Single Review :: Bush Lotus :: “Open”

by Noah Cain

As was the case with their first performance this March, opening for Tinge at the Handsome Daughter, there is a confidence to Bush Lotus’s writing and sound that feels at odds with their experience. 

Lyrically, “Open” is spare, but far from simple. When written out, it functions almost seamlessly as a series of linked Haiku. True to that form, songwriter Arielle Beaupre injects meaning and poignancy into a sliver of time. In this case, a moment of intense presence while stretching in a parking lot, presumably after hours in a car moving along tree-lined highways:

Continue reading “Single Review :: Bush Lotus :: “Open””

Winnipeg State of Mind :: HAVS

Photo by ONSITE

Words by Nigel Webber

“My album will manifest many things that I saw, did or heard about” – OC

“Ok I guess I’m really doing this,” HAVS thought after her February 2018 opening set for SonReal at the Garrick Centre. Only about a year into recording music seriously at that point, HAVS opener for SonReal was only her second live show with her as a promoted act. At the time she was one half of the duo Pesh x HAVS but since has chosen to branch out and go solo. Continue reading “Winnipeg State of Mind :: HAVS”

Bridging the Styx :: Music collective Styx City Cult talk Greek mythology, supporting local artists and creating a platform for the weird kids

styxcitycult. From left to right: 10kay, DIEmond, Phre$h Prince, lilnappyboi, STMBLZ, Ivan Silk, Yung Romello, drinkbleachh, Jesse Meush, SpaghKing, Thatcher Robinson and Yung Emerald. Not pictured: Postwar, Shea and TRRM.

Photos by Graeme  Houssin and J. De Castro

Words by Graeme Houssin

When rapper SpaghKing entered the Winnipeg scene, he found a city divided. Harsh lines separated genres, and “old hip hop heads” dominated the rap scene as arbiters of taste, only booking artists that conformed to their ideas of what rap could and must be. Continue reading “Bridging the Styx :: Music collective Styx City Cult talk Greek mythology, supporting local artists and creating a platform for the weird kids”

KEN mode

by Chris Bryson

Never a band to tread the same path twice, KEN mode’s return seemed destined to cover new ground. After having taken on bold variations of sound all rooted in the jagged rage of noise, the guys have landed in darker territory on their newest offering Loved. And judging by the first couple tracks released from the album, the KEN mode fury is alive and well. Continue reading “KEN mode”

Live show review : Warming, Soup, Dana Lee

 

Photo by Eric Roberts

Words by Ryan Haughey

The cold wind subsided and soothed the air in Winnipeg on the evening of February 17, but the weather wasn’t the only thing warming up. Brady Allard’s new project, Warming, played their first set on that Saturday evening. The lineup at the Handsome Daughter included two other groups: SOUP and Dana Lee. Each group brought fresh new music to the audience, which left us excited to see what was next to come. Continue reading “Live show review : Warming, Soup, Dana Lee”