Recording: Jennifer Castle

Artist: Jennifer Castle

Songs: Full Moon in Leo + Piece of Glass + Fractal Canyon

Recorded at The Garrison, July 25, 2026.

Jennifer Castle - Full Moon in Leo

Jennifer Castle - Piece of Glass

Jennifer Castle - Fractal Canyon

It remains an object of complete incomprehensibility to one such as myself how folks could put down good money for a concert ticket, and then treat said concert as a place to have full-on conversations while the show is in progress in front of them. Gracing the city with this tune-up show before heading off for some festival dates, the first half-hour or so of this show was something of a write-off with the band competing in vain with a room full of people talking. It was only after some blessed soul took matters into their own hands and loudly told the room between songs to shut the hell up that the crowd seemed to realize there was a frickin' Jen Castle show going on in front of them and toned it down to a more suitable level.

That unpleasantness notwithstanding, this was a chance to see Castle interpret the songs of last year's excellent Camelot, as well and ranging through her substantial catalog. It turned out to be a fully-committed set, running about an hour and three-quarters, so there was a lot of ground covered, including a bring-it-all-down solo portion. Unsurprisingly, Castle came large with a stupendous band, with drummer Jay Anderson and guitarist Paul Mortimer anchoring things. Johnny Spence and Edwin de Goeij shared an interesting tag-team approach, swapping back and forth on bass and keyboards, while up front Vic Cheong and Isla Craig filled out the vocals. Having missed a few winter solstices now, I was glad to hear the newer material from such a crew (and also to hear some ace reinterpretations, such as a tough-as-nails/Fleetwood Mac-ified take on "Piece of Glass", a song that Castle has been rearranging for quite some time now.)

Recording: New Chance

Artist: New Chance

Songs: Twice Bitten + Something Human

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 14, 2025.

New Chance - Twice Bitten

New Chance - Something Human

A classic sort of album-release celebration, Vic Cheong launched the fab new A Rock Unsteady by bigging everything up — dramatic stage lighting and magnificent shoulder pads included — as well as bringing along many of the friends who helped make the album. Cheong's skills as a vocal arranger were in evidence (as heard on the first selection here) with astounding interweavings coming from Isla Craig, Robin Dann, and Felicity Williams, and there was room as well for some guest performances from saxophonist Brodie West as well as Jennifer Castle, who hung out in the shadows at the edge of the stage to embellish "Something Human".

Recording: Isla Craig

Artist: Isla Craig

Songs: Spirit + Now Westlin Winds [with Andrew Patten & Ivy Mairi] [trad. arr. Dick Gaughan, from a poem by Robert Burns]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), November 15, 2022.

Isla Craig - Spirit

Isla Craig with Andrew Patten & Ivy Mairi - Now Westlin Winds

Although there have been some airings-out of the new Echo's Reach material, this definitely felt like a special occasion, with a full band (Mike Smith, bass; Ian Daniel Kehoe, drums; Ted Crosby, sax) as well as vocal support from Vic Cheong and Ivy Mairi. (Plus frequent collaborator Jonathan Adjemian guesting on piano on the set's last track presented here.) In a nod to her roots, there was also a pause in the middle for a folky excursion, with Andrew Patten adding some acoustic guitar.

It seems like yesterday and forever ago that folks last gathered to celebrate an album release by Isla Craig in The Tranzac's big room. That made it felt like an event, one where old circles intersect — with faces you might've once seen at a Healing Power party, or on a beach on the Island. May the spirit be with you.

Recording: Willi Williams and New Chance

Artist: Willi Williams and New Chance

Song: Home

Recorded at The Music Gallery (X AVANT XIV: Forward – Night 3), October 19, 2019.

Willi Williams and New Chance - Home

One of the main subtexts of this year's X Avant was the awareness that it would be the last programmed by the Music Gallery's Artistic Director David Dacks, who had recently announced his stepping-down from the position in a thoughtfully-choreographed transition. The Festival's theme of "Forward", considering what's coming next, was thus personal as well — and it gave the broader community a chance to consider the work Dacks has done in his tenure at the Gallery.

This show, for example, could be considered a signature Dacks move, bringing together several of his consistent interests: giving a larger platform to artists like Victoria Cheong, whose emergence has been facilitated by the MG in several ways; putting together an intergenerational soundclash, bringing different communities to the same show; and foregrounding the work of Black musicians in Toronto in the MG's context of "creative music" — all while taking the gamble that two artists who had never met before could click on a personal level to create a festival-headlining collaboration.

The whole thing paid off quite wonderfully, creating a platform for Williams' voice that did more than just pour Cheong's productions into a reggae template (although, to be sure, this is a terrain where she has already done some extensive mapping). The collaboration went both ways, so not only were there some rearrangements of Williams' older songs (and even a delightfully-unexpected cover of "This Magic Moment") but a tune called "Father" that matched the New Chance atmospheric/dancefloor "sound" with Williams' soulful vocals. In a perfect world, that would be the lead single on a collaborative album from Soul Jazz or some other label for curious heads — there were murmurings that this collaboration could continue beyond this show, so hopefully there's more to be heard from this pairing.

Recording: Public Recordings

Artist: Public Recordings

Song: To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation [excerpt, in two parts] [composer: Pauline Oliveros]

Recorded at City Hall's Council Chambers, February 17, 2019.

Public Recordings - To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation [excerpt, part 1]

Public Recordings - To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation [excerpt, part 2]

This joyfully ambitious undertaking saw Chris Willes and his Public Recordings crew bringing music — radical music, music that demands deep listening and focused attention — into the City Hall chambers, a space associated with noisemaking of a different kind. The culmination of a process reaching back a couple years (including its previous mounting at the Gardiner Museum), this version brought a larger audience and bigger crew of musicians into its larger space. (Adding to the logistical complexity of the entire undertaking, there were also a series of public rehearsals in different venues in the week leading up to the performance.)

The beginning of a new form of composition from Pauline Oliveros, this piece for open ensemble has guidelines, but few musical directives, meaning there are a wider range of possible sonic outcomes than with a through-composed piece. With simple instructions and shared light cues, this large ensemble of musicians and non-musicians weave together a drone symphony, a slow-moving sound-river that invites closed-eye meditation (though, especially in an environment such as this, also some open-eyed gawking at how the spectacle is creating itself). The participant list reveals artists from many fields coming together to make these sounds: Anne Bourne, Allison Cameron, Victoria Cheong, Prices Easy, Ishan Davé, Ellen Furey, Thom Gill, Claire Harvie, Ame Henderson, Brendan Jensen, Germaine Liu, Bee Pallomina, Liz Peterson, Heather Saumer, Brian Solomon, Anni Spadafora, Evan Webber, and Christopher Willes.

[This concert was co-presented by the Music Gallery, who have had an ongoing stream of Pauline Oliveros-related events this season. The last instalment of the Anne Bourne-facilitated Deep Listening Workshops ("Sounding Difference Through The Text Scores Of Pauline Oliveros") will be at 918 Bathurst on Sunday, April 28th. Free with registration.]

Recording: Chandra

Artist: Chandra

Song: Stranger

Recorded at Lula Lounge, July 26, 2018.

Chandra - Stranger

Now well beyond the novelty stage, the Chandra band has become a wonderfully groovy new wave force to be reckoned with. Chandra Oppenheim, who originally recorded these songs as a pre-teen, now fronts a unit powered by an all-star force of local rockers — including Julie Reich and Vic Cheong (vox, melodica), Penny Clark (guit), Nyles Miszczyk (bass), Jesse Locke (drums) plus Kristina Koski (keyb). Looking a bit like a fashionable cult, the group took advantage of Lula's excellent sound system for a superb-sounding set. More of Oppenheim's old demos are being added to the setlist supplementing the material from the Transportation EP (which has, sadly, apparently disappeared from Bandcamp) so one can only hope that we'll get some "new" material soon.

Recording: Isla Craig

Artist: Isla Craig

Songs: Faraway Blue + Bold Poachers [traditional, feat. Martha Farquhar-McDonnell]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 24, 2018.

Isla Craig - Faraway Blue

Isla Craig - Bold Poachers

The release of Isla Craig's The Becoming (on vinyl from Pleasence Records) felt like a worthy occasion for celebration. Perhaps because I'd been watching these songs emerge for several years now it felt especially joyful to witness this culmination and this beginning. Soulful excursions with slick, languid grooves, the tunes were delivered with a stageful of friends and close collaborators, including her band with Evan Cartwright (drums), Bram Gielen (bass) and Johnny Spence (synth) augmented by Jonathan Adjemian (synth) and Vic Cheong (backing vox) throughout. There were also guest turns from Colin Fisher on sax plus a duet with Martha Farquhar-McDonnell — the latter on a Steeleye Span-inspired number linking folksongs of the bygone forest emerald green with the folksongs of the city we're in today.

[Isla Craig will be performing at the second annual Venus Fest, on Saturday, September 22nd at The Opera House alongside Bully, Partner and Vallens.]

Recording: Jennifer Castle

Artist: Jennifer Castle

Songs: Tonight the Evening + You Can't Take Anyone

Recorded at The Garrison (Venus Fest Winter Solstice Celebration), December 21, 2017.

Jennifer Castle - Tonight the Evening

Jennifer Castle - You Can't Take Anyone

Jennifer Castle's solstice celebration, long a seasonal highlight, was co-presented this time 'round as part of Venus Fest's monthly concert series. A month after what was by all accounts a triumphant turn at Massey Hall, Jennifer Castle stripped things back for an intimate, round-the-campfire night of songs. Making a rare appearance on acoustic guitar, she was joined only by Paul Mortimer and Vic Cheong, pulling the audience into her new songs (as well as new arrangements of older ones). That still left plenty of terrain to explore, like in this set opener that roared out on the highway line with Cheong taking over on the coda. Wonderful stuff.

Recording: YlangYlang

Artist: YlangYlang feat. Ashley Obscura / Anna Mayberry / Victoria Cheong

Songs: three unknown titles^*

Recorded at Polish Combatants' Hall SPK (Long Winter 6.2), December 9, 2017.

YlangYlang feat. Ashley Obscura - unknown

YlangYlang feat. Anna Mayberry - unknown

YlangYlang feat. Victoria Cheong - unknown

I was sad to have missed this year's first Long Winter (at my home base of The Tranzac, no less!) but was pleased to see the series return to the SPK's mirrored bunker for another go-round. Using the downstairs dining room and the upper main hall, there was music back and forth all night — plus the usual mix of comedy, art and Vish Khanna's Long Night talk show. In a marked contrast with the comedy show that immediately preceded it, Catherine Debard brought some quiet introspection to the night. Since I had seen her perform in the fall, her uncertain landscapes were set askew even further when her musical gear was stolen. The generosity of friends and fans has since allowed her to get going again, but this unique set saw her forced into a different approach, telling the crowd, "I asked friends of mine to send me poetry that I cut and pasted and added to this chunk of ambient music that I prepared for Long Winter, 'cause for me winter is an emotional, sad, isolating kind of thing." As she meditated and practised some yoga to the tracks, the crowd in the room was mostly indifferent, which meant that their lack of attention costed them an opportunity to recognize the voices of some amazing artists on her tracks. (The full roster included Allie Blumas and Georgia Webber as well as the ones here.) The beauty of this set wasn't fully apparent at the time, so it's worth presenting a larger dose than usual straight from the mixer so you can ruminate on these words and sounds while you look out a window at a frozen landscape.

^* Does anyone know the titles to these? Please leave a comment!

Recording: IC/JC/VC

Artist: IC/JC/VC

Song: [edited excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), April 14, 2017.

IC/JC/VC - [edited excerpt]

A Good Friday party to celebrate the release of Jonathan Adjemian's new piano album was a worthy cause to reconvene this vocal trio. Drawing the curtains and casting the room into darkness, Vic Cheong, Jennifer Castle and Isla Craig let their voices intertwine alongside the rustle of breath-sounds and quietly-hazy pedal-derived static-bursts.

Recording: IC/JC/VC

Artist: IC/JC/VC

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Burdock Music Hall, March 5, 2017.

IC/JC/VC - [excerpt #1]

IC/JC/VC - [excerpt #2]

It's always a treat when this trio gather together to combine their voices. Crouching and sitting on the floor, there was no fancy stagecraft here, just a simple alchemy casting a spell over the room. Originally convened as a "vocal yoga" exercise, there was a bit more of an emotional journey in this set, floating through some turbulent, dark currents before seeing dawn's first glimmers of sunrise on the horizon.

IC/JC/VC will be playing at Jonathan Adjemian's Adequacies album release party, this Friday (April 14th) in the early slot at The Tranzac.]

Recording: Body Double

Artist: Body Double

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Somewhere There Creative Music Festival – Show 1 late-night afterparty), February 24, 2017.

Body Double - unknown

Once again, the Somewhere There Music Festival offered an oasis of local creativity, tightly bundled into five events over three days. Leading off, as always, with a community member's reflections, the first show featured a talk from David Dacks on building relationships and finding a project's true purpose while striving to program forward-looking music. Healing Power was given the task of programming the late-night sets in the Southern Cross after things had wrapped up in the Main Hall, presenting the debut of this new collaboration between New Positions' Vic Cheong and Bile Sister's Julie Reich. There were elements of each of their bands' sounds in play here, in a set with a few already-polished gems (like this melodica-driven reggae number) alongside some tracks that felt more like works in progress. "Don't show me the rough cut, show me the final version," a sampled/looped conversation between the pair cheekily intoned between songs. That recorded banter was a repeating presence, making this feel like a glimpse into the pair's scrapbook, mindspace and practice space with chatter about identity and reality being processed into Bechdel-tested avant-pop.

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

Recording: Chandra

Artist: Chandra

Songs: Tish Le Dire + A Day Without Success

Recorded at The Garrison (Wavelength SEVENTEEN – Night 1), February 17, 2017.

Chandra - Tish Le Dire

Chandra - A Day Without Success

An action-packed leadoff to this year's Wavelength festival, with the first of a couple local all-star ensembles. Drawing from Bile Sister and friends in their orbit, Chandra's backing ensemble now features Julie Reich and Vic Cheong (vox), David Jones (keyb), Penny Clark (guit), Nyles Miszczyk (bass) and Jesse Locke (drums). Even playing first, they had a chance to play to a pretty full room, as the night featured discounted admission to RSVP-ers from an energy drink company (and, apparently, a long line down the block of folks hoping to get in).

With this occasional partnership stretching out over a few years now, the group were a firing on all their new wave cylinders behind Chandra Oppenheim — who herself also looked a bit more relaxed on stage, now and then dancing a little and allowing a faint smile that suggested an understanding between the self of her now and the teenaged one who had originally penned these songs. Besides featuring the songs from the reissued album, the group also tackled the unreleased "A Day Without Success", which is apparently an unreleased demo track from that era.

Recording: Jennifer Castle

Artist: Jennifer Castle

Songs: Crying Shame + Tomorrow's Morning

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, December 21, 2016.

Jennifer Castle - Crying Shame

Jennifer Castle - Tomorrow's Morning

Once again celebrating the dark night of the winter solstice with warm friendship and gorgeous music, Jennifer Castle mixed recent faves (including a beautiful set-opening "Pink City" with Brodie West on sax), reinvigorated older pieces ("One Two Three" and the title track from aught-eight's You Can't Take Anyone) and a whole bunch of new material. Backed for the first half of the show by Jonathan Adjemian on piano (who rolled through the first half-dozen songs almost as a continuous suite), her vocals were also adorned by Vic Cheong and Isla Craig (IC/JC/VC in effect!). There was some darkness and mortality creeping in, with titles including "The Angels of Death" and "The Grim Reaper" (although introducing the latter, Castle commented "it's not as bad as it seems") — and following them there was also "The Silver Lining". The lyrics added to Castle's deep storehouse of pithy, sage maxims ("it's a shame that I thought this river knew my name", "can I band-aid this gash / with coffee and hash?", and on and on) and she departed with a "see you in the spring", so look for a return to these parts as the seasons change once again — as they inexorably will.

Recording: Summer Drift Ensemble

Artist: Summer Drift Ensemble

Songs: Drift [four excerpts]

Recorded at Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement (SummerWorks: Summer Drift), August 6, 2015.

Summer Drift Ensemble - Drift [excerpt 1]

Summer Drift Ensemble - Drift [excerpt 2]

Summer Drift Ensemble - Drift [excerpt 3]

Summer Drift Ensemble - Drift [excerpt 4]

An inversion of the "spectacle" of most of SummerWorks music shows, this afternoon drone installation moved the performers to the edge of the room and let the audience wander (to create their own personal "mix") or relax on the lily pad-like astroturf "islands" in the centre of the room. Conceived by Brandon Hocura, the event's score consisted of more than a dozen short instructions, including "play when you feel like it"/"take a break when you feel like it", "take 10 minutes to play what you would normally play in 1 minute", "repeat slowly" and "fall asleep". That meant that out of the collective ensemble (Victoria Cheong, Craig Dunsmuir, Sandro Perri, Matthew Shaw, Randy Gagne, Kevin Hainey, Andrew Zukerman, Jaclyn Blumas, Trevor Blumas, Brandon Hocura) maybe half would be playing at any given time. I hung out for not quite three hours in the first half of the event, which is where these samples are drawn from.

Recording: HVYWTR

Artist: HVYWTR

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Tibet Kitchen (Backyard Afternoon), July 27, 2014.

HVYWTR - [excerpt]

Full review to follow. Holding the rain at bay, this was a lovely afternoon in a hidden Parkdale gem, underneath the lovely trees in Tibet Kitchen's backyard patio. The music was mostly in a soothing vein, and HVYWTR brought some suitably mellow vibes. Quite a fabulous day out.

Recording: IC/JC/VC

Artist: IC/JC/VC

Song: [excerpt from an improvisation]

Recorded at Ward's Island Beach ("Poor Pilgrim 7"), July 20, 2014.

IC/JC/VC [excerpt from an improvisation]

Full review to follow. Songs per se aren't required for this new "vocal yoga" trio, which sees the initialized Isla Craig, Jennifer Castle and Victoria Cheong join forces to sculpt soothing sonic environments — here with their backs to the lake on Ward's Island while waves rippled in. The candles in the sand in front of them and the stars above both seem just out of reach, but don't worry, close your eyes and let your soul unclench a little.

Bonus! Here's a short video clip of the proceedings:

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!