Category: Features

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Todd Snider :: Agnostic stoner folkie takes to the Folk Fest stage


by Sheldon Birnie

Todd Snider is an American stoner-folk-songwriting troubadour in every sense of the terms. For the past 20 years, he’s written 12 albums and performed to thousands of fans across the world. In anticipation of his Winnipeg Folk Festival performance, Stylus caught up with Snider at home in East Nashville for a phone conversation about his craft, his love of Jerry Jeff Walker, the Folk Fest, and the Nashville Predators. Continue reading “Todd Snider :: Agnostic stoner folkie takes to the Folk Fest stage”

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The Beauties are a bunch of beauties

by Sheldon Birnie

The Beauties are a rock n roll band out of Toronto. Every Sunday night, they tear the Dakota Tavern down and build it back up as a monument to the Old Gods of roots based rock n roll. The Beauties have toured across the country, performing on their own as well as backing heavy weights like Serena Ryder and Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. In 2010, they released their eponymous label debut for Six Shooter Records. For the next two weekends, Manitoba is blessed to have the Beauties at the Dauphin Country Fest and the Winnipeg Folk Fest. Stylus caught up with Beauty Shawn Creamer as he navigated Toronto in a taxi cab earlier this week, preparing for their time on the prairies. Continue reading “The Beauties are a bunch of beauties”

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First Class Riot: Crushing Boners with Aunty Panty


Photo of Aunty Panty by Taylor Burgess in Calgary, Alberta.

By Taylor Burgess

For their only show of Sled Island, thru-and-thru riotgrrrls Aunty Panty sauntered onto the stage and they started pulling their white dresses over their heads. They exposed themselves to the crowd in nude-coloured bras and merkins over their pantyhose. There was a space of metres between them and the crowd, which was maintained while Aunty Panty burst out their alarmingly stripped-down blend of post-punk and  riotgrrrl. To get into the heads of one of the more political bands at the festival, I sat down with them in the parking lot of the Palamino. Continue reading “First Class Riot: Crushing Boners with Aunty Panty”

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FIRST CLASS RIOT: Q’n’A with Nü Sensae


Photo of Nü Sensae by Taylor Burgess in Calgary, Alberta.

By Taylor Burgess

Bubbling out of Vancouver’s fertile and molting noise/punk/hardcore/etc. scene, Nü Sensae are one of loudest onslaughts which reaffirm doom and gloom exists in these optimistic times. Core duo Daniel Pitout and Andrea Lukic were joined late last year by guitarist Brody McKnight, former Mutator, and they all joined forces to make their new record, Sundowning, which is looming to drop on Suicide Squeeze records for August 7. (“I know,” Brody McKnight says, “it’s a big deal.”) Here’s a track from that album, and then after the jump there’s an interview from the back alley of the Ship and Anchor after their last show of Sled Island Festival.

Nü Sensae – Swim
Continue reading “FIRST CLASS RIOT: Q’n’A with Nü Sensae”

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MEME Festival

by Victoria King

When the stage in Old Market Square was torn down and replaced by the Cube in 2010, the structure was met with mixed emotions. Its futuristic design, its odd and confusing functionality, and a remaining nostalgia for the former, more traditional stage seemed to be major concerns in some people’s minds. Continue reading “MEME Festival”

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FIRST CLASS RIOT: Arriving in Style at Sled Island Festival


Photo of Bloodhouse by Taylor Burgess in Calgary, Alberta.

By Taylor Burgess

After driving to Calgary straight from Winnipeg, what better way to acclimatize myself to the Sled Island festival than head the Royal Canadian Legion #1? It served as two venues in one, had the Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet reunion show, and offered the nobility and decency of a legion so many of us have ironically or unironically come to know.

Continue reading “FIRST CLASS RIOT: Arriving in Style at Sled Island Festival”

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The Realities of Young Empires


by Colburne Poapst

Being in a band that has toured the US, played shows in such marquee locations as Paris, London and New York, and gets consistent radio play across this country would be a dream come true for many young musicians. But there is a big difference between a dreamer’s distant idealizations of success and the actual reality of it. Stylus recently spoke with Jake Palahnuk, the bass player for Toronto indie-dance rock group Young Empires, and got a first-hand account of the ups and downs of playing in a band that has achieved, in many senses, indie success. Evident in our conversation is the way Palahnuk tempers his own excitement for his music with the realities of band economics. Continue reading “The Realities of Young Empires”