I think you can see the lead singer's head if you squint really hard. First of all, I apologize for probably the single-handed worst picture ever taken for a concert review. It's awful, and I apologize profusely. I was sick Wednesday night, and while I shouldn't have gone out in public infecting people with my germs, I really wanted to check out MS MR , the new "it" band of the moment, or whatever you want to call that. Perhaps it was the sickness, and my general mood of discomfort going into the sweaty [...]
With their latest album, Golden Eagle , based in part around the concept of Native American culture at the turn of the 19th Century and also featuring a song entitled "Chris Brown," Minneapolis grindcore trio Ambassador Gun certainly had my attention. The band's current tour, which sees them playing the illustrious Maryland Deathfest on May 24, made its way to Toronto and despite the fact that I was as exhausted as Don Draper in this past Sunday's freakout episode of Mad Men , I was intrigued enough to motivate myself to get on over [...]
Style and space are what emerge as distinctive after seeing Voices of Black and Gold Panda perform at the Black Cat. The two are very different - Voices of Black being a diverse quartet in terms of instruments and ethnicity, Gold Panda being a solitary Brit presiding over a high-tech musical machine. However, both prove themselves stylistically distinct and confident in the stage space - a winning combination that obviously pleased the sold-out crowd.Voices of Black took the stage first, bringing with them American flag bandanas, fedoras, cowbells, recorders, keyboards, saxophones and drums to [...]
![Album Review: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – Howl [2013, Bloodshot Records]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4954783_lg.jpg)
How can you fail to love an album that sums up all of human romantic complexity in one sentence? "We howl for love." We do. We date, we wingman, we're set up by friends, we wait by the phone, we agonize over text messages, we break up, we give out our number, we start all over again. Love is complex. Romance is complex. Relationships are complex. JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound boils it down into one universal sentiment and one heart-rending howl. We howl for love. Brooks might be the only crooner on earth who [...]
I live by the Chicago Reader , a free weekly publication that gives recommendations for events and music for the week. Every Monday I get an email itinerary from the Reader telling me what to do for the week, and I do it. Two and a half years into living in Chicago, it has become my personal goal to preempt the Reader - I want to be so far into the music world that I know who's coming and who's worth seeing before the Reader even tells me (but being the self-doubting person that I am, I of course [...]
Oxford band Foal 's show at the Kool Haus on Saturday was as expected, a wild and energetic affair that left the packed crowd abuzzed and rocking. In town to promote their third album - Holy Fire , Foal's tight set had many highlights but lets just take a look at one for now. Yannis Philippakis is the lead vocalist of Foals. Ask any girl who is a fan of the band and they will instantly swoon at the mention of this bearded man, who always seem to be on the verge of chaos during a show. He [...]
As I'm sure the members of Foxygen can attest, SXSW can be a pretty crazy, hectic time. If a band impresses there, it can be a career making performance, but luckily the fact that it's such a chaotic time can also work to a band's advantage if they put on a less than stellar show. And so, despite some negative reviews (including Ricky's for this very site) and reports ( and video ) of singer Sam France having a mini-breakdown onstage, I was not going to give up on these guys. Their latest album is an impressive enough amalgam of all [...]
Channeling their inner Rick Astley, Swedish band Club 8 's new disco-tinged-whooa-oh-ohh track I'm Not Gonna Grow Old is basically what happens when you take the signature Labrador twee song and inject it with a hint of the 802s. It's simply, a delightful pop tune that is perfect for your summer soundtrack. I guess we should of seen this coming from Club 8, as the duo's remix of Amanda Mair's House was one of my favorite songs of last year. The song is off the group's 8th album - Above the City which [...]
In the documentary The Unbelievers , recently screened at the Hot Docs festival, scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss argue for the end of religion as it stands in the way of scientific progress. I would argue, however, that religion should still have a place in our world, if only so people can have the context to appreciate the satirical pseudo-religious approach taken by Ghost , a band not only fronted by a perverse anti-pope, but one who also recently released their own line of Ghost themed sex toys . Yes, the band known for their Satanically [...]
I am not quite sure how I feel about the band name Fossil Collective . Whenever I see that name, I think it's bands comprising of members from Animal Collective and Beach Fossils. However, this band is not that. Instead, Fossil Collective is a band from Leed's featuring David Fendick and Jonny Hooker. They write pleasant songs. The best way I can describe the song Let it Go is that it sounds like something Zach Braff would have listened to and then immediately write a scene for in that new movie of his. You know, the one [...]
Youngblood Hawke 's maxim for their show at Lincoln Hall Tuesday night might very well have been "Git 'er done." In and out in forty minutes - but what a shining forty minutes it was. The five piece indie rock outfit out of LA came bursting onto the stage looking like a snapshot from the 19702s. While most bands right now go for the grandma sweaters and ironic mustaches (there was in fact one band member sporting both - he apparently did not get the memo) the rest of the band went for the hippie vibe - long locks on [...]
It's too bad that only a handful of people were on hand at the Drake last Thursday to witness the Toronto debut of Canadian-via-England singer Rachel Zaffira . Her debut record - The Deserters is a mesmerizing and dreamy album that should at least make the Polaris long list for this coming year. Surprisingly enough, it has slipped under most people's radar (including mine) but after a recent stint on Q, it would appear that Rachel Zeffira won't be off the radar for too much longer. For a women with a soprano's voice, it [...]
It's too bad that only a handful of people were on hand at the Drake last Thursday to witness the Toronto debut of Canadian-via-England singer Rachel Zaffira . Her debut record - The Deserters is a mesmerizing and dreamy album that should at least make the Polaris long list for this coming year. Surprisingly enough, it has slipped under most people's radar (including mine) but after a recent stint on Q, it would appear that Rachel Zeffira won't be off the radar for too much longer. For a women with a soprano's voice, it [...]
![Hot Docs Review: The Unbelievers [2013, Gus Holwerda]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4937378_lg.jpg)
In an introduction to his film at the premiere screening, director Gus Holwerda mentioned that in making this film, he was hoping to create a rock doc about science and that's a fairly accurate description of what this documentary is all about. Much like your standard film made about a touring band, The Unbelievers follows around scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss on a speaking tour of sorts as the two make appearances at various talks, debates, and media appearances. While the two subjects of this documentary do come across as charming enough, I also found [...]
Palma Violets are one of the latest of the young British buzz bands to come to our fair shores in hopes of breaking the elusive North American music market. They follow in the musical footsteps of bands like the Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, and the Arctic Monkeys. Their first single "Best of Friends" is catchy and has the potential to be a summer festival favourite. They're touring Canada and the US in support of their debut album '1802 and this summer they'll be playing to huge sweaty crowds at a number of festivals all around the world like T in [...]
If you had to ask me to pin point the exact the type of music that is popular today among the younger demographic, there's a good chance I would point the the song We Come Running , the hit single from LA indie pop quintet Youngblood Hawke . Inoffensive pop track with a hit of electronic influence, followed by a very easy to learn/sing along chorus and of course group vocals. The track even incorporates a children's choir (courtesy of West Los Angeles Children's Choir) which follows along the footsteps Passion Pit, who have basically mastered the formula [...]
The world has known quite a few great duos. Peanut butter and jelly. Sonny and Cher. Bert and Ernie. The list goes on and on and I'm happy to report there's a new partnership to add to the tried and true list of terrific twosomes: Manchester Orchestra and Grouplove. The bands' collaboration Make it to Me is all things wonderful. If I had to capture the greatness of this song in a few select words, bumping the focus on two to three, I'd say it's (1) inspired, (2) earnest, and... [...]
![Hot Docs Review: Buying Sex [2013, Kent Nason & Teresa MacInnes]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4935092_lg.jpg)
Read this first bit with the Salt-n-pepa song in mind lets talk about buying sex baby it's the subject of this document-tary it talks about all the good things and the bad things about buying sex lets talk about sex.... Anyways as you might imagine, Buying Sex is about the hot stove topic of legalizing prostitution. Kent Nason & Teresa MacInnes foray into the world of politics behind legalizing prostitution takes therm to a variety of places including New Zealand and Sweden, all of whom have taken different approaches [...]
When I walked into Schubas on Thursday evening I was met with the sight of a man playing a glowing green "space banjo," sporting a mountain-man beard, a white suit, and, as the crowd learned later although they were never made visible, green skivvies that matched the banjo. The man in question was Mike Savino, aka Tall Tall Trees , a one-man indie folk outfit from New York. If you're unfamiliar with the space banjo as an instrument, it deserves its own introduction - the thing served Savino as a string section, a percussion section, and an echo chamber, [...]
![Hot Docs Review: 12 O’clock Boys [Lotfy Nathan, 2013]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4932860_lg.jpg)
Baltimore - Every sunny Sunday since I moved down, the rumbling sound of engines invariably invades Orlean Street some time in the afternoon. At first it would be a few lone engine bursts, sounding like the cries of old men being ferried across pothole-filled roads at breakneck speed. But soon it crescendos into a background so loud, that you feel like your landlord just took the rent from the whole National Zoo. And when it all trails off with that unmistakably tragic Dopler shift, I'm left confused about what it was all about. In this documentary, I got a glimpse [...]
The Panic Manual
HAERTS – All The Days
iTunes Leaks Kanye West’s Yeezus tracklisting??
PREVIEW: Hyperbits – Karekare (Original Mix)
Stream: Disclosure – When A Fire Starts To Burn
