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Stylus
Apr/May Issue2 2016 Volume27
Production Team Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gil Carroll Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Mazurak Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria King
On the Cover SAM NEAL is a man Goes to school at RRC Wow, what a nice man For more haikus, contact him at samuelneal01@gmail.com
Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Neal Advertising Contact . . . . . . . . . Rob Schmidt manager@ckuw.ca Print by JRS Print Services . . . 204-232-3558
Contributors Janel Chau Mister Jan Alex Roberecki Andre Cornejo Karen Justi Selci Topher Duguay Laura Friesen Grace Moyer William Charlette Kaitlyn Emslie Farrell Chris Bryson Ben Waldman Rachel Narvey Joel Klaverkamp
Stylus is published bi–monthly by CKUW 95.9 FM, with a circulation of 2,500. Stylus serves as the program guide to 95.9FM CKUW and will reflect the many musical communities it supports within Winnipeg and beyond. Stylus strives to provide coverage of music that is not normally written about in the mainstream media. Stylus acts as a vehicle for the work of new writers, photographers and artists, including members of the University of Winnipeg, of CKUW and of the Winnipeg community at large. Stylus reserves the right to refuse to print material, specifically, that of a racist, homophobic or sexist nature. All submissions may be edited and become the property of Stylus. All opinions expressed in Stylus are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors. Contributions in the form of articles, reviews, letters, photos and graphics are welcome and should be sent with contact information to:
Stylus Magazine Bulman Student Centre, University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9 Phone: 204-786-9785, Fax: 204-783-7080 editor@stylusmagazine.ca www.stylusmagazine.ca Contributions will be accepted in the body of an email. No attachments please. All submissions may be edited and become the property of Stylus. Unauthorized reproduction of any portion of Stylus is strongly discouraged without the express written consent of the editors.
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TableofContents Blah, Blah, Blah Events Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 CKUWho Made in Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Out from the Watering Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Prairie Punk Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Label Maker Colemine Singles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Under the Needle Low // Yuck // Suuns // Reversing Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Local Spotlight Animal Teeth // Lev Snowe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Features Male Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Black Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Sloan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 WHIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Intronaut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Apr/May 2016 Stylus Magazine
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Spring has sprung. Please come out from your under your blanket fort and check out some amazing live music happening in our wonderful city! *** Every other Thursday at the Handsome Daughter is Real Love Thursday, bringing you live, local music. If you head over to the Knndy, you can eat samosas and sing as a part of Sing-a-long Thursdays *** April 7, Sapphire Empire and Holly Ruth and the Grey Jays are at the Times Change(d) *** Raine Hamilton is at Prairie Ink on Thursday, April 8. Mise en Scene, SC Mira, and Paisley are at the Good Will Social Club *** April 9, Sloan is back in town at the Pyramid performing songs from their classic album, One Chord To Another. Read our interview with them on page 10 *** April 13, feel real emotions with Caribou at the Garrick Centre. Viva Non is having his Pure album release at the Handsome Daughter with Orlando Gloom and Subspace *** April 14, local lo-fi folk legend, Micah Erenberg performs at the Times Change(d) *** Lose yourself in a maniacal mosh on April 15, at Manitoba Metalfest at the Park Theatre. Red Moon Road, Sol James and Rosie and the Riveters perform at the Good Will Social Club, and Idrissa and the PeaceMakers bring you some tunes at St.Amant Centre’s FM Cafe in the early evening. The Help Wanteds and The Wind Ups are at the Cavern *** April 16 - Real Love Summer Fest Fundraiser at the Good Will with Ivory Waves, Brady Allard and Zrada. Also, v big deal: Yelawolf and Fefe Dobson are at the Pyramid *** April 17, at the Handsome Daughter, get freaky with High Functioning Flesh, Body of Light, Kindest Cuts, and Ghost Twin *** She’s your only girl, and you better have her money. Rihanna and Travis Scott are at the MTS Centre on Monday, April 18 *** Bear
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Mountain is at the Park Theatre on Tuesday, April 19 *** Friday April 22 welcomes Aidan Knight back to Winnipeg at the Good Will *** April 21, post-rock stalwarts Black
Feels. Over at the Knndy, catch Factor Chandelier, Kay the Aquanaut with Band, along with locals 3Peat and Nestor Wynrush *** April 23, one of our favourite local bands,
METRIC // MTS CENTRE PHOTO BY ANDREW MAZURAK
Cloud have their tour kickoff show at the Handsome Daughter with Somebody Language & The Way it
Mulligrub will release their debut album, Soft Grudge, at the Good Will joined by Animal Teeth and Can-
non Bros; also Renee Lamoureux releases Dare to be You at the West End Cultural Centre that night so go grab a copy *** 90s emorockers Collective Soul play the Burt on April 26 *** April 27, check out some nice Canadian folk-pop-rock with Said The Whale at the Park Theatre *** Dzeko & Torres are at Union Sound Hall on Thursday April 28 *** April 29, local, wonderful, dream pop duo, Basic Nature tour kickoff show with Lone Lakes and Lev Snowe at the Handsome Daughter while the Crooked Brothers blow the roof off at the Times Change(d). Van Damsel, Paisley, and Little India are at the WECC *** Call your dad! George Thorogood and the Destroyers are at the Burt on Saturday, April 30. Sebastian Owl, Micah Erenberg, and Kieran West are at the West End Cultural Centre *** Holy smokes, the Burt is just owning it. Death From Above 1979, Eagles Of Death Metal, and Turbowolf are there on Sunday, May 1 *** The Who’s Simon Townshend is at the Good Will Social Club on Saturday, May 3 *** Thursday May 5 features Jason Collett at the Good Will *** Dash & The Dots and The Cheer are at the Pyramid Cabaret on Saturday, May 7 *** May 14, slack rockers Lab Coast are in town from Calgary playing at the Handsome Daughter with Cannon Bros. and astre opening the night *** May 15, the always epic Black Mountain [turn to pg. 7 right now] take over The Pyramid Cabaret. The Winnipeg Folk Festival brings back Old Man Canyon to Winnipeg, playing at the Good Will *** May 21, Unknown Mortal Orchestra are at the WECC with Whitney *** May 22, Savages take over the WECC with Head Wound City *** May 29, The Pack AD return to Winnipeg. Have a show/shows coming up? Send listings to editor@stylusmagazine.ca
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04 Stylus Magazine Apr/May 2016
BY VICTORIA KING
ale Activity is a Winnipeg-based experimental M music label. Run by Bret Parenteau, 24, the label rep-
resents Parenteau’s own projects (B.P., Bedroom Suite, Gashkadin), as well as several artists from Winnipeg and abroad - as far away as the UK and Birmingham, AL. Founded in the summer of 2012, Male Activity began with Parenteau and his good friend, Paul Kinasevych. Kinasevych was the labelhead of Male Activity until the summer of 2015, when he moved to Calgary, AB for university. It was then that he handed everything over to Bret. The self-described ‘Evan Goldberg’ of the two, Parenteau has been quietly working away at the label for the last year, putting his own spin on things. Welcoming new artists and listeners all the time, Stylus and Parenteau sat down together one Saturday afternoon at the Good Will Social Club. Stylus: If I was fresh to this whole idea of what you’re doing, how would you describe Male Activity to me? Bret Parenteau: I would describe it as a place where you should come with an open mind if you want to get into the experimental realm of music. You can start anywhere [in the discography]. If you want to delve into experimental music, Male Activity is the place to be. Stylus: How did you get started with this project? BP: It started with two people - me and my friend Paul. We were in his basement in 2012, and he had a bunch of blank tapes. He was like, ‘Hey, why don’t we make a tape label?’ I was like ‘OK, let’s do it.’ We did our first two releases that following month, and we didn’t really think of it as a full time thing - just more of a hobby, something we would do in our spare time. As we went along, it just got more serious and eventually Paul moved to Calgary, so he gave it all to me so I’m doing it all myself now. Stylus: Did you feel apprehensive to take things over when Paul left? BP: I felt a little uneasy, like ‘Do I want to do this?’ It
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PHOTO MANIPULATION BY JANEL CHAU
basically was his label, I was just helping contribute music, and helping with stock and stuff. I felt like I had these big shoes to fill when he left, and I was debating whether or not I would do it anymore. I took a five or six month break and decided that I would do it, but I would do it my way, which is at a laid back and slow pace. I don’t want it to frustrate me at all. And it’s good, because now I am putting out all these releases. When I took over, I released three tapes in eight months. He would do 10 in three months. Stylus: Are you feeling comfortable with things right now? BP: Ya, I feel extremely comfortable. I have no desire to stop anytime soon. I’m at the best spot with the label right now. Stylus: In terms of different genres of experimental music, what would you say Male Activity focuses on? BP: Just analog noise I would say, pedal noise. A lot of the releases I’ve been doing lately have been really ambient-based too, so I think it bounces between harsh noise and ambient . . . I really can’t stand the sound of anything made on a computer. I find it not really inspiring at all. I find it kinda lazy. But that’s no offense to great digital noise artists out there, it’s just not my type of thing. So whenever I look for an artist I make sure it’s the grittiest nastiest sounding stuff made on an analog pedal. Stylus: You maintain a really open and accessible attitude about the label. Is that intentional? BP: Yes. Even though I don’t put the label out there that much [promotionally], I still want to be open and invite people to come listen - there’s nothing to be scared of. [Laughs] Stylus: I’ve noticed that Male Activity’s releases vary: some are quite abrasive and harsh, and others are mixed with more gentle sounds. It remains consistent and cohesive, but with variating tones. BP: I like it that way because it’s exciting for the
listener and they’re not just stuck listening to one thing. Abrasive and harsh is fine, but would you want to listen to that for five hours? I don’t think I would want to do that. Stylus: How does this project fit into your life? BP: I would never want to see it as a job, otherwise I wouldn’t want to do it anymore. It’s definitely my creative output. I have these ideas bouncing in my head all day, and it’s great to release them. It feels so good when you have an idea, and then you have a physical thing in front of you. Now I get to share it with other people too. Stylus: It seems like this genre of music really thrives on the internet, in a way that other genres of music don’t. Would you say that’s a fair observation? BP: Totally. If there was no internet, I would have a hard time putting out the releases that I do. The artists on my label are from all over - Hamilton ON, another is in the UK. There’s no way I can talk to these people without messaging them online. What are we going to do, send postcards back and forth to one another? [Laughs] Stylus: Because you’re existing in a smaller city like Winnipeg, have you ever had the intention of representing Winnipeg artists? BP: Oh ya. I have a compilation called Transmissions. I wanted to document the unheard experimental artists here in Winnipeg, and I just did the second volume in the summer time. On that, there’s Freshwater Girls, Korea Undok Group, several others. There are so many artists you just don’t know because we don’t perform live, so there isn’t really a [live] scene at all. That was my main goal, to document the artists here in Winnipeg . . . I’m looking to do a third one in the summertime. Listen to Male Activity online at male-activity.bandcamp.com. Stay tuned for new releases, and a new Winnipeg Transmissions compilation this summer.
Apr/May 2016 Stylus Magazine
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ANDREW MAZURAK. APR. ‘11 ISSUE - APR. ‘16 ISSUE THANKS MAZ! — All good things come to an end. Stylus Magazine has been lucky to have an incredibly talented and committed Art Director in Andrew Mazurak. In March of 2011, he enthusiastically joined the Stylus family and invigorated the look and feel of the magazine. He created the aesthetic that we know and love, took awesome live photos, and documented the scene in Winnipeg as it was happening. He coordinated media opportunities and established relationships with some amazing community members and businesses who now support and love the magazine. Andrew has been instrumental in developing local photographers, illustrators and designers. He encouraged people to take on projects, step outside of their comfort zones and have a lot of fun doing it.
PHOTO BY SHELDON BIRNIE
Andrew has been an invaluable and integral member of our team. Best wishes on your future endeavors!
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ILLUSTRATION BY MISTER JAN BY ALEX ROBERECKI
the music of Black Mountain is to creTateo describe a paradox: they are a band currently creating
music based on the music from the past that was meant to sound like it was from the future. Their songs are epic musical journeys that create psychedelic soundscapes, sometimes lasting well over the ten minute range. With all that extra time, each song has plenty of room to grow, develop and resonate in your mind. Their signature sound of atmospheric synths with a hard rhythmic edge is present throughout all four of their albums including their latest album titled, IV. IV is the band’s first full length album in almost six years, following up 2010’s Polaris Prize nominated Wilderness Heart. This time around the conflicting elements are intensified between female and male vocalists, Amber Webber and Stephen McBean. McBean’s intense voice is matched by Webber’s soothing hypnotic wale, reminding the listener of a young Grace Slick. In their time spent apart, the five constant members of the band have been quite busy with a vast array of side projects. During this time, each member has been able to grow and expand from Black Mountain, only to return to the studio with fresh ideas and more experience. The first single, “Mothers of the Sun,” was originally composed by synth master and keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt on his side project called Sinoia Caves. When brought to the band it was reworked from an atmospheric synth piece into a hard hitting nine minute rock arrangement. It includes a mesmerizing guitar lick courtesy of Stephen McBean and hypnotic vocals provided by McBean and Webber. Towards the end of February I got a chance to talk to Jeremy Schmidt about creating music, videos, his love of sounds, and scoring films. We started off by discussing Black Mountain’s writing approach. “It is a very collaborative process with one member coming to the rest of the band with some chords and words.” Schmidt conveys. “We like to follow the
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whim of the song; we do not want to force anything.” They are fond of exploring many different arrangements. Often dissecting or exploring the song, just to reassemble it into something completely different. Schmidt and the band will often brainstorm many ideas and spend quite a bit of time in the studio editing parts as they see fit. When their new album was finally out of the recording stages, Black Mountain created a video to enhance their first single, “Mothers of the Sun.” They created a video with a retro feel, lots of symbols, smoke machines and costumes. It was set on the side of a black mountain (where else), where two scraggly prisoners are trying to escape a hypnotic prison. I asked Schmidt about the process of shooting such a trippy video. “The process was decidedly untrippy. We started shooting early in the morning on a constructed studio stage, in front of a green screen which was all new to us. We submitted ourselves to the whim of the directors; let them unravel us in whatever way they saw fit. They had a pretty cool vision.” When we started talking more about synthesizers, I asked him what made him want to start to play the analog instrument. “I mainly approached playing music based on sounds I was interested in and trying to find a way to get them. In the 70s and 80s synths were really just emerging in the whole vernacular of music, film and TV, you were hearing all of these electronic sounds that just became part of the environment. I was always enamored with those sounds. As a kid you did not really know what they were, or where they came from. As you get older you discover that they are actually discrete instruments. So I set about trying to find a lot of these situates that I really liked. I would scour Pink Floyd liner notes and Tangerine Dream sleeve notes, learning the names of all these instruments that created these magical sonic universes. It was a gradual demystifying pro-
cess for me from when I was a kid.” Jeremy told me he was inspired by the synth driven movie scores of the 80s. He told me he got a chance to create an 80s themed soundtrack a few years back for the Canadian cult thriller, “Beyond the Black Rainbow.” He created a soundtrack only using the synth, that heavily references horror scores from that decade. I asked him what the experience was like, as he was now creating for a visual source rather than creating for a rock band. He explained: “I’ve always gravitated to writing something more cinematic or atmospheric. I feel like that’s my role in the band, though for this film it was a different discipline. For ‘Beyond the Black Rainbow,’ I was always working on my own, looking at someone else’s picture trying to incorporate my music and his film. The director left it pretty open. He wanted my own sensibility. He let me do my own thing. So I was able to indulge my own interest. When I saw the rough edits of the film it had a John Carpenter influence to it, and an Italian sort of yellow. Kind of the same stuff I was plugging away at over the years. Listening and playing soundtracks to movies when I was growing up . . . in Black Mountain, even if it’s in a different context I still do believe that there is room in this style of music. In rock really anything is up for grabs. You can assimilate anything in a rock context.” Like a combination of everything, I wonder? “Well not necessarily, it would be like when you combine every colour of paint, you’ll just get a sludgy brown. Which could also be good, if that’s what you want? You could call it a maximal brown.” With Black Mountain currently on a world tour, be sure to catch them when they roll into town on May 15 at the Pyramid. Also, if you were to purchase their new album IV, you must prepare yourself for yet another epic psychedelic journey through space and time.
Apr/May 2016 Stylus Magazine
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Out From the Watering Hole:
Seasons in the Abyss and the Need for Reconditioning BY ANDRE CORNEJO
It’s the day before the deadline, and
only now do I realize how pathetically far behind I am on all of this writing I was supposed to do over the last 30 days. No reviews, no editorials, and I haven’t transcribed the interview. The last month and a half have been a complete write off for me. A haze of amber ale, cheap cigarettes, and very little sleep. I’ve been using the recent separation from my former partner as an excuse to stay as diluted as possible, for as long as possible. This self serving lie has left me 2000 words behind my goal, and with no money for food or pleasure. The packages of chicken noodle soup will run out in the next day or two, and it will be time to start considering the cat’s viable sources of nourishment. You’re first, Ms. Hubert. On a far more gruelling note, I haven’t been able to contribute anything more than time to my band in far too long now. It’s making for some bleak realizations. I haven’t paid my share of the recording costs associated with our new album, which means that any potential release date is constantly being pushed further back. I haven’t been putting any of my income towards our van, and now beyond the maintenance and insurance costs that come with an ‘89 Chevy, the threat of it being taken by the animals we call collectors has become quite real. A European leg of the tour we’re currently booking has been weeded out, to shift more cash towards saving the van before the grave robbers come take her corpse away from us. Very important things that I’ve treated as insignificant to the point of impending doom. Important things that I’ve ignored while I drink every dollar I earn at the local watering hole. Something that gets even easier to do when you start to make friends with the staff and regular patrons. I’m not a socialite by nature, but I am a thirsty man, and it’s no problem to chat up everybody in the room when you have a belly full of your favourite beverages. I suppose what I’m getting at here, is that I’ve been extremely wasteful, which isn’t
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at all a quality of anybody with strong moral fibre. One can’t just sit back and hope for things to work themselves
of? What would this new approach look like? A perfect machine has no need for a self destruct sequence.
CKUWho
Listen to Made in Canada
Mondays 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on CKUW 95.9 FM or ckuw.ca
BY SELCI
Made in Canada is a show on CKUW that is just as it sounds: all Canadian music, eh! As you would expect, they play great music, and feature live performances from local bands. I caught up with host Barney Morin and asked him some questions about the show, Canadian music, and the local scene. Stylus: What inspired you to start the show? Barney Morin: The show is all Canadian and I’m a huge fan of everything Canadian. There’s so much going on in the Canadian music scene that goes unnoticed because the media is focused on other things. I take it as a personal responsibility to show what kind of tunes come from north of the border . . . Also, I’m trying to grow as both a broadcaster and producer, making this the perfect place to spread my wings. There are not many places that would let a young broadcaster create their own show from scratch. Stylus: Tell me a bit about your experience with the local scene? What do you love most about it? BM: After interviewing a few local artists on the show like Justin Lacroix, The Revival, or Kieran West & His Buffalo Band I’ve found how supportive the community can be. They all support each other and really work together to present great live shows. Going to shows and picking up on all the friendships and connections is cool to watch grow.
out. Hope is a cheap crutch for people without ambition. Hope won’t get us to Halifax, and it certainly won’t feed us or fill the gas tank. It’s high time to put an end to this terrible Fat Elvis impersonation, and get down to brass tacks. So what will this change consist
Stylus: Where is your favourite place in Canada, in general and for music? BM: Well my heart is in the southeast of Manitoba where I grew up, but I’m a big fan of Sudbury and Montreal. Through a few road trips I’ve spent time in each city and love the gorgeous nature and vibrant city so close together. As for favourite place for music it would have to the Peg. I haven’t explored many other scenes personally but I know I love what we have growing here. Stylus: Do you have one or two favourite episodes aired so far? BM: Some highlights are: rap battles with Dave Gagnon and Cory Hykawy from Mise en Scene, chatting with Corb Lund, and having the vocal power of Kevin Hogg from the Revival in studio right in front of me. Pretty cool experiences. Stylus: A beaver, a Canada goose, and a hockey player get together for a jam . . . what song do they cover? BM: Easy. They’d rock a mash-up. They start with “The Hockey Song,” then they go into “Undun” by the Guess Who, and finish with “Rockin’ in the Free World.” But they won’t ever finish a show because the beaver can’t stop eating the drumsticks. Tune in to Made in Canada every Monday from 4-5 pm. Best enjoyed lying on the chesterfield, camping, playing beer league, or with a bag of all dressed chips.
That is inherently human, and is the exhausting wave I’ve been riding for much more than it’s worth. A perfect machine is programmed and calibrated only for success. There is absolutely no room for distraction, or unnecessary burning of fuel. This will prove to be the hardest change I
need to make. My favourite barkeeps will start to wonder where I’ve gone, but the implementation of 80% abstinence is absolutely vital to the success of this new game plan. If I don’t stick to the plan, I won’t be going on tour anytime soon. I’m lucky in that I have some new tools to help me through this. Band practice is becoming more frequent, and is the perfect distraction from any disgusting thing that might make me want to take myself out for the night. Our new bassist is putting me to shame with her work ethic, and it’s proving to light a new fire under my ass to stay productive, regardless of the time of day or state of mind. I’ve also got this trusty new (old) SMITH-CORONA 2200 Typewriter that my best friend, roommate, and musical soul mate found for me on his way home from work. This is a beautiful thing, as since I’ve moved here, I haven’t had a computer to write, edit, draft, and email finished work from. It’s been a massive boost the past couple of days knowing that I can pump out a few rough copies on this typewriter and then only have to bother someone to use their computer for a couple of minutes, instead of five hours of transcribing, editing, and emailing. Anyways, I suppose this thing has run on for too long already, and I should make some kind of all encompassing point to make this passable as something of an editorial, and not just some rambling self deprecating think piece. GET TO WORK. Make plans, and make haste. Understand what needs to be done for you to accomplish the tasks at hand, and throw as much gasoline as necessary on the flames of desire. Stay as sharp as a new buck knife, and cut down everything preventing you from realizing the fruits of your labour. A wise alien residing in the Dagoba System once said, “There is no try. Only do, or do not.” When he’s not motivated and productive, you can find Andrej at your local watering hole.
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BY TOPHER DUGUAY
Stylus: You guys have been around for 25 years. What’s the most noticeable change in the Canadian music scene that you’ve noticed since you started? Chris Murphy: Well, I started playing in bands in the mid-80s, and we originally got noticed in the early 90s, but back then Canada’s international reputation musically was pretty poor. Back then, the British music press didn’t pay attention to us at all – they’d go “Well, they’re Canadian, so they can’t be good.” Flash forward to the early 2000’s, and Canada’s reputation with Arcade Fire, Feist, Broken Social Scene, etc., suddenly became pretty cool. I don’t know if we had anything to do with it, but we’ve definitely become a way cooler country to be from, musically. It seems like the internet really affected the power of record labels to influence what’s popular. Junos, used to not be cool. Stylus: I noticed in an older interview Jay Ferguson mentioned that Belle and Sebastian and Rufus Wainwright were some contemporary acts he was really into. Are there any current bands that you’re listening to a lot right now? CM: You’d have to ask Jay about current bands we like, since I mostly listen to music from the 90s.
that. I also really liked the idea behind Never Hear The End Of It, when all the songs are juxtaposed with each other it feels more like a band, but I really liked working on Commonwealth, too. Stylus: In that same older interview Jay mentioned a Japanese tour and that you had a small following there that was hopefully going to get bigger. Did that pan out? I’m asking since it seems like it’s significantly easier for Canadian bands to make it in any other country besides the States. CM: We could never get much going in England, and our success in Japan was pretty limited. We toured Japan three times – the first time the Japanese promoter didn’t have particularly high hopes for us, although we did pretty well. Then the second time they actually put some money into it and we got the same amount of people, and they were significantly less interested in us, and then the third time we played to the same amount of people and they said “Well, see you later.” We could tour there again, but when we’re as busy as we are it becomes a question of whether we actually can do it just for fun. We don’t play as a band just for the money – creating the Twice Removed box set in 2012 and
of them and wanted to set ourselves apart. I feel like you have to set it in the context of the time. I like Smeared but we were at the tail end of the shoegaze movement. An album I really liked at the time (My Bloody Valentine’s Isn’t Anything) was released in 1988 and we released Smeared in 1992, and even though it was pretty new to North America we felt like shoegaze was kind of over at that point (Although Patrick really wanted to keep playing in that style) . . . I used to be kind of embarrassed of Smeared since I felt like it was immature, but now that I look back at it, I start feeling more like it was of the time. It felt like a song-for-song copy of Isn’t Anything – although since that album’s great that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Stylus: Since you’ve started touring in support of reissues of older albums, how do you feel about your legacy as a band at this point? CM: I guess there are some things we wish we hadn’t done in terms of career moves, but musically, the only things we had to put up with were each other. We’ve had people try to tell us what to do although we’ve always managed to get out of it. When I look back at our records I don’t regret anything. I don’t think there are many bands that have managed to
Back then, the British music press didn’t pay attention to us at all - they’d go ‘Well, they’re Canadian, so they can’t be good.’ Two bands I’m really into are Supergrass and My Bloody Valentine. After we saw them play in Boston, in 1995, I started applying their drumming style (think Keith Moon) to our demos, although Andrew’s a better drummer so he really improved on that. Stylus: Never Hear the End of It and Commonwealth are both kind of unconventional albums since it seems like the idea behind NHTEOI was to get as many songs onto a CD as possible and Commonwealth finds you splitting songwriting duties equally across the four sides of a double album. Do you have anything special planned for the next album? CM: We haven’t really started planning out the next album, so the current question is “how much mileage do we get out of a new recording?” When you’re a band with a giant discography, it starts becoming a question of whether people actually want to hear the new songs or not. We’re still interested in the idea of making an even bigger body of work, although we have to put up with each other through the whole process. We don’t have a plan – we followed up Never Hear The End Of It with two short records, so we might end up doing a really short record or an EP. I’ve always wanted to do the Commonwealth concept since we’re one of the only bands that’s capable of
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reissuing One Chord To Another both cost more money than they made back, but leaving our families to go play in Japan for a few weeks is a lot more difficult. Stylus: If you could pick one song to have been written by you instead of the original artists, what would it be? CM: “This Time Tomorrow” by the Kinks. It makes me cry my eyes out every time I hear it. Stylus: Looking back, you’ve recorded about 200 songs over the past 25 years. Do you have any songs that you’re particularly proud of as a group? CM: My favourite song to play is “The Good In Everyone.” It’s a simple song, but it’s deceptively simple. I don’t really have that many that I’m embarrassed of. I generally like the hits, although they get a little tiresome to play every night. More specifically, I really like “I Am The Cancer,” off Smeared, “Coax Me,” off Twice Removed, and a song on Never Hear The End Of It called “Fading Into Obscurity.” Stylus: I don’t think I’ve seen you ever mention this in an interview, so why was there such a big musical shift between Smeared and Twice Removed? CM: We just felt that since there were so many alternative Loud Guitar Bands, we were kind of tired
keep it together as much as we have, although we don’t have too many people actively waiting for our new records. Stylus: I noticed you’re a big fan of KISS. Have you guys ever thought of dressing up like them when playing live? CM: I’m the biggest fan of KISS in the group, although we had a small set of KISS songs that we’d cover. We actually played a show back in 1992 or 1993 with our friends (Thrush Hermit, who are Joel Plaskett’s old band, and Stinkin’ Rich, who now goes by Buck 65) where we all just covered KISS songs. Critics never really liked KISS since the New York Dolls fizzled out and people felt like KISS were a cheap, dumber, copy of them. But the reason KISS were successful and the New York Dolls weren’t was because New York Dolls were drug addicts and KISS were a really tight unit – they practiced for an entire year before they played any shows! One of the things I liked about them was that they were really driven (although Gene Simmons was a pig), although while they dropped off in quality I hope we haven’t. Sloan play the Pyramid on Saturday, April 9.
Apr/May 2016 Stylus Magazine
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I’M I’M STILL STILL AA MESS MESS AND AND I’VE I’VE GOT GOT NO NO SHAME: SHAME:
AN INTERVIEW WITH WHIP BY LAURA FRIESEN
PHOTO BY MEAGHAN MURPHY
walk to WHIP’s Fort Rouge practice space on a Itypical February evening; it’s cold, but not forbid-
dingly so. Their dog greets me at the door of a little, incense-scented living room. Lining the room’s walls are the familiar Ikea record sleeve-sized shelves, full up with LPs. It feels like a cozy student dwelling. Here to chat with me today are WHIP: Steve (guitar), Ferro (bass, vocals) and Heidi (drums), a punk trio who formed in Winnipeg in November 2014. Initially taking inspiration from characteristically shambolic early Rough Trade bands like Kleenex/ LiLiPUT and The Raincoats, their sound did an about-face when they actually got in a room and started playing together. Both Heidi and Ferro were new to playing at the time and had to learn their instruments before any real artistic direction could form organically. Once their basic skills had been solidified, WHIP found themselves edging towards a west coast-inspired DIY punk sound, with touchstones like Portland’s Neo Boys. Still, what they ended up with on their first demo tape is markedly less twee and ramshackle than one might expect from a band with these influences. Faster and harder-edged but no less snarky, the quartet of songs on here wallow in bad feelings and grudges and wouldn’t dream of apologizing for them. By far my favourite gem of distilled rage is the line “Sex and death is all we’ve got” - totally laserfocused in its loathing. With knifing little couplets like “Give me an inch when you owe me a mile/
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Don’t you fucking tell me to smile,” the words have strong feminist overtones all underlining the same main theme: fuck this double standard. Even if WHIP’s songs aren’t smooth and polished by any stretch of the imagination, there’s a lot of charm on display here. They’re figuring out who they are as a band and how best to convey their message. Even if that message itself is one of introspection, critique, and constant turmoil, the delivery matters. They know who they are and they know who came before them, and they’re consciously carving themselves out a WHIP-sized space to yell alongside. When we spoke, WHIP hadn’t yet recorded their second demo, but they were excited to get started on it: “...we don’t like [the first demo] anymore, we want to get new stuff up”. This second set of songs shows even more creative progress. It’s more nuanced, more angular, more multifaceted for example, “Trapped Inside My Mind” takes the trigger that was outward-pointing on their first demo and turns it inward. It wafts paranoia and self-doubt, but its rawness keeps it from feeling indulgent. There’s also a Neo Boys cover here, a fairly straight-ahead version of “Give Me The Message.” It’s a song about directness, honesty, and transparency - as a kind of manifesto, it works perfectly for WHIP. As with many other bands, principles like directness, sensitivity and assertiveness were key parts of
WHIP’s formation. When they play live they usually share the bill with friends, playing in smaller spaces like the Handsome Daughter and 333 Garry and in keeping with that DIY punk attitude, they see the band as an extension of their community. Ferro says that “we do this because we like it.” As opposed to their day jobs, WHIP is the social, fun, letting-off-steam component of their lives. It’s all the other stuff that’s a chore. Now that their second demo is in the works, WHIP say their focus will be on playing more shows, recording more, and doing some touring, particularly in the States. They’re very conscious of that delicate work/life balance, so far gigging about once a month, but hope to increase that in order to get better and grow as a band. They’re keen on getting outside Winnipeg and connecting with adjacent, like-minded scenes and people, forming communities like the one they have here. As we begin to wrap up the interview and I try to get a stronger sense of what this band is about, Ferro tells me that her lyrics are inspired by “people I don’t like.” I was getting a sense of this, so I go with the obvious and ask whether they think of themselves as a political band. The answer to that is a resounding no. WHIP don’t have an agenda outside of their succinctly-stated guiding principle: “don’t be an asshole.” Indeed. Listen to their music at whipwhipwhip.bandcamp.com
T
he fringes of experimental metal are populated by a diverse array of bands driven by the sole desire to make heavy-as-fuck music that not only crushes your skull, but also stimulates your brain. Intronaut are no exception to this. They’ve built a career off the heaving and heady, the jazzy and jarring. With each new album Intronaut seem to maintain their sense of progress and development through eager experimentation. And the output has been a bold and boisterous battering of prog metal, post-metal, and pervasive polyrhythms, embodying the contrasts between beauty and beast. Sacha Dunable, singer and guitarist for Intronaut, has found pros and cons to working within genres of music and enmeshing styles that wouldn’t traditionally go together, but finds it has ultimately worked out in their favour. “When you don’t belong to one specific trend or anything like that, I think that you can exist for a lot longer,” says ILLUSTRATION BY GRACE MOYER Dunable. “The downside to that being that BY CHRIS BRYSON it’s much harder, or it’s just not as possible I of metal’s top-tier heavy hitters (Cynic, Between think, to ever be the band of the moment.” the Buried and Me, Kylesa, Mastodon, MeshugAlthough Intronaut have never been a band to gah, Tool, and the list continues), and the band has cater to trends, let alone stay within an established been staking their own claim amongst metal’s jugstyle, the music they’ve been creating has been the gernauts. sort that garners challenged attention, and through With the recording of their newest album, The that, more devoted fans. “When you’re playing muDirection of Last Things, Intronaut wanted to capture sic that’s not immediately gratifying and something the sound of their live show to record. With their that you really have to actively listen to, you really previous albums, Dunable says it had been chaldo have to wait for people to sit down and give it a lenging to get the sound they were looking for. In a chance rather than kind of casually throwing somehopeful attempt to get the force and impact of their thing on,” says Dunable. “Most of our fans I’ve nolive show on record, they hired renowned producer ticed are kind of in it for the long haul. When you Devin Townsend to mix the album. “It was kind of go to these cities over and over again you kind of a risky experiment,” Dunable says, but the results see the same people and they bring a couple more seem to have worked out for them. “[Townsend’s people and over the years the fan base slowly grows. mixing style] sounds loud, it sounds like a live band But I think the real Intronaut thing is all like, music playing,” says Dunable. “So that turned out to be the fans, people who like heavy music but probably also way to do it. Not an accident, but it was an experilisten to a lot of other stuff too.” ment that could have failed, and luckily we sort of Intronaut has toured with and opened for some hypothesized correctly that it would come out the
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way it did.” The Direction of Last Things was recorded essentially live over the course of four days, a process that’s not the most practical for recording music, but fared well for the sound and effect that Intronaut was going for. With recording the album over four days, Dunable says, “we wanted to track it in a really nice studio so that we could get good drum sounds, and all the isolating, and all that. We have a finite budget to record records, so we kind of did what we could and we decided that four days was what we could afford to do for tracking. The idea was we’ll just rehearse like crazy before we go in so that we’re just tight.” Despite finding that they could have probably used another day or two, Dunable says that the process of tracking live in such a short duration of time was probably the best way to go for the results they were hoping to get. “Next time if we do that we’ll probably do a couple more days. But the idea is you’re capturing sort of the magic of a band playing stuff live. There’s energy, it’s hard to even articulate what exactly it is, but there’s energy in a live recording that there isn’t when you have everybody recording everything separately to a click track and trying to get everything perfect”, he says. But it’s the spontaneity and slight imperfections that Dunable has found that make The Direction of Last Things human and tangible, bringing the immediacy and weight of their live music to record, giving force to their sound, and creating a space where listeners can truly immerse themselves in all that Intronaut has set out to be. “You can be a tight band, play everything tight, know the songs really well, all the stops are on and stuff,” says Dunable, “but it’s the sort of in between, the stuff you don’t really think about, the slight imperfections that make it feel real.” Listen to Intronaut online at intronautofficial.com.
Apr/May 2016 Stylus Magazine
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PRAIRIE PUNK PERSPECTIVE BY Kaitlyn Emslie Farrell
“P “ unks not dead” is about as cliché
of a line as you can think of when discussing the genre. And although it may not be dead, it certainly appears to be breathing through a tube from time to time. The genre’s popularity never seems to grow substantially, aside from subgenre fads more so tuned to pop influences. So where does that leave us today? Good question. There’s no shortage of bands here in Winnipeg, that’s not our concern. Punks are true to their word and will always offer you cheap tickets (five to ten bucks is totally affordable), cheap drinks (in punk venues), and musicians giving you every ounce of energy they can muster up for the evening. So what’s the problem? Cheap drinks and cheap door prices require more people to attend in order to profitably support the bar and bands. In a saturated market, in a city with poor weather, this is a difficult situation to overcome. Depressing statements aside, we’re not done! The community is strong. There are many people who give enough of a shit to keep the life support going and hopefully make a full recovery. With the obvious closure of
our most beloved punk venues, the scene really took a hit when it came to booking shows. Several venues opened their doors to the bands, but the atmosphere isn’t always as expected. I’m not knocking venues here, I’m simply stating that the vibe of a bar with consistent punk shows gives its patrons an experience that can’t be duplicated. Punk Friday’s at the King’s Hotel at 114 Higgins Avenue is working to fill that void. Crazy Maiden Productions has been working with the bar and the bands to provide punk consistently to Winnipeggers. The promoter is an old punk who cares, and the King’s Hotel gives him free range to create this series. With the launch in February, the bar has seen interest from bands and music lovers alike, but it’s been a long process and will continue to be for some time. The idea of Punk Friday’s is that there will always be a location where you can show up and know what to expect. You won’t need tickets, planning, or even necessarily an idea of who the bands are. They’re all going to cater to your needs and they will always be there. I spoke to Brad Blahnik of local self-proclaimed “punk/rock/metal/
beer and vodka band” Community Riffs. Community Riffs have played a couple of the Fridays over at King’s. “Punk Friday’s is the EKG trying to kickstart Winnipeg’s punk rock scene into gear,” says Blahnik. “I think there is a lot of new potential talent to be discovered and Punk Friday’s is helping shine light on the kind of exposure these bands need.” He adds that it also helped to solidify the community between bands which of course has helped musicians in the way of networking. Revisiting what I said earlier about aesthetic, it really is important to us punks. Blahnik emphasizes this. “I love how the King’s has good sound, good people, cheaper drinks, the venue promotes shows, and when people come out on Friday’s they go there for punk rock. People don’t leave when the occasional drummer pisses themselves. It’s a goddamn punk hole! The only thing that needs some work is the lack of band stickers on the toilets and urinals.” The venue’s location is its biggest weakness. King’s is located in an area that doesn’t have a lot of foot traffic or a lot of late night businesses. Its location isn’t inconvenient (still walking
distance from downtown) but it’s in an unappealing neighborhood. People need to put this stigma aside - I have attended several of the Punk Friday’s and I can personally say that there is no fear or danger with this location. The only way to truly believe me is to come down and give it a try yourself. Support your locals bands and venues, spend less money on the same amount of booze, and have a wicked time. There’s nothing like a venue that you can just show up at on any given Friday and have a good time. If there are enough regulars, we could really see something excellent here. Blahnik wants to close this conversation with an analogy everyone can understand. “I like turtles and that’s a good thing. But we all like punk rock, and that’s an even better thing. So if you compare punk rock to turtles… there’s a real future in this for Winnipeg. We just need to come out of our shells and drink more booze and play shows. Maybe we will see the King’s Hotel be the catalyst that kick starts the scene into a thriving new era.”
“authentic” 70s soul groups. Without the context that Colemine Records are not a record label that primarily reissues old and obscure material (like Light In The Attic), one would assume that all the music here was recorded by contemporaries of The Meters, The Winstons, or The Gap Band. The best modern comparison to the bands heard here would either be The Budos Band or Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings in that they’re extremely talented musicians working in
a genre that is essentially “dead” due to a lack of connection to popular genres of music today, which is unfortunate, as the musicians here are extremely talented in both technical skill and songwriting chops. If you’re into soul, R&B, or crate-digging hip hop, you should check this album out. It’s not even a Seventies Sound Updated For A Current Audience, it’s performing completely within the 1970s idiom. (Colemine Records, coleminerecords. blogspot.ca/) Topher Duguay
Punk Friday’s at the King’s Hotel promises $5 cover, cheap drinks, and local punk bands every Friday night.
Label Makers VARIOUS ARTISTS Colemine Singles Colemine Records is a record label whose roster essentially consists of bands that sound like the breaks heard on 1970s records that crate diggers eventually find and reuse for hip hop beats, except they’re being recorded in the present. However, Colemine Records are a fairly obscure label (only 5000 likes – go and change that!) and as a result the bands they attract tend to be as obscure as
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Under the Needle tions racing through time, all with a down tempo. Low continue to work their slow magic just fine. (Sub Pop, chairkickers.com) Chris Bryson Recommended if you like The Wonderful & Frightening World of Patrick Michalishyn, Friday from Midnight – 6 am on CKUW 95.9 FM.
LOW Ones and Sixes Low holds cult status in the indie music world. I hadn’t heard much by the band before hearing their most recent LP, Ones and Sixes, but I had seen their name around enough to think that they might be worth checking out, despite one of the band’s associated genre monikers being . . . ‘slowcore’. The album opens up with “Gentle;” a slow, haunting buzz, a subtle industrial pulse, and singer/guitarist Alan Sparhawk’s high falsetto echoing in open outer space, slowly creeping out from further and further in the darkness, singing “it doesn’t have to end this way,” pleading “but this is where we stay.” Then, a bass bellow booms in, and drummer/vocalist Mimi Parker’s voice, angelic in character, steadily soars before slowly fading out, leading out on a stridently strung chord, back into space from where the song began. Or there’s “No End” with its swooning melody, iridescent and sweetly psychedelic. The penultimate track “Landslide,” is an almost ten minute journey that opens with the haunted heart of stark acoustic strums that crash into scorched earth chords, and Sparhawk’s gloom and loom croon before the band’s distinctive cavernous sound opens up to wide-eyed sparkling grace, harmonized glory arising out of sparse, searing space. Every song on this album holds its own unique elegance, with reverbladen, expansive, spacious and lush tones. Low seem to have dropped the ‘slowcore’ sonics for more alternative arrangements and dream pop aesthetics, but this isn’t the summer cruise dream pop of Wild Nothing, the euphoric immersion of Beach House, or the healing powers of The Antlers. It’s dream pop for the daydreamers, for those musing life, staring at the stars in constant reprise. Ones and Sixes pulls you into their sound with a moody, enigmatic grace, sending emo-
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YUCK Stranger Things When Yuck burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut, there was hardly a review that didn’t hail the band as the reincarnation of Pavement. Yuck marked one of the most solid and assured entrances into the indie rock world in years. 2013’s Glow and Behold signalled a shift to a more ambient sound, and it was also generally well received. But critics have been quick to pan Yuck’s latest album, viewing it as a step back. This type of view doesn’t give the band enough credit. Looking at an album as a segment in a collection instead of a unique piece of art restricts the reach of the music. Stranger Things is obviously different than the first two albums in Yuck’s discography. It takes more risks, and shows that the band is finding their strengths, building ably on the sound of Glow and Behold without disregarding the music that first got the band recognition as the rebirth of the 90s. Since 2011, Yuck has been through a lot. Original lead singer Daniel Blumberg left and Max Bloom, the lead guitarist, took over vocal duties. This album compensates for that by having longer guitar interludes, notably on “I’m OK.” The track spends about a minute and a half building to a cathartic finish with light guitar plucking. It’s in these moments when Yuck shines: the loudness of their quiet followed by the overwhelming power of their noise. “Yr Face” also fills its runtime with similar build-up. While Yuck is
still embodied by 90s spirit, it’s about time that they stop being defined by critics by the band’s early influences. At certain points, Yuck sounds less like Pavement than does their contemporaries like DIIV or Girls. Listen to “As I Walk Away,” the seventh track on Stranger Things and try to tell me it doesn’t sound like Alvvays’ standout track “Party Police.” The point is, though Yuck sounds somewhat different now than they did in 2011, they still sound great. And after all, is sameness and uniformity really a trait that any band should strive for? Consider Stranger Things for what it is: an album by a very good band trying to make music that feels different. If they wanted to sound the same as they did five years ago, or even three years ago, Yuck would have called their latest “Normal Things.” Embrace the strangeness. (Mamé Records, yuck.bandcamp.com) Ben Waldman
SUUNS Hold/Still Following their successful 2012 Polaris Prize-nominated album Images Du Futur, Montreal-based rock band Suuns take a deep step in another direction with their latest album Hold/Still. Recorded in Dallas with Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (St Vincent, The War On Drugs, Sleater-Kinney), their third album walks on grounds previously unknown to the band. They play in a new style of desert blues that incorporates electronica and drone. There is a colour wheel of emotions used throughout these songs, at times leading to the brink of insanity, without losing focus. This album has a similar sound to west coast bands such as Metz and FIDLAR with the constant appearance of the mellow, dreamy major seventh chords mixed with hard, loud, and extremely distorted guitar riffs. Where they expand
from Metz is with the addition of synth driven electronica that shows its dominance in tracks such as “Careful” and “Paralyser.” Hold/Still also contains the experimental behavior of artists such as Jerusalem in my Heart, where many instruments and samples are looped to create a hypnotic trance. This may be due to the fact that Suuns and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh of JIMH teamed up last year to release a collaboration album. (Secret City, secretcityrecords.com) Alex Roberecki
REVERSING FALLS Reversing Falls 2 Reversing Falls are a very busy band when doing things that aren’t playing in Reversing Falls. Their frontman is the tour manager for Majical Cloudz and a producer, and the other two members play in Montreal bands Colourwheel and Sidemart Theatre. This may simultaneously explain why this album experienced a three-year delay between recording and release and why it’s an extremely briskly paced album with nine songs in 22 minutes (!). Reversing Falls 2 is a significantly more guitar-y affair than their debut – they’ve rid themselves of their drum machine and synthesizers and have caked everything in a thick haze of distortion. Absolutely no time is wasted, the shortest song is under 90 seconds long and no song is longer than three minutes. This works surprisingly well, even if the shortest songs are often the slowest. Reversing Falls’ sound is essentially that of a Montreal-er Japandroids. Where Japandroids are wild and fun (being from Funcouver), Reversing Falls are significantly more sedate (except for opener “This Is Why,” which is also the best song on the album). All in all, a good second album. (Literal Records, reversingfalls.bandcamp.com/) Topher Duguay
Apr/May 2016 Stylus Magazine
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Local Spotlight Recommended if you like Dept. 13, Mondays from 10 am - Noon on CKUW 95.9 FM
ANIMAL TEETH Happy To See You Okay, this is a great record. Let’s just start with that. Top drawer material. It feels like slipping into a dreamworld. As a starting point of reference think The Cure, Radiohead, etc. - basically shoegaze but also indie rock. So what makes it unique? It sounds like what I imagine a sensory deprivation tank would feel like. It’s lethargic, it makes everything move in slow-mo, and it fills your mind up with clouds. So painfully and endearingly relatable, like your tall lanky friend with messy hair and a slouch. They’re quiet, smart, and full of sad anecdotes about trying and failing to have the love of their life notice them. The songs have a wonderfully soothing pendulum sway of a rhythm, with just the right amount of melodic vamping. Intimate lyrics sung to odd lullabies with delay on the guitar and soft tones all around . . . and you can still tap your toes. While every song is great, the song “Twenty-Two” stands out a little bit. I think mainly because of its chorus that is so fine you’d think it fell off of Weezer’s legendary Pinkerton album and somehow no one noticed. It seems to have a clarity of purpose from the beginning. The sound and feeling of the album is consistent and together with the artwork, it works as a whole piece of art, as a package. So imagine now you’re at a slightly awkward, mellow gathering with people who mostly don’t know each other very well. You sneak over to the stereo and put this on. You feel sort of hipster and even make a joke about how it’s a local band called Animal Teeth, they probably haven’t heard of them. People slowly start to feel like opening up with each other and by the end of the night everyone is close friends. They’ve shared personal stories and lots of laughs. You did it, you created your own Breakfast Club. All you needed was this band all along. (Slow Shine Records,animalteeth.bandcamp.com) Joel Klaverkamp
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LEV SNOWE Drifting Off “I don’t mind . . . should I mind?” Lev Snowe muses on “Daydream I,” the second track on his EP, Drifting Off. In this instance, the tug-of-war between caring and not caring seems to have a clear victor, but through his music Snowe makes apathy part of a joyful state of mind. With shimmery guitar and a low bass line reminiscent of Mac DeMarco’s Salad Days, Drifting Off is initially a warm and familiar soundscape. But just like a wandering mind, Snowe isn’t too focused on staying in one place, occasionally bringing in some swanky and decadent synths to dizzy things up. While the rest of the music pulls you in, these interludes create a more
expansive sense of space, as if a particularly demanding thought has surfaced through the tranquility. Snowe’s voice carries a similar psychedelic ease to that of John Lennon, if the latter had been born Canadian and drank tea with a lot of honey. Overall, Drifting Off exists in a perfect state of inbetween, Snowe himself describing it as “music for those endless summer days and toasty winter nights.” It’s the
perfect soundtrack for anyone who wants to carve out a bit of refuge in an overly demanding week, or any worrier who wants to cultivate an air of blissful nonchalance. (Independent, soundcloud.com/levsnowe) Rachel Narvey Recommended if you like Static on the Prairies, Mondays from Noon - 1 pm on CKUW 95.9 FM.
LEV SNOWE BY STEVE LOUIE
95.9 FM CKUW CAMPUS/COMMUNITY RADIO TOP 30 ALBUMS (Jan 17, 2015 – Mar 21, 2016) !=LOCAL CONTENT * =CANADIAN CONTENT re=RE-ENTRY TO CHART
ARTIST
# Artist 1 ! Scott Nolan 2 ! The Unbelivable Bargains 3 Vieux Farka Toure & Julia Easterlin 4 * Basia Bulat 5 * The Radiation Flowers 6 * Kacey & Clayton 7 ! Roger Roger 8 Savages 9 ! Smoky Tiger 10 ! Leaf Rapids 11 ! The Famous Sandhogs 12 * Le Vent Du Nord 13 ! Trampoline 14 ! Autumn Still 15 * Metric 16 ! William Prince 17 New Order 18 * Junior Boys 19 ! Federal Lights 20 ! Chic Gamine 21 ! Red Moon Road 22 Daughter 23 Beat Happening 24 * Matt Andersen 25 Charles Bradley 26 ! Cannon Bros 27 * Shuyler Jansen 28 ! Various Artists 29 ! Living Hour 30 * Benoit Pioulard
RECORDING
Album Silverhill Exuberance Abounds Touristes Good Advice The Radiation Flowers Strange Country Fairweather Adore Life Rainbow Tiger Lucky Stars Kahnawpawamakan Tetu
LABEL
Label Transistor 66 Transistor 66 Six Degrees Secret City Sundowning Sound Big White Cloud Self-Released Matador Self Released Black Hen Self-Released Borealis Sometimes A Song Is Just A Cigar Self-Released When It Was Self-Released Pagans In Vegas MMI/Universal Earthly Days Self-Released Music Complete Mute Big Black Coat City Slang Coeur De Lion Aporia Light A Match Self-Released Sorrows And Glories Self-Released Not To Disappear Glassnote Look Around Domino Honest Man True North Changes Daptone Dream City Disintegration The Long Shadow Big White Cloud Love, Lake Winnipeg: A Tribute... Lake Winnipeg Foundation Living Hour Lefse Noyaux Morr