Recording: Babygirl

Artist: Babygirl

Song: Everything's Happening Without Me

Recorded at The Gladstone Hotel's Melody Bar (Long Winter 6.3), January 5, 2018.

Babygirl - Everything's Happening Without Me

This charmingly-earnest dreampop crew closed out the night with a set of catchy heart-on-sleeve laments. Doing a good line in Alvvays-esque jangle, they were at their most intriguing when there were hints of a slightly more shaggy Sarah Records-type sound at the edges.

[Long Winter will return on Saturday, February 24th at Workman Arts with music from KYLO, Ziibiwan ᓯᐱᐘᐣ, Casey MQ, Dre Ngozi, NOYFB and Macbeth II, plus the usual abundance of art experiences, PWYC and all-ages as always.]

Recording: Tashme

Artist:

Songs: What's It Worth? + 09/11/1973 + Charade + Vicio^*

Recorded at The Gladstone Hotel's Melody Bar (Long Winter 6.3), January 5, 2018.

Tashme - What's It Worth? + 09/11/1973

Tashme - Charade + Vicio

The night's punkrock energy was supplied by this local hardcore unit, named after a WWII-era internment camp for Japanese-Canadians in British Columbia. Some of their songs are pushing against the loudfast template, with tempo shifts and "rock" breakdowns amongst their squealing punk velocity (which was supplied, somewhat incongruously, by an elegant-looking 12-string electric). Not too much social media for the band, but they have several demos worth of music to give away on their bandcamp.

[Long Winter will return on Saturday, February 24th at Workman Arts with music from KYLO, Ziibiwan ᓯᐱᐘᐣ, Casey MQ, Dre Ngozi, NOYFB and Macbeth II, plus the usual abundance of art experiences, PWYC and all-ages as always.]

^* Thanks to the band for passing along the titles to these songs!

Recording: Matthew Progress

Artist: Matthew Progress

Song: Le Fog

Recorded at The Gladstone Hotel's Ballroom (Long Winter 6.3), January 5, 2018.

Matthew Progress - Le Fog

Matthew Progress and his Slumber.Magic.War posse brought a bouncing set of house-powered hip-hop tracks to the ballroom. There's a strong visual flair in his videos and an EP on its way soon.

[Long Winter will return on Saturday, February 24th at Workman Arts with music from KYLO, Ziibiwan ᓯᐱᐘᐣ, Casey MQ, Dre Ngozi, NOYFB and Macbeth II, plus the usual abundance of art experiences, PWYC and all-ages as always.]

Recording: Luge

Artist: Luge

Song: Platinum Baby

Recorded at The Gladstone Hotel's Ballroom (Long Winter 6.3), January 5, 2018.

Luge - Platinum Baby

As the night's designated rock band in the ballroom, Luge obliged with some "Actual Rock 'n' Roll", complete with their usual amount of hyperkinetic shifts and surrealistic reverses.

[Luge will be playing the Wavelength Winter Festival (alongside Odonis Odonis, Freak Heat Waves, Tough Age and Kurt Marble) on Saturday February 17th. Long Winter will return on Saturday, February 24th at Workman Arts with music from KYLO, Ziibiwan ᓯᐱᐘᐣ, Casey MQ, Dre Ngozi, NOYFB and Macbeth II, plus the usual abundance of art experiences, PWYC and all-ages as always.]

Recording: Kojo 'Easy' Damptey

Artist: Kojo 'Easy' Damptey

Song: Me Ne Wo b3 ko^*

Recorded at The Gladstone Hotel's Ballroom (Long Winter 6.3), January 5, 2018.

Kojo 'Easy' Damptey - Me Ne Wo b3 ko

Hamilton-based Damptey got things going in the ballroom with his mix of soul/funk and hip-hop — and on this set closer he paid tribute to his Ghanaian roots hit a taste of highlife.

[Long Winter will return on Saturday, February 24th at Workman Arts with music from KYLO, Ziibiwan ᓯᐱᐘᐣ, Casey MQ, Dre Ngozi, NOYFB and Macbeth II, plus the usual abundance of art experiences, PWYC and all-ages as always.]

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

Recording: Bachelard

Artist: Bachelard

Song: [last section]

Recorded at Belljar Café (Track Could Bend #34), January 2, 2018.

Bachelard - [last section]

A top-notch modular synth strategist, Heidi Chan brought a dazzling array of gear — and no pre-assigned patches — in a set that meticulously explored the potential variations in each new sonic element as she built zig-zagging soundworlds from the ground up.

[Track Could Bend returns to the Belljar Café on Tuesday (February 6th) with sets from Bim Prongs & {AN} EeL, N A V I and Love Children of the Apocalypse.]

Recording: LUKA

Artist: LUKA

Songs: For My Visitor [from a poem by Ryōkan] + Fugitive Song (a response to Rainer Maria Rilke)

Recorded at Belljar Café (Track Could Bend #34), January 2, 2018.

LUKA - For My Visitor

LUKA - Fugitive Song (a response to Rainer Maria Rilke)

Setting aside his own observations, Luke Kuplowsky took a different songwriting tack in presenting a beautiful set of songs with the words mostly drawn from the poetic fragments left behind by the 18th century hermit-monk Ryōkan. He was backed by an incredible band that included Alex Lukashevsky, Evan Cartwright, Josh Cole and Felicity Williams (who has followed up this appearance with some more prestigious gigs). The songs ranged from quiet meditations like the first song here to more rambunctious takes like the second, which had me staring at the Belljar's front door as I had this strange sense that a horn section could have burst in from the street at any second to join in. These songs had only been aired in public once before, and it's inconceivable that they won't be heard again.

[LUKA will be playing the Burdock with Trace Mountains and Rachael Cardiello on Wednesday, April 11th. Track Could Bend returns to the Belljar Café on Tuesday (February 6th) with sets from Bim Prongs & {AN} EeL, N A V I and Love Children of the Apocalypse.]

Recording: tendencyitis

Artist: tendencyitis

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Belljar Café (Track Could Bend #34), January 2, 2018.

tendencyitis - [excerpt]

Mira Martin-Gray's electroacoustic improvisations mix noise and feedback through no-input mixer manipulations. Sometimes sounding like the poetic ruminations of a fax machine, there's a surprising array of melodic fragments lurking under the surfaces of these squealing soundscapes. This set was also the celebration for the release of a CD-r on Detroit-based Queer/Femme experimental digital label Bastard Girl Utopia, itself part of a burgeoning solo discography.

[Mira Martin-Gray will be participating in this Sunday's Audiopollination, with friends and strangers mixing their sounds together to find common ground. Track Could Bend returns to the Belljar Café on Tuesday (February 6th) with sets from Bim Prongs & {AN} EeL, N A V I and Love Children of the Apocalypse.]

Concert Listings Roundup #235

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:

Audiopollination 59.1 (feat. Mira Martin-Gray/Kurt Newman/erik k. / Michael Keith/David Sait/UsK / Adriana Monti/Brenda Joy Lem/ Sumika Motoki / Watson Jennison/mkl32) / Array Space 2018-02-04 (Sunday) [FB event]

Audiopollination's self-curated series is always an impressive grab-bag of instrumentation, styles and musical personalities all thrown togtether to find common ground. This month's version (on an unusual Sunday, please take note) has an excellent mix of musicians I admire and total-strangers-to-me, meaning there should be all kinds of discoveries at hand.

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This week's noteworthy shows:

Piano Fest (feat. Kritty Uranowski / Ryland Dineen) / Burdock Music Hall 2018-01-29 (Monday – early!) [FB event]

Piano Fest (feat. Emma Frank / Thom Gill) / The Burdock 2018-01-29 (Monday) [FB event]

Look Vibrant (Bernice / Luge / Bleu Nuit) / The Baby G 2018-01-30 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Titanium Riot / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-01-30 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Ted Crosby/Karen Ng/Josh Cole/Evan Cartwright / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-01-31 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Soundstreams' Ear Candy: Almost Unplugged (feat. Andréa Tyniec / Jesse Zubot) / Buddies in Bad Times Cabaret 2018-02-01 (Thursday) [FB event]

Astral Projections V (feat. New Chance / Stefana Fratila) / Handlebar 2018-02-01 (Thursday) [FB event]

In Between Sounds #82 (feat. Lorde Awesome) / The Only Café 2018-02-01 (Thursday) [FB event]

Thinking [works by Maria de Alvear and Marci Rabe] (feat. Thin Edge New Music Collective) / Array Space 2018-02-02 (Friday) [FB event]

Sportsfan [vinyl release show!] (B-17 / The Beachmen / Triples) / Smiling Buddha 2018-02-02 (Friday) [FB event]

Bird City [Jenny Mitchell f.k.a. Jenny Omnichord + band] (Rich Burnett) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-02-03 (Saturday – early!) [FB event]

Feast In The East 66 (feat. Bonjay / Blunt Chunks / Foonyap / Benedicte) / Matt Durant Studio 2018-02-03 (Saturday) [FB event]

Okavango African Orchestra / Alliance Française de Toronto 2018-02-03 (Saturday) [FB event]

Maylee Todd / 187 Augusta Ave 2018-02-03 (Saturday) [FB event]

Nite Comfort 53 (feat. Doom Tickler / ZOË) / Handlebar 2018-02-04 (Sunday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Rob Clutton Trio [Rob Clutton/Karen Ng/Nick Fraser] / The Emmet Ray 2018-02-04 (Sunday – PWYC!) [more info]

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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!

Wax Turnip Time (feat. Karen Ng/D. Alex Meeks/Chris Pruden/Mike Smith) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2018-02-06 (Tuesday – early!) [FB event]

Alpha Strategy (Catholic Wilt) / The Baby G 2017-02-10 (Saturday) [FB event]

Operator Music Band (Miles Francis / Rapport / Camp Girls) / The Baby G 2018-02-13 (Tuesday) [FB event]

Wingtips (Sahara / p0st3rb0y) / Nocturne 2018-02-14 (Wednesday) [FB event]

Rat-drifting 4 (feat. Marla Hlady / Christof Migone) / Array Space 2018-02-17 (Saturday) [FB event]

Uxvae (New Tendencies / Johan Seaton / Bachalard) / The Baby G 2018-02-22 (Thursday) [FB event]

North Atlantic Drift (Clara Engel / Snake Church) / The Dupe Shop 2018-02-24 – rescheduled date! (Saturday – PWYC!) [FB event]

Toronto Improvisors Orchestra celebrates Sam Newsome (feat. Sam Newsome/Karen Ng/Rod Campbell/Bill McBurnie/Laura Swankey/Brian Abbott/Ryan Kinney/Michael Lynn/Rob Clutton/Arnd Jurgensen/Hooley McLaughlin/Bill Gilliam/Matt Ozzy/Ambrose Pottie/Raphael Roter/David Story/James Bailey) / Array Space 2018-02-25 (Sunday) [FB event]

Giant Claw (Seth Graham / New Chance / SlowPitchSound / Dohn Valley / D D L 2018-03-23 (Friday) [FB event]

The Music Gallery's Departures Series (feat. Land of Kush [Sand Enigma world premiere!]) / Aga Khan Museum 2018-03-24 (Saturday) [FB event]

FRIGS (WHIMM) / The Garrison 2018-04-07 (Saturday) [FB event]

The Dream Syndicate / The Garrison 2018-05-04 (Friday) [FB event]

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Bandcamp corner:

• Michael Keith, whose musical hats include bluesman and purveyor of ancient-sounding mystic melodies has launched a bandcamp label showing off some newer angles. These THings deploys "guitar, a Casio synth and a Zoom fx" for some electronic abstractions, and he has just shared two solo collections along with a collaboration with David Sait on guzheng.

Recording: Jennifer Castle

Artist: Jennifer Castle

Songs: Tonight the Evening + You Can't Take Anyone

Recorded at The Garrison (Venus Fest Winter Solstice Celebration), December 21, 2017.

Jennifer Castle - Tonight the Evening

Jennifer Castle - You Can't Take Anyone

Jennifer Castle's solstice celebration, long a seasonal highlight, was co-presented this time 'round as part of Venus Fest's monthly concert series. A month after what was by all accounts a triumphant turn at Massey Hall, Jennifer Castle stripped things back for an intimate, round-the-campfire night of songs. Making a rare appearance on acoustic guitar, she was joined only by Paul Mortimer and Vic Cheong, pulling the audience into her new songs (as well as new arrangements of older ones). That still left plenty of terrain to explore, like in this set opener that roared out on the highway line with Cheong taking over on the coda. Wonderful stuff.

Recording: Aisha Sasha John

Artist: Aisha Sasha John

Poems: selections from I have to live

Recorded at The Garrison (Venus Fest Winter Solstice Celebration), December 21, 2017.

Aisha Sasha John - selections from I have to live

Jennifer Castle's solstice celebration, long a seasonal highlight, was co-presented this time 'round as part of Venus Fest's monthly concert series. Seizing the opportunity to present some intersectional/multidisciplinary vibes, this spoken word set from local poet Aisha Sasha John saw her read her work with dry humour concealing some barbed hooks. Like in Jennifer Castle's work, there was a porous boundary between chill-on-the-couch bon mots and cut-to-the-core existential quandaries. Leading with some new work in raw form (some of the lines ripped straight from her tumblr musings), she then read from last year's I have to live, considering how identity shifts from the ideal (and the idealized) with every real-world fact and compromise.

Recording: Ora Cogan

Artist: Ora Cogan

Song: Darling

Recorded at The Garrison (Venus Fest Winter Solstice Celebration), December 21, 2017.

Ora Cogan - Darling

Jennifer Castle's solstice celebration, long a seasonal highlight, was co-presented this time 'round as part of Venus Fest's monthly concert series. Opening the night was folky Montréal-via-Vancouver singer/songwriter Ora Cogan, whose exploratory lyrics and nimble guitar playing made her a sympathetic pairing with the headliner. Crickets, her new album (out on local label Hand Drawn Dracula) adds some synthy textures to the songs, but on stage she was accompanied only by a rhythm section, fighting to be heard by a crowd that beyond the first few rows was sadly uninterested in discovering something new. True heads know, though, so it was no surprise to see Castle at the side of the stage, head down, eyes closed, receiving the vibes.

Recording: The GGS New Music Ensemble

Artist: The GGS New Music Ensemble

Song: Ennea's Domein (2nd mvt) [composer: Robin De Raaff]

Recorded at Temerty Theatre (If:Iff - works for chamber orchestra and electronics), December 14, 2017.

The GGS New Music Ensemble - Ennea's Domein (2nd mvt)

Another night of intriguing works from the New Music Ensemble of the Royal Conservatory's Glenn Gould School, steered by the genial Brian Current. As always, the material was confidently tackled by the younger musicians, enhanced with some familiar faces from the wider New Music community (Darren Creech was on piano throughout, for example).

This concert saw a couple works incorporating live electronic elements: Kotoka Suzuki's "Dreams and Wandering" had some tasty ambient washes (added live by the composer) under parts of the score (a pleasing effect that could have been pushed even further), while James O'Callaghan's "IF:IFF" deployed electroacoustic misdirection in a manner that transcended cheesy over-the-topness with its dedication to dramatic performativity. This piece from Robin De Raaff, meanwhile, didn't use any electronic sounds but still had an algorithmic feeling, thanks to its rigourous three movements with three sections each, with the labour spread out amongst three times three musicians — the piece was "brought you by the number nine," joked De Raaff in his introduction.

Recording: Cluttertones

Artist: Cluttertones

Song: Gull

Recorded at Burdock Music Hall, December 13, 2017.

Cluttertones - Gull

It was hard to believe that it'd been almost exactly two years since Rob Clutton had convened this same lineup of performers at The Burdock. Since that time, he's been extending the group's composition book, and getting ready to present the unit's second album. As such, it was no surprise that after warming up with old chestnut "Webbed", the rest of the set was newer material. Perhaps even more than the older pieces, it feels as if Clutton's compositions have a shape — say, expanding concentric circles on the surface of a smooth pond — more than a direction. But as the first album's bison, lions and ants are joined by bears and gulls, sometimes it's best to just float in place and watch.

Recording: Germaine Liu

Artist: Germaine Liu

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Burdock Music Hall, December 13, 2017.

Germaine Liu - unknown

It was hard to believe that it'd been almost exactly two years since Rob Clutton had convened this same lineup of performers at The Burdock. As always, Germaine Liu was bringing new ideas to her percussive tools, and finding delightfully-complicated sounds in the simplest of objects. This set started with an extended examination of a string of bells before shifting to glockenspiel and drumkit on this piece (starting with some insistent typewriter-like pounding) and then onto some watery considerations.

[Germaine Liu will be joining in with the multi-limbed spectacle of Octopus Curls (with Allison Cameron, Stephen Parkinson, Nicole Rampersaud and Mark Zurawinski) at The Tranzac on Wednesday (January 24th).]

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