Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007
The Canada Day shows at Harbourfront Centre are quickly becoming a local tradition, and for good reason – free shows on the lake featuring top-notch Canadian talent are always a welcome event and as good a way as any to celebrate the nation’s birthday. Relative to some of the past performers (Feist, The Dears) it could be argued that this year’s bill of Final Fantasy and Do Make Say Think offered a little less marquee value as far as name recognition went but that didn’t mean that the venue wasn’t jam-packed before showtime with both fans and bystanders. And considering that not so long ago, “free Canada Day show” would have meant Moxy Fruvous at best, having a sprawling orchestral post-rock collective and solo looping violinist playing to the multi-generational audience certainly felt like cultural progress as a nation.
Do Make Say Think’s new record You, You’re A History In Rust is the first of their albums I’ve really been able to get into at all – I tried a couple of their older releases but while the musicianship on display is undeniably excellent, I found their compositions to be a little too abstract for me to get my pop-centric head around. Rust isn’t any less cerebral, but it seems to have some more weight to it and even a few tracks that you might call hooky. For this show, the 11-piece band filled an hour with their dense, complex and undulating sounds that veered from math to jazz to orchestral to straight out rock, usually in the same song. It was fascinating to watch them work though when all was said and done, like their records, their show still appealed more to my head than my heart. But Do Make’s fans, and they are many and loud, obviously get it more than I do because they were whipped into a frenzy by the show and helped energize the audience.
Though Owen Pallett has played stages the size of Harbourfront and larger before, they’ve usually been as member of bands such as Arcade Fire or The Hidden Cameras – seeing him up there, alone, in the Final Fantasy guise was a bit odd, at first. But rather than scale up his show to fit the venue, he succeeded at bringing the venue down to his preferred level of intimacy. As he did at the Tranzac back in February, Pallett stood off to the side of the stage while visuals projected onto a plain white sheet backdrop took centre stage. The winds off the lake caused some problems by blowing the overhead transparencies around but the atmosphere was simple and charming and an effective component of Pallett’s show. But even without the visuals, as long as Pallett had his violin, pedals, keyboard and microphones a terrific show was all but guaranteed.
Like the Tranzac show, the set list drew from both Final Fantasy albums including last year’s Polaris-winning He Poos Clouds but I think my high point came early on with his cover of John Cale’s “Paris 1919” – just like in February, Pallett offered up a beautiful reading that just made me happy, though hearing “This Lamb Sells Condos” in the shadow of all the condo developments along the waterfront had its own distinct irony. Unlike the Tranzac show, however, he took the opportunity presented by having Do Make Say Think on hand to perform some of his songs that don’t lend themselves to the man-plus-looper context and hearing “Arctic Circle” bolstered by what was essentially a full rock orchestra was breathtaking. The show was kept shortish, Pallett’s main set running just an hour including the encore, which in perfectly Canadian fashion he gave half of for Do Make to perform one more song. But wandering out along the waterfront in the shadow of our pimped-out CN Tower, it felt like a pretty good Canada Day to me.
The Toronto Star talked to both Final Fantasy and Do Make Say Think before Sunday’s show, while X-tra and The Manchester Evening News have extended conversations with Pallett. Do Make Say Think are playing the Guelph Hillside Festival at the end of this month and were supposed to have a headlining show at the Phoenix on October 20, but that date is now apparently going to be going to The New Pornographers – Filter has all other tour dates through the Summer and Fall, sans the Toronto show, though I would imagine that will be set and confirmed sooner rather than later.
Photos: Final Fantasy, Do Make Say Think @ Harbourfront Centre – July 1, 2007
MP3: Final Fantasy – “If I Were A Carp”
MP3: Final Fantasy – “Many Lives 49 MP”
Video: Final Fantasy – “He Poos Clouds” (YouTube)
Video: Final Fantasy – “This Lamb Sells Condos” (YouTube)
MySpace: Final Fantasy
MySpace: Do Make Say Think
Segue time! Final Fantasy was one of the artists who contributed to Stars’ stop-gap remix record Do You Trust Your Friends – well they will be back with a proper new record on September 25 with In Our Bedroom After The War, about which Pitchfork has details. Expect to hear the new material when the band plays V Fest on September 9.
MP3: Stars – “The Night Starts Here”
MP3: Stars – “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” (Final Fantasy remix)
And while I’m rounding up Arts & Crafts stuff, I should point out that the first MP3 from Kevin Drew’s solo record Spirit If…, out September 18, is up. The Scotsman has a conversation with Feist and exclamation-happy Welsh A&C signees Los Campesinos! release their debut EP Sticking Fingers Into Sockets over here this week – Spinner is streaming it and they’ll be in town August 7 for a free show at the Horseshoe to support, as well as playing the Hillside. May as well check out the videos from the EP while you’re at it, but check your insulin levels first. These kids could mess you up.
MP3: Kevin Drew – “TBTF”
Stream: Los Campesinos! / Sticking Fingers Into Sockets
Video: Los Campesinos! – “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives” (YouTube)
Video: Los Campesinos! – “You! Me! Dancing!” (YouTube)
90s Can-rock heroes Eric’s Trip play a reunion gig at Lee’s Palace on September 15.
Dinner With The Band breaks bread with Tokyo Police Club and gets an MP3 out of it.
MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Be Good” (on Dinner With The Band)
And finally, to wrap up this post-Canada Day post, Exclaim! has an interesting piece about Canadian artists whose career paths take them outside the Canadian label system – some cases in point, Basia Bulat and Born Ruffians, who instead struck deals with established international labels for their debuts (Rough Trade and Warp, respectively), rather than with a homegrown label. Good points are made for and against, though I will say for the umpteenth time that it’s a crime Ms Bulat’s record still isn’t available in this country. But while the artists in the article may not release their records here, they will play here – Basia Bulat and the Ruffians are both playing at Hillside as well as the Wolfe Island Music Fest in Kingston on August 11. Bulat is also doing a free noon-hour show in Dundas Square on September 12. The Ruffians are also opening up for Caribou (also in the article) on his upcoming Fall tour. And finally, We’re Marching On, who have a sidebar in the piece, are playing the Drake Underground on July 18 as part of a FilmCAN benefit.
Monday, July 2nd, 2007
“The next time we’re in town, we want outrageous, rambunctious behaviour right off the bat”.
So said Jeff Tweedy the last time Wilco came through town almost a year ago and remembering that dressing down (watch the 10MB AVI of him berating us), Saturday night’s Wilco show at Massey Hall started with a good old-fashioned stage rush from the floor seats that pretty much set the tone for the night – and we didn’t even have to yell, “Enough with the artsy-fartsy sombre numbers, man”. This was the last night of a two and a half week North American tour and while that’s barely a walk in the park for road warriors like Wilco, they were prepared to leave it all on stage. Every last bit.
But before I get into that, Low deserves mention. Of all the bands I’ve seen open for Wilco over the years, they were the first I was really excited about rather than curious and it’s a shame they’ll probably never be big enough to play a venue like Massey on their own because they sounded magnificent. The acoustics of the room suited them perfectly, their spare and solemn hymns ringing out like it was a cathedral. It’s kind of funny that a band that’s released what’s arguably their darkest, bleakest record in Drums And Guns should tour with one who just released their lightest and breeziest (Wilco and Sky Blue Sky, if you need cue cards) but whatever, whyever, I’m grateful for it. Wilco axeman Nels Cline came out to lend lap steel on a couple songs including a stunning reading of “Pissing” and when their too-short 40-minute set wrapped, they left the stage to a standing ovation from the audience.
And back to the main event. Considering this was my ninth time seeing Wilco – four times in support of A Ghost Is Born alone – it was a very real risk that what used to be an event was starting to feel a bit routine. After all, the set list over the past few years hasn’t changed that much, gradually evolving with the introduction of new songs rather than offering many surprises from the band (and Jeff Tweedy’s) expansive back catalog. And so it figures that just when I’m starting to get a bit complacent in my appreciation for Wilco (I like – but don’t love – SBS), they turn around and remind me why and how much I love the band.
I thought they were tight before, but somehow, somewhere, they managed to find yet another level and make it seem effortless. I had thought that I might be tired of hearing the same songs as the past shows played yet again but not so – I still got excited at the opening drum fills of “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”, the crashing crescendo of “Via Chicago”, Nels Cline’s sublime solo to wind out “Ashes Of American Flags”… I guess I forgot it’s not just the song, it’s the performance. As mentioned, this was the final date of the current tour and as such, the band was in a particularly loose and jovial mood, joking and goofing about. Moreso than any other time I’ve seen them, they seemed to be having an obscene amount of fun onstage and that carried over to the audience, who were basking in the glow of a band of supremely talented musicians in absolutely top form. Tweedy was chattier than ever, calling us the best audience of the tour (a nice change from being chewed out for being too polite), flaunting his t-shirt emblazoned with the words “Sellout” during “Hummingbird” (sponsored by Volkswagen?) and inciting Pat Sansone to take on Cline in a guitar solo showdown during show finale “Hoodoo Voodoo”. Normally I’d say anyone who goes six-string gunning for Nels Cline is a fool and a half but damn if Sansone didn’t hold his own.
Since their August 2004 show at the Mod Club, that has been my indisputable best Wilco show – how could you possibly top the specialness and intimacy of seeing them play a 550-capacity club? Well it took almost three years, but they did it. MAN did they do it. What a night.
The Toronto Sun and The Globe & Mail have reviews of the show.
Photos: Wilco, Low @ Massey Hall – June 30, 2007
MP3: Wilco – “What Light”
MP3: Low – “Breaker”
Video: Low – “Breaker” (YouTube)
Video: Low – “Belarus” (YouTube)
Video: Low – “Hatchet” (YouTube)
Video: Low – “Breaker” animated version (YouTube)
Video: Low – “In Silence” (YouTube)
MySpace: Wilco
MySpace: Low
The Sun has an expletive-laced interview with Ryan Adams that manages to touch on the usual expletive-inducing topics: his substance abuse, label difficulties and his prolificness.
Meanwhile, The Sydney Morning Herald has a typically monosyllabic conversation with J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.
The Vancouver Sun has a conversation with Band Of Horses’ Ben Bridwell, who will be at Lee’s Palace on August 11 and whose second album is due out in October – details at Pitchfork.
Glide talks to Jason Isbell about his solo debut Sirens Of The Ditch
, due out July 11. He’s got a show at the El Mocambo on July 24.
Somehow Spinner knew I’m about two hours away from having season four of The Wire downloaded as they pointed to this MP3 of Tom Waits performing “Way Down In The Hole, aka the theme song of the show, accompanied by the Kronos Quartet in a 2003 live performance in support of the Healing The Divide foundation.
MP3: Tom Waits with The Kronos Quartet – “Way Down In The Hole”
CMJ has got Fall tour dates for Brazilian dance-rockers Bonde Do Role including a date in Toronto on September 19 at the Cabaret… which begs the question – where’s the Cabaret?
Happy Canada Day statutory holiday day, everyone! Unless you’re working today in which case… sucks to be you!
Sunday, July 1st, 2007
This is me celebrating Canada Day with an all-Canuck edition of Sunday Cleaning. Happy birthday, Canada! You rock! Yah!
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The Assistants / The Assistants (independent)
I first saw Toronto’s Assistants last Summer at the shoegaze tribute show I sorta DJ-ed (made mix CDs and hit play, basically) and they didn’t make that much of an impression. I commented at the time that “their pedigree (is) more C86 than shoegaze” and they seemed to be about five or six years out of time, as far as the eras they drew influence went. On their debut album, however, they sound immeasurably more “in time” and impressive – while name-dropping the Jesus & Mary Chain and Smiths as influences might be more fashionable, I’m more taken with the Go-Betweens, Lloyd Cole and even Dire Straits in their music (are Dire Straits still the epitome of uncool? Because they really shouldn’t be). Janglesome, melodic and far more assured than you’d expect from a debut, file this one under bands I’m proud to share an area code with. Recommended.
MP3: The Assistants – “This Time”
MP3: The Assistants – “Planet News”
MP3: The Assistants – “Free To Believe”
MP3: The Assistants – “White”
MySpace: The Assistants
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Fox Jaws / Goodbye Doris (Chaulk Records)
I barely missed catching Barrie’s Fox Jaws at last year’s Over The Top Fest (when they were still known as the lawsuit-inviting Doris Day) by a number of metres – namely, they were playing on the roof of the Drake and I was in the basement. Fast-forward a year to their debut full-length (slyly named for their identity change) and alls I can say is better late than never. The six-piece turns out taut and hooky rock with an energy and effervescence that belies the density and sophistication of the music but their secret weapon is singer Carleigh Aikins, whose whiskey-shot voice evokes a classic soulfulness without sounding out of time or place in a gang of young, indie-rock toughs such as these. Big things are inevitable. The band’s next show is July 20 at the El Mocambo.
MP3: Fox Jaws – “Karmonica”
MP3: Fox Jaws – “Quarantine Girl”
MySpace: Fox Jaws
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Immaculate Machine / Fables (Mint)
Since I first saw them some three or four years ago I’ve been convinced of Immaculate Machine’s potential but not that they were delivering on it. Well their third full-length is finally delivering on that promise – it’s entirely possible that they’d have gotten to this point on their own but you can’t discount the education vocalist/keyboardist Kathryn Calder has gotten in both songwriting and performance from being a member of The New Pornographers the last couple years. But wherever the schooling came, Fables is a top-notch slab of power pop, blending upbeat boy-girl vocals with jangly guitars, burbling synths and melodic hooks aplenty. It doesn’t re-invent the wheel but it does offer a pretty good example of what a well-executed wheel can be.
MP3: Immaculate Machine – “Dear Confessor”
MySpace: Immaculate Machine |
Saturday, June 30th, 2007
I like the bio for Marnie Stern at this year’s SxSW website, so I’m just going to crib it: “Ok. Let’s get this out of the way. Marnie Stern can shred. She’s a better guitar player than you, or me, or probably 99% of the people who have ever looked at a guitar.” Fair enough? And probably true, from the sounds of it. I heard the destroyed at SxSW and that was backed by an iPod – now she’s got a band including Zach Hill of Hella on drums, so face-melting is almost guaranteed. The Georgia Straight has an interview.
Stern will be in town this coming Friday for a show at the Silver Dollar in support of her debut album, In Advance Of The Broken Arm and courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for this show. To enter, shoot me an email at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Marnie Stern” in the subject line and your full name in the email body. Contest will close at midnight, July 3.
MP3: Marnie Stern – “Every Single Line Means Something”
MP3: Marnie Stern – “Put All Your Eggs In One Basket”
Video: Marnie Stern – “Every Single Line Means Something” (YouTube)
Friday, June 29th, 2007
So, as I write this – Thursday night – I’m kinda drunk. Work function. And while I’d normally just skip posting today on account of the aforementioned inebriation, I want to plug a show going on at Sneaky Dee’s tonight. The main act in question is Parts & Labor from le Brooklyn who have just released their new album Mapmaker on Jagjaguwar and you know what? It’s pretty smokin’.
Take some good, solid, anthemic rock songs in the vein of Husker Du or Archers Of Loaf and wrap them in a maelstrom of drums and keyboards and you’re in the ballpark. Seriously, it’s like a hurricane of insane, pedal to the metal percussion, synths and guitar and barked vocals and while I wouldn’t have though it’s my thing, I’m really enjoying this record and I bet the show will be pretty damned excellent as well. Not sure/kinda doubt I’ll make it myself, but if you’re looking for something to kick off the long weekend, it’s as good a choice as any.
Also on the bill are local acts DD/MM/YYYY, Varge and Etaion Shrdlu. eye has an interview with DD/MM/YYYY and I got a copy of their new record Are They Masks? last week. To be totally honest, I have no idea what to make of it. It’s dense and chaotic and shifty and mathy and shouty and most decidedly outside my musical wheelhouse, but also probably a good fit for playing with Parts & Labor. And I know nothing about the other bands on the bill. But Parts & Labor, yeah, worth checking out I think. Too bad I’ll likely be sleeping off a hangover…
MP3: Parts & Labor – “Fractured Skies”
MP3: DD/MM/YYYY – “White Lies”
MP3: DD/MM/YYYY – “Mr T Cereal”
Stream: Parts & Labor / Mapmaker
MySpace: Parts & Labor
MySpace: DD/MM/YYYY
Exclaim has a feature on Interpol and their new record Our Love To Admire, out July 10. Video for the first single below:
Video: Interpol – “The Heinrich Maneuver” (YouTube)
File under: strange but wonderful. The DL pits J Mascis against David Cross in Guitar Hero.
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