Recording: Post Natal Drip

Artist: Post Natal Drip

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Belljar Café (T.O. Noise #4), January 20, 2017.

Post Natal Drip - unknown

Amongst the stories of venues closing and DIY spaces under threat, there are slivers of good news to be found, such as this coffee-shop-by-day/bar-by-night turning into a friendly hub for loud and user-unfriendly musics. Located on Dundas Street West right opposite that nifty radial intersection with Howard Park that that sees a near-steady stream of streetcars merging in and out, the Belljar is a small-ish space, but quite adequate to the needs of several flavours of noise music. This series comes more from the punk end of the harsh-noise scene, but there are signs that there's an effort being made to book from a wider spectrum and let different sounds rub up against one another.

Though billed as the first show for this harsh grindcore trio, in true noise-tape tradition, they already have several releases up on their bandcamp. I recognized bassist Noah Gadke from some of his more soothing outings but here things got a lot more shouty, with amped-up sluggishness and pummelling drums setting the tone for the night.

[The series returns to The Belljar on Saturday, March 11th, with a night that will include Beard Closet's noise refraction Samesex, plus sets from Marion, Excrement Binge and Corrodesion.]

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

Recording: Cyclopean Wall

Artist: Cyclopean Wall

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at 1161 Dundas St W. (Endless City: Invoking The Spirit), January 31, 2016.

Cyclopean Wall - [excerpt]

Located in the former Cooper Cole Gallery at Dundas and Ossington, the Endless City pop-up had farmed out curation to a variety of local music presenters over the course of the month, leading with a weekend booked by Jay Pollard's Invocation. After two nights dedicated to invoking Mind and Body, the Sunday-afternoon chaser was dubbed "Invoking the Spirit" — a series of ambient/drone sets with one performance merging seamlessly into the next. I was familiar with four of the five acts on the bill, leaving Noah Gadke, whose Cyclopean Wall project opened the day, as the key moment of discovery. Armed with a six-string bass and a pedalboard he generated some very pleasing ambient rumbles. I have his bandcamp marked for exploration and am looking forward to hearing more of this.