Recording: Michael Palumbo

Artist: Michael Palumbo

Song: Vincent (Starry Starry Night) [Don McLean cover]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #111), December 2, 2025.

Michael Palumbo - Vincent (Starry Starry Night)

"Experimental music" is not a genre but rather a state of mind. For modular wizard and electroacoustician Michael Palumbo, improvisation and collaboration are core elements of his practice — so to become vulnerable with just songs and voice, a mic and a guitar were a step into different territory, the sort of experiment that generates productive nervousness. His repertoire in this set ranged from a couple traditional numbers and hewed towards folky material, but did pull in an eclectic set of influences including Chad VanGaalen and Thom Yorke.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend returns to Wenona on Tuesday (January 6th) with sets from Duo BEAK (Bea Labikova and Kayla Milmine) and Vividness Trio (Laura Gillis, Lorne Shapiro, Hildegard von Bingo). A sweet way to start the year if you've been resolving to get out to more shows!]

Recording: Mongeon/Palumbo/Roblin

Artist: Pierre Mongeon/Michael Palumbo/Diane Roblin

Song: [1st piece, excerpt]

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

Pierre Mongeon/Michael Palumbo/Diane Roblin - [1st piece, excerpt]

It'd been a good spell since I've been able to make an Audiopollination, so it was a prize to be able to slip back into the vibe with a classic "instant combo" like this one, with the three musicians playing confidently and listening intently. Michael Palumbo's modular synth mostly held down the high-end here ringing and buzzing above Diane Roblin's piano and Pierre Mongeon's trumpet/melodica.

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: Michael Palumbo

Artist: Michael Palumbo

Song: [improvisation for Ted]

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

Michael Palumbo - [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.

Michael Palumbo, who spoke of the encouragement Ted gave at a time when his live performances were approached with more apprehension, contrived some modular synthscapes as his tribute.

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

Recording: Exit Points Ensemble

Artist: Exit Points Ensemble

Song: [first section]

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection – Day 2), September 2, 2023.

Exit Points Ensemble - [first section]

That particular Labour Day tradition returned once more this year — the Intersection Festival filling up the concrete plains of Yonge-Dundas Square with creative and adventurous music. As with last year's return from the pandemic pause, this was more stripped-back than in the "old days", with all of the music constrained to the big stage, which itself was a bit more cut off from the square by metal barricades. The square as a whole felt a little less, ah, pulsating than in the past — while there's still all sorts of random passers-by and carryings-on, the space felt a little more restrained overall. But on a mostly-beautiful day for standing around outside (with just one minor cloudburst to take the edge off the heat) the programming was mostly on-point, distracting a few people, chasing some away, and calling in a few in to take in the sounds.

The opening group was assembled by synthesist Michael Palumbo from the community he has gathered at his Exit Points monthly series — and if you were expecting an all-electronic jam then you might not have been following the series' evolutions, as here he was joined by Akim Angulo (shakuhachi flute), Joyce To (percussion), Behnoosh Behnamnia (kamancheh), and Yang Chen (percussion), allowing for a wide variety of textures and colours.

Recording: Michael Palumbo & Co.

Artist: Michael Palumbo/Marilyn Yogarajah/Tegan Dietsch/Sable/%%30%30

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 15, 2023.

Michael Palumbo & Co. - [1st set excerpt, part 1]

Michael Palumbo & Co. - [1st set excerpt, part 2]

An intruiging mix of improvisers in this pair of sets assembled by synthesist Michael Palumbo saw him joined by Marilyn Yogarajah (trumpet, piano), Tegan Dietsch (tap dance), Sable (guqin), and %%30%30 (percussion). That lead to a mix of percussive interactions (including contact mic'd sounds from Dietsch's tap board being fed into Palumbo's modular rig) with the textures of piano, trumpet and quqin.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

Recording: Palumbo/Campbell/Biazar

Artist: Michael Palumbo/Rod Campbell/Roya Biazar

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination), June 9, 2023.

Michael Palumbo/Rod Campbell/Roya Biazar - [excerpt]

A classic Audiopollination combo here, electroacoustically mixing piano, acoustic bass and modular synth — and in this stretch finding some really sweet atmospherics.

[You can check out the full set on the archived livestream over at Audiopollination's youtube playlist.]

[Audiopollination is on summer break right now — it'll be back in September, and there are still some open slots in the self-curation sign-up sheet.]

Recording: Splendid Industries' Quartets

Artist: Splendid Industries Presents: Erin Corbett/Tyson Headon/Paul Geldart/Curtis Whittaker/Sinéad Bermingham/Michael Palumbo

Songs: [excerpts from three quartet improvisations]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #73), November 1, 2022.

Erin Corbett/Tyson Headon/Paul Geldart/Curtis Whittaker - [excerpt]

Paul Geldart/Sinéad Bermingham/Michael Palumbo/Erin Corbett - [excerpt]

Curtis Whittaker/Sinéad Bermingham/Michael Palumbo/Tyson Headon - [excerpt]

For this TCB, I asked Tyson Headon, who organizes things over at Splendid Industries, to put something together. He obliged by wrangling a half-dozen musicians, several of whom were meeting for the first time. The night was divided into two halves, first with each player getting the chance to participate in two shorter quartet performances before the whole crew played together in the second half. Sounds ranged from sputtery spirit invocations to modular lounge jams as the crew worked out some shared spaces.

For the record, the whole group consisted of:

• Erin Corbett - Modular Synth
• Michael Palumbo - Modular Synth
• Sinéad Bermingham - Harp/FX
• Tyson Headon - Bass/FX
• Paul Geldart - Electronic Drums/Percussion
• Curtis Whittaker - Acoustic Drums/Percussion

You can check out some video from each of these mini-sets over on the TCB youtube playlist:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, December 6th with sets from Madeleine Ertel and Ecotone.]

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:

Recording: Hall/Whitaker/Palumbo

Artist: Glen Hall/Curtis Whitaker/Michael Palumbo

Song: [second piece, edit]

Recorded at Hirut Restaurant (Exit Points #1), February 26, 2020.

Glen Hall/Curtis Whitaker/Michael Palumbo - [second piece, edit]

This new series is an initiative by the collaboratively-minded Michael Palumbo, bringing some electronic experimentation to the east end. It was also a bit of a social experiment and a step "out"-ward for host Hirut Restaurant, but, at least for this initial outing, a successful one, drawing a nice crowd. Palumbo, with his modular synth, participated in the first set, alongside Glen Hall (soprano sax + processing) and Curtis Whitaker (percussion). Random singalongs notwithstanding, there were some pleasing zones explored here.

[As with all things in these extraordinary times, upcoming shows are suspended in the exercise of social distancing. Keep an eye out on the series' FB page for news of its reappearance.]

Recording: Pentchev/Palumbo/Craig

Artist: Dimitar Pentchev/Michael Palumbo/Brittany Craig

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 80), February 8, 2020.

Dimitar Pentchev/Michael Palumbo/Brittany Craig - [first piece]

Another one of those unlikely combinations that Audiopollination is so good at facilitating, this set mixed saxophone and piano with modular synth in a surprisingly-simpatico way. Michael Palumbo is quite interested in using his modular setup as a less-intrusive background element when interacting with acoustic instruments and picks his moments carefully here. Meanwhile, Pentchev's piano work was pleasingly off-kilter — in this segment you can hear one of his ping pong balls bouncing off the piano's strings and tap-tap-tapping as it rolls across the floor.

You can also check out some visual documentation of this set over on the Audiopollination youtube channel:

[Michael Palumbo is exploring some community-friendly electronic vibes at his east-end Exit Points series, which will return to Hirut restaurant on Monday, March 23rd. Audiopollination returns to Array Space on Saturday, March 14th with another self-curated night including sounds from Rick Sacks/John Oswald/David Sait, Nicholas Cooper/Del Stephen/Kalia Lenaghan, Ryan Kinney and Avant-Gardeners, and Tiina Kiik/David Story/styrofoamNosebleedPrincess.]

Recording: Whittaker/Gunduz/Palumbo

Artist: Curtis Whittaker/Esin Gunduz/Michael Palumbo

Song: [edited excerpt]

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

Curtis Whittaker/Esin Gunduz/Michael Palumbo - [edited excerpt]

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. Esin Gunduz's vocalisations danced around Curtis Whittaker's percussion in this set, while Michael Palumbo (exhibiting his prize-winning gourd) added background textures from his modular synth, some triggered by Whittaker's kickdrum.

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: Michael Palumbo & Glen Hall

Artist: Michael Palumbo & Glen Hall

Song: [edited excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #54), September 3, 2019.

Michael Palumbo & Glen Hall - [edited excerpt]

A doubly-exciting offering here, not only for a chance at a first encounter with Michael Palumbo, a local sound artist who is interested in using his modular setup to explore space rather than fill it, but also to welcome back saxophonist and sound-shaper Glen Hall. The latter was doing some laptop sound manipulations of his own as well as feeling signal to Palumbo as they created a hazy zone that suggested half-remembered sounds.

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (November 5th) with sets from Naomi McCarroll-Butler & Patrick Smith, Sonja and Joe Sorbara's birthday combo featuring Andrew Furlong, Bea Labikova and Chris Pruden.]