Quadraphonic

Henri Faberge and the Adorables

Thursday night, I wandered onto University of Toronto campus to catch a short set of music in the Arbor room at Hart House. Maylee Todd was there as Maloo, laying down 4 electronica songs with her Tenori-on and a small array of effects and samplers. I've heard these tunes before but it was interesting to note their evolution: the tempo has increased, and there was more layering of beeps and squawks. As always, her sweet voice anchored the music.

She was also there as a back-up singer for her old band, Henri Faberge and The Adorables, who was active on the local scene in the mid aughts. With a rotating cast, the alums who showed tonight was Henri himself, Maylee Todd, Dana Snell (Sheezer), Juliann Wilding, and Drew Smith (The Bicycles). They book-ended the show, singing multi-part pop with a cabaret feel. Given the casual atmosphere, it was a loosey-goosey performance that nevertheless was more fun than a lot of local acts. Having missed them at their height, I'm surprised their catchy songs didn't garner them more success.

Throughout the evening, there were comedy skits involving an "arts coordinator" who was supposedly in charge of booking musical acts for the University and her stoner "security guard" son. A recurring joke for the night was that since peaking about 8 years ago, this band is now a has-been. Yet outside of the older crowd who came to enjoy the music, the college kids who stuck around probably did think we were all weird geezers, as they had just started junior high school back then.