Vancouver’s Cityreal keeping a close to ear to the pavement

cityreal
by Harrison Samphir
When Stylus asked Remi Huot, otherwise known as Cityreal, how he began making hip hop music in his early twenties, the answer was not unusual.“I fell into it accidentally,” he recalls, speaking with Stylus on the phone from Vancouver BC. “I had some knowledge of music from playing in high school bands, and later on started messing around with beats. I just stuck with it as a hobby.”Now 26 years old, Huot is among Canada’s most prolific rising emcees, boasting two records, three Western Canadian Music Award nominations, and a substantive list of associated acts including Swollen Members, Sweatshop Union, D-Sisive and even Leslie Feist. Continue reading “Vancouver’s Cityreal keeping a close to ear to the pavement”

Hillbilly Highway – Dustin Bentall & The Smokes to light up the Park

dustin bentall

by Sheldon Birnie

Dustin Bentall is an award winning songwriter off of the West Coast of British Columbia. Since the early Oughts, he’s been travelling hard across the Hillbilly Highway, churning out a couple albums worth of solid storytelling songs about drifters, gunfighters, and guitar slingers. On his recent EP, Orion, Bentall has finally locked down a solid band at his back. With the Smokes in tow, Bentall, son of Canadian folk-rock hero Barney Bentall, is rolling into town with Lindi Ortega to take the Park Theatre by storm.  Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Dustin Bentall & The Smokes to light up the Park”

This Hisses :: Balsamic reduction of Anhedonia

this-hisses
by Shanell Dupras
This Hisses formed back in 2010 with member Julia Ryckman’s urge to record after her last project, The Gorgon, was through performing. Ryckman recruited Pat Short after attempting to make a band with him in previous years. Ryckman also asked JP (Jean-Paul) Perron to join, having no idea what to expect. They quickly became This Hisses, and pumped out their first album, Surf Noir, only three months after forming. Their sound has slowly changed, and they are now releasing a second album to show their new, more evolved sound. Stylus sat down with Ryckman, Short, and Perron over a meal of Rold Gold pretzels and wine to talk about the new album, due out February 9th. Continue reading “This Hisses :: Balsamic reduction of Anhedonia”