Author: Editor

 

By Alex Roberecki

To describe the music of Black Mountain is to create a paradox. They are a band currently creating music based on the music from the past that was meant to sound like it was from the future. Their songs are epic musical journeys that create psychedelic soundscapes, sometimes lasting well over the ten minute range. With all that extra time, each song has plenty of room to grow, develop and resonate in your mind. Their signature sound of atmospheric synths with a hard rhythmic edge is present throughout all four of their albums including their latest album titled, IV.  IV is the band’s first full length album in almost six years, following up  2010’s Polaris Prize nominated Wilderness Heart. This time around the conflicting elements are intensified between female and male vocalists, Amber Webber and Stephen McBean. McBean’s intense voice is matched by Webber’s soothing hypnotic wale, reminding the listener of a young Grace Slick. Continue reading “Black Mountain”

By Victoria King

Male Activity is a Winnipeg-based experimental music label. Run by Bret Parenteau, 24, the label represents Parenteau’s own projects (B.P., Bedroom Suite, Gashkadin), as well as several artists from Winnipeg and abroad – as far away as the UK and Birmingham, AL. Founded in the summer of 2012, Male Activity began with Parenteau and his good friend, Paul Kinasevych. Kinasevych was the labelhead of Male Activity until the summer of 2015, when he moved to Calgary, AB for university. It was then that he handed everything over to Bret. The self-described ‘Evan Goldberg’ of the two, Parenteau has been quietly working away at the label for the last year, putting his own spin on things. Welcoming new artists and listeners all the time, Stylus and Parenteau sat down together one Saturday afternoon at the Good Will Social Club. Continue reading “Male Activity”

By Kaitlyn Emslie-Farrell

The classy way to do an interview on a Sunday evening is to meet in a local punk venue, the King’s Hotel, have a few beers and laugh around a table for a couple hours. Oh yeah, we also talked about music. I met with Zip R Head of Trouser Mouth and we decided to go raw with the interview. Beer first, work second. Laughs everywhere in between. Let’s have a good time with this. Continue reading “Trouser Mouth”

 

Okay, this is a great record. Let’s just start with that. Top drawer material. It feels like slipping into a dreamworld. As a starting point of reference think The Cure, Radiohead, etc. – basically shoegaze but also indie rock. Continue reading “Animal Teeth :: Happy To See You”

By Andre Cornejo

It’s the day before the deadline, and only now do I realize how pathetically far behind

I am on all of this writing I was supposed to do over the last 30 days. No reviews,

no editorials, and I haven’t transcribed the interview. The last month and a half have

been a complete write off for me. A haze of amber ale, cheap cigarettes, and very little

sleep. Continue reading “Out From the Watering Hole: Seasons in the Abyss and the Need for Reconditioning”

 

“I don’t mind . . . should I mind?” Lev Snowe muses on “Daydream I,” the second track on his EP, Drifting Off. In this instance, the tug-of-war between caring and not caring seems to have a clear victor, but through his music Snowe makes apathy part of a joyful state of mind. Continue reading “Lev Snowe :: Drifting Off”

As a follow up to his April 2015 album release of ok, night, Micah Visser’s new single “I Will Not Return As A Tourist” came out in November of last year. The 19-year old will be embarking on his second tour, headed East on March 17th. The last night of the tour is a homecoming show on March 30th at The Good Will Social Club; Visser hopes that, for his city, this homecoming performance will be his best yet. Continue reading “Micah Visser :: Eastern Canada Tour”