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April / May 2019 Stylus Magazine
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2 Stylus Magazine April / May 2019
APR/MAY 30 NO. 2 2019VOL
On the Cover
Production Team
ALISON BURDNEY is a Queer multidisciplinary artist working and living on Treaty 1 territory. She builds worlds out of discarded digital objects the same way her depression builds worlds out of dirty laundry, audio cables, and letters to her inner child.
Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gil Carroll Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . Jen Doerksen
See more of her work on Instagram at @spacecasevoidface and @mirrrorrrframe.
Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Campbell Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alison Burdney Advertising Contact . . . . . . . . . Rob Schmidt manager@ckuw.ca Print by JRS Print Services . . . 204-232-3558
Contributors Chris Bryson Chantelle Partyka Ryan Haughey Ryan Sorensen Nigel Webber Daniel Kussy Kaelen Bell Ophelie Petit Jesse Popeski Arthur Banach Grace Hrabi Christina Hajjar Margaret Banka Julian Kirchmann Jase Falk Chris P Bakon Derek Loewen Joey De Castro Jesse Meush Graham Wiebe Megumi Kimata 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:
Table of Contents Blah, Blah, Blah Events Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Space Jam: Jacob Brodovsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CKUWho: Emma’s Echo Chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winnipeg State of Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Live Show Reviews: Heinrich’s Maneuver, Moon Vs Sun, + more . . . . . . Local Spotlight: Album reviews - Man Candy, Lanikai, Merin, + more . . . . Under the Needle: More album reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CKUW Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Features
Stylus Magazine Bulman Student Centre, University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9 Phone: 204-786-9785, Fax: 204-783-7080 Writing submissions: editor@stylusmagazine.ca Graphics submissions: design@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.
Charlie Baby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Apollo Suns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . McKinley Dixon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lucky 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flat Land Soul Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Festival Du Voyageur: Photo Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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April / May 2019 Stylus Magazine
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BLAHBLAHBLAH We have finally escaped our winter blues and now it is time to enjoy all the wonderful art Winnipeg has to offer***Breathe it all in with Ben Caplan & The Casual Smokers at the West End Cultural Centre on April 6 or head over to the Man Candy Album Release show with Man Candy, MOSA and Juniper Bush at the Good Will***on April 9th check out Manitoba Music’s Midwest Music Exchange with Silence Kit, Lady Lark and Zed Kenzo***Go your own way with Fleetwood Mac on April 11 at the Bell MTS Centre***Forth Fridays on April 12 with three hype acts Anthony OKS, Chairman Au, and Louie Lovebird or over at the Park Theatre David Bowie W/ Cheap Trick Tribute Night featuring The Bloody Historians and The Sorels***April 13 at the Pyramid check out the Bullrider Album Release with BULLRIDER, Ex Ømerta, Amadians and Liabilities or Blessed, Softswitch and Tunic at the Handsome Daughter***April 16 at the Good Will some heavy hitters from Ontario take the stage and will rock your world, Dilly Dally and Chastity***April 17 at the Burton Cummings Theatre is the epic Alice in Chains or over at the Good Will is FINN, À La Mode, and Ponteix***April 18 at the Good Will is a fantastic local bill with Ivory Waves, Warming (Album Release), and Baseball Hero***4/20 is Manitoba Metalfest 2019 at the Park Theatre with Power Trip, KEN mode, Flash Out, withdrawal, Faker Scum and Mean Time or at Times Changed check out Juvel or over at the Cavern you can see Forest Pilots, Northern Lights Drive or over at Forth get lost with Juniper Kush, Danger Budz and Dank Cloud***Metric and July Talk take over the Bell MTS on April 23 or over at the Garrick is the Yes We Mystic Album Release with Slow Spirit***April 27 at the Cavern we have a stacked bill of Mulligrub, housepanther, and The shiverettes***Leaf Rapids album release show at the WECC on May 2***May 4 at the Good Will all the way from Denmark, Iceage
with Nadah El Shazly and Joanne Pollock***Juno winners Dizzy are at the Good Will on May 11***Head to X-Cues on Thursday May 16 for their regular open jam night***Watch five bands perform in contest for a slot at Rockin’ the Fields Minnesota at the Park Theatre on May 17***See Ales-
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sia Cara perform at the Burton Cummings Theatre on May 20, or catch industrial aggrorock Combichrist at the Pyramid Cabaret***Catch the legendary Cher at the Bell MTS Place on May 21***Get heavy with Northern Royals, Bullrider, Househand Shake and Bo Legged on May
23 at the Park Theatre***See the Small Glories at the WECC on May 24***See fiddle champions Jane Cory & Kyle Burghout tear it up at the Park Theatre on May 26***
April / May 2019 Stylus Magazine
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Charlie Baby 04 Stylus Magazine April / May 2019
JASE FALK Stylus: What do you find important about expressing vulnerability through music? Charlie: Every so often there will be a random burst of something and I’ll just feel so many things. I’m often very closed off with people. I like being close with people, but I’m very shielded and uncomfortable talking about my myself and feelings, but I find when I just play them, or find music to put to something that I’m feeling it’s a lot easier to share that. Even if you’re not sitting down with someone and opening up and directly being vulnerable, you can share music and know that maybe people are getting something out of it. Every so often I’ll just feel so much of something and I won’t be able to do anything but write like seven songs and then not be able to write for months. There will be buildup of feeling and I’ll write everything in a short burst of time which is nice for that month where I feel super motivated, but then for the rest of the time I feel like a fraud and like I don’t know what I’m doing. Then I question myself and think if I should even be doing this if I’m not fully committed 100% of the time. But I feel like you don’t have to be doing something every day for it to be meaningful to you. S: Do you find it’s hard to be recognized for your music when doing a lot of it DIY? C: I feel like no one takes me seriously. I feel like I don’t separate myself from music and making music. It all blends into one and doesn’t feel like a ‘serious’ thing, it just feels like me. Like, I’m not actually a musician and don’t have a band, I just play music sometimes which I guess is nice, but I don’t know how people create a social media account for their band and have all this stuff specific to their music and create a space for that. I created an Instagram page for my music, but then within 2 seconds I was like “Ahhh, emotions and everything” I don’t know how people can keep themselves apart from what they put out into the world and on social media.
PHOTO: OPHELIE PETIT Seeing so many people with their Instagram accounts and having a certain brand connected with their music I just think “ah! how do you just decide on one thing and are able to stay with that” because I feel like I change so much and everything I do changes so much and some days I want to move and live in a forest for the rest of my life and not talk to anyone, and then the next day I want to be a serious musician and the next day it changes again and I can’t stay in one state of mind and that leaks into what I do online so I feel like I seem not very stable and secure in what I do now. S: Where do you see the future of your music going? C: Well, a week ago I wanted to go to BC and become a journalist and now I want to be a nurse. It’s like every two seconds I invest myself fully in something and then drop everything else so I don’t really know what is going to happen because I am such a Gemini, constantly being impulsive. I always go back to music and it is something I really want to do. I really, really like Frankie Cosmos and Greta Kline. Just knowing that Frankie wrote all this stuff and has a Bandcamp full of one minute recordings of something on a phone and its super DIY and all in a bedroom and some songs are on a bus, or just when she got home from wherever and just sang and put it on bandcamp—I really like that. Existing is so bizarre and it’s weird to think that everything is going to disappear and all people will have is what you left behind and once you’re not a living person anymore, there will just be your artifacts or whatever you left behind that remains and it feels less terrifying if there’s still a part of me that exists in the world after I’m dead. I don’t know. I find that comforting.
APOLLO SUNS CHRIS BRYSON
PHOTO: CHRIS P BAKON
Apollo Suns have been working at taking jazzy psychedelic funk to new heights. The Winnipeg tenpiece that picked up the 2018 BreakOut West Instrumental Artist of the Year award, has some major plans on the horizon.
A Different Sun, to five on Dawn Offerings. The band recorded the EP live off the floor with minimal overdubs and all ten players in the same room, which Durocher says lent itself really well to their kind of music.
“This is bigger now,” says Ed Durocher, Apollo Suns bandleader when discussing what’s going on with the band, which includes two summer tours across Canada, prospects of international showcases and festivals, and a recent signing with a US booking agent. The band’s hype has been growing, and a part of it is no doubt due to their energetic live shows where you can find band members and show-goers equally sweaty and smiling.
“We were talking about two roads. We were like we either go the Steely Dan road, where you look at every detail so finely,” says Durocher. “Or you go the Neil Young Tonight’s the Night road, where you just set up some mics, get everyone in the same room, and then what it is, is what it is.”
The band will be releasing an EP called Dawn Offerings in late April this year, and plans to put out a full-length in 2020. For the EP, Apollo Suns worked with musician and producer Keith Price, who recently moved to New Zealand. The band was able to finish up production through Skype. For the new release, Apollo Suns also upped the horn section from two on their debut, Each Day
As much as Durocher says he loves Steely Dan, the band went down the Neil Young road. “We definitely had to do some edits and tweaks, but yeah it was a pretty great experience,” says Durocher. “I was really happy with how everyone performed and played and the attitude. It was a really nice experience in the studio, everyone was very positive and supportive.” Over the past two years Apollo Suns’ touring schedule has been getting increasingly heavier, which has enabled the band to sharpen and improve their
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skills. “The band gets better, we get tighter,” says Durocher. “You learn how to listen and really react and have a conversation with the people that you’re playing with.” With Apollo Suns’ debut, Each Day A Different Sun, Durocher says 80% of the material was written by him. But with the band’s new material, the creative process has become more open and collaborative, although Durocher still has the final say. “It’s free reign, we try every idea out,” says Durocher. “Through this new process we were coming up with things, it’s like, well I never would have thought of this—this is so cool. It became so much more collaborative. It sounds more confident, but more precise.” Apollo Suns will be hosting two back-to-back EP release shows at The Handsome Daughter with support from Jérémie & The Delicious Hounds and Carter & the Capitals on Friday, April 26, and Lounge FM on Saturday, April 27.
April / May 2019 Stylus Magazine
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Space Jam:
WORDS & PHOTOS: MARGARET BANKA
Jacob Brodovsky
Stylus caught up with Jacob Brodovsky, of recently disbanded local act Kakagi (don’t worry, it was a friendly disbanding) in his Wolseley home to chat about the pros and cons of the solo jam space and about his new creative chapter. Catch his first solo EP release show on May 5th, at the Tallest Poppy!
and head for Wolseley to meet Jacob at his creative space, which doubles as the home he shares with partner, Lexie. In this particular season I am faced with the weighty decision of swimming through the pools of melting spring sidewalks, or walking streetlevel next to the hoards of work-shirking drivers on an early Friday afternoon. Happyland, new beginnings, and the threat of Literally in the middle of recording his EP, Jacob basement flooding; what might they all have in calls to offer me a ride on his way from the studio. common? Jacob Brodovsky’s jam space, duh. It is a He scoops up both me and my eternal gratitude a sunny spring day in March when I leave downtown short time later and we pull up to a lovely, south-facing bungalow built in the 1920’s. The grounds of the house were once part of the exquisitely named The favourite: “This one guitar, Luke Happyland Amusement Park, Jacob later tells 1 Roger - of Beardsell Guitars - built. It me. “I don’t have a lot of cool trinkets and stuff,” never goes out of tune.” he begins, but truly he has no need for it: natural lighting floods the main floor of the home, which he moved into circa October 2018. “We weren’t looking that hard for a house, but the more that I was working at home, it was tough sometimes if I’d have people over to rehearse or write, because Lex would have to be stuck in the bedroom. In the basement [here] I’m really contained to that one corner, and upstairs Lexie can hang out on the couch and I can still be at this table, writing.” I ask Jacob about any concerns he might have with becoming a homeowner, like, for
instance, the infamous plague of basement floods during a Winnipeg spring - all those instruments, for God’s sake! He smirks and admits that this will be their first spring in the house, which I only hope does little to tempt the Fates. The basement is prepared, at least, for acoustic tolerance, with installed sound panels and soundproof ceilings - with help from Lexie, who graciously accommodates Jacob’s musical endeavours. Around the time they moved in, folk rock ensemble Kakagi was wrapping up. “For our last couple of shows we practiced here. This was the consolation drum kit that I got when my brother quit the band,” Jacob jokes as he points to the assorted equipment in the basement jam space. The end of Kakagi has allowed Jacob, a vocalist, lyricist, and guitarist who also dabbles in drums, bass, and, most recently, keys, to shift focus to his solo act. It also marks his first time writing without the context of a group, having played in a stream of bands since he was eleven years old. Missing the accountability that comes attached to groupwork might be a downside to the solo act, but Jacob makes lemonade of it: “It’s a lot easier to get lost, but it’s also nice because I spend more time trying things out differently, and switching songs up - I’ve always been a control freak”. Though the basement is his instrumental centre, the sunny main floor appeals more to his writing Muses, so we head upstairs: “I’ve been spending some time downstairs to demo, but I’m mostly trying to write at the moment, which I need daylight for.” Challenges also come in the form of self-motivation: “Creativity comes in waves,” he explains, “it’s hard to force but at the same time that’s how you get better”. His remedy? “I’m in this song club; there’s this drop box and a bunch of us have to upload a new song every week, so it keeps you fresh. You write better stuff when you’re trying to impress other people,” he says with a laugh. Jacob offers one last pro to being solo: “It’s nice to be able to respond to emails quickly, and also not rely on other people.” Yes, we at Stylus mightily agree!
4 Hanging on to those prepubescent Muses: “These are all of my song books since I was twelve - I found them when we were unpacking. They were pretty bad.”
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It’s the spirit that counts: “I love Neil Young, but it’s a really shitty photo and a shitty frame.” The (dry!) jam space featuring ethereal light beam.
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“I got this at a record store in New Orleans. It’s funny because it’s for a Nixon benefit concert, and also the wrong Ike.”
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Jacob (in Happyland.)
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MCKINLEY D I X O N
JESSE MEUSH
ILLUSTRATION: ARTHUR BANACH
Stylus: You are clearly a smart guy, that’s evident in your music. It’s also obvious that you’re passionate about important social issues. When did you decide you wanted to rap? Was there any particular time, event, or person that especially influenced your decision to choose to make rap music? McKinley Dixon : So I started rapping I think in my second year of high school and then ever since 2010-2011, I kinda had the idea of incorporating a lot instrumentation into it and a lot of political messages but I didn’t have the vocabulary. It wasn’t until I branched out and moved to different places, including where I’m at now in Richmond, that I found communities and more stories and intersectional dialogue and identities than what I was used to. That’s kinda influenced where I’m at now with my music. S: I had not heard a style of rap that is quite as distinct as yours. Your Facebook page has your music genre listed as; “I want to make music that Gerald from “Hey Arnold” would listen to. I enjoyed that thoroughly. Genres are labels that can be useful for short-hand descriptions of music but they are also limiting. How do you describe your style of music to those who’ve not heard it?
sic is not yet that ‘Bandcamp’ friendly at this point yet, you know what I mean? So that’s something I can look at from other genres. Rap music doesn’t let you do cassettes or vinyl unless you have a certain amount of money or talent or power behind it, and that’s something that comes from other genres nowadays. Because it’s really kind of buried since that middle ground has been very dominated by the monolithic rock music. Rap music has learned a lot from other genres… Rap as a genre is very within itself and very broad you know, it has a lot of sub genres that it takes in, but it doesn’t have of help, uh, rather it doesn’t have mobility. S: No musician is without their influencers, subconscious or not. Are there any artists who you would say has influenced your music content or style? MD: I would say Blu, the rapper, the artist from California. Black Milk, the artist from Detroit. Um, Kendrick, just because he is who he is.
S: So you kinda learned after making your first album how important it is to tell this story (The Importance of Self Belief).
S: Who did you listen to growing up, and what are some of the artists you most enjoy right now? Not that necessarily influence your music but that you just enjoy.
MD: Yeah, exactly,
MD: Yeah I guess not so much angry but, like, upset. S: Mhm, I think I understand what you mean, I want to say passionate, but that wouldn’t quite describe it either.
S: Yeah I agree, for me it was Billy Talent when I was a young teenager discovering those feelings.
MD: Yeah no that is! That would be an element of it as well, you know.
MD: Haha yeah exactly!
S: There’s definitely an element of Jazz. But you say angry too?
S: Developing a unique sound is challenging, and on top of that, you compose a group of jazz musicians? MD: H’yeah! Stylus: As well, you write highly rhetorical, topical and eloquent raps. How did you learn to create music without the high end equipment that rap producers use almost exclusively in this day and age? MD: Um I think I just listen to a lot of genres that are outside of the ‘rap room’ which really influences how I begin with it. While rap is the greatest genre, it def has its weaknesses. Like for example, black mu-
S: The Importance of Self Belief seems to continue the narratives from the previous record and expands wider into such challenging themes of sexual identity with stories of trans and femme people. What inspired you to take on these challenging and important themes? MD: Yeah, so Who Taught You To Hate Yourself? actually came out in 2016 and went up on the internet in 2018 and then at the point I had just learned that blackness is really not homogenous. The first was revolving around a boy, exploring all of these themes, evolved in a community.
MD: I like a lot of My Chemical Romance. I thought Gerald made a really cool world that was built off of a common feeling that everyone felt that was not only sadness but even a little deeper kind of depression. And that’s something that, as a term, I didn’t really have a deep understanding of when I was younger though there were things I know that I felt and that’s why I think a lot of people identify with that. Guilty pleasure or not.
MD: Um I would probably say ‘in your face’ or ‘angry’. It’s hard to categorize.
exist within the black community, and even though black men are more dominantly seen in hip hop, without these identities they wouldn’t exist in hip hop even.
S: Your album Who Taught You To Hate Yourself? whole-heartedly takes on challenging sociopolitical themes like discrimination, gang life, and feminist issues, to name a few. Was your upbringing a part of why you feel so passionate about these issues? MD: Yeah I mean being raised by my mother and not having any siblings put a lot of it into perspective. Being around certain elements of home life lead me to having a knowledge of other things that include police discrimination or gang life, things like that. But it really came from when I came here and met this community (Richmond) that I learned more about gender and sexuality issues and how blackness is not homogenous. And how black queer people and black trans people, black women they all
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S: What influenced your motivation to address challenging and important subjects that many are unwilling to, due to your highly political themes in a country as polarized as the USA? MD: I don’t really know anything else, you know. I’m trying to be more versatile but, truly, I don’t know anything else. S: Have you experienced any hate or harsh criticism from anyone? MD: Many things that include; ‘it’s not really made for a white audience” and that’s the only criticism that kinda comes and I mean, I guess it’s valid on some level. S: Can you give us insight to your creative process? MD: It really just kinda starts off with a chorus idea whether it be repeating the same lyrics over and over again with a quick track to having something in my journal I’ve had for a long time that I’ve really enjoyed re-reading. And then from there I just record it and see what I can make and once I add drums it kinda takes off from there. S: Are there any projects on the horizon? MD: Yeah, the third album in the trilogy is coming in the fall.
April / May 2019 Stylus Magazine
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With Ashley Au GRACE HRABI
Over the past few years there has been a shift in the music scene towards smaller, more intimate shows with the rise and popularity of organizations such as Home Routes, SoFarSounds and ARTery. Audiences are seeking out a relaxing environment where they are free to quietly enjoy live music. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Winnipeg’s own Ashley Au, whose Lucky 7 Series aims to meet the demands of this growing niche market. PHOTOS TOP RIGHT : SAVANT FLANEUR BY CHRISTINA HAJJAR BOTTOM LEFT: COLLABORATIVE SET BETWEEN GABRIELA OCEJO, NATHAN KRAHN, GAGE SALNIKOWSKI, AND MATT FOSTER (L TO R) BY JULIAN KIRCHMANN
As a session player here in Winnipeg, Au has had the opportunity to play with a very diverse group of musicians. “I noticed that there were a lot of skilled, talented people that just never meet each other. I thought, how do we get these people to play together and jam together? It’s not something that was going to happen organically. They don’t know each other exists. Why not create a space for that?“
Lucky 7 is a concert series that matches up musicians from different genres and encourages collaboration. Each group presents a 20 minutes set of their own and then the groups perform a collaborative set of brand new material. The first show of the series took place this past February at aceartinc. and featured BOTTOM RIGHT: GABRIELA Gabi Ocejo & Matt Foster matched up with Savant Flaneur OCEJO AND MATT (Nathan Krahn & Gage Salnikowski). As part of her musiFOSTER BY JULIAN cal matchmaking scheme, Ashley hopes to get to know each KIRCHMANN group a bit before setting them up to ensure a successful collaboration. “Everybody comes at art and making things in very different ways. For me it’s really important that the musicians involved in Lucky 7 have some sort of common language, if it’s not standard Western classical music theory that’s fine... as long as they can exchange ideas.” Ashley hopes that by presenting the series at aceartinc. she can create an environment that is ideal for the listeners and the musicians. ”The number
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of times I’ve been to a show where the band is phenomenal, their playing a beautiful ballad or something really exposed and people are just talking in the back, I just feel like ‘why are you here?’ I’ve played at a lot of festivals and you always remember the ones that took the time to really create an atmosphere that caters to listening.” Au admits that some of the inspiration for the series came from a dissatisfaction with the concert programming in Winnipeg. Au believes audiences have been trained to expect shows to start late. “The venue advertises that doors are at 10pm, so that means it’s not going to start until 11pm, so people arrive at 11:30pm.” When the audience doesn’t show up on time the opener often gets pushed back in hopes of a larger audience, causing shows to run even later. “I think if we just start pushing towards a culture with punctuality when it comes to start times eventually the audiences will catch on.” Lucky 7 shows will start promptly at 7:30pm (doors at 7:00pm). As a musician Au also felt it was extremely important that the musicians in this series be paid a guarantee for their time. “I’ve been asked to play shows for no money so many times. If I’m going to be doing this I don’t want to be asking my community for that.” Working with a shoe string budget Ashley explains that with this series the financial burden is not on the musicians. “I can guarantee you X amount of money, a space where people are actually listening to you and you get to collaborate and be creative with someone. If the people don’t come out then I’m in the hole, and that’s fine.” The next Lucky 7 show is set for mid-May. Follow on Facebook and Instagram @lucky7wpg for details.
of Somewhere, sounds like a collection of songs that could only have been played by a group with a passion for the smooth grooves of 60s and 70s era funk, soul, and R&B, and a clear desire to make something new. Aaron Bartel is all about prairie grooves. As a multi-instrumentalist who is probably best known for his saxophone and horn arrangement abilities, Bartel has been honing his skills with big bands that bang out even bigger sound. Bartel is trained in jazz, but his interests are continuously expanding. For a couple years Bartel’s Flat Land Soul Band has been playing cover songs in the realm of 60s and 70s soul, funk, and R&B, but now they’re ready to share some originals with the world. With performing covers, the band wanted to work on specific things like dynamics and chord changes to tighten their playing. Bartel eventually started writing out his own mini-pieces that he would bring in to the band for rehearsals so they could work on one each week. After a while the pieces got more and more elaborate, until some of his bandmates suggested they record them. “Eventually we had a full EP,” says Bartel. “Over last summer I made demos of those, charted everything out, then started rehearsing it, and in September we started recording.” Eight out of the nine members of Flat Land Soul Band have studied jazz at the University of Manitoba, and the skill in their musicianship shows. Bartel also plays sax in local psych jazz rockers Apollo Suns. Flat Land Soul Band’s debut EP, Middle
The Flat Land Soul Band has worked with four singers in that time, with the EP featuring Elizabeth Sadler on vocals, who gives their sound a distinct tone. When writing the EP, Bartel tailored songs with a particular vision for the vocals in mind, and when recording, he says it was important that Sadler understood what the lyrics meant and could relate to them. “We were bouncing back and forth lyric ideas and just making sure she really feels an emotional connection to the song,” says Bartel. Bartel took jazz in high school and knew early on in life that he wanted to be a musician. When he was really young his parents went to the symphony and would enter into their sweepstakes, which used to include pianos as a part of their prizes. Bartel’s parents ended up winning one, which is the piano that he took lessons on when he was four years old, before he eventually went on to learn the other instruments that he’s become familiar with. “A lot of the Flat Land tunes were written on that piano,” says Bartel, who mostly writes on piano and then transfers that to CHRIS BRYSON all the other instruments, because he says you can’t sing and play a melody at the same time with a saxophone (unless you’re Colin Stetson). “Then it passes the campfire test,” says Bartel, “you can play it anywhere.” Writing and recording Middle of Somewhere was a new experience for Bartel, and because the band is all his friends from school, it has a special place in his heart. “I’m excited for it to be out. It’s been almost entirely all-consuming for like, I don’t know, eight to ten months at this point. It’s eating up my life so I’ll be glad to have it out,” says Bartel. “I’m pretty proud of it. I think for the knowledge
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PHOTO: GRAHAM WIEBE and budget that we had it came out really well. It’s kind of pop but it’s also close enough to the 60s and 70s influence that it becomes its own thing.” The Flat Land Soul Band will be releasing Middle of Somewhere on April 4 at The Good Will with support from Six-Foot Citrus and Big Heist Brass Band.
April / May 2019 Stylus Magazine
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ckuwho? Emma’s Echo Chamber
DEREK LOEWEN Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! It’s never easy to get out of bed during a Winnipeg winter, but armed with a good alarm clock, rolling out of bed can be
Tuesdays 6:30-8am
a simpler task. Emma Narvey’s CKUW show Emma’s Echo Chamber is in the crucial 6:30-8:00 am slot each Tuesday morning and serves as a greeting for many of us hibernating university students. Narvey has produced her own show for a year but started her radio career filling in for other CKUW programs, which she feels has helped her explore many different types of music. “I used to do fill ins for different people’s shows. I loved doing that.” She says. “I loved trying to match whatever genre they had going on and to see what I could pull up for those other people.” Emma’s Echo Chamber plays a wide spectrum of music due to Narvey’s keen ear. In her everyday life she’s always noticing songs and creating new ideas to include on her program. While sitting in the CKUW booth during one of her shows we listened to everything from Eartha Kitt’s Turkish tale “Uskudara Giderken” to The Softie’s cuddle-core track “I Love You More”. Her song choices are influenced by everything around her, which give the show an organic vibe. Narvey pulls songs and notions she encounters during her everyday life which she says is a huge part of her creative process. “When I’m in the world if ever I hear a song when I’m at a store or if my friend plays me a track or if it’s in a movie, I’ll pick up on that and Shazam it to see what it is.” She says. “I try
to take music that I hear from the world every week and research the band to see if they have any other good songs.” Narvey creates music too by playing guitar. She’s currently searching for members to start a punk band, and is considering taking up the drums. Many of her friends are musicians, which has given her the opportunity for a few somewhat chaotic interviews on Emma’s Echo Chamber. “They’ve gone horribly awry. The most recent band I interviewed was my friend’s.” She says. “He reached out to me. The love affair between campus community radio and local bands is unparalleled.” More radio is definitely in Narvey’s future. She acknowledges that for her it’s gone from a hobby to a passion and has become something that defines her time spent at the University of Winnipeg. Narvey says “I definitely want to be in radio as a career. I think that’s why I spend so much time here at CKUW. It’s the thing that I’m the most passionate about. Radio is where it’s at.”
to communicate her ideas so Victor could interpret them visually. “In The Way” was picked for the video “very late in the filming process” and because it is “a very vulnerable song.” Marisolle said she was forced “to get over [herself ] really quickly,” to get the work done. The beat for “In The Way” was made by local producer, New Picasso, in one of their first collaborations together. “In The Way” was the first time Marisolle was working with a visual collaborator, though she’s worked with endless musical collaborators. She plays piano and sings backup vocal in Super Duty Tough Work, a group she refers to as “the dream team”. She also plays shows solo, both on piano and guitar, and has worked with many different musicians in her own bands. Marisolle eschews traditional musical genres like soul or jazz when referring to her sound, opting to call it “mood-based”. Hesitant to describe her music at all, Marisolle usually just plays her music for a curious fan. Having spent many years studying music it is no wonder that “there’s a lot of classical pedagogy and approaches,” to her writing style. Marisolle doesn’t want a listener to be prejudice of her music based on a single-word genre that has decades of connotations. The mood-based approach allows
the listener to emote with the music and feel Marisolle’s mood coming through her vocals. Basing it on mood allows the music to be subjective so each listener finds their own vibe. “In The Way” is driven by sparse but heavy drums, leaving room for Marisolle’s voice to fill the song. The piano and bass round out the track, but it’s only natural that the vocals are the focal point. Having spent her formative years in classical training, Marisolle grew up playing other people’s music. But that all changed when she started writing her own music and “realized [she] had [her] own ideas.” Marisolle acknowledges the many performances she did as a child have made her a better and more confident performer today. She sees herself standing apart from every musical genre, saying, “I feel like I belong to whatever idea I’m creating in the moment.” The freedom and fluidity within her music is what makes Marisolle unlike any other musician in Winnipeg. Even though she is “really supported by people who are on that same wave as well,” Marisolle Negash is doing her own thing. Using her music as a form of expression, Marisolle is finding her truth, saying, “music was a way for me to find belonging in my own narrative.”
You can catch Emma Narvey’s ‘Emma’s Echo Chamber’ every Tuesday from 6:30 am to 8:00 am. She also recommends ‘Electric Sunrise’ hosted by Lilja which broadcasts every Wednesday from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
NIGEL WEBBER “Lest I must confess, my destiny’s manifest” - Lauryn Hill Playing Big Fun Festival in January was a big show for Marisolle Negash. She was premiering a new song with new visuals filmed by Victor Ilunga. But it was far from her first performance at a music festival. The local singer and multi-instrumentalist began performing at classical music festivals at the age of 8. Classically trained on both piano and voice, Marisolle’s music has come a long way from her roots in the classical world. Marisolle and Victor first connected through Instagram. Being mutual admirers of each other’s work, they decided to collaborate. Victor, who goes by the artistic name Plutoe, is a graduate of Vancouver Film School. In late 2018, after only a couple months of knowing each other, the pair were approached by Synonym Art Consultation to help produce a music video and debut it at Big Fun. Victor and Marisolle, still getting to know one another, fast-tracked the process. Marisolle describes the filming process as a learning experience for both of them as Victor “was intent on making a project that was totally up to me”. With a deadline to meet, Marisolle had to quickly learn the language of film
/ May 12 Stylus Magazine April Apr/May 20162019
HEINRICH’S MANEUVER :: JAMBOREE :: ARENAS Live at the Good Will Social Club on February 22, 2019 CHANTELLE PARTYKA Out of thin air, a cube made of foam playmats was thrown onto the floor of The Good Will Social Club. Slowly, patrons began gathering around it as the effortlessly cool and rhythmically curious Heinrich’s Maneuver took the stage. Singer and guitarist Seth Heinrichs fed the crowd raw vocals—a balance of laissez-faire and emotionally shaken verses overlie a melting pot of genres. A tone of catharsis emerges as the band breaks free from jamming and into chant. Simple yet alluring lines such as, “I’m the odd one out again” and “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed” are shouted in unison. Perhaps Heinrich’s Maneuver is the odd one out, as nothing about them seems generic or cookie-cutter—the music they perform is authentic, and in my view, a difficult
opening act to follow. The foam cube, once motionless in the heart of the floor, is now torn apart by dancing patrons as Jamboree floats through their set. I chuckled at the discovery of this indie trio’s self-assigned genre: “cuckwave.” What on earth was I expecting? I wasn’t sure, but I was introduced to a rousing, crowd-pleasing band that took time to wish two attendees a happy birthday. I began to think their invented genre “cuckwave” is purely a reflection of their sense of humour that surfaces in the between-song banter. This repartee paid off as the crowd was cheering, dancing, and even rolling around on the not-so-clean floor of the establishment throughout their set.
As Jamboree exited the stage, a handful of patrons left the venue. The dismembered foam cube is no longer being used as a dancing prop, and in fact, is nowhere to be seen. Arenas, the final act of the evening lavishly takes over. Despite that the number of patrons had shrunk, the indie rockers, Arenas, emanate an infectious blissfulness while on stage. The contagious feelings of fun, alongside a vivid yet woolly guitar tone, carried over into their final song, which drew folks in for one final dance; no foam cubes, no gimmicks.
MOON VS SUN :: I’M GOING TO BREAK YOUR HEART Live at the Park Theatre on March 13, 2019 RYAN SORENSEN
PHOTO: RYAN SORENSEN
Moon VS Sun is a project decades in the making by Canadian musical icons and real-life couple Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) and Winnipeg’s Chantal Kreviazuk. The pair stopped in Winnipeg in midMarch to debut their feature documentary ‘I’m Going to Break Your Heart’, a surprisingly honest behind-the-scenes look at the couple struggling to record their first record together while dealing with the strains that comes from twenty years of marriage. Kreviazuk did most of the talking as they addressed her sold-out hometown, explaining how intrinsically linked the documentary and album were.
ano and Maida on acoustic guitar. The songs were poignant and powerful, especially given the context of the documentary and understanding how they were crafted. The lyrics are rich with hidden depths, often finding a way to address universal topics while
at the same time being so uniquely personal to their story. Maida and Kreviazuk’s voices are so distinctive but they combine to create something that is truly stunning.
The 90-mins documentary was directed by Annie Bradley and Jim Morrison, and was mostly filmed in France’s Saint Pierre et Miquelon island in the middle of winter. It takes a deep-dive into their songwriting process and both the creative and personal arguments that arose during that period. The songs come across as deeply personal to both, so disagreements about the music transcends into arguments about themselves and their relationship. Their fights are strangely comical to watch, while revealing uncomfortable but relatable truths about relationships and marriage. The film also explores the healing power of music, as collaborating together repairs their psychic wounds and give each other hope, which are themes that resonate throughout their songs, too. The evening ended with a Q&A about the film and an intimate performance with Kreviazuk on the pi-
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April / May 2019 Stylus Magazine
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Local Spotlight MAN CANDY Model Boyfriends EP Out of the way humans, punk rock duo Man Candy (Transistor 66) is ready to release its EP Model Boyfriend to the masses. They’ll be playing at The Handsome Daughter on April 6. Building on hard hitting garage rock sounds made famous by Jay Reatard and Made Violent, these rockers aren’t messing around and are ready to steamroll onto the stage. The record starts out with the title track “Model Boy Friend” which is a funny ode to the band’s best friend who turns out to be a dog. The lyrics are what make the song great, expressing that the dog in question “should be the prototype” of a perfect boyfriend and is “better than a homo sapien.” “He Blew It” is next up and features some hard hitting guitar lines that are a backdrop to a story about dud guys and their selfish, guttural ways. The song’s ending has some strong head-banging vibes that
LANIKAI Wild Indigo Wild Indigo, by Winnipeg indie pop powerhouse Lanikai, is presented very well by its title. Its music is beautiful, rich and deep like the colour of indigo, but there’s a quality to the album that doesn’t acquiesce. There’s unruly power in the balance between Marti Sarbit’s exquisite vocals and the bands lush choral pop stylings. The LP starts off with two upbeat tracks “Wear and Tear” and “Heavy Ghost”. The string arrangements on the opening song transport the listener to the old days of Motown Soul and is followed with the ornate pop number that sounds like an evolution of Montreal pop band Islands’ famous 2008 release Arm’s Way. The title track “Wild Indigo” is a jewel of a slow jam. Voluptuous instrumentals complement the song’s theme of the hopefulness of love. The album includes many notable session musicians that lead to a well-planned cataclysmic experience. In the second half of the album, Sarbit’s syrupy vocals lead off the sleepy track “Lullaby” and linger over top of spacy synth lines. Near the halfway point the song transforms once Casi-
14 Stylus Magazine April / May 2019
are definitely moshworthy. The songs on Model Boyfriend are all under two and a half minutes, but each has a density that gets its point across fast and with authority. “Hood Ornament” is a standout party track that will have you dancing around the living room. The energy is palpable as the hood ornament in the song is revealed to be a metaphor for something deeper. The album is rounded out with a slasher rock song “Listen” and closes with the witty “Everybody’s Cool (but you)”, reminding us that garage rock is indeed still cool and Man
mir Gruwel builds some guitar leads that are the definition of ‘soul’. The album closer “Your Sadness” starts off simply and melancholic and has an authentic sweetness that the listener recognizes. Backed up with gospel sounding harmonies at the end of the track, the record ends with a semblance of hopeful desire. There is a kind of purging experience with Wild Indigo. It’s exactly something you’d want to hear on a Hawaiian beach at sunset. Derek Loewen You can find music by Lanikai and many other indie pop artists on CKUW’s “Department 13” between 10:00 am-Noon. on Mondays.
BULLRIDER Hidden Gems and The Love of Another The long-anticipated debut by Bullrider is finally upon us and the massive 14-track album does not disappoint. Originally scheduled for a late 2018 release, the five-piece alternative pop-rock group must have taken the extra time and care to ensure these
Candy’s EP Model Boyfriend is a release not to be missed this spring. Derek Loewen Catch ManCandy and similar artists on CKUW’s “The Tonic” Monday between 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm.
songs are the best they can be. The end result is a perfectly balanced record full of bright catchy tunes, full of nuance, and running the spectrum of emotion. Bullrider has marketed itself as a band with a strong emphasis on songwriting, which explains the variety in this collection. There is everything here from fun-loving pop singles to darker pieces with psychedelic instrumentation and haunting hooks. Part of the fun of this album is never knowing what’s coming next. There is a sophistication to Bullrider that stems from the experience of their talented members. Since its conception in 2012, the band has been slowly shaping their line-up to find the perfect mix of players. Their chemistry in a live setting is always fascinating to watch, as each individual infuses a unique energy that brings these songs to life. Bullrider’s act translates perfectly to a recording setting and the result is a fantastic album. There are many special moments throughout that elevates good songs and makes them great, like the trippy guitar in ‘The News’, the hypnotic chorus of ‘Missing Out’, the beautiful minimalism of ‘Hell’, or vocalist Bobby Desjarlais pushing his vocal range in the angry rocker ‘I’ve Had Enough’. This is the type of record you can play from beginning to end on repeat for hours and continue to discover hidden riches within each song. Ryan Sorensen MERIN Coral Island EP Coral Island EP is a dreary walk on the beach on a rainy day. Shyly shout-
ing gloomy lyrics over upbeat tracks, Merin drives through their second EP with six utterly great songs. In an effort to emotionally confuse any listener, each song’s bouncy affectation contradicts some of the sullen lyrics and depressing themes throughout the EP, but every song sounds so cheerful you can’t help feeling the urge to dance along. Slightly grainy guitar tones fill the deep pockets of each song, rounded off by wooden tones plucked bulkily on the bass. The drums sustain the energy, driving the shape of the tracks, while earnest vocals belt and waver with honesty. The title track, “Coral Island” starts off with some self-deprecating lyrics: “As I get older and fatter / I try my best not to just get sadder.” The track is only two minutes, but Merin fits every high and low into the structure, supporting the melody with backing vocals and guitar solos. Another standout track is “Neko In The Morning.” Light lead guitar parts lend buoyancy to the heavier parts of the song. Gritty rhythm guitars cut out for the beginning of the chorus, drawing listeners in like a deep breath before the statement that the song makes when everything comes crashing back. Merin leaves listeners wanting more with these six short tracks, but listening to Coral Island EP over again is just as delightful as listening for the first time. Ryan Haughey THE BLOODSHOTS ‘II’ EP 90’s nostalgia is alive and well judging
by the latest outing of Selkirk grungerevival quartet The Bloodshots. It’s been nearly six years since their debut record and the band has taken that time to establish themselves as one of the most sought-after live bands in the province. The list of major acts they have opened for is long and impressive, playing in front Canadian rock royalty like Finger Eleven, Moist, Jet Set Satellite, Three Days Grace, Econoline Crush, Danko Jones, and on and on. The band has absorbed a lot from their veteran peers and has created a collection of songs that would fit in perfectly on a Much Music playlist in 1998. Three of the six songs were tracked by producer Steve Rizun in Toronto, who produced the first Bloodshots record. These songs feel like a continuation of what made the first album so good, but also showcases their growth as writers. The song ‘Hot’ breaks from the 90’s motif to serve up a sleazy 80’s rocker and is a highlight of the record. The other three songs are by prominent Manitoba producers Dale Penner, Shawn Dealy, and John Paul
Peters. Peters’ track ‘Kill Me Tonight’ has that slow-crawling intro guitar riff juxtaposed by a crunchy hook that would work as a single at any rock radio station in North America. What makes The Bloodshots special isn’t necessarily the notes that they play, but how they play them. This is a band who is passionate, energetic and focused on putting on the best possible show every time they go out. The record has everything you want to hear from them; grungy guitar licks, screaming vocals, and a genuine sense of fun. Let’s just hope fans don’t have to wait six more years until ‘III’. Ryan Sorensen TUNIC Complexion Complexion is the long awaited debut LP by Winnipeg noise-punk trio Tunic. Released as the product of a group who built their sound over the last 5 years across multiple single/EP releases, Complexion creates a polarizing, heart-racing sound that treads a new path in the world of punk.
The first moments of “Nothing Nothing” has all engines firing, a barrage of noise that sets the tone for Complexion. To say this album is intense in an understatement. David Schellenberg’s anguished voice shrieks just as loud as his guitar, while Rory Ellis’ throbbing bass provides a lot of the melody on the album, especially on tracks like “Evan” and “Dry Heave”. Schellenberg’s guitar playing provides textural space for the bass along with Sam Neal’s manic drumming by way of never-ending feedback and atonal texture, which creates a sound that feels claustrophobic and pressured. My favourite moment on this record comes on the track “Pores,” when a stress-inducing saxophone (performed by Eric Roberts) appears in a frantic bridge only for everything to be stripped to the drums for a brief moment before an explosive climax ties everything together. Complexion is consistent. If not in pace, then for its tense nature. Even its quieter moments, tracks like “Sand” and “Paper,” don’t leave much in terms of peace and calming thanks in part to
the eerie feedback that bleeds through these tracks, and much like the rest of the tracks on this album, these moments don’t last long. Through 11 tracks, Complexion runs about 22 minutes, which comes as no surprise for a group known for having very short performances. Tunic has always been about qualityover-quantity in relation to playing music as opposed to releasing it. Their presence as a band, yet so sporadic, is strongly felt in their hometown and wherever they perform. Just as Complexion is an album that seems very short but is brimming with energy and inspiration. Daniel Kussy
masturbating in a bar bathroom. The warm and atmospheric production almost makes the album feel like one long piece of music, as songs transition softly into one another, sinking and swelling in their deftly organized track listing. For something so consistently beautiful, Stoic can be an intense and nerve striking listen. It is both bracingly honest and tenderly hopeful, grappling with questions of mortality, familial love and the self in the face of total emptiness. Judging by the carefully considered and deeply affecting record that he’s managed to create, it seems that even in such overwhelming dark, Stooshinoff has found some kind of light. Kaelen Bell
ing from bleakness with the optimistic worldview of the words. The title track “Anchorless” is a highlight, opening with intricate guitar over atmospheric bowed strings. Though a simple repeated folk melody for the bulk of the song, interest is sustained through a deliberate arrangement, each verse layering vocal harmonies while various guitars and stringed instruments pass pieces of the melody back and forth. “Triumphs and failures will rock your boat / wave after wave, storm after storm / you’ve been a sailor since the day you were born” conclude the lyrics, epitomizing the overarching hopefulness of the album. “Days of My Demise” has a darker tone, and with the addition of drum set and electric instruments it’s the most epic and rocking song on the album, a nice change of pace at the halfway point of the ten tracks. “Days” is the only song to feature an extended guitar solo, where McKillop alternates fluidly between rhythmic jabs and ornamental lead lines. With twangy electric guitar and warbling pedal steel, “Out of the Blue” is the record’s most overtly country song. Lines like “as we said goodbye / you were the only one to cry / until you went walking out that door” have the authentic ache of a classic country ballad. Anchorless is impressive in it’s cohe-
For fans of: METZ, Pissed Jeans, KEN Mode, Dan Unger. Recommended if you like Winnipeg’s Arena is on Fire on CKUW 95.9 FM.
Under the Needle
STOIC Patient Hands There are few things more existentially terrifying than cancer. I imagine it’s near impossible to properly describe the sensation of carrying your death with you always. Of course, the possibility of death surrounds us on every beach and airplane, in every unexpected fish bone and on every icy stretch of highway. But you can always leave the water and step back onto the tarmac, you can always lift your foot from the pedal. You can find time to sit, however momentarily, in life. So what happens when there is no leaving death behind? How do you escape the weight of disappearance when it’s sitting just beneath your skin? This appears to be the question posed by Patient Hand’s Stoic. The debut record from Montreal based ambient musician Alex Stooshinoff, Stoic seems to suggest the answer is staring
directly into the void and taking back whatever can be given. The album was written after Stooshinoff ’s cancer diagnosis, though he describes it as a love record, a document detailing his attempts to face the unknown and look beyond it. In his own words, Stoic is about “enduring the dark night, and finding the courage to live with an open heart.” The record joins a relatively small and storied lineage of albums that deal with life in the throes of cancer, from Mount Eerie’s devastating 2017 record A Crow Looked at Me to The Antler’s 2009 Indie classic Hospice. Stoic manages to combine aspects of both albums – the ambient post-rock textures of Hospice and the raw acoustics of A Crow – to create something wholly individual. It’s an intimate and personal record, awash in various degrees of grey and silver, and it closes the gap between folk rock and ambient without devoting too much time to either modes. Rich drones, acoustic guitar, field recordings, piano and lush keyboards ripple outward in calming waves, though there are moments of roiling surf that break the delicate tension with electric guitar, squalling drones and crashing drums. The relatively gentle music is often juxtaposed with bitingly specific lyrics, as on the driving single “I Shaved My Father’s Face” where Stooshinoff sings of swollen lymph nodes and
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LOGAN MCKILLOP Anchorless Anchorless is the sophomore album by Logan McKillop, a singer-songwriter from Onanole, Manitoba. McKillop sings in a straightforward tenor, clear and direct above a variety of stringed instruments, bringing sincerity to his lyrics. His articulate fingerpicking on the acoustic guitar embellishes his vocal melodies and provides a strong rhythmic backbone, especially significant on the many songs without drums. The overall mood of the ten tracks is mellow, the tempos slow or medium but refrain-
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siveness: the hopeful themes of the lyrics, the unadorned sincerity of Logan’s voice, and the musical arrangements that bring subtle variety to the set of reflective folk songs make Anchorless a gratifying listen from start to finish. Jesse Popeski
BEAST NEST AT CLUSTER FESTIVAL ON MARCH 2 MEGUMI KIMATA
PKEW PKEW PKEW Optimal Lifestyles Pkew Pkew Pkew are a rock quartet from Toronto. They have etched a name for themselves within their respective scene over their 6 year tenure as a group through multiple releases and opening slots on tours for acts such as Anti-Flag, as well as label-mates The Flatliners. Their newest release, Optimal Lifestyles, sees them pushing to establish themselves across North America as a heavyweight in the new sound of rock. Optimal Lifestyles is packed with the familiar dance-y, pop-punk sound that has become a staple of the Ontario punk-rock scene, so you know what you’re getting into when you put this record on. That’s not to be misconstrued as a point of criticism however, especially considering those who regularly consume this style of music. This album is very well written and quite a bit of fun to listen to. Tracks like “65 Nickels” and “The Polynesian” are bound to be crowd pleasers live with their crowd-friendly choruses and upbeat instrumentation, while “Point Break” features a tasteful saxophone solo very early into the record. A big part of the appeal of this album is the timing of its release, which is damn near perfect. Released on March 1st, the time of the year when the relentlessly cold weather begins to show cracks, the ice begins to melt and you start to feel more comfortable leaving your home. “We haven’t hung out in a long time, so let’s get hanging” are the first words heard on the first track, “Still Hangin’ Out After All These Years,” and can easily be heard as a wake up call to those who felt confined to their spaces of comfort by a winter season that felt as if it took years off their lives. Pkew Pkew Pkew’s newest release gives optimism for the future, near and far. For many, Optimal Lifestyles will signal the end of winter, and the start of outdoor, skateboard related mischief past the sunset into the morning. I’m excited to see where this album takes this band, who it reaches, and who it connects with, because for Winnipeggers like myself, this is the perfect album to listen to right now. Daniel Kussy For Fans of: The Flatliners, PUP, Attack in Black, Hollerado.
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95.9 FM CKUW CAMPUS/COMMUNITY RADIO TOP 30 ALBUMS ( January 10 - March 26, 2019) !=LOCAL CONTENT * =CANADIAN CONTENT re=RE-ENTRY TO CHART #
ARTIST
RECORDING
LABEL
1 ! Trampoline Happy Crimes Self-Released 2 * So Long Seven Kala Kalo Self-Released 3 Various Artists Dr. Demento Covered In Punk Demented Punk 4 ! The Electric Cows Wheatfield Fuzz Dub Ditch Picnic 5 ! Sean Burns And Lost Country + More Stringbreakin’ 6 ! Living Hour Softer Faces Kanine 7 ! Monday-Friday Idiots Who Done What Now? Self-Released 8 Red Baraat Sound The People Rhyme & Reason 9 * Fucked Up Dose Your Dreams Arts & Crafts/Merge 10 ! Royal Canoe Waver Paper Bag 11 ! Housepanther & Wrecker Homewrecker Self-Released 12 * B.A. Johnston The Skid Is Hot Tonight Transistor 66 13 ! Proper Operation Life Is Hard Self-Released 14 Northern Haze Siqinnaarut Aakuluk Music 15 * Did You Die Royal Unicorn Self-Released 16 * Bill Bissett & The Mandan Massacre Awake In The Red Desert Feeding Tube 17 * Daniel Romano Finally Free You’ve Changed 18 * Homeshake Helium Royal Mountian/Sinderlyn 19 ! Christine Fellows Roses On The Vine Vivat Virtute 20 Cecile Mclorin Salvant The Window Mack Avenue 21 Mark Masters Our Metier Capri 22 Devin Gray Dirigo Rataplan II Rataplan 23 Sarazino Mama Funny Day Cumbancha 24 ! Rock Lake Rock Lake V Eat ‘Em Up 25 * Joni Void Mise En Abyme Constellation 26 * The Dirty Nil Master Volume Dine Alone 27 ! Tunic Complexion Self Sabotage 28 ! Madeleine Roger Cottonwood Self-Released 29 ! Permanent Mistake Video Self-Released 30 ! Ken Mode Loved New Damage Boots And Saddle & CKUW 95.9 Present A Night Of Country Music
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April / May 2019 Stylus Magazine
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DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE • KACEY MUSGRAVES • JASON MRAZ
H A L F M O O N R U N • T H E S H E E P D O G S • K ’ N A A N • A LV VAYS CHARLOT TE DAY WILSON • KATHLEEN EDWARDS • COLTER WALL
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TIM BAKER • LUCY ROSE • COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS • ZIGGY ALBERTS R E B I RT H B R A S S B A N D • J O H N AT H A N R I C E • T H I S I S T H E K I T • TA L N AT I O N A L
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ICELANDIC SOUNDS
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L O S PA C H A M A M A & F L O R A M A R G O • C H R I S T I N E F E L L O W S • S A R A H S H O O K & T H E D I S A R M E R S
M D O U M O C TA R • W I L L I A M C R I G H TO N • B E B E B U C K S K I N • C O M B O C H I M B I TA • S A M A N T H A C R A I N DANNY MICHEL • MARIEL BUCKLEY • ROMAN CLARKE • THE YOUNG’UNS • STEVE GUNN LIVING HOUR • EILEEN IVERS • SEAN MCCONNELL • THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS JESSE MATAS • SUNNY WAR • TAYLOR JANZEN • THE SWINGING BELLES • THE TILLERS RU P LO OPS • SE A NS T ER AN D T HE MON S T ER S • G US TAVO & THE G R EEN FOOLS • C A S TLEM OO N T H E AT R E
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