Recording: Secret Wars

Artist: Secret Wars

Song: Four Humours

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, September 6, 2019.

Secret Wars - Four Humours

Plenty veteran savvy and discipline in this quartet — no surprise given that three-quarters of this band were playing together in Parts Unknown back in the '90's. With wired-up tension ready to snap and Derek Westerholm's boy-with-the-perpetual-nervousness frontman tics you could pick your postpunk signifiers (I get a bit of Mission of Burma buzz from this one, for example) and know that the band has come by 'em honestly. There's heaps of local underground rock history represented in this group, and they wear it extremely well.

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight with Colin Fisher

Songs: Melodies of the Fall #3 [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), September 4, 2019.

Ghostlight - Melodies of the Fall #3 [excerpt 1]

Ghostlight - Melodies of the Fall #3 [excerpt 2]

After his entrancing solo set to start this night, Colin Fisher stayed on the crowded stage area to sit in with Ghostlight as they brought out a new set of four loosely-structured jams.

[Ghostlight will be playing tonight (November 3rd) at Handlebar for Nite Comfort. (Khôra will be performing as well.)]

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight

Song: I Can Wade Grief [lyrics based on a Emily Dickinson poem]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), March 7, 2018.

Ghostlight - I Can Wade Grief

An evening of psychedelic poetries from the Ghostlights this time around, using found texts (including this one from Dickinson) and some power tools to give shape to their sprawling, exploratory songs.

[Ghostlight are playing seasonally in the Southern Cross this year; their next show will be on Wednesday, June 6th.]

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight

Song: Macaroni Field [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Wolf's Nacho Wednesdays), June 1, 2016.

Ghostlight - Macaroni Field [excerpt]

This latest from Ghostlight is something of a work in progress (to what extent depends on which member of the group you speak to) and continues on their recent streak of ambitious, prolific work. Unlike the interactive art of Winter Womb or fog machine spectacle of Future Progress, this is (at least so far) less visually flashy but delves deeper into its concept lyrically.

Examining the life of local boxing great George Chuvalo, this takes a novelistic approach, flashing forward and back through his life — from his childhood in The Junction to the tragedy of losing his family — in a series of "rounds" punctuated by a boxing ring bell. In retrospect, in the light of the passing of his Greatest opponent, this taking-stock felt even more vital and necessary. There's a lot of fertile material here, and room to extend the central boxing ring metaphor, so keep an eye out to see where the crew takes this piece.

[Ghostlight will return to the Tranzac's Nacho Wednesdays — curated by Healing Power's Wolfgang — on August 3rd. And otherwise there's good music on offer (and nacho platters for sale!) every Wednesday.]

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight

Song: Rocketship Spaceship Starship

Recorded at Dundas Video (Track Could Bend #5), August 4, 2015.

Ghostlight - Rocketship Spaceship Starship

Exploring some further Future Progress, the Ghostlight collective obscured the room in fog, only their helmet-lamps — oh, and their wall of noise — piercing through. Floating on top of it all was Micheal Baumgart's poetry, providing the vibe for each piece before it build up into a squall that got heavier than things were last time around.

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight

Song: The Lost Trail

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 22), June 7, 2015.

Ghostlight - The Lost Trail

You might not have noticed, but Ghostlight are on a roll right now, revitalized and pumping out sounds'n'ideas at a commendable pace. After a period of relative quietude they have a lot to get out their system, and every show is coming with a whole new visual concept — and the past couple shows have doubled as the release party for an EP of the tunes they performed that night. This special presentation at Nite Comfort saw them bringing some Future Progress — containing sonic settings for Michael Baumgart's poetry on the musical side, while filling the bar with fog to craft a visual spectacle that can best be described, as, ah, ghost light. Wonderfully inventive, and a reminder that you don't need a huge budget to do something really creative.

[Nite Comfort is also on a roll, and their next couple shows stand to be pretty great events. Sunday, July 5th will being a night of dark ambient stylings from Northumbria and F A V X.]

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight

Song: The Winter Womb [excerpt]

Recorded at Wavelength Pop Up @ Huntclub Studio (Wavelength 640), February 1, 2015.

Ghostlight - The Winter Womb [excerpt]

It'd been awhile since I saw free-range psych collective Ghostlight in action, so it was a thrill to see them taking on perhaps the most ambitious project I've seen 'em tackle. The Winter Womb was ambiguously billed as "a multi-media performance evoking the darkness of Arctic hysteria evolving into the midnight sun". That turned out to involve streamers and balloons acting as a broken screen for abstract projections, as well as an action painting component. The latter was used not only in the fabrication of CD covers that were distributed to the audience at the show's end, but also as part of the soundworld, with the clank of paint brushes against metal bowls being looped as a percussive element. The piece mostly involved slowly-building ambiance, emerging from the "womb" with a driving krautrock jam before finishing with a version of "I Just Feel Fine" by Ghostlight's alter-ego band Mean Red Spiders. Excellent stuff, and hopefully the band will find an opportunity to re-mount this performance.

Recording: Bong Water

Artist: Bong Water

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Bellvue Square Park (All Toronto's Parties 2), May 24, 2014.

Bong Water - unknown

Full review to follow. The first ATP show brought together bands selected by five different live music purveyors in a cool mix'n'match marathon. Upping the ante, the follow-up not only threw together some one-off recombinant bands, but also took its daytime sets to the streets and shops of Kensington market.

Sprawled out on a blanket at the west end of the park — over by Al Waxman — this combination of HVYWTR and Skull Bong managed to integrate themselves into the environment rather than imposing themselves on it. Playing quietly enough not to overpower the park's other patrons, this was a sort of general outdoor ambient field. Both of these groups are fairly flexible in the sorts of sounds they can generate, but this hewed a bit closer to HVYWTR's abstract dancefloor-isms than Skull Bong's hazy bricolages.

You can also check out some more pictures from the day on the MFS facebook page.

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

Recording: Skull Bong

Artist: Skull Bong

Song: Master Blaster [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), February 8, 2014.

Skull Bong - Master Blaster [excerpt]

Full review to follow. WHO RUNS BARTERTOWN? The powers-that-be did their best to suppress this music, but a single copy has made its way out. If you want to know what Skull Bong sounds like, hold this image in your mind: Skull Bong is like a stick of incense whose burnt end melts the compact disc it was affixed to to catch the ash — the sweet smell gives way to some acrid chemical stench and you wonder to yourself if you are going to get brain tumours. (It also sometimes sounds like this.)

Recording: Skull Bong

Artist: Skull Bong

Song: excerpt

Recorded at The Tranzac (Healing Power Festive Fest), December 15, 2012.

Skull Bong - excerpt

Full review to follow. Healing Power is as much a vibe and a community spirit as it is a record label. Returning to their origins in the Tranzac, this night brought together friends in bands new and old for a holiday celebration at the opposite solstice to their picnics.

The night got started with an extended set from noise-soundscapists Skull Bong, who filled the Tiki Room with some sounds at the more genteel end of their spectrum.

You can check out some more photos of the night at the MFS Facebook page.

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight

Song: The Door of No Return [excerpt]

Recorded at The Magpie Taproom (The Door of No Return Residency – week 1), July 4, 2012.

Ghostlight - The Door of No Return [excerpt]

Full review to follow. A very satisfying night out for the beginning of Ghostslight's July residency at The Magpie. They'll be there every Wednesday, and it's worth checking out. Next week features a set from Not the Wind, Not the Flag, who are simply one of the city's best bands, plus some other surprises are promised.

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Garrison (ELEVEN: The Wavelength 11th Anniversary Festival), February 20, 2011.

Ghostlight - unknown

My notes for this set can be found here.

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

Recording: Mean Red Spiders

Artist: Mean Red Spiders

Song: Shiny Skin

Recorded at The Garrison (Wavelength 511), December 2, 2010.

Mean Red Spiders - Shiny Skin

My notes for this set can be found here.

Recording: Mean Red Spiders

Artist: Mean Red Spiders

Song: I Just Feel Fine

Recorded at The Garrison (Wavelength 511), December 2, 2010.

Mean Red Spiders - I Just Feel Fine

Full review to follow My notes for this set can be found here — this new CD celebratin' set had a slightly less abrasive undertone than when I've heard MRS in the past, but it felt fine.

Recording: Mean Red Spiders

Artist: Mean Red Spiders

Song: Some Things

Recorded at The Garrison (Wavelength 500 – Night 5), February 14, 2010.

Mean Red Spiders - Some Things

My notes for this gig can be found here.

Recording: Ghostlight

Artist: Ghostlight

Song: Gibraltar Point Lighthouse Piece [excerpt]

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (ALL CAPS! Island Show), October 17, 2009.

Ghostlight - Gibraltar Point Lighthouse Piece

My notes for this set can be found here.

Recording: Mean Red Spiders

Artist: Mean Red Spiders

Song: Azimuth of Panama^*

Recorded at The Silver Dollar, August 1, 2009.

Mean Red Spiders - Azimuth of Panama

My notes from this set can be found here.

^* Thanks to Henry's dad for filling in the title for this one.