Stylus Magazine -- Aug/Sept

Aug/Sept 2012

Volume23 Issue4

Published by the University of Winnipeg Students' Association

Purity Ring // The Gunness // Propagandhi // Those Guys PROGRAM GUIDE INSIDE

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Stylus

Aug/Sept Volume23 Issue4

On the Cover CHARLES GRANGER comes from a small town. He is an award winning independent filmmaker and musician (Ex Modern Teen, Rash Attack) whose short films have screened across Canada. In school he was the artist. After an exam he once climbed into an open plot in the cemetery to see what it would be like to be at his own funeral six feet under. He uses his creativity and enthusiasm to help inspire students (K-12) in filmmaking and animation doing Artist in the School residencies. Inspired by local artist Heather Komus, he has started making “art” once again.

Charles is currently working on: a half hour special about the Winnipeg Fringe Festival for TVA, a documentary about local band TWIN, a glossy Ex Modern Teen album and his “simple art”.

Production Team Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheldon Birnie Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Mazurak Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Darcy Penner

Charles can be contacted at c2@newprairie.ca and see his video work at https://vimeo.com/charlesgranger/videos

Advertising Manager . . . . . . . . . . Ted Turner

204-786-9779, outreach@theuwsa.ca

Distributor . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick Michalishyn Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Granger Printed by Copy Plus Inc. . . . . . 204-232-3558

Contributors Taylor Burgess Victoria King Shanell Dupras Devin King Kyra Leib Scott Wolfe Brad Skibinsky Kabir Kaler Jesse Blackman Patrick Michalishyn Janel Chau Kevin Mozdzen Matt Dyck Dwayne Toole

Stylus is published bi-monthly by the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association, 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 Label Profile No Label Collective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 CKUWho Sunnyroads with Joan Hreno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Live Bait Buck 65 // Drawn & Plastered’s Rockabilly Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Local Spotlight SitDownTracy // Keri Larimer // Carly Maicher . . . . . . . . . 21 Root Cellar Gordie Tentrees // Tif Ginn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Iconoclast Kreator // Meshuggah // Pennywise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Under the Needle Dirty Projectors // Dr. Dog // PS I Love You . . . . . . . . . . 24 Kontroller Prototype 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Fear of Music Dancing to Feedback: Are We Not Men? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Features Purity Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Gunness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 War On Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Trampled By Turtles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Those Guys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Propagandhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Arsonfest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

03 01

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IRONIS ANDSTILL WINESWELTERING WRAPPEDAND UPTHERE ANOTHERARE FOLK FESTMANY BUTMORE WEATHERGREAT SHOWS APPROACHING!

Blah, Blah, Blah Winnipeg! The summer is half over, but rural-festival season is just getting started! Don’t worry, if you can’t find a way out of town for any of the great weekend festivals, the city is still packed with fantastic performances. Turn off your computer and go party!

Every Wednesday, head down to Ozzy’s to see New Music Wednesdays hosted by Manitoba Music or hit the Rose N Bee Pub for Andrew Neville & the Poor Choices. Every Thursday check out music at the Patio Concert Series in front of the Gas Station Theatre. Tuesdays in August, hit the Times Change(d) for Romi Mayes & Jay Nowicki. *** August 15 Dead and Divine’s Farewell Tour comes to the West End Cultural Centre, featuring MyChildren MyBride, Liferuiner, and Silent Amber *** August 16 Catch Oldfolks Home, Jenn Mirau, and Wax Manniquin at Lo Pub *** August 17 Down By Law, Division, Dangercat and Atom Age play The Zoo *** August 17 - 19 three weekend festivals to choose from! Rainbow Trout Music Festival includes Ian La Rue, Jenny Berkel, Smoky Tiger, and many more; The Harvest Sun Music Festival features Greg MacPherson, Sons

of York, The Magnificent 7s, and a weekend’s worth more; and the Winnipeg BBQ and Blues Festival hosts Big Dave McLean, The Perpetrators, and of course many more *** August 18 Veneers and Viridians are the Lo Pub; and Angry Samoans play two dates on the 18th and 19th! *** August 22 has Tony Bennett at the Centennial Concert Hall *** August 23 Indian City releases their CD at the West End; and Royal Canoe plays the Park Theatre with Ultra Mega and Indicator Indicator *** August 24 Architects play the West End with Structures and asightforsewneyes; then Kataklysm play the Park Theatre a bunch of bands; and Chris Walter celebrates the release of his punk rock bio SNFU: What No One Else Wanted to Say at the Cavern with Trouser Mouth and guests *** August 24 - 26 is Shine On Festival of Music and Art down in the Sandilands *** August 25 Guttermouth hits the Pyramid; Still Lights and Warsaw are at the Lo Pub *** August 30 check out Trampled By Turtles at the West End *** Cheering for the Bad Guy play the Cavern August 31st *** September 1 our second Launch Party rockers No Label Collective take over Rose N Bee Pub *** September 5 Krief is at the Park Theatre *** Sep-

PHOTO BY ANDREW MAZURAK

tember 8 Micah Barnes and Süss are at the West End *** September 9 Stone Temple Pilots! at the Convention Centre *** September 13 the Lo Pub is taken over by Purity Ring, Evian Christ, and Headaches; while the Zoo gets optimistic with Obituary, Decrepit Birth, Jungle Rot, Broken Hope and Encrust *** September 14 the West End is filled with Bongo Love; KD Lang and the Siss Boom Band are at Pantages *** September 14 - 16 has the annual Harvest Moon Festival out in beautiful Clearwater, MB*** September 16 sees the chest-pounding Tech N9ne at the Park Theatre with Mad Child *** September 20 John Fogerty rocks the MTS Centre; and Sloan is at the Pyramid *** September 21 brings Jonny Lang & Buddy Guy to the MTS Centre *** September 23 Bloc Party and Ceremony play the Burton Cummings Theatre *** September 25 Anthrax, Testament, and Death Angel are at the Burt *** September 26 Rush! MTS Centre *** September 29 Kathleen Edwards and Jenn Grant play The Garrick *** Of course, shows are constantly being announced, and last minute shows are sometimes the best, so be sure to check out stylusmagazine.ca for up-to-date listings and everything else that is awesome.

RAINBOW TROUT MUSIC FESTIVAL AND FISHING DERBY Friday Aug 17th - Sunday Aug 19th

PRESENTS:

ANGRY SAMOANS Sat Aug 18th @ Ozzy’s (18+) & Sunday Aug 19th (all ages) Punk Douglas Club SHERBROOK STREET FESTIVAL Saturday September 8th BONGO LOVE (FROM ZIMBABWE) Friday Sept 14 @ WECC FEMFEST Saturday September 15th - Saturday Sept 22nd WINNIPEG ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR & D.I.Y. FESTIVAL Sept 21-23, in and around the A-Zone at 91 Albert St. BLOC PARTY Sunday Sept 23rd @ Burton Cummings Theatre AN EVENING WITH RAY BONNEVILLE Friday – Sept 28 @ WECC

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Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

03

ILLUSTRATION BY KEVIN MOZDZEN

By Kyra Leib

It’s a good thing that I changed my shirt and brushed my hair before hearing Megan James of Purity Ring say “Hey, I can’t see you!” when I sat down to have a chit chat with the hot new band over Skype. I turned on the video and there they were; Megan and Corrin Roddick sitting for a moment in the darkness of Roddick’s apartment before turning on the lights. “There, that’s better” I said as the lights came on and Roddick’s gorgeous apartment came into view. I began shooting questions at the duo and here’s what came of it!

Stylus: How do you coordinate songwriting together living in two different cities [Megan Lives in Halifax, Corrin in Montreal]?

Megan James: Well we already write mostly independently. Corrin will send me a track and I’ll send him a demo back. When we get together all we do is record, which is still a writing process.

Stylus: How did it come to be that you guys started playing together?

MJ: Corrin started writing tracks and asked if I wanted to sing over them, regardless of where we were at the time.

Corrin Roddick: Yeah.

Stylus: Are there any shows that you’ve done that really stick out to you?

CR: There are some that I consider very special. It was our first show in Amsterdam and we were playing in an old church for about 200 people and everything about that show was just incredible.

MJ: We haven’t had anything really crazy happen to us during a gig yet. There have been shows that we’ve FELT kind of crazy.

Stylus: Can you talk about your influences, musical and non-musical?

MJ: Well, I feel like I still don’t know what my influences are... Umm… CR: I think you’re influenced by all things nonmusical.

MJ: I like sleeping and dreaming, I will set my alarm for 8 am and say to myself if I go back to sleep I will have a bunch of dreams and I’ll probably remember them! The place that I live is really important to me in terms of an environment and how it affects me.

I listen to a lot of really old jazz stuff and to music www.stylusmagazine.ca

that doesn’t really sound like what we’re making at all.

Stylus: Do you ever try writing your dreams down?

MJ: Every time I remember them I am pretty adamant about writing them down.

Stylus: Is that for your own personal reflection or do you ever draw on it for your music?

MJ: It’s definitely for personal reflection, everyone gains a lot from remembering their dreams. Do you ever write your dreams down?

Stylus: I try to sometimes, I have one that I remember very specifically. It involved a zombie apocalypse and Woody Allen teaching the survivors how to do a confusing dance to repel the undead.

[CR laughs] MJ: Yeah, there’s a number of dreams throughout my life that I have never forgotten. I had crazy childhood clown dreams.

Stylus: Would you share that one with us?

MJ: Well, I was with my neighbour friend that lived down the street and we were in hospital beds but all of the doctors and nurses were these creepy clowns and they started skinning us.

Stylus: [Gasps] And that one was a reoccurring one too?

MJ: Yeah, I had those in elementary school.

Stylus: Did you watch horror movies that would have brought that on?

MJ: Never, I refused to watch horror movies up until recently.

CR: That’s probably why whenever you do watch horror movies you have terrifying dreams. [chuckles] Stylus: I’ve just recently listened to “Fineshrine” off of your new album. Can you describe what method of instruments is being used to create such incredible sounds?

CR: Well for “Fineshrine” I used a bunch of Megan’s vocals that I pitched up and chopped around and I tried listening back to it at a bunch of different speeds. I then turned it into a rhythmMJ: Is that my vocals? [laughs] I had no idea!

CR: So I turned it into a rhythm that sounded like something and then from there I started adding

layers of synths and drum sounds and then all of a sudden it started to sound like a wall of different sounds. I really like doing things that interplay between different elements. For example, having the drums affect the synths, it might sound like there’s something else there but it’s really those two things playing off each other.

Stylus: So do you record the instruments and work from there?

CR: Well I don’t play any analog instruments. I usually just program and mess around. I usually have no idea what chords or notes I’m playing.

Stylus: Have you ever tried creating any musical instruments?

CR: We’ve created an instrument that we performed with. I don’t know if you’ve seen any videos of our show, but we have eight lanterns that sit around me and they’re all touch sensitive. I hit them with a mallet and it plays back a synth note. All of our main synth melodies are performed with it. The lanterns also light up in different colours.

Stylus: How did you get the idea to do that?

CR: I got the idea because I didn’t want to play a keyboard because I’m actually a drummer. It’s better for me to hit things with sticks than to try to fumble around with notes on a keyboard. It also adds a visual atmosphere to our sets.

MJ: And the music isn’t derived from a keyboard anyway and we wanted to portray the music as well as we could. It was important to create a unique way to perform it that people would be intrigued to see and to listen to as well.

CR: The music never came from musical instruments at all.

MJ: Corrin and I are both well versed in our respective instruments but that’s not anything to do with Purity Ring.

CR: I play drums and Megan plays piano but that’s not what we’re doing in Purity Ring at all. When I hear the sounds in the songs I picture those lanterns.

Purity Ring plays in Winnipeg at Lo Pub on September 13. Check out their new release Shrines out July 24th!

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

05

THE GUNNESS

By Taylor Burgess

If you think not giving a damn and relentless self-

expression can only come in the shape of a rowdy four-piece punk band, how shattered you will be when Alana Mercer takes the stage by her lonesome as The Gunness.

Since she’s already played major roles in The Quiffs and The Blowholes, handfuls of bands today are looking to share a bill with Mercer’s new solo act, especially if her bass drum, guitar, and throaty voice bring a rowdy night to a sombre, brooding halt.

Mercer explains, “Specifically [the bands] have explained to me—what they like so much about what it is I do—it’s just not giving a god damn, and playing whatever I want. Like, I’ll play in the middle of a night after two full bands. I don’t care.”

It’s an attitude that she’s carrying over into recording her upcoming album which will be released on Transistor 66 Records. Together with engineers Craig Boychuk (L’viv) and Joel Mierau (Self Interest), they’re deliberately avoiding studio perfection for The Gunness’ debut, opting to capture Mercer’s buoyant aura and to keep true to her solo performance.

“Craig and I, we’ve had long discussions about our love for PJ Harvey and Rid of Me. Not just the album itself, but the way it was recorded,” Mercer explains dutifully. “You know, there’s coughing in the background, and she screws up a couple times but she keeps it because the whole take itself is good. It was that kind of element that I knew Craig totally got.”

This ethos of theirs was really put to the test once they set Mercer’s instruments plus recording gear in the street-facing gallery of Negative Space. The engineers set up in the back, leaving Mercer all by herself. Well, she was sort of left alone.

“People would walk by the window occasionally and peer their faces in at me as I’m trying to play and keep beat. They’re just cracking me up—you can hear traffic going by and a train at some point. It’s awesome! I just want to keep it all.”

Mercer has laid down all of the bed tracks of her album so far, leaving just the vocals to be done later this summer, once Boychuk comes back into town.

Throughout recording her solo debut, Mercer says www.stylusmagazine.ca

wavers in the beat

it has been helpful that Boychuk and Mierau are musicians, and have been acting as more than just engineers.

“It’s weird to have been in so many bands with so many people, and now to play by myself I don’t really have anyone to bounce ideas off of. Craig and Joel were really awesome in that way. I’d be like, ‘Feedback! Is this too much? How does this sound?’”

Every band that Alana Mercer takes part in, whether it be the ones no longer with us (The Quiffs, The Blowholes, and The Gorgon are all now defunct) or any of the five which she’s currently in, they have this awesome feeling of immediacy, the total opposite of sterility, regardless of how slick or how shit they’re recorded. It’s like these songs have been bounced off a number of friends’ heads before ending up at the stage.

So it might be a bit of a surprise that Mercer started The Gunness, but it’s really stuck. “I would play my kick on my practice pad at home just to ILLUS TRA TION

BY JANEL CHAU

keep the beat. And one day I said, screw it. I’ll put on a show. C’mon were coming through town, so they played too. It was at the Death Trap. It was really great. It was a good start.” That first show was only about a year ago, but it has worked out well for her—she earned a top spot in Uptown Magazine’s Best of Winnipeg 2012 as Best New Local Solo Artist.

So Mercer has proved that she doesn’t necessarily need a band behind her, leaving her alone with her determination and her particular tastes. However, taking a page from the golden era of rock ‘n’ roll, she admits she’s human—and even revels in it.

“I’m kind of notoriously not perfect in my timing,” she admits, with a bit of a grin. “Not like crazy, but it has been known to happen, if I’ve had a couple drinks, the song will end up a lot faster than it started.”

And even though she likes dance music, it just doesn’t have that same unspeakable charm as records that let their flaws show.

“Like early Stones recordings, where Mick Jagger screwed up his tambourine, and he has to count himself back in. And there’s wavers in the beat. Or the Shirelles were off key a little bit. I miss it!”

That extends back to the first Winnipeg band she was in, The Quiffs. She says part of what made The Quiffs so appealing was how raw they were, yelling at one another mid-song to figure out what they were playing.

But in the present day, Alana Mercer’s human passion is paying off in spades. Besides The Gunness’ album which will drop in the fall, she’s in four bands which are releasing albums this year. The High Thunderers have released a cover of the 1987 album Trio, originally by Dolly Parton, Linda Rondstadt and Emmylou Harris. Mercer has just replaced Bill Northcott as the drummer for the Angry Dragons, who are recording and releasing a full length.

Phlegm Fatale, Mercer’s dance band which is named after an Archagathus song, are all done recording their album which just needs some mastering. And finally, Lazy Horse, in which she plays bass, has a 10-song record coming out on Eat Em Up Records, but needs a few more guitar solos first.

“Yeah,” says Mercer, “after three years of hibernation, it’s all going to burst out at once, like a horror film.”

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

07

ii

r s ng

from the

ashes BY shanell dupras

On April 19, 2012, all that could be seen above

42 Albert Street was a plume of smoke and fire. A fenced in hole in the ground was all that War on Music customers found the following day. It is assumed to be an electrical fire. The building was torn down within 24 hours.

The fire left music fans worried they had lost one of the few independent music sources Winnipeg had to offer, and the only one that was devoted exclusively to punk and metal. Wondering also if the War on Music record label would stay afloat, or would also come to an end. Winnipegers were left with many unanswered questions. Luckily, just a month after the fire, those questions were answered.

War on Music opened their new location June 1, just a block away from their old location, on the second floor of 91 Albert Street (also home to Mondragon and Natural Cycle Worker Co-op). The new location is, as part-owner Charley Justice described it, “like a fancy, nice boutique compared to the last one. The last one was like, parents walk in and they’re kind of scared that they walked in there.

This one’s kind of got this uncharacteristically nice vibe to it.”

That “nice vibe” is slowly beginning to fade away. War on Music already has the black walls and somewhat frightening album covers that customers remember back in place, and soon they are planning on adding signage, like an upside down, bright pink neon cross to use as their “open” sign.

It took the co-op a short amount of time to decide that they would re-open at a new location. Charley explained that they received three or four huge shipments the week after the fire and that for much of their new inventory they had to pay brokerage when it was delivered. It was at that point that they had to decide whether they wanted to take the new inventory, or return to sender.

“It was a close call,” says Charley, “we just sat down and went back and forth

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about it for a few hours and came back the next day and made a decision.”

War on Music has now been open for two months and, stock wise, the store looks relatively the same as the last one. “We reordered all our shop worth,” explains Charlie, “but we don’t have any back stock, so this is all we’re sitting on.”

Losing the entire inventory they had put together for five years, they had to take the time to hand select all new inventory and find the places to order

it from. They are slowly replenishing back stock, but as it stands if a customer takes something off of the wall, a hole is left behind.

What’s shocking is how quickly the owners managed to open a new location in such a short amount of time, regardless of having accumulated a large amount of debt from the fire. Much of the stock they had in the old building was not yet paid for, “and then a lot of people bring consignment in and just drop shit off and then get paid when it sells, and so all that’s gone, so we owe everyone for consignment too.”

To help raise money to lower this newly accumulated debt, War on Music hosted three fundraiser shows in June.

These shows raised between $700 and $800. “It’s not that much but it’s money that will help,” admits Charley. “It was kind of an excuse to spout our address a thousand times.”

Another interesting concept about War on Music is that there is no single owner of the company; it’s a registered worker cooperative. Everyone who works for the business is part owner, no one person is financially liable, and all owners have a say in what happens to the business. This works wonders for their current situation. “If we were ever to fold or go bankrupt,” Charley explains, “it’s the organization that collapses but it’s not on the heads of any single individual.” However, this is not stopping them from keeping the business going.

The public have so far had positive feedback towards the new location and tons of sympathy.

“For the most part, pretty much all the regulars from the old place started coming again right away. Everyone at least says they like the place, more, or at least as much.”

This is obviously wonderful news for music loving Winnipegers. So get down to the new location, tell some friends, check out their brand new stock, and keep an eye out for all of their new releases.

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

09

ILLUSTRATION BY TERRY GILLIAM MANIPULATED BY ANDREW MAZURAK

"SLOW AND STEADY

WINS THE RACE"

By Scott Wolfe These bluegrass boys just released their new album Stars and Satellites in April and have a hectic touring schedule planned for the summer. Stylus talked with Eric Berry (mandolin) over the phone to catch up with the band, chat about the new album and (personally) get super stoked for their show at the West End Cultural Center August 30th!

Stylus: First let’s talk the new album. Stars and Satellites finds the band exploring a much slower pace than previous albums. Was there a conscious effort in doing this or is it a result of the recording process?

Eric Berry: It was a bit of both; Dave [Simonett] was okay with bringing in slower material and it sort of took off from there. We were having a lot of fun with the whole process and by the end we were all about it. The songs were slower on the whole but none of them would have been out of place on other albums.

Stylus: Did you feel any pressure to do something different after the positive response you got from Palomino?

EB: There was definitely pressure to put out a great record that we could be proud of but at the same time we didn’t want to go on a conformist streak.

It just turned out that we made a very introspective record that changed things up, but we love it!

Stylus: Could you elaborate on the recording process of this album for those that don’t know how Stars and Satellites came to be?

EB: We recorded it in a log cabin, but by no means www.stylusmagazine.ca

were we hard up. We had a sauna, hot tub, nature trails, BBQ and a garage bar. It was pretty luxurious.

I was in and out of the cabin, my daughter was just born so we picked that place rather than a conventional studio because it was pretty close. The other guys lived there but for me it was like going to the office, I would leave at night to come back in the morning so I could be with my newborn baby girl.

Stylus: Would you do something like that again?

EB: Not Sure. That place got bought out so probably not there again. A part of me sees anything that we do like that again would be viewed negatively the second time round, plus moving all the recording equipment was a pain. I would not want to force recording like that again just because it worked out well for this album.

Stylus: The variation of the Stars and Satellites is striking but yet it retains cohesiveness. Were the faster cuts put in to please the fans that enjoy the more speedy paced songs?

EB: No, nothing like that. The two instrumental cuts that Dave and I wrote just happened to be not be as slow. Tim [Saxhaug - bass player] didn’t do a certain slap technique, which makes our faster material more percussive, on this album and as a result the album has a slower vibe just based on the way we interact with him. The whole thing was an experiment we really got into it and are pleased with the results.

Stylus: Your live show is a blast and there is always tons of energy flowing. Does the different vibe of the new album change the stage dynam-

ics? How does Stars and Satellites translate into the live performance?

EB: When we released Palomino we played it in its entirety along with some other songs. With Stars and Satellites we tried that but, when you pay money and you go out to a show and you want to blow off some steam the slower stuff can be a bit of a drag.

Now we play about a good mix between Stars and Satellites and Palomino. The heavier, faster paced stuff actually sounds more intense now when the slower stuff is played within the same set.

Stylus: This summer sees TBT playing quite a few festivals, a couple of fair size such as Lollapalooza. Are you pretty comfortable with these larger festival crowds now?

EB: We have played some festivals with pretty big crowds, just this year we played at Bonnaroo. Not to say that we have “been there, done that.” Lollapalooza is a more mainstream festival compared with other festivals we played in the past. We are playing bigger stages now as opposed to the smaller side stages; it is different for us but an extension of what we have done before. The bonus about festivals is that people may see you that would have otherwise had no idea you existed.

The Pride of Minnesota is scheduled to play August 30th at WECC, if you missed them at Folk Fest last year this is your chance to catch them live. You will not be disappointed.

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

11

By Patrick Michalishyn

Those Guys are an a cappella group that have been

together since 2009. Eight guys, eight voices, that’s it.

Their live show always turns into a party where people dance and sing along, each show eclipsing the last in terms of quality and spectacle. And they’re only getting better! Recently, Those Guys celebrated the release of their debut, That Album, over the course of two nights at the Park Theatre. Stylus sat down with Bernie “Ring Leader” Pastorin, Mike “The Heartthrob” Engstrom, and James “The Human Bassline” Campbell during a rare instance of downtime.

Stylus: You just released That Album a couple of months back. It’s ten songs long, yet your repertoire is five times that. What are some songs that you wanted to record, but couldn’t for whatever reason?

Bernie Pastorin: I think, the biggest one for me was “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. It was the first song that Those Guys learned and put together themselves, and when we couldn’t get the mechanical license for it... it’s kind of heartbreaking... It sucked because that was my pick for the lead-in track for That Album.

James Campbell: There were a few others we couldn’t get. We couldn’t get “Brown Eyed Girl”...

BP: Well, we could’ve got “Brown Eyed Girl,” but we decided against it because that arrangement had already been recorded. So, you’re wrong on that one! [laughs] But I’ll let you go on.

JC: So I’m wrong on that one. Another one we couldn’t get was “With Or Without You” because Bono’s... Bono.

Stylus: For the album you picked ten great cover songs, but at the show you unveiled an original composition, “Mr. Goodbar.” Are any of you writing originals to bring to the group?

Mike Engstrom: I’m only speaking for myself here.

I hum and haw and I’ll write a few lines that could go into a song, but I’m not really an expert at putting a song together. I’ve got ideas for themes and arrangements... We definitely have strong writers in the group and it’s something we’re definitely going to pursue. Singing something that came from within the group felt amazing. On the other hand, we love picking out covers we love, songs that people recognize and really get into.

BP: We can’t argue that[‘s not] some of the biggest appeal for an a cappella group. People love hearing a different take on a song they know well.

ME: It’s all in the arrangement. Take the group Pentatonix; you hear a song, you know it’s a cover, but it makes you hyper and excited because it sounds so fresh. It sounds like a new song.

BP: And I don’t know who said this, but it’s taking a song down a different path. A new journey. I have a book of songs at home.

12 Stylus Magazine Aug/Sept 2012

Just lyrics and ideas... but no melodies! [laughs] But we’ve been talking about it, about bringing our ideas forward to the group, seeing what works and seeing what doesn’t. “Mr. Goodbar” was a huge success...

ME: It was a hit!

BP: I guess you could say it was a #1. It was received very well by our audience, and I’d like to eventually work out a balance of covers to originals.

Stylus: Have all the best songs already been written?

JC: [laughs] I don’t think so; I think there’s some room to hack something together. There’s a lot of cool stuff coming out lately and it’s just a matter of finding that cool stuff and trying to... “a cappella-ize” that cool stuff and even throw out some cool stuff of our own.

Stylus: I’m sure you just love being asked the question of “Why a cappella?” Lately, the genre seems to be getting more exposure.

BP: The a cappella community, not just in Winnipeg but in Canada, is so small. I think there’s a ton of potential, and people need to just call up their friends and just start a group. I’d like to encourage this. I mean, we’re not alone; there are groups like Interchord and Tiffany... all doing great things, but I wish that there was more of a community out there that supported a cappella. Some friendly competition would be nice. We’re getting a lot of support from our friends and family and they’re bringing new people into the fold. My goal right now is to push this local scene. We have Flo play with us, we’ve rolled with M-Caps, the Xanadudes

have played a show with us... the Melissa Pletts out there... We’re putting out a call to all the artists out there that we need to help each other out. I’m calling you out, J.P. Hoe! Put us on your show, let us open for your crowd, let’s help each other out.

ME: That’s the point I was going to make! There’s nothing wrong with being small and not exploding “Hollywood-style.” Having a strong local community of musician friends helping each other out to reach new people and having a strong local following is great. It would be such an accomplishment to just be played on the CBC! Stylus: I have to talk about the live show. You guys are a party band. You play with the crowd, you’re out in the audience... Mike, you are a ladies’ man! [laughter] At the CD release show there was that lady who almost stuck her tongue down your throat!

ME: [laughs] Oh, I knew her...

Stylus: There’s theatricality, the energy is palpable, but I don’t think that many people would associate that with a cappella.

BP: Well the studio and the stage are two completely different beasts. We have a lighting guy, stage director, everything. When you’ve got people in front of you, you feed off of it. It is a spectacle, that’s what we want. People left happy. We achieved our goal.

And that’s something that we’re going to keep doing.

You can find out when the next party is at thoseguysacappella.com.

PROPAGANDHI REC HOCKEY AND FAILED S T A T E S

BY SHELDON BIRNIE

O n September 4th, Epitaph Records O

will release Failed States, Propagandhi’s sixth studio album, giving heavy hitting music fans a few months to enjoy headbanging along with it before constricting economic and geopolitical realities propel our society into its final phase or, alternately, “Nibiru comes flying out of the Oort cloud and annihilates Earth in late December.” Over a couple beers on a blistering hot July afternoon, Chris Hannah sat down with Stylus to chat about rec hockey, the state of the world, and the new record.

“After the last record [2009’s Supporting Caste] we did a year and a half, almost two years of touring,” Hannah explained. “As soon as we got home, we just started, we really hunkered down. I think the songs got written in a year. We recorded in a month and a few weeks. It’s the fastest we’ve ever done it. Probably because we don’t usually bear down and do it. We usually do it piecemeal, lazy fashion. But this time we were like, let’s just fucking do it.”

Fucking do it they did, judging by the title track, which was released online in mid-July. A rager in the tradition of classic Propagandhi ragers, the tune clocks in at just under two minutes long. While of course nodding the hat to failed nation-states, Hannah explained that “Failed States” is focused closer to home.

“There’s the state of consciousness, and a failed state of consciousness.”

“There are a few more abstract thoughts about us as people and human nature on the record,” he con-

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tinued. “I guess some of that might be inspired by reading some stuff like Chris Hedges, where some of his work talks about how we need to accept that we are imperfect, and that darkness exists in everybody. There’s no need to seek perfection. When you do, it turns into a nightmare. You see it over and over. When we build institutions to perfect technology or humanity or whatever, it always ends in disaster. So the institutions that we build should be there to bring out the best in us, and to discourage the worst in us.”

Hoping to get some more insight into the as-yet-unheard tunes, Stylus wonders if maybe the album as a whole can fit into that theme, one where geo-political states have not only failed us as citizens, but the world as a whole? Hannah reassures us the whole album isn’t doom and gloom.

“There’s a song on there called ‘Things I Like,’ which is literally an itemized list of things I like,” he says with a smile. “The song turned out really cool. I guess that’s sort of off the beaten path for us. Although the last word in the song is ‘doom’ still, now that I’m thinking about it.”

It’s hard to keep doom off of one’s mind in times like ours, where our federal government is busy dismantling social and environmental infrastructure that has been at the forefront of developed nations for years (see Old Age Security and the Experimental Lakes Area for two examples among countless others). As the father of a young child, Hannah has seen intel-

lectual truths his band has been singing about for years transformed into concerns that are far more pressing than he’d previously imagined.

“I don’t understand how those guys,” he says, shaking his head, “how Stephen Harper himself doesn’t worry for his children. I mean, if he thinks putting his family in a gated community is going to save them from what’s coming... Which could be within our lifetimes, a total disintegration of social order as we know it, from ecological catastrophe.”

“But I don’t know what to do about it,” he admits. “I don’t know what to tell my son when he’s older, and he goes, ‘So your response to ecological insanity, war, patriarchy, rape culture, animal exploitation, was to start a band?’”

Starting a band that has been going strong for over 20 years, engaging fans across the world in an ongoing dialogue about those issues, though, is a far cry from sitting on one’s hands and ignoring the world’s problems altogether. While Hannah might not feel that he is as engaged as he should be, through Propagandhi’s six albums the band has helped to radicalize and engage thousands of bewildered and unwashed youth over the years.

With the release of Failed States on Epitaph, the band’s doom-laden, but ultimately hopeful message may have a chance at reaching its largest audience yet. However, Hannah admits he and his bandmates may have been skeptical at first about signing with such a relatively large American label.

“As a band, we’re pretty gun-shy

of big American indie labels,” he said.

“But then I talked to John Samson from the Weakerthans and he gave this totally honest, very positive report. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s interesting.’ I talked to Kurt Ballou from Converge, and he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s awesome.’”

To date, Hannah says the working relationship with Epitaph has been purely positive. “There’s been no false advertising,” he says. “They’re very artist friendly, very respectful, and they did a good job.”

Following the September 4th release of Failed States, Propagandhi are hitting the road hard with fellow Winnipeggers Comeback Kid for a month of dates along the East Coast of the US and Canada. Stylus asked Hannah, a rec hockey fanatic and third-line grinder for ASHL’s Caress of Steel, how the tour will affect his season.

“I’m bracing myself for missing up to eight games of the 32 game season with Caress of Steel, which is huge.

That’s a huge amount to miss,” he says. “I’ll make it work. I’ll probably take my gear on the road and book ice time. There’s some guys who do that in bands. We’ve never done that before, but fuck, it sounds amazing to me. Beave’ll probably bring his. One of our road crew guys plays hockey.

We’ll make it work.”

Pick up Propagandhi’s Failed States September 4, 2012 at your favourite independent music retailer in Winnipeg, or pre-order your copy online from kingsroadmerch.com/Propagandhi

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

13

Profile:

BY SHELDON DEAN

What started as a small snowball of

an idea bouncing between two friends has built itself into an avalanche of creativity within Winnipeg’s DIY music scene. After a few months of bouncing around, the No Label Collective was rolling and picking up speed.

Founded last winter by Dave Skene (Mary Jane Stole My Girl, the Manic Shakes) and Charles Granger (Ex-Modern Teen), No Label quickly blossomed into a diverse and tightknit collective who are interested in finding fun and innovative ways to promote each others’ projects.

“We’re kindred spirits in a way,” explained Granger. “I bounced the idea off of Skene. It wasn’t like ‘let’s start a label,’ but more of a skills sharing co-op.”

“We were already playing shows together,” says Nick Friesen (Merch Table Delite) on how the bands in the collective came together. “It was already a scene. We just decided to pool our resources, give it a name. When people are working together it’s a little easier, and people take you a little more seriously, maybe.”

Something that connects all of the diverse No Label acts [ed. note: see sidebar for a list] is “sort of like a DIY kind of aesthetic,” says Tiff Bartel (Crusty Cat). “Everybody does things themselves. They don’t pay somebody else a ton of money to make them

14 Stylus Magazine Aug/Sept 2012

sound good. People in the collective do posters for each other, or do art.”

One of the first projects that No Label began pushing was the idea of “video posters” to promote upcoming No Label gigs via social media. With a handful of filmmakers in the collective, this has proved to be a fun and effective way of practicing filmmaking and promoting shows. They’ve also been recording, on video and audio, most of their No Label shows, and posting them almost immediately online for those who just can’t get enough.

Apart from Skene, Granger, Friesen, and Bartel’s acts, the No Label collective is also home to punk legend and CKUW host Johnny Sizzle, as well as local outsider rockers Kato Destroy and Hey Pilgrim.

“We would get shows before the label but we didn’t really know where we fit in with Kato Destroy,” says Kato’s Jimmy Shand. “We have a ballad here and there, a punk song, a crazy metal song. Sometimes we’d play a metal show at the Zoo with these crazy hardcore metal bands and we just wouldn’t fit in. With No Label, it doesn’t matter. Everyone’s different, but still somehow the same.”

“I think us, being from Hey Pilgrim, we were a bit of outsiders because we weren’t really friends with these other guys at first,” explains Pilgrim’s Tom Hurlburt. After playing

a few shows with the Manic Shakes and Ex-Modern Teen, the band was approached by Granger about joining the collective. “It’s been really boosting for everyone, because now everyone has to get their shit in order.”

Beyond building an inclusive, proactive scene within the Winnipeg music community, No Label is working to produce a string of releases for the second half of 2012. So far, No Label has released the Manic Shakes 7” in June, which has charted highly on campus and community stations in Winnipeg, and Merch Table Delite’s lo-fi recordings from 2007 to 2012 in July, as well as a collective sampler CD. In August, Ex-Modern Teen’s Teen Lion will be re-released with a disc of bonus material, while in September the collective will release their tribute to Neil “Wheels” Hope, featuring all of the No Label acts as well as a number of “friends of the collective,” such as Vav Jungle, Brian James, and Josh Benoit. October looks to be exciting, as No Label puts out a long anticipated new release from Johnny Sizzle. Also look for a regular No Label night at the Rose n’ Bee Pub (formerly the Standard Tavern) on the first Saturday of the month, starting in September.

As far as long term goals for the collective go beyond the current year, that’ll be something decided by the group itself over the course of their

regular No Label meetings.

“My biggest dream right now would be for the collective to put on some sort of festival,” says Granger, an admittedly “big dreamer,” who would also like to see some distribution for No Label releases as their catalogue continues to grow. “Whether that’s a music festival, or a film festival, an arts festival, whatever.”

“I’d just like to see a progression for the bands,” says Hurlburt. “I’d like to see them not have success in the terms of dollar signs, but have success in terms of doing what they want to do.”

“I feel like we need another meeting with the collective to feel out how serious we want to get,” says Granger, concluding our chat. “There’s so many good people involved that we could make a really big snowball to push off the mountain. I always equate my ideas to one of those uncontrollable snowballs that gets bigger and bigger as it goes down the hill. My ideas always start as a real little snowball. But with all these people we could make something as big as a frickin’ house and get it rolling down the hill.”

Keep your eyes on lampposts, billboards, Facebook walls and pretty much anywhere you least expect it for No Label gig posters all around the city.

PROOF

FA

DOCKET #

4438

IMAGE FILE

PROJECT

2012 U OF WINNIPEG STYLUS

ITEM

CLIENT PROOF DATE

Andrew Dunn, Winnipeg 18 April 2012

PHOTOGRAPHER FILE NAME

KBialous-110323-35.tif LOCATION British Columbia 2012 U OF WINNIPEG HANDBOOK Kamil Bialous 4438_E_2012_Stylus_Winnipeg

MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT CO-OP 149 WEST 4TH AVENUE, VANCOUVER, BC V5Y 4A6 604.707.3300

LANGUAGE SIZE COLOURS DESIGNER

English 3.875in x 5in CMYK Norman.Coloma@mec.ca

Sunnyroads with Joan Hreno

Fridays, 10:00a.m. on CKUW 95.9 FM or streaming online at www.ckuw.ca

PENNER Y DARCY PHOTO B

For two years, Joan Hreno has been hosting Sunnyroads, providing listeners with a mix of eclectic music and local guests, all steeped in her downto-earth, affable charm. Hreno recently sat down for a cup of coffee with Stylus, and explained the inspirations that formed the aggregate that is Sunnyroads.

“I guess when I started thinking about a show… my idea is that it would sort of be a little bit like ‘Who are the people in your area.’ Like if I had guests on, they wouldn’t necessarily be famous people, but that could happen – the famous people of Winnipeg,” explains Hreno. “And then it would also be a cross between that and that BBC show Desert Island Discs, a show I have always loved.

People go on there and play their favourtie songs.

Part of the idea would be that I had a questionnaire for them, and I give it to them ahead of the show.”

Hreno’s show is an honest reflection of her own preferences. “My interest is in that. So I tried to make a show that I would like to hear. And I always want to hear what people recommend, what their favourite Winnipeg breakfast spot is, who

16 Stylus Magazine Aug/Sept 2012

they are listening, what song they felt was influential in their life. Sort of a grassroots things. And then the rest of the time when I don’t have guests, I sort of make up my own themes.”

Having a lifelong love for radio, Hreno had a desire to contribute her part to the tradition. “It was always something I wanted to do. I always wanted to host a radio show but was too chicken. I was at Folk Festival two years ago and I heard Stu Reid, who hosts TwangTrust, hosting the stage there, talking about how much fun it was. And then I said ‘Really, what am I waiting for?’” A friend arranged a coffee date with Reid, and soon enough Hreno was off to CKUW, show proposal in hand.

After seven months of volunteering, co-hosting, fill-in hosting, and the insightful guidance and training of Kent Davies, Hreno got her first show in August of 2010.

“I guess I feel like I have all this energy I put into it myself and it is nice to spread it around. I heard Jian Ghomeshi talking about being a cultural curator - about that role. Truth is all of this is accessible to anybody. I don’t have any secret way of getting it… A lot of people see themselves as

fans. And as a fan I like to see these musicians and bands get some exposure.”

Although centered on folk and roots, Hreno is not afraid to explore the eclectic nature of her program. “As far as what type of music I play, I don’t like to be confined by a genre. I always like that Louis Armstrong quote, ‘There are only two kinds of music, the good and the bad. I play the good.’

I like that quote to describe [the show]. I probably play a lot of roots, folk, and pop more,” but if something else catches her ear and has an emotional connection, Hreno will play it. “Like I really got into Portuguese… a sort of traditional kind of singing. I played a lot of that a year ago for about three weeks. [laughs] That was fun.”

An English instructor by day (and some nights), Hreno’s show fulfills her desire to participate in the radio culture. “I think it is a lovely tradition to be a part of in some small way. It is romantic. There is something really romantic about it,” she says, smiling.

Catch Hreno and Sunnyroads on CKUW 95.9 Fridays at 10:00a.m.

TURNING OUTRAGE INTO POSITIVE CHANGE

By Brad Skibinsky

Winnipeg is known for many things. If I were to list

the top responses I get from people from elsewhere, they would include murder, child poverty, the city being a frozen shithole, and arson.

The legal definition of arson must satisfy four elements, encompassed by the phrase “The malicious burning of the dwelling of another.” Every year, as soon as the snow begins to recede, local media begins heralding the onset of arson season as though it is a natural phenomenon, as cyclical as the changing of the weather. In the last decade, arson has been both a terrible, dangerous crime and a media obsession, simultaneously becoming an identity and a premature endpoint in the discussion of the larger social forces at play in our city. It had become an ubiquitous phenomenon and, to some, a representation of the end result of an ill-advised trend towards cutting services that were available to inner city youth in a city already known for its child poverty, gang violence and high murder rates. It had been latched onto by the media in such a sensationalistic fervor with no examination of possible root causes, and still is, now that the problem has moved from its comfortable hiding spot in the “pockets of the inner city, where small arsons and fires were relatively common” into the suburban dreamscape of Fort Rouge.* The beginnings of this phenomenon and its political context are the environment that Arsonfest was born in, in the wake of the wave of larger cultural panic around the turn of the millenium.

Grindcore and the DIY scene have always had an element of social consciousness, if not a political bent. Much of what has been done has been in direct response to a lack of options and a general outrage at the glaring injustices inherent in day to day life. Arsonfest also occupies that sphere of thought; the idea that not everything needs to be set up by another, with its existence subject to their whims,

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and alongside that, a sense of social responsibility also exists.

Arsonfest organizer Mike Alexander and his long-running promotional entity Mount Elgon Productions have made a point of using the festival’s existence not only to provide a safe space for an all ages crowd to witness some of the most brutal bands to come through Winnipeg for the last 12 years, the festival’s proceeds are also donated to a rotating cast of community organizations that are largely ignored or marginalized by government funders. Past festivals have benefitted Osborne House, Powwow to Honour Children (who have died as a result of violence), the Rainbow Resource Center, and Free Grassy Narrows. Proceeds from this year’s festival will be donated to Sisters In Spirit in lieu of any meaningful action on the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women displayed most recently by the powers that be.

“Sisters in Spirit is a national organization that honours missing and murdered Aboriginal women across the country,” says Alexander. “SIS rallies support for the families of these women while speaking out against this tragedy. In 2011, SIS organized a total of 84 vigils and marches across the country, keeping the stories of these women in the public eye. Mount Elgon Productions recognizes these efforts and commits the proceeds of Arsonfest 2012 to Sisters In Spirit.”

The connection between the crime of arson and the festival ends with the name, and the rest is left to pundits like Harry Lazarenko - who famously decried what he misinterpreted as a flippant use of the term - to misunderstand at a glance. However, a comparison between an arsonist burning another’s property and the auditory damage that the visiting bands have done to the hearing of the attendees is appropriate. Past performances have included a

pre-Relapse Mastodon, Bloody Phoenix, Brainoil, Damage Deposit, Half Gorilla, Mudlark, Six Brew Bantha, Haggatha, Big Trouble In Little China, Wolbachia, The Endless Blockade, Northless, Sick/ Tired, Osk, and tons more.

This year’s lineup and full info are online on Facebook and at massdeadening.com. Performance highlights include locals Archagathus, Violent Gorge, Putrescence, Cetascean, Scab Smoker, Flash Out and Plague; and aural decimation from elsewhere will be brought by the Great Sabatini (QC), Bridgeburner (BC), Honour and Devour (BC), Burning Ghats (BC), a return performance by Wisconsin wrecking ball Northless, Misanthropic Noise (CT), Violent Restitution (BC, not to be missed), Gowl (CT) and Wisconsin’’s Shroud Of Despondancy.

2012 sees Arsonfest taking up residence at Negative Space on August 10th and 11th, with exclusive local record distribution by Mass Deadening. Tickets are $15 for each night of the festival, available at the door.

Get on the internet and do your research; there is not a slouch among the lineup, and not a moment of relaxation will be had.

Further information on Sisters In Spirit can be found at sistersinspirit.ca. *from Winnipeg Free Press, March 8, 2012

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

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BUCK 65 PERFORMING “PANTS ON FIRE” AT THE PYRAMID ON JULY 21ST.

Live Bait BUCK 65 w/ Rob Crooks and Colleen Brown @ Pyramid Cabaret Friday, July 21, 20112

By Dwayne Toole As I wander through dark alleys and obscure routes on my way to The Pyramid Cabaret I think back to when I first heard Buck 65. One late night in 2006 while mindlessly channel surfing I happened upon The Mike Bullard Show airing on The Comedy Network. Never was a big fan of the show but I landed there just as the musical guest entered. When an average looking, non-assuming man took the stage with nothing more than a pair of decks and a mic, I decided to pause a moment and indulge. I was instantly captivated by his raspy voice that flowed through perfectly timed analytical rhymes, which complimented his raw original beats, mixes and tracks. Needless to say I have been an avid follower ever since. Buck 65 became a large part of my music repertoire during many smokey “Spirit Quests.”

Finally having the chance to see the young Buck live made me awfully tickled pink with excitment after all this time. I found it very humbling to see him in a relitively intimate show. Buck has payed his dues ten fold over the years and he has also blown the roof off crowds of thousands, but seeing him here in a low key environment was amazing. It gave the show a personal feel that mirrored the setting I had always listened to him in. Buck shows a relent-

22 Stylus Magazine Aug/Sept 2012 20

PHOTO BY ANDREW MAZURAK

less talent in the way his sharp witty lyrics ingested newly reworked tracks and the pairing with upand-coming talent Colleen Brown for the last half of the set was definitely a great compliment to the night. [ArtD’s Note: Their rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire” was brilliant!]

I’d give the show a solid 4 out of 5 and I can strongly say with confidence that with a career spanning almost twenty years with over a dozen albums Buck 65 remains one of Canada’s top MCs.

DRAWN & PLASTERED’S ROCKABILLY NIGHT w/ Greg Arcade and The Electrics @ Le Garage Café Saturday, July 14, 2012

By Shanell Dupras After attending one of America’s largest car shows, Back to the Fifties, I developed a sudden obsessions with ‘50s style rockabilly, and Drawn and Plastered’s Rockabilly theme night at Le Garage Café helped to feed this obsession even more. How could you go wrong with going all out rockabilly style (including skin tight polka dot dresses, the brightest red lipstick imaginable, and curls covered with an entire can of hair spray) and actually fit in?

This night was filled with everything ‘50s: pin up girls, greasers, a fashion show by rockabilly clothing stores in Winnipeg (which I didn’t know existed), and even a live rockabilly band.

My night started off with a burlesque performance by Ruby Redlips (there were other burlesque girls, but unfortunately I missed them). Now I had never seen a burlesque show so I was not sure what to expect, and (thank goodness) it was a Le Garage Café approved burlesque show (so no, you did not see everything). After seeing photos of the other performances, there seemed to be a pattern of the women covering themselves up in… interesting ways to say the least.

The music for the evening was provided by DJ Cabarnet and a live performance by Greg Arcade and the Electrics. The Electrics played some tracks from Greg Arcade’s solo album; “I’m a Lion” and “She’s a Rockin’ and a Rollin,’” just to name a couple.

They also pulled out some old ‘50s tunes, and some new songs from their new album set to be released September 26th. The Electrics added to the ‘50s feel by not only dressing up, but also using an old style microphone and guitars (Sean’s Ibanez bass being a favourite of mine). Although the stage was teeny tiny, the four piece band managed to squeeze themselves on the stage and create the perfect atmosphere to get nearly everyone dancing.

This night was not entirely about the music, the burlesque, or the fashion show, but about basking in the nostalgia that was the 1950s. Although seeing all of the outfits and watching Greg Arcade and the Electrics perform made it perfect for me. This was a night that I will not soon forget, and I really hope that Drawn and Plastered (a company that focuses on themed events) decides to do an event like this again in the future.

Local Spotlight that this needs more drive or momentum pushed to the fore and my ears, but this time that is my own bias.

Fans of Am Rep, Hide Your Daughters, Ken Mode, Kittens, check it out.

(No List Records, nolistrecords.com) Brad Skibinsky

THE STRAP Another Point Of View/Another Point Of You Homegrown noise rock by way of Meatrack, Stagmummer and more recently Ken Mode. Digging a little deeper by way of their Manitoba Music page it turns out that they are alumni from both Meatrack and Stagmummer. Jeff Laplante is even given a writing credit, though he does not appear on the record. Their Bandcamp page mentions cues from Frank Zappa and The Jesus Lizard, which resonates with their aforementioned qualifications to a point; though I have to say there has always been a problem with comparisons to Jesus Lizard, as there is a momentum and synergy there that I don’t think any other band on the planet could ever encapsulate, and that always serves to illustrate the differences between the band making the comparison and JL instead of the intended mental pairing. This is true even of JL vocalist Yow’s involvement in fellow Chicago noise rock (read: total JL worship) outfit Qui, so it is not a bias against a hometown crew that have been carving out this trench for the last 10-15 years. Rather, I have always resorted to reading this as a statement of intent rather than a direct musical comparison, and in that way it makes some sense. Distorted vocals sit at the front of the mix, backed up by meaty fuzzed out bass and tonally complimentary guitars that periodically break off into separate intertwining leads. There are some proggy time signatures represented, but it is more Rollins band-esque than math rock (see track four, “Dream Date”). Well executed, perhaps a particular feel

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SITDOWNTRACY Twenty Something Winters Sitdowntracy’s second album is quite an improvement from their first.

The melodies are catchier, the vocals are more tuned up, the production quality is higher (might I add it was mastered by Harris Newman, who has also mastered albums for Arcade Fire?). In fact, the only thing the first one had better than Twenty Something Winters is that with Roaring Noon more effort was put into the album art. With Twenty Something Winters, Sitdowntracy dropped the guitar oriented Woodstock-type sound and aimed more for a ‘60s pop/folk/ psychedelic sound. This album taps into many different emotions during its 40 minute run time, starting out with some happy pop-folky sounds, then tapping into your mellow side with a ‘60s psychedelic pop feel. By

“Tonight,” Twenty Something Winters takes on a more eery approach, with the track sounding like something that came out of a twisted clown skit at the circus. The album ends off on a much happier note, with “All of the Days Sing All the Time.” You could say this album has a sort of… sandwich effect. It starts off sounding one way, then moving into another, and returning back to the happy sound from the beginning. (Independent, sitdowntracy.ca) Shanell Dupras

KERI LATIMER Crowsfeet and Greyskull I was playing cards late the other night with my old lady. The window was open to the alley and the night outside. We sipped on wine as the hands played themselves out. From the stereo, the songs off Keri Latimer’s new solo effort poured into the room.

Latimer’s beautiful voice accompanies the well written and sparsely arranged tunes perfectly. “Persuader” is a dark little rocker with a bit of a groove to it.

The title track is a beautiful little ditty with some nice piano work courtesy of Christine Fellows. “So Long” is probably my favourite track on here, a

track which really showcases both Latimer’s distinctively voice, but also her top-notch songwriting. “Liquidation Sale” is another great track, which sounds like the lovechild of the Weakerthans’ “Everything Must Go” and Dolly Parton’s “Bargain Store.”

All in all, a great disc to put on for both sexy times and reflective times.

(Independent, kerilatimer.com) Sheldon Birnie

CARLY MAICHER Hiding At the same time that Carly Maicher’s debut album provides a wonderful escape in all its elegant simplicity, it is also slightly foreboding, seeming dark and complex. While slow, effortless and beautiful, this album explores the realms of self-doubt, heartache and longing. It leaves you at an impasse, feeling mellowed and measured.

Maicher’s voice is stirring and strong, controlled for the most part and yet beautiful when allowed to deviate from arrangement. Maicher wrote Hiding after “romanticizing about running away to a far-away land.”

That land being a family-owned summer home in Grand Manan, and her “running away” adventure lasted for three and a half years. The sea, escape, and time are obvious motifs that remain constant throughout this album and serve as a trusted backdrop. Fellow folker Zachary Lucky collaborated on this album, in contributing on banjo and guitar. Aesthetically, the album is packaged in a soft canvas and the cover art couldn’t be more perfect.

This album goes great with a tall glass of wine and a secluded dock at dusk.

(Independent, carlymaicher.bandcamp.com) Victoria King

DecAug/Sept 2011/Jan 2012 Stylus Magazine

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Root Cellar

GORDIE TENTREES North Country Heart Coming straight out of Whitehorse, Yukon, songwriter named Gordie has been travelling the world since the release of his last disc, Mercy or Sin, in 2009 and he shows no signs of slowing down with North Country Heart.

TIF GINN Tif Ginn This debut solo disc from Texas’ Tif Ginn is at once a fresh sounding 12 tracks and a throw-back to the glory days of honky tonk angels. Formerly part of the duo the Ginn Sisters, Tif has left her sister behind and is forging ahead solo on the Hillbilly Highway. Well, she might not be entirely on her own... As a touring part of the Fred Eaglesmith Traveling Steam Show for the past few years, Tif has certainly benefitted from flying alongside ol’ Fred. Eaglesmith acts as co-producer here as well as cowriter on over half of the tracks, and his traveling band performs back-up throughout. Recorded in the clas-

sic live off the floor, straight to tape mono style, the tunes on this album wouldn’t sound out of place on a jukebox in a truck-stop anywhere in North America, alongside the greats like Loretta Lynn and the late Patsy Cline and Kitty Wells. Stand-out tunes for this old dog are the lead-off tune “Pretty As You Please,” the hard living lament “Little White Pills,” and heartbreaking “Better Half.” If you’re a classic country fan yearning for that classic sound, but want something that hasn’t been rehashed a hundred times, pick this disc up now, and pour yourself a whisky on the rocks.

(Independent, theginnsisters.com) Sheldon Birnie

long time members in their own right, having put in more than a decade each. The lyrical misanthropy is still flowing freely, and in the hands of a lesser band the approach might come off as jaded or contrived, but these guys are able to put forth material that is both built for the festival stage and direct enough to retain a genuine “fuck the world” expression. It would be a farce to expect this to measure up to the hungry band from the Endless Pain/Pleasure To Kill era, but I get the sense that they realize this as well, and have dodged the rehash bullet that so many of these bands willingly fire into their own faces at this stage of their career. (Nuclear Blast, nuclearblast.de) Brad Skibinsky

have come to expect. They turn down the technical aspect a bit in favor of a slightly slower chugging guitar.

Their previous effort obZen was flirting with the technical aspect a little too much so Koloss is a welcome departure. Not to say these Swedish fellas have lost their edge; one listen to tracks like “The Demon’s Name is Surveillance” and “Swarm” will reassure any fan that the band are still firmly planted in their roots. They are simply branching out in ways that make each album unique. The album in its entirety is absolutely exhausting. Come the last riff of “Demiurge,” the listener is blessed with a slow instrumental to close things out and in perfect time; any more punishing riffs and you would be bleeding out of your ears and your brain would be mush. “Do Not Look Down” and “Marrow” open with friendly almost bouncy riffs that draw you in, but the intensity resurrects itself quickly and the listener is thrown, once again, into an uncontrollable fit of rage. This album is certainly one of Meshuggah’s finest to date. (Nuclear Blast, nuclearblast.de/en) Scott Wolfe

MESHUGGAH Koloss On Meshuggah’s seventh album they waste no time kicking it into heavy gear with the legendary sound fans

ANIMALS KILLING PEOPLE / ANDROMORPHUS REXALIA split CD How refreshing... these bands both cause cascading organ failure from the

first blast to the last, and there is very little in the way of letup between. Extremely vicious goregrind, catchy riffs, fucking crazy fast, and as caustic as a condom stuffed with lye exploding in your gut on a trans-Atlantic flight.

Both of these bands share members, with the exception being the vocalist in each, but you would not know that by listening. They both have their own take on auditory punishment, AKP being more riff-oriented and AR as being more unhinged in their approach, but both bands are stunningly heavy and completely dominating.

This is also striking for the fact that it destroys typical goregrind’s tired dependence on porn-related imagery and lyrical content, instead focusing its efforts on delivering a mental IED of hatred for the human race, and fantastical tales of the fifth dimension and hidden parallel universes. I have not been floored like this since the last Wormed EP. Fans of all things considered to be unapologetically devastating (ie. Human Mincer) need to hear this and take notes. Be prepared to devote some time to collecting your wilted offal off the floor afterwards.

(Sevared Records, sevared.com) Brad Skibinsky

A vocal and songwriting style that falls somewhere between Joey Only and Corb Lund, Tentrees lays out a dozen tales from the roads in, around, and out from the North Country he calls home. Barn burning road songs like “Wheel & Wrench” and “Sideman Blues” mix it up beside the lovesick blues of “Last Word” and “Holy Moly.” Throw in a couple good boozin’ tunes like “Wasted Moments” and you’ve got a good old country time.

Featuring a tight set of pickers backing him up, North Country Heart is Tentrees’ most solid effort yet. Check for him as he drives the highways endlessly in support of this beauty of a disc. (Independent, tentrees.ca) Sheldon Birnie

Iconoclast

KREATOR Phantom Antichrist If you count the pre-Mille era, this band has been going for 30+ years.

This is their 13th studio effort. The last time I checked in with Kreator was Extreme Aggression in 1989, and they have covered a lot of ground between then and now, not all of it in a linear progression; from straight up blistering thrash through the typical mid-to-late career metal band experimentation with more industrial product, followed by a trip back to the roots. This band, along with countrymen Sodom and Destruction, put Teutonic thrash on the map, and their latest offering is (surprisingly) fairly solid, taken in context. Founders Mille Petrozza and Jurgen “Ventor” Reil are still in the fold, joined by Sami Yli-Sirniö on guitar and Christian “Speesy” Giesler on bass — both

24 Stylus Magazine Aug/Sept 2012 22

tious and empowering with some nice shout alongs to boot. Considering the change this band has gone through it is clear that Pennywise’s veteran status and experience has pulled them through a slump that could have been the band’s downfall. This is by no means their best album but for the fans that stick with their beloved Pennywise, you will not be disappointed.

(Epitaph, epitaph.com) Scott Wolfe PENNYWISE All Or Nothing They are back! The future of these Cali punks was uncertain for a bit when lead singer Jim Lindberg recently left the band. Ignite’s singer, Zoli Teglas, took over vocal duties and does pretty well filling the shoes of Jim, though of course some fans will be absolutely up in arms about this. The sound is still Pennywise but resembles more of a hybrid between Pennywise and Ignite. Some fans may dig it and others will cease their Pennywise romance as a result. The lyrics get a little preachy at times but the messages address some important issues and demand action. Instead of the usual punk ethos “life is shit,” this albums take a better approach “life is shit… let’s make something of it!” The four cuts in a row “Let Us Hear Your Voice,” “Seeing Red,” “Songs of Sorrow” and “X Generation” are infec-

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SONATA ARTICA Stones Grow Her Name Great title there guys. Finland has so many more worthwhile bands it is almost impossible to conceive that this tripe exists there as well. 2012 does not need a mashup of Europe, Helloween, Live, and Dragonforce - this garbage should not even make the cut for a Guitar Hero soundtrack. Fourth rate cock rock flirting with euro disco sensibilities and crooning metal ballads with the lyrical instinct of Evanescence... further proof that Nuclear Blast will just throw any old shit at the wall, though sadly I am sure this “moves units” in some “markets.” A beautifully woven tapestry of absolutely no significance whatsoever. But hey, the splash page on NBA’s website will for sure sell this to... someone... fuck. (Nuclear Blast, nuclearblast.de) Brad Skibinsky

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

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Under The Needle

DIRTY PROJECTORS Swing Lo Magellan It would be hard to review Swing Lo Magellan without mentioning the more accessible and laid back approach the band has taken. Take for example the overall trend of less “strange” songs – the harmonizing with Angel Deradoorian (as in “Stillness is the Move,” from Bitte Orca) is sorely missed as Amerber Coffman and Haley Dekle are often relegated to “oooh, oooh” refrains. Even in songs like “Unto Ceaser,” comments from the band such as “that didn’t make any sense,” are included in the song alongside moments that feature only slow, sing along clapping.

In addition to the sound, the album is also the least obtuse album lyrically in the band’s catalogue. This opens up the band to a closer inspection of the lyrics. We see a tension at play, often in an inability to act or see something as it truly exists. “I knew that I had lost my sight,” concludes the title track. We see more of this sort of writing in “Gun Has No Trigger” (“If you’d looked you might have just seen them”) and “Dance for You” (“There is an answer / I haven’t found it”). Seeing things too late or seeing contradictions is prevalent too: one example in “Swing Lo Magellan” : “A point of light too invisible to give itself to the naked eye.”

The accessibility of sounds and lyrics will allow listeners to make their own reference points to the lyrics whether about being in love or wanting love (“Impregnable Question”/“See What She Seeing”) or the results of Big Oil (“Just from Chevron.”) Though maybe not the best, it’s one of the most relatable Dirty Projectors albums. (Domino, dominorecordco.com) Devin King

24 Stylus Magazine Aug/Sept 2012

DR. DOG Be the Void Dr. Dog’s latest album Be the Void is in theme with the season - sunny, hot, and much anticipated. This album has a wonderful throwback vibe to it, like some gem of an album that you found collecting dust in your basement.

With glimmering slick guitars that reverberate throughout, the recording sounds intensely musty. Nothing is overdone; nothing is rushed.

This seems to be the charm of this album – slow rolling rock with tinges of pop lyrics and melodies.

Be the Void sounds like it was left to simmer in the sun for the afternoon, and ended up with a golden tan. This is the second album that the Philadelphia-based band has released through the Anti- label.

Considering this album’s excellent predecessor Shame Shame Shame, this looks to be a fruitful relationship. If you’re only looking for a couple tracks for your summer playlist, I’d recommend “These Days,” “Do the Trick,” “Big Girl” and “Warrior Man.” But really, do yourself (and your iPod) a favour and pick up the album. (Anti-, anti. com) Victoria King HOT PANDA Go Outside If you’ve ever wanted Dan Bejar to drop the literary references and make a straight-up rock record, this is for you. It’s actually remarkable to think that Chris Connelly isn’t consciously trying to emulate the enigmatic Vancouver songwriter.

This is mostly in his pronunciation, as in opening track “One in the Head, One in the Chest,” where he pronounces “interest” in chopped syllables, becoming “in-ter-est.”

Go Outside is successful as a rock

record, with catchy guitar-driven songs throughout. In this sense, the pacing is great. Many albums would cram all the most single-worthy songs into the first three tracks of the album.

Hot Panda have the audacity to cram one of these songs in at the end of the album, unlisted on the tracklist.

There’s darkness to the album, though you wouldn’t know it by the music.

Judged by the music alone, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a cheery summer album. “Maybe Now?” features bouncy keyboard pokes that seem overly playful. The elastic bass line on the title track gives a similar feeling. “Go Outside” is one of the hallmarks of this balance between dark and light, as we hear the speaker balance his feelings with being optimistic (here, read as going outside,

as if going outside were a good thing, anyway). This is really the focus of the album – seeing light through the dark, and trying to make your way through it as best as you can. In a way, this is the cheery Canadian response to Cloud Nothing’s excellent Attack on Memory, released earlier this year.

This is encapsulated in the album art of a naked man diving into a pool in the darkness. All in, no reservations, in spite of the darkness. (Mint Records,mintrecs.com) Devin King HUSKY Forever So Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Husky’s debut album Forever So is a precisely crafted pop album, filled with songs beautifully arranged around fingerpicked guitar with a

continual sense of drive gently pushing the listener through the album.

Husky Gawenda’s vocals are impressive in their range and aching croon, and the complementing layered harmonies seamlessly smooth and swell throughout the songs. Accrediting the band’s common inspiration to the classic pop of Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, and The Beach Boys, this quartet’s greatest strength is their arrangements – gorgeous constructions that surround you in warm, delicate tones, always tasteful, and always (annoyingly) gentle.

Unfortunately, although inspiringly beautiful, there are few moments that last with me from this. The builds are bursting with potential, but they never climax into the triumph I expect – potentially a conscious choice by the band, but I am regularly left wanting more. The melodies are thought through and very pleasing to listen to, but don’t quite ever catch me. A welcome change from summer-pop, Forever So and its gentle beauty (these words cannot be overused describing this album) should be enjoyed on a cool day with a glass of red wine, but once it is finished, you likely won’t remember too many distinct moments. (Sub Pop, subpop.com) Darcy Penner

more like remixed versions of D2D songs. The first audible change, aside from the much more synthetic clublike sound, is how much more instruments blend together. The second is that the instruments seem to play with a lot more effect than ever before.

Vocals, as always, are distinctive and perfect for a high energy gig, but not the focus for most songs. D2D has moved further from eclectic eccentrics with an addictive yet bizarre sound to assimilate towards being mainstream DJ party animals, with an epic sound that deserves to be cranked from the airwaves proudly with the windows down. (Independent, delhi2dublin. com) Jesse Blackman HOT CHIP In Our Heads The boys in Hot Chip are masters of their craft, no doubt. They make catchy simple dance floor ready synthpop gems relatively consistently.

However, on their latest effort, In Our Heads, something is lacking. It’s hard to place exactly what, all the songs are good but the first listen finds the listener intrigued but not impressed.

There are definite highs and lows on this album as a result of the creativity this group possesses. However, upon repeated listens the album loses more of the catchiness and begins to take on an increasingly dull vibe, which leads me to believe that this album has little shelf life. “Flutes,” album opener “Motion Sickness,” and “How Do You Do?” find Hot Chip at their best, however the rest of the album feels almost disjointed. These dudes are so

creative and are oozing with rad ideas, yet it’s almost as if they spread themselves out too thin. The slow burning “Look At Where We Are” and “Now There is Nothing” are puzzling and will have the listener head scratching wondering what is going on with this album. Is it a mish-mash playlist of random electro-pop or a record? The latter is supposed to have some sort of cohesive flow, which is lacking here.

(Domino Recording Co. dominorecordco.com) Scott Wolfe

MILK AND RECTANGLES Milk and Rectangles Milk and Rectangles’ self-titled debut full length follows three EPs of “indierock, art-pop and garage.” The Halifax based four piece relies on eighth-note strumming rhythms guitars on top of simple-as-GarageBand-loops drums to support vocals that wander in and out of 60s influenced pop melodies.

The style is consistent, with the exception of some dance-heavy tracks (“Heart’s the Target”) and some guitar/vocal only pieces (“Nobody’s Fool”). All of the tracks on this album are in the same vein, but only a few click, and the roughly produced effort

as a whole tends to be vocal and guitar hooks that don’t quite catch on top of a mid-tempo monotonous rhythm section.

The tracks that do work show the potential for what Milk and Rectangles are going for, notably the final track, “A Loaded Question” – a short pop-rock piece with a catchy chorus, nicely complementing guitar riffs, and drums that are consistent yet interesting. Other songs where the formula comes together properly are “Don’t Fall Into the Wrong Hands” and the opener, “Hospital Patience.” Otherwise, the album just sort of happens.

(Independent, milkandrectangles. bandcamp.com) Darcy Penner

LORN Ask the Dust A mouth, a jawbone, a grasping hand, an open wound; the cover art for Ask The Dust is just as gray and creepy as the haunting tracks. But it’s the way the images combine that shows the fine craftsmanship Lorn has to offer.

“Mercy” sets the mood nicely with a creaking door turned grinding buzz that interjects with attitude. As you focus on the murky strings or the

HOT CHIP

DELHI 2 DUBLIN Turn Up the Stereo Do you remember the first time you heard Vancouver’s Delhi 2 Dublin?

After realizing it was futile to resist dancing, was your first thought “What’s that sound”? Followed by: “Where can I download this?” Whatever those first impressions were, take a scrap of paper and a pen, and record those memories because Turn Up the Stereo, the band’s latest release, will send you on a roller coaster of what it means to be an evolving blend of world music. Forget everything you knew about D2D. The musical kaleidoscope is over.

The twenty-first century has been infused into these traditional instruments further as more electronic polish is added to unify D2D’s sound on their third LP. Compared to previous releases, Turn Up the Stereo sounds

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PHOTO BY STEVE GULLICKLORES

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

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minimalist beat it becomes deceptively deep. This can be said for the album as a whole, too. The disc is nothing if not dark, but never sulking (the beats are too mean for that). In fact, listen to “Chhurch” as you walk and see if it doesn’t make you swagger. No track overstays its welcome. “The Well” clocks in at 6:22; “This” a mere 43 seconds. Lorn knows when to let a heavy mood linger and when to let it lift and his restraint makes for a surprisingly accessible album. Lorn’s underused voice adds a welcome presence to already strong tracks. From the ghostly growl of “The Gun” to the inner dialogue of “I Better,” the sparse vocals make for some of the most memorable listens but the operatic hook of “The Well” makes it my favorite on the album. To call it a soundtrack to a nightmare would be selling this disc short. More accurately, it’s a futuristic film noir: beautiful, bleak and arresting in atmosphere. Most importantly, the darkness woven into every number never distracts from the dynamic arrangements or distinct melodies. It’s an album to sink into. (Ninja Tune, ninjatune.net) Matt Dyck

26 Stylus Magazine Aug/Sept 2012

THE MYNABIRDS Generals Maybe I’ve been spoiled by CSNY’s “Ohio” or listened to Reinventing Axl Rose too many times, but I gravitate towards political music that has sharp teeth. As for Generals - the new sophomore release from The Mynabirds (aka Laura Burhenn) – it left me feeling gummed. Not to say the lyrics are bad; they just lack the bite it takes to outshine the melodies and leave a lasting impression. What’s left is a record that doesn’t feel especially brave or personal. The good news is it’s an incredibly catchy disc. Politics aside, the lines are so nicely delivered

by Burhenn’s soulful voice and carried by her dirty eclectic pop it’s easy to overlook the rhetoric and appreciate her talent.

Overall, Generals is a solid mix of stomps, claps, treble heavy guitars, raw piano and rich vocals with just the right amount of reverb. The simplicity of the pulsing bass-line on “Karma Debt” and its vulnerable melody opens it up right by showcasing Burhenn’s stellar voice, unlike “Mightier than the Sword,” which eventually buries her under a grand buildup. Burhenn sounds best when under-produced, but the old radio effect fits in nicely

on “Radiator Sister” (the bounciest track and my favorite). The disc sags in the middle before “Body of Work” comes in with excitable percussion and “Disarm” sways with a sort of beautiful plea that reminded me of “You” by TV on the Radio. Burhenn’s vocals are the backbone of the album but her songwriting is undeniably sharp as well; a few of the tracks have been stuck in my head for days. Listeners will find plenty of strong songs throughout with a nice mix of rocking dance numbers and slow-burning soul. If Generals doesn’t move you, it will at least have you moving. (Saddle Creek, saddle-creek.com) Matt Dyck

PS I LOVE YOU Death Dreams This sophomore release from Kingston, Ontario’s PS I Love You re-

ally snuck up and sucker punched me good. For some reason that is lost to me at this point, I didn’t really give their first release a chance. Rook move, I know. Death Dreams has become the most played album I’ve happened upon all year. With catchy riffs, haunting vocal melodies, and soaring guitar solos, the album is solid start to finish. No single tracks stick out particularly, as they all seem to fit in a part of an organic whole. Having said that, a couple lyrics from “Sentimental Dishes” find themselves stuck in my head regularly. “Saskatoon” is the second ode to the beautiful prairie town that I’ve heard so far this year (Eamon McGrath’s “Saskatoon, SK” being the first), and that’s pretty dang cool. Listening to this album as much as I have, I wish I had a time machine so I could go back a couple years and kick my own ass for not jumping on PS I Love You’s wagon earlier, and as a result missing a couple good gigs of theirs in the process. While long-listed for a Polaris, this beauty failed to make the short-list; a lapse in judgement if you ask me. Pick up this album if you haven’t already, and crank it up loud.

(Paper Bag Records, paperbagrecords. com) Sheldon Birnie

Prototype 2

By Kabir Kaler Welcome to Prototype 2, the sequel to the game that was once held as the ultimate badass game. Let’s see how this stacks up to it.

In this game, you are James Heller, an ex-military man who finished his tour to find his wife and daughter dead due to an outbreak of what they are calling the “Mercer virus.” Distraught and outright pissed off, you re-enlist to find and kill the man who is responsible: Alex Mercer. During a routine pickup and protect detail your convoy gets attacked leaving everybody but you dead. You call in the attack on your radio when you see Alex Mercer. You are ordered to stay but you ignore it and slit Mercer’s throat instead. Which does nothing.

Mercer then darts off with Heller in pursuit and after a helicopter from Blackwatch gets kicked to the ground

by Mercer he grabs Heller and infects him. This inexplicably provides Heller with greater powers. Using these new powers you hunt and consume everybody involved in the death of your wife and kid.

As you can probably tell from the intro this game is all about vengeance.

There is no side story or choosing the direction you want to play but there is a mystery aspect throughout the story that makes you question who is the real enemy you are fighting. Is it Alex Mercer, the one who started the first outbreak? Or is it Blackwatch, who is targeting, killing and experiment-

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ing on innocent people and infected alike? Other than Mercer, there are only a handful of people that stay in the story while the others have a short entrance.

The whole story happens in Manhattan. There are three areas, each having different layers of severity against the outbreak from safest to most dangerous: Green, Yellow, and Red. Besides enemies, the areas look different, but the Green and Yellow zones only slightly so, while Red is full of broken buildings and infection hubs.

The cut scenes use a black and white colour scheme similar to Sin City, along with CGI graphics, making it much better to look at. There is also a flash of imagery that is like looking at pictures, which are also in black and white.

The enemies look and act the part of a mutated virus wreaking havoc upon Manhattan. They look grotesque, with overly muscular tones, an abundance of pink to show flesh, and an overall sense of disease taking over their life. They come in all size and forms and each are tricky to deal with but have their own weakness to exploit. People themselves aren’t that different from one another and are everywhere. You don’t get anything from them except health and are filler for the environment--except for the military personnel. Usually you will need a type of uniform to get into a base undetected, which makes having one on at all times a must.

Heller has the ability to “dual

wield” two powers of your choosing. Each weapon is very fluid and is easy to use on the fly. Heller has five main weapons, four oldies and one new one, each with a light and special attack. You also have radar to help you find specific individuals you are searching for while doing both side and main missions. Military vehicles and weapons are also available to hijack and use at your leisure but you cannot keep them with you and they must be either destroyed, emptied or abandoned. Your other skills or “mutations” will be earned through side missions, finding black boxes, getting rid of “spec-ops” (a group of people) and destroying infected lairs. It is very easy to find them as their basic location is on your map and all you need is five minutes of searching. You can also enhance your weapons by consuming specific individuals and infected. They aren’t on your map as they appear randomly and at different places. Depending on which you complete you will get a different mutation that will help with your offense, defense, movement, or hunting.

There are no glitches or frame rate issues when you are running but there isn’t any flair added on. Along with blocking, you can dodge which is very useful to use when you are facing dangerous or multiple enemies. With the enemies there is usually more than one type which makes picking your target important. Depending on which enemy you fight first you have to choose carefully which weapon you will want to use because not all

weapons are effective. Boss battles are surprising due to the fact you never know when one appears but they are overpowered enemies you would see regularly and more often than not they will give you a power.

James Heller is an angry man who wants vengeance for his wife and daughter and this idea is present everywhere, including the way he talks.

He swears at every available chance (I wish I was kidding), which at first is surprising but as it goes on you wish he would change his vocabulary. Voice acting for every character is excellent at portraying tone, anger, and just casual conversations.

Overall this is a good game but it is lacking in a few areas. Gameplay is fluid and accessible, voice acting is good both in game and in cut scenes which look and feel good with their black and white aesthetic, and the story is straight to the point. This game makes you overpowered and at times makes the game too easy, along with the collectables marked on your map which sometimes spoil it. After you have completed the game you have the option to restart the game with all your upgrades. Other than that there isn’t much to do besides getting trophies (which is easy to do), unless you have the Radnet Edition. With this edition you can do sets of mini games that give you a special mutation and a special video per completed set, and if you complete all five sets you will unlock an Alex Mercer skin to play the game. I give this game seven mutations out of ten.

Aug/Sept 2012 Stylus Magazine

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Feoafr

Music

Dancing to Feedback: Are We Not Men?

By Devin King Has music stagnated? I wonder this because of DarwinTunes. DarwinTunes recently evolved a series of loops over 3000 generations, to interesting results. The original research is a lengthy and scientific one – one certainly above my head, but the basic concept is a simple one to understand.

The computer created files of loops of randomized sound. In an interview with the BBC, the process is then described as just as in nature, “let(ting) the two original loops to ‘breed,’ to recombine and mix up their material, with some random mutations thrown in for good measure, to create four new loops.”

This continued until there were 100 more-evolved sound files. From these 100, the public was asked to pick the most pleasing sounds which were further evolved, using the elements from the “most pleasing” songs. Surprisingly, things evolve that weren’t originally appearing in the music like, at the 3000th generation, snare and kick drums. Other elements like melody and harmony clearly develop.

Perhaps most surprisingly though, the music (or people’s taste in it) plateaued. That is, the “parents” of the music in the next generation were deemed more pleasing than the “offspring.” Is there then a point of limits in our music? Will music – or at least, popular music – ever evolve?

This program does not necessarily prove that music will stagnate. The developers admit that there are limitations, such as the lack of peer influence and even limitations in the program itself. Time too is a factor, as they believe after a long plateau, there will be another evolutionary leap in the music. But until then, let’s extrapolate the research

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to our own lives.

No matter how you approach it, it’s hard not to relegate this into a straw man argument. The most insulting part of generalizing the discussion is that it comes down to the idea that music can be bad. It’s an uncomfortable notion for many people for whom taste is key. In an evolutionary sort of experiment as this, if we are to assume that music that survives the rounds as “better” (and it would be, as evolutionary music would survive on this virtue) then it implies that there is factually bad music.

It’s a fundamentally rockist statement to say that popular music has somehow stagnated. In this case however, the evolutionary model proposed here states that the music of the past is less pleasing than the current, which runs contrary to the rockist belief. It’s actually similar to Simon Reynolds’ recent book Retromania, a surpris-

maybe it’s not such a revelation to say that the general population doesn’t want to dance to feedback.

So then, if we are to assume that the most progressive possible sounds of music are in independent bands, and that those bands are being largely ignored, it raises two questions: 1) Is evolution in music a good thing?

2) If taste in music can plateau, have we reached that plateau now?

Many would argue that “music these days” has stagnated in a fluffy, over-produced, auto-tuned pop nightmare with a consumer base happy to listen to Katy Perry and Lady Gaga for the next 20 years. It’s an easy argument precisely because it hits a gut reaction in people that the thing that they don’t like is bad and will be bad forever, leaving their own taste as an underdog champion. It’s also a difficult argument to make, because if it’s truly that bad then why do people buy it? You can 95.9 FM CKUW CAMPUS/COMMUNITY RADIO make any rationalization TOP 30 ALBUMS (May 25, 2012 – July 24, 2012) for that question, but the !=LOCAL CONTENT * =CANADIAN CONTENT re=RE-ENTRY TO CHART answer will always be dependant on “other peoples ARTIST RECORDING LABEL taste in music isn’t as good as my own.” Or maybe, 1 * Japandroids Celebration Rock Polyvinyl 2 * Grimes Visions Arbutus more accurately, everyone’s 3 ! John K Samson Provincial Antitaste in music has evolved 4 * Metric Synthetica Crystal Math past your own. You’re just 5 * PS I Love You Death Dreams Paper Bag too primitive to hear it.

6 * Yukon Blonde Tiger Talk Dine Alone DarwinTunes is now 7 The Shins Port of Morrow Columbia in its 6500 generation. It’s 8 Guided By Voices Class Clown Spots a UFO GBV Inc. come a long way. While it’s 9 ! Del Barber Headwaters Six Shooter not trying to answer any 10 ! The Vibrating Beds Sing The Blues 7-inch Transistor 66 big questions necessarily, 11 ! The Manic Shakes The Manic Shakes 7-inch No Label Collective they can be extrapolated by 12 * The Heavyweights Brass Band Don’t Bring Me Down Self-Released hipsters grasping to make 13 * White Lung Sorry Deranged 14 * The Ketamines Spaced Out Mammoth Cave meaning out of something 15 * Neil Young with Crazy Horse Americana Reprise that isn’t there, like myself.

16 Suzanne Ciani Lixiviation Finders Keepers As I sit here and listen 17 Patti Smith Banga Columbia to the 100th generation, 18 ! J Riley Hill The Devil Is In The Details Woven I can’t help but think of 19 ! Dangercat Where I’ll Be The Newform Label how I actually enjoy some 20 ! Hatcher-Briggs Getting There From Here Self-Released of these loops. Maybe it’s 21 ! The Noble Thiefs Beyond The 11th Deck Pipe & Hat simple. Maybe it’s primi22 Jazz Punks Smashups Foam @ The Mouth tive. But maybe that’s not 23 ! The Lonely Vulcans Vulcan Cesspool Transistor 66 a bad thing. We are Devo 24 * Great Lake Swimmers New Wild Everywhere Nettwerk 25 Jeff The Brotherhood We Are The Champions Infinity Cat after all.

26 27 28 * 29 30 *

Bruce Springsteen Can Wintersleep Joey Ramone Le Vent Du Nord

ingly rockist text that suggest that there’s nothing new left in music and everything “new” owes too much to the past to be considered new. Regardless of value judgements, the argument remains scientifically and from one of the foremost critics that music has stagnated.

So if we were to take DarwinTunes seriously, we would note the lack of melodic structure and a prevalence of “noise” as music. This is problematic for many as it then sets up the argument that wide swaths of the indie realm is scientifically bad. While there are bands whose pop melodies can be heard through lo-fi recording practices (Guided by Voices and No Age, for example), often these same bands are loved exactly for those noisy lo-fi sounds. DarwinTunes may have demonstrated why indie has never had the same big break that the Nicki Minajs and Flo Ridas have. Though perhaps

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Tromper Le Temps

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DarwinTunes’ generations of music can be heard here soundcloud.com/uncoolbob/sets/darwintunes

winnipeg folk festival ConCeRt seRies

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royal wooD

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co-presented with west end cultural centre

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