Review -- Canadian Musicfest (Friday March 23, 2012)

  Spoek Mathambo @ The Great Hall: photo by Michael Ligon

As it turned it out, the third day of Canadian Musicfest was purely spontaneous on my part. I had made picks for the night but really hadn't thought out an itinerary for the day, although with having the day off from work I made somewhat of an effort to check out some of the day shows.

The daytime lineup over at The Toronto Institute For The Enjoyment of Music was somewhat up my alley but I got downtown later than expected and so instead chose to take in some daytime sessions, where else but the Eaton Centre. Clothing Store French Connection in conjunction with local band promoters Audio Blood Media were hosting a few artists playing acoustic sets as part of the festival. An interesting choice of venue but ultimately it didn't seem like many people were interested given the low turnout. Toronto pop outfit Hands & Teeth, ignored the light crowd (which was really just me and a few others) and began their set. Playing acoustically (guitar, percussion, Charles Pump Organ), they were quite a bit different sounding than their electric version, with a folky quality emphasized through the band's penchant for vocal harmonies. As things went on, the band were successful in drawing some shoppers / passersby to come in to the store and check them out. The band's Jeff Pinto on the Charles Pump Organ [I asked a member of the band what the name of the instrument was] took a swipe at lead vocals sounding a bit like Bob Dylan, but it was the songs sung by lone female member Natasha Pasternak that were more successful. Call me a sucker for attractive tuneful female vocals. The band has several releases available, the most recent being 2012's Hunting Season, all of which are available through the band's BandCamp site.

Next up to perform on the same stage [well actually the same space on French Connection's floor] were Toronto band The Archives. Again, because they were playing acoustically (just the vocals of Will Gooch plus bassist Anthony Menecola and guitarist Crispin Day) they sounded much more stripped down than their usual plugged-in electric, melodic rock sound. If the crowd was virtually non-existent at this point, except for me, a few band-related persons, the store staff, and a few other stragglers, the band did an admirable job of ignoring that and performing well. The stripped-down nature of the set illustrated they have musical chops and solid songs even if for the most part it wasn't my thing. Good job, nonetheless.

Still early with a whole night a head of me, I decided I was ready for another instore and so headed over to Sonic Boom to check out The Inbreds. I arrived as the duo [bassist/vocalist Mike O'Neill and drummer Dave Ullrich] were already a song or two into their set, with a good-sized crowd in attendance. This was a warm-up for their proper Canadian Musicfest / comeback show which was the next night at Lee's Palace so the set was understandably brief but they of course couldn't leave without playing their biggest 'hit' "Any Sense of Time" which they saved for last. What a jolt of nostalgia that was. It was 1996 all over again - those were the days.

I'd originally headed to the Horseshoe Tavern to catch Snowblink's 8 pm set but getting into the venue and then waiting around for a few minutes, then realizing that they were already half an hour behind schedule [it was already 8:30 pm at this point] with no sign they'd be coming on soon, I decided to bail and instead headed to Lee's Palace for the 9 pm set of Australian duo's Big Scary. I arrived to the venue after 9 pm with the band already into their set playing to a sparse but appreciative audience. Far more versatile than I expected, they were neither just the poppy indie duo I'd heard ["The Apple Song"] nor a garage-rock act a la The White Stripes that you might imagine, but over the course of the three or four songs I heard, they displayed these various influences generally through their guitar-drums (sometimes keyboards-drums) instrumentation. One of my more interesting discoveries of this year's festival.

The evening portion of the night was centered on me checking out South African hip-hop / r n b artist Spoek Mathambo who was playing The Great Hall at 11 pm and as it turned out I decided to make things easy for myself and just plant myself at The Great Hall for the whole night. It'd been several years since I'd seen Edmonton rapper Cadence Weapon perform live and not much has changed. His combination of old-school rap flow and what I could only described as fucked-up beats is still omnipresent. Assisting him with the beats was a dude who looked like a blonde version of The Cure's Robert Smith. The set was filled with mostly new songs. Making a shout out to the 1059! crew (so-named for the Toronto address 1059 Bathurst where many a secret show was hosted and of which Cadence Weapon had performed on occasion), performed a song called "Loft Party". There was a good energy in the room throughout the set and it seems many are looking forward to his new album Hope in Dirt City which'll drop soon.

The most anticipated act for me this night was South African afro-hip-hop artist, the colourfully-named Spoek Mathambo fresh from his appearance at this year's SXSW. Samples I'd heard of his on YouTube gave me the impression of an artist who fused old-school (hip-hop) / old-world (African) influences with a modern sensibility, similar to the approach of an artist such as M.I.A. With his mostly South African band plus one gentleman(on sax) who I believe was from San Francisco, that old-school/new-school fusion was definitely present (especially in their twitchy cover of Joy Division's "Control" which they played near the end) but the live set in general seemed to emphasize the organic approach(drum, guitar, bass, horns) much like The Roots brand of hip hop when they play live. While Mathambo's elder musical stateman Saul Williams was the headliner of the night, Mathambo and could easily have headlined had there been a need for him to. It was a fully-charged set from Mathambo and crew, with the crowd very much into as well. A successful outing all around, which should do him well if and when he returns to Toronto.

I'd considered ducking out to check another set at another venue {I think it was Toronto's Badbadnotgood @ Wrongbar) but then reconsidered because I realized I'll have more opportunities to see Badbadnotgood live but although I wasn't at all familiar with Saul Williams, what I'd read of him intrigued me, and this perhaps might be the only opportunity I'd get to see him live. Just a little background, but according to the first sentence from the Wikipedia entry on him, Saul Williams is "...an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam." Prior to his emergence onstage, a colourful-looking gentleman who I think was his DJ hyped up the crowd with an old-school mix of hip-hop blaring from the PA system. From the onset, Mr. Williams was hyped up and determined to hype up the crowd, beating away on a percussive instrument with what I believe was a mallet. The R n B, soul, funk, jazz, hip-hop, and rock influences that all contributed to his music was really just the basis for Mr. Williams himself, as confident and capable as soulful vocalist as he was with his spoken-word, def poetry jam contributions. What was so impressive especially about his def poetry jam capabilities was the amount of words that went into those compositions and even more impressive that Williams was able to memorize it all. It was quite apparent from the performance why Saul Williams is held up in such high regard with many artists and musicians, even though he is not nearly as well-known with the general public. Quite the experience, and one I highly recommend.

PHOTOS: Canadian Musicfest (Friday March 23, 2012)
MySpace: Hands & Teeth
MySpace: The Archives
MySpace: The Inbreds
MySpace: Big Scary
MySpace: Cadence Weapon
MySpace: Spoek Mathambo
MySpace: Saul Williams

Review -- Canadian Musicfest (Thursday March 22, 2012)

  Cold Specks @ The Music Gallery: photo by Michael Ligon

The second night of this year's Canadian Musicfest had even milder weather than the night before, so nice in fact that on top of me not having to work the next day, it made me long even more for summer to come. Surprisingly, though I wasn't working the next day, I surprisingly had a very light Canadian Musicfest planned for the evening. My night was centered around the Cold Specks show at The Music Gallery at 9 pm and I'd also planned on checking out Chinese singer-songwriter Helen Feng's electro dance-pop solo project Nova Heart at 11 pm at Comfort Zone but had nothing else on tap for the rest of the evening.

I figured after work I'd head down to Sonic Boom for their Canadian Musicfest instore sessions. I was almost certain that I'd miss most if not all of Miss Martha Wainwright's set (which in fact I did miss all of it) but coming up next after her was a set by Upstate New York's Simone Felice of The Felice Brothers, a band I'd vaguely heard of and had heard good things about but had not ever heard. With a few hours to kill before the Cold Specks show I headed to Sonic Boom and arrived just a little in to Mr. Felice's set. From Mechanical Forest Sound's account, there'd been a good crowd on hand for Martha Wainwright, so it was a real shame to see how sparse the audience was for Mr. Felice. With two drummers, and members on backup vox and slide guitar, and Mr. Felice on acoustic guitar, the group performed a good set of melodic, country-rock tunes. Felice's backup vocalist Simi Stone (who also performed with Felice in his more recent band project, the more glam / soul influenced The Duke and The King) was a particular highlight, especially on the last song of the set, with her expressive, bright, vocal style. And as the last song winded down, and Felice and Stone smiled and made eye contact with each other, I couldn't help feel how terrific that was. Too bad more people weren't there.

I figure I had another half hour or so before heading down early to The Music Gallery for Cold Specks so I decided to stick around for Toronto's Great Bloomers who were up next. I'd never seen the band live although I'd had an opportunity several years back when they performed at an NXNE kick-off party at the Distillery District which I'd not stuck around for. In my mind, I'd pegged them as a country-rock act (I think based on reviews I may have read about the band in the past) akin to say Oshawa's Cuff The Duke but that isn't entirely an accurate description of the band's music. Although they were all new songs to me, Great Bloomers' vocalist Lowell Sostomi did inform the crowd [which had inflated to a healthy size almost without me noticing] that much of their set night were new songs. There was certainly a countrified pop sound to some of it but also a certain heaviness - this ain't no bluegrass. While the band looks young, they were surprisingly tight and competent musicians and even moreso was I impressed with the songwriting and melodies. I also loved that they performed a cover of Television's "See No Evil". I look forward to seeing the band live again and with their recent signing to Canadian indie label Dine Alone Records who are set to release their sophomore full-length this year, I wish them much success. Look out for Sostomi on the streets of T.O. - he said he lived in the neighbourhood and offered some advice of how well plopping a hundred bucks on some records can help one feel better, rightfully giving props to the store for sponsoring the festivities that day.

I decided to head down a little early to The Music Gallery to secure a place in line for Al Spx aka Cold Specks. With the 23-year old recent signee to Arts & Crafts, who'd been hyped up by the British music press and has already performed live on Later With Jools Holland in the UK, I was expecting the show to be one of the hotter tickets (well actually it was a wristband-only show, but you know what I mean). Having arrived at the venue about a half hour before the 8:30 pm doors, I was surprised to find a small random group of people loitering around the courtyard. A proper line hadn't even formed. As 8:30 approached more people did arrive and as the buzz of the crowd arriving seemed to louden, they let open the doors letting people in finally. We we corralled in the lobby area of the building to enjoy a drink or two, seemingly until capacity for the show was reached and then we were let into the church to fill the pews, waiting with anticipation for the show to start. With only a few samples available on the internet, I'd like what I heard, her old-time, gospel/spiritual influenced blues. I hadn't expected it but she had a bad in tow, including a drummer, guitarist, cellist and a saxophonist. Full-sounding at times, but at others skeletal fragments of percussion and strings, what remained most impressive overall was Cold Specks soulful, spiritual vocals made all the more stunning within the pristine acoustics of the church. This is what shows at The Music Gallery are made for. Although her banter was minimal, she was also charming and humorous at times, even hamming it up for the crowd with a surprisingly soulful yet still playful version of "The Theme From Fresh Prince of Bel Air". She finished off the night with a quick encore done accapella, solidfying her as my highlight and perhaps the highlight of many others in attendance, of this year's Canadian Musicfest. Having performed a good amount of songs throughout the hour-or-so long set, I'm guessing these will appear on her debut full-length in the future.

Nothing may have been able to top that set that night but the set by Nova Heart at the Comfort Zone was a worthy closer to my evening. Led by vocalist Helen Feng, with a guitarist, a bassist and pre-programmed dance beats, it was an enticing set of sinewy guitar, pulsating bass lines, and sultry vocals and dance beats. While it was a small crowd on hand, it was a little less noticeable perhaps given how dark it was inside the venue, with only a bit of blue/red light illuminating the trio onstage. Of all the frontpersons of the acts I'd seen during this year's festival, Feng practically outshined all of them with her energy and stage presence, her writhing to the beats, her at-times cooing vocals and other-times banshee-like screams. Book-ended on either side of her were her guitarist and bassist, the guitarist who seemed to be in perpetual shoegaze stance and her bassist in robotic bass plucking mode. It was the latter playing off the dance beats quite nicely which provided the groups' songs their groove. Quite a disappointment that there weren't more people on-hand for this. I'd have imagined they'd have rocked the Wrongbar crowd had they been booked at that venue instead. Props to Dan Burke for bringing them to Comfort Zone anyway.

PHOTOS: Canadian Musicfest (Thursday March 22, 2012)
Myspace: Simone Felice
Myspace: Great Bloomers
Myspace: Cold Specks
Myspace: Nova Heart

Review -- Canadian Musicfest (Wednesday March 21, 2012)

  Sea+Air @ The Painted Lady: photo by Michael Ligon

Another year's edition of Canadian Music Week / Canadian Musicfest has come and gone and one of the most striking aspects of this year's edition as how mild the weather was. It was pretty much the mildest weather for Canadian Musicfest I've ever experienced to the point it almost felt like NXNE. Consider that, in stark contrast several years back, The Breeders, who were on their reunion tour stopped in during Canadian Music Week to play a show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, right smack dab during a blizzard (well, heavy snowfall). While the weather was on our side, the major criticism of this year's festival was how less enticing the lineup was. To some extent I'd agree, but on the other hand, with a little research and a little luck I think I caught a good percentage of good to great acts. All's well that end well. Over the next week or so I'll be posting my reviews of each night of Canadian Musicfest, so stay tuned. Now let's begin.

Somehow I'd confused the Cold Specks show at The Music Gallery to be on the first night of the festival (Wednesday March 21, 2012) and after work killed time for a few hours until later on in the evening to head over to The Music Gallery. Little did I realize that the show was actually the NEXT night (after consulting the internet on my phone). Fortunately I did have other options for the night and so proceeded with those.

First stop of the night was, the Cameron House backroom which all these years I'd never been to. Already into their set when I arrived was Toronto's LOOM, aka singer-songwriter Brooke Manning. Playing with two other members as a trio, with Brooke on vocals/guitar, the songs were full of ebb-and-flow sonic washes of keys, strings, guitar and vocals. The vocals/lyrics weren't to the extent of being inaudible but Brooke's laidback timbre did definitely possess a quality of being another instrument in the mix. Given the intimate-sized venue thankfully people did come out early to catch her. Pretty at times, and more difficult listening at others [it wasn't always as melodic as I would hope], but it was definitely intriguing music.

Fortunately, I didn't have to travel at all to catch my second pick of the night which was Dutch singer-songwriter Thijs Kuijken whose band name is I Am Oak. And while later on in the set he would mention to the audience that he usually performs with a band, for this set he was playing solo with just him on acoustic guitar. A slim, bespectacled gentleman, dressed casually in a plaid shirt and light jeans, his set of acoustic, folk-ish tunes were in my opinion several notches above what could be easily have been dull material. Lyrically as well as Kuijken's acoustic guitar playing were great overall but my only criticsm really was that vocally Kuijken's nasal vocals, quite adamantly located midrange in the vocal spectrum, made the whole set blend into each other. It's a similar effect when I listen to someone like Mark Kozelek for example, if that's any help. On a non-music note, Kuijken humoured the audience with his observations like how less hectic CMW was compared to SXSW (but in a good way), how QUIET the audience was and how POLITE Canadians are, how he brought too many sweaters on his trip and not enough socks and that he bought socks earlier in the day and asking us if we have any pigeons in Toronto, that last query being in reference to a song he had just song which was I believe above doves or birds or something.

After a comfortable stay at the Cameron House, the venue-hopping portion of the night began as I jumped on the streetcar to head to westward to The Painted Lady on Ossington Ave. to see German duo Sea + Air. The Painted Lady one of the city's most intimate venues, I'd expected it to be comfortably packed like when I saw when I saw Australia's Dead Letter Chorus there at last year's Canadian Musicfest. The venue was by no stretch empty but there was a little more elbow room this time compared to when I was there last year. The duo comprised of Daniel Benjamin on vocals / guitar /drums and Eleni on vocals / keyboards performed material with a sensitive, baroque pop quality, with Eleni's intricate keyboard arrangements and Daniel's forlorn vocals. A little sombre at times, but then again the duo showed their versatility especially when Daniel switched to the drumkit eventually segueing into a bombastic drum performance that reminded me a lot of Toronto's own Paul Banwatt of Rural Alberta Advantage. It took me by surprise, as well as a few others. It was an enjoyable if brief performance. Daniel did have a few humourous bits of banter including calling their album at the merch table the best thing to come out of Germany in 40 years and then later on informing the audience about their upcoming Canadian tour which'll take them to good cities like Saskatoon; for some reason that last part drew a chuckle from a few audience members.

I'd intended to call it a night, but with the mild weather, the time still being before 11 pm, and finally with my energy level still being pretty good for a Wednesday night (even with having to work the next day) I decided it might be a good idea to try to check out one more set. I decided to check out Toronto's Young Empires who were playing The Great Hall Basement not too far from The Painted Lady. I'd never been to the basement venue of The Great Hall before. A somewhat dingier venue than The Great Hall's upper level facilities, it was a more than appropriate setting for an electro-dance-rock party. I arrived there just as psych-rock outfit Krief were finishing up and after some time setting up, Young Empires finally took to the stage. The venue was a little-less than half-full when I arrived but did fill up more by the time Young Empires reached the stage. To capitalize on their recent wave of success (the release of their first EP, recent radio-play, touring and such), the band and especially frontman Matthew Vlahovich exuded energy on stage to try to get the crowd along for the ride and yes there were definitely some who were really into it. However, in my opinion, there's a quality on record that doesn't quite translate onstage. Their best song, in my opinion, is still "White Doves" which on record has a quality that I imagine should rev up even a Glastonbury-sized audience but then hearing it live (and this time being the third time I've seen the band) it just doesn't match up to those euphoric expectations. The band's strength, in my opinion, lies in their musical direction, their fusion of electronic, rock and pop influences somewhat mirroring one of my favourite acts of all-time, New Order. But with only an EP's worth of material, with most of it ranging from alright to decent but not matching the greatness of "White Doves", the band are off to a good start but still have a long way to go. I wish them luck.

PHOTOS: Canadian Musicfest (Wednesday March 21, 2012)

Canadian Musicfest Picks (2012)

It's that time of year again when music festival season kicks off in Toronto with Canadian Music Week and it's music series Canadian Musicfest starting tonight. Time and time again, CMF has failed to live up to the excitement and anticipation of Toronto's other city-wide music festival North By Northeast which happens in June and seems to get better with each passing year. And if CMF hasn't been on par with NXNE, it's not to say it has nothing to offer. I'm sure with a little research and a little luck, one's bound to uncover a gem or two, and that's generally been my experience with most Canadian Music Week / Canadian Musicfests in the past. I perceive a general apathy towards this year's lineup based on the chatter over social media and with Canadian Musicfest this year happening the week after Austin's SXSW (the mother of all city-wide, multi-venue music festivals), it goes further to emphasize how modest Canadian Musicfest really is. But with the festival about to kick off, I finally buckled down and researched / sampled the list of artists participating in this year's festival and here are the one's I am recommending:

Bear Hands
Fri Mar 23 (midnight) -- Sneaky Dee's (Young Lions Music Club Showcase)
Video: Bear Hands - "Crime Pays"

Obviously not deterred by whether band names derived from names of animals are still in vogue, this Brooklyn, NYC outfit's sound seems catered to the indie rock crowd.

I Am Oak
Wed Mar 21 (9 pm) -- Cameron House, Backroom
Thu Mar 22 (8 pm) -- The Ossington
Sat Mar 24 (8 pm) -- Cabin 5 (Filter Magazine Showcase)
Video: I Am Oak - "Curt" (live)

What I've sampled of this Dutch folkie [his real name being Thijs Kuijken] with acoustic guitar seems more than pleasant enough. His moniker is actually the name of the band but I'm not actually sure if he plays with a band. I guess this is where things get confusing.

Voltaire Twins
Fri Mar 23 (9 pm) -- Wrongbar (present by Union Events)
Fri Mar 23 (midnight) -- Painted Lady
Sat Mar 24 (3:50 pm) -- El Mocambo, Upstairs (Aussie BBQ, Sounds Australia and Stage Mothers)
Video: Voltaire Twins - "Animalia" (music video)

Aussie synth-pop duo Voltaire Twins are made up of siblings Jaymes and Tegan and they create voluptuous electro-pop confections from what I've sampled. Their Romulus EP was released late last year and is available on iTunes.

LOOM
Wed Mar 21 (8 pm) -- Cameron House, Backroom
Thu Mar 22 (9 pm) -- The Ossington
Video: Loom - "Eypllion" (teaser 1)
Video: Loom - "Eypllion" (teaser 2)

The moniker of Toronto's Brooke Manning, LOOM straddles the line between indie-folk sensibilities and a willingness to experiment with other sonic textures with intriguing results.

Nova Heart
Thu Mar 22 (11 pm) -- Comfort Zone
Video: Nova Heart - "Lackluster No. 3" (Takeaway Show for La Blogotheque)

How could you not like or at least have your interest piqued by a band whose name is the same as the song-title of a Canadian new wave classic? The project is the solo effort of Helen Feng, born in Beijing but raised in the US and Canada and who's already had an illustrious music career in China since 2002 when she was hired as VJ for MTV China. La Blogotheque shot a Takeaway Session with her recently [see the link above] and given their impeccable musical tastes plus the fact that I was impressed with Nova Heart's Takeaway Session I'm looking forward to checking them out.

Housse De Racket
Sat Mar 24 (11 pm) -- Wrongbar
Video: Housse De Racket - "Chateau" (music video)

The Parisian duo, with incestuous musical ties to their fellow musical countrymen, having been in-demand session musicians-for-hire with Air and Phoenix, are following in their footsteps with their own electro-pop music creations. Already on album #2 entitled Alesia, could this be the band's breakout year?

BadBadNotGood
Fri Mar 23 (midnight) -- Wrongbar
Video: BadBadNotGood - "The Odd Future Sessions Part 1"

A free-jazz trio consisting of pianist Matt Tavares, bassist Chester Stone Hansen, and drummer Alex Sowinski (who apparently usually plays with a pig mask), they all met while attending Humber College. It's nothing new, the band's fusion of hip hop and jazz, but I can see why the kids like 'em - they groove. BADBADNOTGOOD released their first two albums in 2011, both for free off of their official Bandcamp.

Spoek Mathambo
Fri Mar 23 (11 pm) -- The Great Hall
Video: Spoek Mathambo - "Mshini Wam"

Fusing hip hop and Afro-beat influences with a decidedly modernist sonic approach, he's as exhilirating as the first time you'd heard M.I.A. One to watch.

Big Scary
Thu Mar 22 (8:50 pm) -- Sennheiser Lounge Library Bar (Sounds Australia)
Fri Mar 23 (9 pm) -- Lee's Palace (Windish Agency Showcase)
Sat Mar 24 (4:30 pm) -- El Mocambo, Upstairs (Aussie BBQ, Sounds Australia and Stage Mothers)
Video: Big Scary - "The Apple Song" (music video)

Spunky Aussie indie-rock, drums / guitar, girl / boy duo consisting of Jo Syme and Tom Iansek whose debut full-length Vacation was released this past October.

Chains of Love
Fri Mar 23 (11:30 pm) -- El Mocambo, Downstairs (Dine Alone Showcase)
Sat Mar 24 (9:20 pm) -- Horseshoe Tavern (Collective Concerts)
Video: Chains Of Love - "Lies Lies Lies" (live @ Bitmore in Vancouver, April 20 2011)

The Vancouver Motown-influenced, indie outfit made a good impression on me during last year's NXNE and so here I am recommeding them to give others the opportunity to check them out.

Cold Specks
Thu Mar 22 (9 pm) -- The Music Gallery (wristband-only show, doors 8:30 pm)
Video: Cold Specks - Holland (music video)

A recent signee to Toronto's Arts & Crafts label, this 23-year old (whose real name is Al Spx) from Toronto's west-end recently toured the UK with Timber Timbre and while over their made an appearance on seminal television music show Later With Jools Holland. Mixing currently popular indie-folk sensibilities with that of old-time gospel spirituals, she makes a stark musical statement.

From Indian Lakes
Sat Mar 24 (5 pm) -- Sneaky Dee's (Travis Porter + livemusicto)
Video: From Indian Lakes - "We Never Dream"
Video: From Indian Lakes - "The Canyon" (Acoustic Live Show)

The young quintet, all the way from Yosemite Valley, California have travelled a long way to get here for the festival, and it'd be a shame not to check them out. Both full-band and stripped-down acoustic performances exist on YouTube to check out revealing a versatile act whose emo-tinged songs are thoroughly satisfying.

Hacienda
Fri Mar 23 (11 pm) -- El Mocambo, Upstairs (Dine Alone Showcase)
Video: Hacienda - "Savage"

I saw the San Antonio outfit when they acted as The Black Key's Dan Auerbach's backing band a few year's back when Auerbach was touring his debut solo effort Keep It Hid - they were TIGHT. Fuzzy, blues-inflected, rock n' roll may just be what the doctor ordered.

Janes Party
Thu Mar 22 (11 pm) - Rancho Relaxo (Two Way Monologues & Green Shades Showcase)
Video: Jane's Party - "What you believe in"

If Sloan's pop music aficionado Jay Ferguson formed his own band, Janes Party might be it.

Last Year's Men
Thu Mar 22 (11 pm) -- Silver Dollar (NeXT)
Fri Mar 23 (11 pm) -- Silver Dollar (NeXT & Untold City)
Sat Mar 24 (midnight) -- Silver Dollar (NeXT)
Video: Last Year's Men - Troika 2010

From the American musical hotspot Chapel Hill, NC this young band combines "...the buoyant melodies of ‘50s and ‘60s pop and rock with a youthful pop-punk sneer...". They're good enough that Mr. Dan Burke booked them for a three-night stint at the Silver Dollar during Canadian Musicfest. I was surely impressed by the samples I checked out especially the YouTube video link above.

Minus The Tiger
Thu Mar 22 (10 pm) -- The Ossington
Fri Mar 23 (11 pm) -- Painted Lady
Video: Minus The Tiger - "Follow Me Down" (music video)

A four-piece band fronted by dutch husband-wife team of songwriter Anne Broekman on vocals and her husband / producer, Maarten Besseling. Their bio draws comparisons to The Knife, TV On The Radio, Lykke Li and Kate Bush and what I've briefly sampled is none too shabby.

Nautiluss
Fri Mar 23 (1 am) - Garrison (presented by Red Bull Music Academy and New Forms Festival)
Video: Nautiluss - "Bleu Monday"

One half of the now-defunct Thunderheist, Nautiluss is Graham Douglas Bertie's new project which their bio describes as an "...amalgamation of influences spanning from early 90s electronic to hip-hop to UK bass music and everything in between." He's released a few twelve-inches (both on vinyl and digital) so far through Hemlock Recordings.

Sea + Air
Wed Mar 21 (10 pm) -- Painted Lady
Sat Mar 24 (10 pm) -- Free Times Cafe
Video: Sea + Air - "Take Me For a Ride" (live session)

German duo made up of Daniel Benjamin (vocals, concerto guitar, drums, cymbals, bells) and Eleni (vocals, harpsichord, organ bass pedal, drums) with a decidely baroque style to their musical compositions.

Squarehead
Thur Mar 22 (1 am) -- Rivoli (Music From Ireland)
Video: Squarehead - "Midnight Enchilada" (music video)

This Irish garage pop trio's silly name fortunately doesn't detract too much away from the group's sunny, pop melodies. The band's Wikipedia page prominently features an entry that states that Morrissey went to see the band live at Workmans Club in Dublin in February 2011. And you know if Morrissey speaks, people listen.

Sydney Wayser
Thu Mar 22 (9pm) -- Sneaky Dee's (Audio Blood Showcase)
Video: Sydney Wayser - "Wolf Eyes"

This French-American, New York-based singer-songwriter has been through Toronto for past festivals on several occasions but none of her appearances I'd taken in so far. Two albums since 2007 she has a third full-length scheduled for release later this year. From the samples of her work I'd heard ranging from playful folk-y eccentricities to urgent pop-rock confections, perhaps overlooking her past few Toronto music festival appearances was a mistake. Hopefully, not again this year.

Young Empires
Wed Mar 21 (8:15 pm) -- The Great Hall - The Black Box (basement) (Pirates Blend Showcase)
Fri Mar 23 (11:30 pm) -- The Hoxton (w/ Dragonette)
Sat Mar 24 (8:20 pm) -- The Indies @ Canadian Room
Video: Young Empires - "White Doves" (live on George Stromboulopoulos)

I've touted the talents of Toronto dance-rock outfit Young Empires since their pre-label days when their song "White Doves" made my Fave Songs of 2010 list. With their just-released debut effort Wake All My Youth and recent radio airplay, the band is just hitting their stride.

(An Evening With) The Walkmen @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (March 2, 2012)

  The Walkmen @ Phoenix Concert Theatre: photo by Michael Ligon

In celebration of 10 years as a band since the release of their debut album, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone in 2002, NYC's The Walkmen embarked on a tour earlier this year, with Toronto making the cut for a stopover. With six albums to date, their last being 2010' Lisbon and with a new album scheduled for later this year, the band had much material to choose from when they stopped over for a show at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre a little over a week ago.

With no opener, and the night being billed as "An Evening With The Walkmen", the band divided the night into two sets with a short intermission in between. In all honesty, I'm really not that familiar with them but their their 2004 single "The Rat" (which the band busted out as their second song of the night) I will state is one of the best rock n' roll singles of the last 15 years. It seemed a little premature to bring out "The Rat" so early but the band did a admirable job representing all aspects of their sound throughout the night, from other garage-influenced rock n' roll songs, to mariachi-flavoured tunes(including a four-member horn section), and more mellow, troubadour-style numbers. Overall, it was an invigorating evening. As a tenth anniversary celebration (since the release of their debut album), it seemed less of an event (except for the unconventional two-set format) than it should have been but then again, the band aren't calling it quits just yet, with plans to release their seventh album later this year. Let's see what they have up their sleeve next.

Check out more reviews of the show over at NOW, Exclaim, and The National Post.

MySpace: The Walkmen
Photos: (An Evening With) The Walkmen @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (March 2, 2012)

Bry Webb and The Providers, Doug Tielli @ The Music Gallery, Toronto (February 4, 2012)

  Bry Webb @ The Music Gallery: Photo by Michael Ligon

It's been quite a slow start to the year concert-wise for me but, it was the Bry Webb show[the earlier of the two shows] at The Music Gallery in Toronto just over a week ago that finally broke that dry spell. Subconsciously I think I'd been pondering going to this show for a while as I'd recently been listening to Bry's old band The Constantines and having heard good things about his solo album entitled Provider (the plural of which was the name of his backing band) I snagged a ticket for the early show.

Toronto singer-songwriter Doug Tielli opened the show with a selection of songs backed by his reverb-drenched guitar-playing. Doug's vocals were reminiscent of the melancholiness of Mark Kozelek but also at times approached the breathiness of Antony Hegarty (of Antony and The Johnsons). Still, Mr. Tielli was not without a sense of humour during his brief set and while there may have been an element of humour in his choice of covering the song "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", his performance of the song was also quite sincere and remarkable.

After a brief intermission, it was Bry's turn. Oh I forgot to mention, that when I'd first arrived to the venue, I came just after Doug Tielli had begun his set and as I approached the doors to enter the room, it was Bry himself who opened the door for me, and so as I entered I wished him a good show. And a great show it was. With his backing band augmenting the stripped down instrumental sound with pedal steel, stand up bass, and lap steel and with the grit of Bry's vocals and his strummed guitar playing, it was a sublime set of acoustic folkiness that enveloped the acoustics of the intimate church surroundings. "Asa", the name of his son who inspired it, was represented of the languid, country-tinged folkiness of the evening, putting me quite at ease and comfort on that cold February night. On a side note, Bry bantered between songs that his son couldn't even make it to the early show because even the early show was too close to his bed time. It was only the main set's closer "Ex-Punks" (for which Bry brought on one more person on stage to play drums) which approached anywhere close to the urgency of his previous Constantines' work - if anything it felt a bit of a teaser, for there's no doubt in my mind The Cons will rise again, but in the meantime we have Bry's solo efforts to lavish over. With a little less than half an hour until the second round of music of the night was suppose to start, I didn't think there'd be an encore, but Bry and The Providers did come back to play a cover of the The Mills Brothers' sentimental (and perhaps politically-incorrect nowadays) "Smoke Rings". I swear I heard a chuckle or two when Bry sung the chorus, "Puff, puff, puff, puff your cares away, Puff, puff, puff, puff night and day".

Photos: Bry Webb and The Providers @ The Music Gallery, Toronto (February 4, 2012)

Austra - "Spellwork" (music video)

The new music video for Austra's song "Spellwork" directed by Yelena Yemchuk. The user comments over at YouTube aren't all positive but I like it. There's something very soothing about the pacing of the camera work and the framing of the shots in my opinion. Conceptually, it seems very random - the whole scene at the end with the girls gorging themselves on watermelon seemed very tongue-in-cheek but overall I'll give it a thumbs up.

TWELVE: The Wavelength 12th Anniversary Festival

Wavelength, the Toronto concert series [for many years until the last few years that had been running as a weekly concert series] which has introduced fans to a cornucopia of new music acts over the years turns twelve this year, and of course will be celebrating the occasion. TWELVE: The Wavelength 12th Anniversary Festival will be taking over several Toronto music venues over the long weekend [thank you Dalton McGuinty] of February 16-19 with featured acts including Fucked Up, P.S. I Love You, No Joy and Bonjay. An all-access festival pass is available for $36, or else else individual show ticket prices range from $10-$17 adv / $12-20 door. Advance tickets will go on sale January 17, in person through usual outlets Rotate This and Soundscapes or online at GalleryAC.com. Check out the Wavelength site for full lineup and ticket price details.

If you are of the social media persuasion, there is a Facebook event page.

Coachella 2012

Curing the post-holiday blues, a late date announcement brings news of this year's lineup for Coachella taking place as usual on the grounds of the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. In an interesting move but odd move, the festival this year will be replicated over two weekends, first on the weekend of April 13-15 then the next weekend April 20-22. I imagine that festival organizers want to be able to accommodate as many ticket buyers as possible, but doesn't having the festival occur on one weekend and then having the whole festival replicated the next weekend make the whole festival, less special? What if the first weekend is better [weather-wise, performance-wise, what have you] than the second weekend or vice versa? What if scheduled performers, for what other reason make it out only to one weekend? It looks like a formula for someone to feel jipped. Musically, there's a good mix of artists that I think will appeal to the average music festival-goer - your reunions (Pulp, Refused, Mazzy Star, At The Drive-In), your current heavy-hitters (The Black Keys, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg) and a whole slew of current buzz-worthy acts. The Canadian contingent this year will include Feist, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Destroyer, Zeds Dead, Dragonette, The Weeknd (will Drake make a surprise appearance perhaps?), and The Sheepdogs. I haven't gone to the festival since my one and only time in 2004 and I don't imagine going this year but if I do reconsider it's only because I'd want to feel that warm Californian sun on my face and soak up the good vibes. Coachella is about music foremost but it's also about the experience. If you've never gone and if at least a few of the acts are worth your while, my suggestion is, GO. There is nothing like Coachella. On the other hand, it is three hot days and nights in the desert. I think I may just watch the webcast.

Favourite Albums of 2011

As with my favourite album posts for 2007, 2008, and 2009 as well as my favourite songs of 2010 (a year which I couldn't even concentrate on whole albums) have pointed out, my favourite albums over recent years have either been by established favourites of mine, or else new artists I've gravitated towards have been a select few. I've missed out on many an album released in 2011 out of the sheer exhaustion in seeking out new music but there have been a few artists that had piqued my interest that I'm glad I checked out. So here are the albums released in 2011 which I enjoyed:

Austra -- Feel It Break
Video: Austra - "Darken Her Horse" (Live on KEXP)
MySpace: Austra

The Weeknd -- House of Balloons
Video: The Weeknd - "High For This"
Facebook: The Weeknd

PJ Harvey -- Let England Shake
Video: PJ Harvey- "The Words That Maketh Murder"
MySpace: PJ Harvey

James Blake -- James Blake
Video: James Blake - "The Wilhelm Scream"
MySpace: James Blake

Thurston Moore -- Demolished Thoughts
Video: Thurston Moore - "Benediction" / "Blood never lies" (A Take Away Show)

Miracle Fortress -- Was I The Wave?
Video: Miracle Fortress - "Tracers" (live @ Soundscapes, Toronto, 13/05/2011)
MySpace: Miracle Fortress

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Video: Lykke Li - "Sadness Is A Blessing"
MySpace: Lykke Li

CMJ & New York City (October 22, 2011)

  Peelander Z @ Public Assembly, NYC: photo by Michael Ligon

Last day/night of my trip to New York City and CMJ back in October 2011. (Next year, if I do the NYC trip again, I think I'll just post updates on a daily basis - this is too much work after the fact.)

For my last day/night in The Big Apple I took it relatively easier than the other days:

- Starbucks near MOMA
- Radio City Music Hall
- General Electric Building
- Rockafeller Center Ice Rink
- Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
- Emmy The Great @ Spike Hill
- Born Gold & Peelander-Z @ Public Assembly (as part of Day 2 of the Brooklynvegan 'not a CMJ' party)
- Grand Central Terminal; while wandering around, a one Miss Rebecca Black (of "Friday" fame) was signing autographs and chatting with a few fans.
- back to MOMA only to find out that it closes earlier than I expected on Saturdays.
- raced on over to Central Park to check it out, especially Wollman Rink (although because the rink itself it was closed, I didn't get to renact the scene in the film Serendipity when John Cusack lies on the rink as snow flakes fall down. ;-)
- saw the Robert Indiana LOVE Sculpture
- raced across town to the World Financial Center for the Sonic Festival featuring the American Composers Orchestra with the headlining piece composed by The National's Bryce Dessner and featuring him as well as his brother Aaron on guitar [FREE things like this should so happen in Toronto more often].
- at this point, figuring what I'd do for the rest of the night, but nothing musically was really fancying me, nor was the prospect of traveling back to Brooklyn looking at all tempting on my last night in NYC.
- checked my Facebook on my iPhone using the free Wi-Fi @ Burger King (across the street from the Occupy Wall Street protest) and found that my cousin had just arrived in NYC for a week's stay for his birthday [too bad we could not get together since I was leaving the next morning].
- Starbucks, then Chinese Food near Canal St. and while I was in the area(near Lafayette St.) I saw that the show at Santos Party House (which I think was featuring a hardcore lineup) was just letting out; at that point I decided to call it a night.
- walked back down Broadway towards my hotel, to drop off my bag, and while waiting to get my key to the room, chatted with a cute Asian girl at the counter apparently having problems with her booking; wished her well and then left to explore the Bowery / Soho neighbourhood for the remainder of the night until a little after 1 am.
- pondered even going to one more CMJ set [Peelander-Z was in fact playing a set just down the street from my hotel at the Bowery Poetry Club] but since the band weren't set up yet when I passed by, I decided not to stick around; I did notice how busy the Bowery strip was on a Saturday night.
- called it a night.
- will it be a third year in a row for NYC / CMJ this October for me? We shall see.

Photos: CMJ & New York City (October 22, 2011)

CMJ & New York City (October 21, 2011)

  Emmy The Great @ Public Assembly, NYC: photo by Michael Ligon

- started out the morning exploring the neighbourhood around my hotel (walked down Bowery and then turned on Prince; nice Ralph Lauren and Gant Rugger shops on Prince St, although both way too expensive for what I was willing to pay (I've slowly become a clothes horse over the last few years, although I never buy regular price)
- walked to Lafayette for coffee at Dean & Deluca then went window shopping (David Z, Converse, Ben Sherman store @ Mercer St.)
- random chat with older dude I passed walking down the street, as we both looked back at the same cute girl who just passed us. ;-)
- logged on to the free Wi-Fi @ a Starbucks to check a few things on my iPhone.
- browsed the shops on Canal st.
- spent some time @ the Occupy Wall Street protest at Liberty Plaza (now known as Zuccotti Park)
- checked out the site around Ground Zero
- that afternoon headed to Public Assembly in Brooklyn for the Brooklynvegan "not a CMJ day party" feauturing sets varying from interesting to terrific, including sets by Young Magic, Emmy The Great, Silver Swans, A Place To Bury Strangers, Chelsea Wolfe, Hospitality, Xeno & Oaklander, and J Mascis
- the whole afternoon, Public Assembly was serving free booze courtesy of Sailor Jerry as well as giving away free organic snacks!!!
- one thing that stood out from Emmy The Great's set was when she mentioned that she'd also be playing the day after at a venue in Brooklyn who's name she couldn't recall and so I yelled out "Spike Hill" which she then queried whether I was a Fleetwood Mac fan (I'm still not sure what the reference is there) at which I was left speechless at that point.
- J Mascis played a cover of Edie Brickell's "Circle of Friends" and also a song called "Several Shades of Why" the title track of his first solo album released earlier this year; he also played Dino Jr. classics, "The Wagon" and "Get Me", video which you can see here.
- after that full afternoon of CMJ day partying, decided to try to check out the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) (which had free admission that night from 4 pm to 8 pm (as it does every Friday night) but in error I ended up going to Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMOA)
- I then hopped on the 5th avenue bus to head down to MOMA but got there just as it was closing.
- while I was in the vicinity, I went to check out the new Uniqlo Global Flagship store that just opened; it was effin' huge, and bright, and busy.
- hopped on the 5th avenue bus again to continue south to Madison Ave and East 23rd to go to, drumroll please...Shake Shack! Verdict? Not the tastiest burger I've ever had but it was pretty darn good, or perhaps I was just really hungry.
- for the night time portion of my CMJ festivities, I headed straight from Shake Shack to trek back down to Brooklyn to Glasslands Gallery where I checked out a terrific set from a new local act called Caveman (who are coming to Toronto in January!) and from our own Canadian act, Memoryhouse.
- however, it was such a cluster-fuck of people (who all seemed to be not over the age of 25) and it was too much for me to bear to stay for the rest of the bands on the bill (which was at least 2, maybe 3 more acts) and so I bailed.
- walked to Bedford and then down Bedford to the Bedford subway station, along the way picking up my only taco (from a Taco Truck) during my whole trip.
- it'd been a long day, and I was glad to call it a night relatively early (don't get me wrong it was still after midnight, I think closer to 1 am, by the time I got back to my hotel). Sleepy-time.

Photos: CMJ & New York City (October 20, 2011)

CMJ & New York City (October 20, 2011)

  Givers @ Ace Hotel, NYC: photo by Michael Ligon

So yes, I'm pretty late on posting this (and still have two more days from my CMJ/NYC trip in October to post, so bear with me). And so here it is, point form, with a link to the photoset below:

- swung by the CBGB's site again (noticed the etching in the concrete this time).
- saw the Joey Ramone Street sign
- @ Ace Hotel to catch tailend of Widowspeak's set, part of the 2nd CMJ day show sponsored by radio station KEXP.
- coffee had @ Stumptown Coffee Roasters (connected to Ace Hotel)
- still @ Ace Hotel, chatting with volunteer due at KEXP free swag table who told me that his daughter goes to York University in Toronto but comes homes to NYC in May; and then we chatted about the plethora of free music in the summer that NYC has to offer.
- headed to East Village on a successful quest to see the Joe Strummer mural up close
- hot dog had @ Papaya Dog; (not the same as Papaya King as once referenced in an episode of Seinfeld).
- Ace Hotel for Givers' set (good but not too excited about them).
- hopped on over to Times Square (failed quest to get to that Shake Shack location).
- back @ Ace Hotel for Dum Dum Girls' set (good).
- on my way over to Brooklyn, caught NYC subway soul singer sensation Danny Smalls AKA Geechee Dan busking on the subway platform!! If you don't know who Danny Smalls, check this video out.
- swung over to Brooklyn to catch the Pop Montreal / Smoked Beats CMJ day party at Public Assembly with Miracle Fortress (good), Pat Jordache (good).
- Pop Montreal brought in FREE smoked meat sandwiches from The Mile End deli, a Montreal Jewish delicatessen in Brooklyn
- ginormous pizza slice had @ Anna Maria Pizza & Pasta
- massive backup of people on the L Train subway platform due to subway delay.
- back in Manhattan, saw the Flaming Cactus street art installation near Astor Place subway station as well as the Alamo sculpture at the same location.
- headed over to Thompson LES Hotel for the free CMJ shows sponsored by Purevolume.com; caught sets by Dum Dum Girls (well the singer and guitarist anyway) (great set), and Unknown Mortal Orchestra (wasn't paying too much attention as this point as it was pretty cramped); I won a free set of ear buds.
- also during the Purevolume.com show, there were guest DJ's working the turntable.fm app(sorry, it is only available within the U.S. currently), with guest DJ's including Nancy Wang (LCD Soundsystem), Amrit Singh (Stereogum), and Ayad Al Adhamy (Passion Pit)
- my night time portion of CMJ for this day was spent at Littlefield in Brooklyn featuring Blues Control, Talk Normal, Widowspeak and Frankie Rose, a varied, interesting and satisfying night of indie music.

Photos: CMJ & New York City (October 20, 2011)

The National, Neko Case, Wye Oak @ Air Canada Centre, December 8, 2011

  The National @ Air Canada Centre: photo by Michael Ligon

Just taking a moment to post a link to my photos from the fantastic triple bill of The National, Neko Case, and Wye Oak which happened down at Air Canada Centre near the beginning of the month. By all accounts, it was a fantastic show. Part of me was dreading having to see the show at Air Canada Centre, but the "theatre" configuration that the venue was transformed into, combined with my fantastic seat which was just about dead centre in the 100's section, gave me a terrific view for the show. First openers, Baltimore indie rock duo Wye Oak, did a fair job entertaining the sparse audience on hand with their moody, melodic, indie rock. For a duo, their sound sounded quite full, making a lasting impression on the audience. Vocalist Jenn Wasner, gave thanks for being on this great bill with The National and Neko Case, and humorously expressed that the all thing bad about playing these shows was getting drunk too early in the evening.

The last times I'd seen Miss Neko Case live was back in 2009, having seen her twice, first at Trinity St. Paul Church in April of that year, then later that summer making her debut at Massey Hall. For various reasons, both shows weren't in my opinion the best I'd ever seen Miss Case, surprising when given those venues, one would hope those shows would have knocked me off my feet. Even more surprising is that Neko's most recent local show, this time at Air Canada Centre, ranks as one of the best sets of hers I've ever seen. Paced well, many of the set's songs were taken from her last few albums (Middle Cyclone and Fox Confessor Brings The Flood) with a couple of new songs sprinkled in. Neko kept her humourous banter flowing throughout the set between songs, seeming giddier, and well naughtier than ever. Joining her on this tour was guitarist Paul Rigby, bassist Tom V. Ray, backing vocalist Kelly Hogan, multi-instrumentalist Jon Rauhouse, and for this tour specially, John Convertino of Calexico on drums. Musically tight as I've ever heard Neko, highlights included the pristine "Vengeance Is Sleeping" with Kelly on background vocals and Paul on guitar as well as the raucous "Red Tide" with particularly fiery background vocals from Kelly. As always when they're in town, a shout was given to our own The Sadies (who wrote the song "Hold On, Hold On" for Neko). Fantastic set all around. Hope I won't have to wait two years until I see her live again.

As 'indie' bands make the natural progression from the small stage to bigger stages when they tour Toronto, The National have been one of the few bands that has just gotten better. I'd not have guessed that The National could have outdone the last show I'd seen of them in Toronto when they played a fantastic show at Massey Hall (one show of a two-night stint) back in June 2010 but by all accounts, The National reached even greater heights. What The National accomplished was making the night an experience on a variety of factors - such as visually interesting and colourful screen projections, humorous banter from vocalist Matt Berninger throughout the night, and encouragement from the band to keep the audience engrossed and participating. On that last factor, the Dessner brothers at one point got the crowd clapping leading to a natural transition to most everyone in the audience to stand up. From there on, the show just got better and better. Matt would later on invite fans onto the floor which would soon lead to a virtual onslaught of many more fans to invite themselves onto the floor (leading security to cut off the access to the floor, and Matt sheepishly pondering his original idea and whether it was such a good one). But perhaps the icing on the cake in terms of Matt's efforts was when he ran into the stands singing and proceeded to navigate himself through the seats (literally crossing near me a couple of rows up from me) from one end of the stands to the other and then back onto the stage. Man, that was one long-ass mic cord. Local musical hero Owen Pallett was a surprise guest joining in with the band on violin for a few songs including a new one. Things had just about reached their peak as the main set drew to a close but reached even higher with the encore, featuring a non-amplified rendition of "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks", with the entire band and including Wye Oak making their way to the edge of the stage, performing acoustically and singing without mics. Singing with passion to the audience, which in turn drew the audience to sing along as well, the performance, transformed the environment into a very intimate setting. It's such a rare thing to experience in a venue as big as that, and I am truly thankful.

Photos: The National, Neko Case, Wye Oak @ Air Canada Centre, December 8, 2011
MySpace: Wye Oak
MySpace: Neko Case
MySpace: The National

Sloan, Rural Alberta Advantage, Ohbijou, Bonjay @ The Great Hall, Toronto (December 21, 2011)

  Sloan @ The Great Hall: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [December 25/2011, 1:38 am]: Review now up. Merry Christmas! Now have to wrap some presents

Thinking back to 1995 when Sloan headlined CFNY 102.1 FM's Edgefest 3 festival at Molson Ampitheatre, billed as their farewell performance, Sloan had called it quits. Their most recent album at the time had been their second full-length Twice Removed, released a year prior in 1994, and arguably to the some was the band's finest album. But a year after Edgefest 3, the band reunited to release their third full-length, 1996's Once Chord To Another, and as they say the rest is history, with the band continuing to this day as one of Canada's most respected musical outfits. It was "Once Chord To Another" which Sloan chose to play front-to-back for Toronto charity COUNTERfit (an Ontario Ministry of Health and City of Toronto funded injection drug harm reduction program) at a show at The Great Hall organized by Toronto band Fucked Up. The promise of such a performance was more than a tantalizing factor for many who snapped up tickets for the sold out event. And as a bonus, the opening bands lineup was none too shabby itself, with an all Toronto supporting acts lineup featuring Bonjay, Ohbijou, and The Rural Alberta Advantage.

Electro-dancehall duo Bonjay featuring dynamite vocalist Alanna Stuart and programmer extraordinaire Ian “Pho” Swain were definitely the odd man out on the bill and did their best to warm up the small yet devoted early attendees. I'd caught about half the set as I myself had been running late. I chose to hang back during the remainder of their set which may have worked to my advantage as the beats and vocals sounded superb from where I was standing. As soon as their set was over, I made my way to the merch table and ended up purchasing one of the limited edition show posters and then I ducked out of the venue to put said poster in my car before returning about 20 minutes later.

It's been a number of years since I've seen live nor paid attention to Toronto's Ohbijou. I was always a fan of the band's melancholy, string-laden, indie-pop sound but as a live entity had usually been disappointed with their laid-back stage presence. Now on album number three with this year's released Metal Meets, which I still have yet to hear although I'm assuming they were playing songs off of at The Great Hall, it seems the band is flexing a little more muscle these days. With the Mecija sisters, vocalist Casey and violinst Jenny, both wearing black (Casey wearing a black hooded cloak even), I'd swear the band had gone goth, and even they haven't they're definitely heavier, hence the album title Metal Meets perhaps. The band seems to strike their instruments harder, and play louder, Casey even going-into guitar-face and strumming her guitar furiously at times. Ohbijou still maintain their recognizable melancholy pop sound but this time with more oomph, and it's working wonders for them.

Since the release of their first full-length "Hometowns" in 2008, Toronto's The Rural Alberta Advantage have gradually been achieving a most fervent fanbase within Toronto, Canada and beyond. RAA were a band who'd in their early days regularly played shows at the tiny Embassy in Toronto but more recently have been headlining at midsized Toronto venue, Phoenix Concert Theatre. It'd been a few years since I'd seen RAA live when they played the third stage at 2009's Virgin Festival Toronto, the same year that American indie label rereleased their debut album Hometowns. Earlier this year, the band released their second album Departing which by my own procrastination had never gotten around to picking up. Given this gap in my RAA experience, it was nice to again see the band live. If you're familiar with the band's propulsive acoustic sound based around drums, keys, and acoustic guitar, then yes, not much has changed but that is a good thing. The band played a bit more ragged than usual ["Edmonton" in particular, seemed a bit more sped up and less rigid than on record] but overall reminded me why they're one of the best current bands in Toronto.

Beginning with Fucked Up's Damian Abraham announcing Sloan on to the stage, a la the beginning of One Chord To Another ("Will you please… welcome to the stage… SLOAN!"), the band erupted into lead off track "The Good In Everyone" and proceeded to play the entire album front to back. Second track "Nothing Left to Make Me Want to Stay", never a single but which should have been in my opinion, remains one of my favourite tracks on the album and I was singing along to much of it. You could feel the crowd energy surge on the punky "G Turns to D" and later on the urgent "Anyone Who's Anyone" (whose lyrics "Everyone who's played a part, We're all together now, Everyone who's played a part, stand and take a bow" sounded so appropriate that night). Other highlights included the three person horn section on "Everything You've Dong Wrong" and "Take The Bench", the former also benefiting from the crowd singalong. The Jay Ferguson-sung "The Lines You Amend" also garnered a favourable reaction from the crowd and a further crowd singalong. I cannot remember if I'd ever heard "Can't Face Up" live but regardless of guitar flub during the Patrick's solo which he freely admitted, hearing it that night was like listening to if for the first time, and when Patrick belted out the chorus it was sublime.

While the occasion of the night was to play One Chord To Another, the encore was a treat unto itself. Kicking off with one of my faves from Twice Removed, "Snowsuit Sound", then Fucked Up's Damian come on to stage perform a punky / hardcore number which I did not recognize which had Damian and Chris vocally playing one another then lead to some physical horseplay between the two. The next song "500 Up"(from their debut Smeared) was a pure joy to hear regardless of the mic problems that plagued drummer Andrew Scott's vocal parts. The piece de resistance to the encore and the night was the surprise appearance by Toronto's own Leslie Feist, who played added guitar for what was an energetic rendition of the band's song "She Means What She Says". Wow. What started out as Sloan agreeing to play a special charity show turned out for me in coming full circle with the band; the show revived, at least temporarily, the pure euphoric rush I once had for them. I guess that is what we call nostaligia but damn it sure feels good. After all, they are a band that has a song called "If It Feels Good Do It". Thanking the crowd at the end, Chris remarked that they came to Toronto as a Halifax band, but more and more are feeling like a Toronto one. And this another reason why Toronto is one of the best cities in the world.

Photos: Sloan, Rural Alberta Advantage, Ohbijou, Bonjay @ The Great Hall, Toronto (December 21, 2011)
MySpace: Bonjay
MySpace: Ohbijou
MySpace: Rural Alberta Advantage
MySpace: Sloan

Bon Iver, Lianne La Havas @ Massey Hall, Toronto (December 6, 2011)

  Bon Iver @ Massey Hall: photo by Michael Ligon

The second show I'd gone to this month was the first show of a two-night stint put on by Bon Iver at Massey Hall on December 6. As it seems with me over the last several years, I've not put too much effort into exploring much new music. I haven't totally ignored new music but rather have been really selective. As a result, I've caught on to some artists a little late. I'd only given Bon Iver's debut album Forever Emma Forever Ago cursory listens in the past and I'd liked what I'd heard but still hadn't been compelled to listen to it too often. I'll admit, my choice to buy a ticket to the Bon Iver show was purely on the current popularity of the group and perhaps I should see what all the fuss is about. I am glad to say that Bon Iver did make an indellible mark on me that night.

Opening the show was a young new UK artist named Lianne La Havas [even spelling out her name in full], a slender, petite young thing wearing dark boots, tights, a white skirt, and a glittery black top, who strolled onto stage to her mic with her guitar. Thanking the crowd profusely throughout the night in her thick British accent, toasting the crowd with tea, and singing songs about love, breakups, and old boyfriends, her jazz-inflected pop songs sounded like a mix between the soulfulness of Adele and the starkness of Tracey Thorn. La Havas displayed a competent grasp of the guitar that complemented her soulful, melodic songs well. I will be a monkey's uncle if she does not hit it bigger in the music scene next year. She's set to release her debut album early next year.

This being the first night of a two night stint, it's easy to overlook that Bon Iver had just played Toronto at the dreaded Sound Academy this past August to promote the self-titled 2nd album which came out this past June. Regardless of how well that show went, I'd imagine that many a Bon Iver fan breathed a sigh of relief when the Massey Hall shows were announced. It was an ecstatic audience response that great Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and his 9-piece band as they strolled on to the stage. What I found apparent of the set overall was, although they've frequently been categorized as indie-folk by the music press, Bon Iver do come across much more musically ambitious. Like Vernon jokingly said on stage, "Stop calling us an acoustic rock band." Added to the usual drums, guitar, bass on stage was other instrumentation like violin, baritone saxophone, and trombone. Bon Iver may start from a basis in folk-rock, Appalachian and American influences, but also showed a willingness towards sonic experimentation which reminded me of Wilco. What was almost more interesting to me was Mr. Vernon's vocal range which could go from a falsetto-toned vocal on one song, then to a bluesy, ragged drawl on the next. The man[ie. Justin Vernon] I'd read about who'd apparently for the first album had sequestered himself in a log cabin in the woods after a broken-up relationship to write the songs for the first album, turned out to be quite chipper during this show, infusing bits of humorous banter between songs throughout the night.

Musically, highlights included the solo-performed, desolate-sounding "re: Stacks", and the group sing-a-long- and hand-clapping on main set closer "Skinny Love". But for me the I just about shed a tear on the encore closer "The Wolves (Act I and II)" on which Mr. Vernon encouraged the audience to sing-a-long repetively with the lyrics "what might have been lost". Such a beautiful conclusion to a wonderful show.

Photos: Bon Iver, Lianne La Havas @ Massey Hall, Toronto (December 6, 2011)

Austra, Young Galaxy, Tasseomancy @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (December 1, 2011)

  Austra: photo by Michael Ligon

Kicking off a busier month of concert-going than usual for me these days was Toronto's Austra at the Phoenix Concert Theatre at the beginning of the month. The bigger ticket that night was Feist at Massey Hall but there seemed to be a full-house (if not a sold out one) for the homecoming show for Austra who'd been making waves and touring all year.

Doing double-duty that night were twin sisters Sari and Romy Lightman aka Tasseomancy who to me were better known as Austra's dynamite backup vocalists / all-around foxy side women. It was only more recently that I found out that the sisters use to be Haligonian indie folk duo Ghost Bees. Joined by male musicians on keys and drums, the gals stark vocals complimented the lilting folk melodies and subtle instrumentation nicely. Haunting at times, and sonically interesting throughout, they aren't your average folk band.

Since the release of their self-titled debut full-length in 2007, Montreal's Young Galaxy were a band I'd suspected would have hit it big by now, which if they had, it'd have been deserved. The band's soaring, dream-pop melodies were never really the mainstream, as mainstream pop has gone over the last five years, but in my opinion could have crossed over easily if only the fickle music buyer had taken notice. With the release of their third album Shapeshifting released earlier this year, it seems that band has discovered dance music, as was obviously displayed by the band during their set preceding Austra. With the entire band dressed in white, including female lead vocalist Catherine McCandless in a flowing white top, it was a visually attractive presentation. Musically, it was quite apparent that the band's recent forays into dance-inflected pop is what's floating their boat these days. A part of me misses their earlier dream-pop sound, but the band seem like a more stimulating live band this time around, especially Mccandless' vibrant movements and tambourine-shaking onstage.

Austra's debut album Feel It Break released this past May I will have to say is my favourite Canadian album of the year. Featuring vocalist Katie Stelmanis' stark operatic vocals against a backdrop of pulsating rhythms and synth, along with a bevy of great melodic tunes, it's just such a fantastic listen. Stelmanis greeted the crowd and told us that just a year ago they'd play their first headline show at the Bovine Sex Club and now they were playing their biggest show yet in Toronto, this time at the Phoenix. I was fortunate to catch them live at the sweaty and intimately confining Wrongbar earlier this year during Canadian Musicfest so it's a shame to say that this show at the Phoenix just did not reach those euphoric levels I'd experienced at Wrongbar. I wished the crowd had shown more energy, like the pulsating, dance-infused crowd that greeted Austra earlier this year. The crowd at the Phoenix was wholly appreciative for sure, but definitely lacked the energy that they should have had. given the band's exemplary musicianship. Perhaps the post-midnight set was frustrating for some that Thursday night for those who had to work the next day, but hey, you're only young once.

Photos: Austra, Young Galaxy, Tasseomancy @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (December 1, 2011)

CMJ & New York City (October 19, 2011)

  Portugal The Man @ Ace Hotel, NYC: photo by Michael Ligon

If it had to rain, then I'm glad it was at the beginning of my trip. More thankfully, I'm glad it only rained once the whole five days I was in New York City last month. Given the rain, I was confined to mostly indoor activities. With umbrella in hand, and rain jacket on (yes, I came prepared), I took off that morning to head to the Ace Hotel in midtown Manhattan for KEXP's "Free Yr Radio" CMJ sessions, and then for whatever randomness the day could bring. Overall I think I made the most of what was a soggy day.

Things I did / saw / heard / ate:

- an Americano and toasted bagel with Nutella (although I didn't eat the bagel until much later in the day) at Think Coffee on Bowery St. down the street from my hotel.
- saw the Joey Ramone street sign at the corner of Bowery and East Second Street, (down the street from the original location of CBGB's.)
- watched local bluegrass outfit Ebony Hillbillies busking at the subway station as part of the city's Music Under New York series.
- Flatiron building at 23rd and Broadway [funny thing is I didn't realize that Shake Shack was just across the street]
- Flatiron Prow Artspace which is a glass-enclosed space at the base of the Flatiron building which was hosting "The Cup Drawings", an installation by artist Gwyneth Leech who draws on upcycled take-out paper coffee cups and suspends them by string
- The Ramones tribute in front window display of the Guitar Center on 14th Street in Manhattan
- Urban Outfitters @ 14th and 6th
- Portugal The Man performing in the lobby of the Ace Hotel as part of KEXP's "Free Yr Radio" CMJ sessions; the hotel itself is a boutique hotel which I'd have loved to have stayed in; it had such a cool ambience.
- had the most delicious pulled pork sandwich at No. 7 Sub just around the corner from the Ace Hotel
- Puma Store, Union Square location for the CMJ Spin Sessions with Washington, D.C. rock band U.S. Royalty [not my thing, but they were decent] and San Franciscan shoegaze trio Weekend who fared better with my musical tastes [I'm biased].
- bottled apple cider at the Union Square Farmer's Market
- off to Brooklyn to catch the tailend of Conneticut psych-funk outfit The Stepkids' set at Public Assembly as part of Under The Radar's free CMJ day party.
- rest back at the hotel
- headed to Santos Party House at Canal and Lafayette but got denied entry because I hadn't RSVP'd; grabbed a coffee Starbucks and went back to Santos but they still wouldn't let me in.
- headed to Pianos and caught a few acts on the upper floor including the electro-pop chanteuse Erika Springs (of Au Revoir Simone) [I'd wished I'd caught her whole set - it was good], and local indie act Dinosaur Feathers whose melodies and musicianship were impressive.
- decided to try my luck and head back to Santos Party House to see if I could get in - success!; finished off the night seeing Los Angeles duo (backed with a band) Inc who seemed to specialize in funk, r n' b and soul for a new generation, and a headlining set from Brooklyn resident George Lewis Jr. aka Twin Shadow

Photos: CMJ & New York City (October 19, 2011)

CMJ & New York City (October 18, 2011)

  Janet Weiss & Carrie Brownstein of Wild Flag @ Bowery Ballroom: photo by Michael Ligon

First, sorry for the late posting. CMJ and my trip to New York City in October has already been over for almost a month now, and I've been really lazy getting photos up on my Flickr and posting about the CMJ shows I went to. Overall, it was great to be back in The Big Apple. The CMJ lineup this year felt more subdued than last year, but with the amount of acts I had to choose from, I caught a number of good bands I hadn't heard before. In any case, CMJ is well worth the trip when you have the city and all that it has to offer to fall back on. I hope to get up these posts on a daily basis, although don't hold me to that. Grammar be damned, for expediency's sake, I'm going to shoot this off point form:

Things I did / saw / ate / heard:

- Bowery House (check-in) - good location in lower Manhattan, the hotel itself feeling somewhere between a hostel and a boutique hotel. I got myself a private cabin which basically was a room with a bed and a dresser and that's it but of course I was hardly going to be in the room anyway. The bathroom/shower facilities are however shared, except for the one individual bathroom available if you were lucky to snag it when no one was using it. The price was good and the staff were friendly. I recommend it if you're looking for a inexpensive and clean hotel in Manhattan.
- Ramones-in-front-of-CBGB's poster on the wall of my room - cool.
- New Museum
- John Varvatos Store (@ 315 Bowery St., the site of where CBGB's used to be)
- Chinatown (peanut rice dumpling, hmmm)
- Sara D. Roosevelt Park
- random conversations with others (including one photographer from QRO Magazine) in line outside of Bowery Ballroom trying to get a ticket for the Wild Flag, Eleanor Friedberger, & Hospitality (basically a mini Merge Records fest with local NYC outfit Hospitality its newest signees) show (success!); by the way, the people I met were really friendly.
- locals Hospitality opened the show with a spiky set of indie pop tunes
- Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger almost stole the show with her fantastic set of pop tunes.
- Wild Flag set was an intoxicating mix of musical influences and was really a sum of it's parts ie. the art-rock influences of Mary Timony's old outfit Helium and the punk, garage influences of Sleater Kinney; I'd also perceived a psych-rock influence at times.
- Wild Flag's Carrie Brownstein kicking her plastic glass of beer into the crowd at the end of the main set
- Wild Flag, for their encore, playing covers of Television's "See No Evil", and Patti Smith's "Ask The Angels"

Photos: CMJ & New York City (October 18, 2011)