Recording: Joyfultalk

Artist: Joyfultalk

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Festival – Day 3), September 3, 2022.

Joyfultalk - unknown

Returning after a couple pandemic hiatus years, the Intersection Festival made its way back to the concrete expanse of Yonge-Dundas Square, bringing abrasive and strange sounds to the wider public. Keeping to the main stage (except for Kristina Guison's circular sander art installation), this was a bit more of a stripped-down affair than years past, but the organizational caution meant things went off without a hitch. Even on a Labour Day weekend afternoon, downtown feels a little less hectic than it used to be, but it was nice to be outside and run into some familiar faces for the first time in so long.

My previous experiences with Jay Crocker's Joyfultalk involved two or three players sitting behind tables of electronics; when I heard rumors that this set would include appearances by Phil Melanson (drums), Josh Cole (double bass) and Karen Ng (alto sax), I suspected I would not be getting more of the same. And indeed Crocker (now playing guitar, albeit with a pedalboard of synthy and other expansionist sounds) seems to have made a lurch in the direction of Bitches Brew-styled jazzy exploration. A pleasing surprise, though it might not've been if I'd caught up with this year's Familiar Science, which openly confesses its inspiration from M-Base and harmelodic funk.

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

Recording: Joyfultalk

Artist: Joyfultalk

Song: Mill Stones^*

Recorded at The Music Gallery (Departures Series), December 20, 2016.

Joyfultalk - Mill Stones

This year-closing entry in the Music Gallery's offsite Departures series returned to St. George the Martyr, taking advantage of the room's acoustics to situate this show "in the round" with the performers radiating music outward from the centre. Bringing the strongest taste of curator Tad Michalak's sensibility, Nova Scotian Jay Crocker's electronic duo was the most "pop" of the night's three sets — possibly something of an inversion of their presentation at standard rock shows, where they are often the "experimental" outliers. Still exploring ways to approach live electronic music with creativity, this set mixed shimmery textures with more propulsive sections, slowly evolving (at least to my ears) from a mad scientist gear lab to a different sort of glitchy sound purveyor.

^* Thanks to Kyle for passing along the title to this one!

Recording: Joyfultalk

Artist: Joyfultalk

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Great Hall (Long Winter 4.5 – Night 2), March 18, 2016.

Joyfultalk - unknown

You can't fault Long Winter for being ambitious and for wanting to close out the season by cramming in as much music and art into the Great Hall as possible, but their plan to close the year out with a two-night stand didn't entirely pay off. Giving patrons the choice of two nights (and holding them at the end of Spring Break) seemed to especially cut into the younger crowd and both nights (especially Friday) lacked that "about to burst" feeling that makes LW unique. But even if the crowd was at less than maximum strength, there was no certainly no lack of music spread throughout the building.

Once again, touring as a member of Cousins has given Jay Crocker a chance to broadcast the experimental electronic sounds of his own project. It's too bad this Main Stage set basically overlapped with c_RL's homespun textured noise improvisations in the next room over, as there's a couple groups that would probably enjoy listening to each other. (And also too bad that both of those overlapped with things at LW's other two stages, as I barely managed to catch any of either — thank goodness for the MFS remote unit working in my absence!)

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

Recording: Joyfultalk

Artist: Joyfultalk

Songs: Pommel Horse/If I Had Your Address In Chicago^*

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (Wavelength 678: Camp Wavelength – Day 3), August 30, 2015.

Joyfultalk - Pommel Horse/If I Had Your Address In Chicago

You can read my general notes on Camp Wavelength here. After a couple nights on the island, the campers were sleeping in, so seeing them rouse themselves (many to head on down to the beach) in the open spaces of the early afternoon festival ground (filling in slowly once the gates opened) gave the scene a morning feeling. Quite apt, them, to have Joyfultalk on hand to give a gentle wake-up call, their droney/drifty segues opening up into some non-invasive electronic textures. Jay Crocker (of Calgary-via-Crousetown, Nova Scotia) is behind this project, often playing on invented/modified instruments, but is touring as a trio, creating some lively experimentation on stage.

^* Thanks to Backward Music for passing along the titles to these ones.