Recording: Rapport

Artist: Rapport

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Workman Arts – Main Hall (Long Winter 7.4), February 9, 2019.

Rapport - unknown

With its multiple floors, cavernous halls, creaky stairwells and peeling-paint grandeur, Workman Arts might be the closest thing Long Winter has found to its old home at the pre-restoration Great Hall. Tina Weymouth's stage presence in Stop Making Sense should have inspired the formation of more bands, but thankfully we have this one. The only thing not to love about this group is that they are still keeping their music mostly on stage, with just a single track up on their bandcamp. But their live show (with Stephen "Omhouse" Foster sitting in on drums this time out) remains packed to the brim with infectiously joyful energy — if their lyrical invocations of "freedom" might seem ripped from the song playing over the end credits dance scene in the 80's teen flick of your choice, it's always completely lived in and never just a pastiche. Complete with a "bark-in" to begin, this song teeters on the brink of falling apart about two-thirds of the way through, but it still manages to to elicit plenty of joy, whether or not it evokes, say, the backing vox from The Go-Betweens' "Streets of Your Town" and the sequencer chug of a Game Theory track.

[Rapport will be playing a Pop Montreal showcase at The Baby G on Saturday, May 11th with Lydia Kepinski, Hanorah and Casey MQ.]

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

Recording: Omhouse

Artist: Omhouse

Songs: Aurock + No Words

Recorded at The Garrison (Wavelength Winter Festival 18 – Night 3), February 18, 2018.

Omhouse - Aurock

Omhouse - No Words

This year's Wavelength birthday celebration was more restrained than usual, sticking to one venue for three nights and having no extra daytime activities. That left the work of transforming the events to something more than just a "regular" night at a show to scene-setters like General Chaos and Roxanne Ignatius. The festival's final night was the most musically eclectic, the acts connected by an exploratory thread.

Although still celebrating the release of their debut long-player, Steven Foster's Omhouse project has been at it for several years now. There's an aesthetic at work here — and one that's matured over the time the band's been active — where the songs don't feel like hooky l'il rockers so much as pieces from a rather "quirky" musical, filled with complicated chords and flute solos (the latter courtesy of keyboardist Anh Phung). Those signifiers might explain why the group is getting tagged with hyphenated prog labels, but on stage this is still a rock'n'roll band, laughing at itself with astonishment as it careens through the changes.

[Omhouse will be playing at Feast in the East's 7-year anniversary celebration (at Jam Factory on Saturday, May 5th) alongside Gary Wilson, Bernice and Cindy Lee. The next Wavelength Festival is already on the distant horizon, with Camp Wavelength once more contained to the mainland and landing at Garrison Common on August 18th and 19th. Meanwhile, the next few monthly shows, co-productions (as well as a cool Toronto Post-Punk in the Early '80s Music Talk) are all announced.]

Recording: Omhouse

Artist: Omhouse

Song: The Best

Recorded at SummerWorks Festival – S--------- Studio Theatre (Failure Fest), August 9, 2014.

Omhouse - The Best

Full review to follow. Omhouse frontman Steven Foster used to play alongside Carmen Elle in Donlands + Mortimer, so it was no surprise to see him get the call to get the night started at this show. While this set wouldn't include any of the theatrics that would be incorporated into Army Girls' tour de force, it was a chance to highlight Foster's quickly-growing songbook and slightly-off-kilter pop sensibility, with sneaky hooks jabbing at you from unexpected angles — as learned from his professed influences Fred Penner and Bruce Cockburn.

Recording: Donlands + Mortimer

Artist: Donlands + Mortimer

Song: So Wary

Recorded at The Drake Underground ("Elvis Monday: Dorian's Birthday"), January 6, 2014.

Donlands + Mortimer - So Wary

Full review to follow. Taking a stage a year to the day since their last gig, D+M's appearance (at Austra bassist Dorian Wolf's birthday celebration) felt like a reunion for friends who are often spread out across the globe these days supporting their many other projects. That low-intensity level of activity is, however, disproportionate to the quality of the material here — there's songs in the repertoire on a par with anything else you might hear from Steven Foster (of Omhouse) and Carmen Elle (of DIANA/Army Girls).

Recording: Snowblink

Artist: Snowblink

Songs: Pray For Surf + I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) [Whitney Houston cover]

Recorded at BLK BOX (SummerWorks Festival), August 14, 2013.

Snowblink - Pray For Surf

Snowblink - I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)

Full review to follow. The Music Series at this year's SummerWorks festival is placing a greater emphasis on creating one-of-a-kind events. Snowblink's "Original Touch" made the band's songs unique by placing a veritable who's who of local musicians throughout the crowd, spacializing the musical accents on each tune. It also transformed from sit-down show to slow-dance party with this closing Whitney Houston cover.

Recording: Donlands + Mortimer

Artist: Donlands + Mortimer

Song: Too Much

Recorded at The Drake Underground, January 6, 2013.

Donlands + Mortimer - Too Much

Full review to follow. With co-vocalists Carmen Elle and Steven Foster having a very busy year with some of their other projects, it was no surprise to see D+M becoming a little less active. Nice, then, to see them on stage celebrating the release of their New Mythology album, and playing most of its songs. One sign of how much respect the band is viewed with is that there was a full room for this Sunday-night show that was only announced a few days prior. They might not be playing at a more frequent rate coming up, but at least there's the album to keep them in our minds. (Available as a download card at the show, one presumes that it will be going live on their bandcamp page presently.)

Recording: Moon King

Artist: Moon King

Song: Icarus^*

Recorded at Double Double Land, August 24, 2012.

Moon King - Icarus

Full review to follow. Celebrating the release of the Obsession I 12", this was a night to really take stock of how much this project has progressed. From the start, Daniel Woodhead and Maddy Wilde were creating some infectious fun on stage, but the development from the duo to the earlier band alignment to the current four-piece (backed by Steven Foster and Sexy Merlin, who each took an opening set on the night) is something exciting to consider. This was the sort of gig where gear kept getting unplugged and cymbals flying off, so it was no surprise that it ended in the dark with the power getting blown. What was surprising was how the crowd and band joined together for a blackout singalong on "I Found a Body" to finish the night off.

^* At the time of this show, this song was listed on the setlist as "Dutch".