Labyrinth presents Modal Music (feat. Labyrinth Ensemble) / Toronto Railway Museum 2024-08-05 (Monday – 12:30 p.m. & 2:00 p.m.). $free, outdoors, family-friendly. [FB event]
Habari Africa Festival (feat. Hassan El Hadi / Sia Tolno / Emmanuel Jal) / Harbourfront Centre 2024-08-09 (Friday). $free, outdoors, all-ages + family-friendly. [more info]
Musica Universalis (feat. I Have Eaten The City [Colin Fisher/Nick Storring/Brandon Valdivia]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-08-09 (Friday). $pwyc, suggested donation $10
Blunt Object ["performing the weird and wonderful music of Carla Bley"] [Jay Hay/Ben Dietschi/Gordon Hyland/Jesse Malone/Teppei Kamei/Heather Saumer/Robin Jessome/Josh Bird/Tania Gill/Phil Albert/Nico Dann) / The Rex 2024-08-10 (Saturday – 2 p.m.). $10/$15. [FB event]
Habari Africa Festival (feat. Kalimba Village with Njacko Backo / Mzee Watmon Amone & MC Ojegele / Balafon Village with Adama Daou / Melat Mengesha / Gye Nyame / Empress Nyiringango / Teranga Senegal) / Harbourfront Centre 2024-08-10 (Saturday). $free, outdoors, all-ages + family-friendly. [more info]
Audiopollination presents (feat. The Side Eye [Kayla Milmine/Mike Lynn/Em] / Unihorn [Andrew & Jonathan Kay] / %%30%30/Rod Campbell/Gladys) / Annette Studios 2024-08-10 (Saturday). $15/pwyc. [FB event]
Habari Africa Festival (feat. Balafon Village with Adama Daou / Mabinty Sylla & Lanaya / Les Frères Cissoko: Noumoucounda, Sadio & Fa / Kunle / Rumba: Soul of Congo / Sadaka) / Harbourfront Centre 2024-08-11 (Sunday). $free, outdoors, all-ages + family-friendly. [more info]
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 Andrew Finlay Stewart.
Apologies to Joe Strutt and the wonderful community around Mechanical Forest Sound for my lateness in submitting this little playlist. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and was overwhelmed by the depth of the archive, and I didn’t know where to start. But when I dove in and started revisiting shows I’d been to and artists I’ve loved, it was a beautiful, emotional experience. I’m sure most people reading this have taken a swim through the MFS back catalogues at least once or twice, but if you haven’t lately I recommend setting aside a couple hours and letting yourself get lost.
The first song I’ve chosen is from a concert that was also featured in Del Stephen’s playlist (side note: go click on the Del Stephen tag here on MFS, you’ll find a stack of great recordings that Joe’s made of Del, both solo and with various collaborators). I feel like even though it’s been represented before, I need to pick something from this show because it was a house concert for my 30th birthday, in my basement. The lineup was Karen Ng, Luka Kuplowsky, and Charlotte Cornfield, and I can’t think of a better birthday present than their music. O, My Heart is Full! Just listening back to this, my heart fills up again and again. Luka is an absolute treasure. Hearing him and his all-star band here (Josh Cole, Thom Gill, Evan Cartwright, and Karen Ng) and a room absolutely jam-packed with people I love, singing along. I can even hear my own voice singing along to the choruses, and whistling at the end.
Recorded at The Gladstone Hotel's Ballroom (Long Winter, Vol. 7.3), January 4, 2019.
The second song is by Joyful Joyful, at Long Winter in January 2019. I wanted to include something from Long Winter, because it’s a festival series that’s meant a lot to me, and which I helped curate visual art for a number of years. One project I was very proud of during my time at Long Winter, in 2018 we worked with Joe to present an installation and listening station of the MFS archives on tapes. Joyful Joyful are an incredible band, and they make some of the most beautiful, haunting, soul-touching music I’ve ever experienced. Cormac Culkeen’s voice is transportative, and Dave Grenon’s synths are both earthy and otherworldly.
Recorded at SummerWorks Festival – S--------- Studio Theatre (Failure Fest), August 9, 2014.
Army Girls were a fantastic two-piece of Carmen Elle and Andy Smith. I’ve known Carmen for many years, and loved their music through solo projects, Donlands and Mortiner, DIANA, and more. This particular Army Girls show was one of the most memorable gigs I’ve ever been to, with the wonderful dancer, choreographer, and community pillar Cara Spooner disrupting and challenging the duo by moving their instruments and gear around the room as they played, never letting anything be comfortable or easy. Carmen and Andy rose to the occasion by putting on an incredibly dynamic performance.
I moved to Toronto in 2007 as a teenager, and immediately started going to as many gigs as I could. One honorable mention I’d like to shout out, which is referenced in the archives from 2008 before MFS started, was The Kalimba Summit featuring Matt Smith, Laura Barrett, Njacko Backo, Kahil El'Zabar at the Tranzac. The one advantage of submitting this list late is I can see what’s already been picked, and I was happy to see Laura Barrett make Mira Martin-Gray’s list. Laura was an early gateway act for me into the scene, and I think that was probably the first time I’d ever been to the Tranzac. Another early favourite for me when I moved to Toronto was The Magic. This recording is also from a Tranzac show, although I’m not certain if I was at this particular New Year’s Eve, I would try to go see The Magic at every opportunity in those days. This song was one of those gems one finds (especially when you’re young) that hits you just the right way and sticks with you, and makes you think “is this a perfect pop song”? I didn’t know local bands around my age or a few years older could make music that sounded like this. Everyone I knew was fumbling, experimenting, being noisy and loose, and The Magic were trying to make something slick and polished and beautiful. I’m still a little star-struck any time I see Geordie Gordon or Sylvie Smith around town, they’ll always be popstars to me.
Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Out of This Spark 4th Anniversary Concert), January 7, 2011.
We lost Richard Laviolette last year, and it hurt a lot. I grew up in Owen Sound, and have been listening to him and his records since high school. He might well be my most listened-to songwriter, and the one whose music was deepest inside me and most influential. The album this song is on, All of Your Raw Materials, came out in October 2009, so it will also be celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. Richard’s music is beautiful and funny and sad and sometimes angry. This one is joyful and defiant and confident. It has especial poignance now, as he describes his own funeral:
When I die don't call no preacher And if I die I won't call one either Leaving these words in all of the mouths Of all of the people People who can speak for themselves And are much better suited on this particular day To say a few words about an old friend In their particular way
He told us what he wanted, and it sounds like that’s what he’s going to get. There will be a public memorial for Richard on March 9th at the Royal City Mission in Guelph, with music and toasts and stories, and I’m looking forward to celebrating him just like he asked us to, with the people who knew him better than I did, and some of the many, many people his music touched.
Thank you Joe for the invitation to participate, I promise I’ll get back to you sooner if you invite me to contribute to the 30th anniversary. Mechanical Forest Sound is so clearly a labour of love and to do it for 15 years is an incredible accomplishment, you should be very proud of yourself. You are providing a real service to our community and to listeners of the future. Plus you’re just such a nice presence at every show I see you at. Thank you for everything!
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.
In the absence of concert listings, my regular Monday dispatches have fallen off. After bringing some life to the blog with the "bumping into" series, I figure I should get back in the groove. I'm guessing that this will be a bit like what used to get shoved into the end of the post when I was doing listings — some bandcamp suggestions, nods to a few livestreams, and sundry community notes (email me if you have anything that needs broadcast in the latter category!). Plus maybe a look back through the MFS archives.
Livestream nation:
The main event for this week (and beyond!) is definitely the Habari Africa Virtual Festival, which is presenting no less than ten nights of double-feature concerts, starting this Friday (August 13th). Mixing old hands and new faces in a pan-African party of classic and futuristic sounds, join in on their youtube channel every night at 8. Performing artists include (take a deep breath here!) Mamy Kanouté, Della Hayes & Women of Colour Band, Lorraine Klaasen, Joyce N’sana, EMDE, Mariaa Siga, Mighty Popo, Lionel Kizaba, Naxx Bitota, Kora Trio, The Black Stars, Adama Daou, Blandine, Dieufaite Charles, Donné Roberts, Alpha Rhythm Roots, Gloria Gift Nankunda, Garmi Mint Abba, Donald Dogbo and IZimba Arts — an incredible offering, so do make the effort to dip in, dance along, and make some discoveries.
It happened this week...
...on August 11, 2011 at Lower Ossington Theatre (Summerworks Festival).
P.S.: these memories of Summerworks' classic music series remind me to mention that in these uncertain times the festival is featuring "free, public-facing programming across multiple platforms throughout the month of August", which you can check out here.
[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.]
It was exciting to finally hear the songs from last year's Nightfalling in the way they were meant to be heard — in a packed room with people dancing. Having Jessy Bell Smith on stage as a vocal foil amped things up considerably. An able rootsy singer on her own, here she added soulful buoyancy to Georgie Gordon's vocals. Tim Clarke also added vox and some EWI-ish sounds from a synth-sax.
[You can also see some video with my audio over on Brandon Caswell Douglas' playlist from the night.]
[Long Winter continues this Saturday (February 4th) with the action moving to The Theatre Centre, featuring music by Devon Welsh, Off World, Saidah Conrad, Germaphobes, L CON, Ivy Mairi, FIN, Young Clancy, Roberto and Vibrant Matter.]
Songs: Telstar [The Tornados cover, arrangement by Ford Pier] + Don't You Pay Them No Mind (feat. Geordie Gordon) [Nina Simone cover, arrangement by Christian Overton]
Recorded at Church of the Holy Trinity (Songs of Resilience), March 26, 2015.
Although it contains a number of fabulous musicians1, the Queer Songbook Orchestra is more than just a band — it's as much an archival project and a community resource, "taking a look back at the history of popular music with the queer lens intact, and revealing the backstories and personal narratives behind much of the last century's popular songs". The songs are often presented with stories — stories of composers and musicians who had to encode their true meanings and stories of listeners who found empowerment through music.
The two songs here (from a phenomenal night filled with them) hint at both of those: "Telstar" shifts the song from poppy ebullience to a lament for composer/producer Joe Meek, whose queerness intensified his isolation in postwar Britain, while Geordie Gordon (of Guelph disco-rockers The Magic) sang a Nina Simone song that gave him strength. These two songs also showcase the band's musical ambition, as they've commissioned forward-looking arrangements for the songs that eschew good-time karaoke-style covers.
There's a lot of praise due to Shaun Brodie (known for his work in The Hidden Camera, Evening Hymns, plus heaps of live + session work with many Can-indie luminaries), who shepherded this project, and mention has to be made of Sean Frey and Amy Siegel, whose live projections added even more emotional heft to the music. Keep an eye out for the QSO's next presentation (June 21st at Buddies in Bad Times), which will celebrate the life and work of Duke Ellington sideman and great composer Billy Strayhorn.
1 On this night the band was: Sienna Dahlen (vocals), Alex Samaras (vocals), Simone Schmidt (vocals), Gary Beals (vocals), Geordie Gordon (vocals), Jennifer Burford (violin), Evan Lamberton (cello), Lief Mosbaugh (oboe/english horn/vocals), Mara Pellerin (french horn), Shaun Brodie (trumpet/flugelhorn), Ghislain Aucoin (piano/vocals), Jordan Howard (guitar), Andrew Downing (double bass), Stefan Schneider (drums).
"We used to be called The Magic," commented Geordie Gordon at the start of this set. "Maybe we still are." Geordie and his brother have the follow-up to the excellent Ragged Gold in the can, so it's more career-positioning/music biz limbo than anything else keeping it out of circulation. Their set at this gig more or less covered the unreleased album, though with just the pair playing at some points it sounded a bit more like a live rendition of the demos than a finished product. But even if the music was a little spare, there's some top-notch tunes waiting to be heard. Here's a couple of 'em; hopefully the whole package will be seeing the light of day soon.
Full review to follow. "We're a soft rock band now, so... deal with it," commented vocalist Geordie Gordon while introducing this new-ish mid-tempo number. It was said tongue-in-cheek, but there's more than a sliver of truth in there when you consider how the band's newer material is different from their older disco-fied stuff. Still, they can turn up the groove switch when they want, even in a band configuration with some temporary fill-ins, including Lisa Conway and Mary Wood on backing vocals.
THIRTEEN: The Wavelength 13th Anniversary Festival (Part II)
While it's all fresh in my mind, a few notes from this year's WL Fest. Notes from the first two nights of the festival can be found here. Longer, more comprehensive reviews will follow down the road a piece.
With four night of fairly diverse sounds on offer, it's good that Wavelength offers some integrating factors to pull the whole thing together. First and foremost of those is Doc Pickles, the series' long-running MC, who hosted all four nights. Although he would modestly claim, in his introductions, to be "setting the bar low" for the bands to follow him, there's a craft and a method to his discourse. Daring to fling associational logic into a cookie-cutter world, there's always a wry humour at play — and, more importantly, a sense of a shared existential awkwardness to be confronted and overcome. Step forward: you are part of this.
Another fundamental WL experience tying things together are the swirling General Chaos visuals, provided by Steve Lindsey. Hand-crafted and carefully selected to enhance the mood of each band, there's a warm analog feeling to the visuals — and if you watch Lindsey's customized projectors spin (and occasionally fail) you can get a sense of what an elaborate juggling act it is. When you come in and see that living painting twisting behind the stage, you know where you are.
Night 3 — Saturday, February 16, 2013
The Great Hall — feat. Bernice/ Doom Squad / Sarah Neufeld / Evening Hymns/ Do Make Say Think)
The Venue: Although it's increasingly becoming a go-to spot for midsize shows, The Great Hall is somewhat divisive among concert-goers. The large, open ceiling imparts a sense of space that you don't get at similarly-sized venues, but it does also affect the sonics. Which is to say, there's probably more variability here than in most venues — move a few steps away from a spot where everything sounds great and you can suddenly be in a murky dead zone. That said, the Great Hall is unfairly maligned in a few quarters — compared to a couple years ago, there's been a fair amount of effort put in to making bands sound good. It also has a rep for somewhat erratic rules — drink prices change from night to night (and from one bar to another!) and sometimes you're allowed to go lounge on the balcony and sometimes not — and when the place gets really packed, the floor can be uncomfortably jammed. Also: the bathrooms are inadequate (and frequently rather dodgy by night's end), one feature that really needs to be updated in this heritage landmark.
Wavelength's night at the Great Hall corresponded with a sudden (and somewhat surprising) snowfall, making surface travel almost impossible. (I ended up walking down from Ossington Station.) That meant the room was a little slow to fill, and for the first part of the evening, there were the powerfully-appealing smells from the pop-up dumpling stand wafting through the room. Balloon creatures — making an encore appearance from last summer's ALL CAPS show — bobbed and floated overhead.
The show:
I was sad to have missed the start of Bernice — for me, this was one of the more-anticipated sets at the festival. A vehicle for Robin Dann's songwriting talents, shows were fairly thin on the ground as Dann decamped to England shortly after the 2011 release of what was that. It's an enchanting album, but to a neutral observer the most vivid element might be Thom Gill's smooth production — making it tempting to conclude that he's the man behind the curtain.
Now back on this side of the Atlantic, seeing Dann on stage put her personality front and centre and firmly established that she's the animating force here. Just like her songs, Dann presented a somewhat shy but playful presence — as well as a wonderful voice. She was supported in that department by Felicity Williams, local MVP trophy winner in the backing vocals category, and generally a guarantee that the band on stage is one you should pay attention to.1 They were flanked by Colin Fisher (on mellow wah-wah guitar) and Thom Gill (on keybs and electronics). Gill was actually running a bit of interference here, adding some textured blips and gurgles that lifted the sound from retro softrock to something more subtly contemporary.
But it was the songs and voices that made this a winner. A lot of the set was new material, and it sounded like good stuff. That bodes well for the future of this project, and I'm definitely still eager to hear more from this unit.
When I caught Doom Squadin a church a few months ago, it felt like a somewhat disjunctive spot for the band, given their pagan vibes. The band's music comes with a sense of ritual — the very old rituals of sex and death, where you can enjoy the dancing if you don't peek too closely at what's happening on the altar. It didn't feel like they were totally connecting with the crowd here, although I get the impression that anything less than deep in a forest on a moonlit night is a second-best way to see the band. Their own set of joy-dirges was supplemented by a reinvention of The Doors' "Riders on The Storm" that fit right into their aesthetic while revealing new affinities. It's quite possible that this is the band at the festival that will become most bragged about in a I-saw-them-when sort of way by the very people who were mostly busy ignoring them.
That semi-interested crowd would be a bit of a factor throughout the night. Any time a WL show is headlined by a band with its own non-overlapping fanbase, there's going to be a contingent who come out to treat it as a show by "their" band, with a bunch of other bands they have to suffer through. However, this is as much a feature as a bug on nights like this. Although Wavelength is a celebration of an established community, it's also a proselytizing front to ameliorate people's taste. Which is to say: when a horde of Rock Guys come to see their band, some small number are going to be illuminated about some kind of music they hadn't really cared about before — and they're maybe the most important people at the show.
The downside is a lot of them are going to be less-than-rapt for the music they know nothing about — a slightly awkward context for a solo violin set. That Sarah Neufeld held the crowd as much as she did is a testament to her on-stage presence. Her name value might help as well — "member of Arcade Fire" is a good way to get people to pay attention.2 I'd not checked out her solo material, but I'd heard some mention of loop-based violin composition, so I had shades of, say, Final Fantasy in my mind going in. The first part of the set, however, turned out to be straight-up violin, with no technological props. With Neufeld stomping along on stage, there was a lot of energy in the songs, the music ranging from Celtic-y reels to hints of Bach-style elegance.
The most intriguing material, though, came at the close, when she was joined by unannounced special guests Colin Stetson (on bass sax) and The Magic's Geordie Gordon on keybs. Stetson's contribution here was reminiscent of his own solo work: basically a low droning soundfield to add gravity below Neufeld's ascendant figures. Gordon's synth basically fulfilled the same function — at times the two merged into one another — and that gave a thick fog as Neufeld also added some wordless vocalisations. This was definitely intriguing stuff.
Those same chatterers were mostly content to continue their conversations as Evening Hymns took the stage — problematic as at the start it was just Jonas Bonnetta and Sylvie Smith leading off with a hushed "Arrows". Behind them was a circular screen with an image that I took to be a full moon — though as the music began, there was slow movement on the screen and I realized it was a shot of trees. Jared Raab's projections would mostly stay in the forest, shifting along with the songs — and soon the duo on stage would expand into a full band.
Evening Hymns is always Bonnetta, usually Smith, and otherwise whichever friends are at hand. Here we had some members of The Wooden Sky as well as Shaun Brodie and Mika Posen. Bonnetta commented that they'd be "playing all the classics", and standing on the big stage with the arch rising over his head — and Gavin Gardiner tearing out guitar solos — this felt more like the Opera House in '09 than last summer's album release spectacular. By the end, as the group closed with "Mtn. Song", the visuals were rapidly spinning behind them.
That's all to say this was a retrospective moment for a band now at the cusp of transition and renewal. With Bonnetta publicly retiring some of his more emotionally weighty songs from last year's Spectral Dusk, there's going to be space in the setlist to fill. I'm actually hoping he follows through with hints of a step sideways into "ambient drone material" — that sort of stuff would be perfect at an intimate, sit-down Wavelength night.
Although it was getting late — it was now past one a.m. — there was still a full house waiting for Do Make Say Think. Coming back from a mini-hiatus, this band was also in the mood for a journey through their back catalogue. Just as when I had last seen 'em, the band were in their "original five" configuration, playing without the horns and strings and guests that expand their songs from widescreen to Imax. And though there were a few spots where I could hear the horn section in my head punching the songs into the stratosphere, this was still plenty big, even in this alignment.
With double drummers at the back and multi-tasking musicians up front, there was a lot going on. Ohad Benchetrit, Justin Small and Charles Spearin would each juggle guitars and bass with horns and keyboards, often with the latter at the beginnings of songs before cracking things up for the guitar-rockin' conclusions. Small (who, as always, was the main speaking voice of the band between songs) talked about the importance of the "rock'n'roll nap" before such a late set. He also apologized that none of the band's new material was ready to be played yet, but they made up for that with some deep cuts, including & Yet & Yet closer "Anything for Now" — which they had never done live before — and going all the way back to their debut for "If I Only…". Playing for nearly and hour and a half, I wasn't expecting a set nearly that long, but it was most welcome, even if it meant a late end to the night.
The Garrison — feat. Cell Memory & Castle If / Legato Vipers / Henri Fabergé & the Adorables / The Magic / Cookie Duster / Dusted
The Venue: Back at the site of the final phase of Wavelength's weekly incarnation, The Garrison feels like home. All the more so, given how ever since its opening, it's been evolving and getting that "lived-in" vibe. Now as much a taco-totin' local hang-out as a place to see a show, the incremental changes to the room — the wall of seats, the new bar at the back — have re-shaped it into a more comfortable space.
The Show: With six bands on the bill, things got started only minutes after the doors opened, with Cell Memory & Castle If taking the stage as early-arrivers were showing up. Though remaining cloaked in mystery, I knew a bit about the band from when I saw them playing in December. Here, though, the duo that I had encountered there were rounded out by a drummer, and that definitely gave more propulsion to the music. Although that shouldn't be mistaken for an undue concern with forward drive — the mode here was sheer motorik drone, and the songs built tension from holding still as much as possible while racing along nowhere Faust. Insistent synth patterns burbled underneath floating clouds of guitar (there was some e-bow action here) — this is the sort of stuff I dig a lot. Jess Forrest's vocals were buried underneath it all, half-comprehensible phrases rendered more mysterious for being delivered in German. That was a propos for this highly expressionist music — I almost expected to see Mabuse lurking back in the shadows somewhere.
In twenty minutes, the band only tackled two long songs. I would have gladly heard more, as this was maybe my favourite set of the festival. Although the band doesn't seem to be eager to share too information about themselves, they are present online, so keep an eye out for future shows.
There was a full one-eighty after that, with the night switching over to full-on party mode. You might not know the members of Legato Vipers by name, but this is a crew of some of the best players in the Guelph/Toronto axis. You might recognize 'em if you've seen, say, Del Bel, Bry Webb, Skeletones Four or Biblical lately. Or, in this case, you might not have noticed them at all, as for this set they were accompanied by The Harlettes, who performed live burlesque routines to the band's surf-rock originals. Using the power of a smile (as well as leaving something to the imagination) the performers each brought their winning personalities (and, um, spinning pasty tassels) for an empowered, sexy spin on the old-fashioned sleaze. This was enormously fun. Oh, right: there was music, too. It was pretty good.
No band could ever contain Henry Fletcher (or, shall we say, his alter ego Henri Fabergé). Even when The Adorables were in full force, there was never really a sense that was going to proceed in the usual manner. There was an album, but after the collective burst that that emerged from dissipated, there were only murmurs. A lot of the players on that went to to renown in their own projects, while Henri Fabergé would emerge in multimedia spectacles dedicated to profiling the details of his fake autobiography.
And here he was, putting the band back together. For most of those assembled on stage, this looked like a gleeful opportunity to have a fun time — in particular, it looked like Laura Barrett and Maylee Todd were having their own private sock hop — but it was a more world-weary Fabergé that came out in his leiderhosen, Mardi Gras chain around his neck and trumpet and canteen near at hand. He sang his songs of unrequited love (and suggested onanistic solutions to same) as the group sing-along spectacle exploded behind him. Eventually, of course, he'd rip off his shirt and dive into the crowd as the band called out, "fuck you, Henri!" — this is just how these things go.
The crazy-quilt of contributors was not a purist representation of the 2006 Adorables line-up (if such a thing could exist anyway). Besides older hands like Dana Snell and Andy Scott I spotted Robin Hatch on keybs and The Wuar Wuars (who are often seen dancing at Maloo shows). The music was a similar hodgepodge, with songs from the Adorables album mixed with more recent pageant pieces. But the sum total was quite exhilarating and rather a success. Word is that there's a new transmedia spectacle in process, so keep an eye out.
That's exactly the sort of spontaneous party that one would expect to break out when The Magic play — but this time out, they couldn't quite match that level of anarchic glee. Although this is a band that can generate a get-your-dance-on spectacle when they want to (such as this summer's album release party that arrived as a full-on Midnight Special tribute) there are signs that the band may be taking tentative steps towards "maturing". There's certainly a deeper appreciation of songcraft from frontman Geordie Gordon, and hints that he wants to produce something a bit more resonant than disco-fied anthems. The band itself has also been in flux — co-vocalist Sylvie Smith, for one, though back in the fold for this show has been busy touring with Evening Hymns and away from the band for awhile. Hitting on both those themes, Andrew Collins (of Skeletones Four) was playing keybs, and injecting some darker tones.
That's not to say that the band is suddenly dour or anything — Geordie Gordon emerged in a cape, after all, over his western shirt. And the songs still have an ebullient spirit. So even if this wasn't the band at their ragged-gold-standard best, it was a fun time, and they remain a band I'd go see pretty much any time.3
The night's star power would come from Cookie Duster's headlining set. Though billed as their live debut, my understanding is that the new/old project from Brendan Canning did actually play a handful of gigs in its original incarnation, before his attention was sidetracked by the success of Broken Social Scene. Rebooting itself with last summer's When Flying Was Easy, they were a six-piece here, with supplemental star power in the form of Change of Heart's Rob Higgins on bass and Matt Murphy on guitar.
Perhaps befitting that old/new dynamic, the band did feel a little out-of-time, as if they were drawing from a set of influences completely out of step with anything else out there right now. There were some hints of early 90's funk rock in there — not, like, at Bootsauce levels or anything — though Big Audio Dynamite came to mind a bit. That was leavened with a spiky power-pop sensibility, and some of the songs wouldn't have sounded completely out-of-place on his Something for All of Us... solo-via-BSS effort. Cutting against that, the best curveballs came with Jeen O'Brien's vocal contributions.
Given that everyone at hand is an old pro, this went pretty smoothly for a first gig. My sensibility, mind you, lies a bit in the other direction — so I wouldn't mind at all if, once this has gelled as a live thing, the band set to scuffing up these songs a little bit more. In any case, one gets the impression that having these musicians bouncing ideas off each other could push this from feeling old/new into something new/new.
The night closed out with a set from "secret guests" Dusted, who had (in a bit of almost-perfect symmetry) played at the pre-festival in-store show a few nights before. Although the band is based on a solid idea — gussying up some of Brian Borcherdt's solo songs into something more sonically adventurous than the regular singer-songwriter fare — I must confess that I didn't particularly "get" the project the first time I saw it live. Backed by Leon Taheny on drums and keybs, Borcherdt's laments (and guitar tone) are swathed in layers of reverb — and if that's pushed too far it can consign everything to pool of sonic mush.
Subsequent samplings — including this set — have kept the ratios correct, and now I see why a lot of folks got excited last year for their Total Dust album. With a fragile smile (but looking like he could be knocked over with a feather), Borcherdt evinces the same weary vulnerability that he essays in his songs, while Taheny adds more subtle textures than could be expected from someone playing two instruments at once. Even after ducking into the backstage area to find a replacement guitar, this was a fine sounding set, its echoing weariness a proper sort of nightcap for the festival.
Overall, a really great festival — you should start planning your next Family Day around FOURTEEN. And Wavelength isn't just a once-a-year thing — besides the upcoming ALL CAPS excursion, the next few WL nights (March 21, March 29, April 16) are already listed.
1 Williams can be seen on stage with Hobson's Choice, THOMAS and Bahamas, and probably umpteen more bands.
2 Though for my money, it's far more interesting to think of her as a member of Bell Orchestre and, more recently, The Luyas.
3 I'll certainly be there when they'll be appearing beside Hooded Fang at The Bicycles' album release party, coming up on April 4, 2013 at Lula Lounge.
Sunday Playlist [Monday Edition] #38: Wavelength THIRTEEN Live Preview
Well folks, it's the best week of the year! Continuing their mandate to nurture the best bands in our city and beyond, it's time once again for the music festival so good that there was a long weekend created just to contain it. Once you've gotten all the details on the festival, read interviews and met the bands on the WL tumblr and listened to the offical mixtape, you might be asking yourself: "so what do these bands sound like live?" Well, here's a partial answer.
Sunday Playlist is a semi-regular feature that brings back some of this blog's previously-posted original live recordings for an encore. You can always click the tags below to see what I originally wrote about the shows these songs came from.
Full review to follow. Rouge's sexy, sweaty dance party came with a twist when The Magic's Geordie Gordon sat in for most of the set. He added guitar and keybs to the band's songs and also took the mic for this cover. A unique moment to close out the Tranzac's NYE spectacular.
Full review to follow. A timewarp episode of The Midnight Special to celebrate the release of The Magic's new album included dancers, confetti, a dance-off and so much more.
All Music Series shows are at The Theatre Centre, in the basement of The Great Hall (1087 Queen Street West, at Dovercourt). Doors 9:30 PM, Show 10:30 PM
After a couple years at The Lower Ossington Theatre, the fifth year of SummerWorks' Music Series sees the shows returning to their original home in the basement of The Great Hall.1 It's a nifty spot to see a gig, with a variety of viewing options — hanging back and sitting, up front and dancing, or watching from the oval balcony above. It does get warm down there, though, so dress like you're going to sweat. As always, the artists are well-selected (this year by Julie Fowler) and there are promises that several of these are going to spectacles beyond just the regular sort of show.
Most of these shows are fifteen bucks (Buck 65 is $20; the opening party is free) with tickets available online through the festival website or at Soundscapes/Rotate This. You'd do well to check out any of these shows, but if you're wanting to learn more about the bands, I've reached back to some of my past live reviews to give you a hint of what to expect — and some live samples, too.
Opening Party
The Great Hall. Thursday, August 9, 2012. Doors @ 7:00 pm
I reckon there'll be plenty of art-scene schmoozing going down amongst the "performances about bodies" and free donuts, but there's a really fine musical lineup to head down for as well. Three of the sets come from artists that I know well, but who are out to remake/remodel themselves in modern digital form.
I'm especially eager to check out Kashka, which started as a solo-electronic sideline for Kat Burns, but is now her main outlet with Forest City Lovers having wound up. She's always excelled in clear-eyed rememberings of hearts won and lost, and her new Vichada album covers a similar emotional terrain, but it's now bathed in the warm digital beats she's assembled with co-producer James Bunton. Singer-songwriter grooves for the new century.
I've also never caught a set by Chrome And The Ice Queen, but given that the band is a sort of dark-mirror'd version of Del Bel, I'm familiar with the players here. Rumours suggest that behind Lisa Conway's languorous vox you should be ready for faint hints of trip-hop and Twin Peaks.
Warm Myth made their live debut back at NXNE, and I found it to be atmospheric, but not sedate — which isn't out of line for what you'd expect from principals Casey Mecija and Kieran Adams2. Woozy synths share space with assertive guitar and drum parts, making this more than just a typical bedroom solo-electronic project, and an intriguing new setting for Mecija's vocals.
Cynics might get caught up in accusing The Magic of being mere '80's revivalists. Everyone else is too busy dancing. The Guelph crew, led by brothers Geordie and Evan Gordon, was building up a rabid fanbase a couple years ago based on their killer live shows. When they went quiet and got busy serving as sidemen in other bands (most notably in Islands), I wondered if the project was wrapping up, but it turns out they were just taking the time to properly record their songs. The release of the excellent Ragged Gold has more than justified the wait, and they'll be celebrating its release en route to fullscale disco inferno world domination. Taking inspiration from vintage episodes of the Midnight Special, the band has been dropping hints about "dancers, glitter, props" and confetti cannons. This night is not to be missed.
Sealing the deal is a chance to check out Ark Analog, the new collaboration between Maylee Todd and Dan Werb. Anyone who knows their previous work (and especially Todd's collaborations with Woodhands) would have a notion of what they're in for here — something energetic to dance to.
Hip-hop lifer/drive-time DJ Rich Terfry probably requires no introduction. It's widely known that he's a fine live entertainer, but this show intrigues with its promise of a collaboration with dancer Ame Henderson. I have no idea what that's going to entail, but advance word promises "strange and beautiful faces, mirrors and ghosts and obstructions".
Birthed from Tranzac's primordial folk/improv ooze, Sandro Perri has put a futureactive spin on his music, with the tunes on last year's Impossible Spaces album vibrating with subtle but undeniable grooves. Live, his band pushes this even further into extended polyrhythmic bliss. I don't know Brazilian-born singer/percussionist/bandleader Aline Morales, but it sounds like this should be an inspired match with Perri — and unlike the other "x with y" music shows, this is billed with that intriguing ampersand — I don't know if that means anything, but it would be cool to see some sort of collaboration here.
The sound of dusk settling in over a backcountry lake; of driving down a narrow gravel concession road in a thick, darkened forest; of families: lost, broken and cherished. Previous album Spirit Guides announced Jonas Bonnetta's sound and themes, but the new Spectral Dusk is more vibrant and more personal, mixing atmospheric abstraction and dust-level detail — in other words everything that you can see both close up and far away from a log cabin window.
Also on hand will be Fiver, the latest project from One Hundred Dollars' Simone Schmidt. Pitched as an outlet for the sort of songs that might not easily fit into her usual projects, there's certainly an element of that at play — but there's no doubt that they're "Simone Schmidt" songs, and the stories she weaves are fully engaging whether they're backed by a full band or, as will be the case at this show, in a duo with Paul Mortimer.
Ex-punk Bry Webb's Provider album impressed a lot of folks, but it's been live that he's really been shining — finding his "mature" voice against a spare, acoustic musical backdrop. This is sit-down-and-listen music, about growing up and facing sobering responsibilities. But it's also about the small victories — at the end of every hard-earned day people find some reason to believe, which is the reason Webb'll take time to remind you that he's not singin' a sad song.
Webb's rootsy counterpart for the night will be troubadour Doug Paisley, a smooth-voiced craftsman who makes it seem easy with deceptively-simple songs about complex truths. His set should be one of the series' gems.
The Great Hall. Sunday August 19,2012. Doors @ 7:00 pm
The festival closes with a jam-packed night back upstairs in The Great Hall proper, with some fabulous local talent on the bill. Inspired by 90's smooth R&B, OG Melody are writing the jams to celebrate summer in our city. Tuxedo-clad Chris Cummings used to be known as Mantler but is becoming Marker Starling — but he's still guaranteeing good times with his sad-lounge Wurlitzer stylings. Chrissy Reichert's Tenderness is one of most intriguing under-the-radar projects in the city right now, her loop-based, fader-flicking music kept untethered by a rotating cast of top-flight improvisers — and coming out of the clash rough-edged but user-friendly. And sibling-rockers Rival Boys hint at rock'n'roll sophistication in a trio that leans just a bit more to "pop" than "power".
Besides all of this — and, of course, all of the theatre that is the festival's original raison d'être — there are also some cool bands at the performance bar, which promises nightly "eclectic performances and happenings". I'd especially recommend you keep your eye out for the tom-waits-for-no-man stylings of Ronley Teper (Friday, August 17) and the positive revolution vibes from the conscious Abstract Random hip-hop crew (Saturday August 18).
1 I seem to recall that one reason the music series moved was the amount of time required to turn the venue over and get it ready for the musical performances after the plays had finished, leading to a series of late starts. There are plays going on in the Theatre Centre at seven on most music nights, so hopefully there's enough turnover time now incorporated into the organizers' plans.
2 Mecija is best-known for her work in Ohbijou; Adams has many projects on the go, including the fab new DIANA, and has also recently been seen backing Bonjay.
Founded as a blog about one curmudgeon's love affair with the em dash, Mechanical Forest Sound has grown to become a community-based archive of local musical culture. Assuming that "independent music" isn't just boys with guitars and "culture" isn't just some sort of pageant, MFS is an investigation of a wide range of artists, reflecting on concerts as shared experiences, acts of citizenship and a chance to get down — fuzzy photographs and clear-sounding original live recordings a specialty.
Current manifestations of this project include Track Could Bend, a monthly concert series featuring "improvised music and weird rock offshoots", presented in a casual environment.
At one point I wrote full-on concert reviews, and for longer I thought I would catch up and write about shows in the past. But these days, because of, y'know, life, do not expect much in the way of full show reviews — but live recordings with blurbs will be posted as quickly after the fact as is feasible.
You can also check out full sets uploaded to the Live Music Archive. [not currently active]
N.B.: All recordings should be available & playable. If you come across any broken links, invisible or non-functioning players, etc, please leave a comment and I will tend to it ASAP.
ALSO N.B.: I'm perpetually on the lookout for a new place to stash my MP3's online. If you know of any place that allows a couple gigs of stuff to be openly linked to for streaming, drop me a line!
All MP3's on this blog are audience recordings shared as a reminder of the excitement of seeing live music. If you are an artist who doesn't want their music shared in this way, please contact me and I shall remove it forthwith.
Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!
Ministry of Phonic Services presents: Back to School Field Trip [debut screening of Otherwise by Mike Filippov] / "Park" 2026-09-22 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [more info]
Ministry of Phonic Services presents: Back to School Field Trip ["a festival of outdoor experimental sounds and actions"] (feat. HAHAHAHAHAHA / shemona / quivering / Emergency Euphoria) / "Highway" 2026-09-23 (Wednesday). $pwyc. [more info]
Mike DeiCont Trio feat. Eric West & Leland Whitty / Sellers & Newel 2026-09-24 (Thursday). $20 minimum donation. [FB event]
The Living Room Sessions #4 (feat. Dorky & Best [Germaine Liu/Steph Chua/Tilman Lewis] / G.Mark Weston & Germaine Liu) / Annette Studios 2026-09-24 (Thursday). $15 or pwyc, all ages. [more info]
ESP Free Jazz Thursdays (feat. Brent Tanemura/Colin Fisher/Andrew Frost/Aidan Miller) / Water to Wine 2026-09-24 (Thursday). $pwyc
CCMC [Cheryl O/John Oswald/Christine Duncan/Mani Mazinani/Gord Monahan] / Array Space 2026-09-24 (Thursday). $pwyc, livestream available [more info]
Karen Ng presents (feat. Karen Ng & Maxwell Stover / Drew Wesely) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-09-24 (Thursday). [more info]
Exit Points #76 (feat. Josh Sparks/Nico Newton/Aranya Khurana/Elysha Vorstenbosch / Sarah Mullins/Ron Johnston/Arianna Rueda/Michael Palumbo/Reagan Patrick Mitchell) / Array Space 2026-09-25 (Friday). $17.52 (early bird), $22.89 (advance), $28.27 (general). [tickets + more info]
Ministry of Phonic Services presents: Back to School Field Trip ["a festival of outdoor experimental sounds and actions"] (feat. SlowPitchSound / Fleshtone Aura & Sandro Perri / Gayle Young & Reinhard Reitzenstein / tête à tête [Philippe Melanson & Matthew Pencer]) / "UFO" 2026-09-25 (Friday). $pwyc. [more info]
The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-09-25 (Friday) [FB event]
Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Picastro [Double on Time album release] / Bernice / Granny Smith) / Gloves Up Boxing Gym 2026-09-26 (Saturday). $28.27, all ages. [FB event]
Imaginary North and The AMBiENT PiNG present Ambient Afternoon (feat. Jessica Deutsch / Little Jim / R Grunwald / SIREN) / Society Clubhouse 2026-09-27 (Sunday – 2 p.m.). $11.97 (advance), $15 (door), fully accessible + family-friendly. [FB event]
Maggie Keogh/Ryan Driver/Max Donaldson/Blake Howard / Sellers and Newel 2026-09-27 (Sunday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]
Brown Dolly and Friends (feat. Brown Dolly/Michael Palumbo/Laura Gillis/Michelangelo Iaffaldano) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-09-27 (Sunday). $pwyc. [more info]
Soundstreams Encounters: Nagoya Marimbas [featuring Steve Reich’s "Mallet Quartet" and "Nagoya Marimbas", plus works by Ann Southam and Juri Seo (feat. Kairos Percussion Quartet with Aerin Cho) / Hugh's Room 2026-09-29 (Tuesday). $free with reservation. [more info]
ESP Free Jazz Thursdays (feat. Brent Tanemura/Lauchlin Wood/Brodie West/Jake Bikay/Mateos Labbé-Phelan) / Water to Wine 2026-10-01 (Thursday). $pwyc. [more info]
Imaginary North and The AMBiENT PiNG present (feat. Cloud Circuit / Metric Time Ensemble / biG kNiFE) / Annette Studios 2026-10-01 (Thursday). $12.67 (advance) / $15 (door), all ages. [tickets + more info]
Project Nowhere × Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Horse Lords / Common Earth Mineral / Stefana Fratila) / The Garrison 2026-10-01 (Thursday). $32.31, 19+. [FB event]
Liquid Architecture: Guitar Night (feat. Lex Feathers / Aranya Khurana / Colin James Gibson / Ryan Kinney) / St. Matthew's Clubhouse 2026-10-03 (Saturday). $10 (cash or e-transfer). [FB event]
PORTALZ album release concert (feat. Marbyllia [Margaret Maria & Bill Gilliam] / Margaret Maria [solo]) / Array Space 2026-10-04 (Sunday). $30 (includes CD). [FB event]
Steve Reich at 90! (feat. Soindstreams) / Koerner Hall 2026-10-06 (Tuesday). $35-$94.75. [more info]
Track Could Bend #121 (feat. Shawn Will / Benny Liquid [Nü Creature + Zachary George] / Nina Boujee) / Wenona Lodge 2026-10-06 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]
Raybody (Jackie West / Luke Kuplowsky) / Dina's Tavern 2026-10-06 (Tuesday). [more info]
Idée Fixe Records 15 (feat. Jennifer Castle / Isla Craig / Cormac Culkeen with Michael Cloud Duguay / Alex Lukashevsky / Kyla Marlena / Potions / Roy / Joseph Shabason / Bry Webb) / St. Stephen-in-the-Fields 2026-10-13 (Tuesday). $26.93. [tickets + more info]
X Avant XXI: Memory Mannnnn, Night 1: Ghost Grain (feat. Ava Mendoza / Andrew Noseworthy & Grace Scheele) / First Unitarian Church 2026-10-14 (Wednesday). $22.14/$27.29/$33.47. [tickets + more info]
Funz Mini-tour/Ur Audio-Visual label showcase (feat. M. Mucci / Bird City / The Golden Funz) / The Keating Channel Pub & Grill 2026-10-14 (Wednesday). $pwyc. [FB event]
X Avant XXI: Memory Mannnnn, Night 2: Flashback (feat. Sonic Bikes / Bilal Nasser & Ensemble) / First Unitarian Church 2026-10-15 (Thursday). $22.14/$27.29/$33.47. [tickets + more info]
X Avant XXI: Memory Mannnnn, Night 3: Ancient Circuitry (feat. Mani Mazinani's Solar Organ Ensemble / For The Youth: Reilluminated) / First Unitarian Church 2026-10-16 (Friday). $22.14/$27.29/$33.47. [tickets + more info]
Experimental Link Series: Strings of Iran (feat. Hossein Behroozinia/Mehdi Rostami/Pooyan Ranaei/Bamdad Fotouhi) / Trinity Presbyterian Church 2026-10-24 (Saturday). $43.63. [tickets + more info]
Soundstreams Encounters: Violins Unbound [works by André Ristic, John Beckwith, Chris Paul Harman, Parisa Sabet, Ana Sokolović] (feat. Judith Fliedl & Roan Ma) / Hugh's Room 2026-11-02 (Monday). $free with reservation. [more info]
Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Weird Nightmare [Hoopla record release shows]) / Osler Records 2026-11-18&19 (Wednesday & Thursday). $24.94, 19+. [tickets + more info]
Mike DeiCont & Dan Fortin / Sellers and Newel 2026-11-25 (Wednesday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]
Marilyn Lerner & Matt Brubeck / Sellers and Newel 2026-11-26 (Thursday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]
Soundstreams Encounters: Orison [a new music theatre work-in-progress featuring the ondes Martenot] (feat. Daniel Áñez & James O’Callaghan) / Hugh's Room 2026-11-30 (Monday). $free with reservation. [more info]
Musica Universalis (feat. C'est la fête Large Ensemble) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-05-08 (Friday)
Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / JOYSHAPE / Ryan Dugre / Nick Flanagan) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-05-10 (Sunday)
Cosmic Homeostasis XXXII / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2026-05-17 (Sunday)]
Playscape Emporium: Paint, Play (feat. Duo Cichorium/Constant Yen/ Rowan Campbell/Charlee Wielgoz/Fahmid Nibesh/Joe Strutt/Mira Martin-Gray) / Array Space 2026-05-21 (Thursday)
Wenderly Park (Colin Fisher / Isla Craig) / Le Monde 2026-05-22 (Friday)
Ministry of Phonic Services presents (feat. Ben Rempel & Justin Gunter / Not the Wind, Not the Flag / Doug Tielli & Mike Gennaro) / Bickford Park 2026-05-24 (Sunday)
Life Drawing (feat. Cosmic Homeostasis) / Riverdale Park 2026-05-31 (Sunday)
Prepare the Ground Festival (feat. William Basinski) / Trinity-St. Paul's Centre 2026-05-31 (Sunday)
Track Could Bend #117 (feat. saucering / Colin Fisher/William Hunt/Jack Johnson/Cal Adam) / Wenona Lodge 2025-06-02 (Tuesday)
Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior/Nathan Yell/Marilyn Yogarajah / David Sait / Nick Flanagan / Nathan Yell) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-06-14 (Sunday)
Andre Ethier (Cows in Rain / Eliza Niemi) / Dina's Tavern 2026-07-05 (Sunday)
Track Could Bend #118 (feat. Ubersuck / Mike Gennaro / Wilderness Adventure Ride) / Wenona Lodge 2026-07-07 (Tuesday)
Toronto Improvisers Orchestra / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-07-12 (Sunday)
Ayal Senior and Friends (feat. Country Phasers / Meggie Remy / Nick Flanagan / Heraclitus Akimbo) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-07-12 (Sunday)
Rebecca Hennessy's Singer-Songwriter Circle (feat. Rebecca Hennessy/Michael Herring/Felicity Williams/Patrick O'Reilly) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-07-19 (Sunday)
The Fiver Trois (Isla & The Sorry Brothers) / Dina's Tavern 2025-07-24 (Friday)
Jennifer Castle (Potions) / The Garrison 2025-07-25 (Saturday)
Heraclitus Akimbo (Hoover Party / Del Stephen / Hex-A-Decimal × Leucrocuta) / The Sun Room at 918 Bathurst 2025-07-26 (Sunday)
Kathryn Merriam with Bea Labikova/Raphael Roter/Heather Saumer / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-07-29 (Wednesday)
The Ryan Driver Sextet With Thom Gill As Ryan Driver / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-07-31 (Friday)
Track Could Bend #119: An Evening of Graphic Scores co-presented with Public Library (feat. Public Library with Roa Lee and Alison Melville) / Wenona Lodge 2026-08-04 (Tuesday)
Humbucker Music Residency (feat. Humbucker Music / Sandy Ewen) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-07 (Friday)
new works for improvising musicians (feat. Josh Cole/Lina Allemano/John Oswald/Nick Storring/Owen Kurtz) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-10 (Monday)
Track Could Bend #120 (feat. Dave Grenon's Indistinctive Gait w/ Ayesha Lye / Caution Wet Floor Signs) / Wenona Lodge 2026-09-01 (Tuesday)
Equinox and Solstice Residency (feat. Ghostlight) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-09-05 (Saturday)
Ministry of Phonic Services presents: Back to School Field Trip: Dome (feat. Brandon Auger / Ben Grossman / Fahmid Nibesh) / CNE Bandshell 2026-09-17 (Thursday)
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