Review - NXNE (June 12-13, 2013)

NXNE is in the books for another year and it was one of the more spontaneouos ones I've had in years. I bumped into some familiar faces along the way, but didn't seem many of you. It seems, by the looks of others NXNE coverage, we were all checking out different bands which is good in a way as the festival gets a wider scope of coverage because of that. I'd planned on starting my NXNE on Wednesday night with the 9 pm set at the Rivoli by Brooklyn dreampop outfit Heaven but found out at the venue that the group had border troubles and didn't make it in to Canada. That explains why their name had conspicuously vanished from the NXNE website schedule earliery in the day. Part of me wanted to stay for the 11 pm set by the Montreal-based Mozart's Sister, the electro-pop project of Caila Thompson-Hannant, a member of Shapes & Sizes but my impatience / desire to perhaps call it a night got the best of me.


  Rituals: photo by Michael Ligon

However I looked at my NXNE picks for that night and saw that I had a pick for 10 pm that night down Queen St. westbound at The Shop @ Parts and Labour with Toronto group Rituals so I decided to jump onto the streetcar, ride westbound and along the way decide whether I should check out the show at The Shop. I'd come to my senses by the time I reached Parkdale and got off at the stop that was practically right in front of the venue [I had booked the next two days off work and decided to forgo sleep and not waste this opportunity.] My first time at the venue, my first impressions of it was that like the underground, intimate music venue of The Drake Hotel, The Shop @ Parts @ Labour was like an industrial, laid-back version of that. The venue was quickly filling up already. By the crowd reaction, my impression was that Rituals were still relatively new to the scene but the band's brand of music merging post-punk, no-wave and subtle psychedelic tones went over well with the crowd including myself. Music was more textural than melodic although not necessarily void of melody which I think I picked up in the gritty vocals or harmonic guitar tones in a song or two. Generally, they fall within the category of not-necessarily-my-thing-but-interesting-nonetheless and if more adventurous listening is your thing, definitely check them out. The band released a self-titled 7" EP in 2011 and earlier this year their Mesmerized EP as a digital download through their Bandcamp.

I almost packed it in for the night but then was convinced to stay for the next set by Olympia, Washington band Milk Music. Their grungy look, most of the band with long hair and one member with beard definitely fit in line with their sound which I could best describe as Slacker-dom punk, their sound more complex but essentially an extension of grunge and bands like Dinosaur Jr in the 90's. The band rose from the underground in 2009 with a self-titled cassette and then their Beyond Living EP (which got a wider release in 2011) and earlier this year released their full-length debut Cruise Your Illusion [ha ha, wicked title!] through Fat Possum Records. I'm tempted to listen to them but their set, which seemed to meander at times like a band on an extended jam, didn't quite gel for me that night. Oh, and the venue was getting too tightly packed and I had to escape towards the back for a breather. Although, there was a special guest [Tampa art-punks Merchandise] slotted for the midnight set time, I decided to call it a night.


  Old Man Markley: photo by Michael Ligon

Got a later start to the festival the next day but after getting organized, I made my way downtown to Yonge Dundas Square with nothing really better to do. It was punk night at the Square with Southern Californian punk rock veterans Social Distortion scheduled to play later that night. I arrived earlier as Los Angeles punk and bluegrass band Old Man Markley were already into their set. With the weather being uncertain, there wasn't that large of a crowd on hand which probably was a disappointment but the band didn't seem to mind. With male and female vocals, the band's punk tunes were embellished with root-sy elements such as fiddle and sounded enjoyable although certainly were not my thing. In tribute to the deceased singer Tony Sly of Northern California punks No Use For a Name, Old Man Markley played a cover of one of their songs ("The Feel Good Song of The Year") which seemed to go over well with the punks in the audience. Around since 2011, the band released their second album Down Side Up through Fat Wreck Records earlier this year.


  Social Distortion: photo by Michael Ligon

Not that I was ever a huge fan of Social Distortion but a selection of their tunes ("Ball of Chain", "Story of My Life", their cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", "I Was Wrong") and later Mike Ness' first solo album seemed to have infiltrated my music listening back in the 90's, part of it due to the alt-country movement that I'd gained an affection for. Lead singer Mike Ness had been so bad-ass looking back in the 90's with his arm tattoos and greaser haircut, and although his hair is grayer, and was perhaps more dapper this night with his black collared shirt and black fedora he's still as bad-ass as ever. Intermittently raining throughout the half-hour or so I stayed for his set but after Ness and his band played "Story Of My Life", I was satisfied and I took towards Queen St. to catch the streetcar towards the Horseshoe Tavern.


  Carmen Elle of Diana: photo by Michael Ligon

Toronto's Diana were the band I was at the Horseshoe Tavern to see for their 10 pm time slot and as I had expected the place was almost near capacity. That the band's Canadian MusicFest set had alluded to earlier this year, the band are getting more popular by the moment. I started at the back but was fortunate to get closer to the stage off to the side near the merch table to get a better view by the time they got to playing their most excellent electro-soul-pop single "Born Again", vocalist Carmen Elle's smooth vocals floating over a delectable bed of dreamy synths, subtle beats, and voluptuous bass guitar backing, for which the 12-inch vinyl was being sold. A palpable excitement floated throughout the crowd, although it did felt bit scene-ish, but overall it was a good indication of hopefully exciting things to come for the band, most eagerly their full-length debut entitled Perputual Surrender expected to come out on Paper Bag Records on August 20 to which they were recently signed in Canada [the band were signed to indie label Jagjagjuwar in the US.]


  Merchandise: photo by Michael Ligon

Having skipped out on the secret headlining slot of Tampa indie-punks Merchandise at The Shop @ Parts and Labour the night before, I decided to stick around for them following the mass exodus of people after Diana's set. Comfortably full again by the time they took the stage, frontman Carson Cox announced it was birthday and if I recall something along the lines about hoping to get drunk. While the band members histories had roots in the hardcore / punk scene were, Merchandise are less punk and more noisy melodic rock, at times romantic sounding at least to my ears. Post-punk, if you will. The more I think of it they sound like noisier cousins to UK's White Lies. For a first time seeing them, I liked what I heard as did the audience also who wanted an encore if I recall, but didn't get one. Three albums in, the band's most recent full-length is this year's Total Nite released through Iowan indie record label Night People, garnering an 8/10 from Pitchfork.


  Olenka and The Autumn Lovers: photo by Michael Ligon

I could have stuck around at the Horseshoe Tavern for Dan Deacon's set who I've never seen live, but I decided to end the night in a quieter fashion with the midnight set of London, Ontario indie folk group Olenka and The Autumn Lovers over at The Great Hall. Playing to a small but adoring audience, I noticed almost right away that there was less of the Eastern European folk influence in what they were performing and that there was a more prominent rootsy influence that Olenka and her band were focusing on. It seemed like an all-too brief set but nonetheless enjoyable.

Photos: NXNE in Toronto (June 12, 2013)
Photos: NXNE in Toronto (June 13, 2013)

Hottest Bands in Canada, 2009 edition

    photo credit: Joe Fuda

As Matthew of I(Heart)Music has done over the past four years, he's again polled a selection of Canadian music writers, journalists and bloggers for their top ten hottest Canadian bands / artists of the year. I've always been happy to participate and this year's not any different. In some ways, I'm behind the curve on some of the new artists that made the top 32 - bands like The Balconies, The Wooden Sky and Bruce Peninsula who I've only had cursory listens of but am intrigued but have yet to check out live. Past favourites of mine like Ohbijou and Great Lake Swimmers didn't make it to my top 10, and not because they were not 'hot', but rather because personally I didn't end up spending much time with them, either listening to their new releases or going to see them live. My top 10 list was a very subjective one, although scrutinized with a little objectivity - in the end what made my top 10 were those bands / artists who had some sort of activity in 2009 (whether it be touring, releasing music etc...) and who musically had an impact on me. Check out the list below with the commentary for each I submitted (numbers in brackets indicate the artists' ranking in the final top 32):

01. (1) Rural Alberta Advantage (Toronto, Ontario)

They played New York City, SXSW, Toronto and all points in between. They signed to Saddle Creek. I saw them live at for the first time earlier this year during Canadian Musicfest, saw them perform a rapturous hometown CD release show at the Horseshoe Tavern, and then ended the summer seeing them at this year's Virgin Festival[who were immensely better than most of the acts that played the larger stages that day]. I was generally behind the curve latching on to them but better late than never.

MySpace: Rural Alberta Advantage

02. The Hidden Cameras (Toronto, Ontario)

Led by Mississauga-homeboy Joel Gibb, Toronto's The Hidden Cameras returned quietly with their newest album "Origin: Orphan". I had the pleasure of catching their special intimate CD release show at Goodhandy's in Toronto which only emphasized that it's one of my favourite Canadian albums this year. One will still find pleasure in the band's gay-friendly sunny pop tunes but to the provide some balance there's some darker songs and more ambitious instrumental arrangements. Maturity never sounded so good.

MySpace: The Hidden Cameras

03. (9) Metric (Toronto, Ontario)

Fuck the haters. Their most recent album "Fantasies" is a good album. Metric were always rock stars even when they were indie but bottom line they were and still are credible. "Gimme Sympathy" was one of the best singles of the year and there's something so profound about the lyric "who'd you want to be, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones". And when Ms. Haines returned to perform an acoustic version of this song at Broken Social Scene's homecoming show at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto back in July, it was heaven.

MySpace: Metric

04. (22) Gentleman Reg (Toronto, Ontario)

Reg Vermue aka Gentleman Reg played a shit load of live shows this year, and will continue to do so until the end of the year, in support of his most recent release "Jet Black". The more I listen to the samples on his MySpace, the more I wonder why I haven't yet picked up the album. Delicious, edgy pop music.

MySpace: Gentleman Reg

05. (27) Olenka and The Autumn Lovers (London, Ontario)

This London, Ontario outfit seems to be winning new fans incrementally with each live show. I continue to brag about being one of only a few people who caught their live set at C'est What during North By NorthEast back in 2008 but it seems people are now catching on to the band's charming hybrid of rootsy, acoustic, gypsy-folk. Festival-heavy participation this year for the band including NXNE, their own hometown LOLA festival, Pop Montreal and Halifax Pop Explosion as well as the self-release of their debut full-length has made it a successful and busy year for them.

MySpace: Olenka and The Autumn Lovers

06. Junior Boys (Hamilton, Ontario)

The Hamilton duo released their newest album "Begone Dull Care" continuing in the vein of past releases with another album of organic and electronic elements that intersect with the duo's solid songwriting aspect. Any year the boys release an album, they'll be hot.

MySpace: Junior Boys

07. (32) Still Life Still (East York, Ontario)

Signing to Arts & Crafts this year with the release of their debut album "Girls Come Too", Toronto's Still Life Still combine the youthful exhuberance of peers like Tokyo Police Club but with a scruffy pop sensibility that's more in line with their label brethren Broken Social Scene. BSS jr. perhaps, but there's a tune or two from Still Life Still that'd sound terrific on your next playlist[ok the old-schooler in me really wants to say mixtape, but hey who I am kidding?].

MySpace: Still Life Still

08. Hooded Fang (Toronto, Ontario)

This young Toronto outfit makes me smile with their boy-girl vocal-sung indie pop. They only have a five-song EP under their belt(released in early 2009), but 5 songs is better than none right? The band seems content playing around Toronto for now, but do check them out if they hit a town near you. Trust me - their song "Land of Giants" - the definition of pop gem.

MySpace: Hooded Fang

09. The Diableros (Toronto, Ontario)

They've been pretty quiet lately but they're slowly easing back into playing live and the band step up to professional-quality recording with the release of a new EP entitled "Old Story, Fresh Road" to tide things over until the next album. I still remember how insanely good their debut album, 2005's "You Can't Break the Strings in Our Olympic Hearts" was, and how their 2007 album "Aren't Ready for the Country", if not as intoxicating as the debut, was still quite good. The new EP's "Heavy Hands" stands as one of my favourite tracks of the year.

MySpace: The Diableros

10. Tokyo Police Club (Newmarket, Ontario)

TPC spent the year touring, playing dates at All Points West Festival(in New Jersey), the Canadian National Exhibition in TOronto, Hillside Festival in Guelph and even a l'il free summer show in my hometown of Mississauage, and they will continue to play live into November. God love 'em. Late on the wagon as I was, I finally got down to listening to their debut full-length, 2008's "Elephant Shell" and haven't looked back since.

MySpace: Tokyo Police Club

NXNE 2008 - Day 1

concert review: NXNE @ various venues (Toronto, Ontario), June 12, 2008

Olenka and The Autumn Lovers @ C'est What (June 12, 2008)


Let's get right to it.

Two Hours Traffic [MySpace] @ Sonic Boom (7 pm)

After a little snafu with getting my media pass at NXNE headquarters at the Holiday Inn on King St., I figured I'd start the night out early and check out Charlottetown powerpop four-piece Two Hours Traffic who were playing an instore at Sonic Boom. Just when I thought powerpop was dead, Two Hours Traffic renewed my faith in it, performing a tight set of fully fleshed out pop tunes, injecting tasty bits of melodic guitar chords and keyboards and lead vocalist Liam Corcoran's effortlessly casual yet tuneful vocals. I chatted briefly with fellow music blogger HistoryJen who called them 'cute', and with good looks on their side, they should be huge. Well it wouldn't hurt.

The Mahones [MySpace] @ Yonge Dundas Square (8 pm)

The Mahones set was more of an afterthought since I had time to kill before 9 pm and Olenka and The Autumn Lovers' set at C'est What. Specializing in the same brand of Irish folk/punk that Ireland's The Pogues made famous, The Mahones were perfectly competent I guess and their mostly black attire suited their image just fine. Like any respectful artist, lead vocalist Finny McConnell gave some props to one of his favourite punk bands Teenage Head who were headlining the bill that night and for whom The Mahones appropriately warmed up the crowd. As an aside, I thought I'd mention that their blonde female bass guitarist is quite the looker. The Mahones will be playing the Annex Wreckroom this coming Thursday June 19 as part of Punk Aid 4 - Sick Kids Hospital Benefit.

Olenka and The Autumn Lovers @ C'est What (9 pm)

My favourite discovery of this year's festival was London, Ontario's Olenka and The Autumn Lovers led by lead vocalist Alexandra Krakus leading a merry band of musicians including a mini string section, stand up bass, accordion and glockenspiel. No drums surprisingly. Fans of Basia Bulat and Beirut are sure to be drawn to Olenka and The Autumn Lovers who delve into similar musical genres like folk-rock, rootsy pop('Flash In The Pan') and a bit of country but also add some elements of Eastern European folk music(like on 'Iron Pump') utilizing accordion and glockenspiel, and waltz-ian time signatures. Like Basia Bulat, Alexandra exuded a natural charm and displayed a genuine fondness for the live performance despite the small crowd on hand (although I think her mom was in the crowd). The Eastern European influence did become more prominent on a few raveups reminiscent of indie fave Beirut's interpretation of the influence, including at least one which she sang in her native Polish. I think it's only time before Toronto and beyond are fawning all over them.

The Wet Secrets [MySpace] @ Horseshoe Tavern (10 pm)

Already running late on schedule having to make my way westward from C'est What, I ditched options to go to see Medallions at Rancho Relaxo and Rah Rah at The Boat and when I got off the streetcar at Queen and Spadina I decided to go check out Edmonton's The Wet Secrets who I'd glanced at their name and photo in a profile in NOW earlier in the day. I hadn't actually had a chance to read the profile but their photo looked interesting. I got into the venue as the band apparently had just begun, and the place was pretty packed. Led by bassist/vocalist Lyle Bell of Shout Out Out Out Out and his shouty/raspy vocals with a drummer, keyboardist and featuring a prominent two female horn section (trumpet & trombone), the entire band was in full marching band attire, and added to that the ladies wore the tallest platform boots I think I've ever seen and wore marching band headwear. The whole wardrobe was perhaps a bit campy, but then this afterall is rock n' roll. With song titles like 'Get Your Own Apartment', it was all good rock n' roll fun.

Small Sins [MySpace] @ Horseshoe Tavern (11 pm)

I decided to stick it out at the 'Shoe to see Small Sins. Only casually familiar with the electro-pop sounds of Toronto's Small Sins, I was rather taken back when the live set ended up being more guitar driven than I expected. They didn't necessarily trade in the keyboards and electronic rhythms but featuring more prominent guitar, their sound was much more powerpop. The tunes were frequently energized by percussionist/'clap assassin' Kevin Hilliard who rocked out hard - the guy's insane and I mean that in the nicest way. I quite underestimated Small Sins draw as they always seemed to fly under my musical radar but the band translated their energy to the crowd and the crowd appreciatingly reflected it back.

Money Mark [MySpace] @ Horseshoe Tavern (12 am)

So what if most conversations I overhead before Money Mark's set was one person saying to another that Money Mark is the keyboardist for Beastie Boys. I'll admit that was my only point of reference and in that regard his playing, mostly of the soulful, funky variety, was outstanding. Money Mark strolled onto the stage holding a tape recorder which was playing some jazzy, swing music then proceeded to hold it up to the mic and against an electric guitar, seemingly experimenting with the sounds he could produce and amplify. Performing with a band including a fellow keyboardist, the set was an eclectic mix of various styles including funk, soul, and even Billy Joel style piano-pop, with vocals from Money Mark that were similar tone in my opinion to Damon Albarn but without the British accent of course. It was all new to me although it was audibly apparent that there were some hardcore fans in the house. Money Mark even took a turn at guitar, bringing out the instrument which apparently was one he owned for years and was in fact the first guitar he ever owned. Terrific set overall, although when it was over I was glad since my own tiredness was setting in.

These New Puritans [MySpace] @ Reverb (1 am)

I gathered enough strength (the fresh air walking from the Horseshoe to the Reverb did me good) to go and check out NME-approved UK's These New Puritans. The four-piece (3 gents and 1 girl) looked barely out of highschool though performed with enough confidence that gave the impression of a more seasoned band. Lead vocalist Jack Barnett Jack Barnett, wearing a gold feathered metallic looking shirt exuded a confident stage presence with the rhythm section of twin brother George Barnett on drums and Thomas Hein on sampler and bass guitar showed enough spunk of their own. Band member Sophie Sleigh-Johnson behind the keyboard and Mac laptop seemed barely able to crack a smile nor move at all that I wondered if she was actually doing anything other than pressing a few buttons and looking pretty. The bigbeat, danceable post punk tunes were carried with urgency by the Jack's ever constant sing-speak reminiscent of The Fall's Mark E. Smith. Many younger twentysomethings seemed to have made it out to their set and as the set gained momentum the crowd got increasingly in to it to the point that a mosh pit formed and a audience member or two actually tried to stage dive/crowd surf. Hey they're not necessarily my thing, but I can see why the kids like 'em.

Check out my photos from Day One of NXNE over at my Flickr.