Monday Roundup #226

Contest reminder (+ festival reminder!):

• Just a quick reminder that you have one last day to get your name in to win a pair of tickets to What Is: Rebound, on Friday night. Curated by Tad Michalak, the show is East End United Church’s sunken basketball court and presenting a night of avant-percussion from Sarah Hennies and Tristan Kasten-Krause plus the Imaginary Percussion Ensemble. Draw is tomorrow (Tuesday the 13th) at noon! Go here to enter! And check out all the programming (on- and off-site) that the MG has as past of the Festival Tuesday to Saturday!

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Concert announcements:

Jim Lewis Quartet [Jim Lewis/Harley Card/Dan Fortin/Ethan Ardelli] / The Rex 2025-05-20 (Tuesday – 5:30 p.m.). $10. [more info]

Blunt Object [Jay Hay/Ben Dietschi/Gordon Hyland/Jesse Malone/Teppei Kamei/Heather Saumer/Robin Jessome/Josh Bird/Tania Gill/Victor Batemen/Eric West] / The Rex 2025-05-24 (Saturday – 2 p.m.). $10/$15. [FB event]

Retrievals: New Music for Old Tech ["new works for violin and electronics by Tsz Long Yu and James Lowrie alongside Alvin Lucier's "Clocker". Expect 90s living room vibes, static, street lights indoors, an ice-fishing camera shaped like a fish, and very much more."] (feat. Arlan Vriens / Tim Roth) / Canadian Music Centre 2025-05-24 (Saturday). $free. [FB event]

More Noise Please Presents: An Evening of Relentless Noise (feat. Worth / Pain Appendix / Taskmaster / Jute / Toanche Dwelling) / The No No Room at The Dock Ellis 2025-05-24 (Saturday). $15/pwyc. [FB event]

Sympathetic String Band's Last Sundays Residency (feat. The Sympathetic String Band / Alex Lukashevsky / JOYSHAPE) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-05-25 (Sunday – early) [FB event]

Jim Lewis Quartet [Jim Lewis/Harley Card/Dan Fortin/Ethan Ardelli] / The Rex 2025-05-27 (Tuesday – 5:30 p.m.). $10. [more info]

In The Round (feat. Char Aragoza / Casey Mecija / Louie Sanchez) / Burdock Music Hall 2025-05-27 (Tuesday). $16.95, all-ages. [tickets + more info]

Exit Points #60 (feat. Benson Lee/Stella Turcica/Adam Tindale/Stephanie Chua/Katherine Semchuk / Chibuzr/Dafydd Hughes/amielangonline/Lance Keizer/Michael Palumbo / Switchemups) / Array Space 2025-05-30 (Friday). $15 Early Bird/$20 Advanced/$25 General Admission. [FB event]

Do West Fest (feat. ZONES / Noble Rot / Edmund Stay / Art D’ecco) / Transmit Stage 2025-06-06 (Friday). $free, outdoors, family-friendly. [more info]

Do West Fest (feat. Macaroni Birthday / Heaven For Real / Tijuana Bibles / Jay Feelbender / Orbital Ensemble / The Royal Family / Sam Jr. / Shiv & The Carvers / Prostitute / Fucked Up) / Transmit Stage 2025-06-07 (Saturday). $free, outdoors, family-friendly. [more info]

Do West Fest (feat. Huxlii / Twist / Dumb Crush / Fanclubwallet / cootie catcher / PONY) / Transmit Stage 2025-06-08 (Sunday). $free, outdoors, family-friendly. [more info]

Jessica Ackerley / Sellers & Newel 2025-06-18 (Wednesday). $20. [FB event]

Open Thread [Peggy Lee/Julien Wilson/Theo Carbo/Dylan van der Schyff] / Sellers & Newel 2025-06-19 (Thursday). $20. [FB event]

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

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Shows this week:

Toronto Electronic Music Open Mic (feat. Timothy 1105 / Chin Beats / Giant Floating Head / Tyrek / Ben Green / Alissa Vox Raw / Inchoate / naw / Puppies in Submarines / Extinction on Schedule / Samuel Lozano / Gruve Collective) / Handlebar 2025-05-12 (Monday) [more info]

Jim Lewis Quartet [Jim Lewis/Harley Card/Dan Fortin/Ethan Ardelli] / The Rex 2025-05-13 (Tuesday – 5:30 p.m.). $10. [more info]

The Music Gallery presents What Is: heart(break) – 1:11 moonwatching (feat. Jenna Geen & Zoma / Aidan McConnell / Gary Kirkham) / The Music Gallery 2025-05-13 (Tuesday). $10 [MG members], PWYC $15/$20/$25; $45 fest pass [MG members], $70 fest pass [non-MG members], all-ages. [more info]

May Residency (feat. Roy) / The Cameron House 2025-05-14 (Wednesday – 6 p.m.) [more info]

Brodie West Double Basses Quintet [Brodie West/Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Patrick O'Reilly/Aidan McConnell] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-05-14 (Wednesday – early)

The Music Gallery presents What Is: heart(break) – Resurrection (feat. 8ULENTINA / Patrick Perez / Hagop Ohannessian) / Standard Time 2025-05-14 (Wednesday). $10 [MG members], PWYC $15/$20/$25; $45 fest pass [MG members], $70 fest pass [non-MG members], all-ages. [more info]

Ministry of Phonic Services presents (feat. Nikki Huang / Colby Richardson / Bag) / "a playground somewhere in Toronto" 2025-05-14 (Wednesday). $pwyc. [more info]

Ladyfinger [Diane Roblin & Kayla Milmine] / Sellers and Newel 2025-05-14 (Wednesday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]

Never Was [Brandon Davis/Bea Labikova/Racha Moukalled/Patrick O'Reilly/Adrian Russouw/Joe Sorbara] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-05-14 (Wednesday). [more info]

Ronley Teper’s Lipliners [Ronley Teper/Tim Posgate/Dafydd Hughes] / The Rex 2025-05-15 (Thursday – 5:30 p.m.). $10. [more info]

Playscape Emporium: Arcade-palooza (feat. Render File / Jason Leaver PuzzSoft) / Array Space 2024-05-15 (Thursday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [more info]

The Music Gallery presents What Is: heart(break) – Scentimental ["aromatic curator Sandro Petrillo will infuse the conservatory with hand-rolled incense"] (feat. Mas Aya / Sandro Petrillo / billie raphael) / The Music Gallery 2025-05-15 (Thursday). $10 [MG members], PWYC $15/$20/$25; $45 fest pass [MG members], $70 fest pass [non-MG members], all-ages. [more info]

Makam Nights (feat. Canan Sezgin-Geylan & Yahya Geylan) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2025-05-15 (Thursday). $pwyc, notaflof. [more info]

Above Top Secret [Record Release Show] (Sydanie) / The Cameron House (Back Room) 2025-05-15 (Thursday). $15, 19+. [more info/tickets]

Sub-Sessions #10 (feat. Pick A Piper / Essie Watts / Erik Masson / Blush) / BSMT 254 2025-05-15 (Thursday). $pwyc, $15 recommended. [FB event]

Spheres of Southworth (feat. John Southworth & The South Seas) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-05-16 (Friday – early) [more info]

The Music Gallery presents What Is: heart(break) – Rebound (feat. Sarah Hennies / Tristan-Kasten Krause / Imaginary Percussion Ensemble) / East End United Basketball Court 2025-05-16 (Friday). $10 [MG members], PWYC $15/$20/$25; $45 fest pass [MG members], $70 fest pass [non-MG members], all-ages. [more info]

The Music Gallery presents What Is: heart(break) – Empty It Out (feat. Secondsight / Empty-it-out Ensemble / Jade Blair / Khashayar Mohammadi) / The Music Gallery 2025-05-17 (Saturday). $10 [MG members], PWYC $15/$20/$25; $45 fest pass [MG members], $70 fest pass [non-MG members], all-ages. [more info]

Digital North No.1 — New Connections ["a brand new concert series in Toronto, Digital North supports new Canadian electroacoustic music from across the country by featuring both emerging Canadian composers as well as bringing new attention to historic and significant Canadian electroacoustic works", feat. works by Dominic Sambucco, Alison Hain, Mikael Meunier-Bisson, sylvi macCormac, Steven Webb, Matthew Ariaratnam, Norma Beecroft] / St. George by the Grange 2025-05-17 (Saturday). $25.00 (general admission), $18.00 (student/arts worker). [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on May 12, 2016 at Ratio (Somewhere There Presents).

Xavier Charles + Éric Normand - [excerpt]

Heather Saumer + Doug Tielli - The Forsaken Mermaid

[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: 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: Labikova/Martin-Gray/Saumer

Artist: Bea Labikova/Mira Martin-Gray/Heather Saumer

Song: [excerpt]

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

Bea Labikova/Mira Martin-Gray/Heather Saumer - [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 had was had by many — a fitting launch to the next ten years.

Capable of melodious harmonizing, this all-star trio instead veered into slyly-warbly twitters with Mira Martin-Gray's (MFS#34, 58, 79, 95) noisemakers calling out to Bea Labikova's (MFS#33, 56, 69, 99) saxophonic squawks and the piano/percussion of Heather Saumer's (MFS#21, 30) homing beacons.

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.]

Monday Roundup #216

Concert announcements:

TONE presents: (feat. Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio / The Titillators) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2025-04-04 (Friday). $22.89 advance / $25 door. [FB event]

B.A. Johnston (Sons of Butcher / Thunderkok) / The Baby G 2025-04-12 (Saturday). $21.53, 19+. [FB event]

Marsella Duncan [vinyl release show!] (Zinnia) / Burdock Music Hall 2025-05-02 (Friday). $16.95. [FB event]

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

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Shows this week:

Stranger Still [Pete Johnston/Mim Adams/Randi Helmers/Rob Clutton] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-03-04 (Tuesday – early). $pwyc

Track Could Bend #102 (feat. M.D.N.R. [Max Donaldson/Nate Robertson] / Del Stephen's Totoloto) / Wenona Lodge 2025-03-04 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Grocer (Luge / Least Weasel) / The Garrison 2025-03-05 (Wednesday). $21.53, 19+. [FB event]

Solstice Residency: Spring Equinox (feat. Ghostlight) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-03-05 (Wednesday). $pwyc (suggested $10). [FB event]

Freesound presents [works by Georgina Bowden, Dylan Lardelli, Pauline Oliveros, Juliet Palmer, Gordon Williamson] (feat. Ensemble Musikfabrik) / Array Space 2024-03-06 (Thursday). $22.63. [FB event]

Harley Card/Phil Albert/Eric West / The Emmet Ray 2025-03-06 (Thursday). $12. [more info]

Enchanters (Pit Scum) / Houndstooth 2025-03-06 (Thursday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Tania Gill presents: The Blues (feat. Victor Bateman/Ken Kawashima (aka Sugar Brown)/Jean Martin/Blake Howard) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-03-07 (Friday – early) [more info]

Women From Space Festival 2025 (feat. Allison Cameron's Small Scale Experimental Machine / Plastic Babies [album release!] / BIG BANG! plays Nina Simone [Tara Kannangara/Elisabeth Dorion/tUkU/Shn Shn/Rebecca Henessey/Atcheleh Aryee/Heather Saumer/Carolina Lopez/Naomi McCarrol-Butler/Nirvana Sagar/Bea Labikova/Diane Roblin/Pursuit Grooves/Mira Riselli/Racha Moukalled/Yang Chen/Angelica Zavala/Kayla Milmine) / 918 Bathurst 2025-03-07 (Friday). $15 advance / $20 at the door / limited extra special early bird festival pass $30 / regular bird festival pass $38. [FB event]

Sub-Sessions #9 (feat. Citizenry / Precious Jewel / Garden of Magic) / BSMT 254 2025-03-07 (Friday). $14.64 (early bird), $17.31 (general admission), all ages. [FB event]

The Harry Vetro Trio [Harry Vetro/Harrison Argatoff/Bennett Young] / The Emmet Ray 2025-03-07 (Friday). $12. [more info]

Women From Space Festival 2025 (feat. Erin Poole/Rosina Kazi/Chantelle Mostacho/shn shn / Yuniya Edi Kwon / Azumi OE/Eukademix​​) / 918 Bathurst 2025-03-08 (Saturday). $15 advance / $20 at the door / limited extra special early bird festival pass $30 / regular bird festival pass $38. [FB event]

Labyrinth Ontario presents: Fragmented Forms ["Fragmented Forms explores the possibilities of improvisation by utilizing both the microtonal aspect of Makam music and free improvisation, and how the two coalesce."] (feat. Araz Salek/Aysel Taghi-Zada/Cory Harper-Latkovich/Sara Constant/Yang Chen) / Annette Studios 2025-03-08 (Saturday). $27.96. [FB event]

Ichi-Bons (Kewpie Dolls) / Monarch Tavern 2025-03-08 (Saturday). $22.50, 19+. [FB event]

Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / Marilyn Yogarajah / Del Stephen / Nick Flanagan) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-09 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.). $pwyc. [FB event]

Women From Space Festival 2025 (feat. Mingjia Chen + Linnea Sablosky [performing Meara O'Reilly's Hockets For Two Voices] / Arushi Jain / Myra Melford's Fire and Water Trio [Myra Melford/Ingrid Laubrock/Lesley Mok]) / 918 Bathurst 2025-03-09 (Sunday). $15 advance / $20 at the door / limited extra special early bird festival pass $30 / regular bird festival pass $38. [FB event]

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Bandcamp corner:

• This Friday (March 7th) sees the rturn of Bandcamp Friday — support some artists you adore! Here's a couple things on my list:

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It happened this week...

• ...on March 6, 2020 at Burdock Music Hall (Women From Space Festival – Night 2).

Alaska B - [excerpt]

• ...on March 8, 2020 at 918 Bathurst (Women From Space Festival – Night 4).

Heather Saumer feat. Felicity Williams/Alex Samaras/Thom Gill/Robin Dann - unknown

[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.]

#mfs15 playlist: Matthew Fava

MFS has turned fifteen! My introductory thoughts on this landmark can be found here, but long story short: I asked some folks from the MFS community to help me celebrate by picking some selections from the archives, and possibly sharing some thoughts or stories.

Today's list is from Matthew Fava.

Happy anniversary, Mechanical Forest Sound, and resounding thanks to Joe Strutt! I set out to compile 5 or 6 recordings from the site, but have instead prepared links and reflections for 4. This activity was a challenge for me because Joe has become increasingly central to my creative network, and the cultural/historiographic role of the site is that much more meaningful/inarguable, so there is quite a lot to say.

And on that note, brevity eludes me at the best of times, and here we are at the apex of a months-long moment when I have talked openly and frequently with friends about moments of hopelessness. I have grown increasingly dependent on external factors to transfuse some hopefulness as I attempt to reset or reconsider emotional patterns.

Writing these thoughts down for Mechanical Forest Sound was a helpful exercise. I got to revisit the last 10 years of my life and inevitably travel further in time as I chased each enfolded memory.

So let’s start with the hard one.

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The Woodshed Brass Band - Love Letter To New Orleans

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

I remember where I was when I learned that Ken Aldcroft had passed. Jeremy Strachan, David Dacks, and I were set up at the CMC for an early installment in the Music Gallery’s History series (which invites various local figures to reflect on periods, places, and people that have been central to experimental music making in the city). Jeremy was the guest speaker. One of the attendees arrived early and let us know that Ken passed. We were shocked. We had a quick huddle and expressed disbelief, sadness. We ended up sharing the news at the start of Jeremy’s talk for the folks who assembled. I remember the gasps.

David shared a lovely reflection (with his unique penchant for the reverential and indexical-historical); Jeremy improvised a section of his lecture and reminisced about catching one of Ken’s performances in the Southern Cross at the Tranzac. We parted ways after the event, fully expecting to gather again to honour Ken.

Several days later, one of my oldest friends, Joseph Calarco, wanted to meet up. He was in the city visiting family. He had moved to San Francisco, and extended visits to Toronto were rare. He met up with me and another old friend, Rick, for dumplings. We had this lovely meal together, and we walked together along College Street. Rick parted ways when we got to U of T, and I said goodbye to Joseph a few blocks later. He hopped on the subway at Queen’s Park, and I continued on back to work at the CMC.

A few days later, Rick and I received an email from Joseph’s brother. Joseph had passed away suddenly when he had gotten back to his home in San Francisco.

A few days later, Rick and I said goodbye to Joseph again, sitting amongst many mutual friends from our past. I had never grieved the loss of a close friend. It proved overwhelming.

The day after Joseph Calarco’s funeral, I showed up at work solely because Allison Cameron was performing (October 6, 2016). Allison was being interviewed by Kristel Jax, and was going to improvise a set with Joe Strutt. In my mind, after a weekend prostrating on my floor, and two days of emotional prostration in a funeral home, I had a desperate need to regain my footing in the world. Joe Strutt arrived at the CMC early. Once he saw me, he came right over and gave me a massive hug. I needed it. I cry thinking about it. I needed to see my friends.

The day after Allison’s performance, I showed up at the Main Hall in the Tranzac for the Toronto celebration of life of Ken Aldcroft (October 7, 2016). Ken and I had only interacted a few times (when I would go up to him after a show to buy an album, when he played an open rehearsal at the CMC earlier in 2016). Feeling that proximity to and admiration for his music and organizing, knowing that my heart was struggling to heal from compounding loss, wanting to honour the artistic constellation in which Ken burned brightly, I went.

His family, close friends, and collaborators organized a moving event with touching stories and mesmerizing performances. The night started with the Woodshed Brass Band, captured in these recordings by Joe Strutt. The band and all the event attendees marched along Brunswick, marched through the alleys, marched along Bloor, sounding joyous songs. Songs for Ken. It is a Toronto memory I cherish.

I collapsed into the arms of many friends that night at the Tranzac. Folks were grappling with a deep loss, and many made room for me to share my grief about my friend Joseph Calarco as well.

When we lose our friends we lose access to a particular part of ourselves, too. The part that our friends saw vividly and lovingly, the part they could share back to us when we forget.

When I think about my friend Joe Strutt I think about the fact that he has worked so hard to let us know how he cares about us, to take what might otherwise be a fragile memory and celebrate it, document it, photograph it. To help us remember ourselves.

little window - Feel it all at once

Recorded at The Tranzac (Living Room), September 30, 2023.

Luca Capone and I have this long history together. Our grandparents came from the same mountain village in Italy—we used to see each other at the festas at Mary Lake that marked the end of every summer growing up. I was in the same grade as Luca’s brother Geremy, and would sometimes show up at the Capone household (including during Italy’s run at the ‘94 world cup when we made signs and celebrated a victory at the end of the Capone driveway, trying to get cars to honk at us).

Our paths converged again at CHRY on York University campus. We both developed an abiding love for community radio, which Luca has actively maintained through his programming of the Night Shift. If I recall correctly (I sometimes do), we were hanging out in the offices at CHRY in late 2008 early 2009 and got onto the topic of playing music together. So we had a casual jam with my brother Joseph (yes there is another Joseph in my ramblings). I picked up bass guitar since Joseph was on guitar and Luca was on drums. It was the first time I played bass guitar.

That evening marked the beginning of the longest creative/artistic collaboration of my life. Luca and I have played music together in several configurations over the past 15 years. Luca is especially good at tempering my impatience as a musician, while also being willing to engage in a kind of rapid prototypical playing as we continually inject some variant rhythm, articulation, tone. It is fun to make music with Luca.

It is also safe to say that 90% of my musical output and performance history is the result of Luca inviting me to tag along after he establishes a connection with kindred musicians.

Several months ago Luca began working with Eli Howey, and was passing notes to let me know how excited he was about Eli’s music. Their project, Little Window, played a show back in September at the Tranzac. I missed it, but Joe Strutt did not!

To my delight, and in keeping with the pattern mentioned above, Luca asked me to tag along during a recording session with Little Window in January. I have not played in a band that plays songs in a long time, but I was available and would never decline a chance to leap into it (music) with Luca. It reminded me of our early days together. Learning Eli’s music was immense fun, and this recording captures that rough-hewn, ethereal, and transfixing quality in their writing/playing, complete with that propulsive drumwork from the “grizzled veteran” Luca—Joe’s description!

M. Mucci/Khôra/Totenbaum Träger - [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Remembering Arachnidiscs), January 19, 2020.

While I was working at CHRY in the music department, I was responsible for receiving mailers from labels, distributors, and artists. I would give them a partial listen (there were a lot of submissions), enter them into the database, deface/label the cover, and then update the studio playbox and library. It was a rewarding job in many ways.

On one occasion we received an album from Michael Mucci in Guelph. I was not familiar with his prior work, but quickly fell into a lengthy listen. I wrote him a short email to confirm that we received the album, and to let him know how much I enjoyed it. He responded with appreciation.

A few years later I was listening through the catalogue of Arachnidiscs records, and purchased what was then a new album from Michael, Secret Midnights. This album was a favourite of mine from the 2010s, and I still listen to it several times a year.

Our story leaps into January 2020. Jakob Rehlinger decided to wrap up operations of Arachnidiscs Records, and organized a funereal gathering at Arrayspace to mark the occasion (if I am not mistaken, a certain Joe Strutt insisted that such an event take place through some self-described “moderate prodding” lol).

Several Arachnidiscs alumni, myself included, got to join in the performances that night. I ended up playing in a live realization of Jakob’s BABEL ensemble alongside Michael Mucci, Dominic Marion and Kayla Milmine, which was humbling and lovely.

As part of a separate set, Dominic (Totenbaum Träger) proposed a live re-imagining of Michael’s Secret Midnights album, and performed a set with Michael and Matthew Ramolo (AKA Khôra). Dominic opened the set with the signature sparse + icy guitar phrasing that welcomes listeners to the original album. The set unfolded with a placid mysticism, a sonic undertow, the kind that pulls you into unexpected spaces.

Once more time, space, history, and memory converged.

Heather Saumer - Shenandoah

Recorded at Dundas Video (Track Could Bend #21), December 6, 2016.

There has been an inescapable change in my (our?) relationship to Mechanical Forest Sound since the last time I contributed a playlist to the site—during the celebration of the 6th anniversary. In particular, Joe has been far more active as a curator, organizer, and artist, and the contents of the site take on an entirely new quality in response.

As Octavia tells us, all that you touch you change, and all that you change changes you. Joe continues to change, and be changed by, the musical tributaries that define Toronto.

So I had to include a recording from Track Could Bend (TCB).

TCB, Joe’s ongoing series, was a part of my monthly routine for a time, especially during the Dundas Video Days. I would shift my hours at work, and make an appearance at shows before heading home. And yes I would play Blades of Steel, and Mario Kart, and TMNTII (NES) between sets, but I wasn’t a complete misanthrope. Joe would often do the thing he is so good at: he would say “Matthew, you should meet [insert name here]”; “Matthew, can I introduce you to [insert name here]”; or “Matthew, you and [insert name here] are both into [insert obscure musical thing here], you should talk.” So yeah, I didn’t ONLY play video games between sets, and Joe was the consummate event host.

TCB artists were/are always a draw. That the contents remained unknowable until the set began was key to the appeal. Joe made artists feel safe taking risks, doing something new, sharing something that was potentially error-prone in front of people. And these experiments would often generate seismic soundings. One such earth-altering performance featured Heather Saumer.

As a former trombone player (who never took it to the streets) it has always been inspiring to see+hear Heather give voice to the instrument in novel ways. During this performance at TCB I was spell-bound by the inventive manipulation of water with the mouthpiece of the trombone, and the nostalgia-stirrings brought on by the use of the overhead project (the shallow pool of water was rested on its glass platen) which brought the rippling tides of the sonic textures to life in the space. There is a wonder to the sound. I thank Joe continually for making space for the sonic incantation, and I thank Heather for the magic.

Ending.

I had an additional 6 recordings that I picked out after my preliminary brainstorm for this piece… but it might take me to the next anniversary to tell you why each one matters to me. Perhaps it is sufficient to say that Joe matters to me; that his ongoing choice to show up for us in every way he can is inspiring to me.

Thanks for being a friend to so many of us, Joe.

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You can always click on the tags below to look for more stuff from these artists. Has there been five or so songs posted here that made an impact on you? If you'd like to get in on the action and make a list, feel free to send me an email: mechanicalforestsound@gmail.com.

Recording: The Imaginary Brass Band

Artist: The Imaginary Brass Band

Songs: Let It Roll + Saunter One

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), November 29, 2022.

The Imaginary Brass Band - Let It Roll

The Imaginary Brass Band - Saunter One

Rat-drifting meets marching band — although nominally a trio (Doug Tielli, Heather Saumer, Nick Fraser) on their just-released album, in the flesh the group expanded with Tania Gill, Charles Spearin, Emily Farrell and Colin Couch (and with Tom Richards sitting in for the bulk of the first set, to boot). A couple of Nick Fraser's sketches were essayed, but most of the material here is from Doug Tielli, showing off the most recent evidence of the contrasts and continuities with his "songwriter" work. There was some of the expected brass band brio at hand, but also, as the second piece here indicates, a willingness to explore melancholy beauty as well.

Recording: Imaginary Percussion Ensemble & The Element Choir

Artist: Imaginary Percussion Ensemble & The Element Choir

Songs: And With: as dreamed up by Germaine Liu [soundwalk montage, in two parts]

Recorded at The Bentway, June 25, 2022.

Imaginary Percussion Ensemble & The Element Choir - [soundwalk montage, part 1]

Imaginary Percussion Ensemble & The Element Choir - [soundwalk montage, part 2]

Goodness gracious! How nice it is to get outside, and to be somewhere a little unfamiliar, and to see folks from your community doing cool things! This soundwalk was conceptualized by Germaine Liu to use percussion and voices to reflect and enhance the sounds in a stretch moving from Canoe Landing Park and running along The Bentway, under The Gardiner Expressway. Accompanied by the whirr of traffic and backbeat of underpass construction, the groups' sounds fit in like ghostly counterparts to the sonic landscape. Truly delightful. (And for the record, the participants in the piece were: Bea Labikova, Aki Takahashi, Bee Pallomina, Brenda Joy Lem, Fahmid Nibesh, Joe Sorbara, Lieke van der Voort, Michelangelo Iaffaldano, Mingjia, Stephanie Chua, Raphael Roter, Heather Saumer, and Christine Duncan.)

In addition to the audio clips above, here's a slightly more expansive visual record. (Do be warned, this was taken with a handheld camera, so there are some shaky spots here):

Recording: Heather Saumer + Co.

Artist: Heather Saumer feat. Felicity Williams/Alex Samaras/Thom Gill/Robin Dann

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Women From Space Festival – Night 4), March 8, 2020.

Heather Saumer feat. Felicity Williams/Alex Samaras/Thom Gill/Robin Dann - unknown

After spending three nights at the cozier Burdock, Women From Space wrapped up its second festival on International Women's Day, moving to the more expansive surroundings at 918 Bathurst — and it packed the place out for a triumphant conclusion. In retrospect, this was for many of us "the last big night out", the last night when hugs and handshakes were exchanged without reserve. The words "social distancing" had been uttered, but they were still an abstraction, compared to say, sharing a piece of cake or lingering with a group of friends. It is possible that these things might be thinkable again when International Women's Day rolls around again next year — one can only hope that Kayla Milmine and Bea Labikova get a chance to build upon the success of this year's festival.

Trumpeter Heather Saumer has been sharing her voice for awhile now, though often hewing more in a folk vein. This set saw her pivoting towards pop — albeit an airy, abstracted form of pop, which made her choice of collaborators (serving in and around the orbit of Bernice, "Toronto's ever-evolving backing band") entirely fitting.

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

Recording: Hennessy/Labikova/Ng/Saumer

Artist: Rebecca Hennessy/Bea Labikova/Karen Ng/Heather Saumer

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Music Gallery (X AVANT XIV: Forward – Night 1), October 17, 2019.

Rebecca Hennessy/Bea Labikova/Karen Ng/Heather Saumer - [excerpt 1]

Rebecca Hennessy/Bea Labikova/Karen Ng/Heather Saumer - [excerpt 2]

Germaine Liu knows what she's doing. When asked to suggest an opener for her headlining performance at the first night of this year's X Avant Festival, she concocted this horn ensemble. The resulting performance brought together several strands — the Pauline Oliveros collective listening meditations that sometimes take place in this same space, the spinning parts of a wind-tossed mobile, and, of course, the percussive bricabrac of a Germaine Liu percussion game. Surrounded by the audience on three sides and slipping through the space's elegant shadows, there was a sense of graceful playfulness as Rebecca Hennessy, Bea Labikova, Karen Ng and Heather Saumer recombined in pairs and trios before all finding their voices together.

Recording: Doug Tielli

Artist: Doug Tielli

Songs: Highwayside Weeds + Strange Echo

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), March 16, 2019.

Doug Tielli - Highwayside Weeds

Doug Tielli - Strange Echo

A night with some heavy vibes and a sense of absence in the room was a chance for community members to gather together and feel the balm of Doug Tielli's songs. This turned out to be one of those CD release shows where the CD's hadn't arrived yet, though that didn't feel like too much of an obstacle — what's a few more days when these were mostly songs that were, as Tielli noted, recorded about four years ago? (And some of them were in his live repertoire for some time before that, even.)

Joined by his full band, with Heather Saumer on trombone, Bea Labikova on sax, Chris Adriaanse on bass and Raphael Roter on drums (plus Tania Gill on piano for part of the set) there was an opportunity to replicate the album's off-kilter lushness — and, even more importantly, its vocal harmonies. Truth and Elseness is filled with lovely sounds and wise observations, wrapped up in a bit more of country-ish package (fans of groups like Royal City will find a lot to like here) — and this was made even before Tielli decamped from the city, so who knows what quiet backroads his songs will head down next?

Recording: Diane Roblin & Heather Saumer

Artist: Diane Roblin & Heather Saumer

Song: Ictus [composer: Carla Bley]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Women From Space Festival – Night 2), March 9, 2019.

Diane Roblin & Heather Saumer - Ictus

The first Women From Space Festival saw four excellent concerts take place over the course of the International Women's Day weekend. Organized by Bea Labikova and Kayla Milmine, the festival felt like a really savvy gathering, always more than the sum of its parts and showcasing the depth of talent in the city's various creative music streams in a women-centred environment.

In the spirit of the festival, this piano/trombone duo chose to celebrate (and deconstruct) the works of a noteworthy female composer, playing with and around and in and out of some pieces by Carla Bley.

[Diane Roblin will be presenting (and playing with) Glen Hall's Ossingtones at The Tranzac on Sunday, May 19th.]

Recording: Public Recordings

Artist: Public Recordings

Song: To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation [excerpt, in two parts] [composer: Pauline Oliveros]

Recorded at City Hall's Council Chambers, February 17, 2019.

Public Recordings - To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation [excerpt, part 1]

Public Recordings - To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation [excerpt, part 2]

This joyfully ambitious undertaking saw Chris Willes and his Public Recordings crew bringing music — radical music, music that demands deep listening and focused attention — into the City Hall chambers, a space associated with noisemaking of a different kind. The culmination of a process reaching back a couple years (including its previous mounting at the Gardiner Museum), this version brought a larger audience and bigger crew of musicians into its larger space. (Adding to the logistical complexity of the entire undertaking, there were also a series of public rehearsals in different venues in the week leading up to the performance.)

The beginning of a new form of composition from Pauline Oliveros, this piece for open ensemble has guidelines, but few musical directives, meaning there are a wider range of possible sonic outcomes than with a through-composed piece. With simple instructions and shared light cues, this large ensemble of musicians and non-musicians weave together a drone symphony, a slow-moving sound-river that invites closed-eye meditation (though, especially in an environment such as this, also some open-eyed gawking at how the spectacle is creating itself). The participant list reveals artists from many fields coming together to make these sounds: Anne Bourne, Allison Cameron, Victoria Cheong, Prices Easy, Ishan Davé, Ellen Furey, Thom Gill, Claire Harvie, Ame Henderson, Brendan Jensen, Germaine Liu, Bee Pallomina, Liz Peterson, Heather Saumer, Brian Solomon, Anni Spadafora, Evan Webber, and Christopher Willes.

[This concert was co-presented by the Music Gallery, who have had an ongoing stream of Pauline Oliveros-related events this season. The last instalment of the Anne Bourne-facilitated Deep Listening Workshops ("Sounding Difference Through The Text Scores Of Pauline Oliveros") will be at 918 Bathurst on Sunday, April 28th. Free with registration.]

Recording: Germaine Liu

Artist: Germaine Liu + co.

Songs: Keyschain + Playground + Walking on Water [composer: Germaine Liu]

Recorded at the Canadian Music Centre (Composers' Toolbox: The Joy of Play), March 27, 2018.

Germaine Liu/Heather Saumer/Bea Labikova - Keyschain

Germaine Liu/Heather Saumer/Bea Labikova - Playground

Germaine Liu + Ensemble - Walking on Water

One of the city's most beloved musicians got a chance to explain and demonstrate her artistic process in an instalment of this excellent series curated by Jonathan Adjemian. Known for her boundless curiosity and beginner's mind approach to wringing sound out of pretty much anything, Germaine Liu started by describing her method of "honouring the objects you're playing with... being as honest as possible, without feedback or looking for approval." Some of her game-like pieces were then demonstrated (along with the assistance of Heather Saumer and Bea Labikova) before drafting in the audience to try the materials and compositions for themselves, using keys, stones, pans of water, ceramics and more. As the event's subtitle implied, there was a playful spirit throughout, but that revealed the depths that can be obtained from listening to a pulse and joining in.

[As of the posting of this entry, the livestream of the whole event is still available to be watched online, which is very much worth your time:]

Recording: Holger Schoorl Ensemble

Artist: Holger Schoorl Ensemble

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Somewhere There Creative Music Festival – Show 5), February 25, 2018.

Holger Schoorl Ensemble - unknown

My previous experience of Holger Schoorl was mostly in the context of seeing him playing some really quiet guitar, so it was quite a revelation to see him performing with a large brass ensemble. (The full group was: Jonnie Bakan, saxophone; Chantal Cornu, tuba; Emily Denison, trumpet; Bea Labikova, soprano saxophone; Paul Newman, tenor saxophone; Patrick O'Reilly, guitar; Heather Saumer, trombone.) The set included a couple instrumentals, like this melancholy opener (complete with jaunty oompah coda), but the real heart of the set were School's darkly-comedic and disarmingly-witty lyrics — "mean-spirited" as he himself admitted. In the grips of a cold at this show and raspier than he wanted to be, I'm certainly waiting for another opportunity to hear that material.

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

Recording: Somewhere There Festival Trombone Quartet

Artist: Somewhere There Festival Trombone Quartet

Songs: Mobile [composer: Susanna Hood] + Fork [edit] [composer: Logan Mills] + 4 for 8 [version 2] [composer: Scott Thomson] + Untitled [composer: Doug Tielli]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Somewhere There Creative Music Festival – Show 4), February 25, 2018.

Somewhere There Festival Trombone Quartet - Mobile

Somewhere There Festival Trombone Quartet - Fork [edit]

Somewhere There Festival Trombone Quartet - 4 for 8 [version 2]

Somewhere There Festival Trombone Quartet - Untitled

Building on the tradition established with last year's saxophone quartet, the Somewhere There Festival once more showed its commitment to new music with a call for compositions — this time for trombone quartet. And once more the ensemble — consisting of Tom Richards, Heather Saumer, Doug Tielli and Nebyu Yohannes — preceded a concert of the commissioned works with an open rehearsal, giving non-players a window into the process of how a group and composer navigate the mutual discovery of how a new piece "works".

Of the three pieces chosen, Logan Mills' "Fork" was the most conventionally scored, although there was a lot of mathematically-intricate trickiness in a piece based on harmonic interrelationships he had been musing upon while working as a piano tuner. Susanna Hood's "Mobile", on the other hand, offered a procedurally-intricate text-based score that had the players spacialized (and spinning around) like the parts of a wind-tossed mobile. Scott Thomson's "4 for 8" was even more open ended with two sets of variables on a numbered line leading to a "rehearsal" that was as more of a negotiation over how to interpret the piece than a musical struggle. (Thomson, who was present, saw no need to impose any authorial wisdom on the players, who ultimately decided to play the piece following two separate rule-sets, leading to two rather different results.) The concert was closed out by this untitled miniature from Doug Tielli, which sounded not unlike street-corner Salavation Army band lullaby.

Recording: Composing for Improvisors Ensemble

Artist: Composing for Improvisors Ensemble

Songs: In Sensorium [two excerpts] [composer: Bea Labikova] + Soundpainting [2nd piece] [composer/conductor: Brian Abbott] + I Ching Study No. 1: How Do We Save the Bees? [composer: Zach Clark]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Somewhere There Creative Music Festival – Show 2), February 24, 2018.

Composing for Improvisors Ensemble - In Sensorium [excerpt 1]

Composing for Improvisors Ensemble - In Sensorium [excerpt 2]

Composing for Improvisors Ensemble - Soundpainting [2nd piece]

Composing for Improvisors Ensemble - I Ching Study No. 1: How Do We Save the Bees?

This relaxed afternoon set turned out to be one of the festival's highlights, putting together an ad hoc ensemble of notable locals improvisers to tackle three different approaches to the question of "how can a composer create works for an ensemble of improvisers?"

Bea Labikova went first, and if the plastic sheeting under the players wasn't enough of a sign this wasn't going to be business as usual, then the blindfolds probably drove the point home. The goal of the piece was to get the players to react to sensual stimuli, but shifted the terrain to the realm of smell and taste, which are less-often used as musical guides. Along with assistant Raphael Roter, Labikova "conducted" the group by giving them a morsel to taste (chocolate and hot sauce both made appearances) or odours to sniff (ranging from pleasant herbs to the astringency of a struck match) and having the players react. There was an interesting exchange of vulnerability and trust here, and it was rather a delight for the audience to watch the visceral reactions to some of the sensory experiences. (A couple drops of ice water of the back of the neck provoked some of the most immediate reactions.) The piece made a clear and obvious connection between sensory input and musical output — this could be used as a primer to expose people to the idea of musical improvisation.

Brian Abbott then lead the ensemble in a session of Soundpainting, a "multidisciplinary live composing sign language" devised by Walter Thompson. The system can get as deep and complicated as required — there are over 1500 formally-defined gestures in use — though the group here stuck to a more basic vocabulary. Large ensemble improvisation can lead to great bouts of full-on squonk-honking (and indeed, one of the pieces essayed here kinda became an accidental version of Powerhouse) so it was most instructive here to see some more subtle interplay, especially in this piece (that also incorporated some scored elements for the musicians) that established a rather pleasing dronefield.

Last up, Zach Clark combined ancient prognostication and modern improvisation in a couple versions of a piece that deployed the I Ching. A question for the oracle was obtained from the audience, and once the coins were tossed to derive the responding hexagram, the musicians interpreted that with the aid of a score that gave several musical cells that could be played for each of the trigrams. Changing lines in the hexagram also imposed musical transitions on the players, though like the oracle's gnomic responses, there was plenty of room for interpretation.

The full ensemble consisted of:

• Brian Abbott (guitar)
• Zach Clark (bass, electronics, harmonium)
• Bea Labikova (alto saxophone)
• Kayla Milmine (soprano saxophone)
• Cheryl O (cello)
• Heather Saumer (trombone)
• Joe Sorbara (drums, percussion)
• Kristen Theriault (harp)
• Laura Swankey (voice)

Recording: Lash Pandiculations

Artist: Lash Pandiculations

Song: [edited excerpt]

Recorded at The Steady (Track Could Bend #30), September 5, 2017.

Lash Pandiculations - [edited excerpt]

This set took me by surprise — and not only by sending me to the dictionary when I saw the group's name. Having asked vocalist Tova Kardonne to bring something to TCB, I was delighted when she said she was bringing Heather Saumer and Ali Berkok along. But I was not expecting the music and movement she promised would hew so much to the latter, as indeed the first half of the trio's set involved a series of choreographed shifts through the space, with the three meeting in the centre of the room before pulling back into separate corners.

Eventually, those movements would send Saumer to her trombone and Berkok to his accordion, and Kardonne would add vocalisations where, once more, the three would now musically brush against each other and draw back. As such, this audio document only gives you half of what's going on, but it has a stately stretching, yawning drift to it that catches the gist of the whole affair.

[Track Could Bend continues tonight (Tuesday, October 3rd) at The Steady, with sets from Nur Michael Keith, New Tendencies & Priya Thomas and iderdown & abigail trotsky.]

Recording: Heather Saumer + Doug Tielli

Artist: Heather Saumer + Doug Tielli

Songs: [two pieces]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Music By & For Ken Aldcroft, V), April 12, 2017.

Heather Saumer + Doug Tielli - [third piece]

Heather Saumer + Doug Tielli - [fourth piece]

This set of improvisations had some more reflective moments, such as the drone-y first selection here, but hewed mostly to the playful side, with two trombones jockeying for position and sputtering back and forth — the pieces sometimes ending with one of the musicians breaking into laughter.

[Stay tuned for more music by and for Ken Aldcroft on the second-Wednesday-of-the-month — the next one up will be June 14th.]