Published by the University of Winnipeg Students' Association
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PROGRAM GUIDE INSIDE
June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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Stylus
June/July Volume23 Issue3
Production Team Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheldon Birnie
On the Cover BEN CLARKSON is an artist and illustrator who resides in Winnipeg. His work has been exhibited internationally and his illustrations regularly appear in The Globe and Mail, The Walrus and Explore Magazine. He has recently been nominated for the Winnipeg Art Council’s On the Rise Award for the second consecutive year, and for a 2012 National Magazine Award for Best Illustration. He mails postcards of his images by subscription all over the continent. His hobbies are distance running, indian cooking, and learning about physics. www.thebenclarkson.com artinthemail.tumblr.com
Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Mazurak Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Darcy Penner Advertising Manager . . . . . . . . . . Ted Turner
204-786-9779, outreach@theuwsa.ca
Distributor . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick Michalishyn Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ben Clarkson Printed by Copy Plus Inc. . . . . . 204-232-3558
Contributors Adrienne Yeung Victoria King Colburne Poapst Devin King Natalie Baird Scott Wolfe Shanell Dupras Kabir Kaler Kyra Leib Cole Snyder Brad Skibinsky Janet Adamana
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
TableofContents Blah, Blah, Blah Events around town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Forty-Seven Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Local Spotlight The Vibrating Beds // Jenny Berkel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Root Cellar Jim White // Piers Faccini // Todd Snider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Iconoclast Set Your Goals // Dodecahedron // Krang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Under the Needle Real Estate // Megaphonic Thrift // Galactic . . . . . . . . 25 Kontroller Mass Effect 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Fear of Music Holotopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Features Young Empires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Sound + Visions: Crossroads . . . . . . 9 MEME Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Todd Snider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Beirut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Best of Fests: Jazz + Folk . . . . . . . . 20 Grand Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
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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June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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Blah, Blah, Blah Dear friends and gentle hearts, for just over half of this magazine’s press time it is officially summer: bike rides, resealable bottles of Two Rivers, and telling your friends that catching these shows is way cooler than getting out of the city. *** Check out New Music Wednesdays at Ozzy’s every week for up & comers on the Manitoba scene, or hit up the Standard for Andrew Nevile & The Poor Choices. *** June 8 Henry Rollins lectures at the Burton Cumings Theatre; and Wintersleep are at The Pyramid *** June 9 Winnipeg’s Flo releases her new album at the West End Cultural Centre; acoustic troubadours Greg Rekus, Austin Lucas, and PJ Bond are at the Standard; and Salinas, The Mystics, and Spirit Children are at the Lo Pub *** June 11 Brasstronaut and Útidúr play the Park Theatre; while Organic Orbit is at the Pyramid *** June 14 marks the start of Jazz Fest; Mishak and Anuhea are at the WECC; while the Lo nears capacity at soundcheck with Shearing Pinx, Crabskull, Fletcher Pratt, Microdot, and Random Cuts *** June 15 local staples Boats, Les Jupes, and Pip Skid take over Lo, and down at the Zoo, there’s the ‘War On Music Benefit Show’ Feat. Electro Quarterstaff, Sabbatory, Angry Dragons, Still Lights & Antikathera *** June 15 & 16, Ridley Bent is at the Times Change(d). Don’t miss that! *** June 16 witnesses a free show at Old Market Square filled with Winnipeg pop, notably The Lytics and Royal Canoe; around the corner and down the street Thee Ahs, Vampires, and Hana Lu Lu are at Lo; and further down the street Manafest and Whosarmy
are at the WECC *** June 17 catch Bry Webb (exConstantines), Snailhouse, and Zach Lucky at the WECC *** June 18 Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar, and Indian Handcrafts are at the Park; while Dog Day and Mitten Claps are at the Lo *** June 19 the Lo hosts the Pop Off Tour, featuring Parlovr, Hooded Fang, and Goose Hunt; Winnipeg legend Greg Macpherson opens for The Hold Steady at the Burt; and The “Eh” Team are at the Park *** June 20 Janelle Monae is at the Burt; The Mike Plume Band, Murdoch, and Sparrow are at the Park; and Teen Daze, The Parish of Little Clifton, Vikings, and Beauchamp are at the Lo *** June 21 hometown heroes Imaginary Cities and Young Empires play the Pyramid; and Hannibal draws laughs at the Park *** June 22 The Burning Kettles are at the Lo, and hardcore punk stalwarts Death By Stereo invade Ozzy’s, along with Diefenbaker, Division & Bring The Fight *** June 23 The Antlers are at the Pyramid with Haunter; and Booker T Jones is at the Burt. Fancy something heavier, hit up the Zoo for Alphakill’s CD Release Party w/ Putrescence, White Trash Heavy Metal & Noir *** June 25 Cowboy Junkies hit the WECC *** June 27 Volbeat and Hellyeah! are at the Burt *** June 28 Kinnie Starr and Keri Latimer take the stage at the WECC; and Crosses, Mt. Nolan, and Burnt Witch Survivors Group are at the Lo; while Toronto’s The Beauties are tearing up the Times *** June 29 catch City Streets at the Lo; or Jaylene Johnson, Kerri Woelke, and the Point Douglas Gospel Choir at the WECC
RUSSIANON CIRCLESJUNE MAKE18TH ABEFORE PITSLED STOPISLAND ATFESTIVAL PARKIN THEATRECALGARY
*** June 30 Fresh I.E., Sean Quigley, and Karlie Gerbrandt are at the WECC *** July 1, Dominion Day, there is plenty of live music going down across town, from Osborne Street to the Forks and all points within the Perimeter. Grab a to-go cup & hit the streets. *** July 4 Fred Eaglesmith plays the Park. God Bless America! *** July 4 - 8 Winnipeg closes down for the Folk Festival *** July 9 Detroit Cobras play the Pyramid; Melvins Lite are at the WECC; Tyga hits up the Garrick *** July 11 has 3 Inches of Blood, Wretched and Endless Chaos tearing down The Zoo *** July 13 has the rescheduled Buck 65 show with Colleen Brown and Rob Crooks *** July 18 the Full Flex Express Tour featuring Skrillex, Grimes, Diplo, et. al. is at the Shaw Park *** July 21 there is No River in the Park *** July 22 Hot Panda returns to the Lo *** July 23 Beirut are at the Burt, and Geoff Berner is at the Times *** July 24 Iron Maiden and Coheed and Cambria are at the MTS Centre *** July 28th Cheering for the Bad Guy are at the Times for a very special show. *** July 31 Il Divo fills the MTS Centre with middle-aged male jealousy; TWIN hit the river for the third annual Assiniboine River Music Armada til Aug. 11 ending at Le Garage with Wind, Field////, Young Pixels, Vampires, and Monsieur Coccinel *** That’s not it and that’s not all, so be sure to check out stylusmagazine.ca for updated show listings when you want to catch some wonderful music on a wonderful Winnipeg summer evening.
GARAGELAND Every Saturday in June from 8 - 11am on CANADIAN RIVERS DAY Sun June 10th @ Oak Hammock Marsh
PRESENTS:
EACH OTHER Thurs June. 28th @ Frame-Arts Warehouse ART CITY SKY PARADE Sat. June. 30th BATTALION OF SAINTS Fri. July 6th + 7th @ The Zoo MELVINS LITE MondayJuly 9th @ WECC SLIM CESSNA’S AUTO CLUB Sun. July 29th @ WECC TWIN SHADOW Wed. Aug 8th @ The Pyramid ASSINIBOINE RIVER MUSIC ARMADA Saturday Aug 11th @ Le Garage
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June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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FORTY-SEVEN THOUGHTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 35 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 46 45 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1...
1. My name is Darcy Penner, and I am the new Assistant Editor for Stylus Magazine. 2. It took me a month to get through the five stages of grief following the realization that I will never be able to live up to the bar of badass set by Sheldon and his shotgun. 3. I am in the band Salinas. 4. Give it seven months until I change this publication into Stalinus. 5. The joke is a combination of Salinas and Stylus, as opposed to an ode to Stalin. Although it is likely Brodbeck can’t tell the difference between all three. 6. On the topic of utterances that cause consumption, I prefer a deep amber, but can be convinced to swing to a hoppy pale or a full porter. 7. Although that makes it seem as though I would turn down a beer, which is a complete lie. 8. I have lived in Winnipeg for six years. 9. I started my post-high school life by washing cars. The transferable skills are innumerable. 10. I just graduated from the University of Winnipeg. 11. I studied politics. 12. My interest in politics has continually scaled down, from chic-global, to federal, to provincial, and now to post-chicurban with a kick in the jaw by art. 13. Ironically I switched back to freewheel. 14. There is a fine line between having conviction and being arrogant; the more I read, the less I trust knowing where the line is. 15. I think Winnipeg is a wonderful place to live. 16. I can’t stand how much Winnipegers hate Winnipeg. Just secede – I will draft your suburb’s constitution. Or publish your rationale beyond the Free Press and Sun’s comments – challenge the line for me. 17. I would like to see Stylus become bigger and shinier. Call it what you like (probably normative gender conditioning), but big shiny shit is just plain awesome. 18. As it stands, my favourite author is John Steinbeck. 19. My favourite blog is artthreat.net. 20. Although I don’t read very
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many blogs, so if you think this shouldn’t be my favourite, email me. 21. I am a cyclist and a Jets fan. 22. Whoever stole the Jets flag off of my bike: you ruined a clever subversion of identity norms, and I would like it back. 23. I never went to Chuck E. Cheese, nor have I ever shot a gun. I have been to Florida, but it was unknown to me at the time that both could be accomplished so easily (and legally). 24. Probably too soon. I struggle with many lines, but quickly find myself on the wrong side of them. 25. I own the Crimes 7” and enjoy songs off of White Crosses. Deal with it.
26. Besides, they just regained the radical cred Fat Wreck Chords took from them. 27. I have killed a tarantula with a sandal. Sorry fellow veg-heads, it was the spider or my family. 28. That is a complete exaggeration. At no point did a spider threaten my family’s existence. 29. The division between equality of opportunity and equality of condition is conspicuously convenient. 30. Especially for those with both great opportunities and great conditions, and want to convince everyone it is a fair game. 31. The wheel fell off my car once. I now own a ’95 GMC Rally Van. 32. It’s a hybrid. 33. I have a niece, and I can guarantee she is cuter than your niece. For unbiased proof, just ask my mom. 34. I once won a race against a Ford F-150 on my bike. 35. I declare the finish line the location where I broke my clavicle. 36. This led to me reading the entire Brothers Karamazov on T3s. I can’t provide too many details of the book. 37. I used to bike with the motto, “If you can fit, it’s legit.” This has now changed. Short of a reflective vest over my backpack, I am now that guy on the road. 38. My OCD releases itself through day planners and lists, and plans to make lists to account for all my planners. 39. I would prefer a mayor who wanted to be mayor. 40. Rather than just, “Ya know, gettin’ the usual done when it can’t be left any longer.” 41. I am a proud Meatloaf fan. 42. The downfall of being a regular at a bar is not being certain if you should apologize for the last time you were there. 43. Sometimes I play Civilization V for a whole day while listening to Rhapsody of Fire way too loud. Hopefully my girlfriend doesn’t read this. 44. Although that would leave me with a lot of time, and they have a lot of albums. 45. I won’t say who my favourite band from Winnipeg is. I did study politics after all. 46. Apparently my neighbourhood is the best neighbourhood in Canada. 47. The Free Press commentators are not convinced. But really, are they ever?
June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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THE REALITIES OF
YOUNG EMPIRES By Colburne Poapst
Being in a band that has toured the US, played
However, he also jokingly remembers how, in the scene is not perfect. “The hard thing about Toronto shows in such marquee locations as Paris, Lonwinter, “the wind burns your face off.” sometimes is that they don’t really love you until don and New York, and gets consistent radio play Escaping the cold winters and NHL deprivasomeone else does; until someone in the U.K. says across this country would be a dream come true tion Palahnuk found his place in the Toronto music that this band is the next big thing. Then all of a for many young musicians. But there is a big difscene. “It’s really cool. It’s a really diverse scene. Tosudden Toronto gets on board and is like ‘Yeah, they ference between a dreamer’s distant idealizations of ronto is kind of the place where you can do whatare.’ But Toronto doesn’t ever want to get behind success and the actual reality of it. Stylus recently ever you want, create whatever kind of sound you a band for themselves. So as much as it is diverse spoke with Jake Palahnuk, the bass player for Towant and it’s kind of accepted. I think there was a sometimes people are following a bit, in terms of the ronto indie-dance rock group Young Empires, and predominant theme for a while, like with that whole crowd. But still, it is definitely a good community.” got a first-hand account of the ups and downs of Broken Social Scene, indie-rock kind of sound but When discussing the band’s recent success, playing in a band that has achieved, in many senses, that has all spread out.” Palahnuk again tempers the good with the bad. For indie success. Evident in our conversation is the way It is a good environment for a band like Young the first time the band is employing a tour manager Palahnuk tempers his own excitement for his music Empires to develop and explore their sound, but (a sign of their growing tour commitments). While with the realities of band economics. at the same time, Palahnuk acknowledges that the Palahnuk hopes that will take away some of the Currently in between a US tour stress from touring and give the band and the beginning of their first Westmore freedom on the road, he also ern Canada tour, Young Empires fisees that this freedom has its price. I nally have time to jam again. jokingly suggested that, in uncertain “We have just been busy, busy, economic times, Stephen Harper busy all the time and haven’t had a should be proud of Young Empires chance to just jam and have fun and for creating jobs. Palahnuk laughed, make some noise again,” Palahnuk then said “Yeah, isn’t that what being says. “The last few weeks we have acin a band is all about? Creating jobs? tually been in the same location: in I mean, you are the last one to get the garage with all our gear set-up, paid for your own music. You got to A skyscraping blend of the ambient and just making some noise and trying to pay everyone else first. Pretty insane! the anthemic, The Antlers’ name simply write some tracks. It’s been fun. The By the time you pay your label, you describes their music: a delicately goal is to have a new record written pay your manager, you pay for the branching instrument of force by our June tour and go and record it house sound guy, and you pay the /P I TCH FORK JUNE 14 j 23 sometime in the summer. Hopefully tour manager, then it’s like ‘What’s 2012 we will get it out before the end of left now for the four of us who made the year.” all this stuff happen for everyone?’ While he loves the free time, he is It’s an interesting concept, but that’s also itching to get back on the road. just the way it is. But we have always Palahnuk is particularly excited about wanted to be in a band since we were the band’s upcoming Winnipeg date, in middle school or grade five or as he lived in the city until he was ten whatever. So it’s nice to see all those years old. When asked about his best dreams come alive I guess.” memories of Winnipeg he turned to That seems to be the essence of the old Winnipeg Jets. much of what Palahnuk says. Noth“I’m a huge Jets fan. Go Jets go! ing can be reduced to simple black SATURDAYJUNE 23 It makes me happy that they are and white. Sure, band economics can back. Really happy. My best memory be depressing, but the most impor10PM///PYRAMIDCABARET of Winnipeg is the white, the white tant thing is the music. And the muINDIVIDUAL TICKETS AVAILABLE AT noise or whatever with the playoffs sic is good and the live show is certain JAZZWINNIPEG.COM///THE JAZZ WINNIPEG OFFICE 007-100 ARTHUR ST. and the Jets. You know, the white to be a highlight of the Jazz Festival. THE JAZZ WINNIPEG INFOLINE 989-4656 BUY A CLUB PASS AND SEE IT ALL! EXPERIENCE ALL THE CLUBS, ALL WEEK LONG! outs. I went to one of those games and did the whole thing with my Young Empires play Winnipeg on cheeks painted and an all white oneJune 21st at the Pyramid Cabaret with piece pajama suit [laughs]. A real Imaginary Cities for the Winnipeg little fan boy.” Jazz Festival.
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June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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SOUND + VISIONS
EXPERIENCES DURING A SELF-GUIDED TOUR BY adrienne yeung
L ike many of you, my daily commute includes a
walk past the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art. One day a sign for their current exhibit caught my eye. Sound + Visions: Crossroads (curated by Anthony Kiendl) manages to link not only aural and visual art, but historical events and the present, personal experiences and public exhibition. 11 pieces take various aspects of music and sound and allow you to look at them dissected, connected, transformed. This is my experience, below. I walk into Plug In’s dark gallery, and into a video of convulsive dancing projected onto a screen. This is Tarantism (2007), by Joachim Koester. Without sound or colour, the action is reduced to frantic movement with no obvious stimulus or point. It reminds me somehow of how a picture of laughter can often be mistaken for sadness. I suddenly realize I feel extremely isolated - the absence of music takes away my immediate understanding of what the people are moving to. An explanation from the curatorial assistant reveals that this is a re-enactment of the Italian Tarantella dance, which was believed to prevent the fatal effect of a tarantula bite. This is hard to stop watching even when the seams of finish and beginning join up. Next, I wander over to the jerky collage cut-out, vaguely surrealist video of a man, played in reverse - Orpheus Groove (2012). (It was somewhat anticlimactic that the speakers were missing when I went). But apparently you can actually walk through the screen into Winnipeg artist Kevin Ei-Ichi DeForest’s work, and be physically enveloped by screen and the sound of be-bop jazz.
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Hello Boys by Hannah Wilke (1975) stands in stark contrast to Tarantism simply because it’s so personal and expressive. It’s a video of a woman dancing behind a fish tank (before 1996’s Romeo and Juliet rediscovered the appeal of the aquatic) to the Who’s Quadrophenia. A turtle crawls by. The woman’s masses of hair flow as if in water. Headphones on, and the gentle music shuts me off from the world. I sit down for Cory Arcangel’s pieces Insecticide (2002-2003) - which is cute - and The Message my Brother Jason Left Me on My Cell from the Slayer Concert He Went to Last Week (2004). They both make me laugh. I listen to six of seven boring answering machine messages get deleted. The last is a grinding, muffled, squeaking pocket call. It’s funny and thought-provoking how the context of an art gallery enables celebration of the textures that would normally get deleted. Jennifer West’s films Led Zeppelin Alchemy Film (2007) and Nirvana Alchemy Film (2007) look at first like cellular processes, on acid. It’s amazing to know that it’s actually film gone through treatment with food, laxatives, and various chemicals. This dances across the walls in intense hues. I like thinking of how these videos are being fed with human needs and processes, and then it reminds me of the reverse. Like when you can feel sound waves vibrating through your body, and almost become a human harp, surprised you didn’t start making music. [At this point, I failed to realise that the noises coming from behind the black door in the main gallery were part of another art piece in the other room. So go
ahead and open that door!] There’s something odd about the Guitar Hero setup (Composition #7, Cory Arcangel, 2009). If you’re good at the game you’ll probably find out what it is much sooner than I did. Rotary Psycho-Opticon (Rodney Graham, 2008) is a literal reference to a 1970 Black Sabbath music video. A bicycle mounted behind a printed wall powers a spinning disc, which is visible through holes one. Get the person at the front desk to jump on the bike for you, because interactive art is a fun time. The effect is pretty neat, although I wouldn’t have made the connection between history, music, and visuals without having seen the music video (there’s no sound accompanying this piece). Rock My Religion (Dan Graham, 1982-84) draws connections between religion and the modern idolatry of musicians. This short documentary is worth a watch. You certainly don’t learn about Shakers in history class. Dreamachine (Brion Gysin and Ian Summerville, 1960) is a piece that creates an environment I’d like to go back to over and over again. Experiencing it is truly like being cocooned in the eye of a storm. The sign on the wall suggests optimal viewing occurs with eyes closed. I leaned back on some pillows and it was like driving through a backlit forest. Or zooming through space. Try it! The ideas in this article do not necessarily reflect the intention of the artists. The exhibit runs until June 17, 2012, and admission is free of charge.
June/July June/July2012 2012 Stylus StylusMagazine Magazine 011 09
SOUNDS & VISIONS
EXPERIENCES DURING A SELF-GUIDED TOUR BY adrienne yeung
MANITOBA ELECTRONIC MUSIC EXHIBITION By Victoria King
When the stage in Old Market Square was torn
down and replaced by the Cube in 2010, the structure was met with mixed emotions. Its futuristic design, its odd and confusing functionality, and a remaining nostalgia for the former, more traditional stage seemed to be major concerns in some people’s minds. Yet as both Nathan Zahn, director of Winnipeg’s MEME festival, and Adam Hannibal, one of three creative directors of the festival tell me, the Cube arrived at the perfect time to serve the perfect purpose: representing an emerging electronic music festival in its inaugural year. Hannibal cites its “striking, futuristic design” as a sort of metaphor for electronica, and that “it feels very Berlin, or London, because it’s so cutting edge.” “We had no idea the cube was going to be built,” Zahn recounts. “Without exaggerating, I think we helped to justify that cube partly, because here was this group of young entrepreneur-type people coming out of nowhere to do an event that probably suits the cube better than any other festival . . . people came up to us and asked, ‘Did they build this cube just for MEME?’” Both veterans to the Winnipeg scene, Adam explains that the electronic scene has truly evolved since both him and Zahn first got involved. “In the early to mid 90s, most of the parties were in underground spots like warehouses, and they were only known about through word of mouth and flyers because the Internet was barely around. It was more of a niche subculture - it wasn’t in clubs really. Little bit more risky, in places that didn’t have permits or weren’t necessarily safe but that was kind of part of the edge in that culture at the time. And then towards the late 90s it broke through into the clubs because a lot of warehouses were being shutdown, or fire marshals and inspectors were not letting these parties go on.” As it is now, the scene has “grown from an underground fringe scene into this beacon in the centre of Winnipeg that’s loud and clear and pretty obvious.” MEME, the Manitoba Electronic Music Exhibition, is now entering its third year, after two greatly successful years that promoted the scene not only in Winnipeg, but also around the world. This year’s MEME festival is expanding, boasting shows at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Manitoba Museum, select bars and clubs throughout the city, and of course the Cube. As Adam explains, the Museum and the Art Gallery will offer multiple flavours of electronic music with two rooms at the museum, “one focusing on what’s
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sort of popular right now, the bass music, drum and bass, dubstep style” and the other being more of a house and techno room. The WAG will host four different rooms: two for the house and techno scene, one being ambient and mellow, and the rooftop containing more of a reggae and funk vibe. Expansion can also be measured in the new partnerships and sponsors who’ll be involved this year. Of their two dozen or so sponsors are some local favorites, such as Parlor Coffee and Half Pints, as well as internationally known brands, such as Absolut Vodka and Sony. “We’re not necessarily looking for sponsors just from the Exchange, but it’s certainly nice to include our neighbours . . . Sony is sponsoring us, which is really great because they make some of the software that people use to produce this music.” But the most exciting new sponsorship for this year is undeniably Red Bull. Working collaboratively with the “MEME team,” Red Bull allowed the organizers to handpick several of their artists to feature on the Sunday of the fest, offering four to five hours of entertainment. “It’s totally authentic, and they pick great talent. They totally put authenticity and creativity first,
and then they slap their name on it,” Zahn comments. One of the artists that the festival is proud to present courtesy of Red Bull is Pearson Sound. Described as straddling two sounds, one part popular dubstep and techno and the other classic house, Pearson is just one of the headliners for this year’s fest. But more than just music, the festival also works to incorporate technology and innovation as key components of the experience. Multimedia Coordinator and VJ Tyrone Deise says that “the visuals have played a growing role.” Deise has helped to come up with a team of VJs who’ll coordinate live video performances for the Museum shows, as well as interactive installation pieces in the art gallery. Also contributing to this very visual aspect of the festival, this year’s opening night will offer a film screening of “Electronic Awakening” at Cinemateque, which explores physical, communal and even prophetic effects of electronic music. All things considered, the festival is definitely redefining the major perceptions that most people might have about the genre, given its major commercial representation exemplified best in the aggressive bass-heavy party anthems of artists like Skrillex and Deadmau5. “The scene is better than ever right now in North America, and on the one hand there’s a lot of commercial stuff . . . I have no problem with that, some of the music is obnoxious and over the top, but it’s fun if you don’t know too much about it,” Zahn justifies. One of last year’s headliners, Thomas Fehlmann, proved quite a surprising success. “I remember watching a lot of these people, who must have been under 25, dancing away to this guy who a lot of them had probably never heard of, and loving it. It was great, because it showed that as much as he is famous he’s not that popular, at least for that younger crowd.” Even if you’ve never considered electronica as a relevant genre, chances are MEME can make you change your mind. “We’re definitely able to be the tastemakers and trendsetters here, and people are following us. We’ve got a really eclectic, artistic, amazing, sophisticated line-up and again, it’s not the most obvious stuff: it’s not the hits, it’s not the top 40 stuff in the electronic scene. Doesn’t matter, people trust us and they come anyways.” MEME runs June 21 through 24th. Check memetic.ca for more info.
June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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TODD
SNIDER Agnositc stoner folkie
takes to the Folk Fest Stage By Sheldon Birnie
Todd Snider is an American stoner-folk-songwriting
troubadour in every sense of the terms. For the past 20 years, he’s written 12 albums and performed to thousands of fans across the world. In anticipation of his Winnipeg Folk Festival performance, Stylus caught up with Snider at home in East Nashville for a phone conversation about his craft, his love of Jerry Jeff Walker, the Folk Fest, and the Nashville Predators. Stylus: You’re coming to Winnipeg for the Folk Fest, and you’ve got a couple new records out. Why don’t we talk about those first? You just did a record of Jerry Jeff Walker tunes [Time As We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker]… Todd Snider: Yeah, it was fun. It was, it felt like… The reason I did it was the last record, Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables, it felt like the end for me. I’ve said what I’ve got to say. I think I’ve made 12 records, so what is that, roughly 120 songs? That feels like enough, you know? So I figured I’m going to stop this part of my life, the making up songs part, and try to find some other things to do. So I felt like making the Jerry Jeff record was more like a present to myself, you know. I don’t think the world needs new versions of these songs. Jerry Jeff did them best. This was more like a going away party for myself. I’ve had a lot of fun making records. I’m not going to not make records, just maybe not as Todd Snider. I’m not going to do that no more. I’m going to tour and everything as long as I can. But I’ll probably focus more on my side band now. Or maybe try to write something else. Anyway, in my mind I’d just made up my last batch of songs and to celebrate that I threw a party and sang my favourite songs of my hero. And the guy who made me want to do it to begin with. It was a stoner party. And a drunk. But it came out good. The songs still sound good. Stylus: What made you decide to stop? Was it a long time coming? Or when you were done the record did it just feel like the end of the road? TS: I started to see it coming after The Devil You Know. So about three records back I could see this craving… Well, no, let me think… Maybe right around The Excitement Plan, after I was done that record and I felt these songs coming. I could just see that this thing I was trying to say my whole life, I feel like I’ve said it. That desire to be understood is lifted. I don’t care if I’m understood anymore. Stylus: Maybe that Agnostic Hymns record really was a good way to go out. It sounds like it was a fun record to make.
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TS: That was an even bigger party than the Jerry Jeff one. That wasn’t supposed to be that way. We just got into it over there at Eric [McConnell]’s for a few days. It seemed like the right thing at the time. I feel like parts of that record I’m singing to my entire life as a person who wrote and recorded, which I’ve been doing now for just coming on to 20 years. That was a good time, you know. Stylus: Shifting gears here a little, you’re playing the WFF, which is kind of Winnipeg’s biggest party. Have you been up here before? TS: I think maybe I have. I think I met Corb Lund there. And there was this other girl, she’s having a really good year… Fuck, I can’t remember her name, but I met her there too. Stylus: What can we expect from you up here? TS: Oh, let’s see. I try not have a plan or a goal when I go up. But I know I’ll probably have a good time. There’s lots of stages, right? Stylus: Yep. TS: I remember it. You get to meet lots of other singers. I’ll probably just… Well, I’m going to bring my band, the Burn Outs, so that’ll be fun. It’s just a little band, but we’re mighty. Stylus: What do you think of when you think of Canada? TS: Well… Man, I gotta think of that girl’s name… What is that guy, Bon Iver? Kathleen Edwards! Aren’t they boyfriend and girlfriend these days? I saw her name in a magazine and I was like, “I know her!” That was a decade ago it seems like, when I met her and Corb. So I think of the friends I’ve
made. And Fred Eaglesmith. Stylus: He’s playing in Winnipeg at the same time as the Folk Fest, but a different venue. TS: Oh, so he’ll be in town? I hope I get to see him. Stylus: You’re a pretty outspoken advocate for marijuana users. Can you comment on the marijuana policy, in the States or in Canada? Or just generally? TS: Foolish old men being foolish, I say. We’re right in line behind the gay community. There are probably more beleaguered members of our community, behind the gay community. The gay community is finally figured out, or at least smart ones are starting to tell the dumb ones that it’s not such a scary thing. And here we come up right behind them. All the way up. I don’t know if you guys will come with us or not. But you got some good shit going on right now. Isn’t your health care better than ours? And your hockey. And Neil Young… Stylus: The Nashville Predators had a pretty good run this year… TS: How about that? I was excited. Didn’t we make it through a round in the playoffs? Yeah, that was fun. We were watching some of that on the bus, trying to root for the home team. But we really didn’t know what the hell was going on. Catch Todd Snider and the Burn Outs at the Winnipeg Folk Festival this year. You won’t regret it. For more of this interview, uncut, check out stylusmagazine.ca in July.
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Label Profile: BY DARCY PENNER
A
city with world-class emerging musicians, a city lacking an organized grassroots music industry, and a city not receiving its fair recognition on the national scene; this is the Winnipeg that Jesse Dubé-Smith and Nico Wlock saw when they formed Woven Records in the beginning of 2011. “You realize a lot of bands are not organized or are mismanaged,” explains Wlock over beers at Cousins. “They’ll put out a great album. They will release it, but then they will just fizzle out after one show and there is no follow up because there is nobody taking care of them in that way.” Joined by Winnipeg’s partyproducing king-pin, Mike B., DubéSmith and Wlock have put together an eclectic roster over the seven releases they have orchestrated in the last year and a half – from the poprock of J. Riley Hill, to Tim Hoover’s dense electronic instrumentals, to the self-coined “Seavibe” of FM Sea and JPEG. “We want to bring people together – people that play good music. Bring them together and try to create a scene. That’s pretty much it,” says Dubé-Smith. “We are not genre based at all. You only live once, and you gottaBlisten to as much music as you can.” A lot of the inspiration for Woven Records comes from the music industry in indie-strongholds such as Montréal and Toronto. With organized industry to support emerging artists, the cities attract their fair share of respect for their scenes, and Woven
believes Winnipeg has as good of a talent pool. “I realized how the music industry and the business side of things in Winnipeg, on a small local scale, wasn’t really developed compared to places like Montréal where there are huge machines,” explains Dubé-Smith, “I mean, here there is so much talent, but there is so much talent that is not being pushed.” However, a lack of respect for Winnipeg from these scenes may be working to hold back excellent Winnipeg artists, and the frustration caused by this drives Woven. “I went to Canadian Music Week last month, and I was there with one of the guys from The Lytics,” recalls Wlock, “A girl comes up and says, ‘Oh you guys are from Winnipeg, there is no good music in Winnipeg.’ I hate hearing that.” This is the perception they want to change. By bringing together artists from various disciplines, from writers to graphic designers (and of course, musicians), Woven wants to provide the appropriate infrastructure for ensuring creative projects are properly seen through to the end – a central step to shedding the perception that Winnipeg artists can’t compete
with the best. According to Wlock, the plan to do so is to “not make it based on artists, but a label in Winnipeg now putting out music from different artists that are all good.” Of course, the guys give due credit to those attempting similar roles, noting Disintegration Records, Head in the Sand, and I’m Trying Records. This year will see Woven release J.R. Hill’s new self-titled full length on June 12th, and a release from The Blisters in the fall. Although there will be fewer releases than last year, this should not be seen as a deliberate change in pace. Woven plans to spend the summer re-engaging their back catalogue to ensure every release has received its due exposure. “We have a pool of artists that have released things, and in my mind they are not fully out there as much as they should be,” says Wlock. “We have a busy summer, but it will be more on the promotion side.” The label has also launched a new, collaborative content-generating website. “It will be a whole other project. We are getting collaborators to help us and it will be aggregating stuff that makes sense to the eyes and ears of p e o pl e
who like Woven music and to the eyes and ears of the artists,” explains Wlock. The architects at Woven are purposely leaving their future open ended. “We have a loose plan, but things change so much. We encounter a lot of situations where [plans] have to be changed a bit and adapted,” says Wlock, “I think we’ve learned a lot.” An ambitious end goal is to bring the label and its artists to the level of national attention. Dubé-Smith lives in Montréal, and intends to “bring the scene to Montréal, Toronto, Halifax – all over the East coast.” Tim Hoover’s Woven-released full length, More Napkins, receiving a nomination for a Western Canadian Music Award is certainly a good start for the label, and plans for starting to organize tours for their artists this fall will ensure their acts get the publicity they deserve. Easily approachable and well spoken, Dubé-Smith and Wlock have the ideas to ensure Winnipeg artists get their due respect, and considering their main idea is organization, it is a promising mix of ambition and practicality. This can only be good for the city at large, for as Dubé-Smith says, “We want to change the perception of Winnipeg, that there is no good music here. It could not be further from the truth.” Check out Woven Record’s new website at unwoven.ca.
PHOTOS MANIPULATED BY ANDREW MAZURAK
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A powerful, subversive, meeting of traditional native drum-and-chant-steered songs and on-trend club music /N OW
MAGAZINE
JUNE 14 j 23 2012
with/PHIL H OUSELEY and DJ VOTH
TUESDAYJUNE 19 10PM///PYRAMIDCABARET
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS AVAILABLE AT JAZZWINNIPEG.COM///THE JAZZ WINNIPEG OFFICE 007-100 ARTHUR ST. THE JAZZ WINNIPEG INFOLINE 989-4656 BUY A CLUB PASS AND SEE IT ALL! EXPERIENCE ALL THE CLUBS, ALL WEEK LONG!
with guests
SNAILHOUSE and
ZACHARY LUCKY
020 Stylus Magazine June/July 2012
ILLUSTRATION BY NATALIE BAIRD
BEIRUTon route to Winnipeg By Adrienne Yeung
Beirut’s latest album, The Rip Tide (released Septem-
ber 2011), is a distinct departure from their previous records’ literal-interpretations-of-world-music-mixedwith-indie-rock. Apparently, the upbeat, pop sound of this album was a natural and deliberate next step. Stylus made a phone call to bassist Paul Collins in New York to chat about touring, favourite tracks, the members of Beirut, and how they put their new sound together. Stylus: So how did you get involved with Beirut? Paul Collins: I actually saw Zach playing very early on - it was him with a laptop computer. It was that kind of live show. He was 19. I remember being really blown away by his voice, and the songs. I approached him after the show, and eventually helped him to start a band, and then he invited me to be in the band. So, here I am now. Stylus: How many people does Beirut consist of on this tour? PC: We have an accordion, three horn players (including Zach), myself on bass, and our drummer - so that’s six. Stylus: Wow, and we never really get to hear about them. Could you give us a bit of a description of each person? PC: Well, when Perrin Cloutier started in the band, he was playing cello. But after being on tour with A Hack and a Hacksaw, he came to realize that the accordion could work out. [It was] a piece of shit accordion, like so terrible. It was from an antique store, really out of tune, and it just sounded really awful - but he started smashing it together and making it play! He has been pivotal in helping arrange and write all the music. I mean... Beirut, in the recording studio, is first and foremost Zach. But the next tier of that is Perrin, and Griffin Rodriguez, our producer. And the ideas that the three of them throw around is really what’s at the core of Beirut. Nick Petree is really the tight drummer that can just do anything. Also, if you ever see us play live, he is just the heart of the band. He’s all smiles. People just love Nick. They’re always shouting from the audience that they love him. And now we have Kyle Resnick playing trumpet for us, but he has a lot of work with The National. But it’s a very solid lineup. We’ve all been friends for a long time. Ben Lanz, the trombone player, he’s a doctor of the trombone. . . . That is no joke. He’s just a great trombone player. He’s played all forms, whether it be classical music, or free jazz, or pop. But he adds a really calming, consistent, mature sensibility to the band. It’s been really great. And, then of course Zach. What hasn’t been said about Zach? Stylus: I think there’s a lot about Zach out there. PC: Yeah. [Laughs] www.stylusmagazine.ca
Stylus: So you said that in the studio, it’s Perrin, Griffin, and Zach who put things together. How far do they get songs, usually, before the rest of you guys start adding things? PC: The one thing I would say is that Zach has to know that something’s going to work before he even brings it into the studio. Like whether the chord progression is just stuck in his head, or whether he has a whole song laid out. Him, Perrin, and Griffin just tend to format the melody or the chord structure into a song. At which point, the band can be involved right away, or weeks later, or we can be involved not at all. Stylus: Which song on The Rip Tide would you say has the most group involvement? PC: I would say “Port of Call.” On Rip Tide, we all pretty much play on everything – except, “The Peacock” is all Zach. But with [this song], Zach came to the studio – I want to even say we were working on another song – and he went, “Okay, let’s just try this one more thing.” And he had a ukulele chord progression. And immediately the band just ran with that. I think Perrin just jumped on the piano – and it just completely changed the character of the chord progression, and it turned into a song. It was the last song we did. Stylus: And what was the first song that you recorded? PC: “Well, East Harlem.” We’ve been playing it for a long time. Stylus: I’d heard about that! He’d written it when he was 16? Does it sound very different than the original? I guess it must, since this time there’s a whole band behind it... PC: Yeah, the original was kind of an electronic thing. I think it was a RealPeople song, and it was a total Stephen Morris, synthpop kind of thing. Stylus: How did the pop sound of The Rip Tide form? I mean, there are definitely less obvious Mexican, French, and Balkan influences. Was this a conscious decision, or did it happen more organically? PC: It was a bit of both. Stylus: I mean, did Zach come into the studio and say, “Ok, let’s make this a pop thing”? PC: Yes. That absolutely happened. With the other stuff he was finding music as a touchstone, a jumping off of point. Like the Balkan music, or Jaques Brel for The Flying Club Cup. But this time it was just like, “Okay, I just love Motown. And I love, like, old Beach Boys stuff, and Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen. So, let’s do something from there and see where that takes us.” Stylus: Which track do you think speaks to you the most? PC: Different tracks speak in different ways to me. But I’d say the one that just cuts me and really makes me emote is “Goshen.” I don’t know. I remem-
ber when we were at the studio, and it was really late, and we were really, um, drunk, and we were listening to the tapes of “Goshen.” And there’s no vocal track, but Zach just starts singing over it. And it was just amazing. It’s something about a melody being able to make you cry, as opposed to the lyrics or something. The fact that Zach has always been able to do that is very inspiring to me. Stylus: And which song do you think is the most fun to play? PC: I’d say, out of the Rip Tide stuff, probably “Santa Fe.” Stylus: The music video for that song is awesome! Did you guys come up with the concept together? PC: The video is all the people at Sunset Television who are all these weirdo kids who I think went to Columbia. They make these crazy videos on the Internet. Zach always thought they were hilarious. When we were looking for someplace to get a video, we were getting a lot of responses like, “Oh, so you’re a band, so we’re gonna film you guys, ‘cause you’re a band. Like crying, and you know, here’s a rose.” All very kitschy kind of stuff. But then Sunset Television sends us this treatment that says, “Okay, so there’s this dog. And it gets hit by a car. And they run to a beach and they’re eating pizza.” And you know, it’s this total upside down interpretation of what our song is, and that was really refreshing to see. And we thought it was funny. They did a good job. Stylus: So have you guys been to Winnipeg before? PC: We have not. Stylus: Does having your own record label (Pompeii Records) give you the autonomy to explore smaller cities? PC: I don’t know what we’re doing in Winnipeg. I don’t know what makes us pick where we’re gonna go. But yeah, [we’ll embark upon a] summer tour through Winnipeg, and all these parts of Canada we’ve never been to. It’s gonna be fun. I look forward to it. I love Guy Maddin. So I’m glad to go to his hometown and play. Stylus: What do you guys like to do the day before and after you play a show? PC: Gary and I are always looking for coffee. Taryn’s constantly practicing. Zach’s trying to sleep, and you know, get rest. Ben is probably riding his bike around somewhere. We’re all over the place, I would say. Stylus: Well, I hope you find all those things in Wininpeg, when you come. PC: I hope so too, I hope so too. Beirut plays the Burton Cummings on July 23, 2012. Last time I checked tickets were still available!
June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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BEST OF FESTS JAZZ FEST
PHOTO BY SHERVIN LAINEZ
The Hold Steady and Greg Macpherson @ The Burton Cummings Theatre, Tuesday June 19, 7:30 PM, $35. Sure, it’s a safe bet, and on the fringes of the expected genres, but I won’t be passing up the chance to see G-Mac open for The Hold Steady at the Burt. Macpherson’s last two albums have been fantastic, and band mates Woods and Gardiner do an incredible job of filling the stage. I haven’t seen them in at least half a year, and fresh off a European tour I’m expecting they’re tighter and bigger than ever. As for The Hold Steady, their five studio full lengths and critical acclamation speaks for itself. Lastly, the Burt: good sightlines, good sound, and cozy seats if work beats you down that day or you get a little excited with the drinks. - Darcy Penner
Booker T. Jones @ The Burton Cummings Theatre, Saturday June 23, 7:30PM, $25 & $35
The Antlers and Haunter @ The Pyramid Cabaret, Saturday June 23, 10:00PM, $18
Legendary bandleader, producer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and all around sweet dude Booker T. Jones caps off a week of world-class acts at this year’s Jazz Fest. Without Booker T, the world would be a different place. Crafting, along with his early band the MGs, the original Memphis soul sound, Booker T has gone on to work with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson and Rita Collidge, the Roots and the Drive By Truckers, Bob Dylan and Bill Withers. Do yourself a favour and check out Booker T. I have no doubt the show will be one for the ages. - Sheldon Birnie
Ahhh the creators of Hospice.. that beautiful piece of sadness that tickled you in all the right places inducing tormenting tears that you needed to have ripped out of your wallowing face. Three years later these same feelings remain. You remember where you were when you first heard that album. Not physically where but emotionally when. Those liner notes bent and torn by an obsessed fascination you think you’ve grown out of. Plus back-ups by an unknown Sharon Van Etten? Brilliant. Haunter open up the night. Highlight of my week. - Andrew Mazurak
Billy Bragg, Main Stage, Thursday, July 5.
Blitzen Trapper, Big Blue, Saturday, July 7.
Iron & Wine, Main Stage, Sunday, July 8.
The complete schedule has not been released, and I don’t want to come across as embracing too much diversity in my selections, so my vote is Billy Bragg. Over a dozen full lengths released and a lengthy career of political activity, Bragg will always have a big place in my heart. Other locally associated acts that should be checked out are Sarah and Christian Dugas, Fish and Bird, and the return of the gorgeous voices in Chic Gamine. - Darcy Penner
Not sure just when these boys from Oregon are taking to the side-stages this year, but I’ll be there when the word comes down from above. Catchy, rocking tunes with tight harmonies, Blitzen Trapper are an act I’ve been into for a while now but have never seen live. Judging on their past couple releases, these dudes will be a hit among the party-set, provided the revellers can drag themselves from the campground or the beer tents to catch their act. - Sheldon Birnie
Laying on the grass with fungus in my belly as the sun shines down on dirty toes and my eyes slooooowly ccccccccccccclose and dance through the crowd to “Sodom, South Georgia” one lovely afternoon, two hours before black clouds rumble overhead and hail on.. HAIL ON.. Neko Case for half an hour before she is physically forced to stop. I find myself standing with my back to the pelting sky, soaked to jittery bones, and laughing hysterically at this magic. - Andrew Mazurak
FOLK FEST
PHOTO BY PAUL SLATTERY
022 Stylus 20 StylusMagazine MagazineJune/July June/July2012 2012
GRAND MASTER rocking with the masters By Scott Wolfe
The gents in Grand Master have been on the Winnipeg metal scene for quite some time. Their new full length, The Dream Alive, shows some impressive songwriting, taking the listener on a musical journey through the band’s influences and then some. Stylus sat down with vocalist/bassist Alec Schaefer and guitarist Shane Barron at the Yellow Dog to catch up and discuss the new album and summer plans. Stylus: First off the band name, Grand Master, is pretty awesome. How did it originate? Seems like something out of a kung fu movie, but what made that name stick? Alec Schaefer: The name is completely unassuming and is just a sort of placeholder. When we agreed on the name we were not really applying anything. Shane Barron: We used it for our first show and then it just stuck. Another Winnipeg band actually has the same name but we could not find any information so maybe there will be a lawsuit one day. People usually react in two different ways to the name, either “That’s awesome,” or “What the fuck?” AS: [laughs] Yeah, I bought a book that apparently consisted of every metal band’s name and there was no Grand Master to be found. There was Grandmother Vomit, but no Grand Master. Stylus: You recently got back from a tour going out west. How was it? SB: It was good but short. We only played like six to seven shows, including Brandon, Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon. Brandon is always pretty rowdy and fun to play but we got to play with some bigger bands in Saskatoon (Ultimate Demise and Mayors), which led to a good turnout. Stylus: Let’s talk about the new album. How was the writing process? What were some influences? AS: The album was written over the past three or four years and the songs are both old and newer; nothing was necessarily prepared specifically for the album. Some influences for us are Dream Theater, Rush and Iron Maiden, but we actively try to incorporate all influences and styles into our music, which is why writ-
www.stylusmagazine.ca
ing some songs takes ages. A new song we recently finished, called “Envy,” which is not on the album, was fun to play live. SB: We all have similar tastes and that is pretty incredible considering metal is not as popular as other genres. Like Alec said, we like to incorporate many different styles into our music. Like in one of our new songs we have a 12 bar blues section, which would be pretty hard to find in any metal song I think. Stylus: You have an acoustic set coming up at Pop Soda’s café. Are you nervous or excited? Have you done anything like that before? SB: The show is on June 1st, and we have other material that is acoustic; it’s not different rearrangements of our songs, but completely different
material. It’s not so much metal but it’s written by metalheads, and we have done these sets before. I am looking forward to getting some of our music out to some folks that may not necessarily otherwise hear it. AS: All our instruments are the same except Shane has an acoustic, but we just turn it down a little. Our drummer’s kit is still a spaceship though, regardless of the kind of show we play it’s not totally stripped down. We usually don’t mix the two styles in a single set but we have the versatility to play both styles. SB: In Saskatoon once we just set up our stuff in a mall and played an acoustic set, aside from some pretty weird looks things went well. Stylus: How would you describe your sound? I find that some metal genres take it a little too far with the genre thing (speed metal with dub influences?). AS: We are a progressive metal band that listens to and is influenced by progressive rock. SB: By being a progressive metal band we are not pigeonholing ourselves and can get away with a lot more in our music. We can have sections of black metal and 12 bar blues in the same song for instance. Stylus: What can we expect from Grand Master over the summer? SB: We are playing shows around the Winnipeg area all summer at different venues so we can cater to different crowds. We are playing Brandon on July 14th... AS: We also play a show at Shannon’s on June 21st for our drummer’s birthday. But other than that we will be doing a lot of writing over the coming months as well, so our live shows will definitely incorporate some new material. Catch Grand Master live throughout the city for either some acoustic doodling or a rocking plugged in set. Their new album is available at Music Trader, Into the Music and The Folk Fest Store. Check out their Myspace at myspace.com/grandmasterband. Also, the band is also looking for a keyboard player!
June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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Local Spotlight
THE VIBRATING BEDS Sing the Blues The Vibrating Bed’s self-titled debut EP released last year is pretty hard to top, but their new EP Sing the Blues is not only as good as the first, but bet-
ter. Sing the Blues takes a slight shift from the rock n’ roll feel that their debut EP executed perfectly, towards a blues and soul feel on “Six Eight,” and a rockabilly sound that belongs in a 50s diner in a personal favourite, “Let Me Be.” The Vibrating Beds still stick to their rock n’ roll sound in “Baby” as well, adding a more familiar track to those who adored their first release. Jenna, the vocalist, has pushed her vocal abilities farther than in their debut EP, especially on “Six Eight,” making the album louder, more powerful, and more memorable than their last. This album only has one problem: it only has three songs! Vibrating Beds, it
may be time to consider a full-length album, because at the end of this EP, I felt myself wanting more. (Transistor 66, transistor66.com) Shanell Dupras JENNY BERKEL Here On A Wire Haunting arrangements, beautiful vocals, and intricate songs decorate Jenny Berkel’s Here on a Wire. Recorded in Winnipeg by Matt Peters (Royal Canoe, The Waking Eyes), Here on a Wire features well arranged guitars, piano, upright bass, cello, banjo, horns, and woodwinds to create a delicate yet full bodied book of
ghost stories in song form. Berkel’s songwriting is strong throughout, evoking cold afternoons in January, long night journeys through endless highways, and lonely spaces. This disc is perfect for a dark afternoon spent around the house, enjoying tea or coffee, enjoyably sheltered from the wet city streets. The album reminds me greatly of Christine Fellows album 2 Little Birds in a number of ways, and that’s a good thing. Like Fellows, Berkel has a keen sense of story and feeling that she balances throughout her songs on this album. Well worth repeated spins. (Independent, jennyberkel.com) Sheldon Birnie
The progressive and rowdy side of bluegrass and Southern roots music/N EW YORK T IMES
JUNE 14 j 23 2012
with/THE SCHOMBERG FAIR
MONDAYJUNE 18 10PM///PYRAMIDCABARET
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS AVAILABLE AT JAZZWINNIPEG.COM///THE JAZZ WINNIPEG OFFICE 007-100 ARTHUR ST. THE JAZZ WINNIPEG INFOLINE 989-4656 BUY A CLUB PASS AND SEE IT ALL! EXPERIENCE ALL THE CLUBS, ALL WEEK LONG!
024www.stylusmagazine.ca 22 Stylus StylusMagazine MagazineJune/July June/July2012 2012
Dec 2011/Jan 2012 Stylus Magazine
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Root Cellar
JIM WHITE Where It Hits You Here we go! Jim White’s fifth album is a breezy alt-country affair, filled with the usual darkness and then a few odd upbeat numbers to balance things out. Fifteen years since his debut, WrongEyed Jesus, and still melancholic? Understandably so. While writing the album, White’s wife (and mother of his children) left him for another man, which probably explains the nature of songs like “The Way of Alone” and “Epilogue to a Marriage.” The hour long Where It Hits You begins with the reflective sombre hopefulness of “Chase the Dark Away” and into the perfect Sunday afternoon
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tune, “Sunday’s Refrain.” At midway, White delivers an unexpected series of delightfully cheerful songs, even using flutes, chimes and triumphant stuck-in-your-head whistling (“What Rocks Will Never Know”), only to bring us back down just as unexpectedly with the last third of the album. It feels a bit meandering at times, but “What Rocks Will Never Know” and “Here We Go!” sure are a lot of fun. (Yep Roc Records, yeproc.com) Cole Snyder PIERS FACCINI My Wilderness The wilderness of Piers Faccini’s My Wilderness is filled with the jaunty folk melodies of gypsy caravans, full moons and anxious, melancholic riffs; shimmering behind tall forest evergreens of ghosts past and dreams of those to come. This soundscape is tied together with the reverberating softness and wistful quality of Faccini’s voice. Also a painter, Faccini presents an album that stands alone in its mélange of folk, world and tantalizing exoticism, along with its
depth of sentiment. My Wilderness pushes through a wave of fast, quicker-paced songs in the beginning and slips into much mellower, forlorn and distraught vibes on most of the latter six tracks. As a personal comment (and for anyone else who may fear the natural bumps and creaks of houses expanding and shrinking), it should be noted that I couldn’t listen to “A New Morning” without being terribly creeped out. The intro brings to mind an impending feeling of danger, with sounds of slow footstep beats and chains dragged on the floor. On the other hand, this was also during my “There’s-a-ghost-in-my-house!” phase, so maybe it really was just me. Worth mentioning, comparisons could easily be made to the likes of Beirut, Jack Johnson, or Alexi Murdoch. (Six Degrees Records, sixdegreerecords.com) Victoria King TODD SNIDER Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables Perpetually blazed out troubadour Todd Snider delivers a solid set of tunes on Agnostic Hymns & Stoner
Fables, his 12th studio album of original material since 1994. Probably his strongest outing since The Devil You Know - and possibly even since East Nashville Skyline - Agnostic Hymns & Stone Fables is full of just that. Thematically, the disc revolves around those two themes, with heavy emphasis on the fallout of recent economic hardships south of the 49. Hard luck tales abound. “New York Banker” is a beauty about a high school teacher who loses his pension. “Digger Dave’s Crazy Woman Blues” is a meandering, stuttering talking blues about a gool ol’ boy from Alaska who makes just one wrong move in a life-time of toeing the line between incarcerated and free. Snider, who just released an album of Jerry Jeff Walker tunes, tips his hat on this one to Jimmy Buffet with a beauty version of “West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown.” All in, a great album, well worth repeated play. I for one am looking forward to hearing about Digger Dave and all the other characters here this July at the Folk Fest. (Aimless Records, toddsnider.net) Sheldon Birnie
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Iconoclast com) Brad Skibinsky
KRANG Choke Hits This little three tune offering from Edmonton’s Krang is just about right. Rocking noisy stoner metal that hits hard. The riffs are catchy, the droning just loud enough to keep you cruising through some sort of space haze without turning you off, and the drums keep it all together. These dudes rock a little faster than Saskatoon’s Shooting Guns, but they seem to be coming from a similar space. The EP is available on cassette tape or digital download. I like my tape, which gives that extra hum to the mix that would seem absent otherwise. I’d love to hear these guys put out a full length LP sometime soon, really crank that shit up and get weird. Party on! (Independent, krangalang.bandcamp.com) Sheldon Birnie ACCEPT Stalingrad Mark Tornillo, vocals. No Udo, no Accept. He tries and he comes close. It’s almost like he was cultured in a teutonic A&R lab specifically for the task. They come out of the gate here charging hard and, as you would expect from such a high profile act with the label to match, they have the production values to back them up. But by the second (title) song, it starts to give way. There is no “London Leatherboys” or “Lovechild” or “Fight It Back” on this, though the construct comes to the fore occasionally. Overall, not a total disappointment if you’ve spent the last 28 years pining for something that wants to be Balls To The Wall, and for some reason you can’t just spin that record instead. The tracks here immediately sent me scurrying to hear the familiar hits that I know and love instead of the perfectly assembled facsimile that these guys are working right now. Dad metal on Nuclear Blast. Do yourself a total favour and start with Russian Roulette or BTTW and then come back here if you have to. Udo or gtfo! (Nuclear Blast USA, nuclearblastusa.
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HAEMOTH In Nomine Odium High hopes for an offering that I hadn’t heard previously from this fine label, home to Archgoat, Blut Aus Nord, and Behexen, among others. It’s a pedigree worth noting, and this release does not disappoint. It makes total sense that these guys hail from France, homeland to Deathspell Omega, Aosoth and Arkhon Infaustus. A cloyingly atmospheric studio sensibility that does not intend to replace decent craftsmanship represents throughout. I am admittedly behind the curve with Haemoth, but they wade in shoulder to shoulder with the aforementioned bands, delivering solid, high quality yet unpretentious black fucking metal. A worthwhile record in a genre where too often people settle for poorly recorded shit over substance in an attempt to appeal to some outmoded cult status, or pile on the production values in an attempt to disguise a lack of imagination. (Debemur Morti Productions, debemur-morti.com) Brad Skibinsky
UNLEASHED Odelheim Their BRUTAL bio calls them THE viking metal band. As with most things Nuclear Blast, there are moments here, but largely this comes off as calculated and formulaic. Riff followed by perfectly assembled verse. Acoustic segue. Etcetera. You know the drill and so do they. A long running Swedish outfit, I am sure there are moments in the back catalog that makes the well constructed but contrived “imagine this in an arena, dude!” moments of this latest product cringe and retreat into the branches of Yggdrasil where they belong. But this does not inspire me to revisit them. Enjoy if you do. It is not the worst thing ever recorded. However, it leaves me lukewarm in the face of so many more relevant claims to being “the ultimate embodiment of death metal.” Fuck the presskit. Fire
the publicist. Fuck Decibel, Facebook, Blabbermouth and Lambgoat. Listen to Entombed or Dismember instead. (Nuclear Blast USA, nuclearblastusa. com) Brad Skibinsky DODECAHEDRON Dodecahedron “Progressive Black Metal” from the Netherlands. These guys REALLY like Deathspell Omega. Enough to put their name in all caps in a font size almost as large as their own in the bio. It’s blasting, it’s technical, it came out in January, and if you follow Seasons Of Mist you have probably already heard it. There is a lot going on here, in a complex, black metal Dillenger Escape Plan type of way, that you either love for its ambition or decry for its soulless assemblage. Well executed, and they know how to inject a mood into what they do at points, but they miss the mark when it comes to sustaining that mood or making it part of a cohesive whole. They want me to tell you about their “[b]roken and torn structures born out of razorlike guitar riffs” which “coagulate into melodies and patterns that constantly mutate and shape shift.” So if that sentence seems well constructed to you, this likely will as well. Worth a listen for a first-hand-opinion formulation if bands like Ulcerate peak your curiosity. However, I am not sensing the core of what they are doing here beyond the technicality. (Seasons Of Mist, seasons-of-mist.com) Brad Skibinsky SET YOUR GOALS Burning at Both Ends At first listen, it seems Set Your Goals has gone soft with their latest record, Burning At Both Ends. Their most recent release strays from the usual hard-hitting and heavier punk sound more prominent on This Will Be the Death Of Us. Overall, they
have toned down the heavy guitars, the strong chant worthy gang vocals, and the two-step reeling breakdowns. In its place is a record that seems to put more “pop” into “pop punk,” with an abundance of softer melodies. But upon second listen, and third and fourth (and the many other listens this incredibly catchy album will induce), fans will find that beneath all the heavy changes, they haven’t really changed much at all. Properly titled, Burning at Both Ends lyrical content is based heavily around the toughest year in vocalist Matt Wilson’s life, experiencing both his mother’s death and his less-than-supportive family. Although, sonically, the album sounds poppy and upbeat, lyrically, it’s fueled by anger and hopelessness. With songs like “Happy New Year,” Wilson reveals his loneliness and his seemingly irreversible melancholy. The noteworthy “Start the Reactor” is the best example of the band’s new pop sound. Set against the backdrop of guitarists Dan Coddaire and Audelio Flores Jr.’s powerful catchy riffs, it’s a justification for their unorthodox lifestyle, as well as an ode to the freedom of youth - a common theme on many pop punk albums. “Exit Summer” is the most reminiscent of their previous rough and fast skate punk sound. Mike Ambrose feeds speedy drum hits behind the band’s signature dueling vocals, with Jordan Brown and Wilson taking turns singing about the journey from musical underdogs to their life touring the world. So yes, at first the album sounds like the softer, more sensitive little brother of This Will Be The Death Of Us, but deep beneath the happier upbeat sound and devastating lyrics, Burning At Both Ends has the same bite, honesty and intensity that is Set Your Goals. (Epitaph, epitaph.com) Janet Adamana
Under The Needle performance at Coachella this year? I bet it was great. (Domino Recording, dominorecordco.com) Kyra Leib
ROOFTOP RUNNERS We Are Here It’s amazing how complex a couple minimal lines of lyrics can sound when they’re stuffed with trip-pop beats and soulful vocals. The first track of this EP, “Streets,” abounds with yearning droning followed by falsettos that just reach delicate enough heights. Unfortunately, when the Canadian brothers Benedikt and Tobias MacIsaac sing together, the effect is dulled somewhat, such as on “Energize,” which is not terrible, but just not enjoyable to listen to... repetitive lyrics and a boring bassline will do that. Things pick up on “Bang Bang,” though, which I think is great. “Bang Bang” sounds quietly sexy, kind of reminiscent of James Blake, but with more textures, melodies, and stronger percussion filling in the spaces. And finally, “She Devil” will creep up on you, shakin’ its funky bassline. Overall, the sound of this is dark, deliberate, and delicious. Like chocolate! Good for your heart, and good for your ears. (Independent, rooftoprunners.com) Adrienne Yeung REAL ESTATE Days The opening song “Easy” sounds like a rainy day on a beach, beautiful and tinged with melancholic flavour. Real Estate is great at making alluring and catchy pop music, ideal for reflective car or bus rides, or for just relaxing. Days is their second album, and is a great follow from their first self-titled debut which received very positive reviews across the board. The third song on Days, “It’s Real,” picks up the pace with an upbeat drumbeat and washy sound. Overall Days offers great, easily listenable pop music. I would definitely include it on a list of must listens for 2011. Did anyone catch Real Estate’s
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THE HOLIDAY CROWD Over the Bluffs The Holiday Crowd sounds almost identical to the Smiths. There’s no denying it, and it’s the most prominent (and obnoxious, sorry!) observation to make. It’s so obvious that nearly all comments on The Holiday Crowd’s YouTube videos are something along the lines of “Sounds just like the Smiths,” or “Wow! Smiths!” It’s a little strange, and detracts from whatever actually does sound unique to this band. That aside, the album is light and fluffy, and it would seem that the band probably put this together for an English afternoon drive to the nearby beach after a spot of tea with Grandmama and the fam - except these guys are from Scarborough, Ontario. Perhaps the best thing about this album is that it will make you appreciate the Smiths a whole lot more. (New Romantic, newromanticmusic. com) Victoria King BROTHER OCTOPUS Yukilo The title to the Edmonton duo Brother Octopus’ debut EP, Yukilo, comes from the two band members’ pets: Yuki the dog and Kilo the cat. Yukilo has two main themes throughout the album: their pets and the sea. The album begins with “Yuki,” which starts with slow and calming guitar riffs, then turns into a harmony between the female and male singer, with corny lyrics about the pet, like how Yuki should stop licking his paw. “Yuki” is just a 43 second glimpse of what Brother Octopus has to offer, though. Yukilo turns to “Underwater Mysteries,” with the music reminding me greatly of The XX – harmonies between a female and male singer with simplistic, yet relaxing, chord progressions and drum beats. This is just fine for a relaxing, late night drive down Portage Avenue. But, the lyrics are difficult to take seriously. One of the more ridiculous lines in the song being, “Titanic was a tragedy/ but now it’s part of history/ Just like the Little Mermaid 3/ That went straight to DVD/ An epic fail for Walt Disney.”
The next two songs, “Old Computer” and “Amusement Park” are personal favourites. There’s something about the harmony in “Old Computer” that sends a slight chill up your spine, with lyrics that, although silly, are a common occurrence for everyone: a computer breaking down. “Amusement Park” adds some variety to the album, with more focus on distorted synth, and bass coming out from the background and taking a lead part in the song. Brother Octopus is definitely an interesting duo that I would definitely suggest listening to. But be sure to give them more than one chance, because getting past the silly lyrics may take some time. (Independent, brothersoctopus.ca) Shanell Dupras GALACTIC Carnivale Electricos The carnivals that I remember as a
child were filled with a lot of cheap games, sad looking roadies, and miserable, smelly petting zoos that I never went remotely near. Fortunately for me, Galactic’s latest, Carnavale Electricos, makes up for all of those pathetic festival attempts. It sounds exactly like the title suggests: an electric night of festivities that’s flashy and vibrant with hard rhythms and grinds. On this release, Galactic truly winds its way through a plethora of genres and sounds, including soul, hip hop, and funk, amongst many others. If Carnivale Electicos were an actual destination, the stuffed animal prizes would be replaced with real guns and go-go dancers, roadies by wacked out, hyperactive freaks of all varieties, and the petting zoo might include a shortlist of several sharks, wolverines, and snakes. Carnavale Electricos arrived just at the right time, as summer
One of the most interesting and vital young pianists in jazz today /PI TCHF ORK
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starts to set in and we leave the feel of winter musk till next year. This really is a good album, and I’d recommend checking out a copy very soon if I were you. (Anti-, anti.com) Victoria King
YANN TIERSEN Skyline If you ever come to the situation where the world is ending and you have to take a resolute leap off a cliff, the first track off Skyline, “Another Shore,” is the soundtrack for it. Tiersen’s seventh studio album sounds happier than 2010’s Dust Lane, but if you only know Tiersen’s work from Amelie, this is a world apart. No folksy melodies here: the only similarity is the building melody and super rich sound, built by tons of instruments such as vibraphones, guitars, synths, glockenspiels, mandolins, accordions, and violins. The tracks shimmer with electric guitar and five out of the nine tracks feature vocals (which includes barking and swearing on “The Gutter”). Often, dissonant collections of sounds (toy piano tinkling, rough yelling, synths) each start doing their own thing, then suddenly realise how they fit together - the result is coherent frantic energy, choreographed by strong, catchy melodies. These are beautiful, unpretentious songs, and their complexity isn’t paired with aloof experimentalism. Quieter tracks such as “Forgive Me” and “The Trial” are soft but still lively. The chorus on the latter is heartbreaking, rushing along like inevitable waves in an evening ocean. Oh gosh, I’m breaking out the similes. Just give this a listen, and a thousand beautiful things will come to mind. (ANTI-, www.anti.com) Adrienne Yeung YELLOW OSTRICH Strange Lands I like this album, probably a little bit more than I should. In my opinion, Yellow Ostrich is not reinventing the wheel, or charting unknown musical territory. What they are doing is indie pop rock, and they are doing it very, very well. Strange Lands is consistent throughout and never diverges very far from the quirky groove it carves
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out for itself. The opening song is so promising. “Elephant King” uses catchy seemingly nonsensical lyrics, quick rhythms, along with a couple horns thrown in on the side to create a fun and contagious sound. The horns, simple lyrics and quick pace continue throughout the album, and even at slow points it doesn’t stay so slow for very long. Lead singer Alex Schaaf ’s voice is shrill at points, and certain in its uncertainty. His songwriting seems to follow suit, as in the second song off the album, “Daughter”: “I am a marathon runner / And my legs are sore / I am anxious to see / What I am running for.” This is the stuff lil’ hipster babies are fed off of. (Barsuk, barsuk. com) Victoria King MEGAPHONIC THRIFT Megaphonic Thrift While listening to The Megaphonic Thrift’s self-titled sophomore album it is hard not to make Sonic Youth comparisons. Not because the Norwegian self-proclaimed “indie-supergroup of sorts” shamelessly copies the seminal American group, but because without Sonic Youth, it is hard to imagine music like this being made. But that does not need to be a bad thing. The music does not sound like the forced result of fan-boy copycats. Instead it comes across as organic and natural, much like their recording process: they slowly developed the songs in the studio, without trying to force them in one direction or another. They seem to be at their best and most comfortable just playing what they love. The album consistently blends the rough and the dissonant with the dreamy and soft. “Tune Your Mind,” the opening track, is a perfect example of this combination. The song opens with feedback and diminished chords chugging overtop a simplistic drum beat only to fly into a smooth, poppy chorus that fits in perfectly over the same simplistic drum beat. “Broken Glass/Yellow Fingers” blends hypnotic guitar riffs with delay-ridden vocals and a strong bass line. The album closes on a dreamy note with the vocals of “Spaced Out” swirling over top of simple guitar riffing and drum beats that slowly decay and fall in on themselves. If you want something forcefully original, this album probably isn’t for you. But if you want an enjoyable variation on all your old Sonic Youth albums, I recommend giving this a try. (Sonic Unyon, sonicunyon.com) Colburne Poapst
YOUNG LIARS Homesick Future Hello, bright indie electropop! These beats are fast and I can see a crowd dancing to this – but will they remember it the next day? I can’t be sure, but speaking for myself, I forgot what some of the songs on here sounded like five minutes after listening to them. There are some catchy hooks and interesting blibbery sounding things done with synths on the instrumental “Green Green Light,” but the ecstatic cheering and singing on “Newton, Forgive Me” is vaguely irritating (to be fair, this was after the sixth time listening to it, looped). “Colours” begins sounding like a video game sequence, and picks up with strong piano and energetic drums. So Homesick Future is enjoyable, definitely, if your priorities are “fun,” “fast,” and “bouncy.” As for lyrical content? I can’t be bothered to Google the lyrics to figure out what they’re saying. I’m sure they’re cute and kind of deep and original and reference Isaac Newton more than once. (Nettwerk Music Group, www.nettwerk.com) Adrienne Yeung
some lulls at the midpoint, but overall the melodies remain distinctive and the arrangements solid. It takes a rare breed of musician to produce songs that take you back in time, and to the future. It sounds like they are capable of doing just that. (Dine Alone Records, dinealonerecords.com) Matt Austman
YUKON BLONDE Tiger Talk First off, I’d like to say I partied with these guys and let them crash on my floor a few years back, and it was a blast. These are some of the friendliest dudes I’ve met in the music industry, and they know how to have a good time. This album is one of the best pop rock records I’ve heard in a long time. Admittedly, I’m not a band encyclopedia of Canada’s indie scene, but the melodies on this record stand out clear and strong. Right from the get go this album makes a statement. “My Girl” is a fluid pop masterpiece that will remind you of the bounty and hope that young love has to offer. Not that we are all searching, but Yukon Blonde will encourage you to. The album then transitions into “Radio” - a song with a heavy Cars influence - and then into “Stairway,” a rock anthem whose lyrics send both a message of desperation and hope, perhaps reflecting the band’s touring lifestyle. There are
ROBERTS & LORD Eponymous I can’t put my finger on exactly what has made this quirky album get played over and over again this past week. It sounds like an adventure through a brightly coloured alternate universe where things are strange (but benign). I guess I’m especially drawn to the pounding-heartbeat thundering drums on each track. The silly lyrics and catchy chant on “Mosquito” are great, too ( “Oh, oh mosquito, stay here with me / because you carry the blood of my love”). These 12 songs are lighthearted and fun, with falsettos and synth-zigzagging and swaying choruses, but manage to carry sincere messages. Never has garage rock sounded so theatrical, unfussy, and fun, while being wonderfully arranged. All in all, a great mood booster and soundtrack to fun times. You’ll be surprised at how quickly Eponymous makes it to your most played list. (Asthmatic Kitty Records, asthmatickitty.com) Adrienne Yeung
BEST COAST The Only Place If Best Coast’s debut, Crazy for You, was a scorching, sweaty, sunburnt day at the beach, then their follow-up, The Only Place, is a mild day with a whole lotta sunscreen slopped on. The main difference between the Cali surf-pop duo’s previous output and their newest is the production by Jon Brion (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I Heart Huckabees). Best Coast’s gritty, sand-in-your-suit sound gets a new glossy sheen, cutting out their old raw heat in favour of a cleaner tone. The shift ends up showcasing Bethany’s vocals – not a bad thing but you end up paying more attention to the lyrics, which come across as maudlin and juvenile at times (see “Why I Cry”) – never exactly Best Coast’s strong point. Both lyrically and musically the album is darker and moodier than previous efforts, while maintaining the poppy beachiness that is the heart of Best Coast. Fans of the fuzzy Coast sound won’t be crazy for The Only Place, though “Do You Still Love Me Like You Used To” is worth a listen. (Mexican Summer, mexicansummer. com) Cole Snyder
Kontroller
Mass Effect 3 By Kabir Kaler Welcome to the long anticipated end of the Mass Effect trilogy. Shepard is back and this time the dreaded Reapers are here, attacking Earth. Your day starts as you are summoned to the committee to confirm this horrible fact. While trying to come up with a plan, the Reapers appear and start decimating everything. Under the orders of Admiral Anderson, you must reluctantly leave Earth to get help from the Council. The people who help you accomplish this are mainly your old friends like Liara, and also new characters, like James Vega. Although you must choose less people to bring on missions than in Mass Effect 2, there is more variety to choose from. You can interact with your squad by giving them hope or just listening to them. Depending on what you say you will either get “paragon,” “renegade,” or “reputation” points, and if you help them out a skill is added to your arsenal. The basic design of the visuals is essentially the same as Mass Effect 2, with a few differences. The ship has five levels, each having a different role in your fight against the Reapers. The open world is confined to one area, the citadel, due to it being the only safe place. The tone this time around is of destruction and hopelessness. You see buildings being destroyed, ships blown up, and an enemy you can’t even comprehend decimating. This is happening while you are trying to make it to your ship. Cut scenes are another matter and happen at both peaceful and dangerous times. They use both in-game graphics and CGI animations. Included are more animations, making movement more fluid, better face animations when close www.stylusmagazine.ca
up and more vibrant biotic and tech powers. The cut scenes have more emotion and are more like action movies. The CGI moments give you a feeling that it is important and something big is going down. The biotic and tech powers have gotten a graphic touch up, having more colour. One more thing I should mention is the appearance of the guns in your arsenal. They’ve added more detail for each gun and the contrast has been increased along with size, making them stand out better. The only bad thing about the graphics is that they will frequently go out of focus whenever a cut scene will occur. It won’t stay like that, but it is noticeable and happens more than it should. The game play for the most part is enhanced and improved. You can play it as a RPG or as an action oriented game, depending on your preference. The movement has been changed significantly by adding an abundance of cover, which makes getting behind it more prominent and the movement more aggressive (very similar to Gears of Wars 3). You can go forward from cover to cover and you can leap in the direction of your choice, which helps if you are in trouble and have no immediate cover. The melee has also improved by adding the choice of doing a combo or a heavy attack, which does considerable damage (and looks cool). The six classes are all still here, with their respective powers being tweaked a little. After you upgrade your powers past Level Three you will be given a choice of how you want to change your powers, from faster cool down to number of targets (it is different for each power). The upgrades to your comrades’ powers influences your fighting style; you can choose to manually or automatically guide this in the options menu.
Before I go on, let’s talk about your gun collection. In Mass Effect 2, each class has a specific type of gun they can carry to help differentiate the classes. This has been replaced with a weight system. Every class has the ability to equip any gun, carrying up to five weapons. Each weapon has a specific weight that affects your power cool down system positively or negatively. The guns themselves have also changed in two ways. First, the way you upgrade your guns has changed. Instead of using parts you find in the environment, you upgrade the guns themselves from your ship, going as high as Level Five. Second, your gun has been modified to accompany two accessories that change your gun, along with your comrade’s gun to give out more damage, better stability, etc. These parts can be upgraded and found in both the environment and in stores. Your enemies are many and very exceptional in both style of fighting and strategy. Each enemy belongs to different factions and all of them have the same single goal: to kill you. No faction is better or worse than another, but depending on which you are fighting, you will have to change your strategy. Personally, I think the Reaper forces are worse than the others because they are harder to beat, due to their strategy and high defense, and they are some of the hardest, ugliest brutes in the game. The final gameplay aspect that surprised me was the multiplayer. Since previous versions didn’t have it I was curious to see how it turned out, and it is good. The way it is set up is there are different difficulties with a couple of different maps: bronze, silver and gold as you fight waves of enemies. Each time you fight, depending on where you finish, you get money and experience to help your character. The experience you earn is only for the
selected class you used, making sure that if you want your whole roster at the max level, you have to play them all. The plus side is that all the races in a class get the experience as well. The upgrade system is the same as the single player except you get only a certain number of skills. You start off being human, then with the money earned, purchase different classes along with equipment. There are roughly three packs you can buy with game-money. and two of them can also be purchased with actual money. The one thing I found was pretty cool was that you can pretty much play as any race in the Mass Effect universe. The way you get them is through the three packs and they are random. This game is the end of the trilogy and it presents itself as such. The endgame is always to destroy the Reapers or to die trying, which the game presents well by you building armies, making truces, and even curing a plague. The soundtrack sounds great and matches the circumstances you are seeing perfectly. A great example is near the end of leaving Earth there is a kid trying to escape the Reapers, which he does until the ship he is on gets shot down (which is also an example of why this is M-rated). It has everything: blood, violence, and even some romance. This game is a prime example of how trilogies should end. The story ties up loose ends, the visuals match the tone even if they do go out of focus, the game play leaves little to the imagination and the multiplayer keeps you playing long after the single player is done. You know this is the last journey of Commander Shepard but the ending will surprise you. You may even find it poetic. I give Mass Effect 3 9.5 dead Reapers out of 10.
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PHOTO MANIPULATED BY ANDREW MAZURAK
Fear of Music Holotopia By Devin King
It was 2025. Thick smog hung just below the tops of the skyscrapers worldwide. Unemployment was at an alltime high. Dogs were taking peoples’ stuff and burying it all over the place. The Tea Party ruled North America with a political iron fist. The national anthem had become their hit single “Temptation.” But the world wasn’t all bad. At this moment, The Smiths were about to play their reunion show. This was something that had been dreamed of by the foppish proles for decades – even decades before Morrisey’s death in 2015. His death had been tragic and unexpected. While initial reports put the blame on a mass swoon of Latino men during a festival that collapsed the stage Morrissey stood upon, some of the more cynical minded blamed the record company for assassinating Morrissey. The record company, they claimed, could only cash in on reunion shows and comeback albums once Stephen Patrick Morrissey was dead. The living Morrissey would never agree to these things. And since he showed no signs of an untimely demise, it was theorized that his demise was made more timely. But those were just conspiracy theorists, and even many of those were there that night that the Smiths retook the stage. It seemed shocking when the trend began. Holograms? It seemed so absurdly futuristic. It seemed so fake. It started in 2003, when Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez appeared as a projection with her TLC bandmates after her death. Hologram standards increased when Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas appeared as a hologram during election
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coverage in 2008. Though not truly a hologram, Kurt Kobain’s computergenerated image was featured in an avatar in Guitar Hero 5 in 2009, able to sing his Nirvana hits as well as an extended catalogue that included extremely faithful covers of artists such as Rush and Sublime. But the world truly turned when Tupac Shakur reappeared, as an unearthly-hued hologram, at the Coachella festival in 2012. Freddie Mercury would follow months later, and from there hologram technology became more and more advanced. Indeed, some claimed that Johnny Cash’s 2018 appearance alongside Justine Bieber, the hardnosed daughter of Justin Bieber, was a finer performance than his legendary “Live at Folsom Prison.” It was a mild controversy in 2020
when Sonic Youth – alive – reformed for a reunion show. However, the show was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Few were interested in seeing musicians who were alive anymore. Where was the fun in that? It was so dreadfully predictable. You knew they’d come on and say how great it was to be there, that the fans were great, and they’d play the songs that everyone knows – their own songs, by themselves. And they’d do an encore, regardless, because that just happened. There was almost no chance another star artist would appear onstage with a live act, let alone a wonderfully mismatched artist, as there were just so few artists who were willing to perform live. It was tragic when M.I.A. committed suicide, but her stipulations about her musical legacy (as she
performed pre-recorded albums via her hologram) saw the greatest sales of her career. From there, the craze of holophonic sound began. For many, hearing The Replacements sing k-pop versions of gospel standards was simply a novelty, but it sold just as well as the 40th anniversary five-cd ultra deluxe reissue of Let it Be. Artists were now, more than ever, whatever the record labels programmed them to be. They were finally given the artistic freedom to play whatever music the record labels knew people really wanted. No more deliberating in a studio about what sounded right. No more ska. Just the music that people wanted. Music was an algorithm, and the best scientists found ways to adjust that algorithm to make dollars roll in. However, to this date, this algorithm has yet to be successfully applied 95.9 FM CKUW CAMPUS/COMMUNITY RADIO to any iteration of Guns TOP 30 ALBUMS (Mar 27, 2012 – May 24, 2012) ‘n’ Roses. !=LOCAL CONTENT * =CANADIAN CONTENT re=RE-ENTRY TO CHART The Smiths were about to appear. An eerily ARTIST RECORDING LABEL accurate image of Johnny Marr took the stage and, 1 ! The Vibrating Beds Sing The Blues 7-inch Transistor 66 2 * Grimes Visions Arbutus unnoticed by the crowd, 3 ! John K. Samson Provincial Antiflickered slightly. Mike 4 * The Deadly Hearts The Deadly Hearts Transistor 66 Joyce’s distinctive gallop 5 ! Sit Down Tracy Twenty Something Winters Self-Released of “The Queen is Dead” 6 ! The Lonely Vulcans Vulcan Cesspool Transistor 66 punctuated the air as he 7 * The Ketamines Spaced Out Mammoth Cave spontaneously apparated 8 Dr John Locked Down Nonesuch with a full drum kit. The 9 The Shins Port of Morrow Columbia lights went up and the 10 ! Chad Allen and The Reflections Early Roots Regenerator crowd went wild. 11 ! Del Barber Headwaters Six Shooter Toward the back of the 12 ! Greg Arcade Creature of The Night Self-Released 13 * Bloodshot Bill Out The Door Transistor 66 crowd, where the scream14 * JW Jones Seventh Hour Solid Blues ing and hair quiff gel 15 * Various Artists The Cool Aid Benefit Album Regenerator didn’t make the ground 16 * Cold Warps S/T EP + Endless Bummer EP Noyes so slippery, two old men 17 * Coeur de Pirate Blonde Grosse Boite watched the proceedings. 18 The Funkees Dancing Time Soundway “Lookit all these here ho19 Witch We Intend To Cause Havoc Now Again lograms,” said one. “Didn’t 20 Various Artists Soul Cal Now Again used to be like this,” said 21 Chains of Love Strange Grey Days Dine Alone the other. His compan22 ! Royal Canoe Extended Play Self-Relelased ion turned to him, slowly, 23 ! Hatcher-Briggs Getting There From Here Self-Released darkly, as a storm brewed 24 * Brazilian Money Doug Nasty Gipper Tore 25 * The Famines The Complete Collected Singles Mammoth Cave off in the distance and 26 * Bry Webb Provider Idee Fixee said “Or maybe we’re the 27 * Various Artists Busy Doing Nothing Mint real holograms now.” He 28 * Rae Spoon I Can’t Keep All of Our Secrets Saved By Radio paused, then repeated 29 Andrew Bird Break It Yourself Mom + Pop again for dramatic effect, 30 Toure-Raichel Collective The Tel Aviv Session Cumbancha “Maybe we’re the real holograms.”
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June/July 2012 Stylus Magazine
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032 Stylus Magazine June/July 2012