen Ng/Ted Crosby/Ben Dwyer) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-28 (Thursday)

Today Versions presents: 'Music From Five Mountain Station: An Earth Dancing Body Refuge Trip' (feat. Del Stephen / Key Cut / Newold Group) / Bar Orwell 2024-03-29 (Friday). $10 or pwyc. [FB event]

Exit Points #47 (feat. Zoë Alexis-Abrams/Youssef Bassit/Onophris/Bobby Gadda/Jury Tosh Kobayashi-Mackay / Xéynamay/Racha/Erik Flow/Measure/Michael Palumbo / Switchemups!) / Array Space 2024-03-29 (Friday). $20 at the door. cash/card/mobile. [FB event]

Luge / Houndstooth 2024-03-29 (Friday). $no cover. [FB event]

Ryan Driver’s Big 5-0 (feat. The Ryan Driver Sextet) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-03-30 (Saturday). $20 or pwyc. [more info]

Away Forward (Fires of Cheektowaga / The Neverminds / Luster Dust) / The Baby G 2024-03-30 (Saturday). $16.42, 19+. [FB event]

Chris Pruden & Isaiah Farahbakhsh / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-30 (Saturday)

Cosmic Homeostasis XXIII / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-31 (Sunday – 5 p.m.). $pwyc. [FB event]

Joyshape (Molehill [Pete Johnston/Jake Oelrichs/Mike Smith] / Heraclius Akimbo with Gabe Girard) / Bar Orwell 2024-03-31 (Sunday). $pwyc, suggested $10

Orkestar Kriminal (Blisk) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-03-31 (Sunday). $25.50. [FB event]

The Nilan Perera Quartet [Nilan Perera/Adrian Russouw/Rick Sacks/Marilyn Yogarajah] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-31 (Sunday) [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on March 26, 2014 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

Josh Cole's Standards Quartet - Pithecanthropus Erectus

• ...on March 28, 2014 at The Silver Dollar Room.

Dilly Dally - Next Gold

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Songs: Marijuana + Morning Light + Sober Motel

Recorded at Lee's Palace, May 28, 2023.

Dilly Dally - Marijuana

Dilly Dally - Morning Light

Dilly Dally - Sober Motel

Dilly Dally is a band that I arguably saw more before releasing their first album than in the stretch they made their second, but they were still a group that I regarded with enough fondness to feel a pang of sadness when they announced their dissolution, to be accompanied by a pair of farewell shows. Going out on their own terms at least made it possible to treat this winding-down as a celebratory capital-O Occasion, rather than a bittersweet requiem for the hard go a band in music's vast middle class has to face in considering the daunting nature of being a band that's popular enough to have an international fan base big enough to tour to, but being stuck in a system that makes that almost completely unsustainable.

In any case, this was a good way to wrap things up. With no horn sections and no special guests parading across the stage, this was no Last Waltz, just a band focusing on what they're very good at, pouring out almost every song in their oeuvre, hearts on sleeve like a gang of friends giving it everything they got.

Monday Roundup #45

In the absence of concert listings, my regular Monday dispatches have fallen off. After bringing some life to the blog with the "bumping into" series, I figure I should get back in the groove. I'm guessing that this will be a bit like what used to get shoved into the end of the post when I was doing listings — some bandcamp suggestions, nods to a few livestreams, and sundry community notes (email me if you have anything that needs broadcast in the latter category!). Plus maybe a look back through the MFS archives.

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Livestream nation:

• Thin Edge New Music Collective presents Premieres X, a night of new chamber pieces, on Wednesday (November 24th) with commissioned works by Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi, Paolo Griffin, Homa Samiei and Matthew Ariaratnam. Free to watch, though PWYC donations are welcomed.

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Concert listings:

• Long Winter 10th anniversary kick-off: Together Apart International DIY Festival (feat. Orphx / Odonis Odonis / Bernice / Shn Shn / Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band / Tange / Del Stephen / Asuquomo / Karim Olen Ash / Savannah Taylor / Merival / New Chance / Besé / Ziibiwan / Sisi Superstar / Ceréna / Tica Holiday / Blackwinterwells) / St. Anne's Church 2021-11-26–2021-11-27 (Friday + Saturday). $12/$15 [ticket info]. [FB event] ("an IRL/URL cross-stream virtual party")

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Track Could Bend — redivivus:

• Track Could Bend (the cozy monthly music series curated by yours truly) is coming back! To try and ensure the safety and comfort of everyone involved, things will be in a hybrid form for the next few months. We'll be congregating at our home in the basement at Wenona Lodge with a very limited in-person crowd. I'll document the sets with audio and video and they'll make their way onto youtube on the first Tuesday of the month — which means you should make a note to keep your eye out on December 7th. To work the kinks out I did something I usually avoid and booked a group I'm part of for the "dress rehearsal". Here's a hint of what's coming up:

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It happened this week...

• ...on November 27, 2015 at The Horseshoe Tavern.

Dilly Dally - Candy Mountain

• ...on November 28, 2015 at Toronto Public Library – Yorkville Branch (Make Some Noise).

Jennifer Castle - I Don't Care About Money

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Song: Get To You

Recorded at Longboat Hall (Camp Wavelength – Night 2), August 19, 2017.

Dilly Dally - Get To You

Since 2009, the summer Wavelength festival has been a highlight of the season, slowing down the hectic "festival experience" to an Island pace and making the whole thing as much about the vibe and the location as the (always well-curated) music. When this spring's floods shut the Island down, there was a ripple of apprehension from many quarters at the loss of favourite summer hangs, culminating in the festival decamping to the mainland. The WL crew did an excellent job in emulating the festival experience in the outdoor/daytime portion, but it was harder to feel the same sense of relaxation and freedom in a bar.

In the between-albums lull part of the cycle, Dilly Dally took to the stage like conquering headliners, pulling apart their songs some to see how far they could stretch before snapping like elastic bands as they finished, yet maintaining each one's popsong core.

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Song: Candy Mountain

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, November 27, 2015.

Dilly Dally - Candy Mountain

Sometimes it seems like you blink and just all of a sudden, a band that you've been going to see for a while are suddenly rock stars. This wasn't actually the release party for Dilly Dally's Sore, but it was the first chance for a larger crowd to get together and see them since it dropped and it brought out a packed house of fans — genuine know-all-the-words, mosh-to-the-slow-ones fans. For their part, the band cranked out the tunes with enough lurching imprecision to maintain their raw grandeur while Katie Monks seemed to be occupying the stage with a greater sense of presence than before. Quite an impressive sight all around.

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Songs: Ballin Chain + Snake Head

Recorded at The Great Hall ("Long Winter: Year Three, Volume Three"), January 9, 2015.

Dilly Dally - Ballin Chain

Dilly Dally - Snake Head

It's always a balancing act for a band to find the right proportions of slop-spatter and pop-precision, but Dilly Dally is managing a pretty good job of it. Katie Monks' slurred mumble-shouts remain front and centre, and the band's lurching imprecision around her still manages to maintain both momentum and wallop. These two shorter tunes flip over from one to the next so effortlessly that at first I thought they were two halves of a single song, but there's a couple different flavours to appreciate here.

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Song: Gender Role

Recorded at The Garrison ("Girls' Art League fundraiser"), July 4, 2014.

Dilly Dally - Gender Role

Full review to follow. Dilly Dally's rep continues to grow, but thankfully they're not doing it by smoothing out the rough edges either in Katie Monks' slurring/mumbling vox or Liz Ball's diamond-tipped guitar slashing. We're still waiting to hear when their EP will be coming out, but for the moment that makes 'em a band that you have to get out and see to hear most of their songs.

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Song: Next Gold

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, March 28, 2014.

Dilly Dally - Next Gold

Full review to follow. Even though they're still playing rather short sets, as Dilly Dally gets more comfortable with their sound the songs are slowing down a bit and growing more distinct — but maybe the fact that the band is really on to something can be seen in the way that the Dollar suddenly went from empty-ish to full just before they took the stage.

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Song: Monkey Gone to Heaven [Pixies cover]

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room ("Death to T.O. 3"), October 31, 2013.

Dilly Dally - Monkey Gone to Heaven

Full review to follow. Now in its third year (perhaps long enough to call it a Hallowe'en tradition!) Death to T.O. filled the Silver Dollar and Comfort Zone with a non-stop night of music — no less than thirteen bands doing mini cover sets in full costume. Last time I saw Dilly Dally I commented on their "Pixies-ish propulsion", so this was a natural fit for their cover set. Cool trivia: so far as I know, Dilly Dally was the only band of the night that paid tribute to an act that had once played on the very same stage.

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Song: Desire

Recorded at Double Double Land ("Wavelength 569"/Pleasence Record Release), July 11, 2013.

Dilly Dally - Desire

Full review to follow. Dilly Dally's bummer-rock had a bit more Pixies-ish propulsion than I recall from previous encounters. That drove the songs along in a more energetic manner, but they still felt like stories from the aftermath of various unsettling incidents.

Recording: Dilly Dally

Artist: Dilly Dally

Song: Green^*

Recorded at The Silver Dollar, August 31, 2012.

Dilly Dally - Green

Full review to follow.

^* Thanks to a commenter for passing along the title to this one.