Dangercat – Out of the Bag

Photo by Craig Dueck

By Riel Lynch

The four of us and the Russian Prince sat down. If you haven’t met him before, I don’ t recommend doing so. After editing out a ton of swears, inaudible slurs, and ridiculous
off-topic stories (all on my behalf), this is what I got.

Stylus: Who are you and what instruments do you play?
Keith Dueck:
I’ m Keith Dueck and I play guitar and sing.
Kevin Klassen: Uhhhhhhh…
Ryan Roemer: This is Kevin Klassen and he plays drums. He’s a little drunk. I’m Ryan Roemer and I play the bass. Occasionally I sing when Keith isn’t shooting me the ol’ stink eye.
Stylus: How do you want portray yourselves as a band?
RR:
Real nice guys, us in our defining moment, something for our grandchildren to look back at.
KK: I think we could finally make it somewhere.
Stylus: And where would that “somewhere” be?
RR:
We’d like to work on getting signed, and we’re recording a full length album in February.
KD: We’re on the cusp of it. We’re working hard to eventually work hard… Actually, we’ve finally made it to where we want. We’re all so comfortable with each other. We can sit down and have a song written in 10 minutes. We don’t take it so seriously, it’s all for fun. I don’t think we sound like anyone out there.
Stylus: What is a Dangercat? Are you guys dangercats?
RR:
It’s just a really aggressive style… No, take this one Keith.
KD: To be honest, it’s just a reference from Fubar.
KK: Are you serious?
RR: We are dangercats. Woman is a dangercat. We had to pick something, plus we just liked it.
Stylus: What influences Dangercat musically?
KD:
Drugs and alcohol. Nineties rock and pop-punk bands, like Saves the Day, Moves your Life, Hot Water Music, and Blink 182 obviously.
KK: Godsmack. Lamb of God.
RR: A lot of Nine Inch Nails too.
Stylus: Besides those bands, what influences you when writing?
KD:
I’m under the influence most of the time. Wait, is my mom going to be reading this?
RR: Drugs and alcohol don’t influence us, it’s just something we do that shows in our music.
Stylus: That’s an influence…
RR:
Okay, I was trying to avoid it but, yeah, we like to party!
KD: The song “Go Wolves,” is one I wrote when I was losing my mind on mushrooms.
Stylus: How often do you jam?
RR:
Twice a week, but all of our song ideas come between three to eight a.m.
KD: I prefer to write alone on acoustic, then bring it to jam. All together we make it
sound better.

You can download Dangercat’s four-track demo at http://dangercat.bandcamp.com.

Alpha Couple – Doubts are real

Photo by Lisa Varga, hair by Hanna Little, make-up by Lidia Najera, and accessories by Haberdashery

By Taylor Burgess

On one of the coldest nights in January, I bussed down to Albert Street to share a cup of tea with Kristel Jax and Mark Wohlgemuth, Alpha Couple and proprietors of Freud’s Bathhouse and Diner. Despite the splash they’ve made with the venue/gallery, and despite the fact that they’re soon leaving the space, they refused answering any questions about it. So instead, we talked about Stalingrad, an album that started when they lived in Toronto a year ago, named after the apartment  they lived in that they had nicknamed. Continue reading “Alpha Couple – Doubts are real”

Greenhouse – Molten Metal Music

Photo by Bree-Ann Farris

By David Nowacki

For a couple of years now, Curran Farris has been punishing our ears (in the most wonderful way possible) in metal powerhouse outfit Hide Your Daughters. With this crew, his modus is ripping faces and various other parts off with his twisted, tight and ear-smashingly loud riffs. More erudite local scenesters might have known him from another project, Husk, which similarly sought to cauliflower your ears, but first lulled you into a sense of security with quieter, almost droning, intros and asides in the vein of Isis or Pelican. Huge, echoing sounds that evoked more vast vistas than tense anger. Here existed a dichotomy in Farris which is now embodied in two quite separate parts. The aforementioned Hide Your Daughters taking care of the brain abusing and aural slashing, and the solo effort Greenhouse, which encompasses all that is serene, liquid and expansive about Farris’s playing. It is ambient at its truest, with droning guitar and occasional theremin painting nearly blank and formless structures of beauty, but somehow weaving them into a cohesive, gorgeous whole. We figured it would be of interest to see how the two sides of Curran Farris came together, so we did what any good journalist would do and asked him.

Stylus: After making a habit of playing in metal bands, why now ambient?

Curran Farris: A couple years back I started listening to [ambient music] more. I got into it through non-ambient artists, like heavy bands that started into more experimental stuff. I’ve played guitar since grade five, and until last year had worked as a guitar teacher. I like doing ambient because it really allows me to turn off my “guitar player” brain.
Stylus: Do you find it more challenging to write Hide Your Daughters licks or compose ambient songs?
CF:
Well, the thing is, it’s not really “written;” it’s all improvised. It might just start out with an idea. Writing the structured stuff is always much harder, you have to consciously abide to all the rules.
Stylus: Is either more satisfying?
CF:
Not really.
Stylus: Do your surroundings play a big part in your music? [Author inhales deeply of his own wafting genius.] Does the inherent placidity and grand scale of the prairies facilitate making ambient music?
CF:
Um… not consciously.
Stylus: So, why cassettes? I’m not sure I get this whole cassette revival.
CF:
The two cassettes that I have out are with Prairie Fire Tapes, which is essentially the format that they put out. For whatever reason, tapes are popular. I have CD-Rs and stuff as well. I don’t get it either.

You can hear Curran Farris in his various guitar playing iterations in both Greenhouse and Hide Your Daughters on MySpace (www.myspace.com/greenhousedrone, www.myspace.com/hideyourdaughters) and occasionally in person, and can order Greenhouse cassette tapes from Prairie Fire Tapes at www.prairiefiretapes.com.

Les Jupes – Myth-making with the middle man


By Michael Elves

Myths are generally written-on-papyrus old; or passed-down-from-your-ancestors old. The notion of myths being modern seems paradoxical, but for Winnipeg band Les Jupes, and principal songwriter Mike Petkau Falk, myth-making is ever present; “I do feel that sometimes we don’t acknowledge the myths that we do have in our lives right now, the ones that our society has created on the one hand, but then also that we don’t purposefully create myths – that the notion of the parable or the notion of stories that also teach is not something that’s on the forefront of modern society’s consciousness really.”
And while Les Jupes’ debut album is entitled Modern Myths, Petkau Falk admits this stab at allegorical writing is “nothing so bold as ‘I’m going to write the modern myth for the modern age,’ these are stories about people dealing with their lives in this age and some of the things that we get hung up on are the thing that are most present in this time.” Continue reading “Les Jupes – Myth-making with the middle man”

DJ Aubrey scares up steals of deals

//covers//

Sick of top 10 lists? Frustrated by a sea of artists you loved this year mixed in with artists that you hated, mixed in with artists that you might love, but don’t have time to do the research on?

DJ Aubrey Beardsley’s Top 10 Free Albums of 2010 does the research for you. All you have to do is follow the links & click download. 100% legal downloads from 10 artists who want their mp3s on your harddrive – and who’s music deserves to be there – compiled by the house DJ at Freud’s Bathhouse & Diner.

Links from S4lem, Grimes, Lil B, Tri Angle Records, 2muchachos, & more. Music for every taste, from shoe-gaze to witch house; from Russian tweenoise to American folktronica.

Go get ’em before they’re gone:
2010: Something for Nothin’

Live Bait: Turn them Off and Shut it Down

THE ABSENT SOUND W/ POP CRIMES
@ Ragpickers’ Viva Libra Theatre
By Victoria King
Walking into Ragpickers sort of feels like walking into a real life version of Rocky Horror Picture Show. While the main floor holds a large assortment of vintage apparel, the rest of the building itself is an amusement park of eclectic art pieces, creaky staircases and an extensive used book collection. The place oozes of interest and unique authenticity. Moreover, seeing a show in the third floor Viva Libra Theatre is like sitting front row beside the speakers at a concert, no matter where you end up in the room. The space is so small, you are bound to leave with some kind of hearing impairment. Oh well. That’s what hearing aids are for.
After Saturday night, I am more than willing to go pick some aural assistance up after Absent Sound blew Ragpickers away for the release of their new EP Turn Them Off. The local experimental/psyche band definitely puts on more than your average show. If you haven’t checked them out before, I’m giving you fair warning that it’s more than just a concert, it’s an experience (fog machines, crazy lights, potentially moving image backgrounds). The show was one of the trippiest (and I use this word sparingly) experiences of my life. Holy mystic river, in three words: it was dope.
The night started off a little bit later than anticipated with Pop Crimes, a four-part experimental rock group and another local find, opening up for Absent Sound. Playing for an audience of no more than 40 people, they killed it. Relying mostly on heavy guitar riffs and some intense drumming, the band seemed to be totally channeling a Mission of Burma kind of vibe. Imagine all your favorite guitar openings, interludes and harmonies: that’s pretty much Pop Crimes.
With a room so small and intimate, it’s no wonder the band seemed to affect the audience so wholly. Absent Sound started up near midnight and the show opened with a steady progression into the opening song. Every note had its place. The fog machine started up, the lights were cued and with that it was more than a concert. The whole show was a full sensory experience. As mentioned before, the Viva Libra theatre is a tiny space. Seriously, it seems like no more than 60 people max at a time before the whole building would just crumble. With that being said, that music literally pulsed throughout the entire space. The whole show was a tight, focused, collective effort. It’s easy to get lost listening to Absent Sound. Also specializing in sound art, their music has a polished rawness to it. The whole show was nuts, right from beginning to end. Once the final song was finished, the lights fell and the audience, unsure whether to expect more, lay silent. Only until lead vocalist and guitarist David Fort clarified with, “That’s it.” Of course, clapping ensued as well as an encore. Not only did the show have the best closing I’d seen, the encore was incredible. Dedicating the song to a recent case of police brutality just outside the city, the tribute was wild. This was one of the coolest shows I’ve seen in a while.
While the EP doesn’t have the fog machine or the light show, Turn Them Off is a great stocking-stuff for any music fan on your Christmas list this year. It’s an epically haunting four-song trance/experimental/rock collection, available for purchase and download on the band’s website, www.theabsentsound.com. You can also check them out at Gio’s on December 21 at Element Sircus, also curated by Absent Sound themselves.

Karkwa – Out of the bleu

By Sabrina Carnevale

If it seems as though Montreal is churning out hipster rock like it’s going out of style, it’s probably because it is. Between Arcade Fire (who recently had the highly coveted musician slot on Saturday Night Live), the Dears, the Unicorns and the Stills, Montreal has taken over as Canada’s indie rock capital. The city can now add a Polaris-prize winning band to its list of accomplished musicians – Francophone quintet Karkwa won Canada’s highest musical honour, along with a cool $20,000, this past September against some major heavyweights including Shad, Broken Social Scene, Radio Radio and The Besnard Lakes.
“Montreal is a great community, there are a lot of dedicated fans and a great group of musicians that we are friends with,” says Karkwa vocalist and guitarist Louis-Jean Cormier. “The music comes very naturally, we’re influenced by many things, the weather, maybe even the winters; there is definitely a ‘Montreal’ sound.”
To make their Polaris win for their fourth album, Les Chemins De Verre, that much sweeter, they also managed to be the first Francophone act to take home the popular prize. “All the newspapers in Quebec and Montreal were talking about it, we were surprised just to make the short list and to be a part of it with many bands that we listen to and are fans of,” says Cormier. “We were so surprised to win, it was unbelievable, we had no expectations. But when we won, we had to speak in English in front of all those artists – that was pretty strange.”
Continue reading “Karkwa – Out of the bleu”

Dec/Jan Issue Preview: Diamond Rings

Hey folks! It’s the first Thursday of the month, which means there’s a shiny new issue of Stylus out on stands, and it’s a big one. In addition to our regular slew of reviews, we’ve got a whackload of features on folks from Jason Collett to John Waters. AND our annual rundown of the year’s best albums and shows.

To get you even more excited, here’s a preview of Stylus editor Taylor Burgess’s interview with the glam-tastic Diamond Rings. (Think a of a synthier, Canadian Patrick Wolf ,with occasional rapping.)

“I had this batch of songs written that I was performing, acoustically, for friends, at little hole-in-the-walls around town, just as something to do. You know, so [my make-up artist] was aware of the material, Colin Medley [my video director] was familiar with a lot of the work – just people who were really close to me, you know, they’d come and see the shows, and we just decided that we wanted to take it a step further. I had never done anything like that before – I remember the first time trying to put on mascara, I almost, like, passed out.”

Live Bait: Wintersleep win, Ra Ra Riot ra

Wintersleep & Ra Ra Riot
@ the Garrick
Saturday, November 20
By Victoria King

No matter what part of the country you are from, so long as you were born under the Maple Leaf sun you are instantly claimed as Canadian. As a musician, whatever success you encounter and however many Junos you win, you can bet that your hometown will honour you with a ceremonial street inauguration or concert venue to stand in your honour. As it stands, I would be willing to bet that the guys from Wintersleep may go through this in 20 years or so. Following the great Canadian music stigma of ‘WTF, they’re Canadian,’ Wintersleep recently released their fourth album New Inheritors, and made a stop in Winnipeg along with Ra Ra Riot on November 22.

For starters, I will be honest in admitting that I had never listened to Ra Ra Riot before that evening. I expected something loud and rowdy, as hinted to by their name, yet I was hesitant when I saw the band take the stage. Although they looked more like the type of kids that would be chilling outside the Garrick rather than playing onstage, this was definitely a giant “I told you so” moment. RRR kicked off the night with “Boy.” If you haven’t heard it, take it from me,  I don’t suggest you listen to it in public. Trying to contain my bobbing head and bouncing knees at a socially acceptable pace was a difficult task, but I was thankful to see that I wasn’t the only one in the crowd who was totally down for RRR.  They played a solid opening, and for those in the crowd who resisted the urge to dance; fail.

The stage for the night was minimal, excluding the stuffed dog sporting a wrestling belt, which was left as the one big question mark of the night. “Drunk on Aluminum” was the first track of the evening. Seriously, it was so good. The set included “Astronaut,” “Dead Letter and the Infinite Yes,” “Black Camera,” “Preservation,” “Weighty Ghost” and “Echo Location.” To be frank, I was actually quite surprised how much hard these guys rocked live. I went in expecting a balanced mix of an indie rock/folk sound, but definitely got more than I expected in terms of an indie rock influence. The guitar came through so strong while the vocals maintained the same raw quality that makes their music so recognizable. On a side note, their was a pretty great ’Peg city moment when lead vocalist Paul Murphy asserted, “Pretty cold in Winnipeg” only to be replied by “This ain’t nothin’!” by some dude in the audience. To whoever did so, major cool points. “Oblivion”, “Laser Beams” and “Breath Normal, Nerves Normal” made up the encore, along with Murphy’s “Thank you Winnipeg, this was fucking awesome!”

The one gripe I do need make about the night is in regards to whoever was in charge of the sound system. For at least the first seven songs, the sound at front stage was pretty shitty, with the guitar seeming to drown out nearly everything else. I refused to accept the possibility that the band may not be as awesome live as on recording, so I checked out the middle of the venue. Turns out it was just the front of the stage, as the middle sounded great. Kinda craptastic on my part, but still a solid show.
With that said, it is my prediction that Wintersleep will end up being one of those awesome bands that will forever be clumped in with all other eclectic Canadian groups; and while they may play in your cities and perform for your award shows, at the end of the day they’re still from our east coast.