It's Not The Band I Hate, It's Their Fans

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noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 03:20:00 +0000

The Final Post: All Things Must Pass....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 11:27:00 +0000

"None of life's strings can last / So I must be on my way / And face another day / All things must pass / All things must pass away..." - George Harrison

Well, it's with mixed emotions that I write this post. I knew that I wouldn't be able to sustain this gig forever, and truth be told, I've managed to sustain it significantly longer than I ever imagined I could, but I think that the time has come for me to call it a day on this here blog (with the ridiculously long url.) To many of you, it may seem like this is somewhat out of the blue, but truth be told, hardly a week has passed since I started, that the thought of pulling the plug on this venture hasn't crossed my mind. It's not that I don't enjoy it of course, it's just that it's an awful lot of work and I think that I've taken it as far as I'm physically and mentally able to.

When I started this thing back in May 2006, it was done on a (mild) dare (of sorts), and it was done as a bit of a lark. This explains the inane url, as well as a few early fluff pieces, like my second post where I went about praising this "wonderful" "new" band known as The New Cars, (who were essentially an updated version of the old Cars, but without it's two key members, meaning that there was no way that this band would be able to sustain my, or anybody else's enthusiasm for very long). A few months after that, much to my surprise, bands were asking me to review their work, and there was even a core group of music lovers (mostly Torontonians) who were actually taking the words of a schmuck like me seriously. I'll admit that at first, I was easily enticed by all of the free stuff I was getting: CD's, t-shirts, concert tickets, spots on guest lists, etc. But after awhile, it became obvious to me that, in my small way, I was accomplishing much more. One talented musician from the U.K. wrote me to tell me that, thanks to something that I had written on my blog, he had sold some copies of his independent release in Germany, an area where he may not have received exposure otherwise. That was the first of many words of appreciation to have come my way, both from musicians and fans, thanking me for getting them heard, or for sharing some tunes with them that they would not have otherwise become acquainted with. That's when I realized that I was actually accomplishing something worthwhile with this blog, which motivated me to start taking it a little bit more seriously. And I've been having a blast! Still, having said that, my intention was always to keep it as a hobby; secondary to all of the more important things in my life; an interesting way to occupy the small amount of free time that I had.

I'm happy to say that over these past four years I've been able to respectfully keep it in its place, although admittedly, at times it was just barely so. I've turned down most offers to turn this into something bigger, and as many shows as I've attended during that time, believe it or not, I've always turned down more than I've accepted. I've always run this blog myself, and happily avoided allowing it to get to the point where the blog was running me. However, at this stage in the game, it's getting harder to do that, and I've decided that for now, I'm going to pack it in. Unlike many, I never wanted music to be something that I did for a living. I always felt that the minute it started to feel like a job, was the moment that music stopped being an enjoyable past-time, which, quite honestly, was, and still continues to be, my favourite thing about music. Due to recent developments in my life, (nothing bad, just time consuming), I just don't think that I'm going to be able to maintain this thing at the level that I've grown accustomed to. The thought had crossed my mind to perhaps keep it up, just at a more subdued pace, but to be honest, I can't say that I'm all that enthusiastic about going backwards either. I've thought about it long and hard, and came to the conclusion that now is a good time to pull a bit of a Seinfeld, stop things at sort of a high point, and bow out with my sanity still (relatively) in tact.

That having been said, does this mean that that's it for my online persona? Well, never say never, I guess. Perhaps somewhere down the line the thrill of music journalism will grab me again, and I'll find myself resurrecting this thing. Maybe next time it will be in the form of a more official looking website, or perhaps I'll simply lend my services as a contributor to another site. Who knows? But for now, I'm going to be laying low online, and I gotta tell ya, as much as I'll miss doing this, I think there's a part of me that's going to find this newfound freedom very liberating.

In the meantime, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has provided me with the encouragement, kind words, readership and, most importantly, great music over the past four years. I'm likely to forget a few names, but some of the more personal without whom's are as follows: Jennifer Polk, Dan and Terri Wolovick, Tyler Wade, Michael Ligon, Frank Yang, Jonathan Chandler, Daniel Hay, Kate Cooke, Carleigh Aikins, Daniel Brandon Allen, Kevin Kralik, Lonely Vagabond, Robbie Butcher, Bobby Kimberly, Lauren Schreiber, Sari Delmar, Rajiv Thavanathan, Chris Hobson, Chance, Laura Keeling, Haley Zalesky, Ileen Laura, Jason Wells, Jeremy Knibbs, Leerone, Matt Bahen, Mike Walter, Nick Bernal, Lisa Horvath, Pete Nema, Melody Lamb, Joe Strutt, Rob Schmidt, Carrie Musgrave, Walid Lodin, Jason Evangelho, Richard Gibson, Robert Gibson, Kristina Bergeron, Megan Bonnell, Byram Joseph, Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Matthew Pollessel, Kelly Bergeron, Joel Beerman, Ben Fox, Branko Scekic, Jason Haberman, Jason Loftman, Daniel Hales, Sarah Smith, Kirstie Shanley, David Oliver, Darren Gaines, Mike Stroud, Megan Hamilton, Nathan Stretch, Rochelle Latinsky, James Hicken, Craig Mailman and Edward Lau. There are many others out there, and I'm thankful to all of you, but these are the ones who I specifically remember saying a kind word to me at a show, mentioning me on their blog, taking the time to fire me off an encouraging e-mail or two, and/or thanking me for digging their band.

And speaking of the bands, there's a whack of them that have always been an integral part of this blog, but there are some special ones who have been particularly inspiring, not to mention especially nice to me personally and I would be remiss if I didn't mention them as well. The special ones are: Fox Jaws, Amos the Transparent, The Hoa Hoa's, Clothes Make The Man, Beautiful Nothing, Chance, Santa Dog, Ileen Laura, Reily (RIP), Oh No Forest Fires (RIP), Bass Lions, In-Flight Safety, Darren Gaines and the Key Party, Songs From A Room, The Joys, Whale Tooth, Rural Alberta Advantage, Elvyn, The Paint Movement, Davey Parker Radio Sound, Wallscenery Demos, Dinosaur Bones, Hooded Fang, Tom Fun Orchestra, The Space Between Things, Lovely Killbots, Young Rival, The Schomberg Fair, AfterpartY, Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, Clouds That Look Like Things, Krupke and Make Your Exit.

And most importantly, I'd like to thank my wife for always being supportive of this little hobby and for allowing me to pursue this musical obsession, accompanying me to shows when she could, and being my text buddy when she couldn't. Yer the best!

There's certainly no shortage of quality music blogs out there, and I wholly recommend checking out any of the ones listed in the sidebar. Take care of yourselves, and maybe I'll see you at a show sometime.

I'm the guy at the front, near the stage, with the hat on.

Bass Lions - ...Is Diamonds (Early Review!)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:18:00 +0000

We haven't heard all that much from Hamilton's Bass Lions for awhile and I'm sure the fans, like myself, were hoping that this was all for a good reason. 2007's More Than Islands was pretty much perfect, not only as a collection of excellent songs in an individual sense, but also in terms of production and in the way that the album presented itself nicely as one flowing piece of music. I'm not sure if that was the band's intention, but I found it hard to separate the tracks, as the whole EP worked so well together. Still, as good as it was, it still felt like a teaser and it left me with a feeling that the band's best work was still ahead of us. Their latest upcoming release, ...Is Diamonds, hints at the fact that this assumption certainly held true, as well as adding credence to the fact that the time away was likely spent honing this stellar piece of work.

While it still keeps that sublime formula of soulful, melancholic indie pop in tact, this latest work boasts an even larger sound that borders on anthemic, while still remaining quite intimate thanks in part to Nathan Stretch's captivating baritone whisper. The most immediately noticeable thing about this particular release is that it has to be the crispest, cleanest production I've ever heard on an independent release. For example, there's a moment at the start of the song New Intuition where you can faintly hear a female voice say "ok", and when I first listened to this on my iPod while standing on the subway, I actually turned around twice to see who was saying this behind me. The sound is that clear and uncluttered. There are other moments like the opening drums in Wind Up Bird [the creeping glacier] or the acoustic picking in You Brought The Bass that really needs to be experienced in headphones to appreciate to the greatest extent. The album was recorded at Last Ounce Studios (Fox Jaws, Oh No Forest Fires) and mastered at Bova Sound (Bahamas, Zeus), which no doubt explains its superior sound. Still, all of this would be pointless if the songs were not up to par, and this release's 22 minutes ends way too early. One of the highlights for me is the opening track Dynamite Quartz, which boats some subtle keyboard work coupled with some beautifully poetic lyricism and some nice harmonies. I also really like Goodbye, Mouth, which is a song who's lyrics sound comical when read back on paper, yet heartbreaking when set to music.

Like the previous release, it's brevity leaves you wanting more, although I've discovered that both albums when played together make for a very satisfying length; just enough to tie me over until the band releases a full length, should they choose to do so. In the meantime, I recommend throwing this one on your player, getting yourself some good quality headphones, and settling in to the crisp, clean sounds of Bass Lions.

Bass Lions ...Is Diamonds is scheduled for release within the next few months. More updates when they come available.

Myspace: Bass Lions
Video: Goodbye Mouth @ Groundswell, Alliston ON on youtube

Other stuff:
The magic pairing of M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, known by many as She & Him, have released their second album together today, the brilliantly entitled Volume Two, which is reported to have an even more unabashed old school country feel than the first one. The album is streaming for free on Exclaim until March 29th. They're playing The Phoenix on June 9th. [Myspace: She & Him]

Teenage Fanclub finally have a new album set to be released on June 8th on Merge. It's called Shadows, and judging by the free track Baby Lee, which is available as a free download on Pitchfork, it's going to be more of that perfect power pop that we've come to expect and love by Sctoland's favourite popsters.They begin a tour of the U.K. in May, and they'll be following with an American tour later in the year, that I can only hope will showcase a Toronto date as well. [Myspace: Teenage Fanclub]

For those that had to miss this year's Wavelength 500 festival, or for those that simply didn't get to catch as much of it as they would have liked to, Joe at Mechanical Forest Sound has put together an amazing compilation that features a track from every set of all five nights of the festival. It is available to download in .zip format over here. An amazing idea.

For obvious reasons, the passing of Alex Chilton, one of the founders of Big Star, has led to an outpouring of emotion and tribute from the many acts that have been inspired by him through the years. The Alex Chilton tribute show that took place at this year's SXSW was apparently an affair that was both melancholic and celebratory, but nothing tugs at the heart more than Cerulean Blue (For Alex Chilton), a song that was just written and recorded by Superdrag's John Davis and is available as a free download over at Magnet Magazine, along with other artists paying their respects to his work.

CONTEST: Win tix to Elvyn's CD Release Show and a copy of their latest CD "The Decline"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:38:00 +0000

CD Review: Elvyn - The Decline

I've been enthusiastically pumping the sounds of Elvyn pretty extensively on this here blog, but it's no secret that I feel that they are one of the most underrated bands on the scene right now. For proof of this fact, all you need to do is give a listen to their latest CD The Decline. Full of hooks and classic sounding melodies, this does not sound like a band that should be struggling for attention, but rather, this sounds like a band with a solid history of quality music behind them that continues to grow more impressive with every release.

The album opens with Those Were The Days, a song that combines the classic guitar sounds of The Replacements with the infectious melodies of Teenage Fanclub. Songs like Lotta Lies and The Big Bay are immaculately produced, giving them an edge wherein every instrument is clearly audible, allowing them to have a fuller sound that enables them to remain memorable and addictive. There's also a nice balance throughout the recording of upbeat power pop numbers, and mellower romantic songs of love and heartbreak. I really enjoy some of those slower ones, such as the captivating Don't Leave, Don't Go, which manages to burrow a spot in my brain every time I hear it, thanks in part to excellent harmonies on the simple, yet effective chorus. The album's undeniable highlight however is The Nature Of Your Game, a classic country song that would not sound out of place amongst The Sadies repertoire, with its shuffling drum beat and captivating harmonica. The whole album is golden pop at its finest, an unapologetic homage to the past, whether it be the jangle pop of the 60's, the college rock of the 80's or the alt-country movement of the 90's, and with the right promotion, it could really be a contender in 2010.

Myspace: Elvyn
Download: Lotta Lies mp3

CONTEST: Elvyn will be celebrating the release of The Decline on Friday March 26th at The Silver Dollar. Opening for them will be another great band, The Champion Heartache. Thanks to the boys in the band, I've got the following to give away to one happy winner:

1) Two spots on the guest list to the March 26th show at The Silver Dollar
2) A copy of The Decline on CD

To enter, simply send an email to quadb2001 [at] gmail [dot] com with the words "I'm on the decline with Elvyn" in the subject line, and your full name in the body.The winner will be chosen randomly.

Contest is now closed. Congrats to Karen M. and thank you to everyone who entered.

Joanna Newsom w/Kevin Barker @ The Phoenix

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:10:00 +0000

My love for the music of Joanna Newsom has been well documented on this here blog, and her latest 3-disc extravaganza Have One On Me has been no exception. When I started listening to the record, there was a part of me that was a little bit perturbed at the fact that she has somewhat normalized her voice a little bit, feeling as if she was sort of giving in to all of the haters who didn't like the high pitched squeak that accompanied her last two albums. The words "acquired taste" followed defenders of her like the plague, but I have to say that personally, I never needed that period of adjustment. From the first time I heard her I remember thinking that this girl has something that I've never heard before, both in terms of musical expression and of course, in her vocals as well. The Milk Eyed Mender was an album that I enjoyed thoroughly, and Ys, well, that's just simply one of my favourite albums ever. The current album however, while supposedly more accessible, actually did take a few extra listens for me to appreciate, as the uncanny vocal similarities to Kate Bush just had me going back and listening to her again, which forced me to make comparisons, which led to thoughts like, "there may be many impersonators, but there's only one Kate Bush."

While I still maintain the accuracy of that statement, Joanna Newsom's album has grown on me, to the point where I enjoy it almost as much as her other two, and the internal build up in enthusiasm as the day of her show at The Phoenix was approaching had me feeling some definite high levels of anticipation. Yes, even with all of the shows that I see, I can still get pretty excited about them from time to time, and this was certainly one of those times.

This show, of course, was right smack dab in the middle of an especially rainy Canadian Music Week, which meant that I had already done enough running around and getting wet, so I tried to time it so that I would show up right at door time and I could just stroll in, while still being early enough to get up nice and close to the front. Well, my timing was off a bit, and I did end up standing in the windy cold rain for pretty close to a half hour, which didn't make me particularly giddy. Still, I was in and I was decently close to the front, so overall things weren't too bad.

The opening act was Kevin Barker, the guitarist for a pretty decent alt-country band called Vetiver, and a man who has worked with Devendra Banhart, Vashti Bunyan and Antony and the Johnsons. His set was quite subdued yet enjoyable, and he showed great respect for the fact that people were here to see Newsom by keeping it relatively brief, even quipping that like us, he can't wait till he gets off the stage as well. He played four or five mildly jammy numbers that would run the gamut of song structure with pop sensibilities and lead into slightly longer folk tinged expressive pieces, that would straddle that fine line between progressive construction and free form expression. It was all rather enjoyable, but after waiting in the rain for half an hour, I was really getting antsy waiting for Newsom to take the stage.

Photos: Kevin Barker @ The Phoenix (March 13th, 2010) on flickr
Myspace: Kevin Barker

When she finally did (after 20 more minutes of waiting), she looked simply stunning as she waved at the audience and then sat down at the piano to perform a perfect rendition of album opener Easy, with her voice impressively flawless. Accompanying her on stage were five others, sitting up front to stages left and right, playing all of the elaborate pieces on guitar, violins, trumpet, drums, flute and banjo. Joanna was in the unfortunate position of having to keep her set brief, since The Phoenix hosts a dance party on Saturday nights, which meant that when it came to setlists, she had to choose wisely, probably not an easy thing to do when you're promoting an album that runs over two hours in length. Still, I'd have to say that she did quite well, including my favourite songs from the new album (Soft As Chalk and the title track), as well as some older favourites (Inflammatory Writ, The Book of Right-On from Milk Eyed Mender, and Emily from Ys.) Another surprise was how down-to-earth and normal she seemed, which for me, seemed to run contrary to the distinguished nature of her music. There was a moment during The Book of Right-On where she forgot the lyrics, and the look on her face was priceless as she asked if anybody knew the words. There was another funny moment when she needed to tune her harp, which apparently isn't as straight forward as tuning a guitar, when she allowed her drummer Neil Morgan to banter with the audience to bide some time, where he told lame (yet endearing) jokes and fielded several questions about his own career, which made for an entertaining distraction. Still, the highlights were, of course, the music, and I swear that there was even a moment during In California where I felt myself feeling a little verklempt, which really sums up the effect that her music has on those who get it. And when you're used to hearing peers (and anonymous blog commenters) talk about how much they hate her, there's something very comforting about being in a room of 1000+ people, standing so quietly that you could literally hear a pin drop, taking in the beautiful expressions that can only come from the pairing of a mythical harp and Newsom's magical voice.

This show was already reviewed by many, including The National Post, The Globe and Mail, Chromewaves, Chart Magazine, Exclaim and there's no doubt that For The Records will have his review up shortly also.

There's also plenty of great video footage from the show up on ANewCanadian's youtube channel.

Photos: Joanna Newsom @ The Phoenix (March 13th, 2010) on flickr
Myspace: Joanna Newsom

Canadian Music Fest 2010: Day Four

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

featuring The Brother Kite, The Hoa Hoa's, Black Feelings and Action Makes

Because of my little brain fart on Friday night, my much talked about in-store with Dan Mangan and company wasn't going to happen, which meant that I'll just have to be a little bit more on top of things the next time he comes around, which I'm sure will be relatively soon enough (April 22nd at The Horseshoe, to be exact). This meant that instead of being in a dry record store at 6pm, I was standing in line, in the miserable rain, at The Phoenix, waiting to get in to the Joanna Newsom show, which was not part of CMF, and which I'll be telling you about later.

Fast forward to about 9:30 or so, and I was aboard the College streetcar, on my way to Rancho Relaxo to see a band that has been touted by some very respectable sources, but still virtually unknown to me.

The Brother Kite is a band from Rhode Island, that plays some of the most perfect pop music I've ever heard. I've noticed that they often get lumped into a shoegaze category, and I suppose that I heard traces of that in some of the heavier numbers, but to my ears they seemed to have a much cleaner and more structured sound than that pigeonhole would imply. Some of the more obvious references would perhaps be The Beach Boys or Teenage Fanclub, in other words, a style chock full of powerful melodies and larger than life choruses. They played a number of songs from an upcoming album that will be called Isolation, and I gotta tell ya, as each song seemed to be more and more perfect than the one before, it really made me wonder how a band this accessible has managed to bypass the notice of so many. Even now, I'm listening to the songs on their myspace page and their obscurity strikes me as one of the most puzzling things in the world of indie pop today. Of all the bands that I'd seen at this year's festival, The Brother Kite is the one that I plan on familiarizing myself with the most. First step: buy all of their albums. Second: listen to them with great repetition. Third step: dance. And fourth step: gush about them regularly to all of my friends.

Myspace: The Brother Kite
Photos: My pics of The Brother Kite @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr.

At the end of the show, Frank asked me where I was heading next, and when I said The Comfort Zone, he replied by saying "no, really, where are you heading next?" When Mike, with a twinge of mischief in his voice, recommended that I make sure to use the bathrooms when I get there, I have to admit that mentally I was preparing myself for the fact that I may want to have a backup plan in case the venue's reputation for being less than germaphobe-friendly was accurate.

When I arrived at the darkly lit watering hole beneath The Silver Dollar, I have to say that the fact that I was anticipating something much worse actually made the place seem not all that bad to me. Sure, I could see where the others were coming from, and I don't even want to know what that thin layer of sticky was on the floor, but overall it was a spacious little venue with a decent sized stage and lots of room to move around. And anyway, I wasn't there for the venue, but I was there to see my personal festival sure thing, the always fantastic Hoa Hoa's.

The Hoa Hoa's were my one exception to the "never seen them before" premise that I was more or less sticking to this week. They are easily my favourite live band in the city, not only because of the infectious grooves that their shows consistently put out, but also because of the fact that they have a live show that feels like no one else's, without relying heavily on contrived gimmickry. Sure, they often come equipped with a cool psychedelic light machine, but if you're familiar with their music, this is something that simply enhances their performance, as opposed to distracting from it. As usual, the band was in fine form on Saturday night, creating the 60's party atmosphere that has become synonymous with their show. Now that having been said, they were dealing with some pretty shoddy sound issues that muffled the sounds of the bass and significantly drowned out much of the vocals. It really took about three or four songs before I could ignore that and just enjoy the performance, so I can imagine how that may have felt for those who were unfamiliar with them. This showcase may not have been the best way to introduce yourself to their music, but for all of the established fans, this was yet another remarkable performance. And Blue Acid Gumball is the best set closing song ever!

Myspace: The Hoa Hoa's
Photos: The Hoa Hoa's @ The Comfort Zone on flickr

Because I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss the last band on the bill, I stuck around for the act immediately following The Hoa Hoa's, which were a band from Montreal called Black Feelings. They're the type of band that makes my attempt at descriptive journalism very difficult because I honestly don't even know how to begin describing their sound. Inventing a genre can't be easy, but these guys come pretty close to doing so with their sonic assault of high octane drumming, and tumultuous background vocals. In fact, it almost sounds as if for some of their songs, they took out any lead vocals that may have been there, and deliberately left in the instrumentation and backing vox, creating something that is deliberately raw and atmospheric, a soundscape of colliding guitar and bass riffs that are obviously steeped in psychedelia, but nicely amalgamated with something almost reminiscent of Germany's Krautrock music scene. This is some pretty challenging stuff for sure, but ultimately rewarding, as the band left me wanting more. If you're in the mood to expand your musical palate, then I definitely recommend checking them out when they play with Awesome Color at The Garrison on April 7th.

Myspace: Black Feelings
Photos: My pics of Black Feelings @ The Comfort Zone are on flickr.

Action Makes, one of the newest additions to the Optical Sounds roster, was the last band of the evening, and I don't know if it's possible to find a more engaging end-of-the-night band. This is garage rock at it's finest, full of rock 'n roll riffs and 60's party vibes that gets a crowd dancing in ways that I had only ever seen in old psychedelic 60's counter culture B-movies. The show was full of attitude, swagger and relentless urgency, as the band blasted through a set that did not slow down for a second. It became obvious rather quickly that many audience members wanted to engage in the fun that was being had onstage, as the rabid dancing moved progressively closer to the front so that, after I was able to get a few decent pictures, I slowly inched my way back and allowed them to have the floor. Truth be told, the way some of these people were dancing was just as entertaining to me as the performance itself. There was one guy in particular...man, I'm at a loss for words. If you were there than you know what I mean. (Here's some video, courtesy of Thee Untold City that doesn't show nearly enough of crazy dancing guy as I would have liked, making a brief appearance at the 1 minute mark, and then again at 1:29, but at least it gives you a bit of an idea. Haha! Awesome!) The show ended with the drummer leaping over his kit to tackle the lead guitarist and vocalist, in a display of crashing instruments and wild stage antics that reminded me of The Who circa 1967. Amazing!

Myspace: Action Makes
Photos: My pictures of Action Makes @ The Comfort Zone are on flickr

And so ends this year's Canadian Music Fest, which I'd have to say was probably my most successful one so far in the sense that I enjoyed almost every single performance and was introduced to a lot of new music in the process. Definitely some good times that should tie me over for the next little while at least. Other than Thrush Hermit next Friday, and The xx on April 4th, I'll be mostly hibernating for the next couple of months or so, allowing me to rest up before doing it all again at NXNE in June.

Canadian Music Fest 2010: Day Three

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

featuring The Balconies, Ghostkeeper, Gypsophilia, Gemma Ray, Krupke and Boats

So basically I'm an idiot. Even though I read and reread the CMF schedule over several times, I was still convinced that The Balconies and Ghostkeeper were going to be hitting the Criminal Records instore on THURSDAY, which meant that I would be unable to see them, but very much able to catch Dan Mangan, Aidan Knight and Hollerado at that very same store on the FRIDAY, which had me very excited. I even saw on Chromewaves that he had listed Mangan for SATURDAY and I came very close to making a comment clarifying to him that FRIDAY was the actually night of the Mangan appearance. Thankfully I didn't do this because as I arrived at the store on FRIDAY to see Mangan, it became painfully obvious that Mangan would not be showing up because he was, in fact, slated to appear on SATURDAY, not FRIDAY, as my idiotic brain had been telling me all day. So seeing as The Balconies did not play the store on THURSDAY, this meant that I arrived to see them setting up to play on the day in which I arrived, which, if you've been following, was of course FRIDAY. Yah, so basically, idiot = me.

The mental mixup, along with the fact that the rain was all kinds of annoying, meant that I wasn't in the chipper-est of moods, but I figured that since I was already there, I might as well settle in to watch The Balconies perform, yet again. I suppose that I haven't seen them as often as most other local music buffs have, but it seems that everywhere I turn there's another article about these guys, and honestly, I felt like I was beginning to O.D. on The Balconies. However, two seconds into the band's first song I came to realize that those thoughts were just me being stubborn, because those power chords reminded me quickly that The Balconies really are as great as the buzz that surrounds them, and I could never really get sick of what this band has to offer. My favourite thing about them is the fact that Jacquie and Stephen have distinctly different approaches to the way that they sing and perform, but it works together very well, so that things manage to stay varied, without being disjointed. On top of that, while most bands would use the in-store forum as an opportunity to feature a warmer and more comforting side to their music, these guys rocked out as heartily as any appearance I've ever seen by them, proving that there is never an inappropriate time to rock. Most importantly, I still maintain that their already solid sound is still that of a band who have their most impressive work ahead of them. I think that at this point, the world is very much their oyster, and while there may be a few bigger bands in the city right now, I predict that The Balconies are the ones with the greatest surviving power and in a few years from now, we are going to be shocked by how far they've come. Mark my words!

Myspace: The Balconies
Download: Lulu mp3
Photos: My pictures of The Balconies @ Criminal Records are on flickr.

Up next was a Calgary band whom I had honestly never even heard of, who go by the name Ghostkeeper. Although I personally would not go out of my way to attend a show by a band with such a name, once again, I was already there, so I figured that I might as well see what these guys are all about. Admittedly, there was a bit of an adjustment period after the relatively straightforward approach of the band that preceded them, as there was no instantly discernible hooks or melodies poking through the seemingly irrational compositions. But little by little they were starting to win me over. Lead vocalist Shane Ghostkeeper's voice has a bit of a laziness to it, that is at first a tad off-putting as I wished that he would open his mouth just a little bit more so that I could understand SOMETHING that he was saying. But after a while his laid back intone actually started to have more of a calming effect on me, which allowed me to focus more clearly on the music itself, which was actually a showcase of some old Southern blues and folk that presented itself as sort of a lo-fi Robert Johnson, of sorts. By the end of their set, I found that I was enjoying it quite a bit and I think that if they return to Toronto soon, I might be tempted to hear how they would sound at a place like The Horseshoe or Dakota Tavern.

Myspace: Ghostkeeper
Download: By Morning mp3
Photos: My pictures of Ghostkeeper @ Criminal Records are on flickr

Following the instore sets, I had an hour to kill before heading to Rancho Relaxo, so I thought that I'd walk up Spadina and grab some health food at the local Burger King. The wind and rain was pretty much an established fact at this point, and I think that I can say without exaggeration that that northward walk to my destination may be the worst thing that I've ever had to do. Still, it was nothing a crappy poutine and a Whopper couldn't fix, and after fueling up I was ready to take on the rest of the night. What came next was only the pleasantest of surprises.

I had eluded to earlier that I wanted to use this festival as an opportunity to expand an horizon or two by trying out some acts that I wouldn't under normal circumstances. I think that going to see an instrumental jazz band that drapes itself in sounds combining elements of European gypsy music, funk and fusion with a touch of Django Reinhardt guitar and a splash of Dixieland fun thrown in, would certainly fall into that category. Upon seeing Halifax's Gypsophilia, their impressive set actually had me twitting (tweeting? tweetering?) that they were the best band of the festival so far, and I meant it! As much as I talk about the rock, indie, prog and folksy vibes that the city has to offer, it's hard to beat live jazz, and this seven piece band cranked it out with great ferocity. There were plenty of fast, upbeat numbers, but they also incorporated some slower tunes (such as a song dedicated to lead guitarist Ross Burns' Opa Ross), and even some sillier numbers (like a song called Jewish Dance Party that included some hilarious old man 'la, la, la's'). The set closer was another nice surprise as it was a song with an almost progressive fusion sound, not unlike something you would hear performed by Weather Report in the late 70's. It was the type of show where you didn't applaud for songs as much as you applauded the moments, whether it was an impressive run on the violin by Gina Burgess, a sweetly spastic blast on the trumpet by Matt Myer, or an impressive solo on the keys by Sageev Oore. It was the first show of the festival whereupon its completion, I was actually still a-hankerin' for some more, which says a lot for a band without any vocals. Even if you wouldn't necessarily listen to this type of thing at home, Gypsophilia's live show comes highly recommended.

Myspace: Gypsophilia
Download: Melostinato (Live @ CBC Radio's Studio H) mp3
Photos: My shots of Gypsophilia @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr

Next, I walked over to Silver Dollar to see and hear the velvety croon of Britain's Gemma Ray. I actually wanted to see her for awhile, since her vocals have the ability to pierce right through me as her albums boast a classic sound that is reminiscent of something that the wall of sound would've liked to get its hands on in the mid 60's. She's unique in her ability to craft a song that sounds delicate and sparse, yet larger than life at the same time. Unfortunately, it appeared that poor Gemma was battling a pretty intense cold, and she warned us that she really didn't know how much she was going to be able to do on this particular evening. (UPDATE: Turns out that the 'cold' was actually laryngitis, and she had to cancel her other CMF showcase.) Still, after thanking Air India for giving her a 'man' voice, she went on to play four blusier numbers that sounded magnificent, at least to my ears. Not to make light of her ailment, but the cold just made her sound all the more intoxicatingly sultry, which perfectly fit the vibe of the material that she was showcasing that night. In line with the fact that she's about to release a covers album entitled It's A Shame About Gemma Ray, she played covers of Etta James and Alex Harvey that sounded downright haunting as she even played the guitar on the second number using a massive kitchen knife, which probably would have freaked out anyone who happened to pop in without first gaining context, but for whatever reason, managed to put a smile on my face. She ended the night with a cover of Mudhoney's appropriately titled Touch Me I'm Sick, which in this incarnation bared very little resemblance to the original. She made the song downright spooky as she looped it and looped it in several vocal and guitar effects, culminating in a wash of feedback that incorporated chairs and stools toppling over, and microphones falling down until she left the stage to the sound of her husky vocals chanting "Touch me, I'm sick" over and over again through the monitors. Backwards. It was awesome.

Myspace: Gemma Ray
Photos: My pictures of Gemma Ray @ Silver Dollar are on flickr.

Next on the agenda was to pop over to the El Mo to try and catch Parlovr's set. Unfortunately they were opening for Handsome Furs, and at this point they were only letting in ticket holders. In other words: access denied! I foolishly didn't come with a backup plan, so I grabbed an issue of NOW, and quickly scanned to see what was going on in the general vicinity. The only venue boasting a band that I had never seen before was Bread & Circus, so I ran over there to check out a Montreal dance act called Les Handclaps. A couple of songs in and they really weren't doing it for me, so I just decided to go back to the Rancho and see Krupke, a band I love whom I had already seen earlier this year, and I knew would not disappoint. (Upon speaking to Joe from Mechanical Forest Sound on Saturday night. he made a pretty strong case for Les Handclaps, assuring me that they were actually great fun and I should probably give them a second chance. So, maybe next time then.)

There's not much that I can say about Krupke that I haven't said a few times this year already. I love 'em, but what I personally find amazing is that everybody else seems to love them too. They're very weird, but I've always liked weird, so this explains my enthusiasm. Generally speaking though, most people don't get weird, which is the very essence of weird, and is what makes weird weird. In theory, when a band like Krupke hits the stage, the result should be confusion, restlessness, and perhaps even a smattering of absolute hostility. But that doesn't happen. On the contrary, there's dancing, laughter, great enthusiasm and more dancing. Krupke has emerged from a bizarro world where weird is normal, and they've successfully managed to transform the worlds in which they perform to their same unique mindset. I don't know how they do it, but kudos to them.

Myspace: Krupke
Photos: My pictures of Krupke @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr.

I ended my evening with Boats who are a band from Winnipeg who receive enormous amounts of praise everywhere they go. It's hard to deny their appeal, as strong songwriting and infectious melodies are what they do best, and it's pretty much impossible not to succumb to their perfect pop hooks. As expected, their live show took those strengths and celebrated them by performing a set of (mostly) new material that will be included on their upcoming album entitled Cannonballs Cannonballs, which will be released on May 1st. I've heard the band plenty of times, but prior to the show I still had yet to see them. When they started playing, I have to admit that the visual didn't fit the mental visual that was implanted in my mind, and it was a little bit jarring. Mat Klachefsky has an unusually high voice, and hearing that voice emanate from the mouth of this tall and daunting man with a massive scraggly beard took quite awhile for me to compute. I'm not usually that superficial, but it was hard for me to ignore at first. Still, it didn't change the fact that this band really is about as good as it gets in terms of musical prowess, and I really dug what they were doing up there. A popular quote describing the band is that they're like "Arcade Fire without the drama." While I understand the comparison, I personally found the band to be very dramatic onstage, shifting from the mellow to the hyper several times throughout, with Klachefsky's delivery being about as intense as it gets. The banter of course was quite subdued ("Here's a song called Chrome Eyelids. It's about chrome eyelids.") and I suppose that there wasn't a lot of drama in that, but musically I think that it's the dramatic flair that makes them so good.

Myspace: Boats
Download: TV Scientist mp3
Photos: My pictures of Boats @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr

By the end of their set, I was pretty tired and I also knew that I had to get up early the next morning, so I called it a night. Another satisfying one indeed. (With the exception of the stupid rain.)

Canadian Music Fest 2010: Day Two

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

featuring The Elwins, The Black Swan Effect, We Are The Take, Make Your Exit and Sandman Viper Command

My usual late start Thursdays meant that I wouldn't be hitting my first show until 10pm, and since I was determined to make life easier on myself, I decided that I would rotate throughout the College and Spadina corridor. My first stop of the evening was just shy of that, at the Bathurst corner at Sneaky Dee's for the basic pop rock sounds of The Elwins.

Sneaks was still pretty empty when I arrived there at 10:02 and the band was already partway through what I'd imagine was still their first song. They play a style of non-threatening, clean cut 60's inspired pop music that is pretty easy to admire, even if it's perhaps not anything that we haven't heard before. Borrowing from all of the usual suspects, lead vocalist Matthew Sweeney augments his Ray Davies-like snarl with a Peter Noone-ish innocence that laces their tunes with some jangly fun, the likes of which I haven't heard since the (very) early days of The Meligrove Band (circa 2000, the Ductape Years, when the band was a little more sugar and a little less vinegar.) Keeping it simple didn't mean that the band couldn't bring the rock however, and the last couple of songs in particular showcased some power chord laden guitar work that was as addictive as it gets. Really good stuff!

Myspace: The Elwins
Photos: My pictures of The Elwins @ Sneaky Dee's are on flickr

From there I walked down to Kensington Market and into The Supermarket to see a U.K. band known as The Black Swan Effect. Admittedly my reasons for wanting to check them out were partially selfish in the sense that I was feeling relatively anti-social and wanted to go somewhere with little buzz where I can just chill out with my own company. The empty floor space at Supermarket was just perfect for the mood I was in, as I settled in the corner with a beer, waiting for the band to hit the stage. When you think about it, it's actually rather ironic that the BSE were not one of the highly buzzed about bands of the fest. First of all, they're signed to Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, having recently opened for him on a few shows. Also, their bass player is a cat named Jesse Wood, and his father is none other than Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones. Those are a couple of big names to be associated with, but the small crowd was evidence that having a big name behind you ain't what it used to be, and personally I think it's great. Mostly though, I was there because the sounds that I heard on their myspace sounded pretty good, and I was eager to hear how it sounded on the live stage. Answer? Pretty dang good. For obvious reasons, there were plenty of classic rock influences circulating through their sound, including some intricate guitar solos and heavy drums and bass, with songs like Please sounding like the aforementioned Stones circa Exile On Main Street. The best songs were the more ambitious numbers, such as a song called Sick, which wouldn't be out of place on The Bends and Rat In A Cage which also owes its sound to early Radiohead, but is done so convincingly enough to not come across as another copycat band.

Myspace: The Black Swan Effect
Photos: My pictures of The Black Swan Effect @ The Supermarket are on flickr.

It was at this point that my evening of solitude was about to be cut short as the room was quickly being filled by tons of young girls, making me wonder if perhaps The Jonas Brothers were scheduled to appear next and I had been rashly misinformed. As I scanned the exit areas just in case, it turns out that my original sources were correct, and I was simply unaware of the fact that the ladies clearly dig the sounds of We Are The Take with an enthusiasm that is obviously not as limited to the haze of an MTV frosh week as I had once assumed. When they took the stage it was easy to see why. Boyish good looks, charming personalities and the ability to woo an audience were all apparent, and this was all before they even played a note. Still it's the music that counts and I'm glad to say that they clearly know what they're doing musically, as they played a tight set that was a sweet mix of upbeat sheeny shiny rock tunes, and a few piano laden pop numbers. It was obvious that the band has been playing together for awhile now, as their professionalism was probably the biggest selling point to most, as there was not a note out of place and their chemistry was infallible. That sheen was probably both their strength and their weakness. While it made it impossible to criticize their abilities, the lack of rough edges sacrificed a little bit of that rock 'n roll rawness that would have brought their show to a more memorable level for me. Still, a good time was had by all, myself included, and I'm glad that after an innumerable amount of failed attempts I finally got to see this band that I'd heard so much about.

Myspace: We Are The Take
Photos: My pics of We Are The Take @ The Supermarket are on flickr

From there I had originally planned on heading to The Silver Dollar to see The Ghost is Dancing, but ultimately opted to check out the El Mocambo instead to see Make Your Exit. Originally, I wanted to stick mostly to artists that I had never seen before, but I made an exception in this case by using justificatory reasoning. Although I had seen MYE in the past, I still had yet to see the latest incarnation of the band, that is, the one featuring my personally chosen Rock Star of the Year for 2008, Robbie Butcher, who had recently joined the band on drums. I was curious to see what chemistry would ensue within the group, since the band has always been more of a subdued force onstage, whereas Robbie's work in bands like Tin Bangs has always been a little bit more over the top. Interestingly, the pairing seemed to work very well, as the band's larger than life sound seemed to gel nicely with Butcher's over the top persona. However, his presence, strong as it was, was only one factor contributing to the band's overall greatness. When I saw them back in May 2009, it was obvious that they had plenty of potential, boasting a post-rock sound that was full of intricate spaces and precious atmospheres, yet there was still plenty of room for growth. Upon seeing them this time, it was obvious that grow they did, as their sound was so large that the El Mo could hardly contain it. Placing greater emphasis on musicianship and orchestral sweeps than on anything else, the band has carved itself out an interesting niche that will only grow as they continue to work together in the months ahead. When a large sound is what you're shooting for, well the sky's the limit, as they say.

Myspace: Make Your Exit
Photos: My pictures of Make Your Exit @ El Mocambo are on flickr.

By this time I was the most tired I'd ever been in my life, and under other circumstances I would have just gone home, but Burlington's Sandman Viper Command was up next, and I really like their CD Everybody See This, and I was already there so I forced myself to stick around, at least for a couple of songs. The band specializes in some pretty catchy power pop tunes that are still a bit juvenile in their execution, but show plenty of potential for future releases. One thing that the album does showcase perfectly is a sense of overall fun that should, in theory, translate nicely to a live stage. And in this case, that's exactly what they did. As expected, I was only there to witness the first three songs, but their energy was boundless, which suited their upbeat tunes nicely, and undoubtedly contributed to the audience's second wind. They put on one of the most enjoyable live shows of the whole festival, and I can only imagine that they'll continue to get even better as time goes on. If there was one minor concern, I'd have to say that, having lived in Burlington for 8 years myself, the band doesn't do much to distinguish themselves from many of the other young bands to come out of that area, at least as of five years ago, when I was more in tune with the Burlington music scene. The band needs to find some way to stand out from the crowd, yet from what I witnessed that night, they've certainly got the talent to do so.

Myspace: Sandman Viper Command
Photos: My pics of Sandman Viper Command @ El Mocambo are on flickr.

Canadian Music Fest 2010: Day One

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:15:00 +0000

featuring Fergus Brown, The Wilderness of Manitoba and Dead Letter Chorus

Although this year's Canadian Music Fest seemed somewhat more disorganized than usual, I was actually able to keep my personal schedule pretty much in tact, sticking relatively close to my original plans, with the exception of a couple of minor snafus on the Friday night. Even my mood was organized as I opted to go for the festival acoustic ease-in, and lead up to a rock 'n roll finale for Saturday night. (As anticipated, I was a little bit too brain-dead by the time Sunday came along.) Choosing to go mellow for Wednesday night meant that I was starting things off at a place called The Painted Lady on the corner of Ossington and Dundas, a place in my neighbourhood that I must've walked by on several occasions, but failed to notice until this evening.

To describe it as intimate would be an understatement, and when I arrived at the venue, I was a little worried that only myself and the bands would be in attendance for this one. Still, I grabbed myself a beer and settled down at one of the tiny circular tables near the stage. A small but healthy group of people began rolling in, and we prepared ourselves to chill out with the quirky sounds of Australia's Fergus Brown.

When a man named Fergus Brown releases an album entitled Burgers Frown, then you just know that he's going to be of the whimsical sort, and that he was. What made him even more interesting was that those sounds were contrasted with beautiful melodies that could possibly make a sensitive person cry if they're not really paying attention to the lyrics. He started with a solo acoustic number that really highlighted his pitch perfect voice, and even though the guitar was apparently slightly out of tune, it didn't affect his delivery in any way. (I, or course, didn't notice that it was out of tune, but he mentioned it after that first song, jokingly complaining that Air Canada broke his guitar.) For a few numbers, he had some musical accompaniment onstage to flesh out some of the rockier material and the chemistry was obvious. His first single, wryly entitled John, She Was Never Only Dancing (a response to a Bowie song with a similar name, in case you didn't know, although you should) was probably the highlight of his set, which all flowed together nicely as he concluded by thanking us for having him in our "lukewarm city."

Myspace: Fergus Brown
Photos: My pictures of Fergus Brown @ The Painted Lady are up on flickr.
[My refusal to leave my comfortable seat to get up close for a better picture of the man resulted in some of the crappiest photos of my career but I've included them for your entertainment pleasure anyway.]

While the rest of the world continues to sing the praises of the very good, but kinda dull Fleet Foxes, I've been continually ingesting the sounds of The Wilderness of Manitoba, a band that follows that same line of harmony laden folk, but with a lot more imagination and depth, which allows me to listen to their album often, in its entirety, on repeat, which admittedly is something I can't do with everybody's favourite foxes. Still, due to circumstances beyond my control, I had not yet seen them live, and although the opportunity to see them play venues such as The Horseshoe, The Garrison and Glenn Gould Theatre have all eluded me, it seemed somewhat fitting that my introduction to their live selves should be at a place as warm and intimate as this one. Besides the songs from their excellent EP, they showcased a few newer songs as well, some of which were layered in a little bit more atmosphere than before, reminding me a bit of a band that I liked a few years ago called A Northern Chorus. The vibe suited them well and filled me with great expectations on their follow up release, whenever that may be. The song Evening, which is a cover of a song by lead vocalist Will Whitwham's mother, is a beautifully touching tribute to someone who was obviously very instrumental to creating the 60's folk sound that pervades throughout the album and I just loved seeing them perform it. They ended the set with a Timber Timbre cover, that I personally thought outshone the original, making it sound like something that they could have written themselves. There's a reason why they're one of the most loved bands in the city right now, and I'm glad that I got the chance to finally see them live.

Myspace: The Wilderness of Manitoba
Download: Bluebirds mp3
Photos: The Wilderness of Manitoba @ The Painted Lady on flickr.
[Still seated. Pictures still relatively crappy.]

My evening ended with the first really impressive discovery of the festival, Australia's Dead Letter Chorus. The band was mega-excited about their first trip to Canada, and they were clearly determined to impress the socks off of every person that they performed for, and at this showcase they did so swimmingly. A terrific blend of alt-country and power pop, they performed a set of songs that were instantly likable, and perfectly tailored for the live stage. The hooks are strong, the melodies likewise, the musicianship delightful, but the greatest selling point is the vocals of Cameron Potts and Gabrielle Huber, who both encapsulate all of the throaty well worn gruffness and slightly saccharine sweetness that their songs require. They also followed all of the rules of the perfect setlist by starting strong with an upbeat number, simmering down midway so as not to exhaust us all before closing the show with their most anthemic number which no doubt finally made converts of any in attendance who may have been a little bit more difficult to please, although I doubt that there were too many that felt that way. If you missed this show or any of their other sets during CMW, than I highly recommend heading down to The Horseshoe on Tuesday night (March 16th) where they will be playing their CD release show before heading on a cross Canada tour with Two Hours Traffic. It's free.

Myspace: Dead Letter Chorus
Download: Down In The Valley mp3
Photos: My shots of Dead Letter Chorus @ The Painted Lady are on flickr.
[No longer seated and standing much closer to the stage. Pics significantly less crappy.]

David Ford w/Lindi Ortega @ The Drake Underground

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

In theory, David Ford should be ten times more popular than he actually is. This is usually the type of gushing I use to emphasize how much I enjoy an artist's music, while also expressing befuddlement over the tastes of the general public. But this time, even from a strictly A&R perspective, I really mean it. He's young, charismatic and has a great voice, while his songs are straight forward, hooky and (seemingly) tailor made for mainstream radio. However, judging by the passion he puts into his songs, as well as his blatant (yet still amicable) honesty, perhaps his position just below the radar is more of a personal choice, which is just fine with me since it meant that an intimate group of about 70 people or so were able to watch him give another spirited performance, this time in the underground solitude of The Drake.

His opening act for the evening was Lindi Ortega, who I recognized as soon as I saw her standing at the merch table. I remember seeing Lindi several years ago at The Rivoli opening for Danny Michel and at the time, I found her music to be warm and enjoyable, although perhaps not anything new. Seeing her this time, I noticed that her voice has improved quite a bit, not that it wasn't good before, but definitely showcasing something a little bit more individual than I remember it. Her style fluctuated from standard, girl-with-guitar folkier stuff, to more classic country sounding material; the latter of which really suited her Parton-esque vocals. I particularly enjoyed a song called Dying of Another Broken Heart, which really highlighted the contrast between her sweet, yet strong vocals and some darker lyricism, although she claimed that the song is satirical. She worked hard to keep the show as conversational as possible, which was a challenge considering the docile nature of the Tuesday night crowd, but I thought that she succeeded admirably.

Photos: My grainy pics of Lindi Ortega @ The Drake are on flickr
Myspace: Lindi Ortega

As I've mentioned before, what makes David Ford such a compelling live act is his ability to take the layered / looping effect that seems to be the singer-songwriter schtick of the moment, and use it in such a way that really utilizes the device to its full potential, miraculously creating the sounds of a full band onstage. He opened the evening with Nothing At All, a jarring and intense number that consists of mainly just vocals and percussion, which set the tone for the evening in the sense that, although the venue was about as intimate as it gets, he made it clear that he would be alternating between the fierce and the sweet. The next song, Panic, allowed him to show off his abilities with the aforementioned looping effect, incorporating at least five or six different instruments into the act. To see it is truly awe-inspiring. Given the man's talent, he would be more than forgiven for giving us a banter-less performance since the magnitude of the musicianship alone would be satisfying enough. The fact that he is a terrific storyteller and just an all-around funny person just adds to the whole experience. Apparently, he was having a pretty interesting day, since he had lost his wallet earlier and interestingly it wasn't the money or any personal photos he was particularly worried about, but it was his favourite panda picture that he was hoping would miraculously return to him at some point. (According to his twitter page, it did.) The rest of the set continued to be interspersed with stories about writing love songs to Margaret Thatcher (She's Not the One), the entertainment value that comes from watching the schlock that is Fox News (Requiem), as well as a couple of very tender moments with songs like Stephen and Song For The Road. He continued to cater nicely to the reserved Canadian crowd by mentioning the Olympics often, and throwing in several mild digs to the United States, which went nicely with the closing number of the main set, State Of The Union. If you've ever seen him play that song live, than you already know that it's one of the most amazing things you'll ever see, and worth the price of admission alone. Afterward he went backstage to thunderous applause, which was followed by one of the most awkward encore moments ever.

Because it was such a small crowd, one could only expect the clapping and cheering to last for a certain amount of time, which is exactly what happened. But once it died, we were all confronted with wondering whether we're being rude and we should keep it up, or maybe he went to the loo and he'll more than likely be back in a couple of seconds. Surely, either the lights would come on and the music would start, or he would just simply return to the stage. But neither seemed to be happening. Eventually, Ford did return, but he took the mic and sat down with the audience to discuss the uncomfortable tradition that is the encore. With his English wit in tact, the moment could have come off as egotistical in other hands, but he only made it charming as another slice of funny banter. He explained how he has been trying to stray away from the conventional encore since he finds contrived the whole act of standing backstage doing nothing while waiting for that moment where the audience's clapping starts to die down and panic ensues before the band decides, "Oh, we'd better get back out there before they leave!" He'd rather just make the last song count and avoid the whole tradition altogether (which actually makes total sense to me.) He told us that he didn't really have an encore planned and State Of The Union was meant to be his last song, but when the lights weren't coming on, he figured he'd better get back out there and do something. Of course, this meant that he actually did have to play something, and after the audience shouted out several requests, he settled on Cheer Up from his debut album. It was accompanied by some "la la la's" from the audience, and actually ended up being a stellar end to the evening.

Photos: My grainy pics of David Ford @ The Drake are up on flickr
Myspace: David Ford
Videos: Several of David Ford's videos are on youtube

Canadian Music Fest: The Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Well, it was a long and arduous process, but I think that I finally figured out my schedule for this year's Canadian Music Fest, which is taking place this week starting on Wednesday March 10th and running through to Sunday March 14th. My personal difficulty does not stem from a lack of quality material, but more from a desire to experience something a little bit different than usual. As much as possible, I want to use this year's festival as an opportunity to see artists that I've never seen before, and preferably ones that don't come around all that often. This means that I'll be deliberately bypassing several of my favourites in order to throw a little adventure into my life. An advantage of this year's fest is the fact that there are a few earlier in-store performances taking place, which means that there really is no need to stay up late into the night if I start a little bit earlier, which suits me just fine. So what are my plans for the week? Let's see...

Wednesday March 10th

For Wednesday, I'm planning on starting off at 6:30pm at Criminal Records to see an in-store performance by The Besnard Lakes. They're one of only two acts that I'm planning on seeing that I've already seen before, but it has been quite a while, and it'll be interesting to see how their larger than life sound is going to come across in a tiny little record store. Of course, seeing them is going to depend on how late my work day goes.

As far as the evening goes, I'm pretty sure most people will be heading on down to Lee's Palace for The Bonfire Ball (Revue) featuring Zeus, Jason Collett and Bahamas. Myself, I'm opting for the closer to home Painted Lady on Ossington to check out a slightly more subdued affair. On the lineup is Fergus Brown, a quirky singer songwriter from Australia, our own Wilderness of Manitoba, who are one of my favourite bands whom I'm ashamed to say that I haven't gotten around to seeing yet and another Aussie act called Dead Letter Chorus, who specialize in a slightly punky, alt-country sound. Whether or not I stick around for the orchestral sounds of locals Here Comes The Cavalry and the Dylan-esque sounds of Montreal's Colin Moore will totally depend on how tired I am, as well as the state of my ADD.

Thursday March 11th

As usual, my Thursday night is going to start a little bit later, but I think that I'm going to hoof it on down to Sneaky Dee's to catch The Elwins at 10pm. They're another local band who's pop tones make me happy even though I've never gotten around to actually seeing them. At this point, I'm still debating what to do next. Parlovr is a Montreal band that I've heard amazing things about, and they're scheduled to perform at Sneaks at midnight. I'd love to see them but this means sticking around for the middle act, Everything All The Time, who are a very talented band, but not really my cup of meat. This is why I'm leaning towards heading to The Supermarket instead to see a band from the U.K. called The Black Swan Effect. They're signed to Real World Records which is a label that I've always admired, even though these guys are a little more Muse than Youssou N'Dour. I'm intrigued. The good thing is that if I check them out, than I can stick around and FINALLY see We Are The Take, who are an excellent local band that I have promised to see about 8934 times before but, as of yet, have still never actually seen. Maybe this will be the night. Finally, depending on how tired I am, I'll zip on over to Silver Dollar to see The Ghost Is Dancing, another band that I love, but have never seen.

Friday March 12th

This will be my busiest day, as I start it off at Criminal Records to hear the soulful sounds of Aidan Knight at 5pm, the amazing Dan Mangan (pictured above) at 6pm and Hollerado at 7pm. I'll likely use the following hour to grab a bite before popping into Rancho Relaxo to check out a band called Gypsophilia from Halifax who specialize in a sound that is an inspired mixture of everything. From there, I'm going to go to the Silver Dollar to see London's Gemma Ray, who's a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, but a pleasure nonetheless. From there I tread on over to El Mocambo to see the very Parlovr that I'm likely ducking out on the night before. I will then make a Handsome Furs fan very happy by leaving the venue to see Boats back at Rancho Relaxo. I'll most likely be out of steam after that, but if not, then I'll attempt to check out the stadium sounds of Corduroy at Sneaky Dee's. But probably not.

[UPDATE 3/13/2010: Ooops. The instore today was actually The Balconies followed by Ghostkeeper (from Calgary) The above mentioned instore is actually tomorrow (March 14th). My bad.]

Saturday March 13th

My Saturday begins with a non-CMF event that will likely be one of the major musical events of the year, when I check out Joanna Newsom at The Phoenix. It's an early show, with the doors opening at 6pm. Depending on when that ends, I'll likely head west on College Street to Rancho Relaxo to witness the shoegazey vibes of Montreal's Kill The Lights at 9pm to be followed by a similarly atmospheric band from New England called The Brother Kite. From there I'm going to break my "never seen 'em before" rule to attend the Optical Sounds showcase at the Silver Dollar to check out the ever reliable Hoa Hoa's, to be followed by some sonic distortion by The Black Feelings and some more psychedelic rock with Action Makes, who I still feel a little guilty about ducking out on last time.

Sunday March 14th

I can pretty much guarantee that Saturday is going to end it for me, but let's pretend that I'm Superman and say that if I do go out on Sunday, it'll be to The Horseshoe to see a jam band called Woods to be followed by some more sonic noodling in the form of New Jersey's Real Estate. Although, as I mentioned: pretty sure that I'm just going to be staying in on Sunday.

And there is my plan for this year's Canadian Music Fest. As we all know, plans are meant to be changed, and it'll be interesting to see how closely I stick to the itinerary, but if you'd like to make your own plans, than check out the official CMF schedule to see what choices are of particular thrill to you. See you around!

Language-Arts and The Pinecones @ The Garrison

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Over the days leading up to this No Shame event at The Garrison featuring, amongst others, Vancouver's Language-Arts, I've been happily immersing myself in their sophomore album, Where Were You In The Wild?. In this internet age, originality is a concept becoming more and more (understandably) difficult to come by, and the challenge is whether or not an artist can present some new ideas while still remaining melodious and enjoyable. The constant rotation of this album proved to me that they are well trained when it comes to doing so in the studio, and I'll admit that I was fairly confident that they would be able to translate such to the live stage as well.

I arrived a couple of songs into the evening's second act, The Pinecones. Originally known as Brent Randall and his Pinecones, this time around the band is promoting the release of an album called SAGE!, which is the first truly collaborative effort by all four members of the band. This means that besides Randall's own compositions, Brian O’Reilly, Joel Goguen and Paul Linklater all had a share in the songwriting process, creating a collection of songs that still boast a similar tribute to a 60's British Invasion styled sound, but with an earthier, and perhaps less polished feel. The lack of studio sheen works in the material's favour however, creating an album that is probably their most satisfying so far. I came in as they had just started a song called Tea Tonight, which is one of the Randall penned compositions. Just as I was admiring the jaunty, Kinks-iness of that particular number, the band confirmed my suspicions of inspiration by segueing into a brilliant cover of The Village Green Preservation Society, which, of course, is one of The Kinks' most respected numbers. A broken guitar string meant that the band had to deviate slightly from the original setlist while an audience member (and fellow musician) worked on replacing it. This led to some more piano based material, as well as an opportunity for some of the others to take over lead vocals. Afterward, the evening progressed with one catchy hit after another, including the fuzzed out delicacy Jenny Fur, where they sounded more than a little bit like Howe and West's Tomorrow, who were a psychedelic two-hit wonder in the mid 60's. The full band composition ...Ardmore...Jenny was another highlight, with O’Reilly's Eight Miles High-ish guitar work being particularly stunning. A couple more covers were included in their set, such as Del Shannon's I Go To Pieces and set closer Dead End Street, which was another Kinks classic that they shredded brilliantly.

Photos: My pictures of The Pinecones @ The Garrison are up on flickr.
Myspace: The Pinecones

As I suspected, Language-Arts proved themselves to be just as stunning live as they are on record, with their four members creating an orchestral sound that is remarkably full. On album, the band is composed of only two members, Kristin Cudmore who sings and plays classical guitar, piano and banjo on the album, while Gregor Phillips handles all drums and percussion. The live version hires on a couple of other people to handle the keys and upright bass/cello, and I was immediately impressed with the professionalism of the entire outfit. The band set up and tuned quickly, enabling them to begin their set quicker than usual. They opened with one of my favourite songs on the album called Cavity, its jazzy bass-line designed to hypnotically suck you in and although many patrons were rather chatty on this particular evening, I found it hard not to remain fixated on what was taking place on stage. Cudmore's vocals are high and pixie-ish in a way that is slightly reminiscent of Joanna Newsom or Suzanne Vega, but perhaps more accessible. The music itself is one of constant wonder in the sense that there are certain songs where you think that you've got the groove figured out and then they throw in a tempo change, or similar progressive tangent that takes your head journey in a totally different direction. Lighthouse is one example of this, where an almost Spanish guitar break seemingly comes out of nowhere, taking the song to a whole new level. White Socks in Birkenstocks is another example of this style of accomplished musical composition, where the classical tag proves itself appropriate both in its instrumental sense of musical adventure, and in the vocal style that Cudmore almost raps her wordy lyrics in a way that distracts from how cumbersome they would be if left in other hands. By the time they ended their set with the incredibly wordy Tuck It In, I was left in awe, not only of Cudmore's ability to remember all of those lyrics, but also in the way that the band has managed to carve a niche that is all their own, and present it on a live stage in a way that never alienates, but endears. I'll certainly be seeing them again.

Photos: My pictures of Language-Arts @ The Garrison are up on flickr.
Myspace: Language-Arts
Download: Where Were You In The Wild? mp3

Language-Arts will be playing a CMW Showcase on March 11th at Sneaky Dee's.

Other stuff:
I came home late last night to the sad news that Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous has died. My introduction to his music came a little later than some. I was first introduced to him in the early days of my blogging when I saw him live at The Mod Club, thanks to the fact that I had won tickets to his show from fellow blogger Frank Yang, whom I did not know at the time. Needless to say, that performance impacted me greatly, and although I was mildly aware of his history with substance abuse, as well as his general disdain for performing live, I can't say that any of those things were apparent that night. He seemed to be in high spirits, and I even remember him smiling frequently for the cameras and coming across as a genuinely affable fellow. Since then, all of his albums have been on regular rotation for me, most notably his 2006 release Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain, which contained a song that always made me smile called Don't Take My Sunshine Away. The song sounds even more poignant as I listen to it this morning. His musical contributions will certainly be missed. [Myspace: Sparklehorse]

Young Doctors In Love - 5 Golden Greats EP

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:35:00 +0000

When I'm in the mood for writing about something, yet lacking the time for anything too elaborate, I can be very thankful that bands like Toronto's Young Doctors In Love exist. I received their 5 Golden Greats EP in my email inbox about 30 minutes ago, started listening to it about 5 minutes after that, finished it about 16.6 minutes after that and realized that their instantly catchy brand of accessible pop music would be easy to sell in only a few brief words. There is nothing challenging or particularly surprising about their music, but the hooks are prevalent throughout as they accomplish exactly what a good hook is supposed to, that is, get lodged into the brain with enough force so as to make a person desirous for more. Every song on this delightful disc has 'hit single' written all over it, yet there's enough variety from song to song that it doesn't come across as a band lacking in ideas. Eloise And Her Sister Marta has a bit of a new wave bend to it, Oh Caroline has some surprising harmonica that adds something slightly unique to its 70's dance pop vibe. The album then proceeds to make some mild forays into ska and disco before ending with an acoustic ballad called Don't Turn Away that suggests that this EP is only meant to be a teaser for something a little bit more involved later on. While the album may not have you brimming over with enthusiasm, it's still a very catchy and enjoyable first release, and it'll be interesting to see in what ways the band will attempt to expand as they record more material in the future.

Young Doctors In Love will be celebrating the release of the new EP on March 27th at Rancho Relaxo. Charms and The Phonemes will also be joining them for the show, which will be $5 at the door.

Myspace: Young Doctors In Love

Other stuff:
The Fratellis' Jon Lawler is involved with a new project called Codeine Velvet Club who's self-titled debut is set to be released April 6th on Dangerbird Records. They will be playing a few dates stateside opening for Metric, but there aren't any Canadian dates as of yet. The majestic sounding first single Hollywood is available as a free download. [Myspace: Codeine Velvet Club]

Xavier Rudd has a released a new video for a song called Time To Smile which will be featured on his upcoming album Koonyum Sun. Reminds me more than a little bit of Paul Simon's Graceland period. He's playing Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 20th and 21st. [Myspace: Xavier Rudd]

The Shins' James Mercer and Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) will be releasing a joint project known as Broken Bells later this month. They're interviewed in the latest issue of Exclaim! [Myspace: Broken Bells]

Clothes Make the Man are featured on the latest episode, erm, I mean webisode, of Minilogues. [Myspace: Clothes Make The Man]

Megan Bonnell (formerly of Reily) has just released a video on Southern Souls for a beautiful new song called Apple Trees. [Myspace: Megan Bonnell]

Lastly, I'm still piecing together my personal schedule for next week's Canadian Music Fest and hopefully I'll have my final picks posted early next week. See you then. [Myspace: Canadian Music Fest]

Kurt Vile @ Criminal Records (In-Store Performance)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:06:00 +0000

As of today, my most listened to album of 2010 has got to be Kurt Vile's Childish Prodigy, which is just about perfect as far as I'm concerned. There is something very seductive about its lo-fi melding of trippy 70's sounds and in your face songwriting that I find myself returning to it a couple of times a week. What's interesting is that, while expressing my enthusiasm toward seeing him perform in the intimate confines of a local record shop, a friend recently asked me to describe his music, and do you think I could do it? Of course not. And although my fumbling for the right words frustrated me a bit at the time, I suppose it's a testament to the originality of his material that I was unable to hurl a tag at him so easily. There's definitely some elements of psychedelia in there, but Roky Erickson, Mr. Vile is not. He's a little bit freaky and a little bit folky, but when the term 'freak-folk' calls to mind artists like Devendra Banhart, it hardly seems like that is an accurate tag either, although enjoying both of those artists may be a step in the right direction. Until I think of something better, I'm just going to go with fuzzed-out, lo-fi, Philadephian psychedelifolk, with a hint of classic rock throw in for good measure. And as lame as my particular description may be, the performance on that blustery winter eve was anything but.

When I heard his performances on CBC's Q earlier in the day, it seemed as if he was going to have some accompaniment on guitar and percussion with him for the show, but as it turned out, this was a solo performance and although he seemed slightly awkward on his own, that mild timidity still boasted an assured-ness that was quite endearing. There were a few issues with getting the sound just right, and although I don't think they ever really did, the slight hiss actually added to the overall effect, creating an atmospheric buzz that was well suited with Vile's fuzzed out tones. He opened with Overnite Religion and immediately followed that up with Dead Alive, both songs sounding even warmer and more haunting than on the album, largely as a result of his deliberately muffled vocals. One of the biggest surprises to me was the fact that he was a dang good guitarist, taking the opportunity to showcase his finger picking abilities several times throughout the show. His banter was laid back and brief, yet even simple questions like "What's the Opera House like?" was met with great enthusiasm. He played many of the great songs from the album, but unfortunately he didn't get to perform my favourite song Freak Train, likely due to the song's use of heavy percussion, of which he had none. Still, it was a short set that was still surprisingly heavy on material, and as he neared the end, an audience member loudly requested Blackberry Song, which had Vile respond by saying something like, "um, yah, well..." before he lunged into something entirely different. His sense of humour shone through though as he ended off with "that song for that dude" which, of course, was his way of introducing the aforementioned request. Sadly I wasn't going to be able to make it out to the Opera House for the actual show that evening, but I felt more than satisfied with what I did see, and there's no doubt that I'll likely get the opportunity to catch a full set next time around.

Photos: My pictures of Kurt Vile @ Criminal Records are on flickr
Myspace: Kurt Vile
Download: Overnite Religion mp3
Download: Hunchback mp3

Other stuff:
Born Ruffians are set to release their sophomore album entitled Say It on June 1st on Paper Bag Records. The first single, Soul Brother, is available as a free download. [Myspace: Born Ruffians]

The Weakerthans will be releasing a brand new CD/DVD set entitled Live at The Burton Cummings Theatre on March 23rd. They'll be celebrating this release with an all ages show at Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 26th with their special guest Bahamas whose Pink Strat is up for a Juno in the Best Roots Album category. All ticket information is here. [Myspace: The Weakerthans, Bahamas]

Yah, so OK Go are officially the greatest music video makers of all time. Watch their latest video for This Too Shall Pass for proof. [Myspace: OK Go]

Two Way Monologues has ten questions with British Colombia's We Are The City. They are playing the Rancho Relaxo tonight for $5. [Myspace: We Are The City]

BBC Radio 6 Music News reports that Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's Dark Night Of The Soul album is going to FINALLY get an official release sometime this year. Because last year's leak of the album made it an unofficial release, I was not able to include it on my year end best of, although in my opinion it would've definitely made it into my top 3. Maybe this qualifies it to be included on this year's list. Hmmmm.... [Myspace: Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse]

'Sup in March: Ten Picks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:08:00 +0000

After a couple of months of relatively casual concert going action, it looks like the month of March is going to be a busy one for me, concert-wise. If you couple that with the fact that life is also going to be quite busy life-wise, than you're going to be looking at a fairly exhausted guy come months end. For the most part however, it'll be worth it, since the month promises not to leave me wanting in terms of high quality shows, so here are a few picks if you're looking for something to do.

For more detailed listings, as usual, go check out Stillepost, Zoilus and Jen's Semi-Weekly List (of shows under $10)

1. Joanna Newsom / Kevin Barker @ The Phoenix
(Saturday March 13th; Cost: $28)

I've been listening to Joanna Newsom's (pictured above) latest 3-disc opus Have One On Me over and over and over again this week, which is amazing considering the fact that it is certainly what one could classify as a daunting listen. Her voice may be a tad normalized this time around (no doubt making some people quite happy) but this is still an example of primo Newsom as it showcases her usual penchant for adventure, both lyrically and instrumentally. There are so many layers to peel back throughout this recording that I hope I'll be able to have it fully absorbed in time for the show, which is sure to be a classic performance. [Myspaces: Joanna Newsom, Kevin Barker]

2. Thrush Hermit @ Lee's Palace
(Fri. Mar 26th - Sun. Mar 28th; Cost: $17.50)

The reunion of the boys in Thrush Hermit admittedly brought me mixed feelings since my tastes have changed a little bit over the last 15 years, and I'm fairly indifferent to the solo version of Joel Plaskett. Both this fact, and the other fact that I have not listened to the Thrush for several years had me wondering if the old tunes would still do it for me in my advanced age. Well, I recently dusted off both the Smart Bomb EP and Sweet Homewrecker and I hafta say that both of those albums held up exceptionally well, proving to me that Plaskett's former band truly was a different beast altogether. Two sold out nights at Lee's, with undoubtedly a third one on the way confirms that they've still got the ability to generate some great enthusiasm. [Myspace: Thrush Hermit]

3. Canadian Music Fest @ Various Venues
(Wed. Mar 10th - Sun. Mar 14th; Cost: $63 for the 5-day pass)

To be honest, I'm still perusing the schedule for this one, trying to use the opportunity to focus on bands that I wouldn't normally get to see, but making a decision on what to do ain't coming as easily as it has in the past. I'll keep you posted on some picks in relation to this as we get closer to the date. [Myspace: Canadian Music Fest]

4. Language-Arts/ The Pinecones / Allie Hughes @ The Garrison
(Friday March 5th; Cost: $6)

Vancouver's Language-Arts are an amazing band that I only recently was introduced to, but within seconds of listening to their debut LP Where Were You In The Wild, I knew that this band was going to be right up my alley. Their airy and organic tones, in theory, should really serve as a contrast to Kristen Cudmore's pixie-ish vocals, but the pairing is one of pure magic as the compositions themselves are abstract works of art that defy characterization by showcasing something new with every listen. This is mesmerizing stuff that I'm curious to see how it will translate to the live stage. [Myspaces: Language-Arts, The Pinecones, Allie Hughes]

5. David Ford @ The Drake
(Tuesday March 9th; Cost: $11.50)

At first listen, David Ford doesn't seem like much, as his vocals are certainly not all that unfamiliar and the songs themselves at first seem like your typical pop fare. But as you let his sounds linger a bit, it becomes apparent that there is some pretty impressive Tom Waits-ian lyricism taking place, not to mention the articulate musicianship that refuses to limit itself within the confines of the 3 or 4 minute pop song. The looping machine is being used by many these days, but I guarantee that you have never seen it used to the impressive extent that it is used by this multi-instrumentalist, to the point that you can actually hear the sound of a full stadium band emanating from that stage, even though Ford may be the only person up there. If you haven't seen him live yet and you appreciate pure musicianship, than you owe it to yourself to be at The Drake on March 9th. [Myspace: David Ford]

6. Scout Niblett / Picastro @ The Horseshoe
(Wednesday March 17th; Cost: $11.50)

Scout Niblett is the perfect antidote for those who are suffering from "lack of rawness" syndrome. Too many artists start out with an intensely raw sound, only to trade it in for delicacy later on. (I'm looking at you Chan Marchall). Scout Niblett, on the other hand, is about as raw as it gets, with a sound that encapsulates all that grunge attempted to create, without actually be grungy at all. In fact, Scout probably has more in common with P.J. Harvey than Kurt Cobain, but if you're in the mood for some a little bit harsher than usual, her show comes highly recommended. [Myspaces: Scout Niblett, Picastro]

7. Spoon / Deerhunter / The Strange Boys @ Sound Academy
(Monday March 29th; Cost: $32.50)

There was a lot of excitement generated by this double bill, featuring the consistently catchy indie rock of Spoon and the atmospheric, yet still mildly hooky, ambient-punk of Deerhunter. While I'd imagine that a certain majority of the crowd will be there for Britt Daniel's band, I really hope that many will show up early enough to catch Bradford Cox's band, since they really are awesome live. I, however, won't be there in time for either since I think I've lost my ability to not be grumpy when I'm at the Sound Academy. Yep, don't think I'm in the mood for that. [Myspaces: Spoon, Deerhunter, The Strange Boys]

8. Justin Townes Earle / Joe Pug @ The Horseshoe
(Monday March 1st; Cost: $15)

When your father is a country legend and you're named after another country legend, I think it's safe to say that certain expectations are going to be pretty dang high. Well, if there was one thing proven by last year's Midnight At The Movies, it was that Justin is not one for undermining the aforementioned expectations. He may have definite similarities to his father Steve and his mentor Townes, but Justin Townes Earle is very much an individual songwriter and performer that is all his own, and from what I've heard, he puts on a pretty impressive live show too. [Myspaces: Justin Townes Earle, Joe Pug]

9. Rodrigo y Gabriela @ The Phoenix
(Friday March 5th, Cost: $29.50)

I was recently thinking that I simply don't cover enough jazz tinged, acoustic guitar, instrumental duos from Mexico on this here blog, so I figured Rodrigo y Gabriela's show at The Phoenix would be an excellent opportunity to do so. Seriously though, Rodrigo Sánchez' natural abilities on lead guitar coupled with Gabriela Quintero's accompaniment on rhythm guitar is one of those great musical wonders of the world that I don't get the chance to see too often these days. [Myspace: Rodrigo y Gabriela]

10. The Besnard Lakes @ The Horseshoe
(Thursday March 11th; Cost: $16)

I would've assumed that The Besnard Lakes were big enough to fill a larger capacity venue than The Horseshoe by now, but I guess that the collective longing for neo-progressive orchestral flourishing isn't as intense as I thought. Perhaps the release of their upcoming new disc entitled The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night will be epic enough to change that, In the meantime, smaller venues seem to be the way to go for this trippy outfit, and if The Horseshoe is still a little too large scale for you, than perhaps you can catch their instore performance the day before (March 10th) at Criminal Records at 6:30pm. [Myspace: The Besnard Lakes]

Honorable Mentions:
Steam Whistle Unsigned #13 takes place at the Steam Whistle Brewing Club featuring three of the city's finest in Make Your Exit, Everything All The Time and Dinosaur Bones (Mar. 5th / $5); TWM 58 looks pretty interesting, boasting a lineup including BA Johnston, Racoon Wedding and Andrew Vincent (Mar. 6th / $7); Brooklyn's Vivian Girls are playing The Wrongbar (Mar. 10th, $14); my friends Maned Young Lions are at The Horseshoe (Mar. 15th / FREE); and finally, one of my favourite local alt-country acts Elvyn is celebrating the release of their new album The Decline at The Silver Dollar with The Champion Heartache opening for them. That show takes place on March 26th (Cost: TBA)

Where I'll Be:
I've already got my tickets for Joanne Newsom, David Ford and Thrush Hermit, and I'm pretty positive I'll be going to see Language-Arts as well. Canadian Music Fest is pretty much a sure thing whether I'm officially accredited or not. I'll also be checking out as many instores as I can, including Zeus at Soundscapes on March 6th, as well as whatever other ones I can squeeze into my schedule. Gonna be a busy one peoples, so we'll see how I fare.

El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees @ The Mod Club

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:43:00 +0000

Currently, my time five favourite female vocalists of the moment are as follows:

1. Joanna Newsom
2. Sarah Assbring
3. Victoria Bergsman
4. Basia Bulat
5. Traceyanne Campbell

The fact that I had the opportunity to see numbers two and three on the same night was one that had me feeling an immeasurable amount of elation, that was only magnified by the fact that I just saw number four last week and I'll be seeing my personal number one in a few short weeks at the Phoenix. (And yes I know that there are a lot of people that just don't get it when it comes to Ms. Newsom, but your collective disdain only draws me closer to her :))

Originally, I had read that Victoria Bergsman's Taken By Trees would be headlining the evening, which admittedly seemed a bit odd to me since her style has always struck me as significantly more subdued than Sarah Assbring's El Perro Del Mar, although both of them tend to tread on the more melancholic side of the fence. Interestingly it seemed that either my original sources were wrong, or the people behind the scenes simply changed their mind, since Taken By Trees was the one who kicked off the night. I quite enjoyed her 2007 release Open Field, although it's mellow vibe is not one I'm going to be listening to while driving late at night. Prior to the show, I still had yet to listen to her Bjorn Yttling-produced latest release East of Eden. The show had me regretting this, and as I'm listening to it now, I further regret not hopping aboard even sooner. It's an excellent album that is steeped in world sounds and beats that definitely gives it a different atmosphere than the last one. The show opened with a video presentation of her recent sojourn to Pakistan where she recorded the new album, and the influence of her surroundings was instantly apparent from the tribal sounds that emanated from the stage. Also emanating from the stage was the unmistakable scent of incense, which contributed greatly to the overall tone of the evening. She comes across as a bit of a shy personality in the sense that she didn't seem interested in hogging the spotlight or having any undue attention focused on her, even asking the lights to be turned down (which made for some unfortunately dark pictures.) Still, I was really blown away by the performance, with her modesty being one of great endearment. The songs that I did recognize from the first album, like Too Young, Lost and Found and the beautiful Only Yesterday, were also enhanced by the rhythm section and the new sounds that she recently discovered, creating versions of those songs that I personally feel surpassed even the originals. Unfortunately she didn't play her outstanding cover of Sweet Child O' Mine (not that I was honestly expecting her to), but she did play her cover of Animal Collective's My Girls, which was one of the evening's highlights.

Photos: My (shadowy) pictures of Taken By Trees @ The Mod Club are up on flickr
Myspace: Taken By Trees
Download: Anna mp3

Based on the comments made by people I know who had seen El Perro Del Mar in concert before, I was expecting to see a similarly laid back performance from her this evening. However as soon as the opening notes from Let Me In wafted through the air, it became obvious by the way that she danced onto the stage that this was not going to be the case. Sarah Assbring presented herself with great confidence that exuded an elegance that was a combination of late 60's Warhol-esque runway model and a mid 80's breakthrough performance on Top Of The Pops. Her latest album, Love Is Not Pop, showcases a slightly different sound for her as it presents her downtrodden lyricism with more streamlined near-pop sounds, that would not be out of place next to This Mortal Coil or Cocteau Twins. This almost dance infused new direction may have been exactly what was needed to nudge Ms. Assbring out of her shell, which resulted in a show that was wholly engaging. Almost everything was perfect about her performance. Her angular dance moves suited the almost gothic tones of her music, while her voice has never sounded more controlled, which is amazing when you consider that she already had some pretty amazing vocal control to start with. If there was one complaint, it was the fact that the sound system had the bass turned up way too high, to the point that some of those booming sounds were drowning out her beautiful vocals and the intricate melodies that they helped to complement. (The same problem was evident during Taken By Trees set as well.) That minor concern aside though, this was a memorable show for sure, with one of the best moments being her unexpected cover of The xx's Shelter, which sounded so convincing that one could be forgiven for assuming that this was one of her own compositions (which admittedly I did for the first minute or so as my brain was trying to piece together the familiarity of the song coupled with the fact that I was pretty sure her voice wasn't the one that I usually heard accompanying it. Then the chorus hit and I was all like "ahhh yah, now I know what this is!") By the time her 10 or 11 song set was finished, it was obvious by the applause, as well as the conversations that I had with others after the show, that this was her most impressive set to date. It was also nice to meet her briefly after the show, when I picked up a copy of Love Is Not Pop on vinyl, which she graciously signed for me, making it a special addition to my personal record collection.

Photos: My pics of El Perro Del Mar are now up on flickr.
Myspace: El Perro Del Mar
Download: Change Of Heart mp3

Basia Bulat @ Soundscapes (In-Store Performance)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Falling under the category of "sure thing" is the irresistible talents of Basia Bulat, a person that I've seen perform several times now, yet who still manages to leave me in awe every time. In promotion of her latest release entitled Heart Of My Own she's been playing a number of shows lately at slightly larger venues, but prior to this in-store at Soundscapes I would have to say that my favourite time seeing her was when she played another in-store at Criminal Records a couple of years ago. I just find that her brand of humble acoustic folk is well suited for the intimate setting of a local record store, and it doesn't get much more intimate than the slight surroundings of Soundscapes.

As anticipated, the crowds didn't take very long to build and, as usual, I was happy that I had the sense to get there a little bit earlier. It ended up being a packed house that certainly wasn't as uncomfortably full as I had seen the place before, but it was still a pretty healthy crowd indeed. There were a couple of other factors that contributed to the intimate vibe of the evening. First of all, we all sat on the floor, which is cozy and stuff yet once again the dreaded foot falling asleep situation that haunted me only a mere month ago at the An Horse in-store show reared its ugly head again (although it should be noted that this was way more comfortable than that one was.) Secondly, when Basia took her place she requested that only her autoharp be plugged in as she felt that audio enhancement wasn't really necessary for such a small venue. A gutsy move for sure, but one that paid off nicely as the whole set felt that it was only a fireplace away from being as warm and personal a show as it could be. She focused mainly on newer material, which I'll admit I haven't really taken the time to listen to yet, but the personal unfamiliarity to the songs had no effect on my overall enjoyment. If anything, hearing her voice in this natural setting only made me twice as eager to check it out as soon as possible. The unmic'd situation really drove home just how powerful her voice actually is, as there didn't seem to be a single person who remained unaffected by her entrancing vibrato. The highlight of the set for me was her closing number which was an acapella rendition of an old gospel number that she sang sans instrument, only using her handclaps and footstomps as percussion. It made for a humorous moment when her foot stomping made a small amount of merchandise fall to the floor, which had her remark "Neil Young is going to kill me", which was greeted by great laughter from all in attendance. It must've been one of his books or CD's that fell. Still, it's that unforced human quality that endears so many people to her both as an artist and as a person. As she heads stateside to continue touring the new material, she'll no doubt continue to make new fans and friends along the way, and it'll be interesting to watch her popularity continue to rise, as it no doubt will.

Photos: My pictures of Basia Bulat @ Soundscapes are on flickr.
Myspace: Basia Bulat
Download: Gold Rush mp3
Video: Highlights from the performance are at Now Magazine
Video: Basia Bulat was also interviewed in the basement at Soundscapes the day of the show on AuxTV.

Other stuff:

You've probably heard about this already, but Broken Social Scene have returned with an epic new song called World Sick which can be downloaded for free on their website. (You'll need to give them your email address). The song is awesome, as expected, and it will be featured on their upcoming album which well be called Forgiveness Rock Record, as is scheduled to be out in May. [Myspace: Broken Social Scene]

Daniel Hales and the Frost Heaves have a new video out for the song Shepherd of Lost Shopping Carts. [Myspace: Daniel Hales and the Frost Heaves]

Dutch indie rock band Bettie Serveert is back with an excellent new album called Pharmacy of Love and a track entitled Deny All is available for free download. [Myspace: Bettie Serveert]

[Via Chart Attack] It looks like Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon are going to be recording a "trio" album with Yoko Ono which, I can't believe I'm saying this, sounds like it could be pretty interesting. [Myspaces: Sonic Youth; Yoko Ono]

And lastly, it seems that this is the season for in-store events, with some pretty interesting ones coming up. Zeus will be playing Soundscapes on March 6th at 6pm. Kurt Vile is going to be at Criminal Records on February 26th at 6:30pm. And during CMW on March 13th, Criminal Records has got an awesome three-fer featuring Aidan Knight (5pm), Dan Mangan (6pm) and Hollerado (7pm). Yay free music!

Wavelength 500: Night Three feat. The Bicycles, Laura Barrett, Magic Cheezies and Young Mother

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

While it seems like everybody is looking for an excuse to celebrate something these days, it's quite refreshing to attend an event that celebrates something that is truly worth celebrating. Ten years of the Toronto Wavelength Music Series is no small feat, and one could even say that it's directly responsible for making the local music scene the thriving beast that it is today. Having exposed the talents of acts like Junior Boys, Cuff The Duke, Meligrove Band and even Feist and Broken Social Scene at a time when other promoters were not yet giving them the time of day, really emphasizes the fact that the Wavelength crew: a) really love music and b) really know what they're doing and with a combo like that, how could they possibly not become the most respected music series that our city has to offer?

They celebrated this accomplishment with 5 nights of shows showcasing 5 acts per night playing at different venues throughout the city. I didn't get to participate as much as I would have liked to, unfortunately only being in a position to attend one of the shows, but the one that I did see at Sneaky Dee's on night three was by far the one that I was most enthused about, and although I didn't stay right to the end (sorry From Fiction), I felt completely fulfilled with the acts that I did catch.

Kicking things off was a psychedelic wonder known as Young Mother. When they hit the stage, they looked incredibly familiar to me, particularly the lead singer, although I wasn't really sure why. Upon flipping through my personal show going archives, I realized that the lead's name is Jesse James Laderoute, and I had actually seen an earlier incarnation of this band known as The Incidentals all the way back in 2007 when they played TWM6 at Rancho Relaxo. I can't say that I remembered too much about them, but my review described them as having an east coast pop sound, which means that they are now clearly nothing like they were back then. Laderoute began by saying that they were only going to be playing one song this evening, and that seemingly jokey statement was followed by a cacophonous jumble of horn blasts, TV static, thrashing drums, smashing keys and all around angry mind numbing noise. For some reason the whole display was bringing a smile to my face, and while I could completely understand the confused faces that surrounded me, I have to say that my curiosity was piqued and by about the four minute mark I was completely invested in seeing where this magical mystery tour was going to take me. It was shortly after that particular thought entered my head, that a melodious vibe was starting to peek through the storm, and the band embarked on a long, seemingly improvised, free form structure. The fact that this presentation was later joined by a few vocals (which incidentally reminded me quite a bit of Peter Murphy), leads me to believe that it was probably not as "off the cuff" as I initially had thought. A pretty cool psych-rock number was in full force and making more than a few heads bob, before it concluded much the same way as it began with a loud apocalyptic noisy tripster freakout. After that, Laderoute confirmed that his earlier statement proclaiming a one song set was not a joke, as he thanked the crowd and started packing up his things. Admittedly not for everybody, but I enjoyed it quite a bit myself.

Photos: My pics of Young Mother @ Sneaky Dee's are on flickr
Myspace: Young Mother

Up next were Magic Cheezies, a band that I knew virtually nothing about, although I did briefly sample them on myspace earlier in the day. When I saw that the band members referred to themselves as Tiffany, Amber and Thiessen, I have to admit that I assumed that this was an all girl punk band that reveled in the riot grrrl sounds of the mid 90's. Turns out that I was partially right. The only girl in the band was lead vocalist / guitarist Heather Curley, who was once in the band DD/MM/YY, but the sound was still very much steeped in that underground feminist punk movement, made (semi) popular by the likes of Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney. This was a sound that so dominated my headphones a mere decade ago and I have to admit that a part of me appreciated being taken back. The fact that the band had to stop partway through their first song due to some shoddy sound issues may have dampened their spirits somewhat, but it certainly didn't affect the punk rock assault of the show itself. They played fast fast fast, and no sooner did one song finish before the next one began, creating a vibe that did not allow for very much between song reflection. I suppose that the argument could be made that there wasn't a heck of a lot of variety from one song to the next but of course that never stopped The Ramones, and The Magic Cheezies punk rock aesthetic was one that dug deep into the roots of original punk rock music, as opposed to the watered down MTV version that has heavily invaded modern rock radio in recent years. The show was loud and furious, and for what it lacked in sheen, it made up for in spirit and ultimately, that's what really matters, in my opinion.

Photos: My pics of The Magic Cheezies @ Sneaky Dee's are up on flickr
Myspace: The Magic Cheezies

After watching a couple of acts that I was largely unfamiliar with, I was looking forward to venturing into some more familiar territory with the evening's next act, Laura Barrett. What's funny is that, after once again scrolling through my mental Rolodex of previous shows, I came to realize that I wasn't as familiar with Laura Barrett as I thought I was. Her name had been circulating around the blogs and magazines that I read regularly so often that I had actually convinced myself that I had seen her before. The truth is though, that this was actually the first time, but thankfully she made such an impression on me that I'm pretty sure that it won't be the last. This tiny spectacle-sporter had made a name for herself by playing a unique little instrument called the kalimba, which is also known as the African thumb piano. While setting up before her performance, she explained the instrument to a few slightly sauced From Fiction fans standing near the front of the stage. This was enough to have them shouting "KALIMBA!" several times throughout the course of the show, making her and her bandmates laugh out loud on more than one occasion. Usually loud and unruly audience members irritate me, but in this case, they weren't hurting anybody and it didn't seem to bother the people on stage, so we all just remained amused by the whole thing. Barrett and her band were undoubtedly still on a high from having opened a few shows for Magnetic Fields and the practice had apparently done them good as they played a set that showcased just the right mix of professionalism and looseness. She played the first number solo which was a sparse little number that unfortunately did nothing to quiet down the chatty Kathy's at the bar, but still managed to mesmerize those of us who were closer to the stage and paying attention. The rest of her repertoire was fleshed out by companions playing violin, glockenspiel, banjo and flute. There was something very warm and endearing about the whole set, as the band appeared to be having a great time together that often ventured into some warm-hearted silliness. This was all brought to a head when Laura played the closing song, a little ditty called Robot Ponies. For this one she got her banjo / glock sideman Ajay Mehra to act out the song's lyrics, which came across as a toned down version of Whose Line Is It Anyway, with hilarious results.

Photos: My shots of Laura Barrett @ Sneaky Dee's are on flickr
Myspace: Laura Barrett

Covering this reunion show for Wavelength staples The Bicycles marks the first time that I ever attended both a band's final show and their reunion show and covered it on my blog. That would make me feel older if not for the fact that the two were separated by a mere 11 months. Whatever you want to call it, it was truly great to see these guys perform again as they are one of the most solid pop bands in the city. This performance marked the return of bass player Randy Lee, who has been spending his time with the instrumental band Hylozoists, not to mention playing the violin for Laura Barrett. It was clear that the chemistry was still there in full force however, as the band played a set of jumpy, quirky songs from both of their official releases: The Good The Bad and the Cuddly and Oh No It's Love. When they opened with the former's kick off cut B-B-Bicycles, it didn't take long for the crowd to start jumping around and having a good time. It was very clear that there was actually a number in attendance that were not familiar with the sounds of the Bikes, but as a true testament to the pure accessibility of their music, and that pure sixties pop sound in general, the crowd was scarfing it down with great enthusiasm. There was a mild kerfuffle early on in their set involving a couple of girls standing near the front of the stage that thankfully didn't last long enough to really get out of hand, but it was greeted by warnings from the band themselves that fighting only leads to break-ups, and nobody wants to see that happen. Was this perhaps a nod to the ongoing future of The Bicycles and their performances together? After the show on Friday night, I truly hope so.

The entire show was videotaped and is posted on NorthbyEastWest's youtube channel!

Photos: My pictures of The Bicycles @ Sneaky Dee's are on flickr
Myspace: The Bicycles

Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos (Deluxe Edition)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

There are few things that elicit as much excitement in the world of music snobbery than the emergence of another cult hero. This is exactly what happened in the late 80's when bands like R.E.M., The Replacements and Teenage Fanclub started singing the praises of an ironically named band called Big Star, who emerged onto the scene in the early 70's to great critical praise, but unfortunate mainstream obscurity. Since the aforementioned name dropping by those highly notable college rock staples, the band's stock has continued to rise, being covered by the likes of Wilco and Elliott Smith, as well as having their music featured in TV (That 70's Show) and film (Adventureland). Interestingly, the Alex Chilton / Chris Bell tag team has been referred to by some as a sort Lennon / McCartney duo, with Chilton being the advanced songwriter and Bell being relegated to the roll of less substantial rocking sidekick. This is a sentiment that I also foolishly accepted until I first listened to I Am The Cosmos, a compilation that was released in 1992 of some of the songs that Chris Bell had been working on prior to his untimely death from a car accident in 1978. That outstanding collection of songs awakened in me the realization that Bell was every bit as substantial a songwriter as Chilton and he undoubtedly had more input into the band's output than is often credited to him (especially on Radio City, their 2nd album that was released after he had left the band).

While Rhino has continued to fuel the continual interest in Big Star with last year's release of a 98-song career retroactive boxset entitled Keep An Eye To The Sky, they also play their part in keeping Bell on the radar by releasing a new double disc deluxe edition of I Am The Cosmos which comes complete with a slightly re-sequenced version of the album on disc one, and a collection of (mostly) unreleased material on disc two. The songs themselves hold up remarkably well, especially some of the mellower heartbreaking numbers. Songs like You and Your Sister and Look Up, for example, exhibit a vulnerability that is immaculately produced, yet presented in a way that sounds genuine and unforced. The acoustic version of the former number on disc two sounds surprisingly clean, which adds an almost haunting quality to the song for some reason, although I find it difficult to articulate exactly why that is. Perhaps it's just the imagery of him performing the song in a small room surrounded my friends and family while completely unaware of the impact that his music would eventually have on so many people. I'm not usually one for spending a lot of time with bonus tracks and such, but I actually find myself enjoying the rarities on disc two just as much as the actual album. Some more great discoveries have been unearthed on this disc, such as Stay With Me, a country duet with his friend Keith Sykes that has an impeccable melody and some pretty impressive guitar work. In My Darkest Hour is sung by Nancy Bryan, and provides an articulate insight into the depression that Bell has been known to deal with during the last few years of his life. The reflective instrumental piece that ends the album (Clacton Rag) is beautiful as it manages to tie the album together in a way that makes it feel like one full cohesive piece which is remarkable considering that, as mentioned earlier, this really is simply a culling together of scattered parts and pieces.

While it is a tragedy that Chris Bell and his Big Star comrades were unable to get the recognition that they deserved until much too late, the impact of albums such as this one are undoubtedly going to continue to grow even more substantial as the music on this double disc set continues to speak to future generations. There is no doubt that this is one emotionally charged listening experience, and perhaps it's not the type of thing that you're going to put on when you're in need of some cheering up, but it's very rewarding to see that there was still much to discover in the legacy of this musical legend.

Preview: All of the tracks on I Am The Cosmos at Rhino Records.
Myspace: Chris Bell
Myspace: Big Star

Other stuff:

Sloan has just released a new compilation of B-sides and rarities entitled B-Sides Win which can now be purchased at their website. [Myspace: Sloan]

Danny Michel has just released his first solo live album called Live in Winnipeg which can also be purchased at his website. [Myspace: Danny Michel]

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips is interviewed at Crawdaddy. [Myspace: The Flaming Lips]

The White Stripes are releasing a limited edtion CD/DVD boxset chronicling their 2007 tour of the Canadian countryside on March 16th. It will be entitled The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights and a video clip from the set of Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground is being featured on Spinner.ca [Myspace: The White Stripes]

Kat Burns of Forest City Lovers debuted a new song called Oh Come Away/Sea To Land on the Grocery List Countdown show on Verge FM. The show will air February 15th, but there's a video of the song posted on Forest City Lovers blog. [Myspace: Forest City Lovers]

AfterpartY @ The Horseshoe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:05:00 +0000

There are many bands that work hard to be as weird as possible so as to establish a sound that is new, vital and fresh but sometimes, it's simply working with the original template of pop music construction that enables a band to stand out from the rest. This is an area where local retro post-punkers AfterpartY shine and they proved that well when they played The Horseshoe last week as part of Dave Bookman's weekly free Nu Music Nite Showcase.

I first saw the band at Sneaky Dee's about a year ago, and I thought that they really stood out amongst the other bands that night in the sense that they displayed a little too much pop polish to fit in with the local music scene, but they also weren't mainstream enough to be the latest teeny bopper fashion statement of MTV either. This put them in sort of a unique position where I found it hard to figure out exactly where they fit in. But as I've listened to their music more and more over the year that followed I came to realize that that is exactly what makes them so good. Sure, there are many bands that borrow and copy from the late 70's/early 80's pop punk aesthetic, but in most cases it's obvious that their trying hard to emulate that sound. AfterpartY on the other hand, come across as a band that just HAPPENS to sound like that without really having any preconceived desires of actually doing so. That's difficult to accomplish, especially when you watch some of their interviews and realize that were very much influenced by bands like Blondie and Talking Heads. Of course, another aspect of their appeal is the fact that they put on a great live show.

Lead vocalist Kristina B is everything a frontperson should be, exuding a mix of rock 'n roll attitude and scintillating presence that I found it impossible to take my eyes off of her while she performed. I thought that the band had really stepped up the energy level also, making the songs sound more energetic and raw. This was no doubt aided by the fact that they had expanded to a six piece for this show, recruiting a couple more members on bass and guitar, filling out their sound nicely and making it come across as a little bit more anthemic. Whether or not the band has permanently expanded to a six piece remains to be seen, since guitarist Juan Carlos indicated to me that the lineup was likely to become a permanent thing, whereas Kristina mentioned that they were just trying it out for now, so we'll see. Either way, I think that the band is finally beginning to carve out their niche and with a full length album poised and ready for release in the near future, it will be interesting to see how the indie loving public responds to their infectious melodies.

Lonely Vagabond also had some brief comments to make on the show.

Photos: My shots of AfterpartY @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: AfterpartY

Other stuff:

The High Dials have just released a new video for the song Killer of Dragons. [Myspace: The High Dials]

Basia Bulat is playing a free instore at Soundscapes next Tuesday February 16th at 7pm [Myspace: Basia Bulat]

Make Your Exit is featured on the latest episode of Minilogues. They're playing with Dinosaur Bones and Everything All The Time at the Steam Whistle Club on March 5th. [Myspace: Make Your Exit, Dinosaur Bones, Everything All The Time]

Local photographer and music blogger Pete Nema has just started up an exciting new music site that is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already done so. It's called Sticky Magazine and it's already looking like it's going to be an excellent source for all of your musical needs.

Laurent Bourque - What We Talk About

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:17:00 +0000

So I've been sitting on Laurent Bourque's impressive debut CD for a few months now, trying to come up with the right way to describe it without making it sound like it's a bit on the dull side. You could slide it into the singer/songwriter genre, but that makes it sound boring. You could say it's a rock album, but that conjures up images of bar bands and classic rock, and that's not doing it justice either. And it's certainly hooky enough to be called a pop album, but the sounds are a tad too organic for it to be lumped in with a genre that is usually synonymous with overproduction. However, upon repeat listenings it's become obvious to me that to avoid certain tags would be equally unjust, as this Montreal (by way of Ottawa) musician incorporated all of these styles into his work in a way that is affective and enjoyable. In much the same way that a slew of overused ingredients can still mix together to create a pretty impressive omelet, Bourque has discovered a way to create a listening experience that may not be altogether new, but is rather inspiring nevertheless.

The mellower moments are handled by tracks like At Your Door and Calm Down, which both feature some beautiful harmonies and distinguished vocals that are hushed and effectively understated. The rock quotient is filled by songs like Always Alright which is a head bobbing rocker that enlists vocal and lap steel help from Amos The Transparent's Daniel Hay and Jonathan Chandler, as well as some inspired vocals by Zoe Speed. And finally there's some catchy pop music found in the likes of All You Beautiful Girls and Fall In And Out, as well as a notably Cure-ish guitar vibe in Coming Up For Air. The album ends with what is probably my favourite track, a song called Living In a Movie that makes good use of moderate production and some atmospheric instrumentation to create an ending that lingers on long after the album is finished.

What We Talk About is a reminder that oftentimes the genres and styles that we think we have grown weary of are usually the fault of the artists using them, and not of the genres themselves. Laurent Bourque has used these styles to create a collection of music that is endearing upon first listen, and continues to captivate more fully with each subsequent play.

Myspace: Laurent Bourque
Video: All You Beautiful Girls (live @ Canteen) on vimeo

Other stuff:

There's a lot of buzz surrounding local band Sandman Viper Command and I've just started listening to their latest release entitled Everybody See This the other morning and it's pretty dang good. You've got a few opportunities to see them this month during their free Tuesday night residency at C'est What. They play tomorrow night, Feb. 9th with The Darcy's, next week Feb 16th with Clothes Make The Man and Feb. 23rd with some "special guests". It's a good opportunity to see what everyone is talking about. They've also been interviewed at Blare Magazine. [Myspace: Sandman Viper Command]

In the late 90's, while everybody else was getting depressed, I was listening to a lot sunshiny happytime pop music, and one of the bands that made me smile was California's The Orange Peels. Well, after spending some time away from them, they released a peppy little album at the tail end of last year called 2020. To prove that they're still riding the wave of creativity, they've just released a new single called The Real You, which you can download here. They do know how to do upbeat, that's for sure! [Myspace: The Orange Peels]

For those of you that have missed out on grabbing some tickets to see The National at Massey Hall on Tuesday June 8th, it looks like they've added a second show for Wednesday June 9th. Tickets range from $32.50 to $52.50 and go on sale on Friday. [Myspace: The National]

Peter Gabriel finally has a new album coming out here in Canada on Feb. 15th entitled Scratch My Back. It's rare that I'd get excited about a covers album, but I have an almost unnatural obsession with PG, and his choice of covers has me more than a little bit curious also. He covers the likes of Magnetic Fields, David Bowie, Arcade Fire, Regina Spektor and Radiohead, and he's offering his cover of Bon Iver's Flume for free on his website. (It does require you to enter your email) [Myspace: Peter Gabriel]

Oh No Forest Fires Last Show @ The Horseshoe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

with Arietta, Songs From A Room and The Darcy's

I have to admit that I wasn't prepared to bid adieu to the boys in Oh No Forest Fires so early on in their career. The announcement of their breakup was a shock to say the least, considering the fact that, in my mind, they were just getting warmed up. Rajiv released a statement just prior to the show which indicated that there were no hard feelings and they even recorded a new EP to mark the occasion, which makes theirs possibly the most amicable breakup I've ever witnessed. Judging by the performance (and sentimentality's) of that Saturday night, the band was in the mood to celebrate all that they've accomplished over the last couple of years, and rightly so. Admirably, all of the money from the show went to Haiti relief.

ONFF brought a few of their hard rockin' friends along for the ride, and the first band on the bill was The Darcy's. I last saw them just under a year ago, which is just far enough in my past that I can remember liking them, while not really remembering exactly what they sound like. Upon witnessing their show this time around, that last statement kind of surprises me a bit, considering that they seem to dabble in all things progressive and post-rock-y, which is a style that I usually remember well. The band played a set full of atmospheric changes and mild electronic dabbling while still maintaining a fairly organic, rootsy sound. It's rare to compare a band to both Spiritualized and Neil Young in the same breath, but it's that combination of guitar laden hooks and substantial experimentation that enables them to pull off such a complicated sound so convincingly.

Photos: My shots of The Darcy's @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: The Darcy's
Download: House Built Around Your Voice @ drop.io

Upping the rock ante to a determined high was Songs From A Room, whom I had seen several times way back in 2007, but haven't been able to catch in the two years to follow. At the close of their first song, it became clear to me that this band was twice the band that I had witnessed back then. They were tighter, raunchier, louder, and did I mention tighter? Although their sound had a definite classic rock feel to it, they managed to steer clear of all of the bar band cheese that is often associated with that style and kept things sounding surprisingly vital. I don't know how Braydon Jones even has a voice box left, as he managed to tear at it continuously throughout the course of the set, culminating in an AC/DC cover that, if left in lesser hands, would've come across as cliched and desperate, but in the punk rock hands of SFAR, sounded nothing short of triumphant.

Photos: My shots of Songs From A Room @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: Songs From A Room

Arietta was the third band of the night, and while I could understand the logic behind placing them on such a bill, I have to admit that they didn't thrill me as much as the other acts did. This was certainly not due to their stage demeanor, since they displayed all of the energy, drive and professional showmanship required to whip a crowd into a frenzy, which, by and large, they successfully did. I think for me personally, it was just the fact that the material didn't come across for me as strong as I had remembered it. To be honest, I haven't really spent a lot of time listening to them since I last reviewed them, so logically the benefits that come with familiarity presented a bit of an obstacle. But I can't say that their performance really did much to make me want to change that either. I will say that the crowd was clearly more into it than I was though, and one person even turned to me after the show and remarked on how awesome they were so, y'know, 'different strokes for different folks' and all of that. (Editor's Note: I've listened to the album again since the show and it's actually very good, so I must've just been tired or out of it or something. We rabid concert goers can be a bit of a fickle sort.)

Photos: My pics of Arietta @ the Horseshoe are up on flickr
Myspace: Arietta

As the clock struck approximately midnight-thirty, the moment that we had all been waiting for with a mixture of anticipation and sadness had arrived. All gussied up in a dapper tuxedo type of jacket sort of thing, drummer Adam Nimmo was the first to take the stage, as he started pounding out the opening strains to an amazing new instrumental number called Real Talk For Manhunter, Know Your Talk, Know Your Prey, which I would call the first really great musical piece I've heard this year. As the rest of the band headed onstage in similarly semi-formal attire, it was easy to see that this was going to be a special night. Like true professionals, the band did not let the slight hint of melancholy in the air get in the way of pounding out their usual display of powerhouse riffs, calculated instrumentation and spasmodic whirlwind-y stage acrobatics as they blasted through songs both old and new. They were working up such a sweat that of course it didn't take long for them to lose the jackets and continue on unhindered, and Rajiv Thavanathan continued to make his presence known by bounding across the stage with reckless abandon. Fellow "guitards" Brock Swanek and Matt Delbuono were also in the mood to celebrate, making the entire band's overall performance amongst the warmest I've ever seen, and I felt privileged to be there. When it came time for the encore, Nimmo walked onstage first so that he could take the mic and wax full-heartedly about his appreciation for his bandmates and all that they mean to him. It was a sapfest of Conan-like proportions but the crowd (myself included) wouldn't have wanted it any other way. It was followed by enthusiastic performances of Swing And A Misdemeanor and the always hilarious Footloose cover, which had approximately 30 people joining the band for an onstage party, the sight of which I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

With the amount of great bands in and around the Toronto area, it would be easy and understandable that some bands would get lost in the crowd. ONFF deserve respect by avoiding that by consistently making their presence known, both in terms of their musicianship and their playful personality. They're going to be missed for sure, but I, for one, feel privileged to have witnessed their intensity firsthand over the last couple of years.

Photos: My pics of Oh No Forest Fires @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: Oh No Forest Fires
Download: Their entire new album Wants To Try Something is available for download here.

In Leiu Of A Lack Of Monthly 'Sup In's....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:00:00 +0000

Soooooo.......

I am currently without computer due to the fact that it died the other day and killed many many important things along the way. (Not least of which was my ENTIRE digital music library (120+gb's ..... AND ITS BACKUPS!!!!). I knew that I should have seen it coming but hey, procrastination and all of that. But anyway, I've tossed a toonie in the direction of my local internet cafe guy so that I could quickly give you this brief explanation for my recent lack of online persona over the last week, as well as the one that will follow for the week ahead. I've gotta be quick though; I've only got 20 minutes :) A very adept friend of mine is currently working on my computer's resurrection, but we're both rather busy chaps and getting together to do this thing is a slow process. But I'm fairly confident that I'll be back and invading all three of your computer screens again shortly.

In the meantime....

I attended (with mixed feelings) the very last show of our very own Oh No Forest Fires a couple of weeks ago, and thankfully, it looks like the pics that I took are one of the only things that my evil file wrecking machine didn't destroy. So yahoo! It was a surprisingly celebratory show, and I can't wait to tell you about it.

Obviously I didn't get around to firing up a 'Sup in February post for you this time around, which makes it two months in a row now, but I guarantee that I'll have one up for March and it's gonna be wild! As far as where I'll be this month, I'm planning on checking out my old friends in AfterpartY for free at The Horseshoe tomorrow night (Feb. 2nd). (OK. I've never officially met them, but our paths have crossed via this blog and all its associates that I feel like I know them, sort of.) I'm hoping to pop in to Criminal Records on Friday (Feb. 5th) to see the ever charismatic Hawksley Workman perform a free instore. I'm also pumped about going to The Mod Club to see a couple of my favourite female Swedes, El Perro Del Mar and Victoria Bergsman's altar ego: Taken By Trees on Feb. 21st. Should be amaaaaazing! And, the undisputed event of the month comes in the form of the Wavelength 500, taking place from February 10th to 14th. I'll be attending one of the lesser popular days which is the Friday, because it's the only one featuring a lineup wherein I thoroughly enjoy all five of the acts! But for all of the details. go to the aforementioned official site.

I'll see you online hopefully early next week with more reviews, insights and some pretty exciting contests, and in real life, maybe sooner than that.

An Horse @ Criminal Records (In Store Performance)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:03:00 +0000

There really is no excuse for me to not have seen Aussie duo An Horse prior to last night's in store appearance at Criminal Records on Queen Street. While it's true that, under normal circumstances, bands from that far away don't come around all that often, these catchy little popsters have been to Toronto five times in the last year, playing venues big and small and creating a buzz at every one of those performances. Heck, even if I was a hermit who never left the house, I could've caught An Horse when they appeared on David Letterman's show earlier last year. The fact is that, for whatever reason, I just hadn't gotten around to seeing them live, even though I thought that their debut album Rearrange Beds was a pretty solid and enjoyable listen.

When my wife and I arrived at the show almost half an hour early, the crowds were already starting to build, and the possibility of visibility was already leaning towards slim to none. However, Singing Lamb and Criminal Records employee Melody informed me that I needn't worry since we were all going to be asked to sit down anyways, which sounded great at first, until the time came to actually sit down, and we realized that this just may be the most uncomfortable thing ever, as my feet fell into a deep coma resulting in a painful pins and needles type situation, the like of which I had never experienced before. ("I hate when my feet fall asleep during the day because that means that they're going to be up all night." Arf! Arf! Groan!) Still, the mild pain was not enough to detract from the fact that Kate Cooper and Damon Cox are very endearing performers, both in the way they play their tunes and in the way they connect with the audience. I'd imagine that the setting of a record store just lends itself to a more intimate vibe, but I thought that their storytelling techniques were just as enthralling as the performance of the songs themselves. Cooper delighted us with stories about an unfortunate cockroach infestation at the independent record store that she and Cox worked at prior to becoming a band, and they even ended the set with Kate taking a picture of the waving audience so that she could show her mom what it is that she does. They only played about five songs, focusing mainly on the ones that wouldn't sound like "rubbish" in such a stripped down format. One such song was Postcards, where Cooper's accent sounded even thicker and more spine-tingling than it does in the recorded version, which is hard to believe is even possible. Even though the crowd shouted out many requests, the duo chose to end with Horizons, which they assured us would sound better than any of the requests in this particular setting and I have to say that it sounded great. The songs may be simple and unassuming, but they're presented with a grand fragility that is impossible not to be seduced by. Although I've already missed my opportunity to see them on a proper stage (five times now), I'll definitely have to take note of the next time they come around and mark the old calendar so I don't make the mistake of missing them again.

Photos: My shots of An Horse @ Criminal Records are on flickr
Myspace: An Horse
Download: Postcards mp3

Other stuff:
Jay Sparrow is featured on the latest episode of minilogues. He's playing Rancho Relaxo on Friday February 5th. [Myspace: Jay Sparrow]

The Wilderness of Manitoba has an In Turns Session featured over at Spin Earth TV. They're playing The Garrison tonight. [Myspace: Wilderness of Manitoba]

Latest Nevado Records signee Leif Vollebekk re-released his debut album Inland earlier this week (January 19th) with new artwork including a booklet and song lyrics. This new version is available on CD and 12" vinyl, as well as an iTunes exclusive version that includes a live recording of Don't Go To Klasvik and a previously unreleased track Te og Kaffi. He will be celebrating this release on Friday night (Jan. 22nd) at The Cameron House. [Myspace: Leif Vollebekk]

And lastly, although it's been mentioned at both Chromewaves and For The Records already, it's worth mentioning here that Brian Jonestown Massacre have announced a date to play The Phoenix on June 2nd. Besides the obvious originators of psychedelia back in the sixties, BJM are the band that all other psych rockers measure themselves against, and rightly so. Their latest album Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? was scheduled for release on Jan. 1st, but it has now been pushed back to Feb. 23rd. My love of BJM and all things psych-like has been well documented on this here blog, but to be honest, for every album they release that is perfection, they release ones that are simply dreadful. This is why I'll have to hear the album first, and read up on reports on the current tour to see if I'll be attending this one. The band's reputation for, shall we say, unconventional behaviour, has me proceeding with extra caution, but if reports remain generally positive, then I should be making my way out to this one. The fact that Joel Gion has returned to the fold as of 2004, and Matt Hollywood is back as a full time member as of last year certainly adds to my enthusiasm a little bit. [Myspace: Brian Jonestown Massacre]

Krupke @ Rancho Relaxo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:58:00 +0000

It's quite rare that I enthuse about a band after only hearing a few songs, but there's something about Krupke that intrigues me. When I was a child, I used to take all of my favourite drinks and throw them into a blender expecting to invent a drink that couldn't help but be a veritable taste explosion. However, I think most children have tried this experiment at one time or another and we all know what happens: vomiting and the occasional trip to the doctor. Usually these sort of blends simply do not work. However, Krupke's bizarre combo of art rock, progressive jazz, show tunes, post-punk, the avant-garde and good old fashioned whimsy may be a shock to the system, but once the brain has adjusted, it becomes a musical celebration. I declared them to be one of the bands to watch for 2010, and it was only a matter of time before I availed myself to the opportunity to watch them assault a live stage. Thankfully, the (relatively) early end time of The Cribs show at The Phoenix last Friday night gave me the chance to do just that.

I arrived at Rancho just as they were setting up onstage, and the crowd was actually quite large, which means that their reputation is already starting to circulate somewhat. I suppose that it could also be that people like cheap drinks on a Friday night, but I'd like to believe that it's a little bit of both. The band wasted no time getting things going as they immediately blasted out a ramshackle blend of intense jams that included some harsh sounding violin playing and some highly disjointed spazzy xylophoning that sounds like it shouldn't work, but it does. What is amazing about the sounds that emanate forth from Krupke is the fact that at times it may sound as if two separate bands are playing music at the same time with a wall inbetween them, but if you listen closely it becomes apparent that every single note, bweep and poot is actually carefully placed in such a way that a melody eventually forms in the brain, to the point that many people there (including the non-alcohol inspired patrons, like myself) were actually dancing to what would seem un-danceable under different circumstances. These are intensely complex arrangements indeed and one cannot help but be impressed. The fact that the lyrics, as well as Mike Walter's quirky delivery, remains relatively lighthearted, allows for humour to flow freely amidst the complexities. You also get a lot for your entertainment buck at a Krupke show. Some things worked well, such as a good old fashioned pinata smashing, ring-led by their new drummer Kate Pittman, while other things, not so much, such as a hyperactive microphone situation that accidentally clocked an audience member in the head. Still, overall the audience seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely (including the mic in the head guy) and I wouldn't be surprised if the band continues to draw new fans with each performance. The possible directions that the band can take from here are endless, and it'll be great to see what type of journey they will continue to take their followers on before releasing a full length album, hopefully sometime this year.

Photos: My shots of Krupke @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr.
Myspace: Krupke

Other stuff:
Last week I mentioned that Dinosaur Bones are taking advance orders for their new 7-inch vinyl single of Royalty backed with Ice Hotels over at the Hi Scores Recording Library website. Well, they've just released a pretty cool video for the song Ice Hotels as well, which can be seen here. [Myspace: Dinosaur Bones]

AfterpartY were recently interviewed on The Indie Rock Invasion Show and the video footage is up on their facebook page. AfterpartY play The Horseshoe on February 2nd. [Myspace: AfterpartY]

There's a few exciting announcements involving the amazing Optical Sounds label. First of all, Action Makes have recently been added to the Optical Sounds roster. They are playing The Silver Dollar on Friday January 22nd. Secondly, The Hoa Hoa's have released a video for the song Wasting Time from the album Pop/Drone/Pedals that is delightfully (and expectedly) trippy. And thirdly, The Disraelis will be playing The Silver Dollar on Saturday January 23rd. [Myspaces: Action Makes, The Hoa Hoa's, The Disraelis]

And finally, since I don't know if I'll be posting anything else this week, it should be noted that this Saturday January 23rd marks the very last show for locals Oh No Forest Fires. They are one of the most interesting and entertaining bands in the city and I'm distraught to see it all end, but I'm sure that we'll see the various members popping up in other bands around town. Still, if you're interested in checking this charismatic bunch out one last time, then the show is at The Horseshoe and entry is a measly $7. Also on the bill are The Darcy's, Songs From A Room and Arietta. This is going to be one hard rockin' night! [Myspaces: The Darcy's, Songs From A Room, Arietta, Oh No Forest Fires]