Monday Roundup #257

Concert announcements:

More Noise Please! Presents: A Magical Evening of Solstice Celebration (feat. Grief Debt / J. Vulgare / Inchoate / Colin Cudmore / Panties / Rampancy / Shameful) / BSMT 254 2025-12-30 (Tuesday). $15/pwyc. [more info]

The Cluttertones [Rob Clutton/Lina Allemano/Tim Posgate/Ryan Driver] / Sellers & Newel 2025-01-06 (Tuesday). $20 minimum donation. [FB event]

Track Could Bend #112 (feat. Duo BEAK [Bea Labikova & Kayla Milmine] / Jody Chan & Yang Chen) / Wenona Lodge 2026-01-06 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Fuses (Roy / Fortunato Durutti Marinetti) / Monarch Tavern 2026-01-10 (Saturday). $17.50, 19+. [tickets + more info]

ur audio visual presents (feat. Heraclitus Akimbo [concert and lecture celebrating the release of I know what I have experienced and I know what it has meant to me, an album of music for solo lap steel guitar] / Charter of the Forest [Isla Craig/Karsten Stryker/Kurt Newman/Pete Johnston/Blake Howard]) / The Sun Room @ 918 Bathurst 2026-01-18 (Sunday – 4 p.m.). $pwyc. [FB event]

Winter's Delight: Musical Merriment with Good Company (feat. The Musicians of the Egg) / St. Thomas's Anglican Church 2026-01-24 (Saturday). $30 (General Admission), $20 (Students, Arts Worker), $10 Children. [FB event]

The Action Committee Orchestra [Maggie Keogh/Sara May/Maxwell Stover/Ben Rositsan/Keon Narinesingh/Max Donaldson/Regan Mowery] / Sellers & Newel 2025-01-24 (Saturday). $20 minimum donation. [FB event]

Josh Cole + Strings [featuring the premiere of "Concerto for Bass Drum"] / Sellers & Newel 2025-01-30 (Friday). $20 minimum donation. [FB event]

The Eric West Quintet [Eric West/Kae Murphy/Leland Whitty/Julian Anderson-Bowes/Chris Pruden] / Sellers & Newel 2025-02-06 (Friday). $25 minimum donation. [FB event]

Max Donaldson [solo piano record launch] / Sellers & Newel 2025-02-13 (Friday). $15 minimum donation. [FB event]

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

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Shows this week:

BLOOP [Lina Allemano & Mike Smith] / Sellers & Newel 2024-12-15 (Monday). $20 minimum donation. [FB event]

THE AMBiENT PiNG and Imaginary North Present (feat. Gollden / Ken Little / Hozerz) / Handlebar 2025-12-15 (Monday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Music Hosted by Karen Ng (feat. The Adjacence [Lina Allemano/Ryan Driver/Nick Fraser/Karen Ng]) / Wenona Lodge 2025-12-16 (Tuesday) [more info]

Agnes [Rob Clutton/Bea Labikova/Mira Martin-Gray/Doug Tielli/Kevin Turcotte/Mark Zurawinski] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-12-16 (Tuesday) [more info]

Tireless Foliage [Jiaqing Wilson-Yang/Germaine Liu/Karen Ng] (Jordaan Mason / Eli Howey) / Three Dollar Bill 2025-12-17 (Wednesday) [more info]

Output 1:1:1 (Tigatron) / Ted's Collision 2025-12-17 (Wednesday). $10/pwyc. [more info]

Playscape Emporium: Theatrics (feat. Duo Cichorium / Hee-Soo Yoon / Toronto Saxophone Collective / Trevor Flemings / Domenic Clarke) / Array Space 2025-12-18 (Thursday). $25 (or Pay What You Want), livestream: $12.00 (or Pay What You Want). [more info]

Makam Nights (feat. George Sawa & Suzanne Meyers Sawa) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2025-12-18 (Thursday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Beams (Dusted) / The Baby G 2025-12-18 (Thursday). $23.87, 19+. [FB event]

coexisDance #112 (feat. Pulga Muchochoma/Waleed Abdulhamid/Nidhi Baadkar/Xicada/Tyler J Sloan/Amiel Ang/Steph Chua) / Trinity-St/ Paul's Centre (Gymnasium) 2025-12-19 (Friday). $15 (pwyc). [more info]

Mehdi Rostami / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-12-19 (Friday – early) [more info]

Ministry of Phonic Services presents BPM (Big Percussion Meeting) (feat. Bobby Gadda/Brandon Valdivia/Brian Fog/Jaz Tsui/Louis Pino/qeTTe fossa) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-12-19 (Friday)

Today Versions presents Del Stephen's New Panettone ["improvvisazione radicale & art excavations"] (feat. Del Stephen/Patrick O'Reilly/Mira Martin-Gray/Rod Campbell/Kieran Maraj/James Bailey/Andrew Finlay Stewart) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-12-20 (Saturday – 5 p.m.). [FB event]

Batuki Music Society presents (feat. Rhythm Section Band [Dally Dominic/Kofi Ackah/Quandoe Harrison/George Kobby/Gabriel Amankwah/Daniel Boateng]) / It’s Ok* Studios 2025-12-20 (Saturday). $20. [FB event]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Career Suicide) / The Baby G 2025-12-20&21 (Saturday & Sunday). $27.27, 19+. [FB event]

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Video hits:

• A real gift to all of us in the form of an excellent-sounding/excellent-looking full-concert document of The Weather Station's local show earlier this year.

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It happened this week...

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

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

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

Lina Allemano/Rob Clutton/Blake Howard/Brodie West - [set 1 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: 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: 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.

Recording: Octopus Curls

Artist: Octopus Curls

Songs: [various excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), May 29, 2016.

Octopus Curls - [set 1, first piece, excerpt 1]

Octopus Curls - [set 1, first piece, excerpt 2]

Octopus Curls - [set 1, second piece]

Octopus Curls - [set 2, excerpt]

This night saw a recombinant force of two of Allison Cameron's projects take the stage, mixing trumpeter Nicole Rampersaud (who plays with Cameron in c_RL) and guitarist Stephen Parkinson (part of the No Angels Dancing/No Octopus Dances continuum). Interestingly, those two had never played together before, but there was an easy and even-handed familiarity all around, with all the ukulele plucks, guitar taps, trumpet twists, Honeytone feedback, synth purps, and radio zworps that might be expected from these three players. The fourth musical force, which was quite palpable in the room, was the bleedthrough of a rehearsal of a musical theatre troupe from the Main Hall, which overpowered some of the quieter passages. But that notwithstanding, this was pretty fabulous stuff. I'd usually try to find a concise representation of an improvised set like this, but there was too much goodness to pick from, so here's a more generous allotment than usual to enjoy.

Recording: No Octopus Dances

Artist: No Octopus Dances

Song: [set 2, first piece] (excerpt)

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), April 20, 2016.

No Octopus Dances - [set 2, first piece] (excerpt)

In light of Inky's valiant escape from captivity, there was some talk from the stage on whether the band's moniker, at least on this night, should be the more celebratory "Octopus Dances". Meanwhile, percussionists Germaine Liu and Mark Zurawinski challenged themselves by stripping their kits back to no more than a snare apiece, along with a variety of bricabrac at their feet. There was still plenty of inventive rings and rattles while Allison Cameron mixed in some distorto-banjo to her warped keyb jigs and Stephen Parkinson added his stabbing guitar worries.

Recording: No Octopus Dances

Artist: No Octopus Dances

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), March 23, 2016.

No Octopus Dances - [set 1, first piece excerpt]

No Octopus Dances - [set 1, second piece excerpt]

A rare evening manifestation of a grouping usually seen on a Sunday afternoon, this splinter faction of No Angels Dancing (Allison Cameron and Stephen Parkinson) and Octopus (Germaine Liu and Mark Zurawinski) played a couple sets of spontaneous electroacoustic spatter wrangled by organic percussive clatter. Sonic ingredients include the yawing noise-taps of Parkinson's guitar; Cameron's tapes, keyb and ribbon synths; and stereophonic percussion ranging from gentle brushwork to abstract bow-sawing.

Recording: No Octopus Dances

Artist: No Octopus Dances

Song: [set 1 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 6, 2015.

No Octopus Dances - [set 1 excerpt]

After a seasonal break to regroup following the departure of drummer D. Alex Meeks, the remaining No Angels Dancing (Allison Cameron and Stephen Parkinson) returned in this reformulation that joins them with Octopus, the eight-limbed co-drumming duo of Germaine Liu and Mark Zurawinski. The percussion is in stereo here (Liu on the right and Zurawinski on the left) giving a newly-unsteady foundation for Cameron's synth-bobbing/sound-making and Parkinson's guitar skinning. You'll now be able to find this quartet in action at The Tranzac on the first Sunday afternoon of the month.