Mechanical Forest Sound

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Recording: Out to Lunch

Artist: Out to Lunch

Songs: Something Sweet, Something Tender [composer: Eric Dolphy] + Out to Lunch [composer: Eric Dolphy]

Recorded at Array Space (Kurt Newman Yuletide Music Party), December 20, 2019.

Out to Lunch - Something Sweet, Something Tender

This project from percussionist Mark Zurawinski is dedicated to reinterpreting the seminal Eric Dolphy album from which it takes its name. The mandate here is definitely not to be slavish to the original arrangements, as is probably indicated by the somewhat unorthodox lineup at hand: Rob Clutton (double bass), Germaine Liu (vibraphone), Brian Abbot (guitar), Kayla Milmine (soprano saxophone) and Mira Martin-Gray (no-input mixer). (The latter tune here also sees Kurt Newman guesting on pedal steel.)

The resulting stew is capable of moments of quiet clarity (especially in the small percussive gestures from Zurawinski and Liu) but also wig-out feedback bursts. That gives new flavours to these tunes, like "Something Sweet, Something Tender", which could be issued on a single with the musical tag "ballad with screech-groans".

Monday, January 27, 2020

Concert Listings Roundup #338

You can read more about why I'm doing listings here. Long story short: This curated and decidedly non-comprehensive list contains nothin' but shows that I am going to/would go to if I had more time.

This week's noteworthy shows:

MAW: A Community Celebration of the Vocal Arts (feat. Rebecca Bruton / Heaby Medal / Catherine Crowe / Laurel MacDonald / Anna Atkinson / Martin Julien / Shaina Asambong / Ophira Calof) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2020-01-27 (Monday) [FB event]

The Queer Songbook Orchestra [video shoot!] / Gladstone Hotel – Ballroom 2020-01-28 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Furniture Music: Duos Night #2 (feat. Patrick O'Reilly & Meghan Gillespie / Brittany Craig & Dan Pitt / Bea Labikova & Yunjin Claire Lee) / Wenona Lodge 2020-01-28 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Lina Allemano Four / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-01-28 (Tuesday) [FB event]

What Now? We Wait. [debut performance, featuring "improv trashy funky dancey music"] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-01-29 (Wednesday – early!)

Panties (bBomit / Useless Mass / Tuka Shahidi) / See-Scape 2020-01-29 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Venus Fest presents (feat. Han Han [album release!] / Charise Aragoza) / Lula Lounge 2020-01-30 (Thursday) [FB event]

Twist (Bernice / Moscow Apartment) / Paradise Theatre 2020-01-30 (Thursday) [FB event]

Scott Hardware (Lee Paradise / Soft Matter) / The Boat 2020-01-30 (Thursday) [FB event]

Therapy: Sessions {series relaunch!] (feat. Tara Kannangara / Merival / JESSA) / B-side Lounge 2020-01-30 (Thursday) [FB event]

Circadian (Max Donaldson) / Wenona Lodge 2020-01-30 (Thursday) [FB event]

Interior X Exterior Launch Party (feat. R.Flex / Slash Need / Yovska) / The Drake Underground 2020-01-30 (Thursday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Triple Album Release! (feat. Völur [featuring a 12-tone string quartet] / Raphael Weinroth-Browne / Robin Hatch) / The Garrison 2020-01-31 (Friday) [FB event]

Lunar New Year Concert (feat. Tiger Balme & Hiroki Tanaka) / Burdock Music Hall 2020-01-31 (Friday) [FB event]

Jaunt (Sorry Girls / Dan Edmonds) / Horseshoe Tavern 2020-01-31 (Friday) [FB event]

Aurochs / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-01-31 (Friday – early!)

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-01-31 (Friday) [FB event]

Sessa (André Ethier) / The Baby G 2020-02-01 (Saturday) [FB event]

Faster Presents: Duos Night (feat. Sarah Peebles & Jonnie Bakan / Paul Fitterer & Kayla Milmine / Brian Abbott & Tomasz Krakowiak) / Gerrard Art Space 2020-02-01 (Saturday) [FB event]

When Did Transparency Become So Opaque? [panel discussion and performance, curated by Olivia Shortt] (feat. Carly Gordon and ASL+ Opera Project) / The Music Gallery 2020-02-02 (Sunday – PWYW!) [FB event]

First Sunday Jam (feat. Maggie Keogh/Daniel Easty/Robert Chapman/Chris Banks/Mitch Milley + jam to follow!) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2020-02-02 (Sunday) [FB event]

Nite Comfort 76 (feat. Annacetaminophen, New Tendencies) / Handlebar 2020-02-02 (Sunday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Rat-drifting I (feat. Karen Ng [solo!] / Karen Ng/Phil Melanson/Chris Willes) / Array Space 2020-02-02 (Sunday) [FB event]

Add these to your calendar:

Reminder: This post only contains this week's updates — the full listings can always be found over on the right-hand sidebar!

David Occhipinti Quartet [David Occhipinti/Michael Davidson/Dan Fortin/Terry Clarke] / The Emmet Ray 2020-02-03 (Monday) [FB event]

Freaky Boos (Joyful Joyful / Del/Liz/Joe) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2020-02-05 (Wednesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

The Furniture Music Composition Workshop #14 (feat. Maddy Ertel/Sabine Ndalamba/William Hunt/Andrew Furlong) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2020-02-09 (Sunday – 5 to 7 p.m.!) [FB event]

SynapticCircusSundays presents Kathryn Ladano's "Masked" (feat. Kathryn Ladano [solo bass clarinet] / Kathryn Ladano/Jeff Burke/Alex Fournier/Germaine Liu/Nilan Perera) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-09 (Sunday – early!) [FB event]

Most Popular Mic Touching Sounds (feat. Eucalyptus) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-02-11 (Tuesday)

Northern Danger [Mike DeiCont/Rebecca Hennessy/Mack Longpre/Chris Pruden/Leland Whitty] / Wenona Lodge 2020-02-11 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Long Winter 8.4 (feat. Mil-Spec / Korydor / Laps / Tallies / Isla Craig / Hua Li / Backxwash / Witchrot / Scorpio Rising / Lavender Bruisers / Tongue Patrol) / Workman Arts 2019-02-21 (Friday) [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Mark Morgan / Carl Didur / New Tendencies) / Burdock Music Hall 2020-02-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

The Sweetest Noise: A Birthday Celebration of Justin Haynes (feat. TBA) / Hugh's Room 2020-02-24 (Monday) [more info]

Art of the Uncarved Block presents (feat. Chris [record release!] / Tang / Poor You / Poolblood) / Owl's Club 2019-03-05 (Thursday) [FB event]

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Sunday Playlist #47

Sunday Playlist #47: In memoriam Pete Carmichael

It was a shock this week to hear of Pete Carmichael's sudden passing. Pete was someone I knew first as a musician — The Diableros were more or less rock stars in my book, and when I started recording shows, they were the sort of local group that I thought needed to be documented. Fortunately, I had my gear by the time the group were playing around for their last EP.

I remember back in Stillepost days, Pete would often say "bootleggers welcome at our show!" when promoting his gigs, so my first contact was indeed me getting in touch to offer a recording (from the first show in this playlist) back to him. He was always gracious and thankful for that. At some point after that we met in person — we were going to the same sort of Optical Sounds psych-pop shows in that period. After Diableros ended, I was around as he built toward something new (like that rare acoustic show at St. Stephen-In-The-Fields) that ended up becoming The Whirly Birds. I saw that band several times as they built up their sound and repertoire, and I was always sad that the project seemingly fell apart in that sort of heartbreak phase where there was stuff recorded but no longer the will to put it out. To remind folks of what-might-have-been, I'm sharing a full Whirly Birds set here today. (link — in case your browser doesn't like the embed below)

There was also the relatively short-lived project The Green Ray/Green Rays which hewed to more of a Nuggets-style template, but offered some rough-and-ready fun. I have no inside info as to what happened there, but the band's existence has been mostly scrubbed (I seem to recall there were a few demos online at some point that're now long gone). Digging through the archive this week, I found a set from the group playing the Dundas West Fest in the parking lot across from The Garrison, so I'm sharing one of Pete's tunes from that set for the first time here. And closing things out, maybe it's best to end with a celebration, so I'm sharing the full set from The Diableros' 10th anniversary reunion show, where they played You Can't Break the Strings in Our Olympic Hearts in full. (link — in case your browser doesn't like the embed below)

Like so many people that I knew from the rock scenes, I can't say I knew Pete very closely — something that happens when the bulk of your interactions with a person come in loud bars. We would chat a bit out back at The Silver Dollar, and when I was having my back problems, I remember having a couple more substantial conversations with Pete about that, and about dealing with chronic pain (something I gathered that he knew far too much about).

Pete was generally kind and well spoken, often chatting with a bit of a sly smile. He showed up at his friends' gigs — sometimes even behind the mixing desk, as I recall seeing him at The Boat. He was a very careful craftsman in the way he constructed his songs, but he didn't let that search for perfection spoil the glorious imperfections of a band playing on stage. He had lately been working on some cool new songs, and it's a shame we won't hear the culmination of that project. It's a shame not to have him in our community. May his songs and his kindnesses be remembered.

Here's a few sounds from the archive to keep those memories alive:

The Diableros - Heavy Hands

Recorded at Sneaky Dee's (Pitter Patter Festival), May 30, 2009.

The Diableros - Push it to Monday

Recorded at The Boat, October 16, 2009.

Pete Carmichael - unknown

Recorded at St. Stephen-In-The-Fields Church, November 13, 2010.

The Whirly Birds - Here to Stay

Recorded at Handlebar (Crosswires), April 14, 2013.

Pete Carmichael and Co. - Dead Flowers

Recorded at The Great Hall (A Night of Covers: A Celebration of Chris Levoir), July 4, 2013.

The Green Ray - He Don't Care

Recorded at Bovine Sex Club, January 24, 2014.

Green Rays - Terror Eyes

Recorded at Lakeview Stage (Dundas West Fest), June 7, 2014.

Sunday Playlist is a semi-regular feature that brings back some of this blog's previously-posted original live recordings for an encore. You can always click the tags below to see what I originally wrote about the shows these songs came from.

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Recording: Allemano/Clutton/Howard/West

Artist: Lina Allemano/Rob Clutton/Blake Howard/Brodie West

Song: [set 1 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 18, 2019.

Lina Allemano/Rob Clutton/Blake Howard/Brodie West - [set 1 excerpt]

Four conscriptees thrown together to cover an absent Josh Cole's regular slot, this leaderless quartet took a bit of time to tear themselves away from The Southern Cross' convivial atmosphere and wrangle themselves on stage. Once going, there was a similar musical scuffling as the musicians found a place together. Blake Howard, who has recently been deploying a sort of picnic blanket of broken cymbals as his main percussive weapon, was a guiding force here, offering a clatterfest of knocking and banging as a context for Alemano and West's horns. Once things settled into place, there was everything from psychedelic freakouts to stereophonic drones on offer, but — spoiler alert! — in retrospect this was just laying some groundwork for some more advanced forays from this group.

Friday, January 24, 2020

Recording: No Octopus Dancing Holiday Bash Orchestra

Artist: No Octopus Dancing Holiday Bash Orchestra

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (No Octopus Dancing Holiday Bash), December 18, 2019.

No Octopus Dancing Holiday Bash Orchestra - [set 1, excerpt 1]

No Octopus Dancing Holiday Bash Orchestra - [set 1, excerpt 2]

Allison Cameron, Mark Zurawinski and Germaine Liu used this holiday-adjacent instalment of their Tranzac residency to bring a big ol' band of friends and collaborators up on stage, seeing them joined by Kurt Newman (guit), Dan Pencer (toy saxophone + electronics), Mike Smith (bass), D. Alex Meeks (percussion), and Matti Pulkki (accordion). Scratchy warbles, walkman tootles and bell samples shared space with a variety of percussive ratataps — but this large agglomeration still managed to work mostly in quieter zones instead of just heaping sounds on top of sounds.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Recording: Coin Operated Duo

Artist: Coin Operated Duo

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 78), December 14, 2019.

Coin Operated Duo - [first piece]

With winter weather and bugs going around, this night of self-curated trios became a series of duos — giving the performers in each set a bit more room to stretch out. This final set of the night was actually a duo by choice, with curator Mike Lynn bringing along guitarist Ryan Kinney for more explorations from their Coin Operated Duo project. Stringed instruments as percussion instruments, ping pong balls bouncing around and lemur tails as preparations were all involved.

You can also watch visual documentation of this full set over at Audiopollination's youtube channel:

[Audiopollination will be back at Array Space on Saturday, February 8th, with some more fabulous/spontaneous sounds.]

Recording: Neil Wiernik & Cayce Fischer

Artist: Neil Wiernik & Cayce Fischer

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 78), December 14, 2019.

Neil Wiernik & Cayce Fischer - [excerpt]

With winter weather and bugs going around, this night of self-curated trios became a series of duos — giving the performers in each set a bit more room to stretch out. This pairing matched drones and modular synth sounds from Neil Wiernik (who records as naw) & Cayce Fischer (whose solo project is Autotectonic) with cameo appearances from bells and birds.

You can also watch visual documentation of this full set over at Audiopollination's youtube channel:

[Audiopollination will be back at Array Space on Saturday, February 8th, with some more fabulous/spontaneous sounds.]

Recording: Heraclitus Akimbo & Lapis Lion

Artist: Heraclitus Akimbo & Lapis Lion

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 78), December 14, 2019.

Heraclitus Akimbo & Lapis Lion - [excerpt]

With winter weather and bugs going around, this night of self-curated trios became a series of duos — giving the performers in each set a bit more room to stretch out. This pairing matched series first-timer Lapis Lion's singing bowls with some electronic manipulations and drones from Heraclitus Akimbo.

You can also watch visual documentation of this full set over at Audiopollination's youtube channel:

[Audiopollination will be back at Array Space on Saturday, February 8th, with some more fabulous/spontaneous sounds.]

photo by ideas_dept.

Recording: Mira Martin-Gray & Brian Abbott

Artist: Mira Martin-Gray & Brian Abbott

Song: [excerpt from 1st piece]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 78), December 14, 2019.

Mira Martin-Gray & Brian Abbott - [excerpt from 1st piece]

With winter weather and bugs going around, this night of self-curated trios became a series of duos — giving the performers in each set a bit more room to stretch out. This fax machine meet-up matched Mira Martin-Gray's no-input mixer sounds with Brian Abbott's guitar — the latter also showing off his mastery of the BOSS Phase Shifter.

You can also watch visual documentation of this full set over at Audiopollination's youtube channel:

[Brian Abbott will be playing in another duo — alongside percussionist Tomasz Krakowiak — at a Faster-presented night at Gerrard Art Space on Saturday, February 1st. Audiopollination will be back at Array Space on Saturday, February 8th, with some more fabulous/spontaneous sounds.]

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Recording: Fisher/Crosby/Cartwright

Artist: Colin Fisher/Ted Crosby/Evan Cartwright

Song: [set 2, first piece]^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 13, 2019.

Colin Fisher/Ted Crosby/Evan Cartwright - [set 2, first piece]

This trio was testing out the space and structures within some new compositions — this one, I believe, from Colin Fisher, who was on guitar for the set.

[This group will be appearing together again at The Tranzac tonight (Wednesday, January 22nd) alongside a quartet led by bassist Ben Dwyer.]

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

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Recording: Dun-Dun Band

Artist: Dun-Dun Band

Song: [excerpt from first track]^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 8, 2019.

Dun Dun Band - [excerpt from first track]

The Dun-Dun Band ("rapidly becoming the Dun-Dun Symphonetta," commented host Nilan Perera) was rolling nine deep on this night, with composer/caller/guitarist Craig Dunsmuir being joined by a three-piece sax section (Ted Crosby, Karen Ng, and Colin Fisher) and a back-line rhythm factory composed of Mike Smith (synth), Blake Howard (percussion), Jay Anderson (synth percussion), Josh Cole (bass), and Kurt Newman (guitar). As always, the intricate pattern-pieces created a rich stereophonic soundfield and plenty deep groovin'.

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

Recording: Mira Martin-Gray & Kieran Maraj

Artist: Mira Martin-Gray & Kieran Maraj

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 8, 2019.

Mira Martin-Gray & Kieran Maraj - [excerpt]

This instalment of the Nilan Perera-curated SynapticSundays opened with a rare non no-input mixer outing from Mira Martin-Gray, deploying laptop and vocal mic to complement Kieran Maraj's computer setup. The combination turned out to be something of a mini radiophonic workshop, with slurping samples and breath-sounds sliding around in wide, bouncing stereo — at times, sounding like a Carl Stalling soundtrack to a Bergman film.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Concert Listings Roundup #337

This week's noteworthy shows:

Oval Window Music presents (feat. Colin Hinton/ Joe Sorbara / Florid [Bea Labikova/Edwin Sheard/Olivia Short/Naomi McCarroll-Butler]) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2020-01-20 (Monday – early!) [FB event]

Reset 2 [performing works by George Antheil and Steve Reich] (feat. University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble) / University of Toronto – MacMillan Theatre 2020-01-20 (Monday) [FB event]

Trio SimoVes [Simone Baron/Bob Vespaziani/Cheryl O] / Wenona Lodge 2020-01-21 (Tuesday – early set, 6 to 8 p.m.!) [FB event]

Music Hosted by Karen Ng (feat. Justin Orok / So Sue Me [Alex Lukashevsky/Evan Cartwright/Mike Overton/Ryan Driver]) / Wenona Lodge 2020-01-21 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Golden Star Garden Trio [Brian Abbott/Colin Hinton/Tom Weeks] (Mute Swan Quartet [Andrew Furlong/Colin Hinton/Kayla Milmine/Chris Pruden]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-01-21 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Ryokan Blues Band [Luke Kuplowsky/Alex Lukashevsky/Felicity Williams/Josh Cole/Evan Cartwright/Phil Melanson] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-01-22 (Wednesday – early!)

Karen Ng Presents (feat. Ben Dwyer / Colin Fisher/Evan Cartwright/Ted Crosby) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-04-22 (Wednesday)

Riparian Acoustics presents (feat. Rebecca Bruton / Ways) / Canadian Music Centre 2020-01-23 (Thursday) [FB event]

Hélène Barbier (Motorists / Elrichman) / The Boat 2020-01-23 (Thursday) [FB event]

Music By Harry and Furlong S2E4 (feat. Patrick O'Reilly/Andrew Furlong / Harry Vetro/Emily Steinwall/Nick Arseneau) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2020-01-23 (Thursday) [FB event]

Dispersion Relation #5 (feat. Doug Van Nort with guest Michael Palumbo) / Dispersion Lab 2020-01-24 (Friday) [FB event]

Clara Engel (Chanteclair / within) / Owl's Club (basement)2019-01-24 (Friday) [FB event]

Death Instinct (feat. Processor / Esther Splett) / Houndstooth 2020-01-24 (Friday – no cover!) [FB event]

CCMC / Array Space 2020-01-24 (Friday)

Ziibiwan [Giizis album release!] (Phèdre / Melody McKiver) / The Music Gallery 2019-01-25 (Saturday) [FB event]

Convergence Theory (feat. Xuan Ye / Adam Scime / Emilie LeBel) / Victory Social Club 2020-01-25 (Saturday) [FB event]

Four New Works [new works by Martin Arnold, James Lowrie, Barbara Monk Feldman, and Germaine Liu] (feat. Array Ensemble) / Array Space 2020-02-25 (Saturday) [more info]

TIO Celebrates 2, 3, 4 [duos, trios and quartets] (feat. Toronto Improvisors Orchestra) / Array Space 2020-01-26 (Sunday) [FB event]