Recording: The Luyas

Artist: The Luyas

Songs: Beating Bowser + Bucky's (2 Hours) Late

Recorded at Longboat Hall (Camp Wavelength – Night 3), August 20, 2017.

The Luyas - Beating Bowser

The Luyas - Bucky's (2 Hours) Late

Since 2009, the summer Wavelength festival has been a highlight of the season, slowing down the hectic "festival experience" to an Island pace and making the whole thing as much about the vibe and the location as the (always well-curated) music. When this spring's floods shut the Island down, there was a ripple of apprehension from many quarters at the loss of favourite summer hangs, culminating in the festival decamping to the mainland. The WL crew did an excellent job in emulating the festival experience in the outdoor/daytime portion, but it was harder to feel the same sense of relaxation and freedom in a bar.

When I see Montréal's The Luyas every couple years or so, it always turns out that I like them a bunch more than I remember. Over their last couple releases, it also sounds like they've gotten a bit groovier, which made this a less moody set than I recall getting from the band. Perhaps it was that Singer/guitarist Jessie Stein left her Moodswinger at home — in any case, for her part, she was in a cheerful mood, confessing that "there was a point in my life, when I was quite a bit younger, where my goal in life was to play Wavelength."

Recording: Dan Misha Goldman

Artist: Dan Misha Goldman

Song: Hollywood, Jerusalem

Recorded at Sherbourne Common (Camp Wavelength – Day 2), August 20, 2017.

Dan Misha Goldman - Hollywood, Jerusalem

Since 2009, the summer Wavelength festival has been a highlight of the season, slowing down the hectic "festival experience" to an Island pace and making the whole thing as much about the vibe and the location as the (always well-curated) music. When this spring's floods shut the Island down, there was a ripple of apprehension from many quarters at the loss of favourite summer hangs, culminating in the festival decamping to the mainland.

There's been a number of WL events that have taken place at spots that've been overtaken by the city's voracious development, so it was a pleasant change to be in a new space — one's that's still not fully integrated into the city and that is going to be around for a while. With a wall of almost-completed condos along the park's east side, Sherbourne Common isn't going to be hosting too many festivals in summers to come, so hopefully some of Camp Wavelength's energy will remain imprinted on the space. Meanwhile, with the water glistening in the background and a sense of isolation from the city proper, this did a really superb job of capturing the feel of a show on the Islands. (Plus there was the bonus of the awesome slapback echo bouncing back from the new buildings surrounding the park.)

It's been some time since I had seen Dan Goldman performing his own songs. Back in the day, his Luxury Pond solo-ish project would often overlap and intertwine with another solo-ish project called Snowblink — and then that became the proverbial winning horse to back. So it's nice to see him once more in the spotlight (and reverting to his own name) with this year's Champion of the Afterworld, whose list of contributors hints that this is indeed akin to a shadow-self version of Snowblink. Live, Goldman led a trio this time out, backed by Stefan Schneider (who'd also be playing the festival later in the day with The Luyas) on percussion and Johnny Spence on synth, adding just the right sort of ethereal washes hovering over the songs like aurorae borealis.

[Dan Misha Goldman will be playing alongside Michael Feuerstack, Gianna Lauren and Paper Beat Scissors as part of the Forward Music Group's 10 Year Anniversary celebration at The Baby G on Thursday, October 12th.]

Recording: Sarah Neufeld

Artist: Sarah Neufeld

Song: The Ridge

Recorded at The Music Gallery (X Avant XI – Night 3), October 15, 2016.

Sarah Neufeld - The Ridge

Sarah Neufeld's solo work — blown up to widescreen proportions on her second album The Ridge — reflects on aspects she's approached in other projects, including the Arcade Fire's pop aspirations and Bell Orchestre's post-rock bombast while stripping things back to her primary instruments of violin and voice. That was boosted here with percussion work from fellow Bell Orchestre member (and former Luya) Stefan Schneider, which added some drive to the bulk of the set. Echo and other effects took advantage of the MG's church setting, building up into some tasteful swells before releasing the crowd with a lullaby.