Curated by Small World Music Society as part of The Rose Studio Series.

LAL

Rosina Kazi and Nicholas Murray are LAL. The Toronto-based, Bengali-Bajan duo have been holding down Canada’s underground DIY music scene for decades. Having started performing separately in hip hop and spoken word, they came together as music and life partners, bonding over the shared ideal of making electronic music that puts community first.

Drawing on the transcendent and transgressive roots of house music, LAL use each successive album as a chance to explore further and further into the future. With so many futures awaiting us, we’re fortunate to have their music as a guide. The fragile melodies and throbbing bass sound out, like a rope and plank bridge across a dangerous chasm. We could choose to plunge into the gaping maw and take what comes our way; we may instead make unsteady, swaying steps towards safety on that far side. Not the dead happiness of certainty and security but rather the comfort of a future built by vulnerability, magical thinking, generosity and the tenderest of rage.

Impatient for paradise, LAL works tirelessly to make that future a reality in the here and now. They launched the community centre and performance venue Unit 2 ten years ago as a space for marginalized artists and communities to build themselves up and create connections across social boundaries. LAL's recent theatre work in ​Noor and ​Out The Window take their world-building one step closer towards a critical ​gesamtkunstwerk​. Murray and Kazi are regularly sought after for public speaking engagements, to share their insights on music, arts and social justice. LAL is the answer to a question we’re finally ready to ask.


Follow LAL on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram @lalforest

NEW CHANCE

New Chance is the solo electronic musical project of Toronto artist Victoria Cheong. Using hardware samplers and sequencers, live effects and her own voice, her music touches on conventions of dub, deep house, avant pop and ambient, exploring the permutations of genre that create new forms of expression. She released her debut EP, It Says New Chance on Bedroomer in 2018, her latest EP Hardly Working was released on her own imprint AND/AND in 2019.

New Chance's other musical projects include a collaboration with reggae legend Willi Williams (premiered at XAvant Festival, The Music Gallery in 2019), and the musical duo Nice Hands with poet Aisha Sasha John. In 2019 she released the limited edition vinyl Rosé Porn (music from the performance work Rosé Porn, created in collaboration with dance artist Zoja Smutny) and she is currently scoring a new dance work with Canadian choreographer Ame Henderson.

She sings backup and tours with Chandra (reviving her post-punk classic album, Transportation) and with Jennifer Castle's Angels of Death. Her voice can also be heard on Lido Pimienta's Polaris winning record, La Papessa.


Follow New Chance on Facebook / @NewChanceVC

R. FLEX

R. Flex makes powerful pop/R&B that celebrates queer black creativity. Their powerful voice, experimental production, and arresting live performances have helped them build a name for themselves in the indie, R&B, and queer music scenes in Toronto and beyond. They have appeared at Toronto Pride, POP Montreal, Sled Island (Calgary), MEGAPHONO (Ottawa), Slut Island (Montreal), and Grickle Grass (London), opening for the likes of Silla and Rise, Witch Prophet, SWV, and Brandy. They have collaborated with a myriad of artists, including A-Fos, Zlender, Tush, James Baley, Staasia Daniels, Positive Journey, and several more. Their debut EP “In & Out” received over 27K streams and their song “Thursday” was a Top 20 finalist at Imsta Festa Toronto. They have been featured on The RUDE Collective, Ride the Tempo, Canadian Beats, and YOHOMO, and their music has been featured in work by sisterhood media’s Kaleidoscope Stories.


Follow R. Flex on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram @flexrflex

Curated by Small World Music as part of The Rose Studio Series and Small World Asian Music Series