Monday Roundup #94

Concert announcements:

The Labyrinth Ensemble with Lamia Yared / Aga Khan Museum 2021-11-12 (Saturday). $40 Regular, $36 Friends, $30 Students and Seniors. [FB event]

Joy Guidry (Chivengi) / The Music Gallery 2021-11-12 (Saturday). $15 advance / $10 members, seniors, arts workers, all ages. [FB event]

Ayal Senior's monthly (feat. Ayal Senior/Kurt Newman/Blake Howard/Andrew Furlong / NEWOLD GROUP / Nick Flanagan / Swamp Picnic) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-13 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]

SynCirSundays (feat. Jeff Burke/Mira Martin-Gray/Ben Grossman/John Oswald / Tilman Lewis/Nilan Perera/Rick Sacks) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-13 (Sunday – early!). $PWYC. [FB event]

Laura Barrett (Catholic Wilt / Spruce Needles) / The Garrison 2021-11-15 (Tuesday). [FB event]

Brodie West Quintet / The Rex 2021-11-16 (Wednesday – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.)

Brodie West Quintet / The Rex 2021-11-23 (Wednesday – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.)

Brodie West Quintet / The Rex 2021-11-30 (Wednesday – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.)

Luge (Omhouse / Wolff Parkinson White / Adversarial Networks / Julian Selody) / The Citadel 2021-12-16 (Friday). $17 advance/$20+ at the door, all ages. [FB event]

Nick Storring (Vixu / Wolff Parkinson White) / Tibet Street Records 2021-12-17 (Saturday – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.). $15, all ages. [FB event]

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Shows this week:

Track Could Bend #73: Splendid Industries Presents (feat. Erin Corbett/Michael Palumbo/Sinéad Bermingham/Tyson Headon/Paul Geldart/Curtis Whittaker) / Wenona Lodge 2022-11-01 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Brodie West Quintet / The Rex 2021-11-02 (Wednesday – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.)

Titus Abbott/Marilyn Lerner/Rob Clutton/Nick Fraser / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-02 (Wednesday). $PWYC. [FB event]

Sideshow (feat. No Hay Banda [Jeff Stonehouse/Lori Freedman/Yves Charuest/Geneviève Liboiron/Jean René/Émilie Girard-Charest/Daniel Áñez/Noam Bierstone/Steven Kazuo Takasugi/Gabriel Dufour-Laperrière]) / Array Space 2022-11-02&03 (Tuesday & Wednesday). $20 / $15 (choose your price). [FB event]

Tania Gill presents (feat. Leah State/Tania Gill / Tania Gill Trio) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-04 (Friday – early!)

TONE presents (feat. Marc Ribot [solo] / Alex Lukashevsky / Anna Garano) / Glen Rhodes United Church 2022-11-04 (Friday). $28.27, all ages. [FB event]

Queermunity 2 (feat. Witch Prophet / cutsleeve / Gay Jesus / Joce Reyome) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2022-11-04 (Friday). $15 advance, 19+. [FB event]

Corpusse (Esther Splett / Britney Cage) / Bar Orwell 2022-11-04 (Friday). $15 at the door/NOTA. [FB event]

Luge (YHWH Nailgun) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-04 (Friday) [FB event]

Doug Tielli [Reflection Affection album launch!] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-05 (Saturday – early!)

Badge Époque Ensemble [Clouds of Joy release show!] (Jennifer Castle / Jozem) / Lee's Palace 2022-11-05 (Saturday). $31.68 advance, 19+. [FB event]

Mouth Congress (Martian Crisis Unit / Animatist) / The Baby G 2022-11-05 (Saturday). $16.93, 19+. [FB event]

The Music Gallery's Departures Series (feat. Oren Ambarchi / crys cole / Amahl Arulanandam/Allison Cameron/Colin Fisher/Araz Salek) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2022-11-05 (Saturday). $13.92 advance ($11.35 Students/Arts Workers/MG Members), all ages. [FB event]

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Bandcamp corner:

• Is it Bandcamp Friday? Why yes, at the other end of this week (November 4th) it will be! Here's a few things on my shopping list:

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It happened this week...

• ...on November 4, 2014 at Smiling Buddha (Blü Print: An Arachnidiscs Showcase).

TRANZMIT - [excerpt]

• ...on November 6, 2014 at The Great Hall.

Doomsquad - Apocalypso

[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: Mike Hansen & Gary Barwin

Artist: Mike Hansen & Gary Barwin

Songs: [duo excerpt] & Timelines LA [excerpt, with Connor Bennett and Chris Palmer] [composer: Jason Kahn]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (SynCirSundays), October 9, 2022.

Mike Hansen & Gary Barwin - [duo excerpt]

Mike Hansen/Gary Barwin/Connor Bennett/Chris Palmer - Timelines LA [excerpt]

Mike Hansen (percussion) and Gary Barwin (alto sax) came over from Hamilton to celebrate the release of Where the Angels Once Were, which they did in a short duo segment. Then they expanded things by bringing up Connor Bennett (alto sax) and Chris Palmer to join them. Besides some group improvisations, they also tackled a graphic score that mixed group play with a structured series of duets.

You can catch some more of this set over on youtube:

[SynCirSundays is back at The Tranzac on November 13th featuring sets from Jeff Burke/Mira Martin-Gray/Ben Grossman/John Oswald and Tilman Lewis/Nilan Perera/Rick Sacks.]

Recording: Rob Clutton & Nilan Perera

Artist: Rob Clutton & Nilan Perera

Song: Blackwaterside [trad. arr. Bert Jansch, later "borrowed" by Jimmy Page]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (SynCirSundays), October 9, 2022.

Rob Clutton & Nilan Perera - Blackwaterside

[strategy discussion befiore the set:]

Rob Clutton: Is this one those things where you want me to play with you or against you?

Nilan Perera: Play music.

You can catch some more of this set over on youtube:

[SynCirSundays is back at The Tranzac on November 13th featuring sets from Jeff Burke/Mira Martin-Gray/Ben Grossman/John Oswald and Tilman Lewis/Nilan Perera/Rick Sacks.]

Recording: Electroacoustic Autumn Ensemble

Artist: Electroacoustic Autumn Ensemble (feat. members of Toronto Improvisor's Orchestra)

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior's monthly), October 9, 2022.

Electroacoustic Autumn Ensemble - [excerpt 1]

Electroacoustic Autumn Ensemble - [excerpt 2]

This group (Keiran Maraj, Fuzzy Nibesh, and Heraclitus Akimbo) was assembled to aim for some seasonal pumpkin spice buzzes and whirrings, which was augmented by additional sounds by a trio of performers (James Bailey, Jonathan Luke, Ryan Kinney) from the Toronto Improvisor's Orchestra.

You can watch some more from this set over on youtube:

Recording: Country Phasers

Artist: Country Phasers

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ayal Senior's monthly), October 9, 2022.

Country Phasers - [excerpt]

Kurt Newman took a Country Phasers solo turn here, with a set of microlooping-as-Frippertronics, via the Hologram Dream Sequence and other effects.

You can watch some more from this set over on youtube:

Monday Roundup #93

Concert announcements:

Track Could Bend #73: Splendid Industries Presents (feat. Erin Corbett/Michael Palumbo/Sinéad Bermingham/Tyson Headon/Paul Geldart/Curtis Whittaker) / Wenona Lodge 2022-11-01 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Sideshow (feat. No Hay Banda [Jeff Stonehouse/Lori Freedman/Yves Charuest/Geneviève Liboiron/Jean René/Émilie Girard-Charest/Daniel Áñez/Noam Bierstone/Steven Kazuo Takasugi/Gabriel Dufour-Laperrière]) / Array Space 2022-11-02&03 (Tuesday & Wednesday). $20 / $15 (choose your price). [FB event]

The Music Gallery's Departures Series (feat. Oren Ambarchi & crys cole / Amahl Arulanandam/Allison Cameron/Colin Fisher/Araz Salek) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2022-11-05 (Saturday). $13.92 advance ($11.35 Students/Arts Workers/MG Members), all ages. [FB event]

Hieronymus Harry [The River of Doom album release!] (Carl Didur) / Cecil Community Center 2022-11-12 (Saturday). $20. [FB event]

Isla Craig [Echo's Reach album release!] (Sarah Good & The Bads) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2022-11-15 (Tuesday). $16.93. [more info]

Justin Orok [Kanata album release show!] / Sellers & Newel 2021-11-17 (Thursday). $15 minimum donation, reservations required. [FB event]

Man Made Hill (Tommy Tone / Doom Tickler) / Bar Orwell 2022-11-18 (Friday). $8, NOTAFLOF. [FB event]

Ex Machina [works by Olivier Messiaen, Mari Alice Conrad, Bekah Simms, James O'Callaghan, Gordon Fitzell] (feat. Standing Wave Ensemble) / St. George by the Grange 2022-11-20 (Sunday). $35.00. [FB event]

Psychic Weapons (Ohmno / Dark Tapes) / See-Scape 2022-11-24 (Thursday). $10. [FB event]

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Shows this week:

Music by Harry and Furlong (feat. Harry Vetro/Max Stover/Dan Pitt / Andrew Furlong/Kurt Newman/Patrick O'Reilly) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-10-26 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Karen Ng Presents: Many People (feat. Mark Ballyk/Ted Crosby/Madeleine Ertel/Colin Fisher/Andrew Furlong/Naomi McCarroll-Butler/Kaelin Murphy/Karen Ng) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-10-27 (Thursday) [FB event]

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-28 (Friday)

Death to T.O #10 [members of Breeze, Rapport, Nyssa, Praises, Dilettante, C.J Wiley, Shitbats, Theo Vandenhoff, Witchrot, Secret Sign, Blanks, Nutrients, World news performing as Abba, Depeche Mode, Roxy Music, Dolly Parton, The Doors, Nancy Sinatra, Orchestral Manouveres in the Dark, The Cramps, Kate Bush, The Cure, The Kinks, The Pixies, Flight of the Conchords] / Lee's Palace + The Cave 2021-10-29 (Saturday). $20 advance, 19+. [FB event]

$™ presents (feat. JazzTobacco / Infinite Monotremes) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-10-29 (Saturday) [FB event]

Cosmic Homeostasis XVII / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-11-30 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) [FB event]

Aline's étoile magique [Aline Homzy/Thom Gill/Daniel Fortin/Michael Davidson/Marito Marques] / The Rex 2021-10-30 (Sunday) [FB event]

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In the mix:

• New drone mix! Autumn ambient sounds, suitable for watching the leaves dropping from the trees. Sounds by Marianne Faithfull & Warren Ellis, The Green Kingdom, Zacht Automaat, BABEL, Cole Pulice & Nat Harvie, Pharaoh Sanders, Dominique Lawalree, Music For Sleep, Fallen, and Blue Light.

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Livestream nation:

• During the more acute phases of the pandemic, Michael Palumbo perfected the social and technical setups required to facilitate a live improvised electoacoustic meetup, and his Exit Points series continues online Wednesday (October 26th) with sets by Adrian Russouw/Marc-Alexandre Chan/Nick Fox-Gieg and Owen Kurtz/Michael Palumbo, as well as the usual "switchemups" community jams. (You can sign up for the latter and get more information generally here.)

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It happened this week...

• ...on October 24, 2013 at Izakaya Sushi House.

Marine Dreams - I Won't Be Abandoned

• ...on October 25, 2013 at The Garrison.

Disappears - Power

[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: Toronto Improvisor's Orchestra

Artist: Toronto Improvisor's Orchestra

Song: [set 2, 2nd piece] [conductor: Diane Roblin]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), October 9, 2022.

Toronto Improvisor's Orchestra - [set 2, 2nd piece]

With the cooler weather bringing out a larger crowd of musicians, the TIO was looking more like, well, an orchestra this time out, with enough bodies on hand that it made sense to add some more structure. Some of that came from a series of shifting duos and trios, but the heart of it was some conduction to co-ordinate the members. Rod Campbell conducted one piece in this set, but for this one, Diane Roblin took over, nearly dancing aross the room as she co-ordinated the note-burtsts, held together throughout with some nice circular vibe-sounds from David Story's MalletKat.

Recording: Jonas Olesen

Artist: Jonas Olesen

Song: [last section]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #72), October 4, 2022.

Jonas Olesen - [last section]

It's a rare treat for TCB to have an international guest, but it was pleasing to offer Denmark's Jonas Olesen a chance to interface with some sound-makers and listeners. Working with pure tones and psychoacoustic demonstration signals, Olesen aspired to be "boring in an interesting way", digging around inside sounds to find small details to tweak or accent.

You can check out some video documentation of this set of on TCB's youtube playlist:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, November 1st with a night of music presented by Splendid Industries.]

Recording: Stranger Still

Artist: Stranger Still

Song: Five Days in Hospital

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #72), October 4, 2022.

Stranger Still - Five Days in Hospital

Pete Johnston's project of setting Alden Nowlan's poems to music is heading towards its second album, meaning the bulk of this set was given over to new material. As with the pieces surveyed on their first album, the poems are sung by Mim Adams and Randi Helmers and situated musically by Johnston's guitar and Rob Clutton's double bass. One new wrinkle the group has adopted for live performance is to read the selections as poems before presenting them musically, which works well to get the nuances of the pathos, dark humour and occasional redemptive glimpses in the works.

You can check out some video documentation of this set of on TCB's youtube playlist:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, November 1st with a night of music presented by Splendid Industries.]

Recording: Kayla Milmine & Mike Gennaro

Artist: Kayla Milmine & Mike Gennaro

Song: [second piece, edited excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #72), October 4, 2022.

Kayla Milmine & Mike Gennaro - [second piece, edited excerpt]

A genuine treat to present the first public show from this duo — although word is they've been rehearsing for a while. That showed in their communication, even if their improvisations didn't touch on any of the material they've also been working on. Meanwhile, it was interesting to hear the more subtle tones of Milmine's soprano sax pulling Gennaro — usually known as a powehouse percussionist — into some more restrained zones and contributing to some really interesting dynamics here.

You can check out some video documentation of this set of on TCB's youtube playlist:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, November 1st with a night of music presented by Splendid Industries.]

Monday Roundup #92

Concert announcements:

Corpusse (Esther Splett / Britney Cage) / Bar Orwell 2022-11-04 (Friday). $15 at the door/NOTA. [FB event]

Mouth Congress (Martian Crisis Unit / Animatist) / The Baby G 2022-11-05 (Saturday). $16.93, 19+. [FB event]

Young Guv (Mo Troper / Pretty Matty) / Monarch Tavern 2022-11-11 (Friday). $16.00, 19+. [FB event]

Sense of Place: An Evening of Music by Pouya Hamidi (feat. Zorana Sadiq/Michael Bridge/Geoffrey Conquer/Beth Silver/Aysel Taghi-Zada/Aline Homzy/Laurence Schaufele/Daniel Morphy/Peter F. Stoll/Bahar Tavassoli/Padideh Ahrarnejad) / The Music Gallery 2022-11-24 (Thursday). $22.20 / $17.03 [students, music gallery members, arts workers], all ages. [FB event]

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Shows this week:

The Chills [Soft Bomb 30th Anniversary Tour] (Unwed Sailor) / Horseshoe Tavern 2022-10-18 (Tuesday). $ 41.34, 19+. [FB event]

Xenakis at 100 (feat. University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble) / MacMillan Theatre 2022-10-18 (Tuesday). $free, livestream available. [FB event]

Music presented by Karen Ng (feat. Samuel Hall/Jasper Stadhouders/Karen Ng) / Wenona Lodge 2022-10-18 (Tuesday) [more info]

Ornate Presents (feat. Steven Noronha/Kathleen O'Keeffe/Adrian Russouw / Zoë Santo/Michael Palumbo/Patrick O'Reilly) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-10-18 (Tuesday)

Josh Cole presents (feat. Dun-Dun Band) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-10-19 (Wednesday). $PWYC. [FB event]

Jonathan Lindhorst/Karen Ng/Ben Dwyer/Nico Dann / The Emmet Ray 2022-10-20 (Thursday). $10 with a reservation, $15 at the door. [FB event]

"No Music on a Dead Planet": Music Climate Summit evening panel and concert (feat. Veronica Johnny / Tragedy Ann / The Weather Station / Shakura S'Aida / Ruby Singh / Logan Staats / Leah & Peter of July Talk / Housewife / George Sawa / Donna Grantis) / 918 Bathurst 2021-10-21 (Friday). $35 General Admission, $15 Student/Unwaged. [FB event]

TONE Presents (feat. Wendy Eisenberg / Joni Void / Tatsuya Nakatani/Karen Ng/Ananya Ganesh) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2022-10-22 (Saturday). $12.14, 19+. [FB event]

Soundstreams: Surface Tension (feat. TorQ Percussion Quartet) / Universal Music 2022-10-22 (Saturday – two performances at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.) [FB event]

Freesound: Music for Piano Quartet [new commissions by Georgia Denham and James Lowrie] (feat. Aysel Taghi-Zada/Matthew Antal/Amahl Arulananda/Wesley Shen) / Annette Studios 2022-10-22 (Saturday). $15 regular/$10 Arts Workers/Seniors/Students. [FB event]

By Divine Right [LP Release!] (Ace Of Wands / JEEN) / Monarch Tavern 2022-10-22 (Saturday). $15.50 advance, 19+. [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on October 18, 2018 at The Tranzac (Tiki Room)

Pineapple - [excerpt]

• ...on October 21, 2018 at The Great Hall

Destroyer - Cue Synthesizer

[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: Charlemagne Palestine

Artist: Charlemagne Palestine

Song: The Organ is the Greatest Synthesizer [excerpt]

Recorded at Metropolitan United Church (FutureStops Festival), October 1, 2022.

Charlemagne Palestine - The Organ is the Greatest Synthesizer [excerpt]

The FutureStops Festival was undoubtedly an ambitious undertaking, bringing a series of high-profile international guests to town to celebrate new directions in pipe organ music. And if, in practice, that fairly niche mandate made it tough to connect with a wider audience, the programming was generally well spoken of. This final show was the only one I was able to make it out to, but featured two names I was most eager to see. Having experienced the music and presence of Charlemagne Palestine nearly a decade ago I had a notion of what to expect, but with access to the larger scale of the pipe organ, thie was an altogther more immense experience. Although this had some sonic similarities to Sarah Davachi's earlier set, the organizing principle here was much more intuitive, with Palestine feeling his way along — albeit joyfully, if his accompanying organ seat wiggle-dancing was anything to go by.

Recording: Sarah Davachi

Artist: Sarah Davachi

Song: unknown^* [excerpt]

Recorded at Metropolitan United Church (FutureStops Festival), October 1, 2022.

Sarah Davachi - unknown [excerpt]

The FutureStops Festival was undoubtedly an ambitious undertaking, bringing a series of high-profile international guests to town to celebrate new directions in pipe organ music. And if, in practice, that fairly niche mandate made it difficult to connect with a wider audience, the programming was generally well spoken of. This final show was the only one I was able to make it out to, but featured two names I was most eager to see.

Under the pulpit's imposing arch, it was a treat to see Sarah Davachi in more impressive surroundings than I had caught her in previously. Clearly working to a plan (with some scored material at hand), I'm not sure if this was "new work" or treatments of some previously-recorded material, but it was most impressive both in its stately build and in the manner that the overlapping sound-waves and phase-cancellations recreated all of the effects that one might attribute to the electronic manipulation of sound.

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

Recording: L CON

Artist: L CON

Song: big pile of nothing^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Karen Ng presents), September 22, 2022.

L CON - big pile of nothing

A perfect night out on the equinox, Karen Ng turned her Tranzac residency slot over to a pair of singer-songwriters who were both exploring some autumnal renewal. Lisa Conway returned to her L CON pop project (which just happens to be celebrating its tenth anniversary) to present some new sad songs in a stripped-down duo format with Andrew Collins. Last spotted this spring with some abstract synthesis, there's definitely a wiggly line that can be traced between these two sets.

^* Thanks to Lisa for passing along the title to this one!

Recording: Isla Craig

Artist: Isla Craig

Song: Song for Boots

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Karen Ng presents), September 22, 2022.

Isla Craig - Song for Boots

A perfect night out on the equinox, Karen Ng turned her Tranzac residency slot over to a pair of singer-songwriters who were both exploring some autumnal renewal. Playing her first band show since the beforetimes, Isla Craig brought some of the players who back her on the forthcoming Echo's Reach, including continental drifter Mike Smith on bass and Ted Crosby on sax as well as Ian Daniel Kehoe on drums. Given that gap in presenting new music, it was no surpise to even hear a couple newer-than-the-album songs in the set, which closed with this piano meditation for a lost companion.