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The PiNG presents coin gutter and vitaminsforyou




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.
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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
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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.