Saturday, March 19th, 2011

SxSW 2011 Night One

Ellie Goulding, Yuck, Summer Camp and more at SxSW

Frank YangIt was nice to have the opportunity to knock off some of the “must-sees” from my list with the very start of the official portion of the festival, thanks to NPR and Stubb’s. The former’s showcase at the latter let me see British buzz acts Yuck and James Blake early and, if blown away, circle one of their shows later in the week for an encore performance.

At the risk of being all, “what’s with kids these days”, I was genuinely surprised at how indifferent the London quartet appeared to be about being at SxSW, having such a large audience, just generally everything, even though they said they were happy to be there. I realize the slacker aesthetic was a large part of the acts to which they’ve been largely compared – your Pavements, Dino Jrs, what have you – but if the nonchalance was an affectation, it was an off-putting one. There’s no shame in looking like you’re enjoying yourselves. With that out of the way, they did sound terrific, filling their set with tunes from their self-titled record made even bigger and hookier than on disc – it was good to see that they at least took that aspect of their performance seriously. People looking to criticize them won’t be able to target their musicianship or songwriting, but their charisma? Fire away.

No such expectations of showmanship accompanied dubstep/soul-pop wunderkind James Blake’s first show of the fest and one of his first on this continent. You almost felt sorry for him that he would be thrust onto the stage at one of the festival’s biggest stages for his first SxSW experience, but that’s what he gets for being the alleged next big thing, right? His live setup consisted of a couple banks of keyboards, with himself at stage far left, a percussionist with both acoustic drums and electronic pads and a guitarist/keyboardist – all seated and clearly not intent on putting on a dazzling show, unless the open space in front was being reserved for the James Blake Dancers. It was not. When they got underway, it was evident that this was a performance that would be just as effective with eyes closed as open, amounting to a sort of pulsing real-time remix, his keys and voice being cut-and-pasted over the beats. The more soulful songs where his voice was left largely un-effected, like Feist’s “Limit To Your Love” and his “hit” “Wilhelm Scream” were still pretty stirring, though. It was interesting enough but this material wasn’t really designed for live performance, at least not in an amphitheatre setting. I suspect the more intimate shows later in the week, like at the Central Presbyterian Church, were more complimentary.

Decamping from Stubb’s to The Parish Underground let me cross Minnesota’s Now Now off my to-see list, both for the fest and overall. The trio is probably justifiably classifiable as emo pop, hence their being attached to bills I’ve no interest in seeing when they come to town, but it’s crunchy and hooky and I like it. And when you’ve got two nearly-identical girls who look barely old enough to drive chunking out riffs and thinline Telecasters, well that’s just good fun. I do think they’re good and talented enough to transcend any sort of genre circuit that they might otherwise be stuck in, but if not? We’ll always have Austin.

Unsure of what to do next, I decided to break my general “no Canadian bands” rule to stop in at the Quebec-commandeered Spill to see The Dears, but already running late, the band was unable to get their gear set up – goodness gracious they travel with a lot of keyboards – and after 15 minutes or so into their allotted set time and seeing them still sorting out power cords, I aborted and decided to get a head start on my midnight appointment.

And it’s a good thing I did because getting to Bat Bar early allowed me to meet London’s Clock Opera. At first they sounded like another lightly-danceable Brit-rock band, but after a few songs it was evident they had a certain dramatic, fist-raising quality to their songs that set them apart from the usual. I haven’t had time to do more research on who they are and what they’re up to, but certainly intend to. Consider that they had jammed the floor space with fans, sending latecomers like myself to the venue balcony, and several people asked me, in the capacity of total stranger, who they were and where they were from. I consider that a very good sign.

In the audience turnover between sets I was able to scootch downstairs and get up front for Ellie Goulding, about whom I knew only that she was declared the sound of 2010 by BBC, though all I needed her to be was the sound of the next 40 minutes or so. It’s always nice when established international acts come to SxSW and have to prove themselves again, because you get them delivering their finely-honed performances in much smaller venues than they’re used to playing. Case in point was Goulding, who was clearly used to bigger stages and as such was able to pretty well blow the roof off of Bat Bar. I’ve seen her referred to as “folktronica” and I suppose that’s descriptive, what with her building a kind of snarly electro-pop on an acoustic guitar base (though she only strapped on the guitar for a few songs) but her stuff sampled so many styles and genres that really, only a descriptor as broad and meaningless as “pop” could apply. And great. Definitely great.

And the greatness continued to the night’s close over at Latitude 30 for London’s Summer Camp. The duo of Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey made some headlines last year by cultivating an air of mystery around their identities when first releasing their tasty sun-kissed retro-pop, but since coming out as who they are, they’ve remained conversation-worthy thanks to the general wonderful-ness of their tunes. That said, I didn’t necessarily expect too much from them live as studio duos who don’t recruit additional players, as they didn’t, aren’t normally equipped to bring it on stage. But playing in front of very specifically-assembled video montages, Summer Camp were far more charismatic and energetic performers than I ever would have expected. Warmsley’s guitar and keys and both his and Sankey’s vocals brought a lot of liveliness that more than made up for the reliance on canned backing tracks. Without a finished album they didn’t have as much material as one would have liked but what they had was pretty much bliss.

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

SxSW 2011 Day One

Mark Eitzel, The Jezabels, Ringo Deathstarr and more at SxSW

Frank YangInformation is king when it comes to SxSW and scheduling, and inevitably there’s a lot of bad info floating around. This I was reminded of on the very first morning of the 2011 edition of the festival when I headed down 6th St to try and start things off with English atmospheric-pop outfit Still Corners at Peckerheads, only to discover that the show I was looking for was either happening in 12 hours (the old AM vs PM gag), in 48 hours (according to some unofficial guides) or not at all (my own gut feeling). But what was certain is that it wasn’t happening now. So for plan B – and you always need a plan B – was to about face and head to the west end of downtown for Austin’s own Ringo Deathstarr.

The trio had been getting some attention for their clever name and debut album Colour Trip, which makes no secret of their love of My Bloody Valentine. And while the record is loud, fuzzy and fun enough to make up for its general lack of originality, their live show wasn’t able to get over that hump. Granted, no one is at the top of their game at noon on a Wednesday, but you didn’t get the sense they were off, necessarily – the general lack of presence and charisma was probably a consistent thing. But still they were loud, the tunes were alright and bassist/guitarist Alex Gehring does a pretty decent Belinda Butcher impersonation so it’s okay. And there’s nothing quite like watching ear-bleeding shoegaze at lunchtime in the back of an empty restaurant to remind you that yes, it’s SxSW time again.

I then headed clear across downtown to Lustre Pearl for another Austin trio, though one that’s pretty much a Sx tradition for me and a guaranteed good show – Ume. They were one of the great fest discoveries back in 2009 and I always make it a point, now, to catch one of their shows. Though this show was similar in structure and selection as ones past – the band have a new record in the can but weren’t showing off too much of it yet – it was different in one key point with new drummer Rachel Fuhrer behind the kit, replacing Jeff Barrera. She proved more than up to the job, though, teaming with bassist Eric Larson to lay down the foundation for Lauren Larson’s guitar and vocal pyrotechnics. Seeing her play never gets old, though I will say that I am anxious for the new album – the Sunshower EP was and is great, but they’ve gotten about all the mileage out of it that they can.

After a stop-in for some free food and drink at the Canadian Blast BBQ – hey now, we all know why we’re here – I headed to Red 7 to see Lower Dens, only to find I’d beaten them to the venue… by a day or so. The band’s van had broken down somewhere around Tennessee and thus their Wednesday shows were scotched. But, as already said, that’s why you have backups. And mine was just across the I-35 at the French Legation museum for the already once-missed Still Corners. They would not evade me.

Except that they would. The Legation is a wonderfully laid back outside venue, all hills and lawns for lounging and lolling. The fact that there was no security at the door, nor at the beer tent – just buckets of beer for the taking by anyone which I’m sure, even in the land of the free, is all kinds of illegal – should have been my first hint that this was not going to be a tightly-run ship. The second hint was when Alessi’s Ark, who’d been scheduled for 2:20PM, got on stage at almost 4PM. How you fall 90 minutes behind just a couple hours into the day is a mystery to me, but the Legation had managed to do it. And while Alessi’s languid solo acoustic folk was nice enough and well-matched to the pastoral setting, the cumulative agitation of the day was really distracting me and I can’t say I paid a whole lot of attention.

Deciding that waiting around for Still Corners to finally come on in a couple hours would be a waste of the day, it was back down across the highway to The Mohawk where Australia’s Jezabels were already underway. I’d missed a few of their Toronto appearances, including last week during Canadian Musicfest, but was glad we’d finally found a way to meet up as their nicely dramatic rock – clearly intended for larger stages than the inside of the Mohawk – began redeeming the day. They had a balance of attack and atmosphere that was certainly pleasing to these ears and delivered with a level of polish that showed this was a band who’d been honing their craft for some time.

Abandoned schedules did work to my favour by the afternoon’s end, though, as the party at Red-Eyed Fly had fallen behind sufficiently that I was able to get in to see Mark Eitzel play. He was at the festival in both a solo capacity and as frontman for American Music Club and though this was the former, his set drew heavily on material from the latter, particularly their excellent reunion record Love Songs For Patriots, but the configuration of Eitzel and a keyboardist gave it a very different cabaret-like feel. It was actually very fitting that he was performing as people were clearing out of the back room following the Dodos’ set as it was as though he was a sideshow performer desperately trying to get their attention. Those who kept walking definitely missed out, though, as Eitzel was in fine sardonic form and huge voice, his lyrics taking on a free form poetry feel in the setting. “Patriot’s Heart”, “Windows On The World” and “The Decibels And The Little Pills” all felt as though you were hearing them for the first time and following a reading of “I Left My Heart I San Francisco”, he bounded off stage and strode out of the club, simply done with it all. Mark Eitzel had left the building.

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Canadian Musicfest Day Three

Janelle Monáe, Shad, Bombay Bicycle Club and more at Canadian Musicfest

Frank YangFor as many years as I’ve been attending and covering Canadian Music Week and/or Canadian Musicfest, which is now quite a few, I’ve never hit up what is ostensibly it’s big gala show, the Independent Music Awards or, more unfortunately, the INDIES. Usually this was because the lineup of performers wasn’t as interesting as hitting up the clubs and because the awards themselves, being fan-voted, seemed odd and arbitrary. But this year, the combination of a weaker-than-normal Saturday night schedule and a very appealing one-two finale of Janelle Monáe and Shad convinced me that the ballroom at the Royal York hotel was the place to finish the festival off.

Due to some logistics and the fact that their sets were maybe ten minutes long, I missed the first couple performers but arrived in time to see London’s Bombay Bicycle Club, who despite being only moderately successful back home were treated as nigh on royalty over here across their several festival appearances. And it’s not that they’re unlikeable – they ply a sort of scrappy but earnest Brit-rock that’s thankfully not of the snotty post-Libertines/Arctic Monkeys variety, but isn’t especially memorable, either. Though from the cheers that met them and the stories that I’ve heard from the rabid fans at their other shows, I’m in the minority with that opinion, and that’s fine. The Brit-kids need their fix and this week, Bombay Bicycle Club was it.

The National Post and Spinner have chats with the band.

Photos: Bombay Bicycle Club @ The Fairmont Royal York – March 12, 2011
Video: Bombay Bicycle Club – “My God”
Video: Bombay Bicycle Club – “Always Like This”
Video: Bombay Bicycle Club – “Evening/Morning”
Video: Bombay Bicycle Club – “Dust On The Ground”
Video: Bombay Bicycle Club – “Magnet”

Similar can be said for the next act, Ottawa-area natives Hollerado. There’s no doubt the band has earned all the success they’ve achieved so far, what with touring constantly, giving away their album Record In A Bag for free (grab it off their website), making creative videos and generally working their asses off – but while I find their collegiate riff-rock material decent enough from a melodic/catchiness perspective, it just doesn’t come off as all that interesting to me. But even so, they do put on an entertaining show and elicit a tremendous response from their fanbase who were out on this evening in force and by way of saying hello and thanks for their support, frontman Menno Versteeg lept into the crowd for their set’s finale.

The National Post has a Q&A with Versteeg.

Photos: Hollerado @ The Fairmont Royal York – March 12, 2011
MP3: Hollerado – “Juliette”
MP3: Hollerado – “Fake Drugs”
MP3: Hollerado – “Americanarama”
Video: Hollerado – “Juliette”
Video: Hollerado – “Americanarama”

At this point, I’ll talk a bit about the awards themselves which were kind of fascinating to behold. First, there was a disconnect between the performers and the nominees in that half of the former had nothing to do with the awards being given out, they were just there to play a show and accordingly, much of the audience seemed indifferent to the ceremonies being held on the side stage. And since the Indies don’t really rate as a major award, many/most of the winners didn’t show up or send a representative, resulting in a stretch where a bunch of ostensibly big winners were announced in rapid fire succession with the audience cheering a name and an image on the video screen for a second or two. Just odd.

But back to the show. Even though Shad was himself an Indie winner (for Favourite Urban Artist), his set seemed less a part of the awards show and more the start of a separate event altogether, where he was the warm up, Janelle Monáe the headliner and that was it. Now I have never seen Shad in the context of his own headlining show – festivals, in-stores and awards ceremonies yes, and now as support, but his own show? Not yet. But considering that none of the above are what you’d call ideal circumstances for a performer, that he’s been fantastic in every one makes me think that there’s no way Shad ever puts on a bad show. Goodness knows he didn’t on this evening, with a compact but totally entertaining set drawing from his two Polaris shortlisted records TSOL and The Old Prince while backed by a DJ and bassist/keyboardist while he delivered smart, snappy rhymes overtop. He might be a perpetual Polaris bridesmaid, at least so far, but there’s no denying he’s one of if not the top hip-hop artist in the country right now.

eye and The National Post have feature pieces on Shad.

Photos: Shad @ The Fairmont Royal York – March 12, 2011
MP3: Shad – “Rose Garden”
MP3: Shad – “Yaa I Get It”
Video: Shad – “Keep Shining”
Video: Shad – “We Myself & I”
Video: Shad – “Rose Garden”
Video: Shad – “Yaa I Get It”
Video: Shad – “The Old Prince Still Lives At Home”
Video: Shad – “I Don’t Really Like To”
Video: Shad – “Brother (Watching)”

Ultimately, though, the night was about Janelle Monáe. If you were able to exact spot where the best of R&B, soul, funk, rock, pop, singer, songwriter, dancer and out-and-out visionary artistry intersected, it would be in the shape of a tiny pompadoured woman in a tuxedo. Though only on the scene for a few years, her live shows are already legendary spectacles, and not in the all flash no substance way of many pop stars, but in the jaw-dropping musicianship and entertainer sense. Toronto got their first taste of Monáe last Summer when she opened up for Arcade Fire on the Islands, and while for many she nearly stole the show, it was still very much not her audience.

This evening, however, it was and though some might have wished that she’d played a normal show unattached to any awards or festivals, she still delivered a full-length set that bore out her reputation as one of the most electrifying performers going today. Using the futuristic concepts laid out in her ArchAndroid album as a framing device, she and her ridiculously tight band put on a dazzling hour-long show replete with costume changes, extraordinary dancing and just great songs that refuse to be pigeonholed into any specific genre. And unlike the Island show, which curiously put show-stoppers “Cold War” and “Tightrope” mid-set, this time they saved them for a perfect one-two punch finale, and yet still managed to top it with an extended “Come Alive (War of the Roses)” where the stage was first invaded by dancers cast as androids and then the audience was invaded by Monáe, who went for a venue-spanning crowd surf. Awards? What awards? All I know is that Janelle Monáe won. At everything.

Spinner has a wrap up of the entire night, start to finish.

Photos: Janelle Monáe @ The Fairmont Royal York – March 12, 2011
Video: Janelle Monáe – “Cold War”
Video: Janelle Monáe – “Tightrope”
Video: Janelle Monáe – “Many Moons”

Spinner talks to TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone about their new record Nine Types Of Light, due out April 12. They’ll be at the Sound Academy on April 18 but Pitchfork reports that bassist/keyboardist Gerard Smith won’t be joining them on the road as he’s being treated for lung cancer – best wishes to Smith for a speedy recovery.

Spin and Interview have feature pieces on The Kills, who’ve made a track from their new record Blood Pressures available to download. It’s out April 5 and they play The Sound Academy on May 1.

MP3: The Kills – “DNA”

A week before its release, The Strokes have posted their new record Angles on their website for all to stream, and you can follow along with the song-by-song commentary Julian Casablancas has give to NME.

Stream: The Strokes / Angles

Drive-By Truckers will bring their new record Go Go Boots to The Phoenix on June 15, tickets $29.50 in advance. The Georgia Straight chats with guitarist Mike Cooley.

MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Used To Be A Cop”

A couple of ladies for whom one name is enough – Thao & Mirah – have teamed up for an album they’ve called Thao & Mirah and will be in town for a show at Lee’s Palace on June 5. That’s just short of a year after their last visit was cancelled on account of a little incident we locals like to call the G20 clusterfuck.

MP3: Thao & Mirah – “Eleven [featuring tUnE-yaRds]”

NXNE is still a ways off but some of the performers at this year’s fest are getting out – the Thursday night, June 16, will find Deerhoof and The Dodos at The Phoenix. Both acts have new records out, Deerhoof Vs Evil and No Color, respectively. Paste talks to The Dodos about their new record.

MP3: Deerhoof – “The Merry Barracks”
MP3: The Dodos – “Don’t Stop”

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Canadian Musicfest 2011 Day Two

Karkwa, Esben & The Witch, Adam & The Amethysts and more at Canadian Musicfest

Frank YangThe Friday night of Canadian Musicfest saw the only bit of club-hopping that I’d be engaging in over the weekend, but even that was just across a couple of blocks in Parkdale, and I took a streetcar. No, not so much with the spirit of the club-level festival.

Stop one was the Drake Underground for Olenka & The Autumn Lovers. I’d seen them just a few weeks prior, but while that show had been as a stripped-down four-piece, advance billing promised a full lineup for this one. But instead of the stage-filling configuration that played The Garrison in October 2009, this show was again Olenka Krakus with Sara Froese on violin, Kelly Wallraff on cello and Tyler Belluz on upright bass. And if there’s any trace of disappointment in that, it’s just because it meant that some of the songs from And Now We Sing that required a fuller presentation would again be left out of the set. And yes, this show was similar if not identical in structure to the Horseshoe show but actually probably better overall thanks to the more intimate setting encouraging a more conversational tone between Krakus and the attentive audience. Don’t get me wrong – I still love these songs and am happy to hear them however they’re presented, but if next time out they bring a drummer along… I won’t be upset.

Spinner has an interview with Olenka Krakus.

Photos: Olenka & The Autumn Lovers @ The Drake Underground – March 11, 2011
MP3: Olenka & The Autumn Lovers – “Odessa”

Montreal’s Adam & The Amethysts made a positive impression with their debut Amethyst Amulet back in 2008, but kind of fell off the radar since I saw them live that Summer. That looks to change with the impending release of their second album Flickering Flashlight, and while details of that release are still forthcoming their showcase did a good job of reminding why they were worth paying attention to in the first place. Their appreciation and affinity for classically-styled, music in the vein of The Zombies is still as sharp as ever, their songs all understated hooks and sneaky sophistication. I wasn’t able to stick around for the whole of their set but was there long enough to whet my appetite for the new record. Hope it gets out sooner rather than later.

Chart has thoughts on their set.

Photos: Adam & The Amethysts @ The Drake Underground – March 11, 2011
MP3: Adam & The Amethysts – “Prophecy”
Video: Adam & The Amethysts – “Gitche Gumee Yeah Yeah”

Then it was further into the dark heart of Parkdale to Wrongbar, where 2/3 of what would have been the best bill of the festival were ready to make an argument that it still was. Leading their case was reigning Polaris Music Prize winners Karkwa, who’d been spending no small amount of time since the win last September introducing themselves and the winning record Le chemins de verre to English Canada. And making those introductions by way of live performance was really putting their best foot forward as their show was nothing less than electrifying. I’d seen them play at the Polaris gala and while I didn’t know it at the time, that was Karkwa at their most subdued what with frontman Louis-Jean Cormier on piano – and while that was fine, having him brandish guitars as he did this night made for a very different sort of show.

My French hasn’t gotten any better since September so I still didn’t understand any of what they were singing, but the collective musicianship of the band and melodic and visceral impact of their songs needed no translation. Not even Le chemins de verre properly captured the intense dynamics and surprising amount of brutalism (a good thing) that was on display here. I know that there was a fair bit of head-scratching when Karkwa won the Polaris, both with respect to who they were and whether they deserved it. The former shouldn’t be an issue anymore and the latter? Just go see them live. And make sure the guitars are out.

Spinner and Chart were also on hand at the show while The Globe & Mail has a feature piece.

Photos: Karkwa @ Wrongbar – March 11, 2011
MP3: Karkwa – “Dors Dans Mon Sang”
Video: Karkwa – “Le pyromane”
Video: Karkwa – “Echapper au sort”
Video: Karkwa – “Marie tu pleures”
Video: Karkwa – “Oublie pas”
Video: Karkwa – “Échapper au sor”
Video: Karkwa – “À la chaîne”
Video: Karkwa – “Combien”
Video: Karkwa – “La facade”
Video: Karkwa – “La fuite”
Video: Karkwa – “Vrai”
Video: Karkwa – “Le coup d’etat”
Video: Karkwa – “Poisson cru”

It took a while to tear down after Karkwa’s set – to say they’ve got a lot of gear is an understatement – it didn’t take long to get Brighton’s Esben & The Witch, who don’t need a whole lot in the way of equipment to build their dark, atmospheric sound, to get ready to go. This show was considerably different from their local debut supporting Foals back in September; whereas that one came across as decidedly primal and amorphous with its heavy percussion and free-form vocals, this performance had much more structure, dynamics and overall intent – as though the building blocks that had been present but strewn about in the Fall had now been assembled into something using their debut Violet Cries as a blueprint. But even though it was more controlled, there was still plenty of intensity on offer be it from Daniel Copeman’s hair-whipping guitarwork, Rachel Davies’ plaintive vocals or any or all of the band beating the bejesus out of a single floor tom. Though Esben in general isn’t really my thing, I think I still prefer the album to the live show – it offers up their songs in their most fully-formed state – but neither form is boring.

Chart also has a review of the show.

Photos: Esben & The Witch @ Wrongbar – March 11, 2011
MP3: Esben & The Witch – “Warpath”
Video: Esben & The Witch – “Warpath”
Video: Esben & The Witch – “Marching Song”

Spin chats with Noah & The Whale before soliciting a video performance from the band. Their new record Last Night On Earth is out today and they play The Mod Club on March 24.

British Sea Power have released a new video from Valhalla Dancehall, just in time for their North American tour, which starts next week and hits Lee’s Palace on March 24.

Video: British Sea Power – “Who’s In Control”

Clash has an interview with Ritzy Bryan of The Joy Formidable, whose The Big Roar is now officially out in North America. They’re at The Horseshoe on April 2.

Another video from Mogwai’s latest Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will has been released. The band are at The Phoenix on April 26.

Video: Mogwai – “San Pedro”

Drowned In Sound meets Yuck, who’re giving away their single to download. They’re at The Phoenix on May 1.

MP3: Yuck – “Get Away”

NPR has a World Cafe session and JAM an interview with chart-topper Adele. Her May 18 show at the Kool Haus is looking mighty undersized and intimate right about now, eh?

With the April 12 release of their self-titled debut just about here, Jonny – aka Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci’s Euros Childs – have announced a North American tour that kicks off with two nights at the Drake Underground in Toronto on June 3 and 4.

Video: Jonny – “Candyfloss”

Elvis Costello’s tour in support of last year’s National Ransom brings him to the Sony Centre on June 23.

The Quietus has details on the extensive series of Suede remasters and reissues that will be getting rolled out starting May 30 and ending June 22. I am loathe to re-buy these albums, particularly on CD, but man I can’t imagine not having the “definitive” Dog Man Star. Damn you, Suede.

PopMatters and Under The Radar talk to Elbow’s Pete Turner and Guy Garvey respectively about the band’s stunning new record build a rocket boys!.

The title track from PJ Harvey’s latest Let England Shake is now available to download.

MP3: PJ Harvey – “Let England Shake”

Mumford & Sons tells Rolling Stone they’re intending to record album number two this year.

DIY talks to Ladytron’s Reuben Wu. Their Best of Ladytron: 00-10 is out March 29.

The Creators Project Q&As Mica Levi of Micachu.

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Canadian Musicfest 2011 Day One

Young Galaxy, Miracle Fortress, Imaginary Cities and more at Canadian Musicfest

Frank YangSomeday, possibly not too far in the future, I will have to either admit that Canadian Musicfest begins in earnest on Wednesday nights now, and not Thursdays as it has in the past, or begin ignoring it completely. It’s currently even odds as to which it’ll be. But either way, the 2011 edition started for me on Thursday evening at Lee’s Palace, which would be my only stop for the evening. Hey, it’s not my fault that the programmers put together a bill worth staying put for. Though it is my fault that I’m lazy. Anyways.

I’ve seen The Wilderness Of Manitoba a number of times, most recently last November. And while the intervening months have been eventful for the band, most particularly in the form of a US release for their debut When You Left The Fire come May – their live show continues to be refinements of that with which they’ve been building their audience for the last while. Which is to say, pretty harmony-laden folk-pop that served as a welcome acoustical blanket on a damp, cold night as this one. It was good to see that when obliged to fill the largest room I’ve seen them in, at least, there were not only able to embiggen their sound to fill it out, but they did so by adding some instrumental breaks that introduced a welcome little bit of darkness and/or even chaos to the edges of their sound. Given how good and versatile players they all are, it’d be nice to see the musicianship of the band be given as much weight as their vocals. Or they should go completely post-rock their next time out.

Torontoist and Toro have interviews with the band and a new video has premiered over at Paste.

Photos: The Wilderness Of Manitoba @ Lee’s Palace – March 10, 2011
MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Hermit”
MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Mother Song”
Video: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Orono Park”
Video: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “November”

At first I thought it was odd that I hadn’t seen Miracle Fortress since Summer 2008, but while Graham Van Pelt hasn’t been completely in hiding since then, he hasn’t provided a lot of opportunities to see his solo project live. Partly because he was concentrating on his disco-rock outfit Think About Life and partly because, apparently, it takes a while to completely deconstruct and reconstruct yourself creatively. This, at least, was what could be inferred from his set, which completely eschewed his 2007 debut Five Roses in favour of new material from his second album which is being teased with the acronym WITW? and is due out in April. The My Bloody Beach Boys ’60s/’90s dreampop of the debut has largely been checked in favour of a sleeker, more synthetic ’80s-ish Depeche Shop Boys sound – albeit more guitar-heavy – and while the aesthetic shift take a moment to adjust to, what matters is that Van Pelt’s impeccable songcraft still underpins it all and it sounds fantastic. In addition to the stylistic shifts, Miracle Fortress has also shed the conventional band configuration that it grew into circa Five Roses and this time out, was just Van Pelt on guitar and synths, a drummer basically doubling the pre-recorded rhythm tracks and a laser-light show which probably could have used some smoke machine support for full effect. Still, for such a limited setup, the show had a lot of physicality and energy and affirmed that if you’d forgotten about Miracle Fortress and their greatness over the past few years, prepare to be reminded.

Spinner and eye also have reviews of the performance.

Photos: Young Galaxy @ Lee’s Palace – March 10, 2011
MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Have You Seen In Your Dreams”
Video: Miracle Fortress – “Maybe Lately”
Video: Miracle Fortress – “Have You Seen In Your Dreams”

Winnipeg’s Imaginary Cities must have felt like they won the lottery when tapped to open up for Pixies on their upcoming North American tour, but judging on their Canadian Musicfest set if they’re going to make the most of the opportunity, they’ve got a little more work to do on their live performance. What they can’t do much about, and probably shouldn’t, is their material, which is solid if not overly remarkable pop-rock – it’s not their fault that it’s rather conventional-sounding next to the Pixies’ genre-bending/defining body of work. But the delivery of said material could be improved; while it certainly looked like they were having a good time, with bandleaders Rusty Matyas and Marti Sarbit looking all smiles on stage, they moved and performed with a decided stiffness and self-consciousness, like when Matyas went for the foot-on-the-monitor move at a moment when not only was he not taking a solo, but his guitar wasn’t even audible in the mix. But to their credit, the show and the material both improved as their set progressed and it became clear that they excelled at the mid-tempo pop numbers rather than when trying to rock out.

Spinner and The Montreal Gazette have interviews with the band.

Photos: Imaginary Cities @ Lee’s Palace – March 10, 2011
MP3: Imaginary Cities – “Hummingbird”

The rehabilitation of Young Galaxy around these parts has come a long way thanks to their latest album Shapeshifting, but that re-appraisal hadn’t yet extended to their live show. A poor first impression in early 2007, wherein they seemed to be some combination of bored and stoned, was mitigated somewhat in Summer 2008 opening up for Death Cab on the Islands and I was hoping that this outing, bolstered by the best material they’ve had to work with, would move them firmly into the plus column.

About midway through their set, Stephen Ramsay apologized to the audience for not being “slick” yet with regards to their show, and it wasn’t unjustified – there were some sound issues, the four-piece band had a lot of gear to wrangle and they weren’t going to be mistaken for a well-oiled machine. But despite the hiccups, it was impressive how well they were able to find the right balance of organicness and synthesis, maintaining the studio-ness of the recordings’ while giving them the humanity necessary to make them come along on stage. And it had the desired effect on the audience, as the well-filled room was dancing – or at least swaying – with the pulse of the music and it didn’t go unnoticed on the band. Ramsay and the decidedly pregnant Catherine McCandless were clearly pleased with the turnout and the response, appearing more engaged and probably feeling pretty validated in the risks taken to get to this point – clearly the critical rebirth of Young Galaxy extended to themselves.

NOW has a feature interview on Young Galaxy while Panic Manual and Spinner were also in attendance.

Photos: Young Galaxy @ Lee’s Palace – March 10, 2011
MP3: Young Galaxy – “Peripheral Visionaries”
MP3: Young Galaxy – “We Have Everything”
MP3: Young Galaxy – “Cover Your Tracks”
MP3: Young Galaxy – “Long Live The Fallen World”
MP3: Young Galaxy – “Outside The City”
MP3: Young Galaxy – “Come And See”
MP3: Young Galaxy – “Swing Your Heartache”
Video: Young Galaxy – “We Have Everything”
Video: Young Galaxy – “The Alchemy Between Us”
Video: Young Galaxy – “Outside The City”
Video: Young Galaxy – “Come And See”

A little bit of sleuthing my Exclaim has revealed a June 7 release date for Fucked Up’s new record David Comes To Life. They also reported last week that the band would be performing a live soundtrack to the 1928 silent film West Of Zanzibar as part of the Images Festival. It’ll happen on the closing night of the festival, April 9, at the Toronto Underground Cinema and cost $12 in advance.

Diamond Rings has released another video from Special Affections.

Video: Diamond Rings – “It’s Not My Party”

Southern Souls has a video session with Land Of Talk, filmed in Toronto’s Kensington Market.

TV On The Radio have made a track from their forthcoming Nine Types Of Light available to download. The album is out April 12 and they play The Sound Academy on April 18.

MP3: TV On The Radio – “Caffeinated Consciousness”

For Folk’s Sake and The New Current interview Nicole Atkins. NPR is streaming her recent WXPN session while NYC Taper is sharing a recording of the homecoming finale of her recent tour.

J Mascis lists his favourite guitarists for The Guardian. His solo record Several Shades Of Why is out on Tuesday.

The Chicago Tribune profiles Warpaint, in town at Wrongbar on March 26.