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THE AMBiENT PiNG http://www.theambientping.com Wednesdays @ HACiENDA - 794 Bathurst Street at Bloor (directly across from the Bathurst subway station) - Toronto Doors open at 9pm - 1st set at 9:30 - PayWhatYouCan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This Wednesday May 4th - coin gutter and vitaminsforyou Straight from a recent show in Mexico City for an enthusiastic outdoor crowd at that city's 1st Mutek music festival, vitaminsforyou plans to bring what SPIN magazine recently deemed "melodious laptop wizardry" indoors for a rare solo Toronto appearance. Combining his background in electroacoustics, hip-hop, minimal techno, jazz and indie rock vitaminsforyou's live show is not your average laptop spectacle. http://www.sfeericle-records.com/vitaminsforyou/ "coin gutter has gone from a 4 car pile up at that dangerous corner; chaotic, messy and impossible not to stare at, to a much tighter focused and mature live performance. But don't start thinking this is a night of sequenced tracks, all plan and no passion. The live show is the calm centre of a storm, always threatening to lose control." Emma Hendrix and Graeme Scott, from Vancouver BC, formed the electroacoustic duo coin gutter in February 2000. In 4 years they self-produced 3 CDs and Montreal's No Type Records are releasing their 4th "All your dreams are meaningless". coin gutter has been performing all over Canada, from Montreal at the Museum for Contemporary Arts during the Rein a Voir festival and Mutek, to Vancouver at Richard's on Richards opening for the legendary Finnish duo Pan Sonic. http://www.coingutter.ca Between Sets CD - "Kenotic" by Hammock Lush, post-rock, slowcore stylings with a "Soft-Is-the-New-Loud" attitude from the first CD by this Franklin, Tennessee duo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coming Wednesday May 11th - RADiO iN AMBiENCE Part 1 featuring cheryl o, Ben Grossman, Rob Piilonen & Jennifer Gillmor cheryl o - http://www.cellojuice.com Ben Grossman - http://www.macrophone.org Jen Gillmor - http://www.svdesign.ca/Sound-Intro.html . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ||: IN THE LOOP :|| by Luna Tek Infamous for its cruelty, the month of April took its leave graciously this past week, serving up a mild evening for THE AMBiENT PiNG's final concert of the month. A Pretty Sonic Splatter (Phil Ogison and Anne Sulikowski) began the April 27th concert with a lovely, drifting set that featured tracks from their new album, "It Is Fate That We Met." Delicate, yet captivating, their music was a sonic reflection of the spider web patterns cast by General Chaos' hypnotic visuals. Both Phil and Anne were in excellent form, delighting the audience with tasteful guitar-synth improvisations and Anne's sensuous vocalizations. Special guests dreamSTATE (Scott M2 and Jamie Todd) commandeered the stage for the second set. As promised, they created evocative sound environments that established, and then transformed, the emotional path of their performance. Ranging from playful to poignant, the dreamSTATE set proved that these masters of the genre have miles left to travel in their own ambient explorations. Let's hope that they leave us with more than "fragmented memories and haunted dreams" before they're finished, though - a handful of new releases would be far more satisfying for this devotee. Exploring the outer limits of their earlier sets, the two duos closed the concert with an end-of-the-evening jam. Truly a worthy performance by four outstanding musicians. More info at: http://www.worthyrecords.com + http://www.dreamstate.to Luna Tek - luna@theambientping.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rik maclean's *ping things* CD Reviews "Waiting For Another Fall" by Mercurine When I first heard Mercurine a few years ago I became an instant fan of their sound, a blend of new wave and ethereal bliss that immediately caught my attention. There was something shiny and new and beautiful about what they did. And now, with the release of their second disc "Waiting For Another Fall", Mercurine have lived up to all my previous expectations and surpassed them, delivering a collection of songs that displays confidence, growth, style and substance. The last couple of years writing and playing together have made Mercurine into a slick, tight, well-honed musical unit, and it shows. It really, really shows. Opening track "The Wish" is surely one of my favorite songs on the disc. Burbling synths interweave with bass and light percussion while Mera Robert's voice plays throughout, lush, hypnotic and beautiful. The track appeals to me on a really primal level, a song that grabs ahold of my heart and doesn't let go. "Bluemouse" follows, a dark and claustrophobic piece that showcases Byron Brown's brilliant guitarwork, alternating from subtle phrasing to a monstrous roar in the blink of an eye. Mera's voice runs just a touch above a whisper, intoning lyrics that run in circles, playing tricks with your mind. To say that this track is a masterpiece wouldn't be doing it justice. "August in Hell" follows, which, despite its name is a playful song sampling from the online animation "Strindberg and Helium". It's kind of an in joke, locational humour that might not mean anything to you if you're not in the know, but trust me, it's funny as hell. Visit http://www.strindbergandhelium.com/to be part of the in crowd. "Format HD" features pronounced drums and percolating synths, Mera's voice stretching the lyrics in a sultry manner sure to appeal to fans of more ethereal vocal stylings. Tasteful guitar phrases play throughout, and all of the instruments blend in a practical and economical way that suggest that the band's production skills are just as tight as their songwriting. "Nu Groove" follows, a stompy and heavy track, a big song meant for a big room that bleeds into the instrumental track "Copper Rain". There's something anthemic about these two, a pump your fist in the air quality that suggests stadiums and giant inflatable pigs. This is a good thing. Every band should have an inflatable pig song. In contrast, "Sunlightgreyskies" has a Cocteau Twins feel to it, with Mera's vocalizing dancing around the track, playing games in the soundfield while sparse guitar alchemy creates a backdrop of new environments and atmospheres. Once you get used to these places and spaces you won't want to leave. "StrangeTimesLove" is a joyful good times piece, the sound of somebody who's found something new to live for. Building on the lyric "I'm waking up but the alarm's been going for days" the track suggests new discovery, a new way of looking at things. Life can be scary in the 21st century, but listening to this track I can't help but think that it doesn't have to be, that maybe we all just need to look at things a little bit differently. Who knows? It might just work and we can thank Mera and Byron for bringing us into a happier age... And this is where we reach the end. Fans of Mera's work with Oblivia and Black Tape for A Blue Girl will no doubt be thrilled by "Another Ending" where she plays a plaintive cello to accompany Byron's looping guitar. A masterful thing of beauty, this is surely one of the best pieces on the disc, my only regret being that this track wasn't a little longer. Like, ummmmmmm, maybe an hour? Regardless of my wishes for an extended version, "Another Ending" is still a wonderful coda to what is one of my favorite releases of the year so far. So let me sum up. Mercurine are magical, and with the release of their latest disc I heart them even more than I did before. They create music that is by turns joyous, happy, celebratory, cerebral, intense, tense and just a little creepy, but in a good way. They are a band who have nurtured and developed their already impressive skills and they are a band who are destined for great things some day very soon. Without doubt Mercurine shine on this disc and you owe it to yourself to hear them now so that you can say you knew them when. rik maclean - rik@pingthings.com http://www.pingthings.com = ambient + electronic + chill things Send an e-mail to pingthings-subscribe@yahoogroups.com for updates on *all* the latest releases on sale at ping things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE AMBiENT PiNG is a social sound/art event presenting live performances by Toronto's finest ambient, chillout, improv and experimental music artists plus performers from across the continent, every Wednesday evening at HACiENDA - 794 Bathurst Street at Bloor. http://www.theambientping.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Please forward this e-mail to any friends who may be interested in live ambient, chillout and experimental music performances or to any of your appropriate newsgroups. Thanks.