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.”
Review: Kelley Stoltz – To Dreamers
Sub Pop might be my favorite label going today. In the two years that I have been writing for Stylus, an album from the Seattle label has finished high in my top ten albums of the year, with last year’s release from the Fruit Bats (The Ruminant Band) taking the number one spot. The quality of albums released through the label‘s history is very high, and as a result, my expectations get raised every time a new release enters my CD player. Kelley Stoltz, thankfully did not disappoint me. On his eighth album, Stoltz offers the listener more of his 1960’s inspired lo-fi sound. He is still a one man band for the most part, though he has help from others for the background instruments. For the majority of the album, I can picture Stoltz sitting on his living room floor playing the guitar. As mentioned earlier, Stoltz lets his influences shine throughout the album. There is a heavy heaping of Ray Davies, sprinkled in with some David Bowie esque glam, and some Brian Wilson inspired psychedelic music for good measure. A common criticism leveled at Stoltz is that he rarely feels original; he is more content to pay homage to his influences rather than showing what he can do as an artist. But, while I can see this criticism, Stoltz’s enthusiasm for his music is enough to make the familiar feel original. (Sub Pop) Charles Lefebvre
found: michael vs michael
from our friend Clint Enns again:
LIGHT IS WAITING from Michael Robinson on Vimeo.
and
Agamemnon Counterpart: Lo-Fi High Definition Pixel Stretch Deluxe Limited Special Edition Platinum Series With Bonus Material from Michael Robinson on Vimeo.
Review: Bad Religion – The Dissent of Man
Conflicted. That is the first word that comes to mind listening this newest Bad Religion record. It’s not a bad album and it’s not necessarily a good record either. The musicianship – topnotch. The hooks – abundant. The harmonies – straight out of Van Halen’s songbook (they’re awesome). Unfortunately, where the record falls apart is both its strength and its weakness. The songs that sound like old school Bad Religion -which could have easily blended into albums like No Control or Suffer – are fantastic. However, they sound exactly like those albums and that smells of formula and stagnation. Now Bad Religion have been around long enough to know that they need to throw some ‘experiments’ into the mix. This is a good thing, however for this record those ‘experiments’ reek of desperation. Pedal steel does not belong on a Bad Religion record. And, after multiple listens, it makes sense that Weezer is now on their label. (Epitaph, www.epitaph.com) c.frsn
Review: Grimes – Halfaxa
Some savvy bloggers are already declaring Halfaxa “album of the year.” Granted the leaps 2010 has taken in music, for 22-year-old Claire Boucher to emerge so close to the front of the pack suggests how astonishing her sound is. The often haunting, always experimental lo-fi-psych meets R&B-filtered through-one-hundred-graveyards Halfaxa is Grime’s second release, following January’s underground darling Geidi Primes (which, had Halfaxa not lapped it, would likely have had its own share of top spots on year-end lists). As organic and digital samples loop and twist from pure pop to supernatural, you can almost see Boucher’s hands rising to count the steps as her voice rises and sinks, hitting notes she’s trained herself to find and following melodies of only sometimes discernible lyrics. Boucher’s voice has matured, and to listen to Halfaxa is to listen to an artist who has completely submerged herself in a journey half drug-hazed Disney plot, half scenic climb through ancient Chinese mountains. Grimes is about sound and seamless blending of influence, and Halfaxa offers some new twist on every listen. While “Devon” stands as example of Boucher’s solid pop writing and vocal majesty, “Hallways” is a twisted, haunted house remix of every ’90s R&B song ever drilled through HOT103… and it feels so good. (Arbutus Records, www.arbutusrecords.com) Kristel Jax
Review: Scythia – …of War
Scythia are one of the few folk metal bands whose music can’t be pictured being performed by anyone other than Nordic warriors. It’s not just that the lyrics that have epic fantasy themes about traveling through dangerous valleys and getting into sword fights, but the music itself. Violins and flutes set the scene for ancient villages with blacksmiths and horse-drawn carts full of hay. Heavy guitar riffs and galloping drums prepare you for an epic battle in a blood-soaked field of the dead. The singing is beautiful, and at times a triumphant bellow of victory. Such a lovely blend of heavy and melodic should draw fans of both metal and folk music. (Independent, www.myspace.com/ScythiaFolkMetal) Paul Nordin
found
via Clint Enns via Kier-La Janisse:
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.
((( send + receive ))) takeover
Starting today, send + receive is hosting a number of experimental and “out there” film screenings, art installations, and musical performances throughout the week.
To kick it off, Winnipeg’s favourite circut-bender Clint Enns has a video playing at Gallery 1C03 at the University of Winnipeg. It’s titled Prepare to Qualify, named after the banner that flies across the screen in Pole Position, the Atari game which Enns bent to make rhythmic pulses, nauseating squelches, and cathartic drones.
We asked him to choose a video that’s inspired him and why. Here’s what he said>>>
Chapters 1-12 of R. Kelly’s Trapped In The Closet Synced and Played Simultaneously (2006) by Michael Bell-Smith. A playful reinterpretation of a pop culture classic.
Chapters 1-12 of R. Kelly’s Trapped In The Closet Synced and Played Simultaneously (2006) by Michael Bell-Smith. Courtesy EAI. from Why + Wherefore on Vimeo.
If you can handle that, or better yet, if you dig it, you’d best check out Prepare to Qualify which runs until this Friday. send + receive is running all week long, and again, it is not to be missed. Mind alterations await you!