Recording: Panic Engines

Artist: Panic Engines

Song: Improvisation for National Drone Day [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac – Tiki Room ("National Drone Day // Toronto"), May 10, 2014.

Panic Engines - Improvisation for National Drone Day [excerpt]

Full review to follow. Born as a counter to "the tyrants of melody and rhythm", Weird Canada's new holiday facilitated grassroots aural uprisings across the nation. This evening show at The Tranzac was well-attended from the get-go, but sadly I could only stay for one set before having to move on down the line. But I was glad to get a chance to see William Davison (also involved in many other projects) testing out this new-ish solo persona with assured knob-twisting.

Recording: Carl Didur

Artist: Carl Didur

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at June Records ("Wavelength FOURTEEN"/Weird Canada's "Wyrd Distro" Launch), February 15, 2014.

Carl Didur - unknown

As part of the Wavelength FOURTEEN celebrations, the first of two afternoon in-store events found the festival teamed up with Weird Canada, who were having a big celebration of their own. Wyrd Distro is billed as "Canada's first non-profit distribution service", giving musicians a centralized depot to get their wares into the hands of fans across Canada and beyond. Marie Claire Flanagan and Aaron Levin were using June's backroom as their base to do video hangouts with a series of similar parties in every province and territory — and having been up for who knows how long gettings things ready to launch they looked triumphantly exhausted. They stared the event off with a brief talk (triumphantly "rambling towards coherence", as one friend commented) not focusing so much on the distro as the community spirit that animates everything that WC does. And then there was a set from Carl Didur, his tape loop/echo/keyboard compositions as wonderful as ever.

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

Recording: Babysitter

Artist: Babysitter

Songs: Talkin Bout The New Generation/Real Wild Child's Gone Totally Mild/Gotta Be Me Gotta Be Free

Recorded at Izakaya Sushi House ("Weird Canada, Pleasence, Moustache Rides and Just Shows present An Evening of Avant-Garage"), July 12, 2013.

Babysitter - Talkin Bout The New Generation/Real Wild Child's Gone Totally Mild/Gotta Be Me Gotta Be Free

Full review to follow. This evening of "avant-garage" closed with a visit from Victoria's Babysitter, who started of with these rapid-fire dispatches from their EYE album, shifted to something a little slower and more deliberate at the mid-point, and ended with a huge sludge/noise jam with opener JLK joining in. It all sounded like it could be a soundtrack to suburban alienation, hash, nasty aftermaths of parties gone bad and hours spent hangin' out in a 7-11 parking lot.

Recording: Wolfcow

Artist: Wolfcow

Songs: Electric Afterbirth/Everybody Dies on Vacation

Recorded at Izakaya Sushi House ("Weird Canada, Pleasence, Moustache Rides and Just Shows present An Evening of Avant-Garage"), July 12, 2013.

Wolfcow - Electric Afterbirth/Everybody Dies on Vacation

Full review to follow. I'd seen Greydyn Gatti before in his mutant-synth guise, but fronting his hard rock combo he showed off another side entirely, as if delivering a rhythmically-wayward dispatch from some alternate world's version of Detroit Rock City. Staggeringly prolific as a home-recorder, there's a lot here that demands further investigation, but do see this live unit in action if you get a chance.

Recording: Jennifer Castle + Wyrd Visions

Artist: Jennifer Castle + Wyrd Visions (feat. Owen Pallett)

Song: You Don't Have To Be

Recorded at The Music Gallery (Weird Canada Showcase a.k.a. Wyrd IV), May 11, 2013.

Jennifer Castle + Wyrd Visions - You Don't Have To Be

Full review to follow. After an afternoon listening salon devoted to digging through some of the albums the Music Gallery released on its record label, Weird Canada showed its "genre agnosticism" in practice with a night featuring three rather different acts. These two soloists have collaborated before (on the "My Boat/Voice of God" 12") but here took it to another level. Besides some a capella numbers to start and close the set, the bulk of it involved Castle and Colin Bergh taking turns singing each other's songs. Unannounced guest Owen Pallett sat in for most of the set, adding flourishes on violin and piano.

Recording: Zachary Fairbrother Feedback Guitar Orchestra

Artist: Zachary Fairbrother Feedback Guitar Orchestra

Song: Buddha Box 2.1 [excerpt]

Recorded at The Music Gallery ("Weird Canada Showcase" a.k.a. Wyrd IV), May 11, 2013.

Zachary Fairbrother Feedback Guitar Orchestra - Buddha Box 2.1 [excerpt]

Full review to follow. After an afternoon listening salon devoted to digging through some of the albums the Music Gallery released on its record label, Weird Canada showed its "genre agnosticism" in practice with a night featuring three rather different acts. The night got loud in the middle set, with an orchestra that consisted of only one member, but whose numbers were bolstered by multiple guitars and amps. The heavy drones felt reverentially-appropriate, somehow, for the church-y space of the Music Gallery.

Recording: Soul Sisters Supreme Redux 2.0

Artist: Soul Sisters Supreme Redux 2.0

Song: Hares on the Mountain [trad. arr. Shirley Collins]

Recorded at The Music Gallery ("Weird Canada Showcase" a.k.a. Wyrd IV), May 11, 2013.

Soul Sisters Supreme Redux 2.0 - Hares on the Mountain

Full review to follow. After an afternoon listening salon devoted to digging through some of the albums the Music Gallery released on its record label, Weird Canada showed its "genre agnosticism" in practice with a night featuring three rather different acts. Starting the night, Isla Craig's superstar a capella quintet dazzled as much as they did last time I saw 'em at their tape release. With everyone having various projects on the go, it's hard to get everyone together too often, so it's a real event when it happens. Broadening their collaborative scope, there were some new songs in here as well — Daniela Gesundheit led off with a Jewish wedding invocation, and Ivy Mairi presented this folk song.

Bonus! Flipzoso used my audio for this video he shot for "Messenger".