Artist: Eric Laska
Song: Looking Back
Recorded at The Tranzac's Living Room (f u zZ f es t 2.0), December 12, 2024.
Philadelphia-based Eric Laska brought along some of his original songs to open up this night of fuzzier, buzzier sounds. His guitar and voice supported by some tracks on his laptop, there was a soothing deadpan mellowness at play here, at times hinting at a singer-songwriterly take on, say, The Sea and Cake.
Founded as a blog about one curmudgeon's love affair with the em dash, Mechanical Forest Sound has grown to become a community-based archive of local musical culture. Assuming that "independent music" isn't just boys with guitars and "culture" isn't just some sort of pageant, MFS is an investigation of a wide range of artists, reflecting on concerts as shared experiences, acts of citizenship and a chance to get down — fuzzy photographs and clear-sounding original live recordings a specialty.
Current manifestations of this project include Track Could Bend, a monthly concert series featuring "improvised music and weird rock offshoots", presented in a casual environment.
At one point I wrote full-on concert reviews, and for longer I thought I would catch up and write about shows in the past. But these days, because of, y'know, life, do not expect much in the way of full show reviews — but live recordings with blurbs will be posted as quickly after the fact as is feasible.
Check out my original live recordings from many of the gigs discussed here.
You can also check out full sets uploaded to the Live Music Archive. [not currently active]
N.B.: All recordings should be available & playable. If you come across any broken links, invisible or non-functioning players, etc, please leave a comment and I will tend to it ASAP.
ALSO N.B.: I'm perpetually on the lookout for a new place to stash my MP3's online. If you know of any place that allows a couple gigs of stuff to be openly linked to for streaming, drop me a line!
All comments are welcome, or you can reach me at mechanicalforestsound@gmail.com.
All MP3's on this blog are audience recordings shared as a reminder of the excitement of seeing live music. If you are an artist who doesn't want their music shared in this way, please contact me and I shall remove it forthwith.
If you're so inclined, you can also follow me on Bluesky @mfs-toronto.bsky.social
Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!
Holy Oak Family Singers presents Toronto Does Toronto (feat. Thom Gill/Bram Gielen/Maggie Keogh/Justin Orok/Sarah Greene/Sarah Ruba/Ivy Mairi/Ten Moon/Alex Lukashevsky/Luka Kuploysky/Felicity Williams/Steven Noronha/Caitlin Woelfle O'Brien) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-01-07 (Tuesday – early) [more info]
Track Could Bend #99 (feat. Lostworldsounds / future proof [Bea Labikova/Raphael Roter]) / Wenona Lodge 2025-01-07 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]
Peripheral Vision (Lina Allemano Four) 2025-01-07 (Tuesday) [FB event]
BLOOP / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-01-08 (Wednesday – early). [FB event]
The Cluttertones [Lina Allemano/Ryan Driver/Tim Posgate/Rob Clutton] / Sellers & Newel 2025-01-10 (Friday). $20 minimum donation. [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]
Musica Universalis (feat. Ben Dwyer/Spencer Cole/Colin Fisher) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-01-10 (Friday) $20 suggested donation
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]
Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / Michelle Breslin / David Sait / Nick Flanagan) 2025-01-12 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]
Toronto Electronic Music Open Mic (feat. Timothy 1105 / Gruve Collective / Antibes / Nye Da / Alisa Vox Raw / naw / Paul Hillier / Time God Uly / Phurniture / Hilary Martin / Hozerz / Cetacea / Inchoate / dreamSTATE / Dre / Gary Duke) / Handlebar 2024-01-13 (Monday)
Sub-Sessions #8 (feat. TFA / Wanda / Lahore Wept / Jaeger) / BSMT 254 2024-01-16 (Thursday). $14.64. [FB event]
CMC Presents (feat. Zoma Maduekwe) / Canadian Music Centre 2025-01-23 (Thursday). General Admission: $15 Advance, $20 at the door; CMC Members and Arts Workers: $12 Advance, $15 at the door; Students: $10 anytime. [more info]
Brittany Pitt/Dan Pitt/Laura Swankey / Sellers & Newel 2025-01-25 (Saturday). $15 minimum donation. [more info]
catl. (All-Seeing Eyes / Shook Boys) / Monarch Tavern 2025-01-25 (Saturday). $20.50, 19+. [FB event]
New Encounters ["new works and arrangements by Maria-Eduarda Mendez Martins, Pouya Hamidi, Morgan-Paige Melbourne, and Eldritch Priest"] (feat. Array Ensemble) / Array Space 2025-02-01 (Saturday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [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]
Behaviours: Data (feat. Anando Gabo / Marelena Pellegrino / Technology of Creative Consciousness) / Array Space 2025-03-13 (Thursday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [more info]
Freesound Presents: Music for Solo Instruments (feat. Michael Murphy / Amahl Arulanandam / Matti Pulkki) / Array Space 2025-03-20 (Thursday). $22.63. [more info]
Playscape Emporium: Arcade-palooza (feat. Render File / Jason Leaver PuzzSoft) / Array Space 2024-05-15 (Saturday). $20.00 (or Pay What You Wish) / Livestream: $10.00 (or Pay What You Wish). [more info]
Freesound Presents: Violin // Trumpet // Melodica [featuring new work by Martin Arnold] (feat. Aysel Taghi-Zada/Émilie Fortin/Martin Arnold) / Array Space 2025-06-28 (Saturday). $22.63. [more info]
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