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Stylus
Feb/March Issue1 2014 Volume25
Production Team Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheldon Birnie Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Mazurak Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gil Carroll Advertising Managers . . . . Maz and Birnie andrew@mazmedia.ca, editor@stylusmagazine.ca Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Billie Proper Printed by JRS Print Services: 204-232-3558
Contributors Mister Jan Gonzalo Riedel Kaitlyn Emslie Farrell Victoria King Greg Gallinger Harrison Samphir Broose Tulloch Kristen Cuma Daniel Emberg Samantha Sarty John Iverson Matt Williams Jade Markus Ben Waldman Raegan Hedley
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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Table of Contents
On the Cover BILLIE PROPER is an Illustrator. You can contact her electronically at billieproper@gmail.com Or check out more of her work on the world wide web at www. billieproper.blogspot.com
Blah, Blah, Blah Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Time Tunnel Tapes Celebrate our 25th year with old goodies . . . . . . . . . 10 Live Bait Big Fun Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 CKUWho Fundrive 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 NonStopHipHop Finding Peace with Dudley Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Local Spotlight Tangent Project // Scott Nolan & Joanna Miller . . . . . . . . 20 Root Cellar Trampled By Turtles // Radical Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Iconoclast Speed Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Shades of Classics Sean Christopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Under the Needle Hookworms // Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s . . 22 Fear of Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Features Del Barber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Electric Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Naysa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The Pack A.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Feb/March 2014 Stylus Magazine
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“STEPHEN HARPER, POCAHONTAS AND ME.” –NEIL YOUNG
PHOTO BY ANDREW MAZURAK
Eh, Buddy! Winter’s half done, eh. Fuckin rights! You can see the end of this bitter cold coming down the line. Let’s get to it and at it, at it and to it and check out some of the beauty live music coming our way while the winter’s still fuckin here, eh? Too right, buddy! Wednesdays, check out the Songwriter Explosion down at 555 Osborne and Andrew Neville & The Poor Choices make it their new home at the Cavern *** Thursdays in February, make your way to the Times Change(d) to see Vince Andrusko *** Every Friday, check out Cool Beans, spinning the finest after work vibes at Joe Black Coffee Bar in sunny St James, and don’t forget about Together at Union Sound Hall *** Friday, February 7 don’t miss the Crooked Brothers, playing two shows, at the Times Change(d). Or check out Little House, Electric Soul, and Modern Man at the Cavern, or head downtown and catch The Thrasher, High Thunderers, The Unbelievable Bargains, and Life Advice at the Windsor *** Feb 8 sees local weirdos The Girth release a new EP Sweet Eligible Men alongside The Catamounts and the Blisters at the Windsor, also RL Grime is knocking shit over at Union Sound Hall *** David Myles opens up the Burt February 11 for Matt Anderson *** Departures rip it up with an EP release party at Union February 12 *** February 13 get lost in the Wilderness of Manitoba at the Park Theatre, alongside Federal Lights *** For all you Feb 14 lovers out there Romi Mayes is doing a 7pm show at the Times Change(d) on Valentine’s Day, followed by a Sam Cooke Tribute at 10. Over at the Cavern, you’ve got JohNNy SiZZle, J. Williamez, and the Unbelievable Bargains to get all emotional and shit up in your face, while The Hours single release goes down at 555 Osborne with Animal Teeth and Basic Nature. And buddy, down at the Windsor? Don’t miss the annual dance party debauch that is Sexual de Voyageur *** Febwww.stylusmagazine.ca
Blah, Blah, Blah ruary 14 through 23, don’t miss out on the Festival du Voyageur over in beautiful St B! With tons of great performances around the Festival grounds and venues across the city from Festival faves like Crooked Brothers, Oh My Darling, Red Moon Road, the F-Holes, as well as up and comers like French Press, Hana LuLu, Indicator Indicator, and many more, there’s no excuse not to bundle up and get your voyageur on. Make sure to get your fill of Cariboo while you can! *** February 16 sees A Tribe Called Red return to Winnipeg for what is sure to be a killer show at the Union Sound Hall *** Don’t miss Mary Gauthier’s return to the Park Theatre, alongside hometown heroes Scott Nolan and Joanna Miller February 20 *** JR Hill is gonna be getting weird all up in the Times Change(d) on February 21, while Mark Berube takes to the stage at the WECC, also Latka and Triggers play the Park and Mobina Galore and the Thrashers tear up the Cavern *** February 22, don’t miss the Noble Thiefs at the Times, or the Barrelhouse over at the Windsor, with Mama Cutsworth and DJ Dry Hump. Buddy, down at the Park, why not Rock Your Heart Out! with Sons of York, The Hours, Bear Clones, and Until Red *** Feb 25, Distances hit the road with a party at Union Sound Hall featuring Solids and Tunic, as Real Love Tuesday’s return to 555 Osborne *** Feb 27, the Party Dress 7” Release at Union, with Pop Crimes and Atomic Don & the Black Sunrise *** Feb 28, Johnny Cash Birthday Bash at the Times Change(d) *** March 1, Rock Lake release their third full length at the Windsor *** March 1-9 catch Winnipeg’s most dynamic take on contemporary art and sound at Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts Festival [pg 19] taking place at The Urban Shaman Gallery *** March 2, buddy, dust off yr suspenders, Old Man Luedecke is playing the Park with Jordie Lane *** The Winnipeg Folk Fest presents
Buffy St. Marie at the West End Cultural Centre on March 4, and The Pack A.D. hit the Park [pg. 18] *** Cheering for the Bad Guy play Finn’s at the Forks March 7 *** March 12 the Park Theatre hosts another installment of the popular Heartworn Highways series, featuring JD Edwards, Kieran West, TJ Blair, Romi Mayes, and hosted by Andrew Neville *** Buddy, get fucking ready to rock with Big Trouble in Little China, Chronobot, and Beast at the Windsor, March 14 *** March 15 Propagandhi, Warsaw, and Union Stockyards pummel the Union Sound Hall into submission, but wait... Dr Rage & the Uppercuts rage out at the Windsor, while Naysa [pg. 9] release Troubled Heart at 72 Princess, alongside Little House, Animal Teeth, and Ozconscious *** Electric Six [pg. 7] hit the Pyramid March 18 for some hot and heavy weirdness *** Buddy, March 21 it’s time for Untimely Demise to rock the Windsor, and Del Barber releases Prairieography at the Park [pg. 5], while Islands return and are playing the Pyramid *** Buddy, Pop Crimes play the Winsor March 22*** March 25, WECC is hosting James Vincent McMorrow *** Fuckin Mark Sultan returns to the Windsor on March 26, while Carsick Cars, White, and Cannon Bros play the West End CC *** March 28-29, JUNOFEST will be taking over the city. Keep your eyes peeled, buddy, for a bunch of great shows from hot local and national acts at venues across town. Who knows, maybe you’ll run into ChAvril? *** March 29, CanRock supergroup Mounties play the Pyramid, and the Perfect Pussy is secretly playing Dead Lobster *** April 1, buddy, Boy & Bear play the Park Theatre (no joke!) *** And of course, keep your eye balls pealed for the new issue of Stylus, as well as another retro-reissue, to hit streets on Thursday, April 3. Right on, buddy!
Feb/March 2014 Stylus Magazine
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BY SHELDON BIRNIE
n a biting cold late December evening, Del BarO ber shuffles into the Yellow Dog Tavern. He’s here, in the historic grain Exchange District of Winnipeg, to talk to Stylus about his new album, Prairieography, an album rooted in the spaces – physical, intellectual, emotional – between urban and rural living. “I’m trying to tell the stories of these people who are disconnected,” explains Barber over pints of St James Pale Ale. “[Prairieography] is, in part, about the lengths people will go to save their rural lifestyles, and trying to connect that with the urban artist fan or songwriting fan.”
“There’d be no town without the country,”
Del Barber sings on “Arianna,” a love song that also maps the interconnectedness of the hinter and heartlands of the Canadian west in just under four lovely minutes. It’s fitting that we’re meeting here in the Exchange, a place quite literally “built on the backs of farmers,” as Del observes at one point in course of our interview. With a distinctly country-fried flavour, Barber’s latest presents listeners with 14 tight prairie stories that explore similar territory. From the cattle-rancher turned oil sands worker in “Living with a Long Way to Go” to the small town romance of “Peter and Jenny Lee,” the narratives Barber explores are plucked both from his life as a touring musician and as a prairie boy, born and raised. Exploring each character’s motivations, their situations, ambitions and desires, Barber is able to craft empathetic portraits of prairie people, be they drug-runners, hard living old timers, or displaced country boys chasing dreams in the big smoke. It’s this attention to detail in his songwriting that is winning this son of St Norbert fans across Canada, the US, and beyond. “The basic premise of the album is that you can’t escape where you’re from,” he explains. “You’re more determined by it than you think.” This theme is one that Barber has explored before, and one that is common across Canadian literature, from Margaret Atwood to John K Samson, Al Purdy to Ian Tyson. Tyson in particular makes his mark, by way of inspiration, on Prairieography.
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ILLUSTRATION BY MISTER JAN
The title itself is a play on Tyson’s classic western LP Cowboyography, in which the folk legend explored the past, present, and future of cowboying in southern Alberta and Montana. “I listened to [Cowboyography] when I was a lot younger, with my folks,” recalls Barber. “But about two years ago, I was in southern Alberta, fishing for a couple weeks, and I downloaded it on a whim, thinking I should be listening to Ian Tyson while I was out there. I just felt such a connection to that place and his music. And I realized that that was what I wanted to do with the prairies.” Tyson’s music has become synonymous with Alberta, from “Four Strong Winds” to Cowboyography and beyond. Another Alberta based artist that Barber found influential on the way he approached songwriting is Corb Lund, who Barber toured with in 2013. “I’ve been really impressed by Corb,” Barber admits, “more than I thought I would be. The more I’ve studied [his writing], the more important it seems he’s talking about really Canadian stuff, with some really good social commentary in there too.” The folk approach to crafting narrative songs, with the backing of a tight country band, that both Tyson and Lund have used so successfully was one that Barber focused on making his own with Prairieography. Recorded both in Winnipeg and in St Norbert and using a band of “Manitoba guys” who have played with Barber in the past few years, the new album is a polished one, which manages to feel rough around the edges in all the right places.
“It’s not loose, but it’s l o o s e r than, more natural than the last record,”
says Barber. The result is a record that Barber is excited about, one he feels “sounds more like who I am” than previous efforts. “I feel more sure of myself, more sure of what I want to say and how to say it. “ Still, putting together an album firmly rooted in the prairies was a challenge for Barber, who spends eight months of the year on the road.
“I don’t really know where I’m going, a lot of the time,” Barber admits. “I guess it’s a question, introspectively, how does a person know where their creativity comes from?” After a pause, a sip of beer, while hockey highlights play out on the TV behind the bar, Barber continues.
“I think the answer, for me, is it’s in the practices, the things I want to do, that I love to do: fishing, farming, hunting, horses, hockey.” There’s plenty of all those things on Prairieography. “Big Smoke” brings up images of a boyhood spent on the backs of horses juxtaposed with the story of a man lost in the big city. “Tell Me Where To Start” is a beautiful tune about friendship that uses hockey metaphors and imagery – much like Kathleen Edwards’ “Hockey Skates” or Propagandhi’s “Dear Coach’s Corner” – to get at deeper truths about the human experience. It is in Barber’s ability to strike at the core of those shared human experiences that makes Prairieography such a compelling record, one that both Barber and True North Records hopes will appeal to audiences south of the border, and overseas. With a wide release in Canada and the US planned for mid-February, followed by months of relentless touring beginning in January, Barber has a long road ahead of him, as he shares his Prairieography map with fellow travellers far and wide. Del Barber releases Prairieography in Winnipeg on March 21 at the Park Theatre. Get your tickets from the Park, or from the Winnipeg Folk Fest store before they’re all gone.
Feb/March 2014 Stylus Magazine
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MARK BERUBE WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
THE BROS. LANDRETH
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21 WEST END CULTURAL CENTRE l
DOORS OPEN 7:15PM
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E L L I C E
A V E N U E
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W W W . W E C C . C A
Tickets: $15 Adv Available at
SHOW 8:00PM
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P H O N E
2 0 4 - 7 8 3 - 6 9 1 8
Phone 1-800-745-3000
, The Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store, Music Trader & the W.E.C.C.
MONEY AND DIP S H ITS BY
GONZALO RIEDEL
here’s always that point when you’re listening to TElectric Six that you wonder how much of the music
is sincere and how much is tongue-in-cheek. Take my favourite song, for example: “She’s White,” off the band’s 2003 debut Fire. On the surface it’s one of those rockers that makes you crank the volume and play air guitar, but the lyrics are silly enough to make you feel weird about singing along. “She’s white, she is so white, I was born to excite her, she could never be whiter.” You know there’s a joke somewhere, but you aren’t sure what exactly the joke is. Even now, I’m unsure where the joke is in a few of their songs. I ask Dick Valentine, singer of Electric Six, about “Adam Levine,” a track off the band’s recently-released ninth record, Mustang. Valentine begins with the lyrics, “Give all your money to Adam Levine, but Adam Levine don’t need your money.” At first, the digs on the Maroon 5 frontman don’t seem all that personal, that maybe Levine is a standin for all pop music icons. But when the chorus kicks in and Valentine, with his signature growl, repeats the line, “Burn in Hell, rot in Hell, burn in Hell, motherfucker,” then it feels personal. “I’ve got nothing against the guy, really,” Valentine says, speaking to Stylus from his Brooklyn home. “I’ve never met him. In America it seems there are only two bands that ever get airtime for, like, a two-year cycle. Just the same bands playing the Super Bowl or The Today Show. And it seems that everyone is content listening to those same groups over and over until the next group comes along. When you finally get around to actually hearing this glossy music that’s being packaged, there’s just nothing there. It’s empty.” Valentine insists it isn’t sour grapes speaking. “Sure, it’d be nice to play those kinds of shows [that Maroon 5 plays]. We got to do a lot of TV spots in Europe back when Fire came out and was charting well, but after a while it gets exhausting being up that early.” “But I’m happy where we are. Right from the get-go,” he says, “I wanted my band to be like Guided By Voices, recording an album a year and touring as much as we could.” I ask how it’s possible to keep up a pace like that. “It’s pretty easy,” Valentine says, “as long as you take it a year at a time. Everyone in the band is a really good writer, and so, really, each person writes two good songs a year, you have twelve songs, that’s an album. Besides that, we all have a yearly meeting together where we check in and make sure everyone’s good to go another year, that everyone still likes being in the band. Everyone said ‘Yes, let’s go another year,’ so we’re now working on the tenth al-
bum. It’s been getting easier. On Mustang I brought the least amount of finished ideas to the table, and people have been saying it’s our best, so that says something. I’m happy about that.” Valentine sounds grateful that he can lean on his bandmates right now. He has been busy raising his first child, which is resulting in shorter tours. Valentine is also working on solo material. “Those came from being pragmatic,” he says of the solo albums. “I was playing a lot of acoustic sets that were getting popular, so I recorded the albums so I’d have something to sell at the shows. I can be pretty money-motivated with things like that.” As for Electric Six’s work, Mustang fits right in with the rest of the band’s discography, for anyone familiar with their music - that same kind of irony-soaked, fist-pumping Detroit hard rock that they’ve been turning out since 2003. As always, many of the songs have clever lyrics and often hilarious titles like “Jessica Dresses Like a Dragon” and “I Never Fucked Her.” Sure, nothing really matches the jokiness of earlier songs like “Naked Pictures of Your Mother,” but it’s good fun all the same. “The only mandate the band had when working on the record was that it couldn’t be a synth record,” Valentine says, “because the last album was a synth record, and we didn’t want to repeat ourselves.” In response to the level of comedy in his songs, Valentine says, “I don’t really try to write anything funny, I just tend to write something that interests me from a certain character’s standpoint. It changes over time. Like the song, ‘I’m the Bomb’ [from Fire]; I think it’s a great song, but I don’t think I could approach a song like that again. I was in my 20s when I wrote that, and I’m in my 40s now. I’d go about writing a song like that in a completely different way.” His mention of “I’m the Bomb” proves to me that even Dick Valentine’s reference points for Electric Six go back to Fire, the band’s best-known work. You can witness the album’s popularity at their live shows. I caught the band play The Pyramid about two years ago, and no surprise, when the band broke into “Gay Bar” and “Danger! High Voltage,” much of the crowd responded in the way that drunken hooligans do, by shoving everyone with their obnoxious
dancing. When that happened, I remember Valentine looking on with a kind of curious amusement that I’d never been able to decipher. “It happens more often than it doesn’t,” Valentine says about the audience’s outburst. “I think when that happens, my thought process is to kind of laugh at it. I mean, those of us in the band, when we were growing up, going to rock shows, we never did dipshit things like that. We usually stood toward the back and watched the shows and didn’t move. So we don’t really understand why people would act that way.” “But it’s not like it bothers us at all,” he adds. “Dipshits buy t-shirts too.” Electric Six are performing at the Pyramid March 16, with the Mohrs. Tickets are $17 in advance, available at Into the Music, Music Trader, and ticketworkshop. com ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW MAZURAK
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Feb/March 2014 Stylus Magazine
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10 Provinces 3 Territories 1 Altered State
distro.weirdcanada.com 02.15.14 8 Stylus Magazine Feb/March 2014
BY KAITLYN EMSLIE FARRELL
With the upcoming release of their new EP Troubled Heart, local five piece indie rockers Naysa is working hard and having a good time doing so. Dave Todd, Hayley Smith, Sean Leslie, Grant Danyluk and Graham Duval are making their mark on Winnipeg’s goofy, underground music scene that never disappoints. Last month, the band took time out of jamming to talk to Stylus about their band, the way spring smells, meteor showers, and fresh baked pies. Stylus: How long has Naysa been around? Grant Danyluk: We’ve been a band for about nine months. We played our first show in the beginning of April, 2013. We fully formed in the beginning of May when we added Sean Leslie to second guitar. Stylus: How would you describe Naysa? Dave Todd: I’m really influenced by 90s alternative indie and emo acts, and I’m very responsible and stern and angry all the time. My band is really irresponsible and I have to take care of them. I get drunk sometimes at shows, though, too. Grant D: Naysa sounds like the way spring smells, the way a meteor shower looks, and the way fresh baked apple pie tastes. It’s the soundtrack of your adolescent innocence and the most rooting, tooting rocking indie act in Winnipeg of January, 2014. At least I think so. I’m not sure though. I haven’t listened to every act in Winnipeg. Graham D: Naysa sounds like a piano, drums, two guitars, bass, and two vocalists playing all at once. I’m a Winnipeg boy, that’s who I am, every tattoo on my body proves who I am. Stylus: You’ve got a demo and an EP currently right? DT: Myself and the band recorded the albums ourselves, the first one we recorded in our basement when we lived on Nassau St and the EP was recorded in our jam space on Furby and Portage. At this moment we have no plans for future releases.
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PHOTO BY KAITLYN EMSLIE FARRELL
We have been writing new material, though. We are focusing on planning our official album release for our new EP Troubled Heart. The show will probably be early March. Stylus: What can people expect from a Naysa show? Grant D: Sometimes Dave glares at us when we screw up, which is pretty scary, so that stopped us from screwing up. Lots of times we make a lot of jokes in-between songs and when Hayley is playing “Push Me Aside” we make jokes, like pretending to wear our guitars as hats and rocking out really hard. But I think if you come to a show you should
expect to have a good time, have some drinks, dance around and party down. Graham D: We like to have fun when we play shows, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. One time we were a little too drunk and the songs didn’t sound as tight, but we always try to make sure that everyone is having fun and stuff. DT: We’re not the best musicians in the world, but we try to enjoy ourselves. Stylus: Any tour plans? DT: We saved pretty much every dollar we made from shows and merch and we bought ourselves a tour van. It’s a 1977 Dodge Camper Van. We do intend to tour in spring or early summer. This van wouldn’t make it through a winter tour, though, haha. Grant D: The van comes complete with a fridge, two beds, a stove, a spare tire, I think there’s an engine under the hood, but I’ve never checked to see if there’s actually just a hole in the floor and Dave’s driving it like a Flintstone car. That seems unlikely though, because it’s a pretty heavy van. I tried to lift it once, and I couldn’t. Stylus: What’s the most downright awesome thing about being a part of Naysa? Grant D: The support from our thousands of fans. I promise I’ll answer all the fan mail. DT: I love playing shows. Hayley Smith: Playing in a band is fun, because I get to hang out with my friends and play in a band at the same time. Graham D: It’s all about the money, fame, and GRL$. Stylus: What’s the worst? HS: Loading gear. Grant D: The worst part is that I wish I was the centre of attention, not Dave. Watch out for Naysa, playing a local basement pub near you soon. The official release for Troubled Heart will be on March 15 at 72 Princess.
Feb/March 2014 Stylus Magazine
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MAZURAK ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW
As 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of Stylus, The UWSA and CKUW will be celebrating this proud milestone through an ongoing series of events and initiatives. The Stylus Archive Re-issue Series and Time Tunnel Tapes feature will launch the festivities in a style worthy of marking this occasion. Time Tunnel Tapes is a feature where a local cassette will be re-discovered and made available on-line for readers who enter the code found on the cover of our archive redistribution series. One vintage re-issue will hit the stands again alongside our new issue every two months. On the cover of the reissued mag you will find a sticker with download info for the Time Tunnel Tape release featured. You can then also join the conversation and share your memories with us online.
Our Stylus re-issue this month: Feb/March 2004 Fundrive Issue Our tape this month: RWPO Demo from 1997 Limited quantities, only available (while they last) at these locations: The UWSA HIVE (U of W) Into The Music Union Sound Hall Wild Planet Half Pints Brewing Co.
10 Stylus Magazine Feb/March 2014
WARSAW BY GREG GALLINGER
MICAH VISSER BY GREG GALLINGER
METZ BY ANDREW MAZURAK POP CRIMES BY ANDREW MAZURAK
YES WE MYSTIC BY GREG GALLINGER
JR HILL & THE MAGIC BEARS BY GREG GALLINGER
MAHOGANY FROG BY ANDREW MAZURAK SURPRISE PARTY BY ANDREW MAZURAK
ATLAAS BY GREG GALLINGER
LES JUPES BY GREG GALLINGER JAYMIE FRIESEN BY GREG GALLINGER
VAMPIRES BY ANDREW MAZURAK
VENETIAN SNARES BY ANDREW
POP CRIMES BY ANDREW MAZURAK MAZURAK
MAHOGANY FROG BY ANDREW MAZURAK
WIZARDS BY ANDREW MAZURAK
METZ BY GREG GALLINGER
METZ BY ANDREW MAZURAK
YES WE MYSTIC BY GREG GALLINGER SURPRISE PARTY BY ANDREW MAZURAK BA JOHNSON BY GREG GALLINGER
BOATS BY GREG GALLINGER
BY GIL CARROLL
CKUW Fundrive, kicking off February 7, 2014, is the annual push to raise funds in order to cover operating costs, produce new community programs, and secure the future of the University of Winnipeg’s community station. “During Fundrive, people can show support for their favourite shows and help us keep doing what we love,” says Seamus Hamilton Paterson, host of Static on the Prairies (airing Mondays from noon to 1:00pm on CKUW 95.9 FM). “In turn, it’s up to us to make them want to donate through special live performances, incentives and anything else that helps us make our Fundrive shows special every year.” Last year, CKUW was ecstatic to reveal that with the support of the listener community, it was able to surpass its initial fundraising goal, bringing in an impressive $57,518 from donations. This year, CKUW is hoping to exceed that Fundrive total. “The majority of the money that keeps CKUW alive is funded through our listeners from this time of the year,” says Ginaya Jesmer, co-host of CKUW’s Only Cowards Sing at Night (airing Sundays from 5:00 - 6:30pm). “Not only is it great to feel supported by the community, but it also allows us to rely less on the use of commercial ads.” Decreasing the reliance on commercial ads is one of the major goals of Fundrive. In fact, this coming year, the station is hoping to completely eliminate the need for commercial ads. In order to do so, the committed and loyal CKUW volunteer show hosts and DJs are planning the most epic Fundrive in
14 Stylus Magazine June/July 16 Feb/March2013 2014
ILLUSTRATION BY BILLIE PROPER
the history of the station. Robin Eriksson, CKUW’s Program Director, is excited about the prospect of going ad free. “It will be making a statement for the broadcast-
ing spectrum,” she says. “Ultimately, achieving this goal leads to empowerment.” Eliminating all advertising will be a bold leap forward, setting CKUW apart from every other station in the city, and cement its uniqueness on the airwaves. It will mean that CKUW will exist as an entirely community-listener driven radio station, and creativity and expression will be put at the forefront. Show hosts will be able to use their entire slot for their content, be it music, talk, radio drama or interviews, resulting in a greater value and a better experience for all listeners, opening up the station to uninterrupted artistic expression. Not only do the music themed shows benefit from being ad-free, the flow of the discourse in the spoken word as well as political based programs would be uninterrupted, a great advantage for the hosts and the listeners. CKUW is teaming up with Stylus Magazine to kick off Fundrive with a rocking show at Winnipeg’s new favourite venue, Union Sound Hall, on February 6th. With hopes of cashing in on indie rock’s newfound obsession with surf rock revivalists, the show is called “Surfing the Airwaves,” and features The Catamounts, Valley Girl Special, and Palm Trees. Check out Fundrive programming on CKUW 95.9 FM from February 7 through 14. You can pledge by calling (204) 774-6877 or by logging onto fundrive.ckuw.ca/
NONSTO
HIPHOP HEAVY FONK AND HIGH VIBRATIONS ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW MAZURAK
OP
FINDING PEACE WITH DUDLEY PERKINS BY HARRISON SAMPHIR
Before I spoke with Dudley Perkins (aka Declaime), the emcee from Oxnard, CA, I was half expecting the sort of humdrum discussion a music journalist typically shares with an interviewee: those unambiguous conversations about new records, inspirations and touring schedules. After all, I thought, Dudley’s been in the rap game for nearly 20 years. He helped solidify a West Coast hip hop resurgence with neighborhood friends Madlib, Oh No, DJ Romes and Kankick. There can’t be a question he hasn’t heard before. As it turned out, however, the interview – like Dudley – was anything but ordinary. Over the
course of an hour we talked about his unique style, the universe and how sonic vibrations influence the way listeners think and behave. Together with his wife, soul singer and songwriter Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dudley operates SomeOthaShip Connect, a California-based independent record label. His latest release is called Dr. Stokley, an 18-track, funk-infused album released through the Mellow Music Group. Stylus: Thanks for speaking with me tonight, Dudley. I want to begin by asking you about Dr. Stokley, but more specifically how it builds upon the style you’ve developed over the past two decades? Dudley Perkins: Well Dr. Stokley is a process, I guess. I’ve been doing music for so long and I haven’t reaped the benefits from hip hop like some people do. I’ve travelled the world but I’ve never got to reap the financial benefits from hip hop. But a lot of people have learned from what I’ve done. There’s a certain way that I do music that people mimic a little bit. I’ve actually brought a lot of cats into the game, so I’ve been teaching cats certain ways and certain things. I’m not a student of the game no more. Stylus: Would you consider yourself a master of the game? DP: I’ve mastered my style that God gave me. I tend to be the first at things, I don’t make music that sounds like anything else. I deal with the spirit a lot, so my music actually has a different energy to it. A lot of music and sounds on the airwaves right now have a sort of low vibration on it, and it can actually affect people’s lymphatic systems, their spirit, and makes people fall for the okey doke, the illusion. A lot of artists go against their churches with what they say in their music, even if they don’t have a church or religion or God. Music possesses your spirit. You go to a club and you hear the music, you start to dance! It’s a possession. I’m trying to learn more about the effects of the vibration in music, even before someone gets on the microphone. Stylus: Only recently did I learn you were the subject of a documentary, so I watched Interplanetary Peace Talks. DP: I’m the homie that you know. Plain and simple. We’re used to artists having this character, this act that they follow, and you tend to follow and see that act. You’re the viewer and that’s the actor. And you become those roles. I’m the actor and the viewer also, I’m sitting right here with you watching that mess. I’m just a guy that talks loud in the theatre, you know what I’m saying? Stylus: Speaking of changing roles, what’s it
like running a record label and business with your partner? DP: I asked the universe one day, you know, I wanna do this, I wanna drop records, what I gotta do? When I asked that, it was years ago. Now I can drop a record in my sleep. I’ve experienced prejudices running a business as a black unit, there are a lot more walls and doors for you, like a whole bunch of them. Especially as a black human right now who doesn’t follow the norm, which is to degrade yourself and degrade your people and your spirit. Stylus: What do you mean by that? DP: A lot of music that’s being pushed out right now has a low vibration. Say I’m the guinea pig, I’ve put myself out there knowing that the norm is to talk drug slang and money, females, partying, dranks, drugs. My crew [Lootpack] used to fight against that, and I grew and evolved out of that. I’ve come to a conclusion that it’s possession. You can put words and vibrations and tones into people’s music. It’s like putting something in somebody’s drink. Low vibration, you can feel it in your spirit. High vibration brings happiness and spirituality. Low vibration will have you contemplative, have you thinking about things you’re not supposed to be thinking about. It’s not a love frequency. Look what they had to go off of: NWA, a lot of gang-banging music. This comes from melanated humans, black humans, right? Who are known for high volumes of spirit. Dancing to make it rain and stuff. They’ve been duped to follow this thing to where their offspring lives in that fantasy, because they believe it. They’re being pushed by the cats with the money. You can’t promote love unless its positivity about something they’re selling in their stores or filling up their jails. Love don’t fill up the jails and don’t fill the shelves of their stores. I get a lot of stones thrown at me about this. It’s uncomfortable for me on earth. I get these feelings and think this way and I know there are people who question it, and I hope they do. But it’s a calling and they need to answer it. That vibration is very strong. Invisible waves, sound, that directly affects your system, to the bone. That vibration is powerful. Coming through your radio, that’s power. Stylus: Interesting points, all. But what’s next for you? Considering all this, how do you see your career developing from here? DP: I just keep growing. That’s all you can do. It’s weird now. You find yourself standing in this situation. When you speak peace, you can survive. Even if you can’t financially come through and pay your bills or anything like that, you still will have your heart. You’ll still survive.
Feb/March 2014 Stylus Magazine
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BY VICTORIA KING
ortunate are those in the indie rock game who Fprogress at a steady pace. There’s a small number of
bands that find a happy medium between blowing up too fast and surfing under the radar. With their fifth full-length release, Do Not Engage, it’s fair to say that the Pack A.D. is one of the fortunate ones. Fortune’s not the only enabling factor to their success though. Since their first release in 2007, dedication and knowledge from experience have both played a part. Lead vocalist and guitarist Becky Black explains, “We finished this album a year ago . . . We just decided to relax for a bit, take our time with this one.” After four previous releases off Vancouver label Mint Records, Do Not Engage is the Pack A.D.’s latest effort and the first to be released from their newfound home at Nettwerk Records. “The main difference to me [between Nettwerk and Mint] is that there’s a lot more staff so it’s definitely a different situation. But we recorded and finished everything on our own dime. We finished our contract with Mint, so we were going to shop around to license it to someone. But [then] Nettwerk contacted us. It seemed like a good fit,” Black relays. If you’re a long-standing Pack A.D. fan it won’t take you long to hear the different sound of their new album. Do Not Engage is more polished and shows more craftsmanship. The duo wrote the album in their Vancouver space over the course of a
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month or two. Roughly one-third of the album was recorded in producer Jim Diamond’s (the White Stripes, the Mooney Suzuki) studio in Detroit while the rest was finished in Vancouver; two sessions spaced roughly six months apart. Becky and drummer Maya Miller’s sound reaffirm that the same aggression and passion are still there, but also something new for this band: choruses. “On our last album we ended up writing some songs that actually had choruses which is a normal thing for most bands but new for us . . . so that was a change in the last one and we just kind of went with that.” Songs like “Needles” might actually make you do a double take (in a good way). “That one was just one that I wrote and the drums weren’t working for it,” recalls Black. “Usually all of our songs are the two of us, and that one is just me alone.” In between albums, Pack A.D. have made some big guest appearances. both on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daily and opening for the Arctic Monkeys for two nights. “That was good,” Black says. “It was a really good crowd. That one was really last minute, apparently they weren’t even going to have an opening band and then the promoter contacted [our] management.”
The Pack has held its own in a market that’s been criticized for a lack of gender-diversity. As Becky can attest, there are still some stigmas out there when it comes to women in rock music. “I wouldn’t say that [the indie music scene] is unwelcoming, I think we’ve somewhat progressed as a society,” she laughs. “The funny thing is . . . rock ‘n roll is perceived as this aggressive manly form of music, which I just don’t really understand where that comes from. Music is music . . . but a lot of people are like, ‘Whoa, that’s pretty loud for women’ like women are quiet? I don’t really know. It’s weird to me. I always wish that there wasn’t the distinction, like it didn’t matter that it was women or men but rather, just people.” Expect some gusto and fresh energy from the band – currently, it’s the longest break they’ve had from touring. “Most of 2013 was spent at home. It’s kind of been nice having a break and it also makes it so I’m more interested to go out on the road instead of being completely burnt out.” The Pack A.D. head out on an extensive tour at the end of January until mid-April. They’ll be making a stop in Winnipeg at the Park Theatre on March 4th do yourself a favor and get tickets before they sell out.
Feb/March 2014 Stylus Magazine
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ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW MAZURAK
BY DANIEL EMBERG
Cluster New Music & Integrated Arts Festival is known for the quality and innovation of its programming in music and interdisciplinary arts, with its annual call for submissions being answered by artists all over the world. Cluster also maintains an unwavering commitment to highlighting the work of Winnipeg artists alongside that of their cutting-edge contemporaries from farther afield. Stylus recently got in touch with several of those involved to find out more about Cluster’s 2014 program, the theme of which is AMPLIFICATION.
Marking its fifth edition, March 1-9, 2014, the Cluster New Music and Integrated Arts Festival began as a classic case of necessity spawning invention. As explained by co-director Heidi Ouellette, “It was initially conceived because both [co-director Luke Nickel and I] are composers and we wanted a greater outlet to hear new music, like what we and our peers were doing.” While the festival remains heavily slanted toward new music, there is also an emphasis on innovative, risk-taking interdisciplinary collaborations with a particular focus on emerging and local artists. “We always want to have a focus on [Winnipeg artists] because it’s important to foster the community that Cluster lives in.” This year is no exception with regard to the local focus. A partial list of featured Winnipeg artists includes Ken Gregory, Garth Hardy, Ghost Twin, Rayannah & Violent Screech (with a performance featuring the sounds of Winnipeg), Palm Trees, as well as an instrumental duo unlike any you’ve seen before. Kelly Ruth is a local visual artist with a focus on textiles who has found a way to uniquely unite that passion with music. “I am working with the sounds created by the weaving loom,” Ruth explains, “running them through loop pedals to create a rhythm track.” Her collaborator, Natanielle Felicitas, will play cello to the beat of the loom, and their approach to the theme enfolds multiple layers. “We are amplifying our instruments,” says Ruth, “but of particular interest to me is that the loom and cello were designed...before electronic amplification. I love the tension which exists within this pre-Industrial Revolution technology and contemporary electronic technology,” a tension which will be amplified by their performance. Indeed, one of the best things about Cluster’s theme is that amplification is a word that can be approached from such a panoply of angles. Ouellette lists a few of those to be investigated: the physical process of making a quiet sound louder; bringing something from the background to foreground;
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transforming something from small to large; moving the outside world inside; amplification by inversion. Cluster has only been outwardly identifying an annual theme for the past two years, but Ouellette believes honing the focus in that way has been beneficial for the quality of the festival. “It’s really refined and opened up what we do. Also, since last year we’ve had an open call for artists, and [having a theme] helps them too.” The number of submissions exploded this year, she says, and the degree of obvious attention to the amplification theme forced her and Nickel to “up their game” in terms of programming this year. “The artistic merit of the submissions was so high,” says Ouellette, they wound up accepting more than expected. She identifies Gil Delindro as a particularly intriguing figure found via the call. The Portuguese artist may be more fascinated with snow than anyone who grew up through prairie winters. He will be presenting several works from his ongoing “Ylem” project, which delves into the urge to touch and experience nature in isolation. One of the works will feature big slabs of ice containing contact microphones hanging from the ceiling. As these slabs melt they will land on a hot, amplified metal plate and evaporate, to suitably scintillating aural effect. Delindro will also premiere his debut film at Cluster and do a sound/performance piece with a huge pile of snow. Emerging Canadian violinist Mira Benjamin will play an intimate show featuring four solo pieces, most of which written specifically for this concert. Ouellette does not hesitate to note these pieces were written by, “some of the most interesting composers, I would say, writing today.” Care to see a bass saxophone played like you’ve never seen before? Jason Sharp is “sort of like Colin Stetson...if Colin Stetson played with his amplified heartbeat.” Ouellette pauses, but spots the arched brow across the table and elaborates. “That’s literally what [Sharp] is doing: amplifying his heartbeat, doing a lot of circular breathing, it becomes quite an aerobic activity. He’s almost manipulating the rhythm of his heartbeat with his playing.” One returning performer at Cluster is composer/sound artist James O’Callaghan, who recalls his first Winnipeg experience fondly. “I was really impressed at the level of enthusiasm and engagement from the audience. The city seems to have a really lively arts scene for its size. The works I’m presenting this year are very much a continuation of the pieces I contributed to last year’s festival.”
To wit: “Spinefold: Opinions is written for four amplified books....Another piece is an installation for four guitars and transducers attached to them. The audience will walk into an empty room with guitars hung on the wall, and out of the instruments, different kinds of sound environments will emerge. This idea of ‘disembodied instruments’ is important to another piece I’ll be premiering—a duet between an unperformed guitar and toy piano.” Currently based in Montreal, composer/media artist Adam Basanta will be bringing several of his works to Cluster this year and offered some thoughts on what we can expect. One piece, Invisible Lines, is a collaboration with his good friend Julian Stein and utilizes software to harness the feedback of six SM58 vocal mics and six extracted speaker cones into a flowing musical composition. In a “counterpart” piece, Basanta will premiere gently contained but spilling outwards, long and flat. This one, he explains, is “a concert piece for five performers, where each uses a single microphone and containers of various sizes to create a delicate and evolving feedback composition.” Basanta describes the pieces collectively as, “a meditation on microphone feedback as a delicately unstable but very musical and very moving phenomenon.” He will also perform Room Dynamics, “an audiovisual installation using 12 incandescent light bulbs. By arranging light bulbs and speakers throughout the room, I create a sound/light architecture through which audiences can walk, investigate, or just contemplate.” There is more going on at Cluster than can be listed here, including some more straightforward musical performances, but we must mention the pop-up dinners. What’s a pop-up dinner? Well, some details are not yet available but here’s what you should know for now: there will be two of them; they will engage all five senses which is just bloody wonderful; they will feature Table Manners and XIE; and they are not included in the prices of other event tickets or festival passes. The fifth annual Cluster New Music & Integrated Arts Festival will take place in Winnipeg between March 1-9, 2014. Individual shows are $15 ($10 for students), while a festival pass is $50 ($30 for students). You can pay at the door for all shows, but advance tickets are available at McNally Robinson or online at http://www.clusterfestival.com/tickets – Cluster is still seeking some volunteers. If you’re interested, you can reach ‘em at info@clusterfestival.com or (204) 223-9939.
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Local Spotlight
TANGENT PROJECT Calm After The Storm Winnipeg guitarist Tangent Project spent 18 months living in Mexico and returned home with his first album in a decade. The resulting music has rounder notes and warmer tones with a more human touch than his last effort, 2003’s Emoticon. The sound itself on Calm After The Storm is mellow mix of Lee Ritenour, Chris Rea, and Keller Williams; light and earthy, and warrants comparison to Ritenour’s Portrait and Keller Williams’
Breathe. The connection between song titles and music is tenuous at best for listeners when it comes to instrumentals, but with Calm After The Storm, the song titles are as integral to the experience as they for Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition; they eloquently frame the music contained. The result is a pleasant journey through Tangent’s vacation photos. He does an excellent job of imparting his experiences, especially the intangible, emotional elements to the listener. “Just Another Rainy Night” sounds like a walk in the warm tropical rain. “Night Walk In Centro” has a slight Dick Tracy surf feel, and “Mariposa Dangerosa” creates the air of excitement you feel as you explore your new surroundings with light staccato bupbup-bup-bahs. It’s a wonderful Sunday afternoon album full of hooks, riffs, and understated melodies that quietly embed themselves into your brain, emerg-
ing in the tunes you hum as you walk down the street. (Independent, tangentproject.com) Broose Tulloch
SCOTT NOLAN & JOANNA MILLER North/South After years of gigging around town, from regular stands at the Bella Vista, the Rose N Bee, and Times Change(d), to sold out shows at the Park Theatre and the WECC, Winnipeggers ought to be familiar with Scott Nolan, at this point. But Nolan, along with his musical partner
in crime Joanna Miller (one of the city’s best drummers), is not only a homegrown talent, but a cultural export as well. His songs have made their way across the country, deep into the American south, and across the seas. North/South is a live album, showcasing the pair at their stripped raw finest, recorded at the Red Clay Theatre in Duluth, Georgia and the Park Theatre here in Winnipeg. With selections from across Nolan’s catalogue, including a rousing version of “My My Hey Hey” and a heartbreaking rendition of “Montgomery Eldorado” from the self-same full length, as well as a new offering or two. As with all the best live albums, North/ South is tastefully peppered with stories and banter, and the energy of the evenings is never bogged down by these interludes. Essential for fans of this talented twosome, and definitely recommended for the uninitiated. (Transistor 66, scottnolan.ca) Sheldon Birnie
Root Cellar TRAMPLED BY TURTLES Live at First Avenue The Live at First Avenue CD-DVD set showcases material from ten years and six albums for Trampled by Turtles, as recorded live in Minneapolis in April 2013. True to their form, their harmonious vocals drift around atop their foot-stomping, earthy instrumentals. A guitar, a mandolin, and a
prominent fiddle create a bed of deliberate mayhem for the lilting vocals to rest on. For a live recording, there is a surprisingly small amount of noise from the crowd on the album. But when it does come in, it enhances the experience, like when the crowd is singing along (rather well) to a cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” On the DVD portion of the release,
the crowd takes a bigger role, but even then it’s mostly visual. The 19song performance DVD captures the ticket-holders experience, from waiting outside the theatre, to getting a wristband and standing in the middle of the crowd. During “Wait so Long,” the lights come up to show the crowd, as a beach ball drifts overhead. The visuals are simple but effective. Each song is lit with a different colour. “Codeine” is orange, and “Bloodshot Eyes” is fuchsia. The DVD is an excellent opportunity to see the sweat dripping off lead singer Dave Simonett’s forehead in high definition. Faces song “Ooh La La” is an impressive inclusion to the set, while “Stranger,” and “Wait So Long,” are clearly crowd favourites. The set list includes classic off-kilter ballads like “Gasoline” as well. (BanjoDad, trampledbyturtles. com) Kristin Cuma RADICAL FACE The Family Tree: The Branches This is the second of a three-volume concept album series by Radical Face,
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whose power bill is addressed to Ben Cooper. The series may be thought of as the saga of a fictitious (though based on meticulous historical research) family in the 19th century. Adding to the flavour is Radical Face’s exclusive use of instruments from the era. One minor beef: it would have been great to write songs in the style of that era to hammer the concept home. I know it’s all just music, but this sounds for all the world like the indie-folkie release from late 2013 that it is—handclaps, humming vocal harmonies, the whole bit. For all the work of creating a genealogy and narrative, extending the attention to historical detail just seems like the logical thing to do. Oh well, not my record. All the same, it has some very strong songs and the vocal work would never make your grandmother leave the room. “Summer Skeletons” is a highlight, ambling its way down a winding trail on the back of some crisp cello work. There are some brief, “old” sounding samples sprinkled through-
out, mostly between the songs—but the simulated field recordings are positively enchanting at the opening of “The Gilded Hand,” which gradually reveals itself to be arguably the most adventurous song of the bunch. Bad Religion used to credit members with “oozin’ aahs” for their background vocals. Well, Radical Face obviously loves him some “aah oozers” because nearly every song on The Branches includes those “aaaaah” vocals—enough that I feel it needs to be mentioned. If wooohhs and aaaaahhs get on your nerves, this album will drain you in a hurry. If you like literate and poetic historical fiction, though, the words to these songs should offer enough to make you stick it out. (Nettwerk, radicalface.com) Daniel Emberg FRED EAGLESMITH Tambourine Hearts are broken, train whistles blow, an old dog is whipped. On his latest, Fred Eaglesmith keeps his train running down much the same track Fredheads have become familiar with over the years. But he does provide a couple down and dirty detours along the route. “Can Dance” and “Nobody Gets Everything” are both interesting experiments in 1960s rave-up rock n roll, much the way many of the tracks off 2010’s Cha Cha Cha explored vaguely retro sounds and
different song structures than Fred’s classic narrative style. “Drunk Girl” and “Small Town” are two of Tambourine’s “classic Fred” tunes, though the production situates them so smoothly in with the rest of the album that it’s easy for them to slip by without noticing how clearly Fred’s lens is trained on the subjects at hand. The stand out track, for me, is “Engineer,” a trademark Eaglesmith heartbreaker that at once seems fresh as hell, despite the fact it just as easily could have been pulled out of the Folkways archive and dusted off. While Tambourine lacks the full cohesive sound and songwriting that made 6 Volts such a powerhouse, the album certainly grows on you with repeated listens, and will be sure to satiate Fredheads until Eaglesmith’s Travelling Steam Show rolls through town again. (e one entertainment, fredeaglesmith. com) Sheldon Birnie THE HEAD AND THE HEART Let’s Be Still Need a folky pick me up in these frigid times? This album was able to remind me that sun and easier times are waiting for me on the other side of the windchill warnings. May it be the twangs in the guitar, or the violin swaying in the background of the layered tracks, but this CD just gives me fantasies of summer. The best part
about having 13 tracks is that there is ample room for a variety of feels and sounds. As “Josh McBride” brings a sound of warm floating harmonies, “Summertime” varies in its more poppy feel. Overall there is a noticeable balance throughout the album having each song sounding unique but all with the same light optimistic feel. The last track, “Gone,” is a driving force as the tempo speeds up and more instruments layer in to create a happy, celebratory, dancy mood. And dance you will want to do, that, or sing. I had a hard time not singing along to some of the chord progressions in these songs, attempting to create my own adlib harmonies with their round hoppy everybody-join-in choruses. And if it’s not the voices that have me interested (especially Charity Thielen), I had a good time hearing many instruments that seemed to weave into one another. The piano was an entity that seemed to drive a few tracks, while in others violins, violas and guitar were the stars. No matter what the combination, the sounds will strike you sunny. In its entirety it will leave you feeling upbeat and light in all its laidback delight, and that’s alright cause we deal with winter at night! (Anti-, theheadandtheheart. com) Samantha Sarty
SCOTT H. BIRAM Nothin’ But Blood Dirty ol’ one-man band Scott H. Biram serves up a bloody feast of raw roots and blues here on his latest, Nothin’ But Blood. From the soulful start of “Slow & Easy” and “Gotta Get to Heaven” to the raucous barroom laments of “Alcohol Blues” and “Only Whiskey,” Biram displays a versatility that somehow manages to escape many roots artists. Mixing blues and backwoods hillbilly sounds with the spit and grit of punk rock and metal, the man is doing it all himself –vocals, guitar, kick, foot stomps, keys, effects, and God knows what else – with the exception of a guest vocal here and an effects loop there. “Never Comin’ Home” and “Nam Weed” are high and lonesome moments of tender reflection amidst the mud, the blood, and the beer of “Backdoor Man” and “I’m Troubled.” As a bonus, Hiram includes three stripped down gospel tracks, a Sunday morning comedown after the wild ups and downs found throughout Nothin’ But Blood. Somewhere between Bob Log III and Lightnin’ Hopkins, Scott H. Biram is a performer who you ought not to turn your back on in 2014, folks. (Bloodshot Records, scottbiram.com) Sheldon Birnie
with “All my Songs” giving off that upbeat pub-style shenanigan feel. These dudes are almost a hardcore band, but they spice it up just enough to confuse the public into generalizing them as a rock group. I was really sold when I heard “Breed,” which tricked my mind
into thinking I was in a 90s movie, with the song being a Nirvana cover and all. F.A.B. is their second album, and it makes me want to check out their first. (Independent, speedcontrol.ca) Kaitlyn Emslie Farrell
Iconoclast SPEED CONTROL F.A.B. This three piece Yukon punk band didn’t take long to catch my interest. I picked up this CD because a stranger told me it was “fun,” and that pretty much sums it up. The first
track “Because I Can” reminded me of Comeback Kid. That carried on a bit through “Seeing Blue” and “Kick and Drag.” I thought “Oh God, more hardcore.” I don’t know much about the Yukon, but these guys are making me start to think they’re from Ireland,
Shades of Classics
SEAN CHRISTOPHER Transcendence When I first received this disc it didn’t register with me that this was an artist
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that I had heard beforehand, but when I listened to it the music was instantly recognizable. Sean Christopher was none other than Sean (Christopher) Dockery, the remarkable artist behind the stunning album Sojourns, which was released a few years ago. With Transcendence Sean takes your soul on a extraordinary otherworldly journey, leaving earth and journeying across the universe for what seems like an eternity before finally reaching paradise. Musically he does this with evolving synthesizer textures, celestial choirs, and the stunning playing of violin virtuoso Andrew Sords. Also
featured on this album is the voice of boy soprano Collin McKinley on the piece “Into the Black Hole.” All of the material on this album is original, with the exception of “Luna’s Song,” which is a beautiful re-working of the haunting opening movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Sean only entered the new age genre about ten years ago, and his longstanding love of classical music permeates throughout the music that he creates. This was very evident with Sojourns, an album that won several awards, and has continued impeccably with Transcendence, which in
my opinion is destined to achieve the same renown as its predecessor did. All of the tracks on this album are brilliant, and the album flows beautifully from one selection to the next. I particularly enjoyed the opening track “Gloria” with its heavenly choir, “Into the Black Hole” with the stunning voice of Collin McKinley, and the ghostly “Sleeping on Oort Clouds.” No sophomore jinx with Transcendence, just a superb followup to Sojourns, and another new age masterpiece from Sean Christopher! (Independent, seanchristopher.net) John Iverson
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Under the Needle
SHEARWATER Fellow Travelers Fellow Travelers is a heavy-on-thefeelings collection of covers from Austin’s Shearwater. It kicks things off with the beautiful, delicate piano prelude “Our Only Sun” ( Jesca Hoop), lulling the listener into a false sense of cozy sadness, only to be shattered by the driving, distorted guitar stomp of “I Luv the Valley OH!!” (Xiu Xiu), where Jonathan Meiburg triumphantly belts out “I won’t rest until I forget about it/I won’t rest until I don’t care.” The tracks chosen for the record are pretty eclectic, including cuts from Coldplay, The Folk Implosion, The Baptist Generals, and Clinic. It’s a little bit overly melodramatic at times, but some standout tunes like the lively, late-period REM channeling “Cheerleader” (St. Vincent) and the gorgeous melody and soft tragedy of “Mary is Mary” (Wye Oak) are solid examples of taking songs that are already great and breathing some new life into them. The one original offering, “A Wake For the Minotaur,” featuring the lovely pipes of Sharon Van Etten, is a heartbreaking, poetic tearjerker that flows along solely on the reverb of a fingerpicked acoustic guitar. While the band might not be breaking any new ground, Fellow Travelers is a quality collection of covers that show just how much songs can change and grow. (Sub Pop, shearwatermusic. com) Matt Williams THE STRUMBELLAS We Still Move On Dance Floors Hailing from Toronto, The Strumbellas are deliciously folky, with six vocalists, banjo, trumpet, violin, keys, resulting in a Rural Alberta Advantage feel. Their latest album, We Still Move on Dance Floors, combines woodsy country sounds with cityliving angst. The emotional content on this album is kind of like a shower with only two temperatures. There’s
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hot and cold, that’s it. The album starts with “Sailing” and you’re in the shower, it’s cool and refreshing. As the album continues, the water gets colder, it’s increasingly uncomfortable. You swivel the tap and let the warm water in, it’s way too hot. Your skin is burning and you’re miserable, so you turn the knob. You calm down, the water is tolerable, but only for a little while. The cold builds up, and every second you spend in the shower stings your skin, eventually burning worse than the hot water. You shut the shower off and get out. You stand on the bathmat with angry blotchy skin. Should you be mad at the shower? No, for it has left you cleaner than you were before. (Six Shooter Records, thestrumbellas.ca) Jade Markus MINOR ALPS Get There When I got this album, I had no clue what to expect. I just popped it into my car’s CD drive and pressed play. From the first syncopated beat of “Buried Plans,” the opening track, I immediately connected. “Such a loner, hardly bring anyone over I keep everything as quiet as I can,” the first lyric of the song perfectly described my hermit-like studying habits during the cold first weeks of December. From that point on, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the album, though I quickly understood that for Matthew Caws of Nada Surf fame, and Juliana Hatfield, this was more of an experiment in the kitchen, throwing together a few funky new ingredients, rather than a favourite recipe, with surefire pleasure guaranteed to all who indulge in it. Here are two wellestablished, wily veterans of the indie music scene who after honing their craft for more than two decades, decide to join forces and try something different. That itself is worthy of commendation. However, the magnitude of success which they achieved in so doing is relative to the listener. Get There is a light listen, but it maintains a certain brevity and purpose in each song. “Far From the Roses” provides a burst of light and energy amidst a collection of generally low-key harmony driven tracks. It is worth mentioning just how well Caws and Hatfield’s voices blend, polyphony at its finest, with their voices sometimes indiscernible from one another. Listen to this album if you are prepared to not be a snob about it,
and sit back and enjoy two musicians who still care deeply about what they do. (Barsuk Records, barsuk.com) Ben Waldman
HOOKWORMS Pearl Mystic “Away/Towards,” the epic, nearly nineminute long opener on Pearl Mystic, slinks slowly at the beginning, quickly making it clear that it’s leading you to something very big. The psychedelic haze of the head-nodder it turns into doesn’t disappoint, swirling through the celebrated loud/quiet/loud dynamic with thick guitars and solid bass lines punctuated by “whisper-toa-scream” vocals. The six-string bombast continues with “Form and Function,” a slower, druggy, swagger-filled tune that sounds like it could’ve been a Brian Jonestown Massacre song, if they still wrote good songs (karma’s a bitch, eh?). There are some interludes to provide a droning relaxation between all the main tracks, and after the first one, the band slows it down for “In Our Time,” which drags along a little bit like background music at a party where you accidentally chugged a bunch of that cough syrup you can’t get in Canada. “Since We Had Changed” is just as slow-moving, but it’s powered by a groovy, repetitive bass line and guitar drones that sound like sunlight, and is probably something people would love to listen to while they’re high, but high in a “man, everything’s gonna be okay” way. The last time the album gets a real dose of adrenaline is “Preservation,” drenched in glorious distortion freak-outs and enough echo on the wailing vocals that it sounds like they were recorded at the bottom of a canyon. I once read something that said this band doesn’t do any drugs, which is hard to believe. That’s how much it sounds like drugs. If you walked into a room in slow motion, lookin’ real cool with your sunglasses on, and immediately started sweaty-dancing to a light show sur-
rounded by a bunch of good looking people, one of these songs might be playing. (Weird World Record Co., hookworms.bandcamp.com) Matt Williams BOOGARINS As Plantas Que Curam Boogarins are a Brazilian duo named after a Jasmine flower that is said to “smell like pure love,” and their debut, As Plantas Que Curam, which translates to Plants That Heal, is a psychedelic masterpiece, a blossom plucked from the summer of love. With a catchy repeating run of fuzz guitar similar to Tomorrow’s “My White Bicycle” and lyrics of love, LSD, and ‘69, the opening track “Lucifernandis” lets you know that there is some time travel involved with this album. Classic sounds, tones, scales, and effects from the psychedelic era are deconstructed and re-imagined into wholly new songs that are at once familiar and original. Call Plantas Que Curan an homage not derivative, as many other psychedelic influences surface on the disc. It is somewhat reminiscent of Brian Wilson’s Smile with its many layers and use of interesting and unconventional sounds. This is best exemplified in “Cancao Perdida,” a short piece consisting of suburban white noise and backyard recordings of songbirds with a bright little guitar lead throughout. “Despreocupar” is a rough-hewn jug band ditty, complete with whistle solo, that wouldn’t be out of place on a Country Joe & The Fish album. But the two main influences are undeniably Brazilian psychedelic legends Os Mutantes and the Beatles. Hints of both are everywhere on the album, particularly in the lazy, middle-eastern tinged “Hoje Aprendi de Verdade” and “Paul,” a Sgt. Pepper-esque tribute to Paul McCartney. While the Boogarins are an obvious throwback to a bygone era, they have crafted a wonderful psychedelic album for this century and have as much in common with Jake Bugg and Mahogany Frog as they do with the Beatles and Os Mutantes. (Fat Possum, boogarins. com) Broose Tulloch DOG DAY Fade Out A lot of the songs on Fade Out, the fourth full-length from Halifax’s Dog Day, sound similar, which sometimes
makes the album feel like one long song. While this can sometimes be a bummer, most of these songs sound really good, so it’s not. The record feels a lot like its album cover looks, which is dark, deep, and ominous. If Sonic Youth only wrote poppy songs, usually under four minutes long, it might sound a lot like this (interestingly enough, the principal members of the band, Nancy Urich and Seth Smith, are married, which is also something that Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore once were). The album is full of heavy hooks and classic rock riffs, which sound badass on tracks like the relentlessly misanthropic “Alone With You.” It drifts into cute-but-sad territory with the lighter “Dirtbag,” in which Smith declares, “I hope that you’ll still be around when I become a better person.” There are (maybe?) some moments of levity, though, such as the hard-rocking driver “Sandwich,” where the only line Urich calls out is “all of my friends are in sandwiches/ who am I eating this time?” Dog Day pumps a few lifetimes of emotional crisis into each one of these short tunes, which can be a bit exhausting at times. But it’s also comforting and powerful, somehow. The biggest payoff, and the best song of the record, is the closer, “Before Us.” Over sparse drums and acoustic guitar, Smith sings “as we lay here to rot, it’s not over yet.” On a record so full of sadness, the triumphant light at the end of the tunnel becomes so much more moving than you ever could’ve imagined. It stands above all the tragedy that came before it and pushes forward, with an absurd but necessary amount of hope. (fundog, dogdaymusic.com) Matt Williams BLOOD ORANGE Cupid Deluxe Cupid Deluxe is Blood Orange’s second album. It’s a mix of new wave, jazz and pop with an umbrella of seductivity. It’s like real slow mainstream music you’d hear in a weird club where everyone’s slow dancing and nobody is sure if they should really be there or not. Some of the tracks have that feel you get from listening to The XX but then it quickly switches over to jazz. This is demonstrated with “Uncle ACE.” Although it starts out with a smooth jazz feel, we lose the vocals halfway through and some electronic sounds get added in. It’s a nice song to write to. Everything was all fine and dandy with track two, “You’re Not Good Enough,” but I think somebody left the mic on during downtime. It sounds as though a room full of people are playing ping pong for the last minute of the song. Cupid Deluxe has a lot of spice with its several featured artists such as David Longstreth, Sa-
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mantha Urbani, Clams Casino and plenty more. “Clipped On” is one of few songs on the album with rap, because hey, why not? It’s not too difficult to tell Blood Orange wrote this album with New York inspiration. The music will tell you that, but the sleevebook in the CD case full of pictures of New Yorkers, will probably be the biggest clue. I give this album a big A-OK, which is good because I’ve been to New York and it is not my favorite place. (Domino Recording Co Ltd, bloodorangeforever.tumblr.com) Kaitlyn Emslie Farrell MARGOT & THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO’S Sling Shot to Heaven The tiny writing scrawled across the cover of Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s new album is nearly illegible; it was a humble cry to take it home and give it a listen. Sling Shot to Heaven, the fifth album released by the Indianapolis band swept me off my feet, unexpectedly. For a band that has been around since 2005, what they do, they do well. Richard Edwards voice is perfectly harmonized with Heidi Gluck and Kenny Childers to bring you thirteen songs that are perfect for when you are feeling introverted.
The overall pace of the LP is quite slow. Almost all of the tracks on this album are heavy on acoustic and piano elements. The tracks “Los Angeles” and “Long Legged Blonde Memphis” are a welcome break from this, boasting more of an indie-rock vibe. Intriguing musical overtures at the beginning of each track will certainly peak your interest. This is particularly evident on the track “Wedding Song,” where the song takes a sharp turn after the beginning. As a band that has gone through many changes in its members over the years, their sound is hard to pin down under any particular genre. My best guess would be melancholy indie with an acoustic chaser. The one member who has stuck around through the changes is songwriter Richard Edwards, which is evident through the touching and clever lyrics on Sling Shot to Heaven. Take a chance on this album. Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s really know their stuff. (Mariel Recording Company, margotandthenuclearsoandsos.com) Raegan Hedley THE BELLE COMEDIANS Charlotte The title of the second EP from Fredericton’s The Belle Comedians, as well
as each of its five tracks, can be read as a feminine name. Could this be a nod to Slint’s Tweez from a band that doesn’t have pals named Ron or Warren? It had me going for a minute too, but then I listened to it. Turns out “Charlotte” is the name of the street on which the band lived while recording these tunes, not some human. And it’s a quick collection of tidy folk-rock songs that travel some but never get carried too far in any given direction. Several of the tracks sound like they might stretch out well at the live show, with some rather spacey work on guitar in particular. There is an undeniable plaintive tone to the words throughout, but thankfully vocalist Benjamin Ross explores introspection in ways that go beyond wishing some girl on the bus would look at him one of these days. Also, if you like those music videos where the band shows off how they can do anything they want in tight pants while smoking and drinking beer, then check out the one these guys released for “Rosy,” the lead single from Charlotte. If you don’t watch it all the way to its end, you’re doing yourself a disservice. (Nettwerk, bellecomedians.com) Daniel Emberg
95.9 FM CKUW CAMPUS/COMMUNITY RADIO TOP 30 ALBUMS (Nov. 26, 2013 – Jan 29, 2014) !=LOCAL CONTENT * =CANADIAN CONTENT re=RE-ENTRY TO CHART
ARTIST
RECORDING
LABEL
# Artist Album Label 1 ! The Greg MacPherson Band Fireball Disintegration 2 ! Amber Epp Inside Outside Self-Released 3 ! Scott Nolan And Joanna Miller North/South Transistor 66 4 ! Various Artists Beach Station Blues II Real Love Winnipeg 5 ! Hana Lu Lu Keepsake Self-Released 6 Gogol Bordello Pura Vida Conspiracy ATO 7 ! Greg Rekus Punkoustic Self-Released 8 ! Royal Canoe Today We’re Believers Nevado 9 * The Pack A.D. Do Not Engage Nettwerk 10 * Tim Hecker Virgins Paper Bag 11 * Hag Face Hag Face Self-Released 12 Nashaz Nashaz Ziryab 13 ! Les Jupes Negative Space Head In The Sand 14 * The Sattalites The Best Of Canadian Reggae Solid Gold 15 * Yamantaka // Sonic Titan Uzu Paper Bag 16 ! Hey Pilgrim The Big Z No Label Collective 17 * Blue Warblers Birds Self-Released 18 The Devil Makes Three I’m A Stranger Here New West 19 * Basia Bulat Tall Tall Shadow Secret City 20 Grouplove Spreading Rumours Atlantic 21 * Jody Quine Seven Self-Released 22 ! Little Miss Higgins and The Winnipeg Five Bison Ranch Recording Sessions Self-Released 23 * Sebastien Grainger Yours To Discover Last Gang 24 * Arcade Fire Reflektor Merge 25 Sharon Jones and The Dapkings Give the People What They Want Daptone 26 Glasser Interiors True Panther Sounds 27 * Zebra Pulse Endings Self-Released 28 Dr. Dog B-Room Anti29 Neo Boys Sooner Or Later K Records 30 Pontiak INNOCENCE Thrill Jockey
Feb/March 2014 Stylus Magazine
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24 Stylus Magazine Feb/March 2014
winnipeg folk festival ConCeRts A Tribe CAlled red
MAry gAuThier
with guest Kinnie Starr
with guests Scott Nolan and Joanna Miller
February 16 union Sound hall (18+)
February 20 Park TheaTre
old MAn luedeCke And Jordie lAne
buffy SAinTe-MArie
with guest The Fugitives
March 2 Park TheaTre
March 4 WeST end culTural cenTre
del bArber Cd releASe
JAMeS vinCenT MCMorrow
March 21 Park TheaTre
March 25 WeST end culTural cenTre
boy & beAr
kiM ChurChill
aPril 1 Park TheaTre
aPril 6 WeST end culTural cenTre
with guest Wildlife
The heAd And The heArT with guest Basia Bulat
aPril 7 burTon cuMMingS TheaTre
An evening with
good lovelieS aPril 29 Park TheaTre
The Milk CArTon kidS May 12 WeST end culTural cenTre
live @
For info and tickets call (204) 231-1377 or visit the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store, Bannatyne at Albert
w i n n i p e g f o l k f e ST i vA l .C A
Feb 7 – dirTy caTFiSh braSS band Feb 8 – nick SherMan Feb 22 – Sibyl with Darling Twig Mar 15 – claire MorriSon Mar 22 – Micah erenberg aPr 5 – carly doW & JeSSe MaTaS aPr 25 – brenT Parkin aPr 26 – red Moon road