Spinner

Inside Arcade Fire Secret Show: Besnard Lakes' Jace Lasek Says There Was 'Congas' 'Dancing'

Erik Leijon — 2013-04-18T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive, New Music, New Releases

Alberto E. Rodriguez, Getty

The Besnard Lakes' Jace Lasek might not be working hand-in-hand with his fellow Montrealers Arcade Fire on their long-awaited fourth album due out later this year, but he's heard a few songs and says they're going in a Talking Heads direction.

It was at Lasek's Breakglass Studio where Arcade Fire held a secret show last December, attended only by a handful of invitees who agreed to not record, photograph or tweet about the show..

"The songs they played, to me they seemed like they were going further into a Talking Heads' Fear of Music vibe," Lasek tells Spinner, referencing the Heads' 1979 album.

Deciphering Godspeed You! Black Emperor's 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!' Album Art

Erik Leijon — 2012-10-12T14:00:00 00:00

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

Erik Leijon

Godspeed You! Black Emperor -- the ever-elusive purveyors of dystopian gloom and doom -- have emerged from the woodwork (i.e. their Mile End, Montreal abodes) to release their first album in a decade, entitled Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Musically speaking, the album contains the sort of long-form apocalyptic crescendos we've come to expect from the post-rock collective, but there are hints embedded in the music, and perhaps more overtly in the packaging, that suggest the timing of this release is quite specific -- and came together fairly quickly.

For those unaware, this past summer the city of Montreal was swept up in a groundswell youth movement protesting against the proposed raising of university tuition fees. These public protests filled the streets nightly and eventually resulted in the provincial government enacting Bill 78, which curtailed the rights of protesters and made the entire situation a whole lot more combustible.

They were exciting, politically charged times for the citizens of Godspeed's hometown, and although the band was largely silent while these protests were in full swing (unlike Arcade Fire or Stars, for example), Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! is undoubtedly a belated show of solidarity. Mostly though, the vinyl packaging is a veritable codex of weird text and pictures -- and trying to infer a deeper meaning is all part of the pointless fun of a new Godspeed album.

Dan Mangan's Strange Success: 'As the Band's Gotten Weirder We've Been Getting More Popular'

Erik Leijon — 2012-08-23T15:30:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Q + A

Arts & Crafts

Vancouver's Dan Mangan is the current reigning Juno Awards Best New Artist of the Year winner, which is weird for two reasons. First of all, Oh Fortune, the album which garnered him the win, is his third and not his debut. Secondly, and he understands the confusion, Dan Mangan isn't an "artist" anymore, but a "band."

"On two fronts it's a strange award to be receiving," Mangan says, who like fellow Canadian artists Patrick Watson and Sam Roberts, have over time grown into fully-fledged, stable bands that just happen to refer to themselves by their frontman's name (although Roberts & co. now go by "Sam Roberts Band"). "The thing is though, I still do play solo sometimes, or sometimes I'll do a show with a clarinet and cello player, which I guess Sam and Patrick don't do. I'm not locked into this band but 98 percent of the time I'm playing with them, so it's complicated."

Speaking of complicated, Mangan's Oh Fortune was also awarded the Alternative Album of the Year.

Charles Bradley: Soul Latecomer Helps People Who Are 'Looking for Love'

Erik Leijon — 2012-08-08T16:15:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Q + A

Kisha Bari

Soul revivalist Charles Bradley is a courageous man, capable of belting out deeply personal tunes on a nightly basis, but nothing could prepare him for seeing his life on the silver screen at the premiere of the documentary Charles Bradley: Soul of America. The doc chronicles the 63-year-old Florida native's unlikely music career, which only began a decade ago, as well as his hard knock life that included hitch-hiking, homelessness, line cooking, his brother's murder and his own near death experience.

"You can go through a lot of hardship," the former James Brown impersonator tells Spinner, "but you don't see it, you just feel it. I was at the premiere, it was somewhere down South, and just watching all those moments of my life on the screen: seeing my uncle, seeing pictures of me when I was a baby, remembering those times I was just trying to survive and keep warm, I couldn't keep my composure, I had to get out of there."

His 2011 debut album, No Time for Dreaming, can be tough for him to listen to as well, but he says he keeps a stiff upper lip on stage because of how fans have latched onto his heartfelt lamentations. It's no surprise then, the man who cries the pains of post-recession America is constantly approached by fans needing to spill their guts.

Dashboard Confessional's Not OK Computer: Studio Snafu Destroyed Their Album, Band in Limbo

Erik Leijon — 2012-07-30T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Q + A

Brad Barket, Getty

It's been three years since Dashboard Confessional released their last album, but don't expect one to pop up on the immediate horizon. If all had gone according to plan, band leader Chris Carrabba would have finished his follow-up to 2009's After the Ending a year ago, but a technological snafu left his hard drives wiped and his mind strangely at ease. You see, he realized he probably wouldn't have been happy with the final result anyway.

Carrabba's still writing every day and is also working on music with his former band Further Seems Forever, but he says he's not feeling the pressure to drop a new Dashboard Confessional record until he's ready.

He spoke to Spinner about computer woes, still digging his older material and where his head's at these days.

Patrick Watson Killed the Video Star: Wants to Move Beyond Music Videos Into Strange Performance Clips

Erik Leijon — 2012-07-20T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive

Secret City

Don't tell OK Go, but former Polaris Music Prize winner Patrick Watson thinks the music video format is totally passé.

"I don't think anyone cares about music videos anymore," Watson told a small contingent of journos in Quebec City last week. Instead, he thinks an artist can make a more lasting impact by creating videos of live performances in weird settings, or that provide an inside look into the life of a touring musician.

"YouTube can be great for sharing special moments you couldn't find before," he says. "One of the best things about traveling is getting to meet such incredible people, especially when you're a musician because interesting people often come find you."

Summer in the (Quebec) City: Festival D'ete Boasted Everyone From Bon Jovi to Skrillex

Erik Leijon — 2012-07-14T13:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive

Festival d'ete de Quebec

Festival d'été de Québec, or Quebec City Summer Festival if you're insistent on not integrating, isn't really all that much different from the other major summer festivals that take place along the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. Enough that the bands should travel by giant flotilla next year to save costs.

Like the interchangeable Ottawa Bluesfest and Montreal Jazz Fest, this year's FEQ had no trouble enticing big names to Canada's oldest burgh and, thanks to the large mainstage on the historically significant Plains of Abraham, got some massive 100,000-plus crowds to boot. Over the festival's ten days, pretty much every type of music fan had at least one night to call their own.

Bon Jovi have become one of the biggest draws in the world largely through attrition and, much like the familiar poutine of famed Quebec fast food chain Ashton, on July 9 the group coasted on their legacy.

Steven Tyler Stays Quiet on 'Americal Idol' Departure as Aerosmith Rocks Quebec

Erik Leijon — 2012-07-13T17:25:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive

Getty Images

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler had plenty to say at his band's headlining performance last night on the Plains of Abraham at the Festival d'été de Québec.

He had a teleprompter continually feeding him lyrics, a few sycophantic french words written on papers that were taped to the floor in front of the stage and tons of effusive praise for his fellow bandmates and the 100,000 or so attendants throughout the night.

But Tyler did keep his otherwise flapping lips shut about one thing: the announcement he made earlier in the day about leaving his judging post on singing competition and sinking ship "American Idol" after just two forgettable seasons.

Grimes on Touring With Skrillex, Moving From Montreal + Hanging With Kreayshawn

Erik Leijon — 2012-07-11T16:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive, RPM, Q + A

Ben Statham, Redferns

Grimes, aka Claire Boucher, is synonymous with her adopted home of Montreal, but after a particularly nasty bout of frostbite the 24-year-old came to the realization the frigid winters of her native land were not for her.

So for the foreseeable future she'll be a touring nomad, but all of her mail will be forwarded to her new digs in Los Angeles. Starting this week though, Grimes will be taking up residence with Skrillex, Diplo, Pretty Lights and more on the Full Flex Tour, a cross-Canada train jaunt fashioned as an ode to the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin's all-star Festival Express tour, albeit substituting drugs and jamming with Red Bull and Twittering.

The move to L.A. is about more than just sunshine though: Boucher's already hard at work on new music, posted a joke video on YouTube with Kreayshawn that predictably blew up the interwebs, and by the time you read this has already filmed a video for "Genesis."

Boucher spoke to Spinner from L.A. about Visions' pinkness, S&M backup dancers and touring with Skrillex.

Festival d'été de Québec Preview: Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Skrillex, Patrick Watson Invade Quebec City

Erik Leijon — 2012-07-05T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive

Ethan Miller, Getty | Mark Davis, Getty

Although they've yet to lure the Phoenix Coyotes to their crumbling Colisee, the otherwise beautiful Quebec City seems to have no trouble bringing in grade-A American music heavyweights to play their annual Festival d'été de Québec, happening this year from July 5 to 15 at the Plains of Abraham and other spots around town.

If the music being played at every gas station along highway 40 from Montreal to Quebec City is any indication, Bon Jovi are not just the biggest band in the world, they're the only band in the world. In all seriousness though, there's no doubting the lads from Joisy know how to fill a big field, so if you haven't picked up a ticket to their Monday, July 9 Plains of Abraham set yet, chances are the closest you'll get to seeing them is at a truck stop two towns over.

There seemed a time when LMFAO couldn't possibly pen a better tune than "Shots," yet the big-haired shuffling kin of Gordy and Rockwell keep churning out the party rockers (and subsequent apologies). They kick off the festivities Friday, July 6. For something a little more mature, a resurgent Lionel Ritchie performs Saturday, July 7.