While driving under and through a Roman aqueduct on the city’s main scenic strip, I ride shotgun with my main contact guy Tito behind the wheel.
“I’m really glad you’re able to take this job, Vilar,” says Tito as he cruises his Opel through the afternoon traffic. “I know when you get this done, it’s gonna be a beautiful thing.”
“Well, thank you for getting me here,” I reply to him. I take out a USB drive, hold it out towards the stereo and ask, “You don’t mind, do you?”
“You go ahead, Vilar. The road is all yours,” he answers.
I plug my USB drive into the car’s stereo and load the Sadies’ new long-player Darker Circles onto it. The swirling reverberation of opener “Another Year Again” blasts into this furnace afternoon with its tubular amp rattle. The sizzling heat from passing palm trees and national monuments assimilates itself onto the song and the narrative. I tap my foot on the car’s floor. I know this is good. I take a glance out my side window and notice a legless man pull his belongings up the street on a kiddie sleigh. I close my eyes. Not all sights are pretty.
“Do you think scoundrels like us ever make it to heaven, Vilar?” Tito asks.
“I think scoundrels like us only make it to the gates… to eventually set it all on fire,” I respond.
“Yeah bro, I hear you. You speak the truth,” Tito confides. Continue reading “Story Time w/Rob Vilar: The Sadies”
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Oct 11 2010
Pyramid Cabaret
Now you must understand that the gig was totally amazing. Guitarist from Victim’s Family, Bassist and Drummer from Rollins band (and the drummer played with Helios Creed ex-Chrome), plus this kid on guitar named Kimo who did all these weird affected sounds like East Bay Ray. They played for almost 2 hours, got two encores, did tons of songs from the album plus a bunch of unrecorded songs and “Cal Uber Alles,” “Lets Lynch the Landlord,” “Holiday in Cambodia” and “Bleed for Me”!!!!!! The only bad thing about the show was the last song – some shitty lollapalooooka-like grunge thing that went on far too long – it is also the last song on the album – sheeesh what a stinker! The five or so fights – including a guy totally knocked out cold by a douche who hit him five times in the head with his fist from behind right in front of Jello who stopped the show temporarily- also sucked ass big time. I took the day totally off, so I didn’t see yer email until now. I called you on the way to the show, but I figured you either had a family thing or would be there, but alas the former was the case. Jello was in a crusty mood – not quite happy with his rider meal – he apparently hates yams and wonders why we celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada. He also wanted to know if any Canadian troops were deployed in Iraq while he was warming up backstage. He asked if his T-Shirt was appropriate. It had a slogan on it that only activists could love. He was amazing on stage. Great show!
-From Anon to Anon
We who are in-tuned to the fainter vibrations know of ghosts and ghouls around all the time–but now that all Hallow’s Eve approaches, the supernatural bubbles to the surface of the mire more quickly. But F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N is a video installation at aceartinc. by Susan MacWilliam that explores the validity of an infamous Winnipeg seance, or lack thereof–and the jump cuts and repetition will either make you feel sickly uncomfortable, or just at home.
Last week, our very talented (and prolific) photographer Cheyenne Rae took a bunch of photos of one of her fav bands, the Wooden Sky. All the photos after the jump!
This week, from September 27 to October 2, the UWSA is holding the fourth annual Freestyle festival; a week-long celebration of hip-hop music and culture highlighted by K’naan concert on Wednesday, September 29th, the visitation of Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn on Saturday, October 2nd at the Graffiti Gallery, and a free Class of Freestyle IV concert and CD release. To complement the arrival of Charlie Ahearn, this year’s edition features a special free screening of the 25th Anniversary Edition of the original hip-hop movie Wild Style on Wednesday, September 29.
Being the first hip-hop movie released at such an early stage in the genre’s development, Wild Style helped present and popularize the culture to a wide audience in a pre-internet society. I see it as being a snapshot of a very young and almost unrecognizable culture when compared to today’s view of hip hop and the abundance of violence and misogyny represented in its mainstream music. Having been formed in the neighbourhoods with some of the worst living conditions in North America, hip hop always manages to find itself in the middle of controversy.
Those looking to explore these arguments about the negativity surrounding the culture of hip hop may do so at a screening of Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes on Tuesday, September 28th. Following the screening, a discussion addressing the sexism and homophobia in a testosterone fueled hip-hop culture will take place, giving everyone a chance to voice their opinions about what is wrong with the culture.
But the lyrics and the images represented in them are not all that the hip-hop culture has to offer the world. The Freestyle festival has put together a number of workshops concerning the other elements of hip-hop. To kick off the week’s festivities, the Graffiti Gallery is putting together an hour-long graffiti art workshop at Spence Street on Monday from 12:30 PM, an excellent opportunity for anyone enamoured by the almost-indiscernible pieces they see on the streets on a daily basis to learn from Winnipeg’s premier graffiti art gallery.
Some of Winnipeg’s best local talent have signed on this year to lead some of the Freestyle workshops. For anyone interested in the art of beat making or DJing, Kutdown is leading workshop sessions from 12:30 on Tuesday, September 28th and Thursday, September 30th for beat making and DJing respectively, with DJ Co-op accompanying him for the session on Thursday. To finish off the workshops, the “Godfather of Winnipeg B-Boying” B-boy Bob will be hosting a breakdancing workshop in the Bulman MPR on Friday, October 1st from 12:30 to 1:30 PM. From what I’ve heard, the breakdancing workshop has been the most popular so far so be sure to register to be guaranteed a spot in the workshop!
Alas, the life the of a University student is a busy one, and time is limited; if you can’t make it to the workshops you want, you can still join in the celebration of hip-hop culture by tuning in to CKUW 95.9 FM from 1 to 2:00 PM Monday to Friday for a special Freestyle radio series.
Remember, both film screenings, the Charlie Ahearn artist talk, and all of the workshops are free of charge, so be sure to come out for what should be a memorable Freestyle IV!
So Women are playing tomorrow, September 25, at the Albert, and we have a feature article on them and their kick-ass new album Public Strain coming out in a couple weeks. I know, Stylus is absolutely the worst at timing things out.
But, so everyone can win, check out half of the interview today, see Women slay tomorrow, and then get their album at the show or on Tuesday (official release dates–not so passé!) Aaaannnnnnnnd pick up a copy of Stylus in a couple weeks. Hhh’okay? Hhh’okay.
People love a spectacle, and on Tuesday a spectacle is what people got as the Flaming Lips brought their raucous live show to Winnipeg’s Burton Cummings Theatre along with Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. It was loud, it was long, but most of all it was fun.
The evening began with L.A.’s Ariel Pink, who brought his DIY bedroom-recording aesthetic on stage for the first time in Winnipeg. One of the strengths of Ariel Pink’s entire project is its ability to force people to think critically about what they’re listening too. It doesn’t take long upon hearing The Doldrums or Worn Copy to notice that something is going horribly wrong in this music. His music is almost always a bloody mess, through which the listener is invited to wade through discovering one hell of a good song. In concert, this mess was brought even further to the forefront. Whether it was through technical difficulties, off-key singing, or at times atrocious sound quality (done, I believe, both intentionally and unintentionally), Ariel Pink’s set kept the audience off-balance as everything appeared at all times on the verge of utter collapse. What surprised me most about this was that, in actually fact, it made for an even more rewarding live experience. Ariel Pink is sloppy. In fact in many ways it’s his sloppiness that makes him so loveable – introducing a sense of struggle and chaos into his blissful pop songs. Well on Tuesday, while blazing through a set comprised almost exclusively of songs from this year’s killer record Before Today, (the lone exception being “Gettin’ High in the Morning” from 2006’s House Arrest) it was Ariel Pink’s sloppiness that shone through most clearly.
And then there were the Flaming Lips. Exploding onto stage through the open legs of a woman projected onto their extremely large background screen, the Flaming Lips pummeled the crowd with a 2-hour set of some of their most jarring psychedelic songs. It was ridiculous. There were confetti cannons, giant balloons, streamers, a bear, giant hands with lasers shooting out of them and of course the space ball, all vying for the audiences full attention in front of an endless barrage of strobe lights (so powerful that it warranted a warning from Lips lead-singer Wayne Coyne prior to the concert), and dizzying video projections. It was a spectacle.
Unfortunately, as amazing, and as fun as the stage show was, the songs themselves were less so. Put blankly, the set-list could have been better, as the band decided to go, for the most part, with upbeat and in your face songs leaving out many of the more subtle elements of their catalog. (Nothing from The Soft Bulletin? Really???) They wanted to blow us all apart, and their song selection was indicative of that, with the strongest moments coming from songs such as “She Don’t Use Jelly” or “The Sparrow Looks Up at The Machine.” What this made for in turn, was a tempo that simply could have been better maintained. That said, given how awesome the stage show was, the concert turned out to be a total blast, exciting for even the most stubborn of fans.
So we get these emails every morning giving us the highlights of the day for NXNE. While Iggy Pop was this years’ “headliner” and De La Soul were closing out the night at the big free stage, I heard about show that happens every week in Toronto, a band who takes up a monthly residency at a different bar, playing only covers, some straight ahead, others mutated and mashed up with other known songs. The band’s name is Ancient Chinese Secret.
Ancient Chinese Secret is the latest band featuring the man who started the whole music geek in me running: Mr. Brian Connelly of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet fame. And this was not your standard show. Brian, the nicest, most modest, fun and self-depricating musician-type that I’ve ever met, he and his band set up at the front of this tiny pub and just play. They don’t really talk until they announce they’re going to take a break between sets. Not looking for anything but to play to whoever’ll listen and have a beer when they rest their hands.
I woke up late in the morning (early afternoon) in pain from rocking out too hard at the Astro-man? show last night. Shit, where’s the Robaxacet? No time to write, the only panel I cared to see was starting in two hours, across town at the Hyatt.
The panelists:
Henry Owings of the (in)famous Chunklet mag, Drug Racer Records, graphic designer (and it goes on and on).
Damian Abraham of Fucked Up, new dad, all around nice guy.
Nick Flanagan, moderator, singer of the Brutal Knights, comedian, and recent cripple (a skin-puncturing compound fracture that he got while performing. So punk!!)
The panel: “All of the Other Panels at NXNE Are WRONG.” The purpose: debunk all of the shit that every other panel tells you you need: “Finding a manager,” “The 360 Deal,” “Making a name for yourself,” and other horse-hooey that “the biz” says is a must when you want to start a band. Passion and the want to make music is the most important thing. Everything else you can pretty much do yourself. Yeah, EVERYTHING. Promote yourself, book your own shows, manage your cash, release your own records, get distro deals. EVERYTHING! The message was loud and clear from the get-go, but the three had 55 minutes left to make their point. Well…
Almost immediately, Damian took over moderating duties from Nick. Nick would jump in with random ridiculous comments and Henry would claim that they “knocked that one out of the park.” Three guys who know their shit, know what’s bullshit (almost everything) and aren’t afraid to mince words or take the piss out of anyone/thing that needs it. With a heap of humour. The panel was absolutely hilarious. Essentially three friends riffing off of each other and the list of names of the other panels. Sadly, the idea that was being bounced around before the panel started was that Damian, with wireless microphone, was going to crash other panels and report live from other rooms why they were bullshit. We even tested the range! It all boiled down to what the Big Boys ended their concerts with: “Go start your own band!”
I would’ve gone home and wrote about the previous day and got my reports in on time, but I got the option to go out for food and beer and record shopping with Henry, so I chose that instead. No brainer, right? Big geek, bigger heart, I love that man.
By Patrick Michalishyn All right, so I said I’d write for Stylus about my NXNE experience. And I did — eventually. As any reader of this fine publication would understand, when you have the chance to meet, hang out, befriend a musical hero, you take that chance. And on this trip I did. I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts and refine my writing in the “cool off” days following. I hope ya dig! – Patrick
Rumoured shows are wonderful… when they actually happen. There was a rumour that at this house-party/BBQ George Stroumboulopoulos would show up, that Broken Social Scene would all come, and that they’d be dragging along Pavement for a secret set. I decided to check it out. Even if none of that happened, the beer is free.
I make it down, pay my cover and go get a beer. Four bucks! So much for free. Estranged friend Chris Nelson (former “Going Coastal” guy) tells me that Strombo is on a motorcycle down to L.A., and the other two rumours are definitely just that.
I missed Sebastien Grainger’s new band Bad Tits, but I was told they put on a stellar living room show. I couldn’t tell you who else played though… the bassist from the Constantines has a new band and might’ve mentioned that the ‘Tines have run their course (exclusive!). Eventually we left that off-Vice party and headed for the Horseshoe for the Chunklet show.
