Recording: Pursuit Grooves

Artist: Pursuit Grooves

Songs: Hair Raising + Principal Thrill

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 75), January 5, 2020.

Pursuit Grooves - Hair Raising

Pursuit Grooves - Principal Thrill

A next-level set from Vanese Smith saw her offering up a full-spectrum AV experience encapsulating the themes and sounds of her new Bess album. A tribute to Bessie Coleman (1892-1926), the first Black American female pilot, the set included some well-designed immersive visuals, putting the audience right in the cockpit of Coleman's Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny". These recordings don't do a great job of relating the excitement of the whole package (Smith's music, as always was spot on) but there was a new sense of narrative/visual unity within the set, a full-on project that sees Smith soaring as joyfully as her inspiration.

[The future of Nite Comfort — and its home venue Handlebar — remain up in the air right now, so you might consider heading down there tonight (February 2nd) to celebrate the community Nite Comfort has built and hear some sounds from Annacetaminophen and New Tendencies.]

Recording: Autotectonic

Artist: Autotectonic

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 75), January 5, 2020.

Autotectonic - unknown

Cayce Fischer's solo electronic project saw her undertake a trip through several cosmic zones in the course of this set. Song-sized segments added a sense of structure, but there was always a feel of questing experimentalism keeping things from feeling over-controlled.

[The future of Nite Comfort — and its home venue Handlebar — remain up in the air right now, so you might consider heading down there tonight (February 2nd) to celebrate the community Nite Comfort has built and hear some sounds from Annacetaminophen and New Tendencies.]

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

Recording: C.R. Gillespie

Artist: C.R. Gillespie

Songs: two unknown titles^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 74), December 1, 2019.

C.R. Gillespie - unknown

A bit of heaviness was in the air on this night with news freshly-circulating that Kensington's Handlebar had been sold, leaving the communities that have gathered there in limbo — even more of a shock as Nite Comfort's Aaron Dawson had just announced Leucrocuta's Laura Dickens as a new co-curator, bringing fresh energy and ideas to the series. At this writing, the future is unclear, as there have been some indications that the new owners plan to keep the venue "as is" rather than institute any wholesale changes — but nothing is written in stone. (Keep an eye out on Nite Comfort's FB group for further dispatches, and get out and support the series while you can.)

Previously best known in these parts as the bassist in local rock unit Greys, Colin Roy Gillespie has been expanding his practice as an ambient soundscapist for the past couple years. With pastoral field recordings and planetarium-worthy drift, there's a lot of spaciousness to his work, but also a firm sense of compositional shaping.

[Nite Comfort will be back at Handlebar on Sunday, February 2nd!]

^* Does anyone know the title(s) to this/these? (I think it's one piece that segues into a second.) Please leave a comment!

Recording: Colin Fisher

Artist: Colin Fisher

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 74), December 1, 2019.

Colin Fisher - [excerpt, part 1]

Colin Fisher - [excerpt, part 2]

A bit of heaviness was in the air on this night with news freshly-circulating that Kensington's Handlebar had been sold, leaving the communities that have gathered there in limbo — even more of a shock as Nite Comfort's Aaron Dawson had just announced Leucrocuta's Laura Dickens as a new co-curator, bringing fresh energy and ideas to the series. At this writing, the future is unclear, as there have been some indications that the new owners plan to keep the venue "as is" rather than institute any wholesale changes — but nothing is written in stone. (Keep an eye out on Nite Comfort's FB group for further dispatches, and get out and support the series while you can.)

This had been a snowy/rainy/ice pellet-y day, but not too bad by eveningtime — and definitely not the worst I've trudged through to see Colin Fisher play. In the spirit of the series, this was Fisher at his most "electronic", using a deep knowledge of his pedalboard to create a wide range of textures and sonic manipulations, the guitar rippling and pinging and the saxophone bubbling, buzzing and speaking in multiple voices at once. Plus, the mind-expanding textures were enhanced by Ilyse Krivel's live visuals, colours and patterns melting across the screen and the musician in front of it.

[Colin Fisher will be playing tonight (Tuesday, January 14th) at Wenona Lodge, alongside Mark Zurawinksi, Mike DeiCont and Andrew Furlong. Nite Comfort will be back at Handlebar on Sunday, February 2nd!]

Recording: Processor

Artist: Processor

Song: Sea Side

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 60), October 7, 2018.

Processor - Sea Side

Celebrating the release of their new Sea Side album, M. Joakim and Lorenz Peter played the whole thing front to back, including a track or two that won't be in their regular live sets. The album explores their chosen terrain from different perspectives — from noisy winter storms to pleasant summer excursions.

Nite Comfort will be back at Handlebar on Sunday, December 2nd, celebrating an album release from deep sludge-drone explorers Northumbria (plus a set from Subterranea as well).

Recording: Memorex

Artist: Memorex

Song: Self-Discipline

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 60), October 7, 2018.

Memorex - Self-Discipline

Streamlining things from the trio format that I last saw, this new phase for Memorex saw founder David Lush taking the stage on his own, surrounded by a floor full of synths. Adding bass and vocals while keeping synth sequences and drum machines from going off the rails contributed to the sense of tension and paranoia often evident in his songs — plus, it's always more entertaining when the audience gets the sense that things could veer out of control at any second.

Nite Comfort will be back at Handlebar on Sunday, December 2nd, celebrating an album release from deep sludge-drone explorers Northumbria (plus a set from Subterranea as well).

Recording: Dame Cook

Artist: Dame Cook

Song: [first piece, in two parts]^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 59), September 2, 2018.

Dame Cook - [first piece, part 1]

Dame Cook - [first piece, part 2]

A charming night out at Nite Comfort that offered, as they say, both kinds of music (that is to say, electronic and electroacoustic). Playing violin — at times held like a dowsing rod — Dame Cook entered into a mysterious forest for some explorations. American Standard Trio bandmate Danny Sheahan added support on laptop manipulations (as well as duet vox on a closing cover of Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up").

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

Recording: Carlo Conda

Artist: Carlo Conda

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 59), September 2, 2018.

Carlo Conda - unknown

A charming night out at Nite Comfort that offered, as they say, both kinds of music (that is to say, electronic and electroacoustic). Carlo Kinda offered the former with some spare and pleasingly hand-crafted synth studies that drifted between cuts like a sort of ambient mixtape.

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

Recording: Mikrosleep

Artist: Mikrosleep

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 58), August 5, 2018.

Mikrosleep - unknown

The artist's statement at the outset of this set was that the visualizations were derived from "training AI's to feel pain" — a concept fairly evident in some footage of computer-generated stick-figures being put in the path of all sorts of peril (falling off cliffs, running into each other, attempting impossible leaps, etc.). The music had a similar scientific rigour to it as well, often seemingly holding certain variables in place while investigating the impact of changing other parameters one at a time.

[Nite Comfort is back at Handlebar in a couple weeks (Sunday, October 7th), with a huge night celebrating Processor's new album and a set from Memorex as well.]

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

Recording: Senior Beatbox

Artist: Senior Beatbox

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 58), August 5, 2018.

Senior Beatbox - unknown

Sporting a bandana and a table full of gear, Savino M. conducted some lo-fi synth symphonies. This opening section had a very tasty planetarium groove, but things took a less-celestial turn after that with some widdly bleepbloop sountracks to detached montages of apartment buildings and other urban inhabitants on the video sceen behind him.

[Nite Comfort is back at Handlebar in a couple weeks (Sunday, October 7th), with a huge night celebrating Processor's new album and a set from Memorex as well.]

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

Recording: Kalte

Artist: Kalte

Song: Offworld [edited excerpt]^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 50), November 5, 2017.

Kalte - Offworld [edited excerpt]

It's a real achievement for a monthly experimental music series to reach its fiftieth instalment, so huge props to Aaron Dawson and everyone else who has brought Nite Comfort to life. The event was celebrated with contrasting sets of ambient drift and chilldown beats. The former was provided by Deane Hughes and Rik MacLean, who offered some bugscratches and glacierscrapes in the vein of their Bailey Sessions recording.

[Start off your 2018 right with Nite Comfort at Handlebar on Sunday, January 7th. Details coming soon!]

^* Thanks to the band for passing along the title to this one!

Recording: Hybrid Frequency

Artist: Hybrid Frequency

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 47), August 6, 2017.

Hybrid Frequency - [excerpt]

Fresh from a South American tour, Syd Ortega took to the darkness of the floor in front of the stage at Handlebar to offer some drones transitioning to controlled feedback bursts.

Recording: Stargoon

Artist: Stargoon

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 47), August 6, 2017.

Stargoon - [excerpt]

After a debut performance at one of Simcoe County's premiere hippie festivals, Stargoon returned to a more natural environment in the city. A quartet this time 'round, with drummer Luca Capone and synth/pedal troublemaker Joe Strutt joined by Moonwood's Jakob Rehlinger (producer of the band's forthcoming Arachnidiscs split tape) on bass as well as Matthew Fava on SuperCollider and AUMI software plus manipulated human voice. It felt satisfying up on stage, with a nice mix of simmering grooves and some more textured stretches. It even earned some scattered applause from the crowd. Further Stargoon adventures to follow, including the release of that aforementioned split tape with Moonwood.

You can check out the full recording of the set over on bandcamp:

[photo by Aaron Dawson.]

Recording: NAVI

Artist: NAVI

Songs: Granular/Neptune's Descent^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 46), July 2, 2017.

NAVI - Granular/Neptune's Descent

The project brought one of the more elaborate stage setups that I've ever seen at Nite Comfort, with various musical workstations surrounded by the some oversized glowing beacon lights. Performing mostly as a duo, Justin Huang Ford (keyb, guit) and Matthew Romerein (synth, electronics) were joined for part of the set by Patricia Joong. Creating enveloping atmospheres, the set moved from science lab wubble-wobble to post-apocalyptic spaghetti western sounds — live, the echo-y twang was more front and centre than on their recent EP.

[Nite Comfort returns to Handlebar on Sunday, August 6th, with sets from Hybrid Frequency and Stargoon.]

^* Thanks to Justin for passing along the titles to these!

Recording: ~peace : will austin

Artist: ~peace : will austin

Song: [excerpt from first section]^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 46), July 2, 2017.

~peace : will austin - [excerpt from first section]

This solo turn from Will Austin saw him armed with a full-sized keyboard, guitar, sequencer and sundry other flashing light doodads, from which he constructed an off-kilter wander through some folktronic byways. Unafraid to crank up his vocal effects to a slightly goofy zone while creating his tracks on the fly, this had the silly/serious vibe of a clown walking on a tightrope with no trampoline underneath.

[Nite Comfort returns to Handlebar on Sunday, August 6th, with sets from Hybrid Frequency and Stargoon.]

^* Will has passed along that this was an untitled piece — and that you can listen to/download his recording of his full set over at the Free Music Archive.

Recording: Tenderness

Artist: Tenderness

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 41), February 5, 2016.

Tenderness - unknown

Playing a handful of tunes, Chrissy Reichert's set made her previous batch of (still-unreleased) tunes feel old hat. Slowing down and simmering in the groove, this was gorgeous stuff and a reminder that any time you get a chance to see her play is a de facto special occasion.

[Nite Comfort returns to Handlebar tomorrow night (March 5th) with sets from Agencies and Senior Beatbox.]

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

Recording: David Sharpe

Artist: David Sharpe

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 41), February 5, 2016.

David Sharpe - unknown

David Sharpe brought a big pile of keyb and sequencer-type things (but no laptop), playing song-length chunks of pleasing synthronic vibes and wandering into 80's Tangerine Dream soundtrack territory. My understanding is that this is a new-ish solo endeavour — so far there's just a couple soundcloud tracks for you to chew on.

[Nite Comfort returns to Handlebar tomorrow night (March 5th) with sets from Agencies and Senior Beatbox.]

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

Recording: Squelcher

Artist: Squelcher

Song: SyncHol^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 40), December 4, 2016.

Squelcher - SyncHol

This edition of the Nite welcomed a crew from out Boston way and many, many wires to the stage. Besides two sets of modular synth tastiness, perhaps the most satisfying element was the live visual synthesis performed by Christopher Konopka, mixing analog signals to create evolving patterns projected behind the musicians. This set saw John Perotti and Matt Reed hunched behind some excitingly-large consoles. There was a hint of tangerine dreaminess as their sounds built up, but also signs that their musical conceptions include some knowledge of dancefloor mechanics. Those were more abstracted here, one more layer amongst vaguely-distant vocal samples and no shortage of, er, squelchy sounds.

[Nite Comfort took January off, but returns to Handlebar on Sunday, February 5th.]

^* Thanks to the band for passing along the title to this one!

Recording: Prone

Artist: Prone

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 40), December 4, 2016.

Prone - unknown

This edition of the Nite welcomed a crew from out Boston way and many, many wires to the stage. Besides two sets of modular synth tastiness, perhaps the most satisfying element was the live visual synthesis performed by Christopher Konopka, mixing analog signals to create evolving patterns projected behind the musicians. Tim Davison's set was more like a flowing topographical journey than a series of songs, starting and ending with crawling, menacing gazowps and bleepblopblurps — the best parts here were prone by vibe as well as name.

[Nite Comfort took January off, but returns to Handlebar on Sunday, February 5th.]

^* Does anyone know if this section has a title? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Johan Seaton

Artist: Johan Seaton

Songs: [two sections]

Recorded at Handlebar (Nite Comfort 38), October 2, 2016.

Johan Seaton - [section 3]

Johan Seaton - [section 4]

Armed with a laptop and some mysterious outboard effects, Johan Seaton created a very cool (yet austere) audiovisual spectacle, splitscreen patterns agitating on the big screen behind him as he manipulated the sounds. Sonically, this was slyly musical, with accreting glitchsounds that would reveal themselves to be more than just percussive noisebursts. Later in the set, as Seaton kicked up the bass, the whole room became an electroacoustic shitwave installation as the walls and ceiling overhangs started to vibrate.

[November's Nite Comfort is taking place on Sunday (November 6th) at Handlebar, with sets from Moon McMullen and Xuan Ye/APA. KOJA, Seaton's duo project with Kaya Dacosta, will be playing at Burdock on Monday, November 7th alongside New Chance and SlowPitchSound.]