MFS has turned six! My introductory thoughts on this landmark can be found here, but long story short: I asked some folks to pick some of their favourites to help me celebrate.
Today's list is from Andrew Pulsifer, a DJ, musician, and one of the forces behind Silent Shout — in other words, someone willing and able to challenge my (more or less perennial) rockist assumptions.
The first time I met Joe was at a sex club. The event was the first Silent Shout/Wavelength collaboration at Play, a failed attempt to turn the main floor of Wicked, a notorious swingers hang on Queen West, into a venue/club. I had been very familiar with Mechanical Forest Sound before the meeting, having in fact discovered multiple bands from the website, but Joe had never been to a Silent Shout show up until that point.
Naturally, I introduced myself to Joe and confronted him on what I thought was a grand injustice. Having a song posted on Mechanical Forest Sound was/is a seal of approval in my eyes, and I couldn't consider myself a complete part of the Toronto music community without a write-up (full review to follow) from the blog. After the conversation (in which, I distinctly remember Joe mentioning he didn’t like "laptop music"), we became good show friends. Show friends are people that you really only see at concerts, but are always a welcomed sight; a friendly face that you know you can always have a few shouted words of conversation with over glasses of beer while waiting for the next band to set up. Though, we almost ALWAYS disagree on what was the highlight of the night.
Majical Cloudz - Childhood's End
One of many times Joe and I disagreed. Though I worried about the infection I would get from sitting on the floor at Sneaky Dee's at 3 a.m. I thought it was a beautiful, fringing on transcendent performance. Joe dismissed it as "Coldplay for hipsters" outside afterwards.
Digits - Trans-Europe Express
Kinda cheating here, since I was involved in this performance (the drum solo in the middle is me!), but it was one of the most fun things I've ever done on stage, and I'm so glad that Joe was there to capture the one-time-only performance. Maybe I should have chosen a Digits song that didn't involve me, buuuuut, whatever. I'm sure he's fine with it.
Lido Pimienta - Jardines
Joe was the MVP journalist of the (Silent Shout curated) SummerWorks Music Series last year. Seeing his posts go up after what was one of the more stressful times for me in recent times was cathartic and a realization that it was a job-well-done. Also: Lido! C'mon! What a great show!
Blue Hawaii - In Two
Joe and I disagree part 2. I thought this set was one of the best raves I had been to in a long time, he was on the fence.
Ken Park - He Says I'm An Island (I Won't Try And Find Him)
Ken Park took over this slot last minute at the inaugural All Toronto's Parties, but what a set! Scott just played his last show using material from last year's phenomenal LP You Think about it Too Much at the Mimio release show. I'm so glad that Joe was able to capture one of his finest performances here.
Nature - Heater
Remember how awesome Nature were at the SECOND All Toronto’s Parties?
You can always click on the tags below to look for more stuff from these artists. Has there been a half-dozen 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.
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