Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis XXX

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis XXX

Song: A Gracious Limestone [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), November 30, 2025.

Cosmic Homeostasis XXX - A Gracious Limestone [excerpt]

Joining together at the Tranzac for the thirtieth time, this session marked the end of a productive year for the C.H. collective, meeting inside and outdoors to create come drones and community vibes. Keep an eye out in 2026 for a new "studio" album and more gatherings.

The homeostasis crew on this occasion included:

• Chris Trotter - radio, pedals, namer-of-things
• Dan Friedman - virtual line hum, flute
• Del Stephen - keyboard synthesizer & keys
• Fahmid Nibesh - contact mic/amp/guitar/pedals/metals
• Heraclitus Akimbo - chimes, Roland S-1, pedals
• Ian McPhedran - guitar
• James Bailey - cümbüş, rattle
• Jim Davis - fretless bass gtr
• Jonny Luke - cornet + fx
• Mira Martin-Gray - synthesizer/resonator
• Niamh Girling - tanpura
• Paul Newman - tenor saxophone
• Rob Cruickshank - synth/pedals
• Scott M2 - Roland S-1
• Sterling McPhedran - banjo-ukulele

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

And, as always, you hear the whole session over on bandcamp:

Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis

Songs: Split Infinitive [excerpt] + Urdu Amphitheatre [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 31, 2025.

Cosmic Homeostasis - Split Infinitive [excerpt]

Cosmic Homeostasis - Urdu Amphitheatre [excerpt]

A vibrant showing for a long weekend with fifteen homeostasisists joining in. An unusually-robust turnout of guitarists gave a unique flavour to the proceedings and a bit of structure for the drift over two sets.

The homeostasis crew on this occasion included:

• Nilan Perera - guitar + preparations, namer-of-things
• Broken Pink Umbrella - Intellijel Vascadia + effects
• Dan Friedman - Wire Hum, real and imaginary
• Fahmid Nibesh - Tranzac house guitar, ebow, vox
• Hilary Martin - pedals
• Jim Davis - bass
• Leslie Partridge - classical guitar
• Matt Collins - guitar
• Mira Martin-Gray - laptop, voice
• Patrick O'Reilly - piano + SK-1
• Paul Newman - tenor sax
• Rob Cruickshank - synth/electronics
• Scott M2 - Roland S-1
• Zack Berwick - OP-1 + effects
• Heraclitus Akimbo - tape loops, Zoia

And, as always, you can check out the complete proceedings from the afternoon over on bandcamp:

[Cosmic Homeostasis will be closing out the year's activities at The Tranzac on Sunday, November 30th at 2:30 p.m.]

Recording: Wenderly Park

Artist: Wenderly Park

Song: [last section]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (The Sun Room), August 6, 2025.

Wenderly Park - [last section]

Celebrating a new album, Wenderly Park here sported a new division of labour, with Joe Strutt holding down the low end on processed electric bass while Fahmid Nibesh wandered the room harnessing feedback and other sounds from a variety of implements. A bit of a noisier ride, suitable to the company they were keeping on this night.

You can check out footage the full set over on youtube:

Recording: Poached Roses

Artist: Poached Roses

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #107), August 5, 2025.

Poached Roses - [excerpt]

Naomi McCarroll-Butler convened this ensemble (alongside Mira Martin-Gray, Niamh Girling, and Fahmid Nibesh) for the express purpose of "dredging up their longest strings, their screamiest reeds and their gutteralest kazoo sounds from the depths of their transeggjwal gutz to deliver the heaviest blown-out transcendental drone set your ear holes have ever seen." And it was a total success. Rumours of recording sessions have been circulating; keep an ear out for possible further dispatches.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday (September 2nd) with sets from Brian Abbott and Allison Cameron.]

Recording: Many People

Artist: Many People

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng: A fundraiser show for Earlobe), February 18, 2025.

Many People - [excerpt]

This musical concept from Karen Ng continues to evolve from its origins as a massive horn section — though that's still at the heart of it, percussion and other noises are now increasingly incorporated, making the performances more akin to swelling jams than lingering zones. This particular instance of the group was convened to celebrate the launch of Earlobe, the new website/mailing list "listing experimental music and sound art events happening in Toronto", three of whose organizers were performing. The full ensemble was:

• Karen Ng - alto sax
• Maxwell Stover - tenor sax
• Marilyn Yogarajah - trumpet
• Heather Saumer - trombone
• Fahmid Nibesh - guitar
• Heraclitus Akimbo - electronics
• Kieran Maraj - bass
• %%30%30 - percussion
• Germaine Liu - percussion
• Mark Zurawinsky - percussion

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

Recording: Craig/Nibesh/Iaffaldano

Artist: Isla Craig/Fahmid Nibesh/Michelangelo Iaffaldano

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Track Could Bend #100), February 16, 2025.

Isla Craig/Fahmid Nibesh/Michelangelo Iaffaldano - [excerpt]

Track Could Bend will be having its tenth anniversary in April — although given how time got weird for a while there and the series took fourteen months off, it seems like a slightly ambiguous mark for celebration. This big round number, however, felt like the right opportunity to mark a special occasion. In the beforetimes, TCB marked its anniversaries with special events, gathering the folks who had played over the previous year and drawing names from a hat to construct some spontaneous new combos. I had the notion to scale that up and duly invited back everyone who had ever played the series — over three hundred performers! — for an afternoon and evening of fun.

As fate would have it, the long-planned-for day came with a monumental snowstorm, so the inability to get around kept some folks at home. And yet, this event still saw twenty-one performers take the stage, duly selected from the hat and sorted into seven trios. As is often the case, these instant bands made some gorgeous sounds, showing off the ability of TCB's community to adapt, co-operate and thrive. A fun time was had by many — a fitting launch to the next ten years.

The day lead off with this vocals-forward trio, Isla Craig (MFS#4, 18) singing and Michelangelo Iaffaldano (MFS#45, 84) grumbling over some percussive textures from Fahmid Nibesh (MFS#67, 78, 79).

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona Lodge, its usual home, on April 1st in a special co-presentation with Ministry of Phonic Services presenting sets from Mira Martin-Gray & Sierra Weston and Wilderness Adventure Ride.]

Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis

Songs: Busking [two excerpt]

Recorded at The Bloor Annex BIA Stage, September 1, 2024.

Cosmic Homeostasis - Busking [excerpt 1]

Cosmic Homeostasis - Busking [excerpt 2]

Kudoes to the Bloor Annex BIA for animating the corner of Bloor and Brunswick this summer with their specially-constructed bucker stage — and special kudos to booker Sarah Greene who brought some variety to the space, including an unexpected turn from this drone ensemble. Often found down the street at The Tranzac, the group has played outside before, but a busy street corner is rather a different thing than a peaceful park. Here, cars passing by (and occasional planes from the airshow roaring past overhead) gave more of a gritty backdrop to the proceedings, but the assembled players still managed to embroider some fitting sounds into the landscape.

The performers at this event were:

• styrofoamNosebleedPrincess - tanpura
• Mira Martin-Gray - Bastl Kastle
• Sterling McPhedran - guitar
• Ian McPhedran - uke/banjo
• Fahmid Nibesh - mandolin, lyre, percussion, cellphone synth + amp
• Rob Cruickshank - electronics
• Michael Lynn - double bass
• Mike Filippov - ocean drum
• Rod Campbell - trumpet
• Heraclitus Akimbo - EWI, lyre, Donner MEDO

You can hear some extended edits from the day's field recordings over at Bandcamp. Three recorders in play capturing this action, so most of the instruments are audible. Did some work to trim out the worst of the wind-on-mics sounds:

[Cosmic Homeostasis will be bringing their regular fifth-Sunday-of-the-month gathering to The Tranzac on Sunday, September 29th. Also, stay tuned for an announcement of an exciting unoffical Nuit Blanche event!]

Recording: Wenderly Park

Artist: Wenderly Park

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (The Sun Room), April 23, 2024.

Wenderly Park - [excerpt]

Celebrating the release of their dubut album, the members of Wenderly Park joined forces to buzz and hum, sing and resonate.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

Recording: Many People

Artist: Many People

Song: [set 1 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 15, 2023.

Many People - [set 1 excerpt]

Many People is another of Karen Ng's occasional concepts-not-bands, and while I've associated this one with a room-full-of-horns soundbath, the concept is plainly more malleable than that. That said, there was a formidable (fourmidable?) wind quartet up front, with Ng joined by Nic Dourado (a.k.a. bUDi), Nirvana Sagar, and Ted Crosby. But this time there was an equal presence of non-horn players, including Kieran Maraj (bass), fuZzy (guitar), %%30%30 (found percussion) and Jaz Tsui (percussion and melodica). Especially with the latter pair, that meant the means of propulsion was less magic capret ride and more clattering wagon, as the ebb and flow of the horns was bumped along by the other elements.

Recording: c_RL with Wenderly Park

Artist: c_RL with Wenderly Park

Song: [excerpt from 1st piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Living Room), May 26, 2023.

c_RL with Wenderly Park - [excerpt from 1st piece]

With Nicole Rampersaud in town, there was a rare opportunity for the members of c_RL to convene for a set — and to warm things up for the main trio convergence they joined forces with Wenderly Park for some extra hums, scrapes and loops.

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

Recording: Wenderly Park Ensemble

Artist: Wenderly Park Ensemble

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Living Room (fuZzfest), May 13, 2023.

Wenderly Park Ensemble - [excerpt]

On the cusp of joining the exodus of artists departing Toronto, Fahmid "fuZzy" Nibesh put together an afternoon of music, good company, and food to celebrate some of the folks he has most enjoyed making sounds with/hearing sounds from. fuZzy's duo Wenderly Park has perviously proven malliable in adding guest performers, but this set saw things expanding exponentially with some maximalism being offered by Allison Cameron (synth), Mike Lynn (double bass), Kayla Milmine (soprano sax), Karen Ng (alto sax), and Jasper Stadhouders (guitar).

You can check out footage of the full set over on youtube (though apologies to Kayla, who is outside the frame throughout!):

Recording: fuZzy n' frenz

Artist: fuZzy n' frenz

Song: [excerpt from 1st piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Living Room (fuZzfest), May 13, 2023.

fuZzy n' frenz - [excerpt from 1st piece]

On the cusp of joining the exodus of artists departing Toronto, Fahmid "fuZzy" Nibesh put together an afternoon of music, good company, and food to celebrate some of the folks he has most enjoyed making sounds with/hearing sounds from. This set perhaps gave some hints of what a promised upcoming solo album might offer — although "solo" concepts were being pre-expanded with a group that included Mira Martin-Gray (electronics), Germaine Liu (percussion), %%30%30 (percussion), Victor O. (bass), and Marilyn Y. (trumpet).

You can check out footage of the full set over on youtube:

Recording: Sarah Greene

Artist: Sarah Greene with fuZzy

Song: Being Real

Recorded at The Tranzac's Living Room (fuZzfest), May 13, 2023.

Sarah Greene with fuZzy - Being Real

On the cusp of joining the exodus of artists departing Toronto, Fahmid "fuZzy" Nibesh put together an afternoon of music, good company, and food to celebrate some of the folks he has most enjoyed making sounds with/hearing sounds from. With some more abstract sounds to follow, the day started with some songs from Tranzac booker/open stage host/singer-songwriter Sarah Greene, with songs old and new being embellished with fuZzy's guitar work.

You can check out footage of the full set over on youtube:

Recording: Mira Martin-Gray & Friends

Artist: Mira Martin-Gray & Friends

Song: Body Language

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #79), May 2, 2023.

Mira Martin-Gray & Friends - Body Language

Celebrating the release of the wonderful Hen's Teeth, Mira Martin-Gray asked along a couple peers (Del Stephen on keyb and Fahmid Nibesh on guit) to both flesh out the tunes and to find ways to dig into their experimental superstructures, letting things stretch out with languid patience. The set ended with a nod to the album's "non-song" side, asking the audience to join in on "Play each note as if it will help", whose title is drawn from its text score ("play each note as if it will help / as if it could / when it doesn’t / rest / try again").

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

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona Lodge on Tuesday, July 4th.]

Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis XIX

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis XIX

Songs: Disco Whispers [excerpt] + Zero Gravity Bird Ceremony [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), April 30, 2023.

Cosmic Homeostasis XIX - Disco Whispers [excerpt]

Cosmic Homeostasis XIX - Zero Gravity Bird Ceremony [excerpt]

Another fifth-Sunday-of-the-month drone meetup brought out a mid-sized group (a dozen people) for some space-drift, spreading out around the Southern Cross.

The ensemble this time around was:

• Paul Newman - tenor saxophone
• Philip Hamilton - oscillator, contact mic
• fuzzy - guitar, pedals
• Patrick O'Reilly - circuit bent SK-1, piano
• Nilan Perera - prepared guitar + slicer pedal
• Ian McPhedran - guitar + pedals
• Sterling McPhedran - guitar + pedals
• Scott M2 - Animoog
• Ron Blake - iOS apps
• Sheldon - percussion+
• Victor O - toy keyboard + mixer
• Heraclitus Akimbo - synths

And as usual, you can stream/download the full session over on bandcamp:

[Cosmic Homeostasis will be back in the Southern Cross on the afternoon of the fifth Sunday of July — that is to say on July 30th, 2023.]

Recording: Wenderly Park feat. Karen Ng

Artist: Wenderly Park feat. Karen Ng

Songs: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Karen Ng's Monthly), April 18, 2023.

Wenderly Park feat. Karen Ng - [excerpt, part 1]

Wenderly Park feat. Karen Ng - [excerpt, part 2]

Invited to make some basement sounds at Karen Ng's monthly, this pair first explored in duo format with guitar, harmonica, mandolin, and guiro before inviting the host to join in to close things out.

You can also check out some footage of the full set over on youtube:

Recording: Tapocalypse Now

Artist: Tapocalypse Now

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination), April 7, 2023.

Tapocalypse Now - [excerpt]

The night's closing curated set saw series host Mike Lynn making his debut on amplifed tap board. Besides running the contact mic on his tap board through his own array of effects, the signal was shared with synthesist Heraclitus Akimbo, who did some more signal bending while fuZzy Nibesh (guitar, oscillatorss, effects) added some indpendent sympathetic sounds. If not quite the smell of napalm in the morning, a tappin' trip into the sonic heart of darkness.

As usual, Audiopollination did an excellent job at documenting the show, so you can watch some high-quality footage of this whole set over on youtube:

[Audiopollination is back at Array Space on Friday (May 12th) with sets from Diane Roblin/Andrew Kay/FuZzy, Adam Golding/Kyle Skillman/Saba Saneinejad, Patrick O’Reilly/Paul Newman/Jaz Tsui, and Tegan Dietsch & Annie Elgie.]

Recording: Flip Side

Artist: Flip Side

Songs: [first piece, in two parts]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #78), April 4, 2023.

Flip Side - [first piece, part 1]

Flip Side - [first piece, part 2]

It wasn't entirely a coincidence that I had invited Allison Cameron out to perform on this specific month, as April marked the series' eighth anniversary — and who better to celebrate that with than someone who had been on stage back at TCB #1? For this outing, she brought her laptop and no-input mixer and invited along Fahmid Nibesh, who added some sounds on guitar, oscillators, harmonica and pedals.

You can check out some footage of the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (May 2nd) with a celebration of Mira Martin-Gray's new Hen's Teeth album as well as some new synth-based sounds from Bryan W. Bray's Cetacean.]

Recording: Wenderly Park feat. members of Stargoon

Artist: Wenderly Park feat. members of Stargoon

Songs: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), March 25, 2023.

Wenderly Park feat. members of Stargoon - [excerpt, part 1]

Wenderly Park feat. members of Stargoon - [excerpt, part 2]

What has two harmonica players, a lap steel, and isn't a country band? The answer is not Stargoon, but also not Wenderly Park — although this one-off recombination included members of both, oscillating between dense drones and something more chaotic.

You can also check out footage of the full set over on youtube:

Recording: fuZzy

Artist: fuZzy

Song: [solo percussion excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior & Friends), February 12, 2023.

fuZzy - [solo percussion excerpt]

This solo set moved in an astral glide from the effected percussion heard here into some guitar explorations.

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

[Ayal Senior & Friends will be back at The Tranzac on Sunday, March 12th, with Ayal Senior playing with Kurt Newman, Andrew Furlong and special guest Jay Anderson, plus sets from Piers Oolavi and Cxicada and comedy from Nick Flanagan.]