Recording: Alex Raja Ven & Heart Map Ambient Ensemble

Artist: Alex Raja Ven & Heart Map Ambient Ensemble

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Sankofa Square (Intersection 2025: Day 2: All Day Music Marathon, August 30, 2025.

Alex Raja Ven & Heart Map Ambient Ensemble - unknown^*

Back from a year's hiatus, the Intersection Festival was once again bringing some unconventional sounds to the unsuspecting public. The now formally-retitled Sankofa Square sports a decolonized name, but a slightly more carceral vibe — surrounded by metal fencing and closed off by gates right up 'til showtime, there was less of a random just-wander-through sense of invitation than there used to be.

There was also a slightly different curatorial vibe in effect. In the absence of Burn Down the Capital's Tad Michalak, Andrew Noseworthy stepped up as the main programmer, giving the day a flavour that'd be familiar to those following people | places | records, the "DIY genre-fluid 'zero profit' artists-first" label he is involved with.

Coming straight from the "heart" of the people | places sound, I had previously seen this modular ensemble in a more nascent formation — and though their numbers have grown, this was working in the same space of intracately-arranged compositions delicately swelling outwards and upwards.

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

^* I'm not sure if this piece is an arrangement of Eno's "Discreet Music", or whether it just has some of its DNA grafted to its core. Please leave a comment if you know!

Recording: Mustafa Rafiq & Friends

Artist: Mustafa Rafiq & Friends

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng), August 19, 2025.

Mustafa Rafiq & Friends - [excerpt, part 1]

Mustafa Rafiq & Friends - [excerpt, part 2]

Visiting from Edmonton, Mustafa Rafiq set the stage for this group encounter with some tasty Tuareg-inspired guitar work, that infinite moving-but-staying-put melodic sensibility creating space for the local musicians to swirl around. (Those Toronto connections were: Sara Constant, flutes; Marilyn Yogarajah, trumpet and kalimba; Karen Ng, saxophone and percussion; and Lenny, voice and percussion.)

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

Recording: Sara Constant & Karen Ng

Artist: Sara Constant & Karen Ng

Song: [improvisation]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng), August 19, 2025.

Sara Constant & Karen Ng - [improvisation]

This show collected together some of Edmonton experimentalist Mustafa Rafiq's Toronto connections; the whole group would play a set together, but the evening started with solo, duo, and trio mini-sets. This pairing saw Sara Constant (flutes) and host Karen Ng (saxophone) join together for a short excursion that closed with a burst of joyful laughter.

You can check out some more from the first half's mini-sets over on youtube:

Recording: Araz Salek & Friends

Artist: Araz Salek & Friends

Songs: Goshāyesh 11 & 15 + Chahārmezrāb

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 8, 2025.

Araz Salek & Friends - Goshāyesh 11 & 15

Araz Salek & Friends - Chahārmezrāb

This joyful party had a twofold purpose, not only celebrating a birthday for Araz Salek, but also serving to launch his new Peripheries of Nahavand album. To the latter end, an ensemble of friends from within and beyond the Labyrinth Ensemble played both pieces from the album as well as a couple tunes that helped inspire it. Lots of families and kids out enjoying the music and snackage, making for a charmingly casual time.

Recording: Roter/Constant/Gilliam

Artist: Raphael Roter/Sara Constant/Bill Gilliam

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Track Could Bend #100), February 16, 2025.

Raphael Roter/Sara Constant/Bill Gilliam - [excerpt]

Track Could Bend will be having its tenth anniversary in April — although given how time got weird for a while there and the series took fourteen months off, it seems like a slightly ambiguous mark for celebration. This big round number, however, felt like the right opportunity to mark a special occasion. In the beforetimes, TCB marked its anniversaries with special events, gathering the folks who had played over the previous year and drawing names from a hat to construct some spontaneous new combos. I had the notion to scale that up and duly invited back everyone who had ever played the series — over three hundred performers! — for an afternoon and evening of fun.

As fate would have it, the long-planned-for day came with a monumental snowstorm, so the inability to get around kept some folks at home. And yet, this event still saw twenty-one performers take the stage, duly selected from the hat and sorted into seven trios. As is often the case, these instant bands made some gorgeous sounds, showing off the ability of TCB's community to adapt, co-operate and thrive. A fun time was had by many — a fitting launch to the next ten years.

Wonderful stuff here, with the formalisms of Sara Constant's (MFS#71, 87, 95) flute and Bill Gilliam's (MFS#55) prepared piano riding along with Raphael Roter's (MFS#99) intuitive synth pads.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona Lodge, its usual home, on April 1st in a special co-presentation with Ministry of Phonic Services presenting sets from Mira Martin-Gray & Sierra Weston and Wilderness Adventure Ride.]

Recording: Trivial Musical Pursuits

Artist: Trivial Musical Pursuits

Songs: Eiffel Tower + 1939

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Friends of Clue Note present) October 29, 2024.

Trivial Musical Pursuits - Eiffel Tower

Trivial Musical Pursuits - 1939

This one requires a brief explanation. Given the opportunity to pull together something as a fill-in for a Tranzac late set, this took inspiration from the show that was immediately before it, namely the debut of the new Clue Note residency for trivia and experimental music. Idea: why not combine them? So: this set offered the musicians a series of trivia questions, and their goal was to "answer" them through brief performances (timed to a five-minute hourglass).

The first set (as heard in these pieces posted here) was performed as a trio with Patrick O'Reilly (circuit-bent Casio), Sara Constant (flute) and Heraclitus Akimbo (Kaossilator mini, tapes), while the second (as seen in the video below) saw them augmented by Marilyn Yogarajah (piano, trumpet) and Raph-o-tron 3000 (keytar).

You can check out that aforementioned 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: Cosmic Homeostasis

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis

Song: Eclipse Drone [excerpt]

Recorded at Christie Pits, April 8, 2024.

Cosmic Homeostasis - Eclipse Drone [excerpt]

Well, a total solar eclipse isn't something that happens every day, and even if Toronto was limited to a mere 99.9% of totality this was an event worth getting outside for. So, returning to the scene of previous park gatherings, a robust crew gathered to experience the unsettling gloom that manifested even under cloudy skies. There was a visual score offered as a suggestion at structure, but as is usual with this ensemble, the sounds were satisfactorily self-regulating. And even with such a large group, it was still an intensely quiet experience — the zone of sounding attracted some notice from passers-by, but wasn't disruptive outside its bubble.

What an amazing turnout! The full ensemble consisted of:

• Ian McPhedran - prepared guitar
• Kai Schmidt - child's keyboard
• Helen Lhazan - monotron synth
• Elka Cruz - wrist bell + cyborg pancreas + kalimba
• styrofoamNosebleedPrincess - wrist bell, jaw harp, flexitone
• Mira Martin-Gray - synth, harmonica
• Simon Webb - tambourine + bell
• Eric Cinnsealach - bass clarinet
• Dame Cook - haunted laptop
• Alex Simons - harmonicas, bell
• Chris Price - voice
• Max Donaldson - voice
• Ivy Carroll - voice
• Daisy Betlej - bowed flexitone
• Kaya McGregor - tongue drum (soprano)
• Marius / Lenny / Adriano - stuff & vibes
• Naomi McCarroll-Butler - jaw harp
• Matthew + Anna - harmonica, whistle, thumb piano, pistachios
• Sara Constant - flute
• Kat Estacio - cymbal, Tibetan singing bowl
• Abigail Trotsky + Chris Trotter - DIY resonance box + bow w/ reverb + multi-effect
• Erin Corbett - cello + mandolin
• Mickle32 - bass
• Heraclitus Akimbo - synths, Zoia

You can listen to a (lightly-edited) version of the full experience over on bandcamp:

Recording: SOUP

Artist: SOUP

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #87), January 2, 2024.

SOUP - [excerpt]

On some other day of the year you might find Sara Constant (flutes, processing), Yang Chen (percussion), and Andrew Noseworthy (electric guitar) playing together — but they would not be SOUP. SOUP is a seasonally-specific supergroup dedicated to creating "soupy tunes" to celebrate the new year. And also to provide snacks! Sharing some homemade Japanese-Canadian treats, Sara Constant convened this trio to explore warm liquid textures and invoke some positive vibes for the year ahead.

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

[TCB is back at Wenona on Tuesday, February 6th with sets from Écureuil (Kayla Milmine & Liz Lima) and Garden of Magic.]

Recording: Newman/Constant/Arulanandam

Artist: Kurt Newman/Sara Constant/Amahl Arulanandam

Songs: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Bar Orwell, October 22, 2023.

Kurt Newman/Sara Constant/Amahl Arulanandam - [excerpt, part 1]

Kurt Newman/Sara Constant/Amahl Arulanandam - [excerpt, part 2]

An intriguing improvising trio here, especially as two of its members (Sara Constant, flutes; Amahl Arulanandam, cello + effects) are more often heard performing in the strictly-notated realm. Alongside guitarist Kurt Newman (who travels down many highways, musically speaking) this set was all rustles and plinks — evoking quieter, ghostly spaces.

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: Tone Cathedral

Artist: Tone Cathedral

Song: It's Always the Apocalypse [edited excerpt]

Recorded at Gerard Art Space (Faster presents), February 25, 2023.

Tone Cathedral - It's Always the Apocalypse [edited excerpt]

Rather a pleasing treat to return to this cozy east end haunt with Brian Abbott and Kayla Milmine reactivating their "Faster presents" banner. Here Abbott (on guitar) lead an ensemble of top-notch players (Meghan Cheng, violin; Sara Constant, flutes; Andrew Furlong, double bass; Paul Newman, tenor saxophone + clarinet) through a couple of his pieces showing his ever-deeper burrowing into the realms of microtonality.

Unlike the works on his A Loose Grip on Reality album, which focuses on hyper-real pieces ("music that would purposely be unplayable by humans even if anyone was crazy enough to try"), the pair of compositions essayed here had a woozier pace, with sounds from one instrument sliding into another in a sort of slow-motion hocketing, sounding almost like paulstretched audio at times — or perhaps like a version of a tape-loop piece like Music For Airports where little loops are being played on tape decks with dying batteries, putting things out of skew in subtle ways.

[That same album will be celebrated this Saturday (March 25th) at Array Space with animation by Meghan Cheng and performaces from Tone Cathedral and Mun Mun C.F.]

Recording: Jelly Ear

Artist: Jelly Ear

Song: O Strength of Wisdom [composer: Hildegard von Bingen]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #71), September 6, 2022.

Jelly Ear - O Strength of Wisdom

Taking up the rebec as a pandemic downtime project, cellist Cory Harper-Latkovich has pressed it into action in this new medieval ensemble. Performing works by Machaut and others and performed with on-the-fly arrangements for a flexible lineup, this isn't overly beholden to "period" purity — and as the lilting minimal drones of this piece indicate, some of it sounds downright contemporary.

You can see some more of this set over in the TCB playlist on youtube:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona next week (Tuesday, October 4th) with a special appearance from Denmark's Jonas Olesen as well as awesome locals Kayla Milmine & Mike Gennaro and Stranger Still.]

Recording: Sara Constant

Artist: Sara Constant

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Women From Space Festival 2022 – Night 2), April 29, 2022.

Sara Constant - [excerpt]

For the past three years, the Women From Space Festival has been an excellent encapsulation of its moment. Coming on the cusp of the First Big Lockdown, the 2020 Festival is remembered by many as the last event of the beforetimes, while last year's "hologram edition" was an elegant solution to the flatness of livestreams. And now, this year's Festival had to bear all the relief and angst of "returning to live" at this uncertain mid-point of the pandemic. Presented with joy and community spirit over four nights, the Festival was a chance to run into seldom-seen familiar faces and to hear a dizzying variety of sounds.

One of the festival's highlights, this solo set featured the wonderful impracticality of dragging not one but two organs to a gig to use as drone generators, keys weighed down with stones. Constant embellished that with flute-souds (both wind and electroacoustic) before closing with some delicate speakercone feedback resonances.