Recording: Lima/Roblin/Hall

Artist: Lima/Roblin/Hall

Song: [1st piece, excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #80), June 6, 2023.

Lima/Roblin/Hall - [1st piece, excerpt]

Possibly named Ecstatic Echidna, vocalist/clarinetist Liz Lima put this ensemble together, bringing along reed expert Glen Hall as well as keyboardist Diane Roblin, who brought out some spacey synth sounds to expand the musical settings.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (July 4th) with sets from Brian Ruryk and Del Stephen's Wurld Of Xo '42 Multivurse Melody Band.]

Recording: Del Stephen & Friends

Artist: Del Stephen & Friends

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (a song, a sound, a birthday), March 30, 2022.

Del Stephen & Friends - [excerpt]

Taking the opportunity to gather with friends for the first time in a couple years (as well as celebrating the release of a pair of EP's), Del Stephen played and listened to a variety of carefully-selected groupings (and took a break for cake). Inviting everyone who had played in different combinations in the night's first set (as well as one bonus tape manipulator), this sextet wandered through a short series of sonic abstractions.

Recording: Lima/Sinibaldi/Finlay Stewart

Artist: Liz Lima/Jeff Sinibaldi/Andrew Finlay Stewart

Song: [improvisation]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (a song, a sound, a birthday), March 30, 2022.

Liz Lima/Jeff Sinibaldi/Andrew Finlay Stewart - [improvisation]

Taking the opportunity to gather with friends for the first time in a couple years (as well as celebrating the release of a pair of EP's), Del Stephen played and listened to a variety of carefully-selected groupings (and took a break for cake). After a short solo set, he called up this trio of musicians, all of whom have helped embellish his songs and poems in the past.

Recording: Newman-Albu-Lima

Artist: Paul Newman/Sarah Albu/Elizabeth Lima

Song: 2nd piece [edit]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination), March 11, 2022.

Paul Newman/Sarah Albu/Elizabeth Lima - 2nd piece [edit]

Audiopollination's livestreams were a welcome chance to check in with the community throughout the pandemic, but this return to live events was even moreso, an opportunity to run into some familiar faces while seeing "self-curated" musicians encountering unfamiliar ones on stage. Thanks to Array's support and resources, the livestream element is being maintained, extending the series' reach. Montréal guest Sarah Albu was joined here by by Liz Lima (a collaborator in the vocal collective Phth) as well as saxophonist Paul Newman. Albu brought along her collection of walkie-talkies, creating opportunities for small-scale transmissions, blips and other chaos, which Lima augmented with some clarinet and synth whurrbulations. Static-y soundscapes shared space here with some spontaneous song fragments, and, in this piece, a fully-satisfactory shared stop.

You can check out the full set on the event's archived livestream:

Bumping into... Liz Lima

Bumping Into... is a series of mini-chats with a variety of peeps that you might run into in some of our local music communities. (There's a bit of an intro and my thoughts behind the series here.)

---

How are you? Where are you?

Good! North York

What have you been up to since March or so?

Dog - grant writing and then research and composition - some rehearsing (yes!!! Covid careful) planning - a little online playing - zoom voice lessons

Have you found any new ways to do old things? How are you feeling about the shifts in how music is being made/shared/listened to?

I’ll have to get back to that one but I find it hard to have only an online platform. Very difficult to watch concerts on a 2 dimensional platform when it’s not encompassing screen/film as a second medium.

Any works of art that have been a light for you in these times? Anything that's just been a good diversion?

Bach - the canon of classic horror films - the movie Swiss Army Man - David Sedaris books - Oliver Sacks

[Editor's note: Liz messaged me after sending her comments with this following addition] I forgot to mention exercising with 80-90’s videos from Richard Simmons, Kathy Smith and Jane Fonda. That was a huge lift

How are you feeling about 2021?

Hopeful optimistic and kind of neutral

Anything else we'd chat about if we bumped into each other?

I have a Christmas tree and listened to my classic Sinatra Christmas, nightmare before Christmas, Elvis Christmas...

Recording: Joyful Joyful

Artist: Joyful Joyful

Song: unknown [edited excerpt]^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Tiki Room), February 5, 2020.

Joyful Joyful - unknown [edited excerpt]

One of the striking things about seeing this drone-hymn band in action is the serene patience with which things build. There was a gorgeous slow accumulation to Dave Grenon's synthscape that I abbreviated here — partially to accentuate the song's end zone, where some musicians (Allie Blumas, Liz Lima, Del Stephen) from the night's earlier acts were drafted in to add some additional textures behind Cormac Culkeen's triumphal/mournful vocals.

[Joyful Joyful will be opening things up at Joyfultalk's album release celebration, coming up on Monday, March 16th at The Burdock.]

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

Recording: Our Way to Fall

Artist: Our Way to Fall

Song: Mirror and Egg

Recorded at The Tranzac (Tiki Room), February 5, 2020.

Our Way to Fall - Mirror and Egg

Officially settling on a name since their previous performance, this trio of Liz Lima (voice, clarinet), Del Stephen (synths, field recordings, poems) and Joe Strutt (tapes, effects, kalimba) mixed together some soundscapes and poetry, with this piece including some live-manipulated vocals.

photo by Luiza.

Recording: Del/Liz/Joe with Ayal Senior

Artist: Del/Liz/Joe with Ayal Senior

Song: [collaboration, in two parts]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior Presents), January 12, 2020.

Del/Liz/Joe with Ayal Senior - [collaboration part 1]

Del/Liz/Joe with Ayal Senior - [collaboration part 2]

Ayal Senior's second Sunday afternoon residency at the Tranzac continues to be a relaxed zone to mix different flavours of music, usually alongside the comedy stylings of Nick Flanigan. As a consummate host, Senior will usually try out a musical idea or two, but just in a short burst to leave time for his guests. There was enough time left over at the end though for a collaborative jam, with Senior joining in with the trio of Del Stephen, Liz Lima and Joe Strutt for some electronic ghost sounds and clarinet seagull songs.

Ayal Senior has also shared some video documentation from this set:

[Ayal Senior will be presenting more music and comedy at the Tranzac on the afternoon of the next second Sunday of the month, which'll be March 8th.]

Recording: Del/Liz/Joe

Artist: Del/Liz/Joe

Song: Salut la mer

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior Presents), January 12, 2020.

Del/Liz/Joe - Salut la mer

This new project from Del Stephen (synth, poems), Liz Lima (clarinet, voice) and Joe Strutt (tapes, effects) came together over the holidays for a recording session and then bounced out into the world ready for further explorations. The band has a name now, but it didn't then — but there's definitely an easy sense here of finding some suitable zones to linger in.

Ayal Senior captured some video footage from this set:

[Ayal Senior will be presenting more music and comedy at the Tranzac on the afternoon of the next second Sunday of the month, which'll be March 8th.]

Recording: Del Stephen & The Concrete Canvas Group

Artist: Del Stephen & The Concrete Canvas Group

Song: In Drawing

Recorded at The Tranzac (Tiki Room), November 6, 2019.

Del Stephen & The Concrete Canvas Group - In Drawing

Definitely a fan of an autumnal gathering in the Tranzac's Tiki Room, Del Stephen brought together frequent collaborator Jeff Sinibaldi (on tabletop percussive electronic bricacbrac) with Liz Lima (clarinet) and Andrew Finlay Stewart (violin). The city is Stephen's concrete canvas, and between musical pieces he shared some poems, but the main thrust here was to provide some sonic inspiration for artist Misaki Shibuya, who live-painted while the group produced some warm grooves and deliberative droners like this one.

Recording: Liz Lima

Artist: Liz Lima

Song: Lyrebird Motel [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space, September 20, 2019.

Liz Lima - Lyrebird Motel [excerpt]

The superb Australian bird namechecked in this piece might not be as familiar to North Americans, but its noted skill in mimicry inspired Liz Lima to craft this electroacoustic composition with structured improvised elements for clarinet, voice, tapes and drones, here making its local debut.

Recording: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Artist: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #53), August 6, 2019.

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt from first piece]

Some new improvisations from this duo of Mike Lynn (double bass) and Liz Lima (voice, clarinet) — and although they didn't get physical, they had some new jigs that need to be seen to be believed.

Recording: Yoshimoto-Cameron-Lima

Artist: Yumiko Yoshimoto/Allison Cameron/Elizabeth Lima

Songs: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 71), May 5, 2019.

Yumiko Yoshimoto/Allison Cameron/Elizabeth Lima - [excerpt, part 1]

Yumiko Yoshimoto/Allison Cameron/Elizabeth Lima - [excerpt, part 2]

The night concluded with this trio, Yoshimoto's daxophone and guitar matching well with Liz Lima's voice and clarinet and Allison Cameron's crackle synth/keyboard/string-plinking.

You can watch this whole set over on Audiopollination's youtube channel:

[Audiopollination returns to Array tonight (Saturday, July 20th) to introduce visiting Australian vocalist Sonya Holowell to some local musicians; there will also a night of randomly-drawn small groups live-soundtracking short films on Saturday, August 3rd.]

Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis IX

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis IX

Songs: Where No Bird Has Gone Before [excerpt] + Dammit, Jim, I'm a Doctor! [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 30, 2018.

Cosmic Homeostasis IX - Where No Bird Has Gone Before [excerpt]

Cosmic Homeostasis IX - Dammit, Jim, I'm a Doctor! [excerpt]

One last drone session to close out the year, Cosmic Homeostasis convened to celebrate Voyager 2 exiting the heliosphere as well as the Ultima Thule flyby – distant encounters that feel close to home to the whispers-from-space crowd. The crew this time comprised of Del Stephen, Trevor Turple, Mike Lynn, Liz Lima, Patrick O'Reilly, Ron Blake, Paul Newman and Heraclitus Akimbo. The whole session is available over bandcamp:

[Cosmic Homeostasis X will be taking place in the Southern Cross on the afternoon of Sunday, March 31st.]

Recording: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Artist: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 21, 2018.

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt, part 1]

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt, part 2]

Now formally a trio, Liz Lima (vox, clarinet) and Michael Lynn (double bass, electronics) were joined onstage by the mysterious James, smiling in the background. (Some people said he just sucked, but I say that's an un-nuanced view.) The set moved from acoustic to electric and eventually got physical — it's not atypical for this group that my notepad emphatically observes "THEN THE PANTS COME OFF".

Recording: Reductive Transduction

Artist: Reductive Transduction

Songs: Lecture 16 (Industrial Revolution: The Textile Trade) [two excerpts]

Recorded at Celestina, August 16, 2018.

Reductive Transduction - Lecture 16 (Industrial Revolution: The Textile Trade) [excerpt 1]

Reductive Transduction - Lecture 16 (Industrial Revolution: The Textile Trade) [excerpt 2]

Having another chance to make some sounds in the lovely studio space that'd hosted Track Could Bend a few months previously, I wanted to assemble some sonic adventurers in tune with the in situ vibes — which meant convincing the members of Nidus to convene for a don't-call-it-a-comeback night of audio manipulations and accumulations. And in the spirit of those notorious Nidusian noisefields, I also arranged to have the city's #1 Nidus cover band lead things off. This trio, with Del Stephen (Fender Rhodes, synth, tapes), Liz Lima (clarinet, vocals) and Heraclitus Akimbo (keyb, tapes, pedals, pocket Miku) delved deep into the technological turmoil of the 18th century, refracting Nidus' reflections on the technological turmoil of today.

[photo by Nick Storring]

Recording: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Artist: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Belljar Café (Track Could Bend #35), February 6, 2018.

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt 1]

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt 2]

This performance-art duo consists of a pair of improvisers stepping away from their primary instruments for some exploratory body talk. Liz Lima, best known as a clarinet player, provided vocals here while Mike Lynn, most often seen on bass, created the musical backdrop with electronics and drum machine. [check out a video of their set here, complete with dancing rabbits that I somehow don't remember being at the show.]

[Track Could Bend will be off-site at Array Space for a special Third Anniversary celebration on Tuesday, April 3rd. The night will feature an all-star assortment of performers from the past year's TCB events playing in "bands from a hat" — ad hoc ensembles selected at random shortly before playing.]

Recording: The Cereal Killers/Lilly and the Jellybean Machine

Artists: The Cereal Killers + Lilly and the Jellybean Machine

Songs: What's Your Thing?/We Are Girls + [first piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination Halloween Special), October 31, 2017.

The Cereal Killers - What's Your Thing? + We Are Girls

Lilly and the Jellybean Machine - [first piece]

Celebrating the season with costumes and a horror flick, Audiopollination brought together three sets of improvised sounds for a night of Halloween fun. A night of costumes felt appropriate as an opportunity to reunite The Cereal Killers, which features improvised punkrock outbursts behind recitations of 90's era toy and cereal commercials from Andy Dolgin (who was rockin' the Ace Ventura look this time 'round). The set also included this pair of classic YTV PSA's from the league of Concerned Children's Advertisers.

The backing band — with Mike Lynn (fuzzy bear/bass) Gord Fynes (Morty/drums) Brian Abbot (cheerleader/guitar) and Kayla Milmine (owl/alto sax) — included new addition Elizabeth Lima (catwoman/clarinet), and once Dolgin had run out of jingles, Lima swapped frontperson spots with him to transform the group into Lilly and the Jellybean Machine, self-proclaimed as "Toronto's primary maybe-wave band", for a second half of freewheeling prowls.