TONE SHOWS
ERIC CHENAUX & RYAN DRIVER + RAFAEL TORAL + MASAHIRO TAKAHASHI & BRODIE WEST
Thursday, May 14th 2026 / 8pm @ Standard Time (165 Geary Ave. Unit A), All Ages
ERIC CHENAUX & RYAN DRIVER (bandcamp)
Constellation Records' guitarist & singer Eric Chenaux returns home to Toronto for a foray with long-time collaborator Ryan Driver. Gentle acoustic guitar notes stretch out & ripple underneath electric psych inspired meanderings. Eric's voice weaves seamlessly among this textural landscape, like a silk sheet in the wind. Every movement is subtle, yet beautiful. A storyteller from a slower time, a player from the jazz tradition borrowing gracefully from the folk form. Two sonic ramblers existing out of time, but in step with their own hearts.
Photo by Sylvestre Nonique-Desvergnes
Portuguese experimental guitarist & synthesist Rafael Toral comes to town in support of his newest record on Drag City, “Traveling Light”. A collection of jazz standards put through Toral’s elongated ambient treatments. Notes stretch and crackle as they become humming landscapes. Ethereal drones emerge out of woozy jazz phrases. Throughout his close to 40 year career he’s built a plethora of home brew electronic instruments that now work in conversation with his guitar work. Together this intricate textural & rhythmic dance moves his work into a totally other sonic universe where it feels like a rare bird sending its bent coos & tweets back to earth from a distant space station. Rafael catches these errant notes and arranges them perfectly. Don’t miss this!
Photo by Vera Marmelo
MASAHIRO TAKAHASHI & BRODIE WEST (bandcamp)
Toronto-based Japanese composer-musician Masahiro Takahashi has been crafting gently spellbinding pieces that simultaneously embrace electronic abstraction and a palpable, even brittle, humanity. His delicate and evocative landscapes always seem to be illuminated in vibrant magic hour tones as golden synth lines emanate from between soft flickers of acoustic instrumentation. He has released music on an array of labels, such as Not Not Fun, JJ Funhouse, Slow Editions and his 2026 record In Another on Telephone Explosion Records. He also composes for films and art installations. He will be joined by saxophonist Brodie West for this performance.
GLISSANDRO 70 “Bones of Dundasa” + KHÔRA & MAS AYA “Primordial Mind” Double LP Release + SWEET LIPS
Thursday, June 4th 2026 / 8pm @ Standard Time (165 Geary Ave. Unit A), All Ages
GLISSANDRO 70 (bandcamp)
Glissandro 70 is the duo of Craig Dunsmuir and Sandro Perri. The project began in 2003 as an invitation from Chicago’s Muted Tones weblog to collaborate on music that sat between analogue dub and pop abstraction. That initial piece, an extended rework of material Dunsmuir had developed for his Kanada 70 Solo Guitarkestra, was retitled and edited for the occasion, becoming "Something", the opening cut on their acclaimed self-titled 2006 debut for Constellation, a five-song full-length fleshed out between 2003 and 2005. 20 years later, their archival follow-up G70 2: Bones of Dundasa picks up threads from that era and expands the frame, featuring pieces that were created, abandoned, lost and later rediscovered. Plans once floated to evolve the project into a new iteration called Dundasa 80 were ultimately shelved, but the act of revisiting the archives in 2025 led to this carefully assembled release. The expanded band will include Blake Howard & Nick Storring, plus appearances by Karen Ng, Doug Tielli and Ryan Driver.
KHÔRA & MAS AYA (bandcamp)
Mas Aya & Khôra are the spirited Toronto-based musical partnership of multi-instrumentalists Brandon Miguel Valdivia (Mas Aya) and Matthew Ramolo (Khôra), who skillfully combine hypnotic electronics with interlaced percussion lines and processed acoustic arrangements. Their refreshing sound foregrounds the tonalities of the sacred, hitching the progressive tendencies of minimalist rock and electronic complexity to the raw power and emotion of free jazz and ambient modal musics.
Together on their latest LP Primordial Mind, the duo fuse ecstatic polyrhythms, transcendent melodies, and captivating forms into immersive, rhythm-forward ceremonial sound worlds designed for deep abandonment, live intensity, and transformative collective experience, demonstrating the enmeshment of inner life and collective consciousness.
Photo by Monica Zhang
SWEET LIPS (bandcamp)
Sweet Lips is the duo of Owen Kurtz & Sierra Weston. They write, record and perform avant-pop music. Their work focuses on exploring structures and frameworks in the pop genre, using experimental approaches and techniques. Kurtz works primarily with electronic devices, tapes, and Weston plays a no-input mixer and sings. Their debut EP “Sweet Lips Debut” was released in December 2024 on the Ministry of Phonic Services label. They subsequently released “Sweet Lips Singles” in November 2025 which included excerpts from multi-media installation work exhibited through 2025. They are working on their debut album.
Photo by Brett Despotovich
LUGE “Miarklez” LP Release + SO PERFECT + BAG
Friday, June 12th 2026 / 8pm @ Wavelength @ St. Anne’s (651 Dufferin St.), All Ages
Co-presented with Wavelength
LUGE (bandcamp)
Since 2015 Toronto’s Luge have been cutting their teeth into faceted gems that gnaw all inspiration into a moldable paste. Years of perpetual boil have combined the best of Noise Rock, Pop, Metal, Funk and so many other lodes into the Mixture. No ingredient is immune to the unifying power of Luge as at the crown of their arch sits a keystone inscribed: It’s all just Music.
You cannot expect the unexpected. But Luge can. Luca Caruso-Moro’s drumming delivers a full-body itch to groove and fight. Meanwhile Cameron Fraser brings Bassline after capital-B Bassline. Tobias Hart’s guitar is the grease that threatens to break the emulsion before brandishing a hook that stirs it back to safety. Kaiva Gotham’s keys are timeless but for their rhythm. Her voice is singular, to say nothing of its variety. And her lyrics remain, while deeply idiosyncratic, equally stirring. Together Luge balances a deep misunderstanding. Each member, patiently normal, gives context to the others until it is their turn to be in need of translation.
Luge celebrates the release of their latest project “make miarklez irlz”, 2 six song EPs “make” & “irlz” that merge into a single twelve track album, “miarklez” for three unique listening experiences. Choose your fighter & see them do it all live!
SO PERFECT (bandcamp)
Toronto rock quartet So Perfect formed in January of 2023 and have been consistently gigging and recording since their inception. Their new EP titled “Go Figure” showcases the band’s optimism for growth and ability to take risks while remaining true to itself. So Perfect are known for being an energetic live band that is happy to stand out and will have you leaving the show humming their new song.
BAG
Bag is a Toronto band that started during the Covid 19 outbreak. The members have been in other music projects like Still Boys, Wet Dirt, and Rozasia. They sound sort of like the Butthole Surfers and the Monkees.
Photo by Sarah Bodri
AFRORACK + PHÈDRE + ARC & TEXTURE
Tuesday, June 16th 2026 / 8pm @ BSMT 254 (254 Lansdowne Ave.)
Co-presented with Not Dead Yet
AFRORACK (bandcamp)
Brian Bamanya, known professionally as Afrorack, is a Ugandan multidisciplinary artist, engineer, and musician who has pioneered Africa’s first DIY modular synthesizer. Driven by a passion for electronics and a desire to make modular synthesis accessible in Uganda, Bamanya constructed his own synthesizer using locally sourced components and self-taught engineering skills. This innovative instrument, also named “The Afrorack,” serves as both his artistic moniker and a symbol of his commitment to blending technology with African musical traditions. He has appeared at several international festivals which include Sonar, Rewire, Elevate, Dakar Art Biennale and CTM among others.
In May 2022, Afrorack released his self-titled debut album, The Afrorack, through the Ugandan label Hakuna Kulala. The album showcases his unique approach to electronic music, merging polyrhythmic structures inherent in African music with elements of acid, techno, and ambient sounds. Tracks like “African Drum Machine” exemplify his use of Euclidean rhythm sequencing to create complex, algorithmic patterns that echo traditional East African rhythms. The album was received with popular acclaim making it to several music writers’ best albums of 2022 including The Wire Magazine top 50 albums of 2022, The Quietus best of 2022 and He has also been featured on the BBC world service radio.
Afrorack’s innovative work continues to inspire a new generation of musicians and technologists, bridging the gap between traditional African music and contemporary electronic soundscapes.
PHÈDRE (bandcamp)
Phèdre is the electronic duo of Daniel Lee and apè Aliermo, based in Tkaronto/Toronto. Emerging from experimental pop, their sound has evolved into fast-paced, bass-driven sets blending sequencers, samplers and synths into kinetic, genre-bending performances. Performed entirely on live hardware, the duo weaves club, jungle, breakbeat and techno influences, through a blend of playful rhythms and disruption. Phèdre returns with a raw, semi-improvised live set shaped by their new album Liquid Constancy. Expect deep grooves, sharp turns, and a pulse that never lets go.
Photo by Green Yang
ARC & TEXTURE (instagram)
Arc & Texture is the sonic unification of Toronto-based sound artists Vanese Smith (Pursuit Grooves, Mo:delic Arts) and Caleb Klager (MMRI, wavemap). Blending their respective expertise in unorthodox cinematic percussive sounds with emotive modular synthesis tones, they create layered bass-driven techno, dub, and ambient live sets that stirs equal parts body and mind. Each set is completely improvised, unfolding deep, unique auditory encounters between performer and listener. Coming off recent performances at MUTEK Montréal, Toronto’s Long Winter, and a guest-lecture series at Queen’s University, they continue to deliver thought-provoking and multi-disciplinary experiences.
Photo by C. Paterson
LUCAS ‘GRANPA’ ABELA + DEATH KNEEL + NIMMIE AMEE + TRIPYTCH (Colin Cudmore / Kristina Guison / Colby Richardson)
Sunday, June 21st 2026 / 8pm @ The Jama (961 College St.)
Co-presented with More Noise Please
LUCAS ‘GRANPA’ ABELA aka JUSTICE YELDHAM (bandcamp)
Lucas ‘Granpa’ Abela’s performances on their signature instrument; shards of amplified glass are the stuff of legend. Their singular practice spawned from the noise music underground, where over twenty years the glass evolved from a means to create ecstatic free-noise cacophonies into an outsider instrument that produces some kind of organic electronica. Abela vibrates the pane vocally to control a modular patch that uses no traditional syntheses techniques, instead the glass acts as both sound and modulation source. The patch extracting control voltages from the glass’s dynamics and frequency in order to modulate itself in synchronicity with the performance, shaping six parallel stereo effects chains that merge into dense layers of anomalous music.
Photo by Joe Rae
DEATH KNEEL (bandcamp)
Death Kneel is the primary recording outlet of Toronto based musician Max Klebanoff. His output is characterized by unyielding binaural manipulation and unapologetic octatrack abuse. Incidental sound and electroacoustic automatic drawings dismantled and deconstructed to be recycled, again and again. Since 2014, Klebanoff has been featured on notable labels Chondritic Sound, Total Black, White Centipede Noise and his own imprint Life Of Sensation, with new releases forthcoming on Students of Decay.
NIMMIE AMEE (bandcamp)
Patient and incidental noise from Toronto. Dynamic sound collage mustered through field recordings, carefully plotted melodies, and slow-swelling intensity. Deeply personal and spirited audiographic experimentation.
TRIPTYCH (Colin Cudmore / Kristina Guison / Colby Richardson)
Colby Richardson, Colin Cudmore and Kristina Guison are experimental sound artists working with minimalist, acoustic and low-tech methods. Richardson’s work “Dimmer Switch” involves producing sound from malfunctioning light bulbs. Cudmore is a versatile percussionist utilizing ready-made and found objects, while Guison creates metal sound sculptures / instruments which incorporates time-keeping devices, tools and other materials. Together, their trio amalgamates their individual practices into producing suspenseful, brooding, resonant and cacophonous sounds.
Photo by Michael Filippov
SETTING + HIGH ALPINE HUT NETWORK + SHABASON / GUNNING
Wednesday, June 24th 2026 / 8pm @ The Jama (961 College St.)
SETTING (bandcamp)
The North Carolina Piedmont-based trio of Setting bring together their substantial collective skills as musicians and their collaborative, explorative mindsets from groups such as Mind Over Mirrors, Califone, Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Peeesseye, Sylvan Esso, and Jake Xerxes Fussell to bear in their inventive and rich improvisations. Multi- instrumentalists Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles and Joe Westerlund subvert expectations while creating a sense of ease and wonderment. Their intricate interplay of synthesizers, cassette loops, banjo, keyboards, electronics, zithers, and a litany of percussive instruments form a tactile amalgam of celestial transcendence and terrestrial rhythm, a loamy pulse fluidly guiding every minute fluctuation in feel. Dedicated improvisers with years working together, the band has developed their own idiosyncratic vernacular and sense of flow. Setting’s self-titled album (Thrill Jockey) is a definitive statement of their improvisational acumen meeting compositional rigor, a robust wellspring of hypnagogic grooves and mosaiced textures. Setting harnesses the euphoria of communal creation.
Photo by Graham Tolbert
HIGH ALPINE HUT NETWORK (bandcamp)
High Alpine Hut Network is a psychedelic fusion group based in Toronto, ON. The group has released 2 EP's & are currently working on their first full length album.
"We are an improvising band that focus’ on immediate connection. As individuals, we became stumped by our previous groups solely performing worked out arrangements & decided to form a project dedicated to intentional, non-judgemental improvisations. Our common goal is to honour the present moment & allow ourselves to change shape based on the mood of the members, the surroundings & the energy of the audience."
SHABASON / GUNNING (bandcamp)
Toronto dream-duo Joseph Shabason and Ben Gunning map fragmented cityscapes from bent electronics and late-night FM jazz transmissions.
The boys are back in town. After recording their debut in a remote cottage in Northern Ontario, the duo relocated their jams to Shabason’s Toronto studio where they gained unlimited access to a virtual cornucopia of analog and digital gear and had the time to really push those instruments to the brink. In the crisp autumnal sessions the duo consciously set out to make Ample Habitat with a fresh slate; not a single melody or patch was smuggled in on a USB stick. Fuelled with off-brand club soda, the ethos was to infuse the sessions and the music itself with a sense of discovery. Another perk of the new locale was being closer to friends and neighbours; TO music-scene luminaries Kieran Adams, Bram Gielen, and Thom Gill dropped in, rounding out a full jam band for the convivial B-side surprise “Is Jubilee.” Although the album calls on a wild menagerie of digital voices, the heart is warm and human, favouring performance and play over presets and quantization. If J Dilla was able to teach an MPC jazz, Shabason / Gunning aim to teach their hardware the ECM version.
Photo by Colin Medley
THE EX + NOT A BAND + ANDY MOOR & YANNIS KYRIAKIDES
Thursday, June 25th 2026 / 8pm @ Cafeteria Upstairs (1650 Dupont St.), All Ages
THE EX (bandcamp)
The Ex is a band resolutely focused on the future. After more than 45 years of existence and constant reinvention, it rejects all nostalgia, preferring to explore new alliances and continually take on musical challenges far from any comfort zone.
Emerging from the punk and squat movements of the late 1970s, The Ex has become an independent and unclassifiable force, performing in over 45 countries and paving the way for significant intercultural collaborations, notably with Ethiopian artists. Returning to the international stage with new compositions and a new album, If Your Mirror Breaks, the band continues to embody a vibrant, collective, and inquisitive sound—forward in all directions.
Photo by Emma Fischer
NOT A BAND (bandcamp)
not a band is Kalina Nedelcheva, Danny Alexander, Mitchel Lohmeier, Roya Biazar, Victor Ostrovsky & Marilyn Yogarajah. A carpe diem home-recording project quickly grew into a musical ensemble of friends from different disciplines & perspectives. not a band’s sound is playfully chaotic, energetic & experimental. It draws influence from new wave, post-punk, jazz, grunge, spoken word, free improvisation & avant- garde sounds.
The group is known for its lively theatrical performances, complex scores of unexpected tonal transitions & a laid-back, collective creative direction, which can be observed in the ‘not our job’ zine, the stop-motion music video for ‘Paprika,’ our all-improv side-project ‘band’ & a forthcoming video project for our latest EP, ‘Modern Rot.’
ANDY MOOR & YANNIS KYRIAKIDES (bandcamp)
Hailing from opposite ends of the experimental music spectrum Amsterdam based Andy Moor and Yannis Kyriakides have been making music together for over 20 years now, brought together by a mutual passion for 1920’s & 30’s underground Greek rebetika music. The combination of Yannis’ remarkable compositional skills and Andy’s improvisational work with guitar, results in a loose but well structured musical landscape that constantly shifts and surprises the musicians playing as much as the audience.
Photo by Mario Carovani