Recording: V. Vecker

Artist: V. Vecker

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Collective Arts (Burn Down The Capital presents), November 30, 2024.

V. Vecker - [excerpt]

Vancouver's V.Vecker seems to operate somewhere between a bandonym and an ensemble — based around saxophonist Keith Wecker, the project is sometimes solo, sometimes a trio, and at this touring gig, a duo. There was a bit of troubleshooting required at the top of this set, so I'm not sure if all the synths were acting according to plan, leaving the audience a bit unsure if the set, which was on the short side, was due to a succinct presentation or being cut short for technical reasons. I liked what I heard, especially this closing section with Wecker's sax, so hopefully we'll get another chance to hear him around these parts.

Recording: Death Kneel

Artist: Death Kneel

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Collective Arts (Burn Down The Capital presents), November 30, 2024.

Death Kneel - [excerpt]

This solo project from Max Klebanoff (of local death metal unit Tomb Mold) hewed the closest to noise in this night of electronic explorations — which is to say his tightly-focused sounds (laced with atmospheric field recordings) had a propensity to detour down darker avenues whenever it seemed like they might veer towards melodic pleasantness.

Recording: Aida Khorsandi

Artist: Aida Khorsandi

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Collective Arts (Burn Down The Capital presents), November 30, 2024.

Aida Khorsandi - [excerpt]

Bits of lurching percussion brushed up against crackling sputters in this nonlinear set from Aida Khorsandi's modular rig.

Recording: Cetacea

Artist: Cetacea

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Collective Arts (Burn Down The Capital presents), November 30, 2024.

Cetacea - [excerpt]

Back (for now) in town, Bryan Bray lead off this night of drifting electronic explorations with a two-stage process, with some tape-loop-esque long-tail guitar drone sculptures being engulfed by synthtones, before flipping back towards the origin point.

Monday Roundup #207

Community notes:

• The call is out for next round of Tranzac residencies for April through September. Hit the link and get yourself a stretch of dates in Toronto's best music room!

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Concert announcements:

Peripheral Vision (Lina Allemano Four) 2025-01-07 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Audiopollination (feat. Rabia Agha/Yoshi Maclear Wall/ Meryem Alaoui / Mike Smith/Em Wright / Matthew Endahl/Matt Collins / Mickle32/Elizabeth Lima) / Array Space 2025-01-10 (Friday). $10 (cash or card), livestream available. [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Tranzac New Year's Eve (feat. Joseph Shabason & The Welcome To Hell Tentet / Sandro Perri & Friends / Jane Inc) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-12-31 (Tuesday). $30 Adv. / $32 door. [FB event]

Tania Gill Quartet [Tania Gill/Lina Allemano/Rob Clutton/Nico Dann] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-01-03 (Friday – early). $pwyc. [FB event]

Diane Roblin's Life Force [Diane Roblin/George Koller/John Johnson/Kevin Turcotte/Colleen Allen/Tim Shia] / The Pilot 2025-01-04 (Saturday – 2:00 p.m.). $15. [FB event]

Josh Cole 4tet+ string(s) [Lina Allemano/John Oswald/Nick Storring/Blake Howard/Josh Cole] / Sellers and Newell 2025-01-04 (Saturday). $25. [FB event]

Adjacent Spheres (feat. Michael Davidson/Emily Steinwall/Germaine Liu/Aidan McConnell/Blake Howard) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-01-05 (Sunday)

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It happened this week...

• ...on December 30, 2018 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

The Titillators - If I Were a Bell

• ...on January 4, 2019 at The Gladstone Hotel's Ballroom (Long Winter, Vol. 7.3)

Katie Sketch - unknown

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Monday Roundup #206

Concert announcements:

Track Could Bend #99 (feat. Lostworldsounds / future proof [Bea Labikova/Raphael Roter]) / Wenona Lodge 2025-01-07 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

BLOOP / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-01-08 (Wednesday – early). [FB event]

Sub-Sessions #8 (feat. TFA / Wanda / Lahore Wept / Jaeger) / BSMT 254 2024-01-16 (Thursday). $14.64. [FB event]

Alex Fournier [solo bass, acoustic & electric] / Sellers and Newell 2025-01-30 (Thursday). $15 minimum donation. [more info]

The Mike DeiCont Trio [Mike DeiCont/Leland Whitty/Eric West] / Sellers and Newell 2025-02-07 (Friday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]

The Joe Sorbara Sextet [Ted Crosby/Tania Gill/Michael Herring/Rebecca Hennessy/Aline Homzy/Joe Sorbara] / Sellers and Newell 2025-02-15 (Saturday). $25 minimum donation. [more info]

The Patrick Smith Trio [Patrick Smith/Lowell Whitty/Dan Pitt] / Sellers and Newell 2025-03-02 (Sunday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Tibbs Eve Rager (feat. BA Johnston / Marty Topps / Whyte Wine / Young Rielsing) / Bovine Sex Club 2024-12-23 (Monday). $10 (early Bird) / $15 / $20 (door). [FB event]

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-27 (Friday) $pwyw

Greydini [Bad Boglin Clutches release party!] (Bile Sister / Bag) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-28 (Saturday). $10 / pwyc. [more info]

CLUE NOTE: trivia and creative music (vol 3) (feat. Erin Corbett/Niamh Girling/Mira Martin-Gray/Kurt Newman/Marilyn Yogarajah) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-12-29 (Sunday – noon). $PWYC ($10 suggested) [FB event]

Cosmic Homeostasis XXVI / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-29 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]

Potions [Josh Sparks/Aidan McConnell/Steven Noronha/Ben Rositsan] (Luka Kuplowsky & The Ryōkan Band) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-29 (Sunday). $pwyc. [more info]

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It happened this week...

• ...on December 27, 2018 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

Mike DeiCont/Ryan Driver/D. Alex Meeks/Karen Ng/Daniel Pencer - [set 2 excerpt]

• ...on December 28, 2018 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

The Ryan Driver Quintet - You Go to My Head

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Dan Pitt Quintet

Artist: Dan Pitt Quintet

Song: 27 Hours

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Nick Fraser Presents), November 25, 2024.

Dan Pitt Quintet - 27 Hours

Back from tour and in fine form after fighting the elements across Western Canada, guitarist Dan Pitt and company (Alex Fournier on bass, Nick Fraser on drums plus Patrick Smith and Naomi McCarroll-Butler on woodwinds) tore it out in this homecoming romp. Celebrating the rease of Horizontal Depths, the group's second album, the ensemble moved through most of the album's pieces, exploring moody zones and blistering rockers like this set-opener.

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

Recording: Socks and Sandals (and Friends)

Artist: Socks and Sandals (and Friends)

Song: [last section]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (CLUE NOTE: trivia and creative music (vol 2)), November 26, 2024.

Socks and Sandals (and Friends) - [last section]

The second edition of the trivia/experimental music CLUE NOTE residency featured sounds that would have been right at home in the previous month's Hallowe'en-themed show. Working in terrain less "musical" and more "radiophonic workshop", there were some eerie and occasionally creepy vibes being generated despite the whimiscal nature of some of the soundmaking implements (balloons, slinkies, bird calls, etc.). In this stretch, Mark Zurawinski is doing some processing to Germaine Liu's balloon-squawks that renders them to something like the laments of the ghosts of Victorian children, while Nick Storring brought out a whole tickle trunk's worth of implements and microphones rather than his cello, adding squeaks and grinding burrs.

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

[Bumped from its regular room and timeslot by NYE festivities, CLUE NOTE has a special matinee edition coming up (Sunday, December 29th, in the Tranzac's Living Room) with trivia on the theme of "2024: The Year in Review" and "improvised spiritual freak folk" from Erin Corbett, Niamh Girling, Mira Martin-Gray, Kurt Newman, and Marilyn Yogarajah.]

Monday Roundup #205

Concert announcements:

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-27 (Friday) $pwyw

Josh Cole 4tet+ string(s) [Lina Allemano/John Oswald/Nick Storring/Blake Howard/Josh Cole] / Sellers and Newell 2025-01-04 (Saturday). $25. [FB event]

Labyrinth Ensemble presents (feat. Araz Salek/Roa Lee/Sasan Salaseli) / Bata Shoe Museum 2025-01-12 (Sunday – 1 p.m.). $free with registration. [FB event]

catl. (All-Seeing Eyes / Shook Boys) / Monarch Tavern 2025-01-25 (Saturday). $20.50, 19+. [tickets + more info]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Lina Allemano Four / The Emmet Ray 2024-12-18 (Wednesday – 6 p.m.). $10 advance / $15 door. [FB event]

Playscape Emporium: Of dances and dreams (feat. Angela Blumberg Dance / Teething / Adrian Berry) / Array Space 2024-12-19 (Thursday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [more info]

Henri Fabergé Crashes The Creskins Ball ["A festive night of comedy,music & mayhem"] (feat. Gwynne Phillips / Briana Templeton / Kayla Lorette / Roger Bainbridge / Miguel Rivas / Alex Tindal / Clare McConnell / Adam Niebergall / Sharjil Rasool / Johnny Spence / Steve Foster / Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll / Sarah Bennett / Juliann Wilding / Nicole Passmore / Jackie Pirico / Sarah Ruba / New Chance / Anh Phung) / 918 Bathurst 2024-12-19 (Thursday – early show @ 6 p.m., late show @ 8:30). $27.96. [FB event]

Makam Nights (feat. Yahya Geylan & Canan Sezgin Geylan) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-12-19 (Thursday). $PWYC. [FB event]

Okavango African Orchestra [with special guests Lorraine Klaasen, Diely Mori Tounkara, Pape Ndiaye, Mis Blandine and Dally Dominic] / Redwood Theatre 2024-12-20 (Friday). $20 (advance tickets), $25 (door). [FB event]

Roasted Chestnuts IX (feat. Queer Songbook Orchestra) / Hart House Theatre 2024-12-20 (Friday). $32. [more info]

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Video hits:

• Some very cool visuals (and tasty grooves) from not a band, who just released a new EP:

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It happened this week...

• ...on December 17, 2016 at The Music Gallery.

Kith & Kin - Dives and Lazarus

• ...on December 21, 2016 at The Horseshoe Tavern.

Jennifer Castle - Crying Shame

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Marilyn Yogarajah

Artist: Marilyn Yogarajah

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior & Friends), November 10, 2024.

Marilyn Yogarajah - [first piece]

Some solo journeys from Marilyn Yogarajah saw trumpet loopscapes being augmented by piano lines. Easy to get lost in while you stare out the window watching autumn rolling in.

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

Recording: Triple Bad Acid

Artist: Triple Bad Acid

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior & Friends), November 10, 2024.

Triple Bad Acid - [excerpt]

Some psychedelic explorations from Ayal Senior (here on bass and space echo) alongside Marilyn Yogarajah (piano/trumpet). Some deep zones here, but not to get ahead of things too much, this was just setting the stage for things to get even more triple.

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

Recording: Toronto Improvisors Orchestra

Artist: Toronto Improvisors Orchestra

Song: [2nd set, 2nd piece excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), November 10, 2024.

Toronto Improvisors Orchestra - [2nd set, 2nd piece excerpt]

Although the TIO will play freely when the numbers are low (or when the mood otherwise strikes), when there's a larger group the use of conduction leads the sounds to interesting places. Here, Eugene Martynec was having some computer trouble and took a break from troubleshooting to wrangle the ensemble, pulling things together to move from long tones to pointillistic daubs.

Recording: Joëlle Léandre & Rémy Bélanger de Beauport

Artist: Joëlle Léandre & Rémy Bélanger de Beauport

Song: [track 5]

Recorded at Allan Gardens Children's Conservatory (Music Gallery presents), November 9, 2024.

Joëlle Léandre & Rémy Bélanger de Beauport - [track 5]

This off-site Music Gallery show took place in one of the less-familiar wings of the Allan Gardens conservatory — not alongside the turtles or under the tropical plants but in the smaller children's conservatory space which was, at least at the moment, cleared out of plant life and serving more as an event space. (Although, to be sure, there were plants aplenty — and for sale — in the adjoining space.) Still a visually appealing (if someone sonically impure) spot for a show, and it felt like a cozy spot to lean in and listen to a couple of contrasting sets.

A titan of the European improvisational scene, French double-bassist Joëlle Léandre might have been mildly jetlagged at this show, but still interacted with her instrument with constant joy and a sense of discovery. Cellist Rémy Bélanger de Beauport was an effective foil, matching both tiny, quiet gestures and unorthodox techniques. Even with a serious depth of playing at hand, things weren't taken too seriously, as evidenced by the way a couple of the pieces ended with laughter from performers and audience alike.

Recording: Masahiro Takahashi

Artist: Masahiro Takahashi

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Allan Gardens Children's Conservatory (Music Gallery presents), November 9, 2024.

Masahiro Takahashi - unknown

This off-site Music Gallery show took place in one of the less-familiar wings of the Allan Gardens conservatory — not alongside the turtles or under the tropical plants but in the smaller children's conservatory space which was, at least at the moment, cleared out of plant life and serving more as an event space. (Although, to be sure, there were plants aplenty — and for sale — in the adjoining space.) Still a visually appealing (if someone sonically impure) spot for a show, and it felt like a cozy spot to lean in and listen to a couple of contrasting sets.

The night began with a trio, led by bedroom laptopist Masahiro Takahashi, here joined by Joseph Shabason (sax and fx) and Bram Gielen (fretless bass), adding lush textures to his gently-drifting pieces, creating a greenhouse-ready chill-out zone.

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

Monday Roundup #204

Concert announcements:

Makam Nights (feat. Yahya Geylan & Canan Sezgin Geylan) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-12-19 (Thursday). $PWYC. [FB event]

Greydini [Bad Boglin Clutches release party!] (Bile Sister / Bag) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-28 (Saturday). $10 / pwyc

CLUE NOTE: trivia and creative music (vol 3) (feat. Erin Corbett/Niamh Girling/Mira Martin-Gray/Kurt Newman/Marilyn Yogarajah) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-12-29 (Sunday – noon). $PWYC ($10 suggested) [FB event]

Tranzac New Year's Eve (feat. Joseph Shabason & The Welcome To Hell Tentet / Sandro Perri & Friends / Jane Inc) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-12-31 (Tuesday). $30 Adv. / $32 door. [tickets + more info]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Brodie West Quintet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-11 (Wednesday – early)

Slipstreams (feat. Grace Scheele & Arie Verhuel v.d. Ven / Dylann Miller / Carolina Lopez) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-11 (Wednesday). $pwyc. [more info]

fuzZfest 2.0 (feat. Ben Bennett/Raphaël Foisy/Karen Ng / Eric Laska / Battle Milk) ["home-cooked vegetarian meal included"] / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-12-12 (Thursday). $15 (cash/card) or pwyc. [FB event]

Not a Band [Secrets EP Release Party!] (feat. Wilderness Adventure Ride / Triage Eclair) / Collective Arts 2024-12-12 (Thursday). $15/PWYC. [FB event]

Audiopollination (feat. Jake/Tomasz Krakowiak/Julie Lassonde / David Sait/James Bailey/Daniel Ramjattan / Adriana Monti/Gabe Girard/Nilan Perera / Brie Clarke/Jenna Geen/Adrian Russouw/Abby Silvera) / Array Space 2024-12-13 (Friday). $10 (cash or card). [FB event]

Second Fridays (feat. Chiquitamagic / Brodie West / Stones, Breeze, and Tinder) / Canadian Music Centre 2024-12-13 (Friday). $15; $10 for students. [morfe info]

Musica Universalis (feat. C'est la fête / Cetacea) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-13 (Friday)

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It happened this week...

• ...on December 12, 2015 at The Great Hall's basement (Long Winter 4.2).

LAL - Rules Were Meant to be Broken

• ...on December 9, 2015 at Array Space.

Hoover Party feat. Doc Dunn - [excerpt]

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Rebecca Bruton

Artist: Rebecca Bruton

Song: Tam Lin [excerpt] [composer: Martin Arnold]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #97), November 5, 2025.

Rebecca Bruton - Tam Lin [excerpt]

Rebecca Bruton's recent visits hereabouts have revolved around her Swanherds project, but this mini-tour with Darren Williams instead saw her tackling a "transparent tracing" of Martin Arnold's retelling of the old Scottish ballad "Tam Lin". Martin's reworking of the piece was crafted for The Reveries and the Array Ensemble, so it exudes a wobbly maximalism, making Bruton's version an interesting flip into unadorned minimalism. Although given that it runs over forty minutes, there's a sense of spacial expansion at play here as well — time to really lean back and dig into the sounds in a setting where the context of listening to something this spare for so long actually creates the conditions to slow the mind down enough to hear what's creeping in between the notes.

Besides brushing up against that endlessly ambling "Boring Formless Nonsense" that much of Arnold's work is associated with, Bruton's refolkification also brought to mind Picastro's sleepy drift as well as Wyrd Visions' stretched-out-like-toffee balladry. The similarly-spare retelling of her own "Nora, Listening" that started the set shows that there's space for these techniques to echo more broadly within her work.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, December 3rd), with sets from Dept. of Loss (Fan Wu/Phil Hamilton) and Pigeon Dance (Victor/Lenny/Clay).]

Recording: Darren Williams

Artist: Darren Williams

Songs: I Choose Hope So Fuck You + Crimson and Clover and Hubris

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #97), November 5, 2025.

Darren Williams - I Choose Hope So Fuck You

Darren Williams - Crimson and Clover and Hubris

This former Torontonian (now based out west in Kelowna) was making his first local appearance in over a decade, giving an opportunity for folks in these parts to get acquainted with his solo saxophone work. Playing many of the compositions from his recent Musical Idiot album, and offering a flow of snappy, cutting banter, the music moved from intense arguments to reflective, circular reflections.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, December 3rd), with sets from Dept. of Loss (Fan Wu/Phil Hamilton) and Pigeon Dance (Victor/Lenny/Clay).]

Recording: Marilyn + Apple

Artist: Marilyn + Apple

Song: [1st piece]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #97), November 5, 2025.

Marilyn + Apple - [1st piece]

To set the stage for a couple touring visitors, this night began with some new sounds from some locals. Eschewing their regular instruments, this pair are relative newbies at saxophone, allowing them to approach things with true beginner's mind. It's a bit of a cliché (and one I'm fond of) to compare improvisation to conversation, but this felt very much like hanging out with a couple friends and hearing chatter pass back and forth — sometimes leading to monosyllabic rebuttals, sometimes to dense clusters of ideas, and sometimes just breaking down in laughter.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, December 3rd), with sets from Dept. of Loss (Fan Wu/Phil Hamilton) and Pigeon Dance (Victor/Lenny/Clay).]

Monday Roundup #203

Concert announcements:

Second Fridays (feat. Chiquitamagic / Brodie West / Stones, Breeze, and Tinder) / Canadian Music Centre 2024-12-13 (Friday). $15; $10 for students. [morfe info]

Roasted Chestnuts IX (feat. Queer Songbook Orchestra) / Hart House Theatre 2024-12-20 (Friday). $32. [more info]

Cosmic Homeostasis XXVI / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-29 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Dan Pitt [solo guitar] / Sellers & Newel 2024-12-02 (Monday). $15 minimum donation. [more info]

Track Could Bend #98 (feat. Dept. of Loss [Fan Wu / Phil Hamilton] / Pigeon Dance) / Wenona Lodge 2024-12-03 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Holy Oak Family Singers Present: A Musical Nativity Play (feat. Thom Gill/Luka Kuplowksy/Stefana Fratila/Dorothea Paas/Maggie Keogh/Bram Gielen/Spencer Cole/Alex Samaras/Carlyn Bezic/Ben Gunning/Sarah Ruba/Robin Dann/Josh Cole/Ryan Driver/Caitlin Woelfle-O'Brien/Ivy Mairi/Ten Moon/Isis Giraldo/Mara Nesrallah/Justin Orok/Stephen Prickett/Felicity Williams/Madelyn Kirby) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-04 (Wednesday – early) [more info]

Ghostlight / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-04 (Wednesday). $pwyc, $10 suggested. [FB event]

No Frills (Packs) / Ted's Collision 2024-12-05 (Thursday). $pwyc. [more info]

Tania Gill Quartet [Brodie West/Rob Clutton/Nico Dann/Tania Gill] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-06 (Friday – early). $pwyc. [FB event]

Jazz Piano Meets Kurdish Kamanche (feat. Diane Roblin & Shahriyar Jamshidi) / Canadian Music Centre 2024-12-06 (Friday). $27.96. [more info/tickets]

The Ocean Sleeps (Das Rad / Camo Kimono / Sabio) / Junction Underground 2024-12-06 (Friday). $10. [FB event]

Esther Splett (Tommy Tone / Corpusse / But Worse) / Spadina Baby 2024-12-06 (Friday). $15/PWYC, 19+

Not Dead Yet + Sacred Bones present (feat. Uniform / Pharmakon / True Body) / Monarch Tavern 2024-12-07 (Saturday). $31.56, 19+. [FB event]

coexisDance #107 (feat. Pursuit Grooves/Judy Luo/Laura Swankey/B Solomon/Oz Bamboo/James Bailey/Akin Mponjika/Laura Barrett/Meryem Alaoui) / Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre 2024-12-07 (Saturday). $15 (sliding). [more info]

Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / The Sympathetic String Band / Nick Flanagan / Way Bad Stone) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-08 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]

Lostworldsounds [Heartbroken Yesterdays Fleeting Tomorrows album release celebration!] (Man Meets Bear / guests from Ghostlight) / The Sun Room at 918 Bathurst 2024-12-08 (Sunday). $15/PWYC (no one turned away for lack of funds). [FB event]

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Video hits:

• If I tell you that Parade (the band) is made up of Parade: Laura Swankey, Patrick O'Reilly, Chris Pruden and Stefan Hegerat and I tell you that the animation in this video was done by Bea Labikova you're just gonna click right on it, right?

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Bandcamp corner:

• After taking November off, there's one last Bandcamp Friday coming up to close out the year. A good time to pick up some digital stocking stuffers! I've got lots of stuff on my list, but here's a couple picks:

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It happened this week...

• ...on December 4, 2014 at The Music Gallery (Emergents I).

Cris Derksen - 21

• ...on December 4, 2014 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

Pete Johnston with Michael Davidson with Jay Hay with Jake Oelrichs with Mike Smith - Dark Sequin

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Ava Mendoza

Artist: Ava Mendoza

Song: The Shadow Song

Recorded at Collective Arts (Burn Down The Capital presents), November 3, 2024.

Ava Mendoza - The Shadow Song

The autumn has brought a welcome cluster of shows from Tad Michalak's Burn Down The Capital promotional arm, mixing touring artists (many with a long relationship with BDtC) with local legends and emerging artists, many of them taking place in the cozy basement space at Collective Arts' taproom. (Important note: there's one last show in this burst coming up this Saturday.)

Guitarist Ava Mendoza was in town for a Tad Show earlier this year, backing trumpeter Nate Wooley in his Columbia Icefield project. This return saw her in a stripped-down solo performance, pulling out a mic stand and her pedalboards (including an expertly-deployed Red Panda Particle) out in front of the stage to engage directly with the crowd. Focusing on the brand-new The Circular Train album, this showed off both her songwriting depths as well as her guitar skills, bringing avant slice-and-dicing to bluesy forms, and stretching out the instrumentals without ever feeling uninterestingly chopsy.

Recording: Fresh Snow

Artist: Fresh Snow

Song: Agnostic Font^*

Recorded at Collective Arts (Burn Down The Capital presents), November 3, 2024.

Fresh Snow - Agnostic Font

The autumn has brought a welcome cluster of shows from Tad Michalak's Burn Down The Capital promotional arm, mixing touring artists (many with a long relationship with BDtC) with local legends and emerging artists, many of them taking place in the cozy basement space at Collective Arts' taproom. (Important note: there's one last show in this burst coming up this Saturday.)

Playing their first show in over five years, Fresh Snow still pulled in the headliner-sized crowd for this night — there's obviously a lotta folks who still hold the band in fond regard. Filling the stage with gear and cranking up the amps, the set started and ended with familiar numbers ("BMX Based Tactics" and "Flat White") but moved into new territory for the whole stretch in between, as far as I could tell. If there's possibly a bit more postrock sweep and a bit less krautrock chaos that doesn't mean that band's alchemy has changed all that much. Nice to see 'em back in action, and the new material hopefully points towards this not being a one-off.

^* Thanks to Tim for passing along the title!

Recording: Not The Wind, Not The Flag

Artist: Not The Wind, Not The Flag

Song: [part 3]

Recorded at Collective Arts (Burn Down The Capital presents), November 3, 2024.

Not The Wind, Not The Flag - [part 3]

The autumn has brought a welcome cluster of shows from Tad Michalak's Burn Down The Capital promotional arm, mixing touring artists (many with a long relationship with BDtC) with local legends and emerging artists, many of them taking place in the cozy basement space at Collective Arts' taproom. (Important note: there's one last show in this burst coming up this Saturday.)

So it was no surprise to see a (these days somewhat-rare) appearance from Not The Wind, Not The Flag to open up this night, giving Brandon Valdivia and Colin Fisher a slightly-abbreviated slot to enable their musical mindmeld, sharing a pulse with the former's percussion and the latter moving from guitar to saxophone (as heard in this extract). Fully satisfying to hear these friends palying together, still fully in sync even when playing less together.

Monday Roundup #202

Community notes:

• Modular synth documentary I Dream of Wires receives a 10th Anniversary screening at the Revue Cinema cinema this week (Wednesday, November 27th) with a special live performance by Aida Khorsandi (who was seen at Track Could bend a few months ago).

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Concert announcements:

Ghostlight / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-04 (Wednesday). $pwyc, $10 suggested. [FB event]

No Frills (Packs) / Ted's Collision 2024-12-05 (Thursday). $pwyc. [more info]

Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / The Sympathetic String Band / Nick Flanagan / Way Bad Stone) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-12-08 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]

Lostworldsounds [Heartbroken Yesterdays Fleeting Tomorrows album release celebration!] (Man Meets Bear / guests from Ghostlight) / The Sun Room at 918 Bathurst 2024-12-08 (Sunday). $15/PWYC (no one turned away for lack of funds). [FB event]

fuzZfest 2.0 (feat. Ben Bennett/Raphaël Foisy/Karen Ng / Eric Laska / Battle Milk) ["home-cooked vegetarian meal included"] / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-12-12 (Thursday). $15 (cash/card) or pwyc. [FB event]

Not a Band [Secrets EP Release Party!] (feat. Wilderness Adventure Ride / Triage Eclair) / Collective Arts 2024-12-12 (Thursday). $15/PWYC. [FB event]

Henri Fabergé Crashes The Creskins Ball ["A festive night of comedy,music & mayhem"] (feat. Gwynne Phillips / Briana Templeton / Kayla Lorette / Roger Bainbridge / Miguel Rivas / Alex Tindal / Clare McConnell / Adam Niebergall / Sharjil Rasool / Johnny Spence / Steve Foster / Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll / Sarah Bennett / Juliann Wilding / Nicole Passmore / Jackie Pirico / Sarah Ruba / New Chance / Anh Phung) / 918 Bathurst 2024-12-19 (Thursday – early show @ 6 p.m., late show @ 8:30). $27.96. [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Brittany Pitt's Reverie [Brittany Pitt/Dan Pitt/Caleb Klager/Jon Catanus] / The Rex 2024-11-26 (Tuesday – 5:30 p.m.). $10. [more info]

Clue Note: Trivia and Creative Music (Vol. 2) (feat. Socks and Sandals (and Friends) [Germaine Liu/Mira Martin-Gray/Nick Storring/Mark Zurawinski) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-11-26 (Tuesday – early) [FB event]

Dan Pitt Quintet [Horizontal Depths album release]/ The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-11-26 (Tuesday) [more info]

Dimming Pool [1st gig!] (Prancing Like Zebras / FORMING / Romeo Romeo) / The Cameron House 2024-11-27 (Wednesday). $15. [FB event]

Ronley Teper & the Lipliners / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-11-27 (Wednesday) [more info]

Dean Drouillard & Christine Bougie / Sellers & Newel 2024-11-28 (Thursday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]

Zoobombs (Pretty / Scooter Jay) / Monarch Tavern 2024-11-28 (Thursday). $18.50, 19+. [FB event]

Tara Kannangara (Hiroki & The DenSan Band / Emily Steinwall) / Burdock Music Hall 2024-11-28 (Thursday). $16.95. [more info]

Halocline Trance Presents (feat. Eldritch Priest [album release] / Karen Ng & David Psutka) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-11-28 (Thursday). $15 / pwyc. [more info]

All-Set presents (feat. Molehill [Mike Smith/Jake Oelrichs/Pete Johnston] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-11-29 (Friday – early). $pwyc

Corpusse with Mike Milligan / Sellers & Newel 2024-11-29 (Friday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]

Exit Points 55 (feat. Zoma/Sarah Peebles/halfdecentheart/Jaeyoung Chong/Andrew Finlay Stewart/Kimute/WEI EN/Zoë Ëoz/kat estacio/Jonathan Huard/Michael Palumbo) / Array Space 2024-11-29 (Friday). $17.52 (early bird)/$22.89 (advance)/$28.27 (general). [FB event]

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-11-29 (Friday). $pwyw. [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. V. Vecker / Death Kneel / Cetacea / Aida Khorsandi) / Collective Arts 2024-11-30 (Saturday). $17.52. [FB event]

CORDS [new project from Jesse Levine, Face The Sun! album release celebration] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-11-30 (Saturday – early) [more info]

Cannon Album Release (feat. Dan Fortin/Michael Davidson/Thom Gill/Phil Melanson/Karen Ng/David Occhipinti / You Can Can [Felicity Williams & Andrew Zukerman]) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-12-01 (Sunday). $20. [FB event]

Labyrinth Ensemble presents (feat. Marta Solek / Roa Lee / Sasan Salaseli) / Drom Taberna 2024-12-01 (Sunday). $pwyc. [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on November 30, 2013 at Double Double Land (Punchclock Showcase).

New Fries - Plexiglass

• ...on December 1, 2013 at Creatures Creating Gallery (Wavelength 583: The Bass Piano).

Ryan Driver/Justin Haynes/Michael Davidson - First Improvization for Bass Piano [excerpt]

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Labyrinth Ensemble with Maliheh Moradi

Artist: Labyrinth Ensemble with Maliheh Moradi

Song: Dar deyr-e moghan [composer: Arshad Tahmasebi]

Recorded at the Aga Khan Museum, November 2, 2024.

Labyrinth Ensemble with Maliheh Moradi - Dar deyr-e moghan

The latest in the Labyrinth Ensemble's series of group intensives/public concerts saw them working with Iranian vocalist Maliheh Moradi and exploring a mix of classic makam pieces and new sounds that emerged during the workshop process. And as usual, in between the graniose sweep of the full ensemble, some of the most striking moments came when that pulled back to duos and solos, showing off the diverse array of sounds that the ensemble contains.

[Labyrinth's Makam Nights series will not have a November edition, but will return on December 19th to the Tranzac's Living Room — and before that, some members of the ensemble (Roa Lee, Marta Solek and Sasan Salaseli) will be performing at Drom Taberna on Sunday, December 1st.]

Recording: Trivial Musical Pursuits

Artist: Trivial Musical Pursuits

Songs: Eiffel Tower + 1939

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Friends of Clue Note present) October 29, 2024.

Trivial Musical Pursuits - Eiffel Tower

Trivial Musical Pursuits - 1939

This one requires a brief explanation. Given the opportunity to pull together something as a fill-in for a Tranzac late set, this took inspiration from the show that was immediately before it, namely the debut of the new Clue Note residency for trivia and experimental music. Idea: why not combine them? So: this set offered the musicians a series of trivia questions, and their goal was to "answer" them through brief performances (timed to a five-minute hourglass).

The first set (as heard in these pieces posted here) was performed as a trio with Patrick O'Reilly (circuit-bent Casio), Sara Constant (flute) and Heraclitus Akimbo (Kaossilator mini, tapes), while the second (as seen in the video below) saw them augmented by Marilyn Yogarajah (piano, trumpet) and Raph-o-tron 3000 (keytar).

You can check out that aforementioned set over on youtube:

Recording: Cameron/Girling/Martin-Gray/Shortt

Artist: Allison Cameron/Niamh Girling/Mira Martin-Gray/Olivia Shortt

Song: ii-V-I ∞ [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Clue Note), October 29, 2024.

Allison Cameron/Niamh Girling/Mira Martin-Gray/Olivia Shortt - ii-V-I ∞ [excerpt]

A delightful evening at The Tranzac with the debut of Clue Note, a new residency hosted by Mira Martin-Gray and Niamh Girling. The night started with a classic pub quiz, drawing friends and strangers together into impromptu teams, before switching over to some creative music. This night saw the premiere of Martin-Gray's "ii-V-I ∞", a "freaky drone jazz composition" tackled by the composer (laptop, kazoo) plus Allison Cameron (organ, synth, laptop), Niamh Girling (tanpura) and Olivia Shortt (saxophone). The piece moved from an undifferentiated dronefield, pulling apart and allowing specifics (such as Short's "Lonely Woman"-ish moan-cries) to slip in — very existential.

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

[Clue Note returns to The Tranzac on Tuesday, November 26th with trivia on the theme of theme is "What's in a name?" and music performed by Socks and Sandals (and Friends), a.k.a. Germaine Liu, Mira Martin-Gray, Nick Storring, and Mark Zurawinski.]

Recording: Glass Orchestra

Artist: Glass Orchestra

Song: unknown [part 2]^*

Recorded at The Music Gallery (X Avant XIX – Night 5), October 19, 2024.

Glass Orchestra - unknown [part 2]

Celebratring their 46^th season as an ensemble, the Glass Orchestra helped close out this year's X Avant Festival at the Music Gallery. (The group has a long association with the MG, including through the membership of longtime live sound engineer Paul Hodge.) That extended tenure has helped the group in their accumulation of unique glass-based instruments, which are a striking spectacle to see on stage. Incorporating gamelan rhythms (though we were assured that the group draws most from the musical culture of Silconasia) there was also some glass horn squawking as well as some classic fingers-on-wine-glass-rim drones. (Bonus! you can watch the whole set on the archive of the MG's livestream over on youtube!)

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

Monday Roundup #201

Community notes:

• Like many folks, I've found it weird to navigate the contradictions of participating on twitter for the past while. So with a new consensus forming around Bluesky, I'm going to try posting updates there instead. You can find me as @mfs-toronto.bsky.social. (And remember, of course: for an algorithm-free experience, this aged platform does offer you an RSS feed!)

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Video hits:

• Luka Kuplowsky and The Ryōkan Band's album release show is now preserved as the concert film "An Evening at the Tranzac" available on youtube. Beautuful stuff, go and fill your heart!

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Concert announcements:

Exit Points 55 (feat. Zoma/Sarah Peebles/halfdecentheart/Jaeyoung Chong/Andrew Finlay Stewart/Kimute/WEI EN/Zoë Ëoz/kat estacio/Jonathan Huard/Michael Palumbo) / Array Space 2024-11-29 (Friday). $17.52 (early bird)/$22.89 (advance)/$28.27 (general). [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. V. Vecker / Death Kneel / Cetacea / Aida Khorsandi) / Collective Arts 2024-11-30 (Saturday). $17.52. [FB event]

Cannon Album Release (feat. Dan Fortin/Michael Davidson/Thom Gill/Phil Melanson/Karen Ng/David Occhipinti / You Can Can [Felicity Williams & Andrew Zukerman]) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-12-01 (Sunday). $20. [FB event]

Track Could Bend #98 (feat. Dept. of Loss [Fan Wu / Phil Hamilton] / Pigeon Dance) / Wenona Lodge 2024-12-03 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

The Ocean Sleeps (Das Rad / Camo Kimono / Sabio) / Junction Underground 2024-12-06 (Friday). $10. [FB event]

Audiopollination (feat. Jake/Tomasz Krakowiak/Julie Lassonde / David Sait/James Bailey/Daniel Ramjattan / Adriana Monti/Gabe Girard/Nilan Perera / Brie Clarke/Jenna Geen/Adrian Russouw/Abby Silvera) / Array Space 2024-12-13 (Friday). $10 (cash or card). [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

California Transformation [featuring works by Edgard Varèse, Juri Seo, Ivan Trevino, Michael Oesterle, Carlos Chávez, Lukas Ligeti] (feat. U of T Percussion Ensemble) / The Rex 2024-11-18 (Monday). $free. [FB event]

Dan Pitt Quintet [Naomi McCarroll-Butler/Patrick Smith/Dan Pitt/Alex Fournier/Nick Fraser] / The Rex 2024-11-18 (Monday). $20. [FB event]

Brittany Pitt's Reverie [Brittany Pitt/Dan Pitt/Tristan Schultz/Aaron Blewett] / The Rex 2024-11-19 (Tuesday – 5:30 p.m.). $10. [more info]

Music Hosted by Karen Ng (feat. Karen Ng & Allison Cameron [debuting a new piece by Stephen Parkinson] / Karen Ng & Ted Crosby / Philippe Melanson [solo]) / Wenona Lodge 2024-11-19 (Tuesday – 8:30 p.m.)

Andy Haas & Mike Milligan (Max Donaldson) / Sellers & Newel 2024-11-24 (Sunday). $20 minimum donation. [FB event]

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In the mix:

• New ambient mix! New age hits, classic 80's synth sounds (classic 70's too!), a Stargate and a Dragon Gate, some Doctor Who incidental music (not Gate-related!), possibly Ennio Morricone's cheesiest theme, and that one piece of hold music that kept haunting me. Tracks by: Constance Demby, Steve Hillage, Colin Currie Group & Synergy Vocals (playing Steve Reich), Suzanne Ciani, Emerald Web, Jonathan Gibbs, Anthéne & Simon Mccorry, Circa Alto, and DreamQuest.

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It happened this week...

• ...on November 19, 2017 at The Dupe Shop (Arachnidiscs Dual Release Show).

Stargoon - [excerpt]

• Recorded on November 22, 2017 at Array Space (Spirit Of The Inner Child: Spontaneous Group Explorations).

Del Stephen/Paul Newman/Jeff Sinibaldi/David Parker - [excerpt]

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]