WL 450 from Egin Kongoli on Vimeo.
Egin Kongoli, in between attending school and documenting the incredible music scene in Toronto, also plays in a band called Ruzan Orkestar. For more of his music, click here. And to check them out live, Ruzan Orkestar will be playing at the Whippersnapper on June 30th, along with Pace The Stairs (Free/PWYC)! Thanks Egin, for the fantastic video!
The Dead Weather
I finally had the day off work, and what do I get for weather? Drizzle and foggy skies. Not impressed. Oh well, at least this is the perfect weather for catching up on my Singing Lamb writing, which I have fallen incredibly behind on this past week. On a day like this, I’d recommend you curl up on the couch with a hot beverage and a good book or watch a good movie (not endless sports highlight shows like I’ve been watching all morning). And in case you don’t have anything to read, here is some news for you!
Is there anything that Jack White can’t do? Let’s see: frontman, singer, guitar hero, drummer, record label owner, Nashville Music Council consultant, amateur bullfighter and Elvis impersonator – now he can addwedding host to his resume. Recently his ex-wife Meg White got married to a guy named Jackson Smith, whose parents Patti and the late Fred Smith are pretty much singlehandedly responsible for the CBGB New York City punk scene in the 1970s, in Jack’s Nashville backyard. Oh, and Jack’s new band with Alison Mosshart, The Dead Weather? They just released a new single, the swampy, blues-rock barn-burner “Treat Me Like Your Mother”, which you can get for free in exchange for your email address here. Its been awhile since I’ve been this excited for a new album, but I’m already counting down the days till Horehound drops on July 14th, and I bought my ticket for their July 22nd show at the Kool Haus.
How ’bout that new Grizzly Bear album? Pitchfork likes it, so it must be good. News flash: it actually is – even people who usually decry “white indie boy rock” are nodding their heads along to this one. Alas, their show at the Phoenix next Friday is already sold-out (sheds tears).
Perennial Lamb favourite, and the pride of Guelph, Ontario, electro-poppers Green Go have just announced a string of high-profile shows including opening for New York’s Fischerspooner at the Phoenix next Tuesday, some shows with Halifax’s Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees, and opening for Edmonton’s Shout Out Out Out Out. Great to see these guys getting the attention they deserve. Check out their MySpace for more details, including an upcoming NXNE appearance with B.c.’s You Say Party! We Say Die!.
Apparently hipster-girl fashion magazines know a thing or two about putting together a pretty kickass music tour; who knew? NYLON magazine; the leading glossy publication for lovers of Lookbook, leggings (you know – those ones from American Apparel with the semi-pornographic ads?) and Lily Allen, are bringing their tour to the Mod Club on June 17 as part of NXNE. Patrick Wolf will be headlining, with the likes of Living Things, Plasticines, and Jaguar Love (ex-members of Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves) opening. This show is all-ages, tickets are $20, and a limited number of NXNE wristband holders will be accepted. More details here.
Just in case you hadn’t listened to enough Yeah Yeah Yeahs remixes, here are three more: “Heads Will Roll” re-imagined by Philly new-wave weirdos Weird Tapes and Canadian-based DJ/producer duo FoulHouse, and LA DJ’s Them Jeans remix of the acoustic version of “Soft Shock”. I promise these ones don’t suck either.
The Proclaimers are coming to Toronto! Everyone’s favourite Scottish folk-rocker brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid, will be at the Mod Club on July 9th. The childhood nostalgia of listening to “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” (if you don’t know it, we can no longer be friends) on my father’s tape cassette has me excited for this one. Tickets are on-sale now.
Finally, I have a story so unusual I couldn’t help but sharing with you. It appears that Fucked Up’s controversial frontman Damian Abraham, also know as Pink Eyes, will be joining as a consultant on the Fox news show Red Eye hosted by Canadian military-baiting hack (erm…I mean “host”) Greg Gutfield. Seriously? I mean its not the strangest thing we’ve seen a member of the Toronto hardcore band do, but it certainly ranks up there. Full story here.
Have a good weekend!
Cheers,
Max
Crush All Humans
Can someone please explain to me why so many Canadian musicians have a fascination with robots? In the not-so-distant past, we’ve seen robots infiltrate everything from to album titles (Stars’ 2008 EP Sad Robots) to cover artwork (Winnipeg’s Oldfolks Home’s We Are The Feeding Line) to lyrical content (Dave Monks’ singing, “Our robot masters will know how to clean this mess up” in Tokyo Police Club’s “Cheer It On”), and beyond. So what is it about robots? The fact that they can turn into godless killing machines at the flip of a switch a laTerminator? With lasers nonetheless? Or is it a fascination more in the Orwellian-sense, and the fact that we are separated from robots by our ability to think and feel emotions? Regardless these were my first thoughts upon picking the debut album Crush All Humans from Alphabot!, who is moppy-haired Toronto musician Jake Roels, who is featured on the album’s cover wearing a box on his head and surrounded by cardboard cutouts of a city and a dinosaur. It is an image that is equal parts cheesy, whimsical and endearing, all of which are adjectives that could be used to describe the eleven tracks that make this album. And how appropriate that Roels sings about robots (“Robots Take L.A.”), when his simplistic electro-pop is in fact greatly indebted to fellow Torontonians and android lovers, Tokyo Police Club. Fans of other bands such as Boxes and Bags, Spiral Beach and Ten In The Swear Jar (the latter you’ve probably never heard of unless you happen to know my cousin, but check them out while your at it) will definitely appreciate this album, which is mostly constructed with a few synths, an acoustic guitar and a loop petal. This album veers between upbeat, dance songs (“Concrete Clouds”) and more mellow reflections on life, with goofy song material such as penguins, car drivers and ghosts. However the song that got me was “Easter Island” is a mostly spoken word, emo-tinged (it had to be said) gem that tugs at your heartstrings, with Roels admitting his vulnerability to a past lover, “We didn’t learn from Easter Island, we didn’t learn from the Mayans, and I didn’t learn from you.” He may sing about robots and occasionally dress-up as one, but the key difference is that Roels isn’t afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve.
For more Alphabot!,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jakeroels
Make sure to catch Alphabot! at NXNE this year! He will be performing at Holy Joe’s on June 19th.
Vincent Minor
For the kids at home, describe your new EP, Born in the Wrong Era (released May 26th on Social Science Recordings.) Preferably in the form of an analogy, similie or metaphor. For example: “If the sugarcubes in your kitchen escaped from the cupboards, hitchhiked to New York and put on a heartfelt Broadway musical, it would sound like Born in the Wrong Era.”
Vincent Minor: It’s like being the right person in the wrong time. It’s like exploring pockets of times and periods of interdimensional emotion through Formula 1 racing and somehow stringing them together in congruity. A museum of artifacts in your head.
What song(s) are you most proud of off the EP and why?
Vincent:That’s hard to say! They each have a special place in my cheesy heart. Well it just depends on my mood too, at times I found myself listening and playing “Late Night Show” the most to friends probably because of the energy behind it. I guess it’s probably one of the more catchy ones too but then sometimes I really love the dark comedy of “Friday The Thirteenth” and the somber “A Plane Grave”. But it’s a toughy to actually say I have a favorite because they were created by a genius. Ok maybe more of a dork!
How much of an influence do you think your producer Tom Biller had on the album’s overall sound? Also, why did you decide to use him as your producer, and do you feel like the Vincent Minor sound and the Tom Biller touch meshed well together in the studio?
Vincent: I feel like it’s much more of a collaboration between us. I’ll play the song for him on the piano and then we start bringing in musicians and friends to play their parts and it becomes this amalgamation of different people’s ideas and emotions. My songs were all based from the piano but some of them come out completely different than what I expected them to sound like. It’s that freedom you have in the studio to experiment and try on new sonic outfits and personalities!
You said in a post on your MySpace blog that the album is dedicated to a cousin of yours who passed away due to a heroin overdose, but that Born in the Wrong Era isn’t meant to be a “sympathy album.” Care to elaborate on both your cousin and the un-sympathy of the EP?
Vincent: Well my cousin Danny had been addicted to heroin in his mid teens and in and out of rehabs. We weren’t very close since he lived on the east coast and me the west but a couple years back his parents had sent him to a rehab center out here and afterwards he was staying at my parents house and doing really well, I got to know him a bit better and understood him. Well he eventually went back to the east coast and fell back into habits and connected back with the wrong people and the vicious cycle happened so fast, a near death experience that he didn’t learn from and repeated it again which resulted in his not being here anymore. Heroin is one of the toughest things to quit as everyone knows, it’s just so sad that it took him at 19. Well I started to write this title track which started out completely different in the writing process and I felt like I was having this inner dialogue with him one night through the piano. The song process had it’s angry moments but was ultimately a conversation, I didn’t want it to be sympathetic and sappy eulogy but something more real.
Your pre-Born in the Wrong Era days seem to be shrouded in mystery. Is this your first release under the Vincent Minor moniker?
Vincent:Well well! Maybe I shan’t tell you and keep it all a mystery! Shan’t, what am I British now?
I had made a couple albums under the Michael Mangia moniker of which my friends still call me. I keep trying to convince them that they have to forget who I was and come to terms with my new identity and stop calling me Michael! No I’m happily still Michael but I wanted to create a new era for myself as an artist. I was feeling a bit stagnant with Michael Mangia.
I know this is such an old hat kind of question, but I’m fascinated by the music that musicians listen to. So, what albums/bands/artists etc. are you currently drooling over?
Vincent:I’ve been listening a lot more to electronic music lately which I wouldn’t be surprised if I made an electronic album in the near future. Some of those rotating in my iTunes: of Montreal, Fever Ray and The Knife, Micachu, Caribou and all them hipster bands. But then I also listen a lot to melodic sing songwriter composers like Andrew Bird, Beirut, Patrick Watson, Jenny Lewis, M.Ward and so forth. I just listen to so much music that my list could go on forever. But these artists are all on rotation here in my head.
Will you be heading out on a whirlwind tour soon? Possibly making your way up to Canada, hmm? (Insert overzealous grin here.)
Vincent:I’ve never been to Canada actually, hook me up with a show out there and I’ll come! I don’t have big plans for a long national tour yet perhaps just some performances in select cities for this EP until the full release comes out, then probably a wider tour.
Finally, if you were a singing animal, which would you be?
Vincent:I’d be the throat of a loon.
For more Vincent Minor,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/vincentminor
Over the Top Fest
This weekend I took in the Over the Top Festival. From start to finish, I saw: Ghost Bees, Timber Timbre, The Ghost is Dancing, Clues, Woods (in-store), Bayonets, Tune-Yards, Think About Life, Oh No Forest Fires, Five Blank Pages, Tiny Masters of Today, The Guest Bedroom, The Budos Band, and Green Go. I could conceivably have seen a few more acts, and I suspect some people did. Still, that’s a lot of music.
The Ghost Bees/Timber Timbre lineup – I missed headliner Baby Dee – is one I’ve noticed before, but I had never seen them play together. Both bands were great Thursday night. Timber Timbre guitarist/vocalist Taylor Kirk’s got a new band backing him up these days, including the wonderful Mika Posen on violin, Shawn Clarke on baritone saxophone, and Simon Trottier on lap steel. The live performance has a different vibe than the record. Perhaps less moving for me, but still impressive. Timber Timbre recently signed with the indie superlabel, Arts & Crafts, so lots more people will get to hear the record.
Ghost Bees is composed of twins Romy and Sari Lightman, who both sing and play guitar and mandolin, respectively. Their weird folk songs are beautiful and deeply satisfying. I can’t imagine how an audience could not fall in love with them. Their unique chemistry on stage – or, on chairs on the floor, in this case – is very appealing to take in. They’ve added the talented percussionist Maya Postepski to their lineup the last couple times I’ve seen them perform. She worked better with them this time around, but I’m not completely sold yet on her place in the band. (No slight intended to Maya, who adds so much to Bruce Peninsula and Katie Stelmanis’ band.) Ghost Bees and Timber Timbre are currently on tour, so check them out in your town if you have a chance. You won’t regret it.
After Timber Timbre’s set, I headed to Sneaky Dee’s to catch The Ghost Is Dancing. These local popsters were just back from touring their great new record, Battles On. Their set was much tighter than I remember them being the first time I took in a show. High energy, as expected, and not just because Oh No Forest Fires’ frontman Rajiv Thavanathan was playing guitar for them. During the set some of the band members shed layers. A few songs in, vocalist/keyboard player Lesley Davies exclaimed to no one in particular that it was so hot on stage. She shortly took her dress off, and reappeared in her underwear. Ha!
The band that I was most keen on seeing Thursday night was Clues, a new band out of Montreal headed up by Alden Penner of the now-defunct Unicorns. The band was preceded, unexpectedly, by a well-dressed, bizarre pan flute and vocal/duo called Jerusalem In My Heart (thanks Chris). Clues therefore started pretty late, and rather than build up anticipation, the weirdo mini opening set was kinda lost on the crowd. It was cool and all, but this is not what we came to hear. I’m pretty sure one lone guy in the middle-left of the dance floor started to slowly clap during one long song, as if to signal to those around him that he’d had enough. Rude, but not shocking given the context. I don’t think the band noticed.
But then we got Clues. I had spent some time with (part of) their self-titled album, and was curious to see it performed. The five-piece was a curious mixture of down-to-earth and hipster-pretentious, and they took a smidge too much time between songs switching up their instruments. If they hadn’t let the energy levels drop every few minutes, it would have been a significantly more exciting set. Sure, a handful of songs came across as rather same-sounding, but their percussion-heavy, slightly off-the-wall pop tunes were cool. In the end a little too cool for me, but I can imagine this band really tearing the roof off a place. (P.S.: Clues, play a show with Born Ruffians if you really want to win me over.)
The next evening I got an early start to things, checking out Woods’ in-store performance at Soundscapes. This Brooklyn-based folk-pop trio sing into bullet mics which distort their voices to give the band a slightly other-worldly sound. It’s always a real treat to see a band in this beautiful record store, and Friday was no different. I hung around for a time afterward, chatting with friends, browsing, and waiting for other friends to arrive so we could go for dinner.
Dinner went longer than anticipated, and I therefore got a late start to my show-going Friday night. I missed out on great opening (and closing) acts at WhipperSnapper and The Music Gallery, but no worries. I made it out to the Polish Combatants Hall in plenty time for the ridiculous, punky Bayonets, bashing out 1-minute tunes preceded by zany song introductions. Memorable mostly for the brevity and energy of their set, I feel no need to see this band again, but I can think of lots of occasions where they’d go over well. Entertaining. Next up was Tune-Yards, the solo project of Sister Suvi front-woman, Merrill Garbus. As one of the few people in the crowd with some foreknowledge of her, I was stoked. She did not disappoint, looping robust tribal vocals, skippy electric mandolin, and uncomplicated drum hits. The crowd-the ones with an ear for the interesting-was buzzing during and after her set. She’s doing something that no one else I know of is doing, and doing it really well.
Tune-Yards touring mates Think About Life were celebrating the release of their new full-length album on Friday and so a party was in order. The last time they played in town was back in July, and that show was perhaps the best show I went to all year, in no small part because of the insanity of the crowd reaction to front-man Martin Ceasar and the crazy dance-party vibe that his backing band provides. Family is more accessible than their 2006 self-titled release, and I was expecting a rather larger crowd than showed up. Whether it was all the other great shows happening that night or the odd venue, the place did not fill up. But those of us who were there, and especially the first few rows, had a blast. An absolute blast. I found myself on the stairs leading up the stage, both to avoid the moshing and so that I could see everything on stage and to my right. Fantastic. In a smaller, darker, more packed room it would have been amazing. Maybe next time. I ended the set on stage with the band and about 20 other dancing fools. Afterward, I had to wait until the sweat dried before I could leave the building. (Eye Weekly’s got a pretty-spot on review of this show here.)
By the time I got home at 5:20am or so Saturday morning-Friday’s TAL show led to dancing, which led to Ronnie’s, which led to a backyard bonfire in Kensington Market – I felt like Over the Top had done right by me. And so with one more night to go, and with no other obligations, I decided to plan it right and make the most of my wristband. (I first had to get my sunglasses fixed and see about replacing a broken bike pedal: casualties of Friday night’s festivities.) That night I saw 6 bands at 4 different venues.
My first venue was the Mod Club, a place I’d never seen a band before, and of which I had bad memories from being forced to go dancing there once, a long time ago. My apprehensions were instantly put aside when I got in the place and realized it was rather smaller than I remembered, with a nice, big stage complete with awesome lighting-almost to the point of being ridiculous and cheesy, but somehow not-and pretty good sound. I caught Oh No Forest Fires, who bounded around with abandon. Even the bass player, the most subdued of the bunch, managed to knock down a guitar amp. The kids at the front were amazed and probably inspired to start their own spazzy rock bands. I’m not in love with this band’s music, but I do quite like it, and I am always entertained by their live shows. So much fun. And incredibly tight considering how much jumping around they do. This is definitely a band worth looking into. It would be great to see them play on a much bigger stage to a much bigger crowd. They are most certainly up to it.
The next band I saw is one that won’t ever grace a stage again. The Mod Club show was the final one for Five Blank Pages. I missed the very end, but the parts of the set I did see – from the very front row, and then from further back in the room where the sound was much better – were a great way to end a solid 7-year run. The band performed their lovely Canadiana pop-rock songs accompanied by some musical friends on backing vocals, extra guitars, cello, violin, and trombone. For more on this band, check out my review of their most recent EP.
Just down the street at the WhipperSnapper art gallery there was a rather smaller crowd taking in rather younger, rockier bands than FBP. I arrived while the headliners, the New York-based Tiny Masters of Today, were setting up. And they were indeed tiny: lead by 15- and 13-year old siblings, with a drummer who couldn’t have been much older, these kids really impressed me. Sure, the girl’s not much of a singer (yet) and had to hand her bass over to her brother when it needed a quick tune-up, but they were legitimately good. I would expect more of adults, but what a treat to see these youngsters perform. The festival was all-ages, but except for one kid whose age I know, I suspect everyone in the audience was older than the band members. Their punky, garage-rock sound got repetitive toward the end, but I was so charmed by their musical ability and stage presence to mind too much.
My second show of the night over, I biked on over to Sneaky Dee’s expecting to spend a few minutes hanging out before dashing off again. Instead, The Guest Bedroom had just started playing, and wow – what a great set. I stayed for most of it, figuring the much-hyped Budos Band would start a little later than scheduled. When I think of their set, doom pop is the first and only description that comes to mind. Sandi Falconer’s vocals were strong and crisp, the tone was very dark, but the music was still kinda catchy. Odd, and extremely well done. This band would make for a good counterpoint to Oh No Forest Fires’ happier, less experimental vibe.
A friend of mine on Friday night had urged me to check out New York’s Budos Band at the Polish Combatants Hall the next day. Their Afro-funk sound seemed like a good bet, and certainly something I wouldn’t get a chance to hear live again anytime soon. I arrived late, but the show was running even later, so I had time to chat with the few people in the audience I recognized. There was a large crowd out for this one, and it seemed to me like the venue was not far off it’s 350-person capacity. There was a great deal of excitement in the air, at least up near the front, and some of us were getting a little peeved about the by now very late start to things. But then the front lights were mercifully turned off and the band – a 9-piece this Saturday night-took to the stage. As soon as they did, the dancing started. I had a pretty fun time boogie-ing down surrounded by strangers, but had to watch the clock. Technical difficulties annoyed me even more: the band had to stop playing for a while so their sax player could repair his instrument. I guess there was nothing to do done about it, though perhaps next time the band will know to bring along some repair tools just in case rather than having to rely on the venue having what they needed. A fun set, but let’s just say that I wouldn’t have been happy if I’d paid the $18 cover at the door, or had gone out of my way to pick up $15 advance tickets. I left at 12:50am, about an hour into the band’s interrupted set, so I could catch one last band.
I ended my Over the Top experience with one of my favourite live acts, Green Go. Although my feet were hurting and I’d already done a lot of dancing, there’s no way I can avoid busting a move to this electro-pop band out of Guelph. These guys (and gal) are brilliant. It’s too bad the crowd was rather thin and that there wasn’t much enthusiasm beyond the front row. But for me, it was awesome. And, just because I’m crazy, I ended the night with one more hour of late-night (2-3am) dancing at the Boat. Thank you, Over the Top Festival. See you next year.
For more Over the Top Fest info,
Website: http://www.overthetopfest.com/2009/
For more of Jennifer Polk’s work,
Blog: http://historyjen.blogspot.com/
Weekly Podcast: http://www.zygiella.com/index.html?id=200
Classified
“Puff, puff, pass, like its legal to get weeded.” That line didn’t even belong to the headliner Classified; rather it was sung by opener Chad Hatcher, but it pretty accurately summed up the general atmosphere as the mostly Torontonian audience at the Phoenix got a taste of East Coast hip-hop last Saturday. By the time Class took to the stage around eleven, there was already a dense cloud of marijuana smoke billowing above the venue. At an all-ages show nonetheless. Which was just fine with Nova Scotia’s second-best rapper (sorry Class, butBuck 65 gets the title of best) – who is a firm advocate of the green – and even took the time halfway through his set to light a joint, while segueing his own “No Mistakes” into reciting a few lines from Steve Miller’s pro-marijuana anthem “The Joker”. And the crowd, who consisted of mostly parts frat boys and slutty high school girls, ate it up with lots of hand waving (fine) and grinding up on strangers (not so great). Which was kind of unfortunate; because after working four straight nights I was down to party, but I have to say I was just not feeling the crowd. I don’t know why I should have expected anything less at a hip-hop show (a white hip-hop show at that), but it definitely put a damper on a show where the highlights were really high and everything else was just average.
Classified – whose real name is Luke Boyd – has been touring in support of his latest album Self-Explanatory, which is ingeniously modeled after the children’s Choose Your Own Adventure books. And though this guest-heavy (including the likes of Joel Plaskett, Shad and Choclair) album is Class’ first on a major label (Sony), he has been at this rap thing for awhile, and two of his albums (2005’s Boy-Cott-In The Industry and 2006’s Hitch Hikin’ Music) have earned Juno Award nominations for Rap Recording of the Year. Its always refreshing to hear a talented rapper who doesn’t have to always resort to the hip-hop cliches of guns, girls and money, and Classified isn’t one to resort to gangsta rap (as those that have been to his hometown Enfield can attest – the place ain’t exactly Compton). Like any rapper worth his salt though, he brought along an East Coast posse with him (including his little brother Mic Boyd and J-Bru, the latter whose songs were riddled with cliches), yet sadly they all weren’t even close to his skill level. Notable exceptions were Hatcher; who with his acoustic guitar and laid-back nature seemed like the type of guy you’d go surfing with or grab a beer and watch the game (and I mean that as a compliment, not in a Jack Johnson type way), whose hit “Do It All Again” received a generous bout of cheering. He later joined Class for their feel-good duet “All About U”. Also well-received was the charismatic R&B singer Jordan Croucher, also from Halifax, who performed his own hit “Addicted” and sung backup on several songs. Someone needs to give this guy his own headlining tour – he has serious potential to become the Canadian Ne-Yo, except you know…with talent.
Then Class took the stage and performed a lengthy set, that included a mix of his older material and songs from the new album. Unfortunately for every hit – “Hard To Be Hip-Hop” and “Gossip” were standouts – there was a lot of filler, most of it coming from Self-Explanatory. Maybe it was just that the album just came out, and I’ve yet to familiarize myself with the new songs – but none of them seem to me as having the potential to become memorable. Take for example, set-closer “Oh…Canada” which tackles Canadian stereotypes (Canadians like hockey? Really?), and is basically a rewrite of the more successful “The Maritimes” (Note: Toronto stop fronting like you’ve been to the East Coast before. Classified and I see through your lies.) Don’t get me wrong – the man is a talented rapper. But in the end, both figuratively and metaphorically-speaking, the show could have used a lot less smoke and a little more fire.
For more Classified,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hiphopclassified
One Hundred Dollars
I apologize for the lack of updates lately; I’ll try my best to keep you guys up-to-date more often! In fact, if someone could find me a job [desperate plea alert], I promise I’ll update the site every day! It’s a challenge, Lamb readers, but if you can do it, I’ll owe you big time. [Okay; enough begging] But for more Lamb news every day, make sure to follow me on Twitter! Some updates are random and useless (e.g. “My legs apparently don’t work today; I tripped three times on the street. One woman gave me the deepest look of concern.”) but many of them are actually music-related (e.g. “Rock Plaza Central @ Sonic Boom tonight (7 pm) – see you there! Oh, and Dog Dag tomorrow @ Soundscapes (6 pm); crazy!”)!
Also, congrats to Jordan W. for winning a pair of tickets to Slim Twig and a copy of Contempt! Thanks to everyone who entered! There are still two contests running, so don’t forget to enter those!
Here’s some news!
The aforementioned St. Vincent show at Lee’s Palace is going to be at the Horseshoe now. So mark that down – Horseshoe, not Lee’s! Which also means you better buy your tickets before they sell out. You can stream St. Vincent’s recent show in Washington, D.C. now on NPR.
One Hundred Dollars will be playing “their only full band show in Toronto for the summer” on June 12th. Opening for them will be Deep Dark Woods and Jason Benoit; definitely not a show you’ll want to miss out on! Tickets go on sale this Friday for $8.00. This show is 19+.
1990s recently canceled their June 3rd date at the Horseshoe, along with several other tour stops due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
The Witchies will be opening for Sunset Rubdown at Lee’s on July 10th. Tickets are on sale now for $13.00. This show is 19+.
In addition to opening for Camera Obscura at Lee’s in June, Anni Rossi will also open for Micachu at El Mocambo on July 14th. Tickets are on sale now for $12.00. This show is 19+.
Other Show Announcements:
The Lemonheads @ Lee’s (July 4th, $20.00, 19+)
Peter Murphy @ Opera House (July 11th)
The Charlatans, Hatcham Social @ The Mod Club (September 23rd)
Electric Prunes, Love, Sky Saxon @ Lee’s (August 14th, $25.00, 19+)
Company of Thieves, Blackie Jackett Jr. @ Drake (June 2nd, $10.00, 19+)
Man Man @ Lee’s (July 13th, $15.50, 19+)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a new video out for “Heads Will Roll” (from their latest release, It’s Blitz!). Watch here.
Regina Spektor has not one, but two new videos out! Watch “Laughing With” here and “Dance Anthem of the 80s” here!
Apostle of Hustle’s Andrew Whiteman was recently on Exclaim! TV’s Garageland. Watch here. Also, don’t miss them at the Music Gallery this Friday; tickets are still on sale for $22.00. This show is all-ages.
And last but not least, the Polaris Prize long list will be announced on June 15th this year, followed by the short list on July 7th. The Polaris Prize, just as a reminder, is an annual prize that is given out to the album, that’s decided upon by a jury, who is believed to have been the “best album of the year”. Along with the title, the winner also receives $20,000 and some bragging rights. Eligible candidates must’ve put out a record between June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009. Past winners included Final Fantasy – He Poos Clouds (2006), Patrick Watson – Closer Than Paradise (2007) and Caribou – Andorra (2008). The winner this year will be announced at a gala celebration in Toronto on September 21st, 2009. Who do YOU think should be nominated?
Happy listening!
Musically,
Melody
The Beat Stuff
Listening to this album reminds me those of times where you order a single scoop of ice cream thinking it won’t be enough. You’ve munched half-way down the sugar cone and you’re wondering how there’s any ice cream left. You finally finish your last bite of ice cream cone, completely satisfied and thinking that a double scoop is certainly not worth the additional cents. In not so crazy-analogical terms, this album is a perfect example of the quality over quantity debate.
The Beat Stuff is a six-track EP composed by Hannah Georgas, a Toronto-raised, Vancouver-based singer/songwriter. The album is a short and refreshing collection of quality vocals, some finely tuned melodies and excellent rhythmic technique. Her style of music can be compared to artists such as Kathleen Edwards and in some aspects, Jenn Grant.
One of the great things about this album is Georgas’ ability to embody various sides and emotions in only six short tracks. Each track is uniquely crafted and made to make some part of your body pulse to a well defined beat. Tracks on the album that are definitely worth mentioning are the title track with its catchy tune and quirky lyrics, “The Nationalc, a song about breaking up and the thoughts that linger afterward in which it orchestrates itself beautifully, and the second to last track on the album “All I Need” which starts off on a softer level but later builds up to the climax, a heart-pounding eruption of poignant instrumentals and vocals.
Every song on the album is charmed with a mixture of quirkiness and sensitivity, something that is rarely achieved by artists. This definitely proves that Hannah Georgas is a true gem bound to be recognized.
Overall, The Beat Stuff is a short but satisfying [cold, creamy] taste of an album that will surely not disappoint.
For more Hannah Georgas,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hannahgeorgas
Make sure to catch Hannah Georgas at NXNE this year! She will be performing at The Rivoli on June 19th.
By Charise Aragoza
