Monday Roundup #267

Community notes:

• Like many in the community, I experienced an immense sense of shock last week on hearing of Jay Pollard's sudden and tragic passing. Jay put in a few good years of service in bringing strange and experimental sounds to this city, first as part of Man Finds Fire and then under the umbrella of InvocationTO. A connector who put Geary Lane on the map (which was a cool hub for shows for a couple years), he loved creating sympathetic lineups for visiting artists and one got the sense that sometimes he was willing to take a loss as a promoter just to have a chance to hear some musicians he loved. I urge you to dig through some shows he put on that I managed to document. A few of those that evoked good memories for me are also broken out below. Live boldly, my friends, and work with the things you love — you might not be here tomorrow.

• It's down there in the listings below, but do take special note of the Earlobe Fundraiser happening at the Tranzac on Thursday night — go support 'em! And also take note that Earlobe's website component has launched, so bookmark it for when you're looking to find out what's happening!

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Concert announcements:

WORM “BLOOD” MOON [works for piano by Anna Höstman, Harry Somers and Alison Yun-Fei Jiang] (feat. Cheryll Duvall / Adam Sherkin) / The nanoSTAGE 2026-03-03 (Tuesday). $33.90. [tickets + more info]

Holy Oak Family Singers present late Cohen (feat. Luka Kuplowsky/Fez Gielen/Dorothea Paas/Madelyn Kirby/Carlyn Bezic/Maggie Keogh/Justin Orok/Ivy Mairi/Joseph Shabason/Alex Lukashevsky/Edwin De Goeij/Felicity Williams/Kieran Adams) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-04 (Wednesday – early) [more info]

Equinox and Solstice Residency (feat. Ghostlight) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-04 (Wednesday). $pwyc, sugg. $10. [FB event]

The Titillators with Alex Samaras [Ryan Driver/Alex Samaras/Tania Gill/Germaine Liu/Nick Fraser/Colin Cudmore] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-06 (Friday – early)

More Noise Please! presents: More Women in Noise Please! [Superjen's birthday bash! & celebration of international women's day!] (feat. Xicada × Iowyth Ulthiin / U9 × Water Stains / Autofeeder × Xodkaar / Kristina Guison / Esssena / Cellsync) / BSMT 254 2025-03-06 (Friday). $15/pwyc. [tickets + more info]

Toronto Improvisers Orchestra / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-03-08 (Sunday – noon)

Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Senior & Newman / Lostworldsounds / Nick Flanagan / Nocturnes [Ayal Senior & Michelle Breslin]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-03-08 (Sunday – 2 p.m.) [FB event]

Titanium Riot [Lina Allemano/Ryan Driver/Rob Clutton/Nick Fraser] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-08 (Sunday). $pwyc

Mike DeiCont Trio [Mike DeiCont/Eric West/Leland Whitty] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-09 (Monday) [more info]

mdbm [Michael White/Maggie Keogh/Don Rooke/Blake Howard] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-11 (Wednesday) [more info]

LAL & Unit 2 Present: A Practice of Love: Live show preview (feat. LAL / Folke [EP release]) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2026-03-21 (Saturday). $17.31. [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Cole Pulice / SpeariNg [Karen Ng & Charles Spearin] / Grace Scheele) / Collective Arts 2026-05-23 (Saturday). $22.89, 19+. [FB event]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Fuji||||||||||ta / Evicshen) / The Garrison 2026-06-10 (Wednesday). $30.14, 19+. [tickets + more info]

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

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Shows this week:

Lipliners Residency (feat. Ronley Teper & The Lipliners) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-02-24 (Tuesday – early) [FB event]

Steven Lambke (José Contreras / Caged Animals) / No Notes Cocktails 2026-02-24 (Tuesday). $27.96, 19+. [FB event]

Nick Fraser presents (feat. Patrick O'Reilly/Michael Sarian/Nick Fraser / Nick Fraser's Special Topics) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-02-24 (Tuesday)

Brandon Davis's Stations Quartet [Brandon Davis/Patrick O'Reilly/Luan Phung/Germaine Liu] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-02-25 (Wednesday)

Cooked Raw Presents (feat. Triples [EP release!] / Poolblood / Amelia Maxwell) / Dina's Tavern 2025-02-26 (Thursday). $20. [more info]

Earlobe fundraiser (feat. Louis Pino/Colin Cudmore/Karen Ng/Fahmid Nibesh/Mark Zurawinski/Germaine Liu/Andrew Furlong/Bea Labikova/Mira Martin-Gray/Marilyn Yogarajah/fossa [Lenny]/Bibibi) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-02-26 (Thursday). $15/pwyc/notaflof (cash/card). [FB event]

All-Set! presents (feat. Molehill) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-02-27 (Friday – early) [more info]

Aline Homzy's Manouche Trio [Aline Homzy/Jonathan Meyer/Julien Bradley-Combs] / Sellers & Newel 2025-02-27 (Friday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]

The Ryan Driver Quintet [Ryan Driver/Martin Arnold/Rob Clutton/Nick Fraser/Brodie West] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-02-27 (Friday) [FB event]

Die Nacht/Der Mond ["contemporary miniatures, theatrical recitation, and sensual Romantic chamber music", feat. works by Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Fauré, Kaija Saariaho, Jörg Widmann, Lori Freedman, Thomas Adès, Peter Eotvos, György Kurtág, Kurtag] (feat. The Happenstancers) / Array Space 2026-02-28 (Saturday). $33.28, free for students. [tickets + more info]

Batuki Music Society presents Thiante – Spiritual Senegal (feat. Seydina Ndiaye / Ibrahima Diop / Talla Kane / Sadio Sissokho / El Hadji Mbaye / Elage Malick Mbaye / Pape Ndiaye / Assane Seck) / Aga Khan Museum 2025-02-28 (Saturday). $45/$40.50 (friends of the museum)/$33.75 (students and seniors). [more info]

coexisDance #113 (feat. Aisha Sasha John / Rachana Joshi / Kayla Milmine / Sid Eiller / New Chance / Joel Lawrence) / Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre 2026-02-28 (Saturday). $15 or pwyc. [more info]

people | places | records presents (feat. Temporal Waves / Nick Joliat) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-02-28 (Saturday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Eliza Niemi (Westelaken / Shep. Treasure) / Dina's Tavern 2026-03-01 (Sunday). $15 advance, $20 at the door. [more info]

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In Memoriam: Jay Pollard

• ...on July 26, 2014 at Geary Lane (Summer Sesh @ Geary Lane).

Bile Sister - Track Your Transit

• ...on April 8, 2015 at Ratio.

Sir Richard Bishop - Let It Come Down

• ...on June 12, 2015 at Geary Lane (Sound Séance I: Night 1).

Caro Diaro - Father

• ...on June 14, 2015 at Geary Lane (Sound Séance I: Night 3).

Off World - unknown [excerpt]

• ...on July 7, 2016 at Array Space (Invocation Presents).

Dirty Inputs - Dead Malls

• ...on August 26, 2016 at Array Space (Invocation Residency Series).

Ben Grossman + Dan Paille - [excerpt]

• ...on April 22, 2016 at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Quiet Quiet Annex Lights concert series).

Michael Hurley - Wildegeeses

• ...on January 10, 2019 at Array Space (Invocation Presents).

Joseph Shabason - Treat it Like a Wine Bar

• ...on June 18, 2019 at St. Anne's Anglican Church (Invocation Presents).

Lubomyr Melnyk - Butterfly [excerpt]

[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: Lubomyr Melnyk

Artist: Lubomyr Melnyk

Songs: Butterfly [excerpt] + Windmills [excerpt]

Recorded at St. Anne's Anglican Church (Invocation Presents), June 18, 2019.

Lubomyr Melnyk - Butterfly [excerpt]

Lubomyr Melnyk - Windmills [excerpt]

A night out to church with mystic and braggart Lubomyr Melnyk, who in his seventies is still claiming the crown as the world's fastest durational piano player. Dismissing such prosaic notions as the concept of sound as waves, Melnyk has moved beyond science in seeking out the magical origins of sound, telling the crowd that magic is the slave of sound and the universe is a slave of magic. (Melnyk is not adverse however to deploying technology, such as in a number of "dual piano" pieces that involve one part prerecorded during soundcheck that is then played along with during the concert.)

Melnyk dabbled a bit in "normal" piano styles (such as the beginning of "Butterfly" heard here), but most of the concert was played with his "continuous" technique — rapid flurries of notes that flow like a river into a sort of drone, and creating astonishing overtones that aren't fully captured in recordings. (For a local connection, his continuous playing was first documented in his KMH album, recorded and released by Music Gallery Editions during his late-70's time in the city.) The night ended with the nearly hour-long "Windmills", a musical version of a meticulously-detailed pointillist painting telling the story of a windmill: first functioning in high efficiency, then struggling against storm-winds, then adrift as an untethered soul after collapsing.

Recording: Sarah Louise

Artist: Sarah Louise

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), May 24, 2019.

Sarah Louise - unknown

Attracted by the excellent locals opening up the night, I came in not knowing anything much about this product of Asheville, North Carolina, so I was perhaps surprised to see a setup that mixed "folky" tools like a 12-string guitar with a sampler and keyboard. That would be a good tip-off to the mix of deep roots and modern techniques on display in this set, with heavy chops (like a spider-y fingerpicking style) augmented by contemporary sound-shaping skills. Louise has been prolific, making music on her own and as half of duo House and Land, using solemn vocals and ancient ballads fit right in to these uncertain times.

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

Recording: Eiyn Sof

Artist: Eiyn Sof

Song: The Heirophant

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), May 24, 2019.

Eiyn Sof - The Heirophant

Lights turned low, this was a succinct and hazy set of songs from Melissa Boraski, sneaking in a couple unfamiliar ones as well as a rare cover, creating a mood of spooky mystery for headliner Sarah Louise, and getting out of the way.

Recording: Nashville Minimalism Unit

Artist: Nashville Minimalism Unit

Song: May Two Four [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), May 24, 2019.

Nashville Minimalism Unit - May Two Four [excerpt]

This Invocation show saw the eight-piece band opening up for a couple solo sets, but sharing with them a certain exploratory rootsiness. As always, Kurt Newman's group drew from both the weird improvisation and bluegrass/roots scenes, with some new faces from each complementing previous unitistes. There was also even more of an underlying sense of minimalist formalism is this set than at past NMU encounters, as if the band was setting out to create a hoedown version of a Terry Riley piece, familiar licks repeating and interlocking, and musicians catching up with and falling behind each other until finding a new phrase.

[You can hear the band's own recordings from this set over at their bandcamp. You can also catch Kurt Newman digging deeper into bluegrass this summer with a series of Instrumental Spectaculars at the Tranzac on Saturday afternoons.]

Recording: Joseph Shabason

Artist: Joseph Shabason

Song: Treat it Like a Wine Bar

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), January 10, 2019.

Joseph Shabason - Treat it Like a Wine Bar

Joseph Shabason's Anne can be viewed as more a development in continuity with his previous Aytche album, but there are still striking developments here. Foremost among those (and in addition to its ample technical merits) is its deeper and more personal emotional palette, weaving in fragments of interviews with his mother (the titular Anne) on the subjects of family, identity and "perfection" in the face of a degenerative illness. This special release show gained poignancy with Anne's presence, getting a chance to see her son presenting this intricate and beautiful music to a packed house.

Shabason's backing band for his hometown shows can expand and contract depending on who's available, and this night saw him being joined by Hugh Marsh (violin), Nicole Rampersaud (trumpet), Thom Gill (guitar/synth/piano), Phil Melanson (percussion), Kieran Adams (samples) and Bram Gielan (synth/bass/piano). That talented and deeply flexible group allowed a lush presentation of the material that rivalled the album's intricate arrangements. The selection here (which closed out the set as it does the album) was presented as a "placid sendoff", a gentle reminder that sometimes our difficulties can be ameliorated by looking at things in the best light.

[Joseph Shabason will be opening for Laraaji at the Toronto Spiritualist Temple on Friday, April 12th.]

Recording: Sandro Perri

Artist: Sandro Perri

Song: [excerpt from new piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), January 10, 2019.

Sandro Perri - [excerpt from new piece]

Having seen Sandro Perri present the material from his latest album both solo and with band, I was curious as to whether we'd be seeing another wrinkle on the infinite songwriting of "In Another Life". Instead, playing an opening set for Joseph Shabason's woozy ambient album release, Perri zagged and presented a large-ensemble drift-work of his own. Borrowing Nicole Rampersaud from Shabason's band, he was otherwise joined by regular collaborators Blake Howard, Thomas Hammerton and Josh Cole. It's the latter who helps tie this whole piece together, with a delicious little bass-riff that keeps bubbling up to the surface.

The presence of Cole and Rampersaud also links this to the more abstract work he'd been doing in an un-named quartet with that pair plus Alison Cameron. This was apparently the first time this piece was shared with an audience, so hopefully there will be more chances to delve into its mysterious drift.

Recording: MOOONS

Artist: MOOONS

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Invocation presents Ur Audiovisual's Year End Release Extravaganza), December 29, 2018.

MOOONS - [excerpt]

This night celebrated not only the year's passing but also some recent releases on Ur Audiovisual (including Melissa Boraski's Eiyn Sof side-project The Hologlyph, who shared a new video and some projections on the night). Casual hangs, a pot-luck and four sets of music made for a satisfying night.

The night closed with a rare opportunity to see long-distance collaborators Roan Bateman (who had played a Dark Bird set earlier in the night) and Soren Brothers (who had just performed as Man Meets Bear) working together in the same room. There are some more smoothly-assembled sounds on their recent Strange Currents EP (which comes complete with some excellent 70's sci-fi novel-esque cover art) but there was a nice sense of interaction between the pair as they brought the night to its drifting conclusion.

Recording: Man Meets Bear

Artist: Man Meets Bear

Song: two unknown songs^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Invocation presents Ur Audiovisual's Year End Release Extravaganza), December 29, 2018.

Man Meets Bear - unknown #1

Man Meets Bear - unknown #2

This night celebrated not only the year's passing but also some recent releases on Ur Audiovisual (including Melissa Boraski's Eiyn Sof side-project The Hologlyph, who shared a new video and some projections on the night). Casual hangs, a pot-luck and four sets of music made for a satisfying night.

Expatriated Ur Audiovisual co-founder Soren Brothers took advantage of being in town to play a couple sets at this show, starting with some solo songs as Man Meets Bear. In his recordings, his folk-y rambles are given various atmospheric adornments, and there were some scaled-down takes on that here, with a contact mic adding some ghost vocalizations and piano sounds.

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

Recording: Dark Bird

Artist: Dark Bird

Song: Out Of My Mind

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Invocation presents Ur Audiovisual's Year End Release Extravaganza), December 29, 2018.

Dark Bird - Out Of My Mind

This night celebrated not only the year's passing but also some recent releases on Ur Audiovisual (including Melissa Boraski's Eiyn Sof side-project The Hologlyph, who shared a new video and some projections on the night). Casual hangs, a pot-luck and four sets of music made for a satisfying night.

Roan Bateman started things off with a set of Dark Bird songs. Besides an excellent EP of atmospheric instrumentals, his year also included October's Lay Low, out on Ur, and he drew some tunes from that. But also reflecting back on a long-gone time when he lived in the city and was a regular performer at The Tranzac, he also brought out some older songs like this one.

Recording: Charalambides

Artist: Charalambides

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), October 12, 2018.

Charalambides - unknown

Houston's Tom & Christina Carter (touring behind a new double album) brought some avant-folk explorations to close out this night, melding bluesy, often wordless vocalisations to spindly guitar structures that would, on occasion, push out into monumental solos.

[Invocation's presentation of the Thalia Zedek Band has now been merged with Wavelength's Holiday Music/Comedy Fundraiser at The Baby G on Wednesday, December 12th.]

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

Recording: Kapali Carsi

Artist: Kapali Carsi

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), October 12, 2018.

Kapali Carsi - [excerpt from first piece]

A welcome return for Kevin Hainey's Kapali Carsi (now with a cool tape out on Raw Materials) saw him journey into the N-Zone, creating weird synchronicities with the collaged images. Subtle gestures (rocking his bass back and forth, tapping the strings) created plenty of variations in the sonic texture — and with a new level of subtle performativity, this time out there were some Zukermanesque awkward pauses and bursts of Rurykian chaos to process. Is his cable shorting out, or was that sound deliberate? Therein lies the art of the thing.

[Invocation's presentation of the Thalia Zedek Band has now been merged with Wavelength's Holiday Music/Comedy Fundraiser at The Baby G on Wednesday, December 12th.]

Recording: Stargoon

Artist: Stargoon

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), October 12, 2018.

Stargoon - [excerpt]

Opening up an Invocation night that would winnow down into feedback and folky explorations, Stargoon's first show at a sit-down venue saw some granulated melodica and additional disco grooves added to the kosmische rumbles.

[Invocation's presentation of the Thalia Zedek Band has now been merged with Wavelength's Holiday Music/Comedy Fundraiser at The Baby G on Wednesday, December 12th.]

[photos by Peter Gough.]

Recording: Arrington de Dionyso

Artist: Arrington de Dionyso

Song: [excerpt from second piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Residency Series), August 26, 2016.

Arrington de Dionyso - [excerpt from second piece]

Arrington de Dionyso is based in the Pacific Northwest, but has been spending some time out NY way; this brief excursion into Canada saw him backed by an ad hoc Montréal quartet that included percussionist Pierre-Luc Simon (his foil on a new tape from Jeunesse Cosmique) as well as Raphael Foisy and Vicky Mettler. Especially with the latter pair on hand, things started in a cleansingly apocalyptic wall-of-noise zone before pulling back to explore some more subtle textures. De Dionyso played sax and bass clarinet as well as some homemade pvc pipe instuments that allowed interesting multiple voicings, while also offering some throat-singing mutter-howls (and occasionally pausing his playing for some tai chi-style moves). An hour of steady, kinetic energy and galloping creativity.

Recording: Doom Tickler

Artist: Doom Tickler

Song: Tendrils [variant]

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Residency Series), August 26, 2016.

Doom Tickler - Tendrils [variant]

You can always tell when the bulk of a crowd hasn't previously seen Leslie Predie performing as Doom Tickler — there's a somewhat tentative reaction at first as the barking/grunting/mewling loops of her vocals burst over the audience, and it usually takes a couple song-breaks before the applause starts. Even the gunshot percussion that launches this one seemed to cow the crowd at this gig a little further, but by the end of the set there was an enthusiastic response. A nicely-programmed companion to Arrington de Dionyso's grunt-y throat singing in the headlining set, too.

Recording: Ben Grossman + Dan Paille

Artist: Ben Grossman + Dan Paille

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Residency Series), August 26, 2016.

Ben Grossman + Dan Paille - [excerpt]

It's always a treat to see Ben Grossman in action on the hurdy-gurdy. In his hands, it can sound like anything from a buzzing swarm of bees to an elegant string section. Extending the sound with some subtle pedal action, his sonic drift was given some forward thrust by Dan Paille's percussion work — a very nice mix and an engagingly atmospheric set. This was apparently a new joint endeavour from this pair of Guelph-based musicians, so hopefully they will be back in town to show off their further developments.

Recording: Dirty Inputs

Artist: Dirty Inputs

Song: Dead Malls

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), July 7, 2016.

Dirty Inputs - Dead Malls

Once again showing off his visual penchant for elevating a show beyond the mundane, Aaron Dawson released his new album with some special effects. Performing behind an infinity mirror, he was clad in a cowl of black, sparkly veils (which one reliable source praised as a "Dr. Who villain-worthy" ensemble). Dawson played a suite-like continuous set focusing on the new album, with songs rising from ambient swells to thunderous post-apocalyptic landscapes, bouncing back and forth between the reflective layers.

Recording: Memorex

Artist: Memorex

Song: Glass Eyes

Recorded at Array Space (Invocation Presents), July 7, 2016.

Memorex - Glass Eyes

This group, which has been around for nearly a couple years now, has been on my radar ever since I realized it was fronted by David Lush, formerly of beloved local jangle-popsters The Airfields. This project takes a sharp turn into retrosynthtopia — it made perfect sense to see that the current live incarnation includes Ben Oginz and his Jupiter-6, as this occupies similar musical terrain to his Mystic Triangle project. (The live unit was rounded out by Nyles Miszczyk, playing guit and bass, though he too knows a thing or two about synthesizer operation.) Tasty stuff (and a stylish soundtrack to some 70's dystopian auto-eroticism) as the band played some tunes from their recent tape two, plus some dips back to their first release and a cover of an early Ministry obscurity that fit right into their sound-world.

Recording: The Out Louds

Artist: The Out Louds

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Array Space (The Music Gallery's Departures Series), June 18, 2016.

The Out Louds - [excerpt 1]

The Out Louds - [excerpt 2]

This Music Gallery off-site show brought together three guitar heroes in quite different contexts. Ironically, in the immediate aftermath of MTT's full-on set, one might have concluded that the night's final band was neither the most "out" nor the loudest group of the night. But this trio exchanged pure volume for some interesting new dimensions in sound-bending, many of which were thanks to Mary Halvorson's guitar work, which had a tendency to fold, twist and blip in unexpected ways. That made her an interesting foil to clarinettist Ben Goldberg as they wound their way through drummer Tomas Fujiwara's rhythms. More than the night's other sets, the improvisations here felt like explorations on more formally-prepared ideas, but from pretty ballads to reedy reels this was a rather intriguing ride.

Recording: MTT

Artist: MTT [Mette Rasmussen/Tashi Dorji/Tyler Damon]

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at Array Space (The Music Gallery's Departures Series), June 18, 2016.

MTT - [first piece]

This Music Gallery off-site show brought together three guitar heroes in quite different contexts. Tashi Dorji has done a lot of work in the acoustic, genteel American Primitive vein, but this trio pushed him straight into shredsville, alongside Norwegian saxophonist Mette Rasmussen. This set was a rocket-trip from the get-go (as heard here) power-blasting into the musical Beyond.