Recording: Picastro

Artist: Picastro

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Bar Orwell, October 16, 2023.

Picastro - unknown

Continuing a long-running tradition of constantly shape-shifting around frontperson Liz Hysen, Picastro showed up at this gig opening for Damon & Naomi in a totally different formation than I'd seen previously — while the last time I saw the group it was as a duo with double bassist Alex Fournier, here it was a trio with Tim Condon (guitar, SK-1) and Mike Mērnieks-Duffield (drums). The latter, unsurprisingly, added some quiet propulsion to things, but the core dirge-drift of the Picastro soundworld was definitely in evidence here. That said, this was a snappy set by Picastro standards, with several shorter songs and keeping things under a succinct half-hour.

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

Recording: Picastro

Artist: Picastro

Song: (She's In a) Bad Mood [Sonic Youth cover]

Recorded at The Baby G, January 12, 2019.

Picastro - (She's In a) Bad Mood

The songs from Picastro's Exit album have been growing and gestating for several years now, and this show marked the record's proper release. (Though definitely available as a vinyl platter at the show, as of yet, the album seems not to be available online.) Pushing further in a direction established in previous album You, songwriter Liz Hysen continues to endeavour to remove her voice from her own songs, providing the lead on only one of the album's cuts. That means there's a contrast with the live arrangements, where she's still doing the bulk of the singing. Meanwhile, the current version of the band, with Germaine Liu, Matthew Ramolo and Nick Storring, continues to shine, capable of both brooding tension and the occasional sprightly rock move.

Recording: Nightmare Alley

Artist: Nightmare Alley

Song: Of Being Numerous [excerpt] [from the poem by George Oppen]

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

Nightmare Alley - Of Being Numerous [excerpt]

For my final gig of the year, I had the honour of guest-hosting Nilan Perera's Synaptic Circus monthly, so I asked some friends to play. Given a slot to do whatever he wanted, guitarist Kurt Newman took a risk, eschewing his ususal projects to experiment with uneasy listening textures and user-unfriendly spiky dynamics — call it Haino-eque spoken word theatre. Enlisting Picastro's Liz Hysen to sing some excerpts from George Oppen's "Of Being Numerous", Newman controlled the effects on both guitar and voice for a holiday downer session lurching like an undead thespian hastily reanimated from jury-rigged leftover body parts.

[Synaptic Circus will be back at The Tranzac on Sunday, February 24th, featuring a vocal set from Paul Dutton, Christine Duncan, Liz Lima and Laura Swankey as well as a duo set from Paul Newman and Heather Saumer.]

Recording: Liz Hysen

Artist: Liz Hysen

Song: Endlessly

Recorded at The Baby G (Crosswires), April 17, 2017.

Liz Hysen - Endlessly

This night included three songwriters with distinctive visions presenting their songs in unadorned solo sets. For Liz Hysen, that meant offering a revision of some Picastro tunes pared back to bare bones of voice and detuned guitar.

[Word is that after these couple months of Monday night shows, Crosswires is taking a pause, so keep an eye out for further developments from the irrepressible Doc Pickles.]

Recording: Picastro

Artist: Picastro

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), December 31, 2016.

Picastro - unknown

As always, The Tranzac was a cool and friendly zone to hang out in on New Year's Eve, with two stages of music all night long. Leading things off on the Main Hall stage, before the boisterous crowds could drown it out too much, was noted party band Picastro. Truth be told, their presence was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser — even singer/guitarist Liz Hysen made a joke at the band's expanse. But all said, their slightly-snoozy abstract drift was as good a way as any to raise hopes that the worst of 2016 was just a bad dream we'd soon be done with.

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

Recording: Picastro

Artist: Picastro

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Ratio (Invocation Presents), June 2, 2016.

Picastro - unknown

Picastro have been laying low — it's been three seasons since I saw 'em last — but they've been keeping busy. There's new wrinkles in the interplay between Liz Hysen's guitar, Nick Storring's cello and Matthew Ramolo's modular synth, as well as some more new material in this set. There was also an instrumental cover of Sonic Youth's "She's in a Bad Mood" with Hysen and percussionist Germaine Liu on piano — another sign of Hysen's ongoing efforts to remove her voice from the band's songs.

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

Recording: Bob Wiseman & Liz Hysen

Artist: Bob Wiseman & Liz Hysen

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall ("Blocks Final Concert"), May 9, 2015.

Bob Wiseman & Liz Hysen - [excerpt]

This duo set, played on the piano at the foot of the Main Hall's stage, was brief enough that a good chunk of the crowd didn't quite realize it had come and gone. I'm not sure to what extent it was improvised, but there were a couple different ideas explored, including this segment that sounds a bit like Lubomyr Melnyk's interpretation of chopsticks.