Du centre ville et son lot de de strip-clubs jusque dans le coeur du Mile End, le Pop impressionne déjà par son omniprésence. Des bannières partout, des milliers posters agrafés et la presse locale qui s'aligne. Pop, comme l'effervescence : cinq jours de festival, une cinquantaine de concerts chaque soir, la plupart entre 20h et 2h du matin. Plutôt concentré. L'ensemble ressemble plus à un showcase géant qu'un festival, oscillant entre superstars indie ( Stephen Malkmus , Girls et, oh surprise, Arcade Fire ) et groupes locaux. On se prépare mentalement à courir, on fait nos paris. [...]
Technically, Strike Hard, Young Diamond came out in November of 2010, but it occupied much of my listening during early 2011. When this site was more active and I got more random e-blasts from bands, I did my best to sample a bit of each I received. Wildlife was a find through some successful PR assault; offering up a few song sampler via their bandcamp. At a quick glance, I was content enough in the fact that lead singer Dean Povinsky's voice has a similar tone to Sunset Rubdown's Spencer Krug. There's also similarities [...]
Moonface – Organ music not vibraphone like i'd hope. En voilà un titre qui a le mérite d'interloquer, un peu dans le genre : « Bon, j'avais envie que ça sonne comme de la merde mais finalement c'est pas si mal… ». Pari osé du tâcheron Spencer Krug qui à la manie de sauter d'un projet à l'autre ( Wolf Parade , Sunset Rubdown , Swan lake …) sans réellement se soucier du résultat final. Se référer aux très décevants Expo 86, Dragonslayer ou encore Paul's Tomb: A triomph [...]
I had the pleasure of seeing Newcastle's Acrobatic Society launch their Meat Meets Meat EP, with support from fellow northerners Our Imaginary Friends and O'Messy Life. A raucous and varied evening that could have restored confidence in northern output to anybody disheartened by the stale and tedious output from Frankie and the Heartstrings if they were lucky enough to attend. A brief nod to the fantastic support; Our Imaginary Friends were subdued and melodic, creeping up to a driven and powerful conclusion, at times reminding me of Eels at their funkiest. O'Messy Life delivered a punchy and lyrical [...]
Watch live streaming video from musiccityroots at livestream.com Fast forward to the 1 hour 11 minute mark for a 17 minute performance from Vandervelde. Band: Vandervelde / The Fling / Francisco the Man Who Should Go: People with rock sensibilities that lean towards the classic When: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 [...]
Waiting on the sunshine, but in the meantime let's talk musical shop: ►Nashville continues to bear solid musical fruit as Vandervelde parks it at the Echo tonight with harmonic folk/rock of tourmates The Fling (hello, Dangerbird Records). Locals Francisco The Man round out the bill and this combo has #win written all over it. P.S.: Vandverlde does a cover of Huey Lewis' "Power of Love". Take that for all it's worth. ►One night in L.A. is not enough so Portishead are at the Shrine Expo Hall for [...]
A couple of weeks ago, I watched in delighted horror as Pete Wentz stumbled his way through VH12s 100 Greatest Songs of the 00s. The list, obviously and completely, is bonkers. It raises more questions than it answers: since when did anyone ever take Jet seriously? Avril Lavigne doesn't have any better singles than "Complicated"? is "Tik Tok" really a better song than "Shake Ya Ass"? "SexyBack" over "My Love," really? no "Country Grammar," the fuck? I don't begrudge VH1 their popcentric attitude; it's not like they are going to clear out spaces for Fennesz or Sunn O))). Plus, "Crazy [...]
What's in a name? One of my favorite indie bands possesses one of the coolest band names ever, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah . The first time I heard about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah ( CYHSY ) was back in 2005, when they self-released their eponymous debut album. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah sold an astounding 125,000 records through self-distribution and later signed with Wichita Records to release their second album, Some Loud Thunder . Even then my friend Danny and I couldn't believe that an "indie band" could do that (I'm still in shock, [...]
Cette semaine, on se penche sur trois disques qui ont la particularité commune de tourner autour d'un instrument principal qui d'habitude se fait plus discret dans l'univers pop/rock. Terminons la semaine avec Moonface et l'orgue de Spencer Krug. Wolf Parade séparé, Krug peut désormais pleinement se consacrer à son autre groupe Sunset Rubdown et à son projet solo Moonface, dont la discographie avait commencé par Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums . Partant d'abord sur un autre album à base de percussions, c'est finalement (comme le titre [...]
Frank Yang Who: Adam & The Amethysts What: Montreal pop classicists with ties to the likes of Miracle Fortress and Sunset Rubdown, but who are ready to establish their own name with the release of their second album Flickering Flashlight . Why: To mark the October 4 release of the album, the band are playing a string of dates in Ontario, kicking off in Toronto When: Wednesday, November 5, 2011 Where: The Piston [...]
A melancholy happy trails to CA-based Absolutely Kosher, a highly underrated label who put out records by WLFY faves like Sunset Rubdown, +/-, Wax Fang, and Xiu Xiu. As saddened as I am about this loss, it looks like we're in a new era of music (and really, what day doesn't it look like that), when stalwart labels are going to start merging or dropping like flies and start-ups or self-producing is going to become the norm. But, if there's anything to take away from Absolutely Kosher's run its that people measure you not by success (whatever that [...]
Absolutely Kosher Some sad news in the world of independent music. Absolutely Kosher , the label that brought you offerings from The Wrens, Pinback, The Mountain Goats, The Hidden Cameras, Sunset Rubdown and a host of other indie bands, is folding up the tent after one final release. Himalayan Bear 's Hard Times , will come out October 11, 2011 , and will be the final release on the Absolutely Kosher label. (I guess that mythical "next record" from The Wrens will come out out another [...]
The aptly named Extra Classic are gearing up for the release of their debut album, Your Light Like White Lightening, Your Light Like a Laser Beam , out September 27th via Manimal Vinyl . "Give Me All Of Your Love" is a slow-burning throwback to the 60s: Stream: "Give Me All Of Your Love" by Extra Classic on Yours Truly Extra Classic will be at the Independent on October 18th with Moonface , Spencer Krug's other band outside of Sunset Rubdown and [...]
Absolutely Kosher Records announced yesterday afternoon that, following the release of Himalayan Bear 's Hard Times , the label will stop putting out new albums. If you've followed the East Bay label over the years, then you know that this development is bad news. Over the course of almost 15 years, the label has released albums from some of indie's best, including a slew of personal favorites, like The Wrens' Meadowlands , The Mountain Goats' The Coroner's Gambit , Okay's Huggable Dust , and 60 Watt Kid's self-titled album. In its time, [...]
Here is part II for Friday and Saturday on what shows I will be checking out at Pop Montreal . Friday - September 23, 2011 12pm to 5pm DJ Tim CO-OP @ Nouveau Palais (281 Bernard O) 1pm Symposium - Voices on Voices with Tune-Yards 8pm Touchy Mob @ Ukrainian Federation Alternative options can be: Cousins @ Casa del Popolo, Sandman Viper Command @ Les 3 Minots [...]
A band's label is a prime credibility indicator for the active music listener. There are people who'll buy an album just because it's been released on Secretly Canadian or Sub Pop, the labels for Suuns and Handsome Furs, respectively. The ambassadors for these two labels combined forces for a powerful show in front of a packed crowd at the Echoplex Friday night as part of the "Not Safe for Work" tour. Montreal's anomalous North American experience has produced a bevy of musical groups, including Suuns (pronounced 'soons') and Handsome Furs. While these groups sound very [...]
David Vandervelde Comes to the Echo In October Normal 0 false false [...]
Craft Spells: Idle Labor - I'm noticing a lot of bands getting their influences from 80s new wave... maybe its just me. The good thing is, some bands are actually achieving a perfect balance between the past and the present. Another one of those bands is Craft Spells . With Idle Labor , Craft Spells spin tales of love, loss and all of the other romantic things you'd expect to a soundtrack of near-perfect dreamy synth pop. What makes them most unique from others in the genre(which is getting more crowded all the [...]
(photo: Frank Yang) I've seen the name Adam & The Amethysts floating around out there, in and out of my inbox in various manners and forms: as contributors to Herohill's excellent Gordon Lightfoot contribution , as remixers of Young Galaxy's "We Have Everything" , and performers in their own right. But it wasn't until I heard their new single, "Prophecy", from their forthcoming second LP Flickering Flashlight that I really sat up and took notice of this Montreal-based band. And I use the term [...]
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