Lido Pimienta

by Alex Roberecki

After her latest album, La Papessa, won the $50,000 2017 Polaris Music Prize, Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta has been busy. While raising a young son as a single mother, Pimienta has been spending time developing her sound, her live performances, and her vocal presence on social issues.  She is a unique addition to the 2018 Winnipeg Jazz Festival line up as her music combines styles such as indigenous Afro-Colombian music with western electronica and synth pop. Continue reading “Lido Pimienta”

Timber Timbre :: Scary music, but far from scary only

timbertimbre

by Sheldon Birnie

Timber Timbre crept onto the Canadian music scene like a thief in the night, capturing the imaginations of audiences and critics. Their 2011 opus, Creep on Creepin On, was nominated for the Polaris Prize, and spawned a series of five mind bending cinematic short films (or, “music vides,” if you prefer). The band, formerly a solo project of Taylor Kirk’s now filled out to a larger, collaborative performance based group, recently released Hot Dreams, an LP which is sure to find its way onto Top Ten lists (and likely the Polaris Prize long list, at least) for 2014. As the band launched themselves into “the touring vortex,” Stylus caught up with Taylor Kirk in a hotel room in gloomy Iowa City for a chat before their Winnipeg Jazz Fest performance. Continue reading “Timber Timbre :: Scary music, but far from scary only”

Jazz Fest – (Long Lost) BADBADNOTGOOD Feature from 2012

Badbadnotgood_web

by Shanell Dupras

Jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD were scheduled to play Jazz Fest in 2012 shortly after the release of their new album on April 3, 2012, BBNG2, which mainly features covers of artists like Odd Future, James Blake, and even My Bloody Valentine. Stylus got a hold of Alex Sowinski, the drummer/sampler, and Chester Hansen, the bassist, for an interview. Shortly before our June/July 2012 issue went to press, BBNG cancelled a number of their Canadian summer dates. We’re happy that they’re able to make Jazz Fest this year. Here is our long lost BADBADNOTGOOD feature from 2012. Continue reading “Jazz Fest – (Long Lost) BADBADNOTGOOD Feature from 2012”

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”