On the dot

Toby Driver has madde quite a name for himself as the creative centre of avant-garde outfit Kayo Dot, but I confess that prior to this August show at Pressed I hadn't heard any of his work. Well, that's never stopped me before, so I headed on over to catch him and tourmate Jeremy Cymerman, and to also miss the lion's share of  Horseman, Pass By's opening set (anyone who wants to catch them in the near future can check out their set at the Record Centre, as part of IMOOfest, on Friday). Here's Bennett on drums!



Cello action with Mark!



Bonus Bennett!



More Mark!



Here's Jeremiah Cymerman; he makes music with clarinet and electronics.



Jeremiah adjusts!



Clarinet action!



And so on!



And on to Toby Driver, making some moves on guitar



Toby sings!



Guitar action!



Jeremiah joined him for his final number.



Experimental action!



And so on!



It was something a bit different!

Ottawa Psych Fest: Night 1

After the success of last year's Ottawa Psych Fest, there was nothing to do but hold it again, except more so. The first of two nates at House of Targ featured Comet Control, Anunnaki and Monobrow, and started off with local experimental duo Horseman, Pass By. Here's Mark on cello!



Duo action with Bennett and Mark!



Mechanical action!



More Mark!



The mighty Monobrow were up next with their usual awesome doom rock instrumentals. Here's Brian and Sam!



The whole lot!



More Brian!



Paul frets!



The whole lot again!



Anunnaki played a fantastic set - maybe my favourite of the fest. They're associated with psych band Moths & Locusts. Here's Dave rocking the Vender Bass VI!



The whole lot with Arlen on drums!



Dave steps on it!



Arlen hits!



Extra Dave!



Extra Arlen!



Comet Control wrapped things up nicely.



Rhythm section action!



Controlled action with Christopher and Chad!



Chad sings!



More Christopher!



Great stuff all around!

Evening improvisation

Last year I went to General Assembly for a great show by Horseman Pass By, where they opened for Vampire Belt, the duo of Bill Nace and Chris Corsano. HPB had their excellent new record All Curses Are Mirrors there, but it wasn't quite an album release show. The honest-to-goodness record release show happened May 24, again at General Assembly, with excellent opening sets from Kee Avil and Elms, who started things off. Here's Alex of Elms, a man with an admitted fondness for Scott Walker (he covered Farmer In The City).



Alex sings!



And so on!



On to Kee Avil, who does things with a guitar and voice and unconventional song structure.



Kee sings!



There's a pedal down there.



Horseman, Pass By played another super set. Here's Bennett on drums!



Mark prepares to adjust.



Fisheye action!



Mallet action!



Bowed action!



Passing action!



Cymbal action!



Fine sets from everyone!

Twisting and winding

I hit the road to Hintonburg last week for a show at General Assembly; the garage turned art space was hosting a show on the experimental side, with Bill Nace and Chris Corsano, a.k.a. Vampire Belt, and Horseman, Pass By. HPB is the work of local avant-gardists Mark Molnar and Bennett Bedoukian. Here's Mark on cello!



Bennett adjusts!



More Mark!



Extra Bennett!



On to Vampire Belt; last time I saw Chris Corsano, he was accompanying Bill Orcutt at Raw Sugar (Mark Molnar was on that bill, too). This time his accomplice is Bill Nace, who like Corsano has worked with a slew of other artists in the improv-experimental-avant-garde sphere. Hes probably best known for his recent work with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth in Body/Heat. Here's Chris!



And here's Bill.



The whole lot!



More Chris!



Extra Bill!



Guitar shaking action!



A really extraordinary show from both acts.