Recording: Happy Apple

Artist: Happy Apple

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Annette Studios (Sonomadic Improv presents), April 12, 2026.

Happy Apple - [excerpt, part 1]

Happy Apple - [excerpt, part 2]

Sonomadic Music is an initiative from Kayla Milmine and Jonathan Kay to support artists and audiences with chances for joyful, focused listening. Their live series has had several shows in Annette Studios, which allows for pro-level documentation. This night opened with a re-emergence of Happy Apple, the occasional joint effort from Allison Cameron (electric mandolin, field recordings, effects and more) and Joe Strutt (synths, processing, apples) — and with both using the mellow chimes of the titular happy apples.

[You can keep an eye out for further Sonomadic Improv events at their instagram — and hear some past sessions over on bandcamp. Joe Strutt will be performing as part of the ensemble at Duo Cichorium's Playscape Emporium (Paint, Play), alongside Charlee Wielgoz, Fahmid Nibesh, and Mira Martin-Gray.]

photo by Heidi Chan.

Recording: Allison Cameron

Artist: Allison Cameron

Song: unknown [excerpt]^*

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #108), September 2, 2025.

Allison Cameron - unknown [excerpt]

Originally planned for TCB#101, a throwback re-creation of the series' very first show, this rescheduled set saw A.C. serve up some absorbing laptop-based electroacoustic collages, with found sounds including some deeply-garbled speech samples.

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

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, November 4th with sets from anthéne and Fossils.]

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

Monday Roundup #213

Community notes:

• A special bit of self-promotion here to ensure everyone knows they're invited out to 918 Bathurst on Sunday (February 16th) to help celebrate Track Could Bend #100. It's been a wonderful surprise that the series would be going strong just shy of a decade along, so I've invited all the performers back to hang out. We'll draw some bands from a hat and gather friends and strangers to play together, plus hang out, nosh, work on a commemorative zine and more. Music from 5 to 7 and 8 to 11, do drop by for some chunk of that!

---

Concert announcements:

Patrick O'Reilly presents: Carded! (feat. Patrick O'Reilly/Samuel Little/amiel ang/Samuel Laramee/Omar Yazaw/Leah Reavster/%%30%30/Annie Elgie) / Walter Hall 2025-02-24 (Monday). $free. [more info]

Exit Points #57 - 5th Anniversary Show! (feat. Xina Gilani/Ben McCarthy/Heather Saumer/Sara Constant /Jamie Eriksen / Pursuit Grooves/Anh Phung/Tara Kannangara/Martin Gomes/Michael Palumbo / switchemups) / Array Space 2025-02-28 (Friday). Tickets: $15 early bird, $20 adv, $25 door. [FB event]

Liquid Architecture presents "The Call of Cthulhu" [silent film with live musical accompaniment] (feat. ARRC [Ryan Kinney/Colin James Gibson/Rod Campbell/Ambrose Pottie) / Mischief Makers 2025-03-01 (Saturday). $10 advance, $12 at the door, 18+. [FB event]

Grocer (Luge / Least Weasel) / The Garrison 2025-03-05 (Wednesday). $21.53, 19+. [FB event]

Freesound presents [works by Georgina Bowden, Dylan Lardelli, Pauline Oliveros, Juliet Palmer, Gordon Williamson] (feat. Ensemble Musikfabrik) / Array Space 2024-03-06 (Thursday). $22.63. [FB event]

Enchanters (Pit Scum) / Houndstooth 2025-03-06 (Thursday). $pwyc. [FB event]

TONE presents (feat. Tara Clerkin Trio / Slow Attack Ensemble / Potions) / Collective Arts 2025-04-05 (Saturday). $22.89, 19+. [FB event]

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

---

Shows this week:

Sam Newsome's Straight Horn Magick Tour! (feat. Sam Newsome/Nick Fraser/Marilyn Lerner/Jonathan Kay/Kayla Milmine) / The Rex 2025-02-09–10 (Sunday–Monday). [FB event]

Brodie West's New Double Bass Quintet [Brodie West/Patrick O'Reilly/Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/Nick Fraser] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-02-12 (Wednesday – early). $pwyc. [more info]

Slipstreams (feat. Grace Scheele and Arie Verhuel v.d. Ven / hakosalo_tuohino / Kate Taylor [live art]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-02-12 (Wednesday) [more info]

FORMING [Signals debut EP release!] (Moonbean [single release!] / Escote) / Ted's Collision 2025-02-13 (Thursday). $free/pwyc. [FB event]

Away Forward (Loi Do / Little Vanity) / Sneaky Dee's 2025-02-14 (Friday – 7 p.m.). $16.48, 19+. [more info]

Audiopollination (feat. Phookie Nijjit/ sxrej / Sharp Stiki/max undefined/@whoischinavirus / Neil Wiernik/Matt Collins / The coin operated duo) / Array Space 2024-02-14 (Friday). livestream available. [FB event]

Blunt Object [Jay Hay/Ben Dietschi/Gordon Hyland/Jesse Malone/Teppei Kamei/Heather Saumer/Robin Jessome/Josh Bird/Tania Gill/Phil Albert/Nico Dann] / The Rex 2025-02-15 (Saturday – 2:00 p.m.). $10/$15. [FB event]

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]

Track Could Bend #100 [music plus potluck / community hangs / zine-making gathering] (feat. TCB alumni "Bands From a Hat" groupings) / 918 Bathurst 2025-02-16 (Sunday – music 5:00-7:00 and 8:00-11:00). $pwyc, all-ages, family-friendly. [FB event]

Babe Corner (Heaven For Real / D. Miami) / The Baby G 2025-02-16 (Sunday). $21.53, 19+. [FB event]

---

It happened this week...

• ...on April 7, 2015 at Johnny Jackson (Track Could Bend #1).

Michael Keith/Michael Lynn/Bob Vespaziani - [second piece]

Allison Cameron - [excerpt from last section]

[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: 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: No Octopus Dancing

Artist: No Octopus Dancing

Songs: [two excerpts]

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

No Octopus Dancing - [set 1 excerpt]

No Octopus Dancing - [set 2 excerpt]

Because it's been such a long time since seeing this merger-band in action, it's worth re-stating that it exists as a joint effort of No Angels Dancing (Allison Cameron and Stephen Parkinson) and Octopus (Germaine Liu and Mark Zurawinski). With the former's bric-a-brac flanked by the latter's floor-based percussion, the group offers spontaneously-ornate arrangements in small gestures transformed into quiet noise.

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

Recording: Royal Jelly

Artist: Royal Jelly

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #95), September 3, 2024.

Royal Jelly - unknown

This expanded/all-star edition of cellist Cory Harper-Latkovich's Jelly Ear project saw him joined by Kurt Newman (guitar), Allison Cameron (banjolele, melodica, synth), Sara Constant (flutes) as well as Germaine Liu and Yang Chen (percussion). It was the latter pair, with rocks and other percussive implements spread around them on the floor (à la The Titillators) that gave this a slightly different cast to the medieval (and new-but-medieval-sounding) pieces the group played, adding scrapes and other gentle clatter to mildly decenter the stately proceedings. This night was a bit of a farewell party as well, with Harper-Latkovich heading off to delve deeper into compositional studies in early music, so new/old wrinkles are sure to arise next time an ensemble like this is assembled.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona next Tuesday (October 1st) with sets from Josh Cole + Mira Martin-Gray and Laura Swankey/Brittany Pitt/Dan Pitt.]

^* It's not impossible that this is the end of one piece going into another. Does anyone know the title(s)? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Friends of Wenderly Park

Artist: Friends of Wenderly Park

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (The Sun Room), April 23, 2024.

Friends of Wenderly Park - [first piece]

Having considered the options, the members of Wenderly Park figured that the best way to open up their album release celebration would be to invite some of the folks who'd shared the stage with them previously to come together and create some sympathetic sounds. The call was answered by a quartet of former collaborators (Bea Labikova on winds, Allison Cameron on laptop, Marilyn Yogarajah on trumpet, and Mike Lynn on double bass) as well as engineer Jason Doell, who had put the bow on the album with his principal mix. The resulting set was an on-point electroacoustic journey, from quieter rustles to input-jamming outbursts.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

Recording: Allison Cameron & Stephen Parkinson

Artist: Allison Cameron & Stephen Parkinson

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #90), April 2, 2024.

Allison Cameron & Stephen Parkinson - [excerpt]

Quite by accident, this edition of TCB contained two duos, each comprised of a guitarist and a synthesist — but ultimately that served to show how much terrain could be encompassed in that alignment. Leading off the evening, Allison Cameron provided laptop manipulations and crackle synth crunches, while Stephen Parkinson, guitar mostly on lap and preparations in hand, provided a masterclass in listening and restraint. Call it quiet noise — the deliberate, slow accretion of sounds provided many aural riches for those willing to lean forward and listen closely.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (May 7th) with sets from Olivia Shortt and Brian Abbott, plus the debut live performance of harsh abstract electronics project TH6Ø.]

Recording: Happy Apple

Artist: Happy Apple

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Gerrard Art Space (Faster Presents: juice?$#%*), March 23, 2024.

Happy Apple - [excerpt]

This electroacoustic playtime project from Allison Cameron and Joe Strutt made its return to live performance with a table full of electronics as well as a trio of the titular toys/instruments. Manipulating their pleasant chimes, there would later be some laptop granulations, banjos, red delicious and granny smiths added to the mix.

You can check out the complete set over on youtube:

[Joe Strutt will be appearing with a different duo next Tuesday (April 23rd) to celebrate the release of Wenderly Park's self-titled album.]

Recording: Jelly Ear

Artist: Jelly Ear

Song: two unknown songs^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), June 12, 2023.

Jelly Ear - unknown #1

Jelly Ear - unknown #2

Closing out a half-year's residency at The Tranzac, Jelly Ear brought out a large version of its rotating ensemble, with Cory Harper-Latkovich (rebec) joined by Allison Cameron (organ), Yang Chen (percussion), Sara Constant (flutes), Andrew Noseworthy (guitar) and Seb Shinwell (guitar). Working, as usual, from the songbooks of Machaut and similar medieval composers, the group navigated the pieces' drones, drifts, dips and turns without ever worring about RenFaire "authenticity". Hopefully there will be more to hear from this group — some proper recordings of their repertoire would be most welcome indeed.

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

^* Does anyone know the titles to either of these? Please leave a comment! My notes only tell me that the first one is about Theseus and the second about an angel with three wings.

Recording: c_RL with Wenderly Park

Artist: c_RL with Wenderly Park

Song: [excerpt from 1st piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Living Room), May 26, 2023.

c_RL with Wenderly Park - [excerpt from 1st piece]

With Nicole Rampersaud in town, there was a rare opportunity for the members of c_RL to convene for a set — and to warm things up for the main trio convergence they joined forces with Wenderly Park for some extra hums, scrapes and loops.

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

Recording: c_RL

Artist: c_RL

Songs: [excerpt from 1st piece] + [3rd piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Living Room), May 26, 2023.

c_RL - [excerpt from 1st piece]

c_RL - [3rd piece]

With Nicole Rampersaud in town, there was a rare opportunity for the members of c_RL to convene for a set, exploring the friendship/chemistry that had made its debut in this very room nearly a decade ago.

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

Recording: Wenderly Park Ensemble

Artist: Wenderly Park Ensemble

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Living Room (fuZzfest), May 13, 2023.

Wenderly Park Ensemble - [excerpt]

On the cusp of joining the exodus of artists departing Toronto, Fahmid "fuZzy" Nibesh put together an afternoon of music, good company, and food to celebrate some of the folks he has most enjoyed making sounds with/hearing sounds from. fuZzy's duo Wenderly Park has perviously proven malliable in adding guest performers, but this set saw things expanding exponentially with some maximalism being offered by Allison Cameron (synth), Mike Lynn (double bass), Kayla Milmine (soprano sax), Karen Ng (alto sax), and Jasper Stadhouders (guitar).

You can check out footage of the full set over on youtube (though apologies to Kayla, who is outside the frame throughout!):

Recording: The Allison Cameron Band

Artist: The Allison Cameron Band

Song: Maggie Dargai [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), April 5, 2023.

The Allison Cameron Band - Maggie Dargai [excerpt]

A too-rare chance to see the "new" AC Band, with Allison Cameron (mostly on banjo here) joined by Thom Gill (guit/keyb) and Kurt Newman (guit/effects). There were some improvisations from the trio but it was especially excting to see some compositions being essayed, including this piece (carrying over some Martin Arnold deconstructed folk vibes) from the essential self-titled album.

You can catch the full piece, as well as an improvisation, over on youtube:

Recording: Flip Side

Artist: Flip Side

Songs: [first piece, in two parts]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #78), April 4, 2023.

Flip Side - [first piece, part 1]

Flip Side - [first piece, part 2]

It wasn't entirely a coincidence that I had invited Allison Cameron out to perform on this specific month, as April marked the series' eighth anniversary — and who better to celebrate that with than someone who had been on stage back at TCB #1? For this outing, she brought her laptop and no-input mixer and invited along Fahmid Nibesh, who added some sounds on guitar, oscillators, harmonica and pedals.

You can check out some footage of the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona tonight (May 2nd) with a celebration of Mira Martin-Gray's new Hen's Teeth album as well as some new synth-based sounds from Bryan W. Bray's Cetacean.]

Recording: Stadhouders/Freedman/Cameron

Artist: Jasper Stadhouders/Lori Freedman/Allison Cameron

Songs: [1st piece, two excerpts]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #77), March 7, 2023.

Jasper Stadhouders/Lori Freedman/Allison Cameron - [1st piece, excerpt 1]

Jasper Stadhouders/Lori Freedman/Allison Cameron - [1st piece, excerpt 2]

With Jasper Stadhouders in town to play the Women From Space Festival, I asked if he'd like to put together something else while he was around — and he came through with this incredible trio, adding his guitar work to Lori Freedman's clarinet/bass clarinet and Allison Cameron's no-input mixer. With crunches, scrapes, flutters and mutters all around, this was a totally fabulous time.

You can watch this full set over at TCB's youtube playlist:

[Track Could Bend returns tonight (April 4th) with sets from Density Creep, Flip Side [Allison Cameron/Fahmid Nibesh], and James Bailey & %%30%30]

Recording: Nick Storring & Allison Cameron

Artist: Nick Storring & Allison Cameron

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Humber Loop (A More Beautiful Journey Launch Event), September 1, 2022.

Nick Storring & Allison Cameron - [excerpt]

Returning after a couple pandemic hiatus years, the Intersection Festival also interfaced once more with the TTC — this time helping to celebrate the launch of the "A More Beautiful Journey" mobile app. With simultaneous concerts at both ends of the Queen streetcar line (and beyond), there was more than one person could take in, so I settled in and managed to see most of the performances at the Humber Loop. Streetcar-free on this day (to the consternation of west-end commuters, I'm sure), bus grumbles and coughs can be heard in the background here, as well as the occasionally-bemused passers-by.

Nick Storring and Allison Cameron closed out the day with some electroacoustic abstractions. With dual Suzuki Andes, the sonic bricabrac also included SK-1, laptop, tongue drum, slinky, mandocello and disembodied humbucker pickups. Between the feedback squawks, I kept looking in vain for the seagulls overhead.

You can check out some visual documentation from all of the sets I managed to catch that day over on youtube:

Recording: Sandy Ewen & Allison Cameron

Artist: Sandy Ewen & Allison Cameron

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination and Dark Matter present), August 14, 2022.

Sandy Ewen & Allison Cameron - [excerpt, part 1]

Sandy Ewen & Allison Cameron - [excerpt, part 2]

A pleasing return of an annual tradition of a late-summer visit to these parts from New York-based prepared guitarist Sandy Ewen. Playing two collaborative sets, the night closed with an inspired match with noisemaker Allison Cameron, where the pair's sounds and textures rubbed together tantilizingly but left plenty of space.

You can watch this entire set over on Audiopollination's youtube page:

Recording: Allison Cameron

Artist: Allison Cameron

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), June 15, 2022.

Allison Cameron - [first set, second piece edited excerpt]

Allison Cameron - [first set, third piece excerpt]

Allison Cameron returned to her Tranzac residency with an evening of solo performance — not the way it was originally planned after COVID scrapped the previous month's show, but nonetheless an excellent restatement of sonic purpose. Cameron's solo setup contains some familiar elements (ukulele, SK-1), but the sounds are now being framed with a series of field recordings from her laptop. (And as a bonus, the rarely-seen crackle synth made an appearance, as heard on the first selection here.) Cool noises, a bit of a breeze coming through the open window — this is what I call a good evening.

Recording: Cameron/Liu/Swankey

Artist: Allison Cameron/Germaine Liu/Laura Swankey

Song: [edited excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Octopus Presents), February 19, 2020.

Allison Cameron/Germaine Liu/Laura Swankey - [edited excerpt from first piece]

This instalment in the regular third-Wednesday-of-the-month Octopus Presents series saw Allison Cameron playing with two different trios. The second grouping saw her joined by vocalist Laura Swankey and percussionist Germaine Liu, the latter also making a rare synth outing. The output situated them as an off-kilter electro-pop combo, dream-drifting along before getting sidetracked by sputtering warbles.