Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
by Anastasia Chipelski
After a disappointingly bleak crop of local awards at the Junos, Manitoban artists, dolled up in their finest and sipping beers at ballpark prices, got the respect they fully deserve at the Western Canadian Music Awards. Continue reading “WCMA 2014 – Manitobans clean up at home”
by Sheldon Birnie
With BreakOutWest in town this past weekend, there was plenty to see and do all over Winnipeg. But with the NHL Regular Season about to get underway, Stylus was able to get some time with Western Canadian Music Awards host, CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence, to talk about his recent “puck rock memoir,” The Lonely End of the Rink, and his own coming to terms with hockey and hockey culture by way of independent, Canadian music. While in town, Lawrence, whose old band the Smugglers were regularly featured in Stylus throughout the 90s, was also able to check out a Winnipeg Jets pre-season game, swap hockey stories with former Canuck Martin Gelinas, and jaw about beer league hockey with the rest of us. Check out our conversation below, as the puck drops on the 2013-14 NHL season. Let’s go! Continue reading “Grant Lawrence, Puck Rock & the Lonely End of the Rink”
by Anastasia Chipelski
If it weren’t for Breakout West, Winnipeg might have the sad luck of totally missing a local gem of a duo. Mise en Scene have been logging road time and living out of their backpacks for the better part of the last year, and are squeezing in a few local shows before dropping off the prairie’s radar again. Continue reading “Mise en Scene :: Pizza parties, world touring, & BreakOutWest 2014”
by Matt Williams
Editor’s Note: We’ve had a draft of this article sitting in the dock for months now. Seriously, a first draft went up in frickin’ August. We’re very excited that we can finally hit the “publish” button on this, and even more excited to check out some live music down at the Handsome Daughter. We’re told the doors will be open at 9pm tonight, Friday October 3rd….
Jay Evaristo is tired. Between the 40-50 unpaid hours a week he’s been putting in at 61 Sherbrook St., his actual day job, and trying to keep track of everything that has to happen to open the doors to West Broadway’s newest venue, The Handsome Daughter, some basic elements of survival have fallen by the wayside. Continue reading “Raising a Handsome Daughter :: Long awaited venue (finally?) opens doors”
by Martyna Turczynowicz
Latka is an four-piece rock band that’s known for their onstage energy and catchy lyrics. They’ve been nominated for the Video of the Year and BreakOutWest. Stylus caught up with Cole Vincent and Milos Mistrovic to talk about their busy year and upcoming single, “West Coast (A-Game).” Continue reading “Latka :: Local boys up for Video of the Year at BreakOutWest 2014”
by Sheldon Birnie
Loud, abrasive outsider music has always had a home in Winnipeg. From the 80s punk rock explosion, to 90s noise rock, the out-there electronic experiments of Venetian Snares and beyond, a twisted frequency lies at the dark Heart of the Continent. One of the current crop of young, hungry bands picking at the carcasses of their fore bearers is Tunic. Continue reading “Tunic :: A fucking cruise missile to stardom”
by Daniel Emberg
Joe Nolan seemed to almost pop out of nowhere a few years ago in Edmonton, but it took little time for the music world to embrace the young talent. In addition to being a disarming, if slightly enigmatic, songwriter, Nolan’s got a distinctive voice that is equally at home teasing a pretty melody for all it’s worth as it is flirting with a lupine growl. His most recent album, Tornado, came out on Six Shooter Records earlier this year and has garnered much love across the land. It also scored Nolan two nominations at this weekend’s Western Canadian Music Awards: Roots Solo Recording of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year for “Tightrope Dancer,” the opening track on the album. That also means he’ll be playing as part of the BreakOut West festival in town this weekend, so Stylus sniffed him out by phone for a little chat. Here’s our first conversation with Joe Nolan. Continue reading “Introducing :: Joe Nolan”
by Daniel Emberg
The fellas of Scenic Route to Alaska (Shea Connor – drums/backing vocals, Trevor Mann-lead vocals/guitar, and Murray Wood – bass) have deep chemistry that keeps their lifelong friendship from being sapped by life as a touring creative collective. After playing together in various forms since early adolescence, they formed Scenic Route in late 2010 and have quickly made enough of a name that they were recently voted the second best band in their hometown of Edmonton by readers of the local arts weekly. The guys are currently supporting their second full-length effort Warrington, which is up for Pop Recording of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. They are coming to Winnipeg for BreakOut West this weekend, and Stylus caught up with Shea Connor by phone as the band was making a stop in Red Deer. Once Shea’s jaw got off the ground (Brent Sutter had just walked by) the conversation started moving and now we’ve got this introduction to Scenic Route in Alaska. Continue reading “Introducing :: Scenic Route to Alaska”
by Daniel Emberg
Every year the send + receive (s+r) festival is curated around a particular theme. For this, its sixteenth edition, that theme is “physical sound,” and the four-day schedule of performances and installations reflect a broad and unpredictable range of treatments through which participating artists are interpreting that theme.
Festival director crys cole recently told Stylus that after sorting through the various submissions for this year’s festival, “things took a turn more toward the [human] body.” The pieces to be performed are, “not so much about how sound can create physical reactions in an object, but more the ways in which sound is created by the body or the way the body responds to sound.” The emphasis on bodies does not necessarily colour everything you will hear at s+r, but there will be no mistaking the theme at any of the venues—several of which will be hosting festival performances for the first time. Continue reading “send + receive v.16”
by Matt Williams
At the Polaris Music Prize Gala on Monday night in downtown Toronto, Richard Trapunski, Editor-in-Chief at Chart Attack, presented Yamantaka // Sonic Titan’s album, UZU, by posing an important question. It’s one so simple and obvious that the fact it seems to never get asked is almost downright confusing. Continue reading “Polaris Music Prize 2014: What Animism’s victory means for Canada”