Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
by Sheldon Birnie
Last week was a big one for new releases out here on the Hillbilly Highway, with new LPs from The Deep Dark Woods and Those Darlins dropping hot. This week brings two more beauty full lengths from roots stars on the rise. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – More great records hitting the Highway”
by Daniel Emberg
Winnipeg’s own Curran Faris has been active as Greenhouse since 2009, using guitar as the source of minimal yet engaging electronic drone soundscapes not typically associated with the instrument. He has released Greenhouse albums on Reverb Worship and Prairie Fire Tapes, and will be performing as part of the send + receive festival on Friday, October 11—sharing a bill with Tony Conrad, the Sons of God, and the EVP Project. As made evident in this e-mail exchange with Stylus, the festival has long been dear to Faris, and he is extremely excited to be playing it this year! Continue reading “send + receive v15 :: Greenhouse”
by Daniel Emberg
Peeled straight from his bio: “A longstanding figure in Vancouver’s underground music scene, Joshua Stevenson aka Magneticring has performed, collaborated and toured with numerous artists from around the world such as Von Bingen, Staked Plain, Kemialliset Ystävät, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Jandek and Land of Kush. Working with primarily with analog synthesizers and electrical effects Magneticring’s musical sphere ranges from 1930s Indonesia to 1970s Germany. Tones, Drones and Phase.” You can catch Magneticring in concert during the send + receive festival, as he plays a show on Wednesday, October 9 with Le Révélateur that will also feature screenings of two Jordan Belson films. Stylus recently cajoled Stevenson into spending a few minutes sharing thoughts on what will be his first-ever appearance in Winnipeg. Continue reading “send + receive v15 :: Magneticring”
Imagine, if you will, me sitting in a floating castle in the clouds, on a luxuriant chaise-longue. Continue reading “Machinedrum – Vapor City”
Ceremony is a heavy album. The type of album it’s best to enjoy while sitting in a candlelit room on a quiet night, contemplating the cosmic massiveness of, well, whatever you want. Continue reading “Anna Von Hausswolff – Ceremony”
Daggers, The Defiled’s third album, wastes no time traveling back to the past. Continue reading “The Defiled – Daggers”
by Myke Lewis
“I’m not gonna lie, I masturbated quite a bit in that bathroom,” reveals Ryley Devine with the kind of frank openness that would otherwise have you switching seats on the bus. The man in question is the drummer in Winnipeg’s emerging noise-makers, Dead Ranch. His band-mate and front-man, Chad Alsop explains, “Jesse was even, ya know, ‘if you guys are gonna tug off, just keep it in the bathroom.'” Continue reading “Dead Ranch :: Attack of the Noise Creatures”
by Daniel Emberg
Transcendence. That is the theme of the 15th edition of send + receive, Winnipeg’s international sound art festival. For 2013, the festival has booked some of the most exciting names in… well, a field that seems to suit the theme quite well. Sound art is conceptualized broadly enough at send + receive to transcend even a common descriptor. In speaking about send + receive, the artists variously use expressions such as “avant-garde,” “challenging,” “subversive,” and “ecstatic.” Continue reading “send + receive 2013 :: festival preview”
by Sheldon Birnie
Sometimes life has a way of flying by out here on the Highway at what seems like a thousand miles an hour. There’s no time to smell the roses from the passing lane, friends. But luckily, there are some good tunes dropping out here to keep the gas pedal pinned. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Couple big releases rocking the road”
There is probably no more a confounding yet fascinating artist in contemporary music than Van Dyke Parks. Continue reading “Van Dyke Parks – Songs Cycled”