Six Organs Of Admittance, Bush Hall, London, 04-12-09

2010-01-14T00:50:34Z

113 six-organs.jpg With two diminutive Christmas trees illuminating either side of the stage of the vaudevillian interior Bush Hall, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the music and style of Ben Chasny seemed a little out of place, the yuletide consumerist madness that floats like a conspicuous mist throughout London through Christmas at odds with Chasny’s free style and overtly un-consumerist psychedelic folk/ drone hybrid: A behemoth of creation that rules under the moniker of Six Organs of Admittance. Staying mostly within his ‘Shelter from the Ash’ material, Chasny and co brought a full band sound to the otherwise soloists performance, adding a textured element of guitar drone that, at times, made their sound not too far from the hallowed drone band Earth, undoubtedly producing a similar hazy Americana sound at times. While a marvel to listen to however, Six Organs of Admittance took to the stage like a shoegaze group who’d just been told of their respective terminal illnesses, having little interaction with the crowd but for the mandatory murmurs of thanks and an unheard remark about the aforementioned Christmas trees. And while it would be foolhardy to turn up to a SO of A gig expecting fireworks and table top dancers, when confronted with technically, lengthy and hypnotic music, more needs to be done in order to get people off their hookah pipes at home and go see the band proper. Take Sunn0))) for example; minimal audience interaction but through reusing their L.A.R.P clothes and a little bit of lighting trickery the atmosphere becomes one that compliments the audible experience that their music summons. Earnestly it wasn’t Chasny and band that were at fault as their show was spot on, yet lacking in the abovementioned ambience within the venue made for a stripped down and bland environment with some people choosing to leave before the performance ended: hell even a few more chairs would have been ideal so that those wanting to get lost within the music’s talented and free flowing rhythms could do so without the irritation of spatial awareness. All in all a mixed bag, but one mixed outside of the band’s control who, despite putting on a technically powerful and psychedelic performance was let down by the venue’s lack of a certain ‘je ne sais quoi.’ Six Organs of Admittance at Stone Henge at sunrise of the summer solstice; hell yeah! But in a mock deco hall with two adjacent plastic Christmas trees; it just doesn’t quite measure up. Six Organs Of Admittance, Bush Hall, London, 04-12-09

Michael Byrne

2009-11-12T00:09:29Z

112 mountain-goats.jpg The Mountain Goats new album is about God, in a raw and unsettling way. The narratives are about the interaction of the divine with human hands, in a round about way, or about how culture interacts with the texts that found us. Each verse is based on a bible verse, but they are poetic responses and narrative constructions. This is not personal reflections or strict exegesis, but contain all of these things. It is always a bit dangerous to assume biography, but the album, and the songs seem profoundly personal, a struggle about how to reintegrate faith and culture in a polyvalent, secular world. How to make the words mean something again, when the words used to be about bad things. It is a free and liberating work, with a full recognition of the weight of melancholy, of oppression and even exhaustion that comes from the logophillia of Christianity. In the following questions. John Darnielle pushes back against the assumptions of faith, about the narratives of conversion and, about how we interact with the gospels, and about how we rescue that which is valuable from the “childish things” from his (and for many of us, our) Christianities. Why these bible verses? It’s back and forth, case by case - there isn’t one “why these taken together”; each one has its own relation to the song it appears in. Rom 10:9 pretty obvious, Hebrews 11:40 too I’d think; some of the others (Deuteronomy 2:10, referring to a time when something great & now gone roamed the earth freely & abundantly) only take a little work, and some of the the others are “elliptical” as I like to say. The verses are kinds of keys into the songs - not the only keys, I’d think, but the ones I use. Which ones do you think you are missing? Oh, who knows - this isn’t, like, “JD’s compleat look at the Bible” - it’s songs and the verses that go with them. I didn’t get to Job or Jonah, and the song from Daniel got left out of the album, and those are three of my favorites, Jonah especially. But Jonah itself (to say nothing of Job) is so spectacular that it’s hard to imagine doing anything with it that couldn’t be better done by just pointing at the text, whereas these other verses, I’m trying to do something with them. Why was Enoch the only Deutrocannoical text you used? Because I am less generally interested in non-canonical books. I know that for a lot of people, there’s this instant interest in anything that didn’t make the canon - this urge to say “such-and-such a song, had it been on the album, would have been the best one on it,” or “the unedited version of the film is clearly superior to the edit.” I tend to go the other way. I can dig these mystical books like Enoch for sure, but, y’know…they’re no Genesis.   I am using the NRSV, do you have a preferred translation? Used to be a big New Jerusalem Bible fan. These days I like Young’s Literal Translation and the Darby Translation for reading - I haven’t seen the NRSV but I grew up on the Revised Standard.   How does this view of Jesus relate to yr interest(is interest to small a word, faith, belief, practice of?) in Hinduism You know, for all the Biblical focus of the album, I feel like Jesus is more present by His absence - there aren’t any actual-stories-about-Jesus; if He’s addressed, it’s only in the speaker-addressing-God-as-“Lord” sense, i.e., the speaker could be talking to God the Father or the Son or really anyone he’d call “Lord.” I am a little surprised by this, since I love the stories of Jesus so much, but here He sort of paces the empty halls between the song lines like a spirit in a drafty castle. Which, now that I think of it, is sort of how I think of God generally - any God: a presence that comes sometime to possess a person in moments of extreme heat or cold.   Can you talk about the intersection b/w fictional construction and autobiography in the creation of the characters here? Well, I mean, the old line about all writing being autobiography is incredibly liberating, right - every story you tell, you’re the hero whether you admit it or not, and the villain too, and the scenery. You and all your friends and foes, they’re all there is in the stories you tell. So I don’t really worry about this sort of thing. It all blends together before I finish even the first line, with or without my consent.   There is an American tendency, and I think it is uniquely American, to assume that their pyscho-geography is Edenic, from Edward Hicks paintings, to the Oneida Community, to Joseph Smith sanctifying Jefferson county to the Joni Mitchell line about going back to the garden. There are some songs that you have written that suggest that the suburbs are not a place of control and ennui but of punishment for ambition. There is something Edenic no matter how dark, in songs like This Year or The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton, that seems to extend or connect to this American sensibility. In this album you reference it explicitly. Can you talk a bit about that, about how you use the suburbs, about the spiritual contexts of them?  I disagree with your initial conception - I think Americans are particularly aggressive about asserting some personal Eden to their psycho-geography, but I think that’s universal - it’s just that Americans are a little less gung-ho (only a little, and it depends on the American in question) about equating Eden with childhood. So, when, say, you see a hockey montage of blurry home footage of kids playing hockey on a local lake & there’s some Edenic conception of “the game when it was pure for us” - that’s a type of Canadian Edenic self-conception, only it’s tethered to childhood or youth, which Americans tend to want to extend forever - so American Edenism sort of tethers itself to the especially rabid American worship of youth, thus amplifying the Edenic strain.   I don’t know anything about suburbs. I guess technically where I grew up is a “suburb” but I don’t know - I think as far as discussion bigger cities vs. outlying areas goes, the water’s too polluted to swim in at this point. Too many calcified ideas about either the worthlessless/bankruptcy of such areas or, conversely, championing them as a sort of aesthetically daring stance. Anyplace where people live together is great! Much of the metaphors, references, and language in this album are corporeal, and often dying or failing bodies. You grew up Catholic, whose bodily influence is unique in Christianity. Those two do not seem to unrelated, but I do not want to assume autobiography, how do you react to the mystical corpus? Well, yeah, I mean, you kind of say it all when you ref the Church there, the Catholic Church - that’s the place where the rubber hits the road, as far as bodies & spirits go, blood & gore & powers & principalities, all that business. The Catholic tradition is the Augustinian heritage, for better and worse. When I conceive of the infinite I despite the foulness of the flesh and imagine its pleasures the way that we remember delight in things that we grow out of; I feel like, if spirit exists, then the body is a sad child’s toy that, once outgrown, will seem as insufficient as it is, its joys the joys of a person who loves hard tack best because he hasn’t yet tasted cake. But, you know, this is all supposition for me - I’m not sure I believe in a spirit outside of the body at all. Which complicates thing, given my Catholic inheritance. You know? John Darnielle Interview

Anthony Easton

2009-11-09T21:49:58Z

111 storm_artist.jpg 02 Academy Islington, London 28/10/09 October, normally the refrigerated precursor to a harsh winter ahead has instead been unusually mild in the capital this year. Oddly fitting then were A Storm of Light into this arid 20 degree environment, providing desert scorched drone doom to the 02 Academy in Islington. Alas the Islington Academy has always suffered from a dire timing policy, usually having gigs finish by 10pm, so it was with some disappointment but no real surprise that I arrived, not thirty minutes after the start of the show, to find the first warm up act already in mid performance. Latitudes are a London made five piece that make music that is simultaneously doom and post rock, similar in vein to the likes of Isis or Pelican. Layering each track with complex yet unpretentious compositions, Latitudes shoegaze performance didn’t stop their music being a deafening and thus pleasing experience. Next up was Minsk, four dudes from Chicago/ Peoria, Illinois, whose psychedelic doom was both traditionalist and contemporary in equal measure, making use of two vocalists, orchestrating over trippy and extensive guitar riffs. Epic and shamanistic, Minsk, like some musical cabal, managed to conjure a hallucinatory atmosphere despite having no help from the venue’s bland attempt at lighting. Close to the Academy’s witching hour I feared for just how long A Storm of Light would get to play (sadly only around 45 minutes or so) but none the less the crowd were blown away by Josh Graham and the band’s ambitious and apocalyptic doom onslaught. With sepia footage of the American west in the background and crow caws bridging the gap between tracks, A Storm of Light most definitely brought a slice of organic and rural Americana with them to the stage, a theme and feeling that helped each track resonate in the mind for some time after their performance. Of course the night was also about promotion as A Storm of Light’s new album has recently been released in the UK (with the vinyl version out soon) and so for tracks from ‘Forgive Us Our Trespasses’ not to be prominent tonight would have been unusual to say the least. Either way A Storm of Light put on an all out performance, bassist Domenic Seita engrossed completely in the music and looking somewhat threatening at times too, pounding his bass or dragging it across the stage in order to obtain every last drop of reverb. As this is their second gig in the UK the venue should have been packed, but other people’s loss was the congregation’s gain as A Storm of Light played as if the Academy was full to maximum capacity, making a somewhat intimate gig a very satisfying and resounding one too. A Storm Of Light

Michael Byrne

2009-10-19T18:26:23Z

110 darsombra.jpg Jamboree London 09-10-09 While the avant garde metal brigade flocked to the Thames side Queen Elizabeth Hall to witness Ulver’s first ever UK gig, across to the East of the city a smaller, more intimate gig was underway, packed considerably despite the stiff competition. Hidden away near by Limehouse DLR station the Jamboree nestles in an old warehouse space and former squat. Decorated with abstract paintings and illuminated subtly with low key lamps and fairy lights, the atmosphere was a perfectly underground yet sophisticated one in which to witness the sonic power of Brian Daniloski’s (aka Darsombra) guitar focused doom drone. First up on stage were post rock/ jazz outfit Braindead Collective, whose thirty minute or so set of continuous music kicked and punched against the established routine of free form music, flowing from a schizophrenic opening (with the instruments building up a wall of sound around the mumbled words of one of the band members reading from a book) and ending with an enticing and brawny rhythm that showed off the timing and ability of all members of the group. Slotted between two bands comprised of large numbers of musicians it took ample courage to get up there as a one man outfit but Darsombra, far from shying away from the challenge, blasted into his set with a vigour and enthusiasm that captivated the discerning audience members while hitting the more talkative patrons with a tank of layered noise that would have been folly to compete against. With fervour written across his face, Daniloski worked technical magic that saw each guitar composition become part of a larger, more complex stratum of noise, expertly engineering sound equipment for the desired effect while simultaneously playing the guitar like it was some spiritualistic catharsis, as if it were fused to his very being. Another group that have no shortage of passion are Bleeding Heart Narrative, a London ensemble under the orchestration of music composer Oliver Barrett. Having seen them share the stage with the likes of Arcana and Sol Invictus in Camden’s well-known Underworld club as well as having been a fan of the group since the release of their first album ‘All That Was Missing We Never Had in the World’, Barrett’s brooding experimental post rock was a perfect companion to Daniloski’s own output. This ideal combination did not go unnoticed by the audience either, whose enthralment was guaranteed by the beguiling orchestration from the London group. Their zeal for playing was characterised perfectly by the group’s euphoric crescendo ending, seeing Darsombra back on stage to add to the multifaceted music while Barrett and company got close to convulsion with their fervent performance. A brilliant night all round then, with the subtlety of the venue juxtaposed by the epic sounds and talents of the musicians on stage; Ulver fans really don’t know what they missed tonight. Darsombra with Bleeding Heart Narrative

Michael Byrne

2009-10-07T03:25:56Z

109 destroyer.jpg The third night of Pop Montreal I first stopped by the Eglise St Jean De Baptiste to see Buffy Ste-Marie. Opening for the folk music legend in this beautiful church was a local band Ladies of The Canyon, four lovely and talented young ladies, one or two on acoustic guitars and one on standup bass, all four of them singing in sweet harmony. They had a really nice sound - a little bit country, a little bit folk. Buffy was incredible – she had a fully backing band, all native americans of various tribes, which was cool. With the band, she did some really hard-rocking songs like Cho Cho Fire, and some quieter songs too. She also did some wonderful solo songs including a great version of the bluegrass classic Cripple Creep on vocals and bowharp, that recalled her classic recording of Groundhog, also on bowharp. I left early to see the solo Destroyer show, but stayed long enough to catch quite a few of her classic songs – Universal Soldier, Big Wheel Spin and Spin, Up Where We Belong, as well as some great new songs, like the aforementioned Cho Cho Fire and one about corporate greed called No No Keshagesh. She also did some great covers including a song by Floyd Westerman who’s perhaps most readily recognized as the guy in the Lakota commercial, which Buffy pointed out quite humorously, although many also remember him as Albert Hosteen in X-Files. Buffy did a very heartfelt song of his in tribute (he passed away in 2007). Clearly a seasoned performer second to none, she came across as full of life and personal warmth, and charmed the crowd with humour and a mix of songs that alternated between truly touching and truly rocking. I split early – not knowing how much longer Buffy was going to play and hoping I wasn’t missing too much – in an attempt to try and catch most of the Destroyer show, which I had learned from the man himself was going to be a solo acoustic show. Pretty stoked to check that out, as I don’t think I’ve seen Destroyer solo since something like 1998 at the fabled Sugar Refinery in Vancouver. He played a good set with a mix of songs old and new, although I was kind of hoping he might play Bay Of Pigs… Being a solo show, I think there was a fair bit more stage banter than usual, which was fairly amusing. After Destoyer I headed down to the Glass Candy show at Studio Juste Pour Rire. I can’t comprehend what the hell happened to this band: I first saw them at the über-scummmy Astoria in Vancouver when they were called Glass Candy and The Shattered Theatre - they were sort of glam-punk-noise-performance art, they have slowly morphed further and further into an electronic act with no heart and soul, and they seem to be catering to an entirely different audience. Every time I’ve seen them I’ve enjoyed it a little bit less, think I’m ready to call it quits on this group. Saturday night I headed down to see Os Mutantes. I felt hesitant because I’ve been a fan for 10-12 years, and you never know with reunions… Could be awesome, could be terrible. They were bloody incredible. They crowd went nuts. All the big hits were touched on including a Portugese version of Baby, A Minha Menina and a rousing encore of Bat Macumba. Of course that sweet, sweet production was not possible in a live context, but they came across brilliantly anyway. I was shocked at what a kickass guitar player Sérgio Dias was. Really incredible. Rita Lee isn’t in the band these days, but fiesty young beauty Bia Mendes more than held her own as the band’s current vocalist – she has a great, luscious, yet powerful voice and a really vivacious, fun stage presence. The band was wonderful, I would go see them again at the drop of a hat. Sunday night I caught Katie Moore and Iris Dement. Katie Moore and her band have a sound that you might compare to the Topanga Canyon sound. Mellow country rock with some seventies funky bass lines, steel guitar courtesy of Joe Grass who I thought was under-utilized in favor of Mike O’Brien on electric guitar. Moore was a nice voice, would like to hear her do a solo show some time, not sure if she always plays with the band. Iris Dement was great, alternating between piano and acoustic guitar, great songs, killer playing, funny. Really good show. Pop Montreal 2009: Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Gordon B. Isnor

2009-10-02T16:41:02Z

108 loudon.jpg Another day of Pop Montreal…. Yesterday I checked out Loudon Wainwright III with Carolyn Mark and Mike O’Brien. Mike O’Brien is a local fingerstyle guitar player and songwriter. His guitar playing was incredible, songs not too bad, although it was hard to tell about the songwriting: the mix was poor, at least from where I was sitting, which was front row slightly left of centre. His vocals and lyrics were somewhat indiscernible, as a result. Carolyn Mark is a Victoria country singer, formerly of the Vinaigrettes. I’ve known the name for years and years and never really checked her out. She put on an excellent show, with a guitar player and a fiddle accompaniment, really won the crowd over with humorous songs of heartache. Loudon Wainwright was absolutely incredible – he had the crowd rolling in the aisles a number of times. After what felt like a brilliant full-set of sometimes funny, sometimes sad and introspective songs, he surprised the crowd with a procession of guests: first the banjo player Chaim Tannenbaum, who recently guested on his Charlie Poole project; then Kate McGarrigle – the three had busked together in London some 40-odd years ago; and finally his daughter, singer Martha Wainwright. Wainwright jokingly commented that Leonard Cohen was next up on stage, and hinted that son Rupert would probably have been on stage with him too if he wasn’t on tour in Oregon that night… Extraordinary show. I drifted from there over to Sala Rossa where I chanced upon the last few songs of an awesome AIDS Wolf performance. At first I wasn’t 100% sure it was AIDS Wolf because both guitars players seem new to the band, and Chloe Lum was singing down in the crowd, and initially I wasn’t sure it was her, because I don’t think I have ever seen her without those funny checkered glasses on. Anyway, they kicked ass I was bummed I didn’t get to see their full set. They were followed by Red Mass, this is Roy Vucchino’s new band, formerly of CPC Gangbangs, Honey and Lies, etc. He started the set in a stylish red hat and short cape/shawl with red face paint and pentagram medallion. I think the mix was shit, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, aside from thinking I could hear a Misfits influence in the vocals. I remember them sounding great on record – they have an album coming soon on Semprini. Might have helped if Roy’s guitar was bumped up in the mix, since it sounds like his barely audible riffs would have been the driving force behind the songs. Anyway, I kind of psyched to hear their album…. Megasoid were playing at Studio JPR but I woke up with a bit of a cold that morning and didn’t want to tempt fate, so I headed home to gather energy for the next night: think I may to try to start out at Buffy Ste-Marie and then head over to see Destroyer, who, I’ve learned, is playing a solo show, which will undoubtedly be incredible. A harsh decision. It’s a shame they are playing in such temporal proximity, because I know there would be a substantial percentage of the Destroyer audience, and Dan Bejar hismelf, who would love to see Buffy play. Pop Montreal 2009 night two

Gordon B. Isnor

2009-10-01T16:36:58Z

107 allan-holdsworth.jpg Pop Montreal kicked off another year of brilliant programming last night. This year’s festival, which lasts until Sunday, October 4, 2009, features a typically impressive lineup: Os Mutantes, Destroyer, Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, Joel Plaskett, Faust, Butthole Surgers, Loudon Wainwright III, Buffy Ste-Marie, Glass Candy, Iris Dement, and countless others. I caught Allan Holdsworth and his band at a new venue called L’Astral. This was a joint show with the jazz festival, and felt more like one of those way left of centre shows that occasionally get randomly tagged on the Pop Montreal lineup for whatever reason, cross-promotion or just “why not” – Waitain’s awesome show last year comes to mind as an example. I’d previously seen Holdsworth at the Baked Potato in LA and was happy to see him again. Needless to say there was much headless guitar shredding and truly insane drum solos from Gary Husband. I attempted to head up to see Evan Parker, which was actually a Suoni Per Il Popolo festival show but by the time I got there he was 20-minutes into his first set and Casa Del Popolo was jam packed and would have been hellishly uncomfortable – which may be fine for a sweaty rock show, but I like my free jazz with a seat and maybe even a table, thank you very much. So I tried to get into the Box Elders/Jay Reatard show but it was thoroughly sold out and my press pass wasn’t worth spit. As a last gasp effort I wandered into Ballatou and caught a lacklustre Brazilian rock band (to be generous, their bass player had visa troubles and was arriving in town the following day, so maybe that would have made all the difference). They were followed up by a brilliant Canadian artist that I hadn’t heard of: Sean Nicholas Savage. He and his band had both an odd look and sound. Masterfully crafted classic pop songs that tinged with vintage British pop and American underground sounds across the generations, sung by a warbly, delicate crooner. The lyrics carefully walked the line between emotional and funny/weird. Savage was backed up by a an acoustic guitar player and a drummer with a very toned-down kit, also a few girls with racoon-face makeup and even more peculiar voices that weaved impossibly between impossibly out-of-tune and dead on, which was both charming and confusing. After Sean Nicolas Savage, Charlotte Cornfield played, for the first few songs, solo then with drums and percussion, I was thinking “Wow! Oh, Wow!” but then when she got her full band up there, I very, very quickly lost interest and left four songs in. I find it sad that musicians always feel that they need, and considering most shows take place in bars these days, maybe actually do need, backing bands. So, so, often, they would sound way more expressive and dynamic solo. I highly recommend checking out Sean Nicholas Savage. He’s doing a second show during Pop Montreal at Urban Outfitters on St-Denis. Really, really great music. Pop Montreal 2009: Allan Holdsworth, Sean Nicholas Savage

Gordon B. Isnor

2009-09-27T22:05:18Z

106 dark-mills.jpg To look at, Merton Abbey Mills seems an unlikely place to host London’s first free goth & industrial festival. Situated in a picturesque alcove just off the bank of the river Wandle, regular craft shop retailers and consumers alike bore witness to a small but formidable legion of corset taut, eyeliner-thick goths and rivet-heads as they descended upon the small venue to take in the bands, theatre and art exhibitions that had been put on display for their enjoyment. Indeed it was quite a sight to witness a seemingly bemused percentage of curious Middle England types fascinated more with the garish garbs of the audience than the acts on stage, a heaving testament to Vice Magazine’s now infamous ‘Do’s & Don’ts’ column. The mise-en-scene aside, the festival (the first of what could become a regular event on London’s alternative calendar) had much to offer and for a small fee one could pick and choose which audio or visual entertainment appealed to them at the time. My day began on a high thanks to the SixToes, a freak folk group from London whose early slot on the bill did not deter them from an enjoyable and passionate performance, equal in terms of craft and composition to the headliners and, what with being of a different genre to the other collated acts, made for a refreshing variation on a theme. The SixToes set done, I ventured forth into the Colour House Theatre to watch exploitation gore flick, ‘Living Dead Girl’, hosted by Redemption Films, an offshoot of Salvation films which specialises in distributing lost and forgotten titles. Perhaps it’s my inability not to analyse every film I watch, or perhaps it was the minute screen positioned some distance from the seating but either way ‘Living Dead Girl’ in which the eponymous character battles to stay alive through an insatiable need for blood, left me jaded. My only enjoyment came from the over-dramatic and bloody murders, this being an incidental delight aided by the laughter of the only other audience members in the theatre. Alas, even such classic requirements as full frontal female nudity and an axe to someone’s head couldn’t save this shoddily constructed mess. Argento it most certainly was not! Moving back to the music stage with impetus I was rewarded with the dark cabaret music and antics of CalatrilloZ, a London based act with a strongly continental sound infused through their mixture of opera, prog and even jazz on occasion. Apparently Luciano created the group after first writing a story about the characters which he sings and performs about and while their style of music was a little ostentatious for my liking, none the less CalatrilloZ managed to bring in the crowd and hold them ready for the other acts to follow. More to my liking were the subtle and evocative compositions of Imprint, two people and a synth that combined powerful vocals with a brooding, almost dark ambient sound sprinkled lightly with a little experimentation just for added dimension, making comparisons to veteran industrial act Attrition easy indeed. Although their set felt as short as SixToes’ had previously, I was happy all the same to have seen the second most proficient act of the day. Following Imprint came another crowd pleaser, ‘The Veil’, though despite the cheers of the now swelling crowd I was not nearly drunk enough to stomach the commercial gothic metal sounds the group had to offer and so while others enjoyed the show I immersed myself in nostalgic bliss inside the exhibition of the work of Chris Achilleos, fantasy artist and illustrator behind both Conan comics and Heavy Metal respectively. No gothic festival would be without a histrionic shock rock group and to take this mantle were four stick thin musicians that played on their good looks via sleazy & macabre theatrics while their industrial rock sound flowed in tandem with the proceedings. The vocalists of the group, Maleficent Martini & Mortimer Cain, are regular performance artists at metal festivals across the UK as well as being involved with London’s infamous S&M club Torture Garden and the talents needed therein were applied lavishly for all and sundry to bear witness, creating a maelstrom of baying cameramen that I, shamelessly, may have been a part of. Later, needing a slight variation on the proceedings, I re-entered the minute venue of the Colour House for a mixture of independent theatre and burlesque. ‘Burn’ was a novel tale about three very different people trapped on an island flanked by piranha infested waters while suffering under a blistering heat. Based on Sartre’s vision of hell, it’s no surprise that these characters discover they’ve died and despite the performance space, Second Skin Theatre put on an entertaining routine. So too did the girls of the goth burlesque guild named…ahem, Satanic Sluts, albeit of a more gaudy nature with kitsch titillation making up for the ninety minute borefest of ‘Living Dead Girl’ that I’d sat through previously. My curiosity satiated I ventured forth back to the music stage in order to catch the last performance of the night. Billed as a goth rock super group The Eden House provided ethereal vocals (from a singer who looked remarkably like Beth Gibbons) mixed with characteristic goth rock guitar play, comparable to groups like Faith & Disease, The Cure or Switchblade Symphony. With engaging song after engaging song, The Eden House earned their position at the top of the bill after nearly ten hours of free music, ending the event with a cover of Bjork’s ‘Play Dead’ which more than made up for Maleficent’s ill advised and self serving cover of Cave’s ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’. With only minor hiccups for a first time event, Dark Mills offered the audience not just a free music festival but also offered the bands (all of whom commendably played for free) an outlet to reach their intended clientele. I for one am happy to have discovered Imprint, SixToes and The Eden House as well as enjoyed the performances of Maleficent & CalatrilloZ to boot and while a venue change may be in order to help out the cinema and theatre side of things it would be a shame not to see Dark Mills Festival come back next year, its edges smoothed, ready to help promote local unsigned acts in an altogether neglected subgenre in the music scene. Dark Mills Festival

Michael Byrne

2009-09-23T02:45:01Z

105 The-Dogbones-by-Lucy-Beach.jpg The Dogbones at the Rock & Roll Cabaret; The Purple Turtle, Camden Saturday 12th September 2009 Burlesque, and by association cabaret, is having a wildly popular and energetic comeback, with a ‘cheesecake sleaze’ aesthetic dominating the Pacific North West scene while here in the UK a more vaudevillian, Victorian approach seems to dominate. Yet the diluting of a novel post-modern movement can be a serious risk, with each new night being weaker than the last until the capital is awash with less than worthy simulacrums of a once smaller niche entertainment circuit. And yet despite this risk, and despite only just celebrating its second anniversary, The Rock & Roll Cabaret hosted in Camden’s Purple Turtle put on a grandiose show, combining both kitsch and brazen burlesque with some absolutely fantastic unsigned acts, most prominent being Post Grunge act The Dogbones. Arriving an hour or so into the night’s festivities I was lucky enough to stumble across the set of US/UK group Black Daniel. Brash, loud and with the stage presence to match, Black Daniel brought the night up a notch with their mix of garage, blues and noise rock gelled together smoothly through vocalist Craig Louis Higgins Jnr’s confident American crooning. Having toured with Kasabian last year and already seemingly on the edge of stardom Black Daniel pulled off a lively and powerful set, each song finding a new, dirtier sound than that of their recorded material. With the crowd stirred up and ready for more, UK based indie act Joana and The Wolf did not disappoint in the slightest. Formed in London and fronted by Lithuanian singer Joana, J&TW are getting huge praise from critics, comparing Joana’s voice most obviously to PJ Harvey (with a dose of Patti Smith), which it uncannily resembles, though the vocalist adds her own haunting idiosyncrasies too. Also of note are the band themselves that through tight and creative compositions help distance their vocalist a little from the aforementioned comparison lest it overtake their own unique abilities, playing tunes as distinctive in sound as those of God Speed You! Black Emperor and The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s alike, making for an appreciative and responsive audience that were enthralled by the compositions that the band had to offer. <img src="/system/images/2009/9/Joanna-&-The-Wolf-at-R&R-Caberet-taken-from-R&R-Caberet-myspace.jpg" alt="Joanna And The Wolf"/> Joana and The Wolf So rare it is to get three fine acts on stage at a gig (let alone a club night) that I feared the worst when The Dogbones finally arrived on stage, though these fears were swiftly blown away by the ferocity and charged performance of each song. Formed by current and former members alike of bands Wendykurk, QueenAdreena, Daisy Chainsaw & Medieval Baebes, The Dogbones play trashy and sleazy post punk with a strong dose of grunge in the mix and while the group are often pigeonholed as similar to QueenAdreena this mostly emerges from Crispin Gray’s talented guitar play as opposed to vocalist Nomi’s energetic and feverish stage presence, who, despite the comparisons to likes of Katy Jane Garside, easily conjures her own spirit on stage and will no doubt soon have a fervent and loyal fan following. Thrashing about the stage floor as if in a trance, Nomi and the rest of The Dogbones managed to make the most of their small set, pulling out all the stops for a violently vigorous performance reminiscent of the gigs of old were you knew how good a time you had had by gauging how much blood had crusted into your clothes the following day. Indeed The Dogbones may have been misplaced in a Cabaret night as they where certainly more alt rock than rock & roll but the enthusiasm of the crowd would seem to prove otherwise, chanting for more after the band’s brilliant yet sadly (due to time constraints) ephemeral set. Far from over, Rock & Roll Cabaret followed the musical acts with burlesque from the buxom brunette Sophia Rose, a young blood in the circuit but already etching a name for herself with hip shakes and tassel twirls that could take ones eye out, Platinum blonde femme fatale Chrys Columbine and seeming matriarch of the UK burlesque scene Tempest Rose. This combined with a surreal M.C armed with a hand puppet straight out of a Lynchian nightmare and some spontaneous outsider harmonies from a small Asian gentleman known as “Moe” made Rock & Roll Cabaret one of the better nights out in the Capital and for a measly five quid comes highly recommended while acts such as Joana and the Wolf and The Dogbones continue to perform. The Dogbones at the Rock & Roll Cabaret; The Purple Turtle, Camden

Michael Byrne

2009-08-26T18:48:17Z

104 the-conet-project.jpg To begin with, the numbers are anything but coherent, the stations revealing no purpose to their origin or reason and thus consequentially blowing out of the water the hypothesis that shipping or weather forecasts are responsible... Soon the world will know only digital. Music, Film, Television, Radio; all are falling to the charms of crisp digitised audio and crystal clear pixilation. In fact I’m pretty sure that if they found a way they’d have us all eating digitised cereal (providing a sharper, clearer taste than those analogue brands) before going to work in High Definition Cars, arriving at work before the chime of an alarm that had none of the fuzzy lo-fi ambiance its predecessor did. And yet, hidden to all but the most devoted of short wave radio enthusiasts are stations that will most likely stay analogue well past the switch over date; their timing following a strict pattern while their contents variations all follow the same theme that has been ongoing since the cold war at least. This ‘theme’ is probably best described through the most famous of these stations, ‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’, in which its brief broadcast plays the opening of the old English folk ditty repetitively before beginning a seemingly random sequence of numbers, the computerised female voice adding to the stations mystery and surreal nature. And then, as quickly as the broadcast begins, ‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’ returns to its opening composition before disappearing back into the mist of shortwave static. The phenomena on which I write is the covert world of ‘Number Stations’; low frequency radio stations that emit strings of numbers in various languages, across the globe. With so much noise present in the atmosphere from other signals it can be somewhat of a chore even to find these stations, and yet they have been broadcasting for at least four decades. But who is responsible for these broadcasts and why? And what do the numbers actually correspond to? To begin with, the numbers are anything but coherent, the stations revealing no purpose to their origin or reason and thus consequentially blowing out of the water the hypothesis that shipping or weather forecasts are responsible. So too is the claim of a hoax kyboshed, as the perpetrator would now have been working on the gag for at least forty years and to say the joke had become old would be an understatement, not to mention that the stations in question operate illegally. Other more plausible explanations stand better to the scrutinising eye, the first being that the broadcasts are used to send coded messages to drug smuggling organisations but the second (and the most highly regarded) is that Numbers Stations are clandestine codes sent from countries around the world to their operatives in other countries. An exclusive code given to the operatives on time of departure would mean that the incomprehensible to the unenlightened listener would make perfect sense to the intended receptacle. While it may sound far fetched that operatives, spies if you will, would be using such a device for communication (let alone gallivant around the world a la ‘James Bond’) it’s worth baring in mind that to date, most world governments will neither confirm nor deny the existence of these stations while the frequency of said stations have been increasing since the nineties. In addition to this The USA prosecuted five Cubans for spying after successfully decoding hidden messages broadcast from a Cuban Numbers Station. Whatever their true purpose, Numbers Stations make for an eerie, bewildering experience and can be defined as some of the most surreal Found Sound imaginable. The appeal and enigmatic ambiance of Numbers Stations has lead to several forum groups, a Radio 4 documentary and, perhaps most importantly, a four disc archive, collated and produced by Akin Fernandez under the moniker The Conet Project. Released on the UK Irdial-Discs label back in 1997, Conet Project’s collection of broadcasts is a marvel to behold and must have been laborious to pull off, if indeed a little spooky for the curators as, essentially, they were preparing to make public, broadcasts not meant for mass consumption. And consume they did: since its release Conet Project samples have been used everywhere, both in music (appearing in albums by artists as varied as Boards of Canada, Pigface & Wilco) as well as cinema (Cameron Crowe’s ‘Vanilla Sky’). Even David Scott Stone (Melvins, The Locust) and Mike Patton claim to be fans of the project. It’s easy to see the appeal The Conet Project holds over people, from the very first track the lo-fi crackle combined with the disembodied computerised voice makes for bizarre listening and while certain broadcasts may stand out from the rest due to their pre-existing fame (such as ‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’ or ‘The Swedish Rhapsody’), it really is as a whole that this collection should be approached. While it’s been over ten years since its initial release, Irdial-Discs have magnanimously made this release completely free and even go as far as to actively encourage file sharing. Be you an anorak shortwave aficionado or a DJ looking for some quirky samples, a director looking for eerie background noise or just a fan of everything spy related, it would be a shame not to take Irdial-Discs up on their generous request and delve, free of charge into the murky world of Number Stations. Wondering what it all means will confound you, but wondering who they were intended for will keep you up at night. ‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’ and other accidental Found Sound greats!

Michael Byrne

2009-08-07T23:04:12Z

103 hilary-grist.jpg Chances are if you haven’t heard Hilary Grist yet, you will hear of her very very soon. I found myself lucky to stumble into the Railway club on a Tuesday in August to happen upon a very splendid show. When I arrived the stage was being prepped for the second set of the night. Chances are if you haven’t heard Hilary Grist yet, you will hear of her very very soon. I found myself lucky to stumble into the Railway club on a Tuesday in August to happen upon a very splendid show. When I arrived the stage was being prepped for the second set of the night. Hilary, a reasonably small girl was lifting up a rather large full sized white keyboard, which looked to have weighted keys along side a similarly looking lady on the violin. She had a very warm and hospitable way to her right off the bat, welcoming everyone to cozy up for her impromptu set, stating that the violin player (Linda Bull) had tried out the songs with her for the first time that very afternoon. We were Hilary’s guinea pigs apparently, with her playing some of her brand new songs that had never been performed as well as ones she hadn’t played in years. It deemed to be a very enchanting 45 minutes we were about to ‘cozy’ into. Right away I felt that Hilary had the skill and quirk to her piano playing that harked Randy Newman; technical quazi-jazz with a full dynamic range and a light and fun touch. Her voice was full of character, warm and compelling, sophisticated and saucy, I loved it! Linda was a mighty fine addition to the songs as well, quite a confident violin player with so many ideas tucked in her socks and her vocal harmonies were tightly matched. It’s shows like these that make me proud of what is coming out of BC. I remember specific songs because they were so catchy but I never did catch the names. I found that Hilary explored two moods in her music: fun kind of pop songs which make me think of Feist, Nora Jones or Fiona Apple; and ballad style songs which were full dynamic range, lots of discretionary stops. It’s almost that she becomes a character and the words are her lines, the way she delivers grabs you tenderly and there’s no way of escaping the feeling of her captivating you. It seemed that Hilary played 3 of each of these styles, on the pop side: one song which was catchy and I think it was inspired by Debbie Gibson, it had handclaps, a fun piano part and it made you bop in your seat. The second song was one which to me was quite epic, she had so many hooks up her sleeve and when you thought it wouldn’t get any better (because it was already pretty fantastical) Linda started just rocking out on her violin. It was almost like I could hear a whole band behind her and I was so excited about this song that I had to shout some “woots” during the applause. The third song, she had a cool rhodsy sound on her piano, it made me think of Stevie Wonder for some reason. She multitasked an unforgettable bass line with the left hand, while alternating some snazzy chords with the right. I believe the song was called ‘Stick of Dynamite’ at the end she sang accapella while clapping the beat and soon enough everybody in the room clapped along too. The other style of songs was just as amazing: The first song she played, she swooped from note to note and matched up some simply gorgeous harmonies with Linda. The second of this type, I believe she said she wrote it for someone’s wedding. It was a swaying love song that was whimsical and adoring. Then there was a song that I would hazard a guess at being called ‘Better’. It had the same power as the song, ‘Wild Horses’ by the Rolling Stones, it almost brought tears to your eyes -watching her sing it and I think it was my favorite of the night. Hilary has a virtuosic tone to her voice with a very meaningful presentation of the work and I believe I over heard that she is mixing an album which will be out in the late fall or early winter. Keep your eyes and ears peeled because she might be the next stranger darling under your radar. Hilary Grist at the Railway Club

Alice Kuhl

2009-05-14T21:00:26Z

102 lady-lea.jpg I’ve never really stepped behind the decks (and I say never because scratching on dual Fisher Price turntables in the 80’s doesn’t count), but I imagine one of the most enjoyable and difficult challenges for a DJ is vibing out a crowd. Vibe the crowd wrong and your gigs will be few and far in between. Blend the right song at the right time when an energy-low crowd needs it most, and you’re a DJ god or goddess. Which brings us to the focus of this interview—deep house goddess Lady Lea. The South African DJ has vibed out a crowd of 1.2 million people, manages her own record company, and even runs an all-female DJ agency. During our interview we talk about why she first got behind the decks, her favorite place to spin in South Africa, and more. ML: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me. Your bio says that you started DJing about 14 years ago, and I read somewhere that you started with your brother Morgan. What made you want to be a DJ at such a young age, and did your brother influence your style and music? Lady Lea: Music was always my passion in life since I was a little girl. I started recording music from the radio onto tapes and always went around playing it to people as if it was my new track I had just discovered! I also started going out at a very young age, so the nightlife and DJing caught my interest very quickly. My brother was a big part of the reason I started DJing, but I think we always enjoyed similar music, although at times we play very different to each other. ML: You've had over 20 residencies, beginning with DNA in Pretoria, your hometown, and even a second residency in Johannesburg. Where's your favorite place in South Africa to do a gig? Lady Lea: At the moment, it’s probably Truth in Johannesburg. ML: Let's talk a little bit more about South Africa and the house scene there. Not knowing much about it, I could see how it would be influenced by Europe. Does American house have any influence there, or is it mostly a European style? Lady Lea: Yes, American house definitely does have a big influence here. It always has…especially the deeper side of house music. ML: When I google your name, over and over you're mentioned as one of the top DJs in South Africa, male or female. Do you find you still have to prove yourself at home or when you spin abroad because you're a female DJ? Lady Lea: I think I will always have to prove myself, but not because I am a female dj, but [because] I believe you’re only as good as your last set, so I always strive to be on top of my game. And you never know who is listening in the crowd. ML: What do you do that no other DJ does? What's your unique talent as a DJ? Lady Lea: I think my sound and crazy energy behind the decks is unique. I have loads of fun when I play and hopefully people can see and feel it. ML: One unique thing about you is that not only did you open your own record shop, Flipside Records, but you also converted it into a recording studio and record label, producing your own music. Was that a natural progression for you? Lady Lea: Yes it was; music production is ultimately what I really want to do, along with playing my tunes to people live. There are a lot of other big projects in the pipe line…I've just started my own female DJ agency called Divas on Decks, and I will be releasing albums through my own record company called Beat Boutique. So yeah, the music industry is huge, loads of opportunities. Loads of fun too!! ML: Is it true you're doing the German Love Parade again? You must be geeked. What was it like to spin for over 1.2 million people? Do you just feed off their energy and give it right back to them? Lady Lea: I went in 2007 and was meant to go again in 2008 but unfortunately the organizers struggled to get sponsorship for the SA truck, so we lost the truck last year. I will definitely make sure I make it back there at some stage though! The energy is indescribable, my jaw was practically on the floor all day, I felt like a kid at a funfair; there were no limits. The music, sound, people, energy, vibe…everything was mind-blowing and it was the most amazing feeling playing my music to so many people. Heaven! ML: Where's your favorite place to spin abroad and why? Lady Lea: I would say at this point it’s London as I always have an amazing turn out at my gigs there. There are a lot of South Africans there from back in the day when I started playing, so they always come out to support when I'm there. Besides that, Ibiza is also steaming hot right now. ML: Besides the German Love Parade, what other gigs do you have coming up? Lady Lea: I'll be in London on the 25th of July for a SA reunion party! There will be more UK events happening around that. Checkout my website for all info coming soon. ML: Cool. Thank you for your time. Lady Lea: Thanks a mill. Lady Lea

M.L. Edwards

2009-04-28T21:24:40Z

101 dan-deacon.jpg Kristen Cudmore reviews a recent Dan Deacon show at Vancouver club Richard on Richard’s Dan Deacon is classically trained in electronic music composition and has applied this knowledge to create an overwhelmingly artistic project which deserves an obscene amount of praise. His extremely obscure pieces are used with artistic vortexes in videos and this also becomes part of his live show. The Baltimore based project has gone on the road as Dan Deacon but for this Bromst tour, he has included an entire cast of musicians to collaborate and exhilarate. I have been one of the lucky ones to actually have witnessed the show at Vancouver’s Richards on Richards on Sunday April 26. The venue is quite neat in the way that when you go to the show, you can watch from the crowd and be part of a friendly dance pit or you could simply observe over top of the band for a birds eye view to experience the interaction visually and more introspectively. Aside from the ridiculously unfriendly staff at Richards, the expensive drinks ($3.50 for a bottle of water) and coat check, you can still have an amazing time. Dan Deacon has a following of severely amp’ed show-goers. Even from his beginnings in Baltimore, he’d draw attention from all types of music and art enthusiasts creating a sub-culture of late night dance partiers among many others who stumbled in. Now breaking wind in Canada, his return to Vancouver has been extremely long awaited and including an ensemble has made it all the better! Performers Include: <ul> <li>Benny Boeldt: keyboard, sampler, synthesizer</li> <li>Denny Bowen: drum kit</li> <li>Andrew Burt: guitar, violin</li> <li>Andrew Bernstein: saxophone, guitar</li> <li>William Cashion: keyboard</li> <li>Stephe Cooper: mallets, guitar</li> <li>Dan Deacon: voice, electronics, keyboard, sampler</li> <li>Gregg Fox: drum kit, mallets</li> <li>Justine Frye: cello, mallets</li> <li>Chester Gwazda: keyboard, sampler, synthesizer</li> <li>Kate Levitt: percussion</li> <li>Kevin O’Meara: percussion</li> <li>Sam Sowyrda: mallets</li> <li>Gerrit Welmers: keyboard, sampler, synthesizer</li> </ul> For some reason, I don’t recall this many people on stage but my attention had been scattered due to the amount of movement I was doing. Admittedly, I cannot recall the order of songs or any details like that from the show because I was just overwhelmed by the energy in the room and the feeling of uncontrollable motion but I can easily say that he put’s on one of the most incredible shows I have ever experienced. Dan Deacon had a way of directing the audience from side to side, into circles and while watching from above it looked like a beautiful vortex of currents flowing to the chaos. People were so enthralled they looked as if they had been sprayed by a hose. When you get a room full of strangers together to go off into a freakish sweat, by the end of it, they have all shared an amazing experience and it brings people together in the most indescribable way. Maybe that is why his fan base is so strong. The music is meant to include you, it’s almost like you’re a part of the orchestration and Dan Deacon is the wizard behind the art. His shows come highly recommended and they encounter is absolutely unforgettable. Check out his web presence for tour dates, videos and music samples: www.myspace.com/dandeacon Dan Deacon at Vancouver’s Richard on Richards

Kristen Cudmore

2009-03-06T23:38:33Z

100 cinderpop-bio.jpg Kristen Cudmore writes about Cinderpop at the Railway Club, in Vancouver. Friday the 13th, my best friend gets engaged to her long time lover who plays in a zombie band and I discover a new past time, listening to Cinderpop – the opposite of a zombie band. The Railway Club (Vancouver) was the venue and the room was full of an odd mix of listeners but the night was highly anticipated none-the-less. Firstly, I did not expect to fall in love that night but it happened, I love love loved the show!!! I found the crowd to be rather obnoxious but the band to be rather enchanting. Cinderpop had a care-free ambiance of perfectly composed pop music played by stellar performers all polished at their craft. I can confidently say that this group is one of Canada’s best kept secrets and they should be among our nations musical ambassador’s. Their feel-goodery and catchy hooks are what really makes them a treat to see live. Kevan Ellis (lead singer/ guitar) and Joel Myers (bassist/ bg’s) had a witty charm during quick breaks between songs, everyone on stage appeared to be having such a great time, how could you not? The music was so ridiculously happy I felt like I was catching endorphins in the air! I could not stop bopping I nearly fell out of my seat many times, it was fully engaging and impossible to not adore. I think this band has a personalized sound, it could be compared to Sloan but I wouldn’t think of it to be as main-stream and the songwriting is much more sophisticated. Kevan’s voice is very reminiscent of Elliot Smith and their arrangements summon up a favorite - Yo La Tengo. They implant a theme of magnificence and employ their musicianship skills to fit their parts together. The show was so an unexpected delight, that’s why I got a copy of their album “A Lesson in Science” to tide me over until the next one. Cinderpop

Kristen Cudmore

2008-12-31T18:32:08Z

99 artists-to-watch.jpg Kristen Cudmore’s Artists To Watch list for 2009.... <ol> <li><h2>Digitalism (Kitsune/Virgin)</h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/digitalism.jpg'/> Kraut dance electro rockers Digitalism have made a slew of songs that will turn a retirement home into an adrenaline psyched dance party, they are widely known in Europe and other parts of the globe but North America needs pick-me-up</li> <li><h2>Fol Chen (Asthmatic Kitty) </h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/fol-chen.jpg'/> The newest addition to AK Records and a complete surprise, they are wacky like Of Montreal but completely different. Cascading electrolytes, voices, instruments and glory I will patiently await their debut release in winter 09. I am sure Fol Chen will be splashed across the continent as it’s the most becoming music I have heard yet. </li> <li><h2>Great Aunt Ida (Independent) </h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/great-aunt-ida.jpg'/> Ida Nilsen carry’s the most beautifully crafted melodies in Canada. Her voice is my absolute favorite voice I have ever heard. She plays with mystique but is completely unassuming. Her talent is outstanding and her songs just the same. Match that with a collection of Canada’s finest instrumentalists in this realm. </li> <li><h2>Pinback (Touch and Go)</h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/pinback.jpg'/> A vortex of vocals and the counterpoint of their instrumental parts, melodies and harmonies feel like a free fall. These guys are pretty well known but to bring awareness to people who haven’t yet indulged, have a listen. Autumn of the Seraphs is their latest release in 2007 so they’re due to release another masterpiece which should not fall under the radar. </li> <li><h2>Aesop Rock (Definitive Jux) </h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/aesop-rock.jpg'/> Underground hip hop at its finest and like I mentioned with Pinback, he’s due to release another record since his latest is also from 2007 as well. Aesop Rock produces a torrent thought provoking lyrics over high fashion production and entrancing tunes. His latest release should have been on the best of 2007 list, if one were made! </li> <li><h2>Hylozoists (Outside) </h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/hylozoists.jpg'/> Toronto and Halifax ex-pats devastate classical music with their off the cuff abstractions using percussion and strings to interlace complex song-pieces. This overly-competent group makes obscure time signature chaos and experimental melodic obstructions and it makes me an admirer. </li> <li><h2>Hawaiian Bibles (Independent)</h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/hawaiian-bibles.jpg'/> These guys deserve a ton of credit for their ability to create the catchiest of catchy multi-task-alternative-garage rock. Every time I have seen them I came home with a sore neck. If you easily get riled up then watch out because this duo (bass and drums/keys) play most-relentlessly and have become an obsession of mine. I am pretty sure they just threw a new member into the mix and are working on a new full length too so there are many big reasons to watch HB in 2009. </li> <li><h2>French Miami (Independent)</h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/french-miami.jpg'/> This is nostalgic post punk that has a few very distinguished hooks and vigor. The group just released an album but you’ll probably hear about well into 2009. </li> <li><h2>Jane Vain & The Dark Matter! (Rectangle)</h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/jane-vain.jpg'/> Rising stars Jane Vain & The Dark Matter! have combined folk rock and electro pop to make a trendy eddy of layers, vocals, strings, and a touch of electronic. I like their miniature counter-melodies that make you move in a swaying motion. I can easily see them representing Canada’s independent music scene. </li> <li><h2>The Long Lost (Ninja Tune)</h2> <img src='/images/2008/12/the-long-lost.jpg'/> Classy down tempo acoustic lounge music is The Long Lost’s specialty. It’s appealing to all sorts of listeners and they deserve a mound of credit for creating this beautiful and whimsical construction.</li> </ol> Artists to Watch in 2009 and Why

Kristen Cudmore