Recording: Ben Mike & Owen Kurtz

Artist: Ben Mike & Owen Kurtz

Song: [last section]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #115), April 7, 2026.

Ben Mike & Owen Kurtz - [last section]

The origins of this set reach back a year to TCB #103, which was co-presented with the Ministry of Phonic Services, and where Owen Kurtz was originally slated to perform before having to reschedule. The fullness of time has allowed this presentation of a first-ever performance from this pair of friends, with keyboardist Ben Mike abutting Kurtz's electronics. A bit like listening to Debussy while sending a fax, the pair evoked a saturated soundworld with strange hums, buzzings, and tapes alongside the pianistic sounds.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, May 5th) with sets from the rest (Joe Sorbara & Jonathan Kay), Wobbly + John Oswald, and Red Trillium. Ben Mike will be convening an appearance of his must-see large ensemble The Beatles at Dina's Tavern on Thursday, May 14th. Owen Kurtz will be performing as a member of Del Stephen's Furtherances (alongside Ghost Variables and Woolworm, Ontario) in the Tranzac's Living Room on Friday, May 15th.]

Recording: Brian Abbott & Paul Newman

Artist: Brian Abbott & Paul Newman

Song: [2nd piece]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #115), April 7, 2026.

Brian Abbott & Paul Newman - [2nd piece]

Feeling some alienation from their instruments and their compositions, a year or so ago longtime friends Brian Abbott (guitar) and Paul Newman (soprano sax) decided to go back to first principles and began meeting weekly to improvise together. This set showed off the shared space they have been able to reclaim, finding new ways to reach expansion and resonation from their point(s) of origin.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, May 5th) with sets from the rest (Joe Sorbara & Jonathan Kay), Wobbly + John Oswald, and Red Trillium. Paul Newman will be performing as a member of Del Stephen's Furtherances (alongside Ghost Variables and Woolworm, Ontario) in the Tranzac's Living Room on Friday, May 15th.]

Recording: Tap slap wind and light

Artist: Tap slap wind and light

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #114), March 3, 2026.

Tap slap wind and light - [excerpt]

When invited to breing something to TCB, Patrick Lefler invented this assemblage of all of the things in the band's moniker: tap dancing, "slapped" guitar, bass clarinet, vocals, balloons, and shadow puppetry. Add in plenty of space echo and set the whole thing off to drift and sprawl and stretch out its limbs a little.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday, May 5th with sets from the rest (Joe Sorbara & Jonathan Kay), Wobbly + John Oswald, and Red Trillium (Andrew Finlay Stewart, Matt Nguyen and Justin Caporuscio).]

Recording: Bill Gilliam

Artist: Bill Gilliam

Song: The owl watches us swim naked

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #114), March 3, 2026.

Bill Gilliam - The owl watches us swim naked

Bill Gilliam is well known for his work on piano (with and without preparations), but taking to heart the series' invitation to experiment a little with gear/content/technique he brought a rare set of electronic and electroacoustic sounds. With some deep soundscapes courtesy of an MPC, he presented some "imaginary familiars" with prerecorded poetry, a wordless story of an owl with some excellent radiophonic sound design, and a spaceward search for future paths.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday, May 5th with sets from the rest (Joe Sorbara & Jonathan Kay), Wobbly + John Oswald, and Red Trillium (Andrew Finlay Stewart, Matt Nguyen and Justin Caporuscio).]

Recording: Scallions

Artist: Scallions

Song: [2nd piece]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #114), March 3, 2026.

Scallions - [2nd piece]

This paid have been making explorations in improvised shredding for a little while now, but this was their first time out with their tangy band name.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday, May 5th with sets from the rest (Joe Sorbara & Jonathan Kay), Wobbly + John Oswald, and Red Trillium (Andrew Finlay Stewart, Matt Nguyen and Justin Caporuscio).]

Recording: OH GEE

Artist: OH GEE

Song: [1st piece, excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #113), February 3, 2026.

OH GEE - [1st piece, excerpt]

This duo has only performed in public once previously, but there were meshing vibes aplenty from friends Marilyn Yogarajah and Rod Campbell. The partnership was deepened by the shared instrumentation, wth both bringing trumpet and a Yamaha CP Reface. That gave some shared sonic zones to start from, though Campbell also added some gentle feedback from a resonator unit. Often dreamy, sometimes chatty, and pausing along the way to consider what a strange turn of phrase "to hell in a handbasket" is.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (March 3rd) with sets from Bill Gilliam, Scallions (Holger Schoorl + Mark Zurawinski) and Tap slap wind and light. Early start! Doors around 8:00, music at 8:30.]

Recording: Ryan Kinney

Artist: Ryan Kinney

Songs: Saints/Witches and Devils/Love Cry [composer: Albert Ayler]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #113), February 3, 2026.

Ryan Kinney - Saints/Witches and Devils/Love Cry

Busy as a teacher, shredder, curator and improvisor, Ryan Kinney took a rare solo turn for TCB. There was a nice mix of material here, from some Marc Ribot-inspired Ayler interpretations, a couple John Zorn pieces, and some technological investigations with pedals and a mint tin mini-amp.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (March 3rd) with sets from Bill Gilliam, Scallions (Holger Schoorl + Mark Zurawinski) and Tap slap wind and light. Early start! Doors around 8:00, music at 8:30.]

Recording: Vividness Trio

Artist: Vividness Trio

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #112), January 6, 2026.

Vividness Trio - unknown

Laura Gillis has been crafting songs as Vividness for quite some time now, though this evolution is a slightly more recent development. Joined by Michelangelo Iaffaldano the mysterious Hildegard von Bingo on guitar and Lorne Shapiro on viola de gamba, the goal here was as much to explore textures and interactions as to deliver songs.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (February 2nd) with sets from OH GEE (Marilyn Yogarajah & Rod Campbell) and Ryan Kinney.]

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

Recording: Duo BEAK

Artist: Duo BEAK

Songs: [opening and closing sections of an improvisation]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #112), January 6, 2026.

Duo BEAK - [opening section]

Duo BEAK - [closing section]

A new moniker for a longstanding friend duo, this set from Kayla Milmine and Bea Labikova saw them testing out some new instruments. Milmine, a longtime one-sax specialist on soprano has branched out with a sopranino saxophone, while Labikova (who also had the usual "electronic" set up with pedals and throat mic, as well as her alto) showed off her beautiful handcrafted gajdy, the Slovakian version of the bagpipe. That lead to some buzzing and squealing in the higher registers, as can be heard in the first section here as the pair explored how these instruments can share space. After further experiments with plastic tubing and throat-rumbles, things moved a little lower for the closing zone.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (February 2nd) with sets from OH GEE (Marilyn Yogarajah & Rod Campbell) and Ryan Kinney.]

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: Sarah and Rob

Artist: Sarah and Rob

Song: [excerpt]

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

Sarah and Rob - [excerpt]

A rare duo appearance from Sarah Peebles (shō, monotron, cracklebox) and Rob Cruickshank (electronics, circular saw blade) provided some sinusoidal vibrational therapy, served up with homemade cookies. The latter were apparently not prepared on the cookie sheet hung from a frame like a gong and serving as a DIY resonator and part of Peebles' sonic arsenal.

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: Fossils

Artist: Fossils

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #110), November 4, 2025.

Fossils - [excerpt]

Continuing their re-embrace of Toronto, this longstanding Hamilton unit brought some noise collage generated from David Payne and Daniel Farr's table of surly electronics, grumbly cassettes and other tools. The origins of some of the sounds were unclear, but there were static glurps, cable noise, guitar wrangling and mysterious static-burst-generating cubes all in play.

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

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, January 6th with a set from Duo BEAK (Bea Labikova & Kayla Milmine) plus one set TBA. Get your year of community + show-going off to a good start!]

Recording: anthéne

Artist: anthéne

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #110), November 4, 2025.

anthéne - unknown

Chatting before the set, guitarist Brad Deschamps mentioned that his recent return to live performance has lead to some stretching out of his anthéne material, and leaving a bit more room for improvisation, as opposed to the more meticulous crafting the pieces might get in the "studio" at home. This piece here has several cool elements on display, including some subtle slide work and and gurgling granular undercurrents.

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

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, January 6th with a set from Duo BEAK (Bea Labikova & Kayla Milmine) plus one set TBA. Get your year of community + show-going off to a good start!]

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

Recording: BLACK GALAXIE

Artist: BLACK GALAXIE

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #109), October 7, 2025.

BLACK GALAXIE - [excerpt]

Last spotted in the recital hall with an eight-channel diffusion system, this set saw Nolan Hildebrand bringing the noise with a table full of gear including mixer, laptop, snare drum, synth, pedals, and a mouth-deployed contact mic wrapped in a plastic bag. Garbled speech samples and fragmented X Files regranulations crept in around the noisebursts, all while Hildebrand looked to be having a blast while enjoying the squall.

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

Recording: O'Reilly/Strutt/Pitt

Artist: Patrick O'Reilly/Joe Strutt/Dan Pitt

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #109), October 7, 2025.

Patrick O'Reilly/Joe Strutt/Dan Pitt - [excerpt]

There's an informal rule at TCB that the host doesn't also perform, but on request of guitarist Dan Pitt, that rule was bent enough to reconvene this trio that had played together informally at Patrick O'Reilly's birthday jam. I brought out the Kaossilator, and the ukulele as well to make it a full-on string band. The results seems quite satisfying, blurps and bloops and some nice textured bits.

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

Recording: Brandon Auger & Deniz Tafaghodi

Artist: Brandon Auger & Deniz Tafaghodi

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #109), October 7, 2025.

Brandon Auger & Deniz Tafaghodi - [excerpt]

Brandon Auger was back in town and proposed this game-like piece with local artist Deniz Tafaghodi, a lean-in-to-hear-it conversation of egg timers and small vibrating noisemakers. Face to face across a table, this proceeded like a sort of cooperative chess match, each taking turns adding and moving pieces, then pausing to consider.

The audio documentation here is a field recording of quiet sounds in a room, but the footage gives a better notion of what was going on:

Recording: Allison Cameron

Artist: Allison Cameron

Song: unknown [excerpt]^*

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #108), September 2, 2025.

Allison Cameron - unknown [excerpt]

Originally planned for TCB#101, a throwback re-creation of the series' very first show, this rescheduled set saw A.C. serve up some absorbing laptop-based electroacoustic collages, with found sounds including some deeply-garbled speech samples.

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

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, November 4th with sets from anthéne and Fossils.]

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

Recording: Brian Abbott

Artist: Brian Abbott

Song: unknown [excerpt]^*

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #108), September 2, 2025.

Brian Abbott - unknown [excerpt]

Brian Abbott brought a pair of microtonal guitars (just intonation and 31-tone), playing loosely-composed pieces fleshed out with improvisational elements. The just intonated electric brushed against some wonky rock dynamics, while this acoustic piece went down some other byways.

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

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, November 4th with sets from anthéne and Fossils.]

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

Recording: Tom Richards

Artist: Tom Richards

Song: [last section]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #107), August 5, 2025.

Tom Richards - [last section]

Unlike previous solo appearances at TCB, Tom Richards eschewed electronic experimentation in favour of some deep digging on trombone, his primary instrument. The theme was transformation — like catepillar to butterfly — and Naomi McCarroll-Butler (who would be playing in the subsequent set) assisted here in cocooning Richards in aluminum foil, all the better to add some buzzy, rattling resonances to the horn sounds.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday (September 2nd) with sets from Brian Abbott and Allison Cameron.]

Recording: Poached Roses

Artist: Poached Roses

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #107), August 5, 2025.

Poached Roses - [excerpt]

Naomi McCarroll-Butler convened this ensemble (alongside Mira Martin-Gray, Niamh Girling, and Fahmid Nibesh) for the express purpose of "dredging up their longest strings, their screamiest reeds and their gutteralest kazoo sounds from the depths of their transeggjwal gutz to deliver the heaviest blown-out transcendental drone set your ear holes have ever seen." And it was a total success. Rumours of recording sessions have been circulating; keep an ear out for possible further dispatches.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday (September 2nd) with sets from Brian Abbott and Allison Cameron.]