Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
By Rachel Narvey
There is something to be said about music that doesn’t facilitate multitasking. Even trying to send an IM while listening to Civvie’s Inheritance is a no-go. The experimental three-piece, consisting of Alex Eastley on bassoon, Natanielle Felicitas on cello, and Kelly Ruth playing a loom connected to loop pedals and contact microphones, have created something entirely arresting with their debut album.
Continue reading “Album Review :: Civvie :: Inheritance”
By Matt Harrison
On the first day of this calendar year that felt remotely like springtime, I met with the folk singing duo Haitia. Comprised of the beautiful and talented voices of Dana Waldie and Avery Penner, Haitia blends the harmonious charm of traditional folk music with a timeless depth of lyric. With both singers coming from homes of music teachers, Dana and Avery each found ways to express their musical prowess from a young age. Learning instruments from the harp to the piano, these two performers have had an ear and a passion for music for as long as either can recall. Continue reading “Haitia”
By Harrison Samphir
3Peat is the most exciting hip-hop crew to come out of Winnipeg in some time. Following in a long line of local groups including Different Shades of Black (Shadez), Frek Sho, Farm Fresh and The Lytics, the trio consisting of Steve, Egg and Dill The Giant are determined to make their mark on a city where emceeing is a proud, if overlooked, tradition. They dropped their self-titled debut EP on September 16, 2016. At seven tracks, it’s packed with lyrical gems, addictive hooks and strong guest appearances backed by tight production completed mostly in-house. With a likeness to the pass-the-mic chemistry and interplay of legends like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, 3Peat shines with laid-back charisma and an unpretentious demeanour reinforced by the honest expressions in their songs. I was joined by the group’s three members and their manager, Anthony Carvalho, in the Stylus office to discuss their work, inspirations, and big plans for the future.
Continue reading “Nonstophiphop: 3Peat High and Rising”
By Margaret Banka
Diamond Mind’s release Heavy Metal Sunshine is evidence that Alberta can produce more than just oil, whiskey, and Angus beef (did you know that if you mix them all together you get Chad Kroeger?). Listening to the Edmonton-based group’s pop album is like walking through a funhouse at the carnival – not the type where Chad is hiding around the corner waiting to jump at you, but more like the one where you walk through a whirling tunnel, cross an oscillating floor, and then pass a row of your distorted reflections. Fun, not scary!
Continue reading “Diamond Mind :: Heavy Metal Sunshine”
By Matt Peters
On June 23 of this past year, the night of the Brexit referendum, I retreated to the back patio of the venue in San Francisco where my band had just finished playing and I nervously pulled out my phone to check the results. At the time, we were on a West Coast tour with Montreal’s Plants and Animals and through the open windows behind the stage I could hear them begin to strum the first few chords of their set. Their music is soaring and hopeful, exactly what you would want rising up through a peaceful California evening while having your faith in humanity restore. Continue reading “We only make it if we all make it”
By Colton Siemens
Communication is a wonderful thing, and in country as diverse as ours, there are many ways that we go about it. One of the most beautifully universal forms of communication is music. So it only makes sense that in a bilingual country and city, our music tends to reflect that. Both French and English permeate our culture and community. It affects our history, our relationships and our lives. Therefore, it affects our art. But exactly how does it affect our art? Continue reading “Language & Art: Bilingualism and Music in Manitoba”
By Matt Harrison
“Caw-Caw-Gee?” imitated frontman Jacob Brodovsky, as he gave me an idea of how some people pronounce the name of his band, Kakagi. The correct way, he assures me, is “Ke-Ka-Gi.”
The group is made up of four lifelong friends, two of which, drummer Max Brodovsky and the aforementioned singer/guitarist, Jacob, are siblings. Jesse Popeski and Jonathan Corobow make up the other half of this four piece folk-rock group from Winnipeg. Continue reading “Kakagi”
QPOC Winnipeg has been organizing dance parties, open mics, concerts, pick-up basketball games, artist talks, fundraisers, movie screenings, and potlucks for QPOC (queer people of colour) and allies since 2014. The group, founded by Uzoma Chioma, emerged from an interest in creating safer spaces for those who occupy the intersection of racialized and queer experience; those who face both heteronormativity in communities of colour and racism in LGBT/queer communities. Continue reading “QPOC :: Drop the Mic”
by Chris Bryson
Through the use of her loop pedal and violin, Hannah Epperson has created a sound that’s classical yet modern, lustrous yet mournful, and altogether haunting in its charm. Her newest album, Upsweep, is a sweeping rush of emotion and sound, an aural escape into the deepening reaches of Epperson’s enchanting mind, a genre-defying mix of pearly-eyed, post-apocalyptic pop. Continue reading “Hannah Epperson”