Recording: Steven Lambke

Artist: Plymouth Acclaim For Sale

Song:

Recorded at Christie Pits Park (Bloor Ossington Folk Festival – Day 1), September 17, 2016.

Steven Lambke - Plymouth Acclaim For Sale

It was a bad news/good news sort of vibe down at Christie Pits. There was a sense of triumph that the festival — for the previous five years a well-curated, intimate event with an enjoyably-casual vibe — was happening at all, given that it was at the very precipice of the plug being pulled in the face of some expected grant money not coming through. The joy at the fact that the organizers found a way to go ahead with it was tempered by the sadness at the corresponding announcement that this would be the festival's final edition. On Saturday, the fact the event had been downsized — losing its main stage and moving everything under the beer garden tent — turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the day arrived with the (seemingly annual) dose of rain. The park was eerily quiet but it made everything feel extra dry and cozy as the bands played.

Knitting cosmic observation from day-to-day observations (selling an old car, cutting a ripe pear with a sharp knife) is folk music's stock-in-trade making this set feel like one of this eclectic fest's most straight-up "folk" moments. Steven Lambke returned to Christie Pits with a whole pile of new songs (even telling the crowd he was open to suggestions for the title of one of them) including this one that fits nicely into the small canon of love songs to dearly-departed automobiles.

Recording: The Wilderness of Manitoba

Artist: The Wilderness of Manitoba

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Christie Pits Park (Bloor Ossington Folk Festival – Day 1), September 17, 2016.

The Wilderness of Manitoba - unknown

It was a bad news/good news sort of vibe down at Christie Pits. There was a sense of triumph that the festival — for the previous five years a well-curated, intimate event with an enjoyably-casual vibe — was happening at all, given that it was at the very precipice of the plug being pulled in the face of some expected grant money not coming through. The joy at the fact that the organizers found a way to go ahead with it was tempered by the sadness at the corresponding announcement that this would be the festival's final edition. On Saturday, the fact the event had been downsized — losing its main stage and moving everything under the beer garden tent — turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the day arrived with the (seemingly annual) dose of rain. The park was eerily quiet but it made everything feel extra dry and cozy as the bands played.

It sometimes gets too easy to take a band for granted when they feel like a part of the background fabric of the musical community. For one reason or another, I had missed out on a whole album cycle of live shows from The Wilderness of Manitoba, for whom 2014's Between Colours was now mostly in the rear view as they previewed material from their forthcoming fifth album. The band has always featured an evolving cast around frontman/songwriter Will Whitwham, so it was no surprise to see different faces surrounding him on stage — but there was a surprising sonic consistency from what I recalled, the group's sonic palette showing their accumulation of folkish and California mellow-rock tendencies, all held together by warm vocal harmonies and a certain "homeyness". Raven Shields, on vocals and guitar, was a new element since I last saw the band in action, but gave a nice contrasting balance to Whitwham's vocal work. This one-off show felt like a casual neighbourhood hang-out for the band — there'll probably be more activity on the horizon once the new album makes its way into the world.

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

Recording: Little You, Little Me

Artist: Little You, Little Me

Songs: Greed + Wrong

Recorded at Christie Pits Park (Bloor Ossington Folk Festival – Day 1), September 17, 2016.

Little You, Little Me - Greed + Wrong

It was a bad news/good news sort of vibe down at Christie Pits. There was a sense of triumph that the festival — for the previous five years a well-curated, intimate event with an enjoyably-casual vibe — was happening at all, given that it was at the very precipice of the plug being pulled in the face of some expected grant money not coming through. The joy at the fact that the organizers found a way to go ahead with it was tempered by the sadness at the corresponding announcement that this would be the festival's final edition. On Saturday, the fact the event had been downsized — losing its main stage and moving everything under the beer garden tent — turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the day arrived with the (seemingly annual) dose of rain. The park was eerily quiet but it made everything feel extra dry and cozy as the bands played.

The second half of the festival-opening East Coast one-two punch, this Saint John quartet also had some internal back-and-forth sonics with slightly-differing approaches from a pair of alternating lead vocalists ping-ponging from Thermals-esque smart/snotty punk to nuthin'-to-Dü rawk (with a pause to give a shout-out to Satan along the way) that still sounded like it all emerged from the same garage.

Recording: Motherhood

Artist: Motherhood

Song: Greed

Recorded at Christie Pits Park (Bloor Ossington Folk Festival – Day 1), September 17, 2016.

Motherhood - Greed

It was a bad news/good news sort of vibe down at Christie Pits. There was a sense of triumph that the festival — for the previous five years a well-curated, intimate event with an enjoyably-casual vibe — was happening at all, given that it was at the very precipice of the plug being pulled in the face of some expected grant money not coming through. The joy at the fact that the organizers found a way to go ahead with it was tempered by the sadness at the corresponding announcement that this would be the festival's final edition. On Saturday, the fact the event had been downsized — losing its main stage and moving everything under the beer garden tent — turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the day arrived with the (seemingly annual) dose of rain. The park was eerily quiet but it made everything feel extra dry and cozy as the bands played.

Things were set up enough to get going — though finishing touches were still being attended to — and it was fairly quiet as this Fredericton trio lead off the day. There were some poppier moments, mostly driven by Penelope Stevens' keyb work, but things were a little noisier when she shifted to bass, including this set-closer with co-shouted vox shared with guitarist Brydon Crain.

Concert Listings Roundup #171

You can read more about why I'm doing listings here. Long story short: This curated and decidedly non-comprehensive list contains nothin' but shows that I am going to/would go to if I had more time.

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Gigs of the week:

OFF WORLD LP 1 Release Weekend (feat. Off World / Hoover Party / Transcombobulation) / Ratio 2016-10-21 (Friday) [FB event]

OFF WORLD LP 1 Release Weekend (feat. Off World / Kat Estacio / Sicke [Joseph Shabason's solo project]) / Ratio 2016-10-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

OFF WORLD LP 1 Release Weekend (feat. Off World / Fleshtone Aura / Cell Memory) / Ratio 2016-10-23 (Sunday) [FB event]

Sandro Perri and Lorenz Peter are celebrating the release of their first collaborative album (out now from Constellation Records) with this very exciting weekend of music in the intimate space at Ratio. Their nightly sets of experimental electronic wanderings will be accompanied by a whole cadre of leading lights in the city's weird/wooze underground. All very tasty, but Saturday's lineup might be a little extra-exciting, with the debut of Sicke, a new solo project from DIANA's Joseph Shabason as well as Kat Estacio following up on her recent Music Gallery performance.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Body Help + Dan Pencer [Healing Power digital album release!] (New Chance / Brodie West + Fleshtone Aura) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-17 (Monday) [FB event]

Sonic Perfume / The Emmet Ray 2016-10-17 (Monday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Coszmos Quartette (Ian Daniel Kehoe / LUKA) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-18 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Wolf's Nacho Wednesday (feat. No Octopus Dances) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-10-19 (Wednesday – early!)

Somewhere There presents (feat. The Delegation / Gordon Hyland Group) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2016-10-19 (Wednesday) [FB event]

BV Birthday Smash (feat. Submutations / New Civilization) / La Rev 2016-10-19 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Clara Engel (Within / Big River Dream) / Smiling Buddha 2016-10-19 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Andrew Downing [Otterville album release!] (feat. Andrew Downing/Tara Davidson/Christine Bougie/Michael Davidson/Nick Fraser/Paul Mathew/John Southworth) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-20 (Thursday) [FB event]

Memorex (Gabe Knox / Bodies That Matter) / The Baby G 2016-10-20 (Thursday) [FB event]

Artificial Sounds presents (feat. Pelada / Scott Hardware / CL) / Double Double Land 2016-10-21 (Friday) [FB event]

Nyssa (Radiant Baby / Tigerwing / Baby Cages / Coral King) / Holy Oak Café 2016-10-21 (Friday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Corpusse (Martian Crisis Unit / Owls Are Not What they Seem) / Let's Be Frank 2016-10-21 (Friday) [FB event]

Faster Presents: Odd Electronics (feat. Jason Doell / Turtles All The Way Down [Brian Abbott/Zach Clark] / Ted Phillips) / Gerrard Art Space 2016-10-21 (Friday) [FB event]

The Big Sound / The Great Hall 2016-10-21 (Friday) [FB event]

VAG does Women, Wymyn, Wimmin (feat. Vag Halen) / Smiling Buddha 2016-10-21–2016-10-22 (Friday–Saturday) [FB event]

Caution Tape Sound Collective presents: "Singles Vol. 2" (feat. Chelsea Shanoff [saxophones]/Angela Schwarzkopf [harp] [new compositions by Patrick Arteaga/Joseph Glaser/Monica Pearce/Parisa Sabet/Bekah Simms]) / Array Space 2016-10-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

Tich Maredza Band / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

Johan Seaton (Hybrid Frequency / Fog Spirits) / Belljar Café 2016-10-22 (Saturday – PWYC!) [FB event]

BA Johnston (Century Palm / Spruce Invaders) / Junction City Music Hall 2016-10-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

Kayo Dot (Gates / Brigitte Bardon't / HX KY) / The Baby G 2016-10-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

Power On: A Tribute to R.Murray Schafer (feat. Esprit Orchestra) / Koerner Hall 2016-10-23 (Sunday) [FB event]

Al Tuck / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-23 (Sunday) [FB event]

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Add these to your calendar:

Reminder: This post only contains this week's updates — the full listings can always be found over on the right-hand sidebar!

Piano Party! (feat. Diane Roblin / Soren Brothers) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-10-26 (Wednesday – early!) [FB event]

Baby Labour (Bonnie Trash / Bad River / Baby Doomers) / Smiling Buddha 2016-10-26 (Wednesday) [FB event]

LootBag Records presents: Halloween Forever – Mixtape Vol II (feat. Fresh Flesh / Akage No Anne) / Saving Gigi 2016-10-28 (Friday) [FB event]

Demons V (feat. Zoo Owl / Poster Boy / BonerJamz93 / Mesonyx) / Handlebar 2016-10-30 (Sunday) [FB event]

HSY (Vallens / Dri Hiev / Protruders) / Monarch Tavern 2016-10-31 (Monday) [FB event]

SIANspheric [dual record release! (WTCHS / Crrotting) / The Horseshoe Tavern 2016-11-02 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Peeling [Rats In Paradise EP release party!] (Cellphone / Eyeballs) / The Baby G 2016-11-04 (Friday) [FB event]

Spectrum Music: Tales From the Deep Blue / Alliance Française 2016-11-12 (Saturday) [more info]

Reel Asian: Rites of Passage ["original live musical score"] (feat. Ohbijou) / Isabel Bader Theatre 2016-11-13 (Sunday) [more info]

Emergents I (feat. Völur / Wapiti) / The Music Gallery 2016-11-17 (Thursday) [FB event]

Casper Skulls [Lips and Skull EP release party!] (Bart / Little Junior) / The Baby G 2016-10-26 (Saturday) [FB event]

Recording: Twist

Artist: Twist

Song: Bleached

Recorded at The Baby G, September 16, 2016.

Twist - Bleached

An exciting night out — not only for the music but also to check out the first night for The Baby G, a new venture from Shaun Bowring and the crew behind The Garrison. True to its name, the new joint (also a re-purposed social club in Little Portugal) was indeed something of a mini-me to its older cousin up the street, scaled-down and mirror-flipped. (I was amused to note that the opening night vibe was similar right down to the old billiard table pushed off to one side.) Even though a smaller room, this has the same sensibility, offering clear views toward a raised stage. Opening night still had the smell of paint and sawdust in the air, so one could sense the room is a work in progress — but it's a pleasing spot right from the get go.

There was some excitement and a feeling of justly-earned celebration with Laura Hermiston & co. celebrating the release of their Spectral album. The album's tracks feels like a bit of a sampler of the band's development from bedroom-y solo side-project to full-fledged rock machine, but the live incarnation is a consistently-pleasing mix of pop hooks and grunge snarl. Like many release shows, this felt as much like a celebration of something new as a summing up of what's been a couple years' hard work getting here. And now, like other members of the Buzz family, this now feels like something we're going to be sharing with the rest of the world as the band heads for bigger stages.

[Twist will be opening for Thee Oh Sees at the Danforth Music Hall on Thursday, November 17th.]

Recording: Bobbypin

Artist: Bobbypin

Song: Consequence

Recorded at The Baby G, September 16, 2016.

Bobbypin - Consequence

An exciting night out — not only for the music but also to check out the first night for The Baby G, a new venture from Shaun Bowring and the crew behind The Garrison. True to its name, the new joint (also a re-purposed social club in Little Portugal) was indeed something of a mini-me to its older cousin up the street, scaled-down and mirror-flipped. (I was amused to note that the opening night vibe was similar right down to the old billiard table pushed off to one side.) Even though a smaller room, this has the same sensibility, offering clear views toward a raised stage. Opening night still had the smell of paint and sawdust in the air, so one could sense the room is a work in progress — but it's a pleasing spot right from the get go.

Christening the stage was Alana Marta DeVito, with her solo Bobbypin project developed during her recent time expatriated to Berlin. A former bandmate with headliner Laura Hermiston in their BB Guns days, I first encountered DeVito as a stone-cold guitar hero, but she was also someone you might see in the crowd at a Petra Glynt show. The promo bumf for this project plays up her time in TOPS after she decamped to Montréal — which at first was something I put down to courting name recognition but there is definitely a similar sophisticated pop sensibility at play. Getting used to her rig as a solo performer, there were a few tentative moments, but also a bunch of really tasty tunes. DeVito's Sketches From a Terrace EP is now out, and I have heard we can expect to see her back in town in a couple months.

Preview/contest: X Avant XI

X Avant XI Festival of New Music: Reverberations

October 13-16, 2018

Reverberations could arise from musical vibrations, but they can also be echoes through time. Whereas last year's tenth festival (and the Music Gallery's fortieth anniversary) skewed more to the retrospective side, this year's edition is looking forward — as well as investigating once again how musical reverberations vibrate through a community in the here and now. [audio links below are from my own live recording archives]

• The opening night is definitely future-focused, with Egyptrixx's abstract grooves backed by The Dun Dun Band's "awesome tapes from Toronto" sounds from master theoretician Craig Dunsmuir and Deenzi's "Ancient Asian to the future" soundtrack to a Wuxia movie set on a space station orbiting a collapsing star. (Having hosted Deenzi's first performance at Track Could Bend, I'm especially proud to be giving away a pair of tickets to this night — see 'contest' section below.)

Craig Dunsmuir and Dun-Dun Band - Untitled (12→13→14→15→16→12→21)

Deenzi - [excerpt from third segment]

• Friday offers a "a multichannel, improvisational performance" lead by Pauline Oliveros (digital accordion) and featuring Ione (text/sound art), Anne Bourne (cello) and Doug Van Nort (electronic diffusion). Mika Posen (ex-Forest City Lovers, ex-Timber Timbre) opens, showing new re-applications of violin and keyboards in her Merganzer project. [Bonus: Pauline Oliveros will also be giving an Artist Talk up at York earlier on Friday. Admission is free!]

Merganzer - Songs Without Words

• Saturday has a triple dose of extra-curricular activities, including a Deep Listening intensive workshop led by Anne Bourne, a talk from Noah Mintz ("Why is MP3 and streaming audio quality killing our love of music?") plus a late-night revival of the TRP internet radio station in an audio-visual spectacle. But the evening's main event is a visit from violinist Sarah Neufeld (known for her work with Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre and Colin Stetson) presenting music from The Ridge, with Dialectica, a new saxophone quartet lead by Shannon Graham, opening things up.

• On Sunday, the festival closes with a true spectacle — Roscoe Mitchell (one of the founders of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago) leads an all-star big-band ensemble of Toronto and Montréal artists through what I've heard are some dense and tricky improvisation-inspired compositions. Expect to catch some MFS faves, including Lori Freedman, Kyle Brenders, Peter Lutek, Nicole Rampersaud, Craig Pedersen, Tom Richards, Scott Thomson, Rob Clutton and Nick Fraser on stage. [Bonus: Also on Sunday, the Music Gallery's History Series continues with a talk from spoken word/hip-hip artist Motion on "Music, Culture & Identity in Toronto’s Black Aural Spaces". This free event is happening just behind the MG at OCADU's Lambert Lounge.]

TICKETS + MORE INFO

You can check out the details of all the festival's events here, and the MG has a user-friendly/wallet-friendly online ticketing system that makes it easy to book shows in advance — and as always, Music Gallery members get a sweet discount. The talks and deep listening workshop are free, and you could see the whole festival with a pass on sale for $40.

CONTEST

But if that weren't enough, complements of the Music Gallery, I have a pair of tickets to give away to Thursday's Egyptrixx/Dun Dun Band/Deenzi show.

To enter, shoot me an email to mechanicalforestsound@gmail.com, with "contest" in the title and your name in the body. I'll randomly draw a winner on Thursday, October 13th at noon.

Concert Listings Roundup #170

You can read more about why I'm doing listings here. Long story short: This curated and decidedly non-comprehensive list contains nothin' but shows that I am going to/would go to if I had more time.

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Gig of the week:

DAS RAD [final show!] (Surinam / Traitrs / Alpha Strategy) / The Baby G 2016-10-15 (Saturday) [FB event]

This biggest event of the week is definitely the Music Gallery's X Avant festival, but seeing as that's going to be getting a post of its own to preview all the goodness, in this space let's highlight this going-away party. DAS RAD put out a couple ace releases but I'll remember them as one of the city's most exciting live acts, with Bo Frantz sacrificing his body to conquer both floor and ceiling while never letting a song slip entirely out of control. Very tasty supporting cast as well, so this one's not to be missed.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

The AMBiENT PiNG (feat. North Atlantic Drift / Valiska) / Handlebar 2016-10-11 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Spectrum Season Launch Party (feat. Circles [album release!) / Jazz Bistro 2016-10-11 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Teenage Fanclub / Lee's Palace 2016-10-12 (Wednesday) [more info]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Samuel Blaser Quartet) / The Rex Hotel 2016-10-12 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Really Great Songs [Emily Denison/Laura Swankey/Patrick O'Reilly/Harrison Vetro] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-10-12 (Wednesday) [FB event]

X Avant XI (feat. Egyptrixx / The Dun Dun Band / Deenzi) / The Music Gallery 2016-10-13 (Thursday) [FB event]

X Avant XI: 2016 Michener Lecture (feat. Pauline Oliveros & Ione) / York University – T------ C----------- Recital Hall, 2016-10-14 (Friday – free! 11 a.m. start time) [FB event]

X Avant XI (feat. Pauline Oliveros/Ione/Anne Bourne/Doug Van Nort / Merganzer) [multichannel improvisational performance!] / The Music Gallery 2016-10-14 (Friday) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Sontag Shogun / Christopher Bisonnette / Hoover Party) / Double Double Land 2016-10-14 (Friday) [FB event]

The Night Shift + CJRU present: The Fall Fund Drive (feat. Above Top Secret / SlowPitchSound / The Pinnacles of Self Absorption [feat. members of Eyeballs and Bile Sister] / Allison Cameron) / The Baby G 2016-10-14 (Friday) [FB event]

X Avant XI: Deep Listening workshop (feat. Anne Bourne) / The Music Gallery Courtyard 2016-10-15 (Saturday – free! 4 to 6 p.m.!) [FB event]

X Avant XI: Reverberations (feat. Noah Mintz [psychoacoustics talk]) / The Music Gallery 2016-10-15 (Saturday – free! 6 p.m. start) [FB event]

X Avant XI (feat. Sarah Neufeld / Dialectica) / The Music Gallery 2016-10-15 (Saturday) [FB event]

Marker Starling (Sandro Perri / Matias Rozenberg) / Ratio 2016-10-15 (Saturday) [FB event]

L CON [Moon Milk vinyl release!] (Isla Craig / James Irwin) / Monarch Tavern 2016-10-15 (Saturday) [FB event]

Audiopollination #47.2 (feat. Kayla Milmine/Max McEachern/Elliott Fienberg / Alan Glicksman/Arnd Jurgensen/Dougal Bichan / Brian Abbott/Paul Newman/Michael Ramey / Tomasz Krakowiak and Branko Dzinovic) / Array Space 2016-10-15 (Saturday) [FB event]

Not Dead Yet Gig #12 (feat. VCR / Depths of Reality / Vanilla Poppers / Glitter / Ursula) / D-Beatstro 2016-10-16 (Sunday – all ages! afternoon show @ 2 p.m.!) [FB event]

X Avant XI: Music Gallery History Series (feat. Motion) / OCADU – Lambert Lounge 2016-10-16 (Sunday – free! 6 p.m. start!) [FB event]

X Avant XI (feat. Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal–Toronto Art Orchestra) / The Music Gallery 2016-10-16 (Sunday) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Jonathan Lindhorst Limerence Quartet) / The Emmet Ray 2016-10-16 (Sunday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Oozing Wound (Cellphone / Luge) / The Baby G 2016-10-16 (Sunday) [FB event]

Alex Samaras & Friends / Holy Oak Café 2016-10-16 (Sunday – PWYC!)

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Add these to your calendar:

Reminder: This post only contains this week's updates — the full listings can always be found over on the right-hand sidebar!

Coszmos Quartette (Ian Daniel Kehoe / LUKA) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-18 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Wolf's Nacho Wednesday (feat. No Octopus Dances) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-10-19 (Wednesday – early!)

Andrew Downing [Otterville album release!] (feat. Andrew Downing/Tara Davidson/Christine Bougie/Michael Davidson/Nick Fraser/Paul Mathew/John Southworth) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-20 (Thursday) [FB event]

Memorex (Gabe Knox / Bodies That Matter) / The Baby G 2016-10-20 (Thursday) [FB event]

OFF WORLD LP 1 Release Weekend (feat. Off World / Hoover Party / Transcombobulation) / Ratio 2016-10-21 (Friday) [FB event]

Nyssa (Radiant Baby / Tigerwing / Baby Cages / Coral King) / Holy Oak Café 2016-10-21 (Friday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Corpusse (Martian Crisis Unit / Owls Are Not What they Seem) / Let's Be Frank 2016-10-21 (Friday) [FB event]

OFF WORLD LP 1 Release Weekend (feat. Off World / Kat Estacio / Sicke [Joseph Shabason's solo project]) / Ratio 2016-10-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

OFF WORLD LP 1 Release Weekend (feat. Off World / Fleshtone Aura / Cell Memory) / Ratio 2016-10-23 (Sunday) [FB event]

The 4 Poets Issue #5 Release (feat. Myra Maines / Persons) / Double Double Land 2016-10-26 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Royal Stompbox presents Carnival Of Souls [with live improvised music score] (feat. Alia O'Brien/Sook-Yin Lee/Adam Litovitz/Colin Fisher) / The Royal Cinema 2016-10-26 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Jes Cho, Hemingway & Strangerøbo†ix [improvised performance] / Holy Oak Café 2016-10-27 (Thursday – PWYC!) [FB event]

The Jessica Stuart Few [The Passage release party! Expanded band!] (KC Roberts) / Supermarket 2016-10-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

Live in the Stacks (feat. Doomsquad) / Toronto Public Library – Parkdale Branch 2016-10-29 (Saturday – free! all ages! early show!) [FB event]

Mystic Triangle [album release!] / Moon McMullen / Kosher Dill Spears / Grandmother Willow) / The Tranzac (Tiki Room) 2016-10-29 (Saturday) [FB event]

Invocation Residency Series: A Summer's Timely Death (feat. Tristan Eckerson / Man Meets Bear / Nathaneal Larochette) / Array Space 2016-10-30 (Sunday – all ages!) [FB event]

The Sulks [EP release!] (Pink Wine / Bueller) / Monarch Tavern 2016-11-02 (Wednesday) [FB event]

CMC Presents (feat. New Orford String Quartet) / Canadian Music Centre 2016-11-04 (Friday) [FB event]

Nite Comfort 39 (feat. Moon McMullen / Xuan Ye) / Handlebar 2016-11-06 (Sunday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Invocation Residency Series (feat. Loscil / Silver Pools / Coral King) / Array Space 2016-11-24 (Thursday – all ages) [FB event]

Queen Mab Trio [Marilyn Lerner/Lori Freedman/Ig Henneman] / Gallery 345 2016-12-02 (Friday) [FB event]

Nite Comfort 40 (feat. Agencies / Senior Beatbox) / Handlebar 2016-12-04 (Sunday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Recording: Castle If

Artist: Castle If

Song: Operating System

Recorded at LP's LPs (4th Anniversary Party), September 15, 2016.

Castle If - Operating System

A night of fine music among the crate-digging as LP's LPs celebrated its birthday in style. Long associated with the store, it made perfect sense for Jess Forrest to headline the night's celebration — and this turned out to be a special occasion, as she previewed her forthcoming Sector 03 album in its entirety. This one's going to be a monster when it comes out, so you should start getting ready now by upgrading your OS to fully-compliant standards. (Forrest also indicated this would be her last gig 'til next spring, so until then you should start following her in blog form.)

Recording: Toblerone Boys

Artist: Toblerone Boys

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at September LP's LPs (4th Anniversary Party), 15, 2016.

Toblerone Boys - unknown

A night of fine music among the crate-digging as LP's LPs celebrated its birthday in style. Amongst the cozy bricabrac at the back of the store, Randy "Man Made Hill" Gagne and Greydyn Wolfcow showed off some experiments from their dank pop lab, with lo-fi drum machine beats giving a framework for wobbly synths.

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

Concert Listings Roundup #169

You can read more about why I'm doing listings here. Long story short: This curated and decidedly non-comprehensive list contains nothin' but shows that I am going to/would go to if I had more time.

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Gig of the week:

Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft ["music, words and memories shared amongst family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances"] / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2016-10-07 (Friday) [FB event]

There's not much to be said here. If you knew Ken Aldcroft or his music, this is the place to gather this week. Music, friends, and even a potluck dinner, this is a chance to remember how important it is not to take the presence of the people you know for granted.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Merchandise / Public Memory / Whimm / Big School) / The Silver Dollar Room 2016-10-03 (Monday) [FB event]

Moonheart (Blessings [Thom Gill]) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-03 (Monday) [FB event]

Ali Berkok & Erika Nielsen Smith [solos + duos] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-10-04 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Track Could Bend #19 (feat. CHOBO with strings / Goosey [Benjamin Hackman + Karen Ng] / INCHOATE) / Dundas Video 2016-10-04 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Kikagaku Moyo (Hot Garbage / Hollow Earth) / The Silver Dollar Room 2016-10-04 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Drew Smith (Laura Barrett / Henri Fabergé / Robin Hatch) / Holy Oak Café 2016-10-04 (Tuesday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Troubleshooting~ v18: Putting Up a Parking Lot (feat. Nicolas Buligan w/ scavenged parking lot debris) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-10-05 (Wednesday – early!) [FB event]

Wolf's Nacho Wednesday: Heaven and how to get there (feat. Ghostlight) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2016-10-05 (Wednesday) [FB event]

CMC Presents: Bridging Worlds (feat. Allison Cameron in conversation with Kristel Aubrey Jax / live performances by Allison Cameron & Heraclitus Akimbo) / Canadian Music Centre 2016-10-06 (Thursday – early! 5:30 to 8 p.m.) [FB event]

Rudolf Komorous' Anatomy of Melancholy ["a multi-speaker sound installation in which recorded musical segments are collaged and montaged by tape/disc/soundfile jockey Martin Arnold. Vintage electronics, field recordings, bent signal processing, underwater boogie-woogies and nightingales."] (feat. Martin Arnold) / Array Space 2016-10-07 (Friday) [FB event]

Tone Deaf Culture Presents: T.O. NOISE #1 (feat. Hexzuul / Jack Moves / Cares / Magoogly/ Shelf) / Bovine Sex Club 2016-10-07 (Friday) [FB event]

The Taste (Ian Daniel Kehoe / Dorothea Paas) / Monarch Tavern 2016-10-07 (Friday) [FB event]

SHDW CLN (Sly Why : kid / Keenan Howard / Piñata Cafe) / Sonic Café – upstairs 2016-10-07 (Friday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Strange Attractor (Winter '94 / Protruders) / Faith/Void 2016-10-07 (Friday) [FB event]

Snowblink (GREX and the Drumheller Horn Section) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-08 (Saturday) [FB event]

Bernardino Femminielli (Elliott Vincent Jones / Cindy Lee) / The Baby G 2016-10-08 (Saturday) [FB event]

Fake Palms [Heavy Paranoia EP release!] (Lonely Parade [No Shade album release!] / The Seams) / Double Double Land 2016-10-08 (Saturday) [FB event]

Snowblink ["an intimate multi-sensory experience"] / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-09 (Sunday) [FB event]

Iansucks (Baby Cages / Home Alone) / Smiling Buddha 2016-10-09 (Sunday) [FB event]

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Add these to your calendar:

Reminder: This post only contains this week's updates — the full listings can always be found over on the right-hand sidebar!

The AMBiENT PiNG (feat. North Atlantic Drift / Valiska) / Handlebar 2016-10-11 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Samuel Blaser Quartet) / The Rex Hotel 2016-10-12 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Not Dead Yet Gig #12 (feat. VCR / Depths of Reality / Vanilla Poppers / Glitter / Ursula) / D-Beatstro 2016-10-16 (Sunday – all ages! afternoon show @ 2 p.m.!) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. Jonathan Lindhorst Limerence Quartet) / The Emmet Ray 2016-10-16 (Sunday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Sonic Perfume / The Emmet Ray 2016-10-17 (Monday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Somewhere There presents (feat. The Delegation / Gordon Hyland Group) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2016-10-19 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Artificial Sounds presents (feat. Pelada / Scott Hardware / CL) / Double Double Land 2016-10-21 (Friday) [FB event]

Kayo Dot (Gates / Brigitte Bardon't / HX KY) / The Baby G 2016-10-22 (Saturday) [FB event]

Marateck (Toucan Slam / The Visit / Tranz DéFoncé) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-10-25 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Retired [Crimes Against Jazz record release!] (Pissbowelking / Fake Humans / Doom Tickler) / The Baby G 2016-10-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

Summer Isle presents (feat. Cube / Memory Work / Infinite Poolside / Amorphous Substance) / FAITH/VOID 2016-10-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

Exalt (STÜKA [final show!] / Black Wings) / Sneaky Dee's 2016-11-04 (Friday – early show!) [FB event]

The Acorn (EONS [Long Walks record release!]) / Burdock Music Hall 2016-11-04 (Friday) [FB event]

Deliluh (Dead Beat Poet Society / Mazola) / Owl's Club – basement 2016-11-10 (Thursday) [FB event]

Fresh Snow [One release show] (Traitrs / yoo doo right) / The Baby G 2016-11-11 (Friday) [FB event]

Stuck in the City/Not Dead Yet present (feat. Uniform / HSY / Black Iron Prison / Holy Grinder) / Smiling Buddha 2016-11-14 (Monday – all ages!) [FB event]

Harbourfront Theatre NextSTEPS: Balancing on the Edge ["curated partnerships between 9 different physical circus artists and contemporary composers"] (feat. Thin Edge New Music Collective and A Girl in the Sky Productions) / Harbourfront Centre 2016-11-18–2016-11-19 (Friday–Saturday) [FB event]

Homeshake (Elsa / Jaunt) / The Silver Dollar 2016-12-09 (Friday) [FB event]

Odonis Odonis (Doomsquad / Vallens) / The Garrison 2016-12-16 (Friday) [FB event]

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Bandcamp corner:

• With Lina Allemano over in Berlin, there has only been one gig from Glamour Nails, her electroacoustic/noise duo project with Justin Haynes. Fortunately, there's now this digital album to fill in the gap and anticipate the further possibilities.

• Meanwhile, here's another duo set from Haynes, this time from some few years back in the murky past alongside prepared guitar master Nilan Perera. I love it when artists use bandcamp as a chance to share things from their archives like this — and word is we can be expecting more from Perera.

Recording: Cosmic Homeostasis

Artist: Cosmic Homeostasis

Song: [first movement]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), September 14, 2016.

Cosmic Homeostasis - [first movement]

This ad hoc ensemble was brought together to bring some meditative vibes leading off an evening at The Tranzac. Taking their band name as an instruction, there was plenty of gentle drift here, with a large ensemble that showed admirable restraint in giving each other space as the music unfolded. On this night, the homeostasisists were: Brian Abbott (guit, ebow), Kayla Milmine (alto sax), Kat Estacio (gongs, laptop), Emily Denison (trumpet), Paul Newman (tenor sax) and Ted Phillips (cataRT).

Recording: Several Futures

Artist: Several Futures

Song: A New Place To Dwell [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space, September 13, 2016.

Several Futures - A New Place To Dwell [excerpt]

An audacious tangent from this post-punk trio, A New Place To Dwell sees the group performing semi-improvised music driven by reactions to film loops projected by Jonathan Culp. The images formed their own improvising trio, with three projectors rotating through various bits of 8mm detritus (home movies, nature films, travelogues, educational shorts) that often commented or reflected on each other in wry ways.

Musically, this could be seen as the direct descendant of Matt Nish-Lapidus and Jonny Dovercourt's previous work in Hybrid Moments as much as an extension of their current, more tuneful work. Coming just a few months after the release of their Before You Forget album, this show celebrated the digital release of their first collaboration with Culp. Possibly doomed to be seen as too "rock" for the improvised music crowd and too much like "improvised music" for the rock crowd, this might fall in the cracks between categories, but shows that the band isn't going to be satisfied by sticking to their setlist. Expect to see some more experimental forays from this crew — and probably some new songs, too, inspired by the riffs dredged up in moments of exploration like this.

Recording: Cameron/Cole/Perri/Rampersaud

Artist: Allison Cameron/Josh Cole/Sandro Perri/Nicole Rampersaud

Song: [second piece]

Recorded at Array Space, September 13, 2016.

Cameron/Cole/Perri/Rampersaud - [second piece]

This night at Array was hosted by Several Futures, celebrating the release of their visual-powered A New Place To Dwell. Stressing the improvisatory nature of that work, the opening slot was given over to this all-star team of local creative musicians. The quartet found a low-key space to work in with electroacoustic elements from Sandro Perri (electronics, guitar) and Allison Cameron (amplified objects, keyb) melding into the atmospherically-melodic contributions from Josh Cole (electric bass) and Nicole Rampersaud (trumpet). The first piece came with some 8mm science films from projection artist Jonathan Culp, but by the end it sounded like they were soundtracking their own unseen film — maybe a glitched-out take on Ascenseur pour l'échafaud.