Spinner

Statue Park: Montrealers Make Music About Architecture, Deep Sea Diving

Dave Jaffer — 2012-12-17T17:00:00 00:00

Statue Park Facebook

The old line goes, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

Montreal's recently-reformed Statue Park are messing around with that very idea: they're musicians who write music about architecture. The dancing part is optional, but encouraged.

"I think there are a lot of similarities between songwriting and architecture, life and architecture, relationships and buildings," Statue Park's Toby Cayouette told Spinner during this year's M for Montreal. "They're all about the process of building something, and they always turn out differently from what you'd hoped, and inevitably, at some juncture, they fall apart.

No Joy, No Album: Montrealers Scrap Raveonettes-Aided Record, Start Over

Dave Jaffer — 2012-12-06T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive

Windish Agency

It takes a lot of time and effort to record an album. It also takes a lot of will to destroy it before it gets released. And yet a year ago, that's exactly what Montreal's No Joy did.

"Last year at this time we wrote and recorded an album and were going in all kinds of weird directions and experimenting," No Joy's Jasamine White-Gluz tells Spinner. "We mixed it in New York City with Sune [Rose Wagner] from the Raveonettes."

New album. Weird directions. Mixed by a Raveonette. Sounds good up to this point.

Except it wasn't, apparently.

M for Montreal: How La Belle Ville Survived 'Next Seattle' Status to Maintain its Music Scene's Fire

Dave Jaffer — 2012-12-05T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive, Pop Culture, Between the Notes

'Maude Perrin

In the early- to mid-2000s, propelled by the global successes of Arcade Fire, The Dears, Stars and The Stills, Montreal became considered among the world's most important music metropolises. It remains one today, in spite of those initial declarations that the Quebec city was yet another "Next Seattle," the music scene equivalent of the Madden Curse.

Proclamations of this sort regarding Montreal's scene were as ubiquitous as they were subtly damning, and most of the writers who bestowed such titles weren't based in Montreal.

The most well-known article of this strain was written by Spin's Rodrigo Perez in 2005; it sought to put Montreal on the map as "The Next Big Scene." This, despite the fact that Montreal had already been musically relevant for years (and on the map since, oh, 1642). People in Montreal still talk about that article, and sneer when they note that the article's illustration of St. Laurent Boulevard placed bars like Biftek and Le Pistol where they weren't located, or how Perez made the audacious claim that the Montreal scene as he saw it was birthed by the "No" vote in Quebec's 1995 sovereignty referendum.

Portugal. the Man Want to be a Pop Act -- Like the Beatles, David Bowie or Tom Petty

Dave Jaffer — 2012-06-15T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive

NXNE

To some, pop music is a way of life. To others, it's the dirtiest of dirty words. Portugal. the Man bassist Zachary Carothers knows which side of that fence he's on. Discussing the band's most recent release, In the Mountain in the Cloud, Carothers minced no words:

"We do want to make pop music," he told Spinner.

Not just any pop music, mind you.

"We want it to be good," he explained. "We do want to make pop music, but we want it to have substance, and art, and have meaning."

Parlovr's 'Kook Soul' Album is a Diary of Heartbreak: 'Everything Was Falling Apart'

Dave Jaffer — 2012-06-11T09:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, New Music, New Releases

Listen Harder

"Breakup" records are as much as part of the idiom of music culture as love songs. Weezer's Pinkerton is still a go-to for many in the mood to wallow in the abject misery of lost love. Parlovr's Alex Cooper, though disdainful of the term, acknowledges his band's new record Kook Soul fits into that paradigm.

"It's what gets categorized as a 'breakup' album in the taxonomy of rock journalism," Cooper tells Spinner.

The story of the stories that make up Kook Soul is heartbreaking, and yet Cooper talks about it freely and openly.

CMW, CMF: Arts & Crafts Show Off Their Post-Broken Social Scene Stable

Dave Jaffer — 2012-03-24T14:05:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours

With Broken Social Scene on "indefinite hiatus," there's a hole in the middle of the Arts & Crafts records roster. Broken Social Scene has always been a sort of metonym for Arts & Crafts -- without them, the venerable Toronto label was left with something of an identity crisis.

This brought intrigue to last night's CMW/CMF showcase at the Horseshoe Tavern as the label looks to acts including the Darcys, Zeus and Dan Mangan to become the new face of the franchise.

Snowblink opened the night, so Daniela Gesundheit's voice was the first instrument on display. Her breathy vocals cut through the room like a scimitar, and she had antlers coming out of her guitar.

First You Get the Sugar Play 'Tight Tunes' at CMW Music Festival

Dave Jaffer — 2012-03-22T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive

First You Get the Sugar

You might think of 'The Simpsons' reference when you see Montreal-based First You Get the Sugar's name in print, but hearing them play live will change all that.

Last night at their CMW performance at Toronto's lively disco ball-adorned Painted Lady, many people got Sugar-coated. First You Get the Sugar's style defies easy description (so does their name, explained in our Weird Band Name at CMW feature). They blend bits of rock, pop, soul, funk and at least one kitchen sink. They're a jam band without the yuck factor, groovy but never ironically so.

"We all have pretty eclectic tastes," Mick Mendelsohn told Spinner.

"People bitch about being force-fed pop music on the radio, but the flip side to that is that anyone with an active interest in music has more exposure to a diverse array of sounds than ever before. Ask anyone what kind of music they like and nine times out of 10 they'll say 'everything.' We're no different; our goal has always been to distill all our influences into a coherent style."

NOFX's Fat Mike Proud Member of Mediocre Golf Association

Dave Jaffer — 2011-06-28T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive

Frank Hoensch, Getty Images

Even punk rock icons age and, as they do, they pick up new hobbies and habits. NOFX's Fat Mike is no exception. His growing-older hobby? Golf.

While touring in Quebec, recently, he carved out some time to go golfing. He admitted, however, that his game needs some work.

"It seems like I've been drinking and doing more drugs than practicing golf," he tells Spinner, before launching into a bit of a sales pitch for his newfound hobby. "You can do drugs on the golf course, you can drink on the golf course. There's nobody around. You can do what you want."

Cancer Bats Guitarist Runs into Mike Tyson at a Scottish Gas Station

Dave Jaffer — 2011-06-27T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive

Courtesy of Cancer Bats | AP Photo, Mike Groll

Slapstick-heavy films like 'Dumb and Dumber' have taught us to be wary of the scary things that may await us in roadside bathrooms. Cancer Bats guitarist Scott Middleton has something to add to the list, something decidedly scary indeed: Mike Tyson.

"We were going to play a show in Aberdeen, Scotland, earlier this year, and we stopped for gas and to take a leak," he tells Spinner before performing at the D-Tox Rockfest in Montebello, Quebec last week.

"It was just a tiny gas station, and basically I was waiting for our bass player Jay to finish his business in there. So I was in this hallway, and in walks this guy. It was winter, and he had a jacket and a hat on. I didn't really notice him at first, and then I heard him say something to somebody else that he was with, and just that voice is unmistakable. And then I look and I see [his] face tattoo, and I'm just like, 'Holy crap, that's Mike Tyson.'"

The Sadies Follow Polaris Nod by Recording with Tragically Hip's Gord Downie

Dave Jaffer — 2010-09-18T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, New Music

Currently in the running for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize for their album 'Darker Circles,' the Sadies aren't resting on their laurels. While a lesser band might be basking in the (somewhat muted) adulation of a nation, or envisioning ways to fritter away Polaris' $20,000 purse, should they be fortunate enough to win, the hardworking Toronto-based band is out doing what they do best: making music honestly and away from the spotlight.

Hell, guitarist Travis Good even disputes that the well-worn, instantly-recognizable foursome has any sort of name-brand recognition.

"I don't know if we're relatively large," he told Spinner after an outdoor performance at the Wolfe Island Music Festival. "We are relatives, though." [Brother Dallas Good is the band's principal vocalist.]

Klaxons Start Over on New Album 'Surfing the Void'

Dave Jaffer — 2010-08-26T15:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Exclusive, New Music

A lot of ink has been spilled explaining that the new Klaxons record, 'Surfing the Void,' only came together when producer Ross Robinson (Slipknot, the Cure, At the Drive-In) replaced Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford, who produced the band's Mercury Prize-winning debut. And judging by the language Klaxons' bassist/vocalist Jamie Reynolds uses when discussing Robinson, there's plenty more to say about it.

"The moment that [Robinson] walked into our lives, he sat there and I realized that this man was going to absolutely help shape and nurture us, and help the band on a personal level to bring us to the absolute utmost of our ability, to allow us to flower and be our absolute best," Reynolds tells Spinner. And the love letter language doesn't end there.

"He's such a comfortable man at understanding life," Reynolds continues. "He's so incredibly there, sort of present, that I knew his approach to life was absolutely perfectly suitable for where this band needed to find itself -- as a collection of individuals and [also] as a collective unit."

Klaxons 'Weren't a Band' on Mercury Prize-Winning Debut

Dave Jaffer — 2010-08-23T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, New Music

Though the Klaxons debut 'Myths of the Near Future' won the 2007 Mercury Prize, bassist/vocalist Jamie Reynolds has an interesting opinion on the state of the band during its creation.

"We fundamentally weren't a band on our first record," he tells Spinner while walking around in London's Soho district. "We were very much a collection of ideas by three people that reached out and worked with a producer, James Ford. That then allowed us to make these ideas into the realities of being songs and [us] a band. And then we brought in a hired hand to help us make those recordings come to life."

In winning the Mercury Prize, 'Myths' bested efforts by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Bat for Lashes and Amy Winehouse -- yet when discussing it, Reynolds doesn't sound like he's the least bit concerned with the past. He's relatively uninterested in talking about the glory attendant to winning, or discussing how much he and his bandmates put into it -- and got out of it.

Rob Zombie Influenced by Queen and Elton John?!?

Dave Jaffer — 2010-08-19T14:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Exclusive

It probably wouldn't surprise anyone to know that growing up, Rob Zombie dug the imagery and music of the 1970s darker rock acts. What might surprise folks is that Zombie says he was just as influenced by some of the less sinister sounds that were popular during his formative years.

"It was the whole scene of the music when I was coming up [that influenced me]," he tells Spinner. "What formed my opinion when I was a kid was KISS, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Queen... everything was larger than life and everything was a show -- and that never left me. That may have left the world, somewhat, but that never left me."

Ra Ra Riot Plant 'Orchard' Seeds, Praise Food at Oshega Festival

Dave Jaffer — 2010-08-02T12:50:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Canada

Though most folks at Montreal's Osheaga Festival saw either Metric or Devo perform in the second-last slot of the fest's final day, a minority were on hand to watch Syracuse, NY's Ra Ra Riot make their first-ever appearance at Osheaga, and, almost as quickly, leave.

"We've been here a matter of hours, and we're heading to Ohio in the next hour," cellist Alexandra Lawn told Spinner afterward.

Asked about her favorite part of her band's brief stint at Osheaga, Lawn minced no words: "Easily my favorite catering. The food was unbelievable!"

Deadmau5 Cancels Gigs After Collapsing at D.C. Concert

Dave Jaffer — 2010-08-01T12:35:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Holy Hell, Canada

Anyone planning on seeing Deadmau5 perform on the Mountain Stage on day two of Montreal's Osheaga Festival has to be both disappointed and concerned by the news that Deadmau5 won't be making the trip to Montreal after collapsing during a Saturday show in Washington, D.C.

Deadmau5, also known as Toronto DJ and producer Joel Thomas Zimmerman, collapsed during a performance at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., suffering what's being described as "exhaustion and vomiting" in a statement on his website.

Beach House Shines at Osheaga Festival Despite Delay

Dave Jaffer — 2010-08-01T11:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Canada

One of the more interesting features of Montreal's Osheaga Festival is its Green Stage which, befitting its name, was built to be eco-friendly and is wind- and solar-powered. While it's a forward-thinking idea, many festivalgoers couldn't help but wonder if issues with that stage were the reason Beach House's set, which was scheduled to occur thirty minutes after Jamie Lidell's -- also delayed -- set, was beset by myriad technical difficulties.

Originally scheduled to start playing at 7:15PM at a festival known for its sets being on almost military time (a point established later by headliners like the National and Arcade Fire), Baltimore's Beach House started their set closer to 7:40PM.

Jamie Lidell Struts His Stuff at Osheaga Festival

Dave Jaffer — 2010-08-01T10:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Canada

There's no right way to deal with technical issues that delay the beginning of a set, but Jamie Lidell's band did a pretty good job yesterday at Montreal's Osheaga Festival. Before Lidell was to make his grand entrance -- and it seemed that he was indeed waiting in the wings the entire time -- the band members were all onstage looking somewhat bemused by some kind of snafu. The crowd, while not hostile, was getting visibly restless.

Then, as if from nowhere, Lidell's keyboard player started playing 'That's What Friends Are For.' Unadorned, save for the keys player's brief Stevie Wonder impression, the impromptu song set everyone at ease. (It didn't hurt that the keyboard player resembled a white Stevie Wonder.) The intro inspired a clap-along and plenty of good spirits.

Technical difficulties over and done with, it was Lidell's chance to give the crowd what they were there for. And he did not disappoint.

Library Voices Change Their Luck at NXNE

Dave Jaffer — 2010-06-20T14:15:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, Canada

When you're as unlucky as Regina, Saskatchewan's Library Voices have been, the tendency is probably to be angry and bitter. So the fact that the eight-piece pop collective wore smiles that would put beauty queens to shame, and exuded enough warmth to heat a single family dwelling when they opened up the CBC Radio 3 / Sirius NXNE showcase at Toronto's Legendary Horseshoe Tavern is remarkable.

If you're not in the know, Library Voices have had one hell of a year and a half.

Last February, they had $10,000 worth of their gear, including a cherished woodblock, stolen in Vancouver. That prompted one of the best YouTube videos ever. Then, this May, a busted water main caused almost 600,000 gallons of water to pour into the band's basement practice space at the Regina Cultural Exchange, not only destroying their personal belongings and vintage equipment, but also rented equipment that insurance didn't cover.

The generosity of strangers, who donated money to the band, and fellow Prairie band the Weakerthans, who played a benefit for them at the Horseshoe last month, helped get them equipped and to NXNE to play a gig they never considered canceling.

Hannah Georgas Celebrates Polaris Nod with NXNE Horseshoe Show

Dave Jaffer — 2010-06-20T13:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, Canada

Vancouver's Hannah Georgas knew that she was long listed for the 2010 Polaris Prize, but thankfully, still played like she's got something to prove.

At last night's CBC Radio 3 / Sirius showcase, Georgas, introduced by Radio 3 personality Grant Lawrence as "Gorgeous Hannah Georgas," played material from her nominated record 'This Is Good,' a collection of songs that lived up to its name this night.

Most people in Toronto were only just hearing bits about Georgas when NXNE started and she got a Polaris nod. As such, the audience that gathered to see her was more curious than anything else. One concertgoer, while ordering a drink at the bar, referred to her as Hannah "gor-gas." Someone else nearby insisted on repeatedly saying "Hannah George."

It's probably pretty safe to say that those people aren't going to be making that mistake anymore.

Gramercy Riffs Come Out and Play at NXNE

Dave Jaffer — 2010-06-19T12:15:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, Canada

At every sprawling festival like NXNE, you stumble upon that one band. You know the one. The one you'd never heard of before, who you see almost by accident and then rave about endlessly to your friends like you discovered fire. For a lot of people at NXNE, that band is Gramercy Riffs.

Any band that derives its name from cult 1979 film 'The Warriors' will probably end up doing pretty well in certain places, sight unseen. But when people start hearing St. John's, Newfoundland's Gramercy Riffs, they might forget all about the reference.

Gramercy Riffs don't make tough music. They're not leather jacket-wearing purveyors of sharp, angular tones meant to injure. Rather they make what's been referred to as heartbreak pop, and last night's set at Bread and Circus showed they're very, very good at it. Vocalists Mara Pellerin (Korg) and Lee Hanlon (guitar) give and take and interchange effortlessly, and both can flat-out sing, separating them from a bevy of Friday bands whose vocalists took pride in their atonality.