Slow Wave

On Sunday, after dinner at the forgettable chain Famoso in The Annex, I walked down to the Bellwoods park area to Array Space. On Walnut Avenue, surrounded by new construction, an old building was still hanging on. This was my first time visiting this venue, dedicated to contemporary and other forms of music and artistic collaboration outside the mainstream. Walking up a narrow flight of stairs decorated with lithographs and prints, I passed through a nook filled with vinyls, and into a fairly big room that was both seating and stage.

The opener was Loom, Brooke Manning's minimal indie pop project. She was once again joined by Kyla Charter and Leah Fay on vocals. Tonight, Carmen Elle was replaced by Lana Leprich on lead guitar. The audience was quietly appreciative of her serene set especially of the vocal harmonies that filled the room.

If Loom's songs were contemplative, the main set was almost meditative. Austrian film-maker Michaela Grill loved playing with black-and-white clips where images slowly undulate and morph: the petals of flowers dissipate into the feathery neck of a stork, a flapping bat's wings pixelate into a school of fish. Over this collage of images, Sophie Trudeau (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) improvised violin snippets, out-of-phase chords, and droning synths. The set ended with the slow ring of bells bringing people back to the world.

The performances here are probably not my usual cup of tea. So I don't know if I'll be back to Array Space again, if ever. But as the host said, this is a hidden gem in Toronto, and I hope they can hold out against condo developers for a few more years.