Recording: mkl32

Artist: mkl32

Song: [improvisation]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination), May 9, 2025.

mkl32 - [improvisation]

With an unusual number of no-shows from the self-curated sign-up sheet thinning out the ranks of the evening's musicians, host Michael Lynn took up the challenge to fill in with a short solo set for double bass. Using paper towel rolls as preparations added to his repertoire of muted clonks and squirks.

You can watch the archive of the full evening's livestream over on Audiopollination's youtube channel.

[Audiopollination is back at Array Space on June 13th with sets by David Sait/Marilyn Yogarajah/Magick, cheryl o + Neil Wiernik, Heraclitus Akimbo/Laura Swankey/Judy Zhu and Mickle32 + Rod Campbell. It'll also be the last show hosted by Michael Lynn before handing things over to new hosts Marylin and Yasmine, so please come down to help celebrate the thirteen years he has been running the series.]

Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis

Songs: Busking [two excerpt]

Recorded at The Bloor Annex BIA Stage, September 1, 2024.

Cosmic Homeostasis - Busking [excerpt 1]

Cosmic Homeostasis - Busking [excerpt 2]

Kudoes to the Bloor Annex BIA for animating the corner of Bloor and Brunswick this summer with their specially-constructed bucker stage — and special kudos to booker Sarah Greene who brought some variety to the space, including an unexpected turn from this drone ensemble. Often found down the street at The Tranzac, the group has played outside before, but a busy street corner is rather a different thing than a peaceful park. Here, cars passing by (and occasional planes from the airshow roaring past overhead) gave more of a gritty backdrop to the proceedings, but the assembled players still managed to embroider some fitting sounds into the landscape.

The performers at this event were:

• styrofoamNosebleedPrincess - tanpura
• Mira Martin-Gray - Bastl Kastle
• Sterling McPhedran - guitar
• Ian McPhedran - uke/banjo
• Fahmid Nibesh - mandolin, lyre, percussion, cellphone synth + amp
• Rob Cruickshank - electronics
• Michael Lynn - double bass
• Mike Filippov - ocean drum
• Rod Campbell - trumpet
• Heraclitus Akimbo - EWI, lyre, Donner MEDO

You can hear some extended edits from the day's field recordings over at Bandcamp. Three recorders in play capturing this action, so most of the instruments are audible. Did some work to trim out the worst of the wind-on-mics sounds:

[Cosmic Homeostasis will be bringing their regular fifth-Sunday-of-the-month gathering to The Tranzac on Sunday, September 29th. Also, stay tuned for an announcement of an exciting unoffical Nuit Blanche event!]

Recording: Mike Lynn

Artist: Mike Lynn

Song: [improvisation for Ted]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Ted Phillips Memorial Concert), September 17, 2023.

Mike Lynn - [improvisation for Ted]

As families and communities do, kinfolk and friends gathered together to mark the loss of Ted Phillips. There was a chance to share memories while a whole bunch of the local musicians that Ted enjoyed played short solo or duo sets.

Double bassist Lynn brought fond memories and some abrasive sonics to the stage.

You can check out footage of all the music from the event's second half over on youtube:

Mike Lynn will be the special guest performer at CCMC's next residency performance at Array Space this Thursday (October 26th). Livestream available!

Recording: Michael Lynn

Artist: Michael Lynn

Song: Canberra

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ornate Presents: Dark Matter Tapes double release celebration), July 22, 2022.

Michael Lynn - Canberra

A night of solo performances to celebrate a pair of solo releases on the Dark Matter label. Community organizer and genial collaborator Mike Lynn closed out the night, celebrating the release of a tape of solo explorations on double bass. The pieces (on tape and live) employ a whole range of extended techniques — including the human voice.

Recording: Sweater Vest Bauble Noggin

Artist: Sweater Vest Bauble Noggin

Songs: [three pieces]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), March 12, 2022.

Sweater Vest Bauble Noggin - [1st set, end of 1st piece]

Sweater Vest Bauble Noggin - [1st set, 2nd piece excerpt]

Sweater Vest Bauble Noggin - [2nd set, 1st section]

A night of avant-Eurovision sounds, assembled to interface visiting Montréal vocalist Sarah Albu (a.k.a. Bauble) with Toronto peer Christine Duncan (Noggin), guitarist Patrick O'Reilly (Vest) and bassist Mike Lynn (Sweater). Over two sets, the music moved from agitated walkie-talkie singalong squelch to psychedelic reverse haze to the #1 disco anthem of 1978.

Recording: Thispatcher & Michael Lynn

Artist: Thispatcher & Michael Lynn

Song: [edited excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination), March 11, 2022.

Thispatcher & Michael Lynn - [edited excerpt]

Audiopollination's livestreams were a welcome chance to check in with the community throughout the pandemic, but this return to live events was even moreso, an opportunity to run into some familiar faces while seeing "self-curated" musicians encountering unfamiliar ones on stage. Thanks to Array's support and resources, the livestream element is being maintained, extending the series' reach. This night started with an electronic-meets-acoustic duo of Thispatcher (a.k.a. Michael Palumbo) & Michael Lynn, mixing stereophonic skitterings from the former's modular rig with plunks and rustles from the latter's double bass.

You can check out the full set (minus the first few minutes where the sound wasn't working) on the event's archived livestream:

Bumping into... Michael Lynn

Bumping Into... is a series of mini-chats with a variety of peeps that you might run into in some of our local music communities. (There's a bit of an intro and my thoughts behind the series here.)

---

How are you? Where are you?

Ok. At home

What have you been up to since March or so?

Work + a bachelor of sexuality + walking the dog

Have you found any new ways to do old things? How are you feeling about the shifts in how music is being made/shared/listened to?

Audiopollination is now a much smaller affair- but way larger audiences. Had some great shows in Fall and more planned for Winter. As for my own music- stopped playing. Hopefully will get motivated again

Any works of art that have been a light for you in these times? Anything that's just been a good diversion?

Watching some online drag events that a friend is involved in. Really appreciating the diverse art of drag

How are you feeling about 2021?

Hope it’s full of unbridled debauchery once we all get the jab or at least lots of friendly face to face chats

Anything else we'd chat about if we bumped into each other?

Starting a band that allows me to wear bright silver pants, pink fluffy vest and Viking horns

Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis XIII

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis XIII

Song: I Can't Find My Phone [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 29, 2019.

Cosmic Homeostasis XIII - I Can't Find My Phone [excerpt]

To my surprise and delight, in the midst of that muddled and busy holiday week after xmas we managed to muster a baker's dozen soundmakers to mindmeld into some electroacoustic drift. Maybe folks just needed a calm zone away from the holiday hurlyburly. In any case, an excellent bit of preparation for the collective's first formal recording session — of which, more news soon!

The group on this day consisted of:

• Scott M2 (Animoog Borderlands)
• Paul Newman (tenor saxophone)
• Matt Wells (cymbal)
• Dame Cook (electronics)
• Patrick O'Reilly (Bliptronic 5000 and guitar)
• strofoamNosebleedPrincess (bass guitar and objects)
• Michael Lynn (bass guitar and things, namer-of-things)
• Maggie Keogh (Omnichord)
• Del Stephen (synth, piano, tape, fx)
• NilanX (prepared guitar and fx)
• Mira Martin-Grey (prepared/broken autoharp)
• Stefan Powell (duochord with magnetic wheels)
• Victor O (shakers + noisemakers)
• Heraclitus Akimbo (tapes and electronics)

You can also listen to the full set over on Bandcamp:

Recording: Coin Operated Duo

Artist: Coin Operated Duo

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 78), December 14, 2019.

Coin Operated Duo - [first piece]

With winter weather and bugs going around, this night of self-curated trios became a series of duos — giving the performers in each set a bit more room to stretch out. This final set of the night was actually a duo by choice, with curator Mike Lynn bringing along guitarist Ryan Kinney for more explorations from their Coin Operated Duo project. Stringed instruments as percussion instruments, ping pong balls bouncing around and lemur tails as preparations were all involved.

You can also watch visual documentation of this full set over at Audiopollination's youtube channel:

[Audiopollination will be back at Array Space on Saturday, February 8th, with some more fabulous/spontaneous sounds.]

Recording: Coin Operated Duo

Artist: Coin Operated Duo

Songs: [two pieces]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior Presents), October 13, 2019.

Coin Operated Duo - [third piece]

Coin Operated Duo - [fourth piece]

Once more, I guest-curated Ayal Senior's Sunday afternoon Southern Cross timeslot and was well-pleased to invite out this pairing of Mike Lynn (double bass) and Ryan Kinney (guitar). This duo has been occasionally playing together for awhile now, but a recent uptick has corresponded with Music for Farmers vol. I, the pair's first recording together. That recording does a nice job of leaning in and capturing the small gestures that the duo often make — my recording, by contrast, is much more "environmental", adding snippets of back-of-room conversations and even a few musical snatches from over in the Tiki Room. Fortunately, they also build up to a percussive clatter from time to time as well, and that sounds a bit more present here.

[The Coin Operated Duo will be performing at Audiopollination on Sunday, December 14th. Ayal Senior will be back presenting some music in the Southern Cross on the afternoon of Sunday, December 8th.]

Photo by Liz Lima.

Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis XII

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis XII

Songs: If Trees Were Men [excerpt] + The Lonesome Albatross [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), September 29, 2019.

Cosmic Homeostasis XII - If Trees Were Men [excerpt]

Cosmic Homeostasis XII - The Lonesome Albatross [excerpt]

This gathering saw a slightly-smaller ensemble of ambient space drifters, but in the current Cosmic Homeostasis context that still meant there were eight soundmakers on hand. (The group here was Curtis Whittaker — also the namer-of-things, Ron Blake, Del Stephen, Patrick O'Reilly, Michael Lynn, Fahmid Nibesh, Mira Martin-Grey, and Joe Strutt.) The first set emerged around buzzing electronic sounds a bit more than usual, but interesting organic flourishes crept into the second.

You can listen to the full session over at bandcamp — money from digital sales will go towards the fund for recording our forthcoming studio album!

[Cosmic Homeostasis will be back at The Tranzac on Sunday, December 29th.]

Recording: The Side Eye

Artist: The Side Eye

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Array Space, September 20, 2019.

The Side Eye - [excerpt 1]

The Side Eye - [excerpt 2]

Celebrating a CD on the esteemed (and recently-defunct) Arachnidiscs label, this trio shared some clattering improvisations. Featuring Kayla Milmine on soprano sax and Mike Lynn on double bass, the piece of grit in the oyster here is percussionist MJ Wright, equally at home behind the kit as seated on the floor surrounded by an array of contact-mic'd percussive bricabrac, providing tinfoil rustles and little curls of feedback to frame the other instruments.

Recording: 3M

Artist: 3M

Songs: [duo and trio excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), September 18, 2019.

Mira Martin-Gray & Mark Zurawinski - [excerpt]

Mira Martin-Gray & Michael Lynn - [excerpt]

Mark Zurawinski & Michael Lynn - [excerpt]

3M - [excerpt from first piece]

3M - [excerpt from second piece]

Although the members of this group (consisting of Michael Lynn on double bass, Mira Martin-Gray on no-input mixer and Mark Zurawinski on percussion) have all performed together before in various capacities, they formally launched their trio with a recording session of duo encounters. Their tape features explorations between Martin-Gray and Zurawinski on one side and Martin-Gray and Lynn on the flip, so this release celebration began by replicating those scenarios. From there, it moved to include the third point of duo triangulation (between Zurawinski and Lynn) before featuring the whole trio together.

The overall effect, both in twos and threes, is a sort of quiet noise, more interested in the tactility of possibly-abrasive textures than in deploying them at aggressive volumes. The three instruments also work to slip into each other's zones, with the body of the bass providing percussion, the surfaces of the drums creating scratchy, bumping hums and the no-input mixer pivoting from reconstituted bow-drones to snare-splatters.

Recording: Zurawinski/Lynn/Gunduz/Liu

Artist: Mark Zurawinski/Michael Lynn/Esin Gunduz/Germaine Liu

Song: [second piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 75), September 14, 2019.

Mark Zurawinski/Michael Lynn/Esin Gunduz/Germaine Liu - [second piece]

It is sometimes quite astounding how well Audiopollination's "self-curated" nights can work, creating beautiful sounds that cohere not just within a set, but over the course of a whole night. This closing set came together at the last minute but still managed to wrap up the evening on a satisfactory note. Mark Zurawinski and Michael Lynn were often in a similar zone, bowing, thumping and scraping their instruments in equal proportions while perhaps the most noteworthy element here is a rare public outing from Germaine Liu on piano.

You can watch video documentation of this set over at Audiopollination's youtube page:

[Audiopollination will be back at Array Space on Saturday (November 9th) for another self-curated night featuring Paul Newman & Ashley Urquhart, Twin Mask/Jeff Luciani/Rebecca Gray, Bob Vespaziani/Arnd Jurgensen/Elizabeth Lima, and MKL32 & Lidija Bozica.]

Recording: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Artist: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #53), August 6, 2019.

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt from first piece]

Some new improvisations from this duo of Mike Lynn (double bass) and Liz Lima (voice, clarinet) — and although they didn't get physical, they had some new jigs that need to be seen to be believed.

Recording: Tetsuo

Artist: Tetsuo

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 66), December 8, 2018.

Tetsuo - [excerpt]

Closing out the night, this improvising power trio (with Yusuke Frutate on guitar, Gordon Fynes on drums and Michael Lynn on bass) skipped around between a few genres in their song-length spontaneous compositions.

You can also watch this full set on youtube:

[The next Audiopollination will be at Array Space on Sunday February 3rd.]

Recording: Tetsuo

Artist: Tetsuo

Song: [second improvisation]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 21, 2018.

Tetsuo - [second improvisation]

"Jamming" is often seen as the debased and disrespectful cousin of "improvisation", but this power trio, bursting with intent and unironic instantly-composed shred-songs, is prepared to blur the lines. Gord Fynes (on drums) and Mike Lynn (on bass) provide steady structures for UsK's endlessly-energetic guitar work.

Recording: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Artist: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 21, 2018.

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt, part 1]

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt, part 2]

Now formally a trio, Liz Lima (vox, clarinet) and Michael Lynn (double bass, electronics) were joined onstage by the mysterious James, smiling in the background. (Some people said he just sucked, but I say that's an un-nuanced view.) The set moved from acoustic to electric and eventually got physical — it's not atypical for this group that my notepad emphatically observes "THEN THE PANTS COME OFF".

Recording: Sacks/Stillwell/Abbot/Mkl 32

Artist: Rick Sacks/Paul Stillwell/Brian Abbott/Mkl 32

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 60), March 10, 2018.

Rick Sacks/Paul Stillwell/Brian Abbott/Mkl 32 - [excerpt 1]

Rick Sacks/Paul Stillwell/Brian Abbott/Mkl 32 - [excerpt 2]

This tasty night of self-curated sounds saw four different ensembles take the floor, backed by visuals generated by Kelley Mitchell. There were plenty of tools on hand for this closing set, from Paul Stillwell's modular synth to Rick Sacks' gongs-and-all percussion setup, opening up all sorts of opportunities from back and forth skritchy-scratches to rolling thunderscapes.

[Brian Abbott will be playing an early set of solo guitar on Monday (May 7th) at the Tranzac, alongside solo sets from Paul Newman and Kayla Milmine.]

Recording: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Artist: Love Children of the Apocalypse

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Belljar Café (Track Could Bend #35), February 6, 2018.

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt 1]

Love Children of the Apocalypse - [excerpt 2]

This performance-art duo consists of a pair of improvisers stepping away from their primary instruments for some exploratory body talk. Liz Lima, best known as a clarinet player, provided vocals here while Mike Lynn, most often seen on bass, created the musical backdrop with electronics and drum machine. [check out a video of their set here, complete with dancing rabbits that I somehow don't remember being at the show.]

[Track Could Bend will be off-site at Array Space for a special Third Anniversary celebration on Tuesday, April 3rd. The night will feature an all-star assortment of performers from the past year's TCB events playing in "bands from a hat" — ad hoc ensembles selected at random shortly before playing.]