Showing posts with label ylangylang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ylangylang. Show all posts

Thursday, January 18, 2018

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!

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Recording: YlangYlang

Artist: YlangYlang

Song: Uncertain Landscapes

Recorded at The Baby G, September 21, 2017.

YlangYlang - Uncertain Landscapes

Billed as "a night dedicated to simplicity and unravelling," this was a beautifully-executed show, moving the music down from the stage and tampering with the standard set/break/set/break/set pattern to give the whole thing some continuous flow.

As with the last time I saw Catherine Debard perform, the preceding set flowed into hers before she unfurled her haze-pop tunes. And like Xuan Ye and David Jones before her, she was set up on the floor, gear on a table in front of the stage, lit only indirectly by Xuan Ye's spotlight. That created a darkened dreamspace for her songs to unfold, and then ease back into some between-set ambiance.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Recording: YlangYlang

Artist: YlangYlang

Song: unknown*

Recorded at 940 Variety (Quiet Bedrooms Launch Show), August 27, 2017.

YlangYlang - unknown

Quiet Bedrooms is a cassette label/live series founded by busy videographer/archivist Brandon Caswell Douglas, formally launching with this ambitions inside/outside east-end show. Since relocating to Hamilton, songwriter and sonic explorer Catherine Debard has been making more frequent forays into T.O., but I hadn't managed to catch any of 'em before this one. Her current set of spectacular introspective drone-popsongs drifted past in a self-assured continuous flow, bringing a satisfying conclusion to the event.

[YlangYlang performs tonight (September 21st) at The Baby G, "a night dedicated to simplicity and unravelling" alongside ANAMAI and Xuan Ye + David Jones. Quiet Bedrooms will be presenting an afternoon show at the Dupe Shop on Saturday, October 1st with Allison Cameron, Sea Beau, and Happy Baby.]

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

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Recording: YlangYlang

Artist: YlangYlang feat. Matt Robidoux

Song: New Language

Recorded at The Imperial Pub's back room, November 15, 2015.

YlangYlang feat. Matt Robidoux - New Language

Alongside Karen Ng from Somewhere There, I had the opportunity to help put together a night for some new out-of-town pals. This show came with a surprise bonus: when Catherine Debard came down from Montréal with the headliners, it was quickly agreed on all sides that she had to get up on stage for a quick set. Playing three stretched-out drone-pop songs, her set segued right into Matt Robidoux's, so the end of this one mixes her electronic sounds with Robidoux's full-contact extended-technique guitar noise.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Recording: YlangYlang

Artist: YlangYlang

Song: Liquid Warrior*

Recorded at Creatures Creating (Wavelength 574), September 20, 2013.

YlangYlang - Liquid Warrior

Full review to follow. A lovely night in the basement of gallery Creatures Creating, with several far-ranging variations of knob-twisting bent-pop on display as Wavelength played host to some folks associated with Montréal's Jeunesse Cosmique label. Catherine Debard's "noise feelings" solo project employed ethereal vocals and hazy synth pillows for some abstracted slo-jams. Hopefully this night will lead to some further exchanges from the other end of the 401.

* Thanks to Maggie Cho for passing the title to this one along!