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June / July 2020 Stylus Magazine
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JUN/JUL 31 NO. 3 2020VOL
Production Team Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gil Carroll editor@stylusmagazine.ca
On the Cover FRANCESCA CARELLA ARFINENGO is an artist, art administrator and educator. Her practice combines textiles, photography and text and is informed by her perspective as a Settler Person of Colour.
Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . Jen Doerksen assistanteditor@stylusmagazine.ca Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Campbell design@stylusmagazine.ca Cover Art . . . . Francesca Carella Arfinengo Advertising Contact . . . . . . . . . Rob Schmidt manager@ckuw.ca Print by JRS Print Services . . . 204-232-3558
Contributors Chris Bryson
Mark Teague
Kaelen Bell
Isiah Schellenberg
Keeley Braunstein-Black
David Tymoshchuk
Olivier Laroche Kaelen Bell Isabella Soares
Zoe McCrea Ryan Haughey Jacob Boutwell
Ben Waldman
Virginie Khateeb
Jacob Perlmutter
Jacob Perlmutter
Ty Ballingall Miles Tiessen
Margaret Banka Zoe McCrea
Paul Carruthers Stylus is published bi–monthly by CKUW 95.9 FM, with a circulation of 2,500. Stylus serves as the program guide to 95.9FM CKUW and will reflect the many musical communities it supports within Winnipeg and beyond. Stylus strives to provide coverage of music that is not normally written about in the mainstream media. Stylus acts as a vehicle for the work of new writers, photographers and artists, including members of the University of Winnipeg, of CKUW and of the Winnipeg community at large. Stylus reserves the right to refuse to print material, specifically, that of a racist, homophobic or sexist nature. All submissions may be edited and become the property of Stylus. All opinions expressed in Stylus are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors. Contributions in the form of articles, reviews, letters, photos and graphics are welcome and should be sent with contact information to:
Stylus Magazine Bulman Student Centre, University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9 Phone: 204-786-9785, Fax: 204-783-7080 Writing submissions: editor@stylusmagazine.ca Graphics submissions: design@stylusmagazine.ca www.stylusmagazine.ca
Table of Contents Blah, Blah, Blah Events Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CKUWho: Listening Pleasures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Album Reviews: Amos the Kid, Richard Inman, Helle, and more . . . . . . . . .
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Features Strange Times: Local Venues and Covid-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LLUX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Interview with Austra / Katie Stelmanis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honey Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coffee With Ami Cheon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max Bloom’s Album of Isolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Live Music in a Socially Isolated World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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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 2020 Stylus Magazine
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NAH, NAH, NAH No concerts this summer but you can tune in to livestreams***Manitoba Music presents Manitoba Live Sessions every Thursday at 7:00 pm featuring JayWood, Ghost Twin, Cara Luft,
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Sierra Noble and more***Real Love Winnipeg presents Real Live Thursday every Thursday at 8:00 pm***June 6 at 11:00 pm Phoebe Bridgers live from home***June 7 at 4:00 pm Mogwai
(Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Mic Livestream Concert Series with Red Will) listening party on Twitter***June Moon Road*** 16 Manitoba Music Online Open Mic Night with housepanther***June 27 at 7:00 pm on Vimeo is Bring Your Own
Strange Times:
Local Venues and COVID-19
CHRIS BRYSON
When COVID-19 started taking its hold on a global scale, it was soon enough that festivals and venues would be cancelling their plans and closing their doors. On Monday March 16th, COVID-19’s impact on our long-term lives was further solidified as venue after venue posted to their online followers that they were closing, postponing, cancelling, getting ready for some major changes and challenges. On April 18th Tyler Sneesby, co-owner of The Good Will Social Club, organized a GoFundMe fundraiser that in hours reached and surpassed its goal. “The response was incredible to reach our goal in three and a half hours. You know, I just kept refreshing the page and just cried. It was like a roller coaster of emotion,” says David Schellenberg, talent buyer for and co-owner of The Good Will. “It was just so heartwarming.” “The Good Will truly is a labour of love for us. We break even if we’re lucky each month. And you know, no one is getting rich off this place. We’re doing it to better the city and our community. And so, you know it’s one of those things where like, we were thinking before we launched the fundraiser, we were thinking that this might be it. And so just with that, with the response of everyone it was just so overwhelming and just really made sure that we want to keep doing what we’re doing.” Cory Thomas, owner of and promoter and talent buyer for Ninjacat Productions, who is also the talent buyer for The Park Theatre, also felt the music community’s love through a successful GoFundMe fundraiser. “It felt incredible. I was truly moved by it,” says Thomas. “I was feeling pretty damn depressed the week leading up to that with us having to close up the Park and then cancelling the festival. I was sick to my stomach at the thought of worrying about when I’ll be working again and also the huge losses I had to eat from the festival. “When my friend Rachel Quelch approached me and said she wanted to put together a GoFundMe for Ninjacat I thought no one is going to be able to donate to this since a lot of people are out of work right now. I am so proud to be a part of the Winnipeg music scene. And this whole experience just reminded me why I love it so much. I am forever in debt to our scene and can’t thank everyone enough.” The success of these fundraisers are remarkable public declarations of the love and appreciation held for venues and the hard work that is put in to make some of our favourite experiences happen. But even with community and government support, COVID-19 undoubtedly poses shortand long-term challenges for musicians and local businesses and their employees. Stylus spoke with several promoters, managers, and owners of local venues to get their thoughts about the implications COVID-19 may have for their businesses and the music scene. “It’s going to be extremely difficult,” says Schellenberg. “People are going to want to play shows once venues are open again. That’s a high-risk potential for spread and contagion.” Schellenberg says they’ll be taking things day-by-
day, because they’ve never dealt with something like this before. The Good Will’s capacity is 200 people, and with their patio it’s an additional 64, which Schellenberg sees as posing substantial challenges. “I can’t imagine us being allowed to have that many people inside the bar for quite some time,” says Schellenberg. “So with our capacity not at that operating number and when it’s at something along the lines of like, let’s say it’ll be 100 people or 120 people or something like that, that will be quite the financial challenge for us.” Cutting capacity means cutting drink sales, which Schellenberg says contributes a large portion of their income, which may in turn affect other areas of the business, like staffing levels and what they can afford. “It’s going to be a headache, you know, it’s obviously a headache that’s worthwhile,” says Schellenberg. “But it will be quite difficult to see.” In the meantime Schellenberg says he and others in the industry are looking into uniting their efforts to petition the government about getting some longterm financial support. Thomas says the pandemic has already done more damage than he and The Park Theatre’s owner, Erick Casselman, ever thought it would. They assumed they would be open by mid-June, but instead have been cancelling shows a few months ahead up until the fall, although most fall shows are either being cancelled or postponed until 2021. “Friends running other venues in the city and across Canada are all having to do the same,” says Thomas. “At the Park we are hoping that we can open to some sort of capacity in September. I don’t think we will have many touring bands, if any, coming through in 2020. If we get to open in September even at half capacity, then we will fill the calendar with all local bands. “In the meantime all of our staff including me are not working and receiving the CERB. The biggest challenge is paying the mortgage until we can open again. We are toying with some different ideas of ways to raise funds. The unfortunate part is there will be venues that don’t survive the pandemic. We are booking a lot of events for 2021 hoping this is under control by then. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous even about 2021.” The West End Cultural Centre postponed all events on March 16th. Jason Hooper, executive director of the not-for-profit charity venue, says he’s “a little worried that people are losing sight of why the long term is important.” One of the issues Hooper sees is with the challenge of reopening places like venues and larger scale arenas, stadiums, and convention centers, and he is skeptical about how you would maintain social distancing protocols in those circumstances. “The temptation is going to be there to relax,” says Hooper. “I think it goes against our biological nature to be this far apart from each other. So I think once the temptation is there it’s going to be very tough to resist.” The Handsome Daughter similarly closed its doors but has been fortunate to be able to continue operating the Magic Bird Fried Chicken restaurant out of its space via takeout and delivery.
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Mischa Decter, The Handsome Daughter’s general manager, says they’re not in any rush to reopen the bar or venue when restrictions loosen as their current model is proving to be sustainable, and they’re keeping safety a number one priority. Decter foresees that some venues that can’t currently generate any income might end up having to close their doors permanently within the year. “There is already a feeling that there aren’t enough small-mid-sized venues in the city, and any changes to that could leave bands itching to play out with fewer options in the long term,” says Decter. “If we can’t fill our venue to our normal capacity, we can’t generate enough income to pay bands, employees, bills, etc.” This restricted capacity issue presents a major problem for venues that are largely dependent on ticket sales for revenue. John Scoles, president and owner of the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club, says they’ll be closed until they’re able to offer people an experience that everybody can feel good about. One of the biggest challenges for venue owners and managers seems to be the balance of making enough money to cover expenses while maintaining moral responsibility for the safety of their patrons and the people they work with. “Unfortunately, it is hard to imagine how a respect for science and health is going to jive with running a bar going forward. It’ll just have to be a matter of patience. A lot of patience,” says Scoles. “I don’t envy the venues that need large numbers to cover costs of presenting and overhead. The smaller ones will likely have a bit easier time reintegrating. “Honestly my biggest concern is nurturing the musicians and the fans. We have to take care of those people. Without them, it won’t matter if there are venues or not.” Jordan Cayer, who is the café manager and does music programming at Forth, says adaptation will play a role as the business works a way around not having income coming in from evening events, and puts more emphasis on offering services like food and beverages. “The one thing about it is that it is pretty cut and dry,” Cayer says about live music events. “It’s like this isn’t going to happen for a while, and we’re going to have to find a way to live with that. I mean as a musician myself it’s an extra bummer, because I don’t know the next time I’m going to be able to play a show. But as a venue booker and manager, it’s like I get to see both sides of it, and it’s very strange. Very strange feeling. Very strange times.” Uncertainty could be one of the defining terms of 2020, and we’ve all been swimming in it. It could be guessed that some of the defining terms of 2021 might be acceptance, adaptation, and appreciation, as we’ll need them to come out of this stronger and hopeful. Be safe and kind. Support local artists and businesses as you can. And take part in the collective countdown to when we can all safely and comfortably be in the same space, living and loving music and life together again.
June / July 2020 Stylus Magazine
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LLUX ISABELLA SOARES Times like these are truly unprecedented. Despite the cancellation of anticipated summer festivals and the closure of concert venues, Winnipeg based-band LLUX decided to remedy the chaos with the release of their debut album The Drive. Stylus had the chance to chat with lead singer Lindsay Thomson about finding her own sound during production and creating lyrics that lived up to the experiences she had in the past years. Kenora-born Lindsay Thomson knew from early on that she wanted to form a band one day that embraced the name LUX. After moving to Ottawa to study songwriting at Carleton University, she was able to unite a group of girls and make her dream a reality. The female driven rock group had their glory days, but they were short-lived. However, Thomson decided to give her goal a second try, this time with an additional “L”. “I decided to go back with LLUX when I was in the studio, because it had always been a dream… I thought that if I was going to spend the time and save up for this record, then I might as well do it exactly how I envisioned it.” Once a studio deal and band was in check, it seemed like the hardest part had gone by. Yet, there came the process of composing songs that suited their indie power-pop sound.
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PHOTO: JACOB BOUTWELL “I worked very closely with Murray Pulver, and we spent hours fiddling around with different arrangements for the songs. We took the lyrics and music and focused on the sound and what inspirations I had influencing what I wanted the music to sound like.” A songwriter since she was 11, to Lindsay the words came naturally when it came to writing about others’ stories, but challenging when the thoughts and experiences were her own. “When I was growing up and writing music, I wrote a lot about other people and their relationships because I found them so interesting…I felt I wasn’t comfortable writing about my own life, because at the time I thought I didn’t have much experience coming from a small town where everything stayed the same all the time.” Gladly, she was able to open up and lay out honest, bold, and incredibly relatable tracks on her debut EP. With themes that range from a long-term relationship and feeling unsure about staying or moving back to your hometown, the secret ingredient was finally revealed. “What was helping the growth in my music was being honest.” Although The Drive came at a moment where we are unable to appreciate its delightful, heartwarming, and summery vibe at a live event, the possibility of
attending a show in the future is still an option. “Essentially everything has been canceled, we had shows planned up until the end of the summer… Once the band is able to do live shows, we would like to have a celebration for our EP. release. We hope to do a night in Winnipeg, a night in Kenora and a night in Sioux Narrows (a small town right outside Kenora). We want to celebrate with everyone who supported it.” While we anticipate performances from highly energetic tracks such as “The Drive” and “Molly”, or the guitar-led ballad “Do I Think About You Too Much”, we can continue to appreciate them on repeat on our earphones, or blast them during a car ride under the sunshine. Whether it’s for the beat or the lyrics, Lindsay finished our interview sharing that her greatest wish is for people to feel when they listen to her music. “I simply want people to feel any emotion evoked through my music…If people can connect with it then I’d love that. If they are happy, then I will be happy as well. If they are sad when they listen to it, then maybe they have gone through the same thing… I just hope that people just feel.”
Austra
Interview with
/ Katie Stelmanis KAELEN BELL
PHOTO: VIRGINIE KHATEEB
When asked how she’s handling isolation – and the Austra tour postponement it necessitated – Katie Stelmanis pauses for a moment. “I have a real answer, which I’m always like, ‘should I say it?’ and I always end up saying it,” she says, laughing. “Basically, I went through another, not-related-to-my-album breakup a few months ago, and was not looking forward to touring the record because of that. And now, I don’t have to tour the record for like, another half a year or however long it’s gonna be. So I’m actually kind of happy.” The tour was meant to be in support of Austra’s fourth record, the deeply personal HiRUDiN. And while Stelmanis admits that she’s beginning to itch for the road again, she says isolation has given her time to figure some things out. “It’s kind of nice that I just get to be at home and chill and just kind of, like, process everything from afar,” she says. “I am doing okay. I’m doing like, as good as you can be… I think.” When asked whether, like so many of her peers, she’ll use this sudden free time for livestream shows, Stelmanis pauses and laughs again. “I’ve done one live concert online and I have to be honest… I’m not looking forward to doing any more,” she says. “First of all, just the technical stuff behind it is so complicated. You have to download all these third party programs and set up these loop feedbacks. There’s so much stuff going on, and you have to rely on the internet. And I’m just in my crappy basement studio when I do them. It doesn’t represent the record, or what I wanna do, at all.”
That record, the lush and orchestral HiRUDiN, is unlike any Austra record that’s come before – defined by a spirit of collaboration, it’s a towering mix of florid live instrumentation and Austra’s trademark synthetic textures. It’s true that it would likely sound out of place coming through your Instagram feed – it feels made for stages. “Previously my only collaborators had been my old live band, or I had just done things by myself. So this is the first time I was just reaching out to anyone and everyone to be part of it,” she says. “I think that defines the record, in a way.” The first HiRUDiN sessions took place in Toronto, with a team of players that Stelmanis had never worked with before. Stelmanis describes these early live recordings as the bedrock of the record – a far cry from the entirely digital scapes found on 2017’s Future Politics. “I feel like I always like to do something differently than I did before, and Future Politics was the most in-the-box record,” she says. “I wrote it mostly while travelling with these tiny little setups. It was mixed by my live engineer, also kind of just on the road. Everything about it was in a laptop.” Stelmanis says HiRUDiN is the closest thing to a “traditional record” that Austra’s ever made – inspired by 1960s pop structures and the music of British Folk legend Joan Armatrading, it’s an entirely new side to Stelmanis’ song writing. She credits her work with those session players in Toronto as shifting her vision of how an Austra record could be made.
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“It was something that I was always sort of scared of embracing, ‘cause I thought that, like, it would take away some of my own artistic integrity or something. But I found the absolute opposite to be true,” she says. “I was able to get closer to creating something and making it sound how I wanted it to sound than I ever really have before, and that was fully because I had so much help and collaboration.” Stelmanis says that when Austra does eventually hit the road again, it’s going to look different – a new way of performing for a new kind of music. “I was rehearsing with my new band in March, before lockdown happened and everything,” she says. “We got about half way through our rehearsals, and there was quite a difference playing these sort of more introspective tracks. I guess I sort of have to rethink my live show in a way.” She’s got plenty of time to think, time that she says has already begun to change how she sees her newest songs. It’s going to be a new world by the time Katie Stelmanis is able to bring HiRUDiN to the stage, and it’s likely the record itself will feel like a brand new work. “I finished this record a year ago, really. And my life, all of our lives, are drastically different from one year ago,” she says. “So already, these songs have a completely different meaning for me than they did when I wrote them.”
June / July 2020 Stylus Magazine
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Honey Days OLIVIER LAROCHE Stylus had the chance to talk with Dayna, Justin, and Josh from Winnipeg-based trio Honey Days. They shared with us part of their process, their plans for the future and the musicians they admire. Stylus: How has self-isolation affected you as a band and the way you work together? Dayna: Well, I’m currently in BC because I had to come be with my partner. We’ve had to take a bit of a break, just for our own safety. We send each other recordings as much as we can and try and bounce off some ideas back and forth, but it’s been a hard time definitely creatively. Josh: Yeah, we’ve been doing a lot of writing on our own and waiting for the green light to do group stuff again. Stylus: What has been your favourite on-stage moment? Justin: We started playing a lot more shows after we got asked to play Harvest Moon in September last year, so we’ve been playing shows steadily since the fall, but that was as a three piece. Josh and Dayna have been playing house shows for a couple years prior. We had plans to play at a lot more festivals this summer, but we’ll just be patient until that time comes again. Josh: My favourite moment was probably at the Handsome Daughter, it was the first time we played at a proper venue. We weren’t expecting it to be full because we were the opening band, but the bar was completely packed to the back. I just remember looking out and being like “Oh my god. This is just surreal.’’ It was pretty incredible to see a whole crowd listening to our music. Definitely was a highlight moment for me so far.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY HONEY DAYS Stylus: At shows, do you play both originals and covers? Dayna: We’ve done a few covers in the past. We do a majority of our own originals and we do have a similar taste in music, so if we do have a cover we usually are all on the same page with it. We have a catalog of songs that we wrote, me and Josh, over a few years, and then we have songs we wrote all three of us with Justin. It’s fun to play around with songs and do covers but we definitely thrive with our originals and have the most fun doing that. Stylus: After the first single you’ve released on Bandcamp, what’s next for the band in terms of releases? Justin: We’re looking at an EP this year, so the plan is to resume with that work on about five or six originals songs and then put together everything for release and record, then put that out towards the end of the year. Josh: In this situation, we’re focusing more on the recording aspect of music as this will be a first for us. Since all the festivals are being cancelled what we’ll probably focus on is recording this summer. Stylus: What are the dynamics like when writing music? Does one of you take the lead? Dayna: We have different ways of writing, sometimes we’ll have something on guitar that someone was working on and then everybody can add on bass and drums. Or, Justin throws down a super cool beat and we try to add on that. We generally collaborate all together and we all take part in writing the lyrics as well. Justin writes a lot of poems that we sometimes go and pull lines from which is super helpful.
Josh: It can be quite magical sometimes, we’ll be in the studio and all of a sudden Justin will be playing some beat that he just came up with and I’ll jump in with the guitar. Sometimes things will come out of thin air you know, and there have been some special moments in our songwriting. Stylus: And finally, if you could collaborate with any musician, dead or alive, who would each of you pick? Josh: It would be pretty cool to work with the Beatles, but I think that’s a pretty common answer. I think somebody that’s alive would be The National, Big Thief or Mac Demarco. I think those are some of my top bands and I think we’d just have a great time. Justin: One guy that comes to mind is Andy Shauf, obviously he’s from the prairies and I really enjoy the dynamics of his drum and bass playing. Maybe that’s somebody who’d be great too, because we got to listen to what he’s like with a full band in his other project, Foxwarren. I think that guy is a mastermind. Dayna: I think personally I’d say Julia Jacklin. That’s my girl, I love her, love the tone of her voice. As a band, we’ve probably been compared the most to Big Thief, and we do love a lot of what they come out with and all their different sounds and creative tempo changes in their songs. We try to bring that to our music. I would say as a band we’d love to play with Big Thief, that would be amazing. The band is looking forward to playing more shows as soon as they can, and are currently working on an EP.
Ami Cheon is a R&B Pop singer songwriter who currently calls Winnipeg home. Originally from Regina, eight years ago Cheon left home to pursue music. After living in T oronto, she moved to Nelson B.C. to attend Selkirk College for the Music and Technology program, “It’s really cool! It is one of the only contemporary programs in Canada’’. While in school Cheon spent one summer break in Winnipeg, and she said she “was really impressed by the music here, just really blown away. After school was done I knew that I always wanted to go back to Toronto, but I was like why don’t we move to Winnipeg for a while? So we did. I’ve been here for two years now”. She is not afraid of moving around. “I feel I am lucky in that regard, I feel very nomadic. Which is a blessing in this industry and it definitely coincides with the calling that I feel I have”. Cheon adds, “Winnipeg is lovely though. I feel it is the most underrated city in Canada for sure”. “My mom says I was singing before I was talking,” Cheon said, “and it’s pretty funny because no one in my family is musical. Which is pretty unusual I am finding. I thought that was normal, but I feel that everyone I’ve met here and in music school come from families of musicians. I feel that is so cool to me, the idea that they can jam with their parents! What?!” Cheon continues to speak to her musical origins, “The Church donated a piano to us, and I taught myself to play piano. My mom was like ‘What the heck?’ But there was no money for lessons or anything so I was just really dedicated to it by myself. I went to a high school that was known for music and I finished in grade ten, and at that point I was doing twenty ensembles a week which was really cool. It was the first time I got to really be immersed in music”. She considers the path not taken, “I was taking all of my premed pre-courses at that time . . . I was maybe going to do medicine in grade ten, and I just had this realization that this was all I was going to do. I took it more seriously after I moved to Toronto, then some time in New York, and then B.C. It was really cool up until that point I had not had formal music lessons ever, so I was 21 that’s when I had my first music lesson. It was a steep learning curve, I had no vocabulary, I taught myself enough theory to get into school. Theory and math are very hand and hand, so I was able to teach myself kind of enough to get in. And then I got there and I was like holy sh*t. It’s a lot of vocabulary to learn. I found that once I had that everything made sense, that my ear had compensated for”. This past year Ami did a western Canada tour and two single releases, plus shows at the WECC and Festival du Voyageur. Ami is currently working on an EP. “I have a lot written, I probably have 2-3 albums worth of songs written already. I just don’t want to rush it. I feel that this past few years have been all about just making sure I feel good as a person, and that my mental health is in a good place. I really feel those vibes translate into music, and if I am not feeling good, then no one is going to feel good listening to my songs. Which I do want them to feel.” There is currently no set date for the EP, “There is no rush, I am 25, I feel like everything is as it should be. I am big on trusting the universe. There is room for everybody.” When it comes to writing music Cheon does not sit down with the intention about writing about any one theme. She allows it to come spontaneously, “usually comes out with full melodic and word ideas. Then later when I listen to it I’m like ‘Oh! it’s totally what’s going on in my life!’ Subconsciously all of these ideas are coming out, and they happen to have rhyme and work rhythmically”. When it comes to intentionally writing about a topic or theme Cheon believes that “putting limits on creativity kinda squashes it for me. I think it works for some people, but I like to see what’s going to come out in that song. I have a lot of voice memos in my phone, if I have any ideas at any time I just record it down, because inspiration comes randomly”. In reference to music Cheon says, “I love it, it’s the best thing in my life”.
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WORDS & PHOTO: KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK
Coffee with Ami
June / July 2020 Stylus Magazine
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Max Bloom’s Album of Isolation The Yuck frontman’s solo debut is a break-up album for a lonely era BEN WALDMAN Max Bloom knew his solo debut would be a little lonely. After all, it’s called a “solo” album for a reason: no matter how many fingerprints are all over every track, there is one name on the album cover, one account on Spotify, one person whose reputation rests on the music’s reception. It was a startling proposition for Bloom to make music by himself. In his mid-teens, he helped with Daniel Blumberg to form the nucleus of Cajun Dance Party, a London five-piece that caught the ear of Thom Yorke with their sound, a heady elegy to the Brit pop of the ‘90s. Soon, Bloom and Blumberg went a different route, forming Yuck, a band whose name belies the pretty sounds they made. Yuck’s start couldn’t have been much more auspicious: their self-titled debut was welcomed with open arms by critics, who both breathlessly celebrated and questioned their romantic nostalgia for the early work of bands like Teenage Fanclub, Pavement or Yo La Tengo. Pitchfork gave 2011’s Yuck a glowing review, and the band drew raves at home in the U.K., and in Japan. Bloom’s solo career got off in dramatically different circumstances: his debut record, Perfume—which he’d been working on for two years and which was entirely about the end of a decadelong relationship, a time he calls the loneliest of his life—was released on April 24, as London was in lockdown and any semblance of a concert could only be done on a livestream: the gorgeous breakup songs Bloom had written by himself— “To Be Alone,” “Call Me When It’s Over,” “Will It Last a Lifetime?” — were now gorgeous songs written for the era of self-isolation. It’s a Tuesday in May when Bloom logs onto Zoom to speak with Stylus, and his chosen background is a palette of colourful donuts. “Sorry, let me get rid of this,” he says. “I’ve been experimenting with weird backgrounds.” His Hackney apartment is spare, from what’s visible: a brown easy chair with an acoustic guitar resting on it, a TV, a record display. He seems happy to do the interview. It’s nice to meet someone who heard what he put out into the world. He’s been playing live sets on Instagram , and it’s tough to tell what the audience thinks. While it isn’t a Yuck album, it is the best music that Bloom, 30, has made since that band’s first album. It’s raw, yet polished, and you can almost hear the freedom its creator found in processing the end of an era and what had been a nadir for him — mentally, creatively, financially. “When we broke up, I started living with my parents,” he said. “I didn’t have any money, and I didn’t have a job, and I was just kind of floating. I felt like my life was broken, so I was trying to put the pieces back together and analyze what went wrong.” He watched a lot of Bojack Horseman. “I was grieving, and the album was documenting the process of that grief,” he adds. From the first note, you can hear it: “To Be Alone” was the first song Bloom wrote, and it begins with him plaintively singing, “You are the girl that I love the most, when we got drunk we burned our cheese on toast.” On Yuck, Bloom was nostalgic for the 1990s. Here, he’s nostalgic for burnt sandwiches
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PHOTO: JACOB PERLMUTTER
— anything that connects him to his past. He listened to a lot of Car Seat Headrest’s Twin Fantasy when writing, and you can hear that too in the way he sensibly layers his sounds. “Thinking ‘Bout You Forever Now” is a jaunty dirge. “Bottle” is a gritty soliloquy for the end of an era. “When I smell your perfume, it pulls me under,” Bloom shouts. The nature of album releases is that Bloom is a different man now than when the melodies popped into his head two years ago. As the songs developed, he sent snippets to Patrick Fitzroy and Anna Vincent of the London band Heavy Heart, two of his best friends. As time went by, Bloom and Vincent started dating, and are now riding out the pandemic together in self-isolated bliss while working on new music together.
“It’s quite exciting for me,” Bloom says, lighting up. “Anna is a really talented musician and an amazing lyricist. Having her in the room just to bounce ideas off is a really fun thing.” “This little time period, we’ve made so much music,” he said, indicating the makings of another album are already being written; he didn’t rule out more Yuck though. “A good sign that something is going in a good direction is if I can’t stop thinking about a song in my head, and that’s happened a couple of times.” It might be a while before the world hears those songs or Perfume at concert venues, Bloom realizes. But he seems at peace with it: it’s a lot less draining to tour from your webcam than in a minivan driving across Europe. He’d be fine staying at home to write music; it’s what he’s done since he was 14 years old.
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ckuwho who? ?
TANNIS KELM
Listen to: Listening Pleasures Tuesdays 11pm-12am Stylus sat down with Tannis Kelm, host of Listening Pleasures on CKUW 95.9 FM, to chat about life. Listening Pleasures broadcasts every Tuesday from 11 pm to 12 am. TY BALLINGALL
Stylus: Tell our readers a little bit about yourself and how you came to do your show. Tannis Kelm: I’m from a small town where we only have AM radio, but I always liked listening to the radio. I actually went to school at U of M and I didn’t really look into it but I got interviewed for a show I was doing and they said it was really easy to volunteer at CKUW. I took 3 courses and I already sort of worked with a mixer at home and stuff like that. I have turntables, so that came easy to me and so I pitched a show after I volunteered during the summer. S: What made you start Listening Pleasures? T.K.: Well every show I play a Tragically Hip song, they are my favourite band and they motivated and inspired me to write my own songs and I just felt that a lot of their work is never heard because there are only a few songs that get repeatedly played on the radio, and I thought people should get to hear the other songs more. When I pitched my show, I said that I would play a Tragically Hip song every show
and then have a bunch of artists that contribute to the community. I get my little section in the middle for a Hip song and then the rest of the time, around 45 minutes is just strictly for my guests. S: Why is your show important for people to listen to? T.K.: It’s nice for people to tune in and listen to local artists, and I love the live aspect. Most people who have bands or play music bring in their instruments, or maybe they just finished writing a song so they would bring that in and would play something new and interesting that people haven’t heard yet. I’m looking forward to doing that again. S: What do you do when you’re not hosting Listening Pleasures? T.K.: I am a singer-songwriter and I write poetry. I also DJ. I go out a lot and see a lot of shows and I always wanted to interact with bands and talk with them more. I was thinking about reviewing, but then I thought of a show where I could get my favourite bands and performers that I already knew, so they could come on the show and promote their work and their shows coming up, and they would come on with instruments, and if they were poets they would bring some poetry.
S: Do you have a favourite show at CKUW that’s not yours? T.K.: Well, Night Danger is right after mine so I always give a shout out to Alan Campbell because he recently got new gear for the COVID response. He’s so happy to be doing shows again and that’s a big part of CKUW is that everyone is just so happy to be there. The show before mine is MonkeySparrow, it’s a spoken word show with poetry and essays and hannah_g always finds the most interesting music. S: Where are you headed next after CKUW? T.K.: I’ll probably be there for a while because I don’t plan on leaving Winnipeg anytime soon. I actually wanted to get funding to go to Broadcasting school but it’s not an essential service so they won’t fund you. I’m just probably going to be a singersongwriter for a little bit, but hopefully having a CKUW show for a very long time. S: Anything else you want to promote or talk about? T.K.: There’s the Caravan Open Mic on Mondays that I help out with and we’re doing an Instagram live feed at @purpleroom_wpg. It’s at 7 pm until 9 pm. It’s a good venue and it’s nice because we’ve never missed a Monday.
Live Music in a Socially Isolated World
RYAN HAUGHEY
In these ever-uncertain times of isolation, musicians and artists are taking a big hit. Due to the kiboshing of social gathering, live shows and yearly festivals are being cancelled left and right, and we are all itching to experience music as a community once again. From shows at the Handsome Daughter to jam nights at the Times Changed, our community is struggling to feel the togetherness that live music brings to our city. Almost daily I see artists pouring their hearts out during performances on videos or livestreams just for the sake of performing. Performing onstage in front of a group of people – no matter how many – is a shot of adrenaline, and quarantine has taken that away from the local music scene. However, these livestreams aren’t all so bad a replacement for live performances. Winnipeg loop pedal artist and recipient of WCMA 2019 Francophone Artist of the Year, Rayannah was directly affected right at the beginning of quarantine, as she was forced to cancel
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her planned tour. Rayannah says that livestreaming comes with its fair share of pros and cons. “The various livestream series’ put in place to provide artist fees for performers were a swift and important response to the current crisis. That being said, there’s a concurring pressure to be present online and perform for free,” she says. “That’s a challenge given the fact that our livelihoods have been affected so profoundly. Many share the concern that our audiences could get used to accessing concerts free of charge.” She also says that the flip side to that is the push to support artists financially without the assistance of live, in-person concerts by buying music and merch. “Another positive piece to all this is that concerts have been made accessible to people who may not have been able to enjoy them in the past whether because of inaccessible spaces, scheduling conflicts and obligations, or financial barriers,” she says. “There can be something lovely about the raw
and casual nature of livestreams,” Rayannah states. “They can be vulnerable and touching, and show us a different side of the artists we know and love. They can also create a sense of community among the people watching, and that’s a precious thing especially now.” And Rayannah is right. The sense of togetherness that we all crave can be felt by creating a space for a community to occupy. Isolation can be hard on many, and local groovy musician and songwriter Jeremy Haywood (known commonly as Jaywood) offers some great tips for artists nurturing creativity in isolation. “I’d say you just got to know when to give yourself breaks to let your imagination play,” he says. “Rather than working on something brand new, go back and work on some smaller ideas. Do some covers and give yourself a win when recording and writing, it’ll help gas you up!” Jaywood also recommends making other creative output, like music videos, interviews, podcasts,
etcetera. He says that this is a good time to share yourself with people, to show them who you are. “It’s been so great to see some artists not even skip a beat!” Jaywood admits to having a few troubles with livestreaming, but he’s glad that it’s formed a way for people to interact during this time and experience music. “I wish there was a way you could see the people you’re performing to, that way you can kind of get that in-the-same-room feeling,” he says. “All in all, I think (livestreaming) is great, I look forward to the next innovative ways of staying in touch.” Rayannah says that more and more people are moving toward pre-recorded performances. “It creates a better work environment for us as performers – we don’t have to worry about the feed glitching or cutting out while we play – and dramatically increases both the video and audio
quality of what we’re putting out,” she says. She also says that it’s entirely fair for musicians and artists to take a break from trying to market themselves and their music. “If people are finding ways to work online that feel good and resonate with them, that’s great!” she says. “However, I think it’s also okay to focus inwards, to deal with the tasks that have been on the backburner, rest and take in what has happened.” Rayannah says that she’s trying not to set expectations for the future, and instead trying to focus on the things she can do now. “Whatever shape live music takes moving forward, I know that the work I’m currently doing will put me in a better place to make things work down the line.” Jaywood predicts that the concept of socialdistancing, isolation, and situations around the world are going to be the birth of a lot of new music
from both established and non-established artists, “which means that when things finally get going again it might feel a little more ‘competitive’ but the best thing we can all do is just support one another and not get caught up in the hustle of it all,” he says. “Me personally, I’m kind of stoked to not be performing right now! This has given me som time to focus on some other creative projects I’ve been really wanting to do and haven’t really had time for. I hope that creative folks use this time to get organized, maybe make some vague plans and ideas but ultimately just chill out. No one is upping anyone right now, we’re all in this situation together, so we’ve got to support one another and be cool, be respectful, and be human beings to one another.”
of place. Luckily for us, Nadlersmith is able to put all this ubiquity to good work, translating his surroundings into honest and sharp-eyed songwriting. After years of squirreling material, the newly released EP Mountain View plays like an audio companion to Nadlersmith’s sojourns into city, small town, and rustic milieus.Touted as indie pop, indie rock, or alternative country, Mountain View does not disappoint in its diversity of upbeat, slow, loud, and soft tunes. Tracks range from the catchy, pop-leaning, beer-revelling anthem “What Did You Do” to the gentle, lo-fi lull “Wilderness Treasure”, all of which are anchored by Nadlersmith’s deep, warm vocals and often balanced by Jensen Fridfinnson’s light and airy ones. Yes, the tracks are catchy, but the defining highlight of Mountain View is Nadlersmith’s demonstrable skill in songwriting through his grasp of subtle language. Uncomplicated lyrics capture the minute moments of life without ignoring the complexities which they adhere to. The five tracks are gracefully coherent, bound with striking sets of binaries: past and present, a religious childhood and jaded adulthood, city and nature, the intimate and the trivial. These contrasts can be measured across the EP and between songs, such as the carefree “What Did You Do” compared to the tender “Pine Grove”. Binaries, however, can also be found threaded through each song. In all its alliterated tongue-in-cheek glory, “Jesus Cocaine Ketamine Christ” is an undeniably crafty collision between nostalgia and sardonic humour: “Church basement casserole / more holy than that Bible / and that’s what I learned / in Sunday School”. The writing is authentic and vulnerable, and is
consonant with the instrumentals in each song. In the loudest track, “Mountain View”, heavy guitar and bass help expose the struggle in being caught between religion and non-belief, small town and big city: “And I’ve been sitting here on my own / talking shit about the town from which I’ve grown / and I miss church and I miss God / and I miss the place where I belong”. Meanwhile, softer songs such as “Pine Grove”, “Wilderness Treasure”, and even “Jesus Cocaine Ketamine Christ” have a vintage, lo-fi sound quality to them, mirrored by lyrics that are nostalgic, and longing for a person, place, or time. In fact, you cannot finish this album without feeling the nostalgia that Nadlersmith intended, for which he and the rest of Amos the Kid should be commended. With seasoned Winnipeg musicians Adam Fuhr, Jordan Cayer, and Brian Gluck also contributing their talent in the instrumentals department, Amos the Kid cultivates a mellow sound that remains consistent despite varying degrees of tempo between songs. Nadlersmith renders to listeners the flashes of humanity that lurk somewhere between maturity and immaturity, reflection and debauchery, concrete and forest, with the effortless humour that one might expect of a tree planter. Living in post-winter X COVID, I think now, more than ever, we are pining for our special place, whether it is a memory or a dream of what’s to come: summer at a lake, the woods, camping, music festivals, or even just a Faxe and bicycle debacle on a nice summer evening. Rest assured, listening to Mountain View will let you live out all your nostalgia in the sunniest of ways. Margaret Banka
Local Spotlight
The Kids are (more than) alright AMOS THE KID MOUNTAIN VIEW I’ve had an uncanny streak of running into Amos Nadlersmith, namesake of Amos the Kid, in unexpected places, at unexpected times: karaoke at the Sherb (where the median age is fifty); in the Village streets on a late Monday night; during the cold, early morning hours of Harvest Moon, passing around a bag of Old Dutch chips in a tent crammed with five people; emerging from the inevitable cloud of fog after a Smoky Tiger set at Rainbow Trout (okay, that one might have been a hallucination). Wherever it seems to be, Nadlersmith’s familiar presence and easy-going personality ensure that he is never out WESTMNSTR LOVE MUSIC & MEMORIES WESTMNSTRs new EP Love Music & Memories features three songs that declare what being misfits feels like, and it pulls you in with relatable lyrics. WESTMNSTR is four best friends jamming out with some bedroom rock. ‘Anxiety’ features throaty vocals that create a sense
of unease, but there is also a sense of comfort within the lyrics : “No one can take your place/ You gotta take up space/ You’re enough, you’re enough, you’re enough”. This could be an anthem during the summer, when misfits are joined for a house party and need some anger and love to push them through the night. The lyrics contrast nicely with the snare and it provides a sense of longing for the ‘90s
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when things were simpler. This song is also slightly autobiographical, says lead singer Myles Erickson, especially since Winnipeg isn’t all that welcoming at times. ‘Someone to Talk’ to is an ode to someone who makes people feel good, it’s a longing for connection. WESTMNSTR is great at providing a sense of camaraderie when you’re lonely and need to connect with
people who feel the same way as you do: lonely, angsty, and confused. The contrast between the lead guitar, the drums, and the vocals create a song that is ideal for jamming along during a late night drive with friends. The guitar solo mixed with the lyrics “Apparently I need someone to talk to/ If I try to yell I can’t hear myself anymore/ I’m just trying to find someone to talk to” pulls at your heart strings and is easily
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relatable because there’s always been that time where you just need someone to relate to and feel a strong connection with. ‘Love Music & Memories’ is a dreamy song about how time takes things away from us except for things that matter the most. The guitar solo is epic and the rough vocals create a lustworthy number. This EP is ideal for a summer filled with creating memories and breaking rules. Ty Ballingall
that I’m gone/ And you’re still stuck inside my head with all that I’ve done wrong’ demonstrate Inman’s ability to convey a special type of melancholy that somehow feeling reassuring and comforting. The album’s title track similarly rests in a place of hidden emotions and transparency. In moments while Inman pours his self-deprecating lyrics over mournful fingerpicking and eerie violins, it feels as though he is still apprehensive. The beautiful songwriter may still not be showing us the full scope of what kind of emotional ecstasy he is capable of. ‘Gamble on another’s dime/ in the name of lost love and wasted time’ he sings before lamenting ‘The man in the mirror ain’t a friend of mine’. With this album, Inman cements his place as a legend in the Manitoba country music scene. With songs that are rooted so deeply in universal RICHARD INMAN experiences, Faded Love Better Days FADED LOVE BETTER DAYS showcases Inmans ability to transform the mundane into beauty. Miles On Richard Inman’s latest release Tiessen Faded Love Better Days, he uses sincerity, passion, and poetry to transport the audience from passive listeners to an active participant in a rich tale of classic country motifs: love, loss, loneliness, and family. These themes can be dangerous territories to tread. If overused and underdeveloped, they can make for music that is frankly underwhelming. Inman, on the other hand, recognizes the everyday nature of ordinary experiences and translates them into ardent songs that lift beyond the familiar. JAMBOREE Co-produced by Inman and A BEAUTIFUL PLACE Winnipeg staple Micah Erenberg, Faded Love Better Days not only Winnipeg’s own Jamboree (Alex, sounds gorgeous but perfectly blends Nick, and Sky) offer an eleven track traditional country with the alternative melancholy indie album that features taste brought by Erenberg. Faded Love lyrics about isolation, riding the bus, Better Days is partially composed of and Halloween Snowmen, with tight songs from Inman’s previous album guitar playing and a clear love of indie Hasta La Vista, and although we have rock. heard many of these songs before Jamboree begins A Beautiful Place and it would be nice to hear all-new with a title track full of spoken-word material from Inman, the productions reminiscent of early Slint. Layers of brought by Erenberg bring freshness guitars perform a riff that gives off and new vitality that make these tracks the feeling of riding a bus that the title unique and individual. track “A Beautiful Place” depicts. Inman has always paid tribute to “Peeve” sticks out on the tracklist the Texas troubadours of songwriting with lyrics that speak to the alienation and taking influence from some of of simple acts, such as your parents the greatest songwriters of all time locking the door even though they has developed his songs into romantic KNOW you’re coming home. The examinations of the human condition. heartfelt vocal performance brings Influence from the likes of Kris home the message of being broken Kristofferson and Townes van Zandt down, and the impressive wall of guitar is seen all over Faded Love Better gives the feeling of being overwhelmed Days. “Holding You Was Worth with emotion. More” contains some of Inman’s most Each song is brief, leaving the earnest songwriting. Lyrics like ‘On listener wanting a bit more. The vocal a hundred highways trying to leave performances utilize the full range of your smile behind/ Spend a dozen the singer, and vocal harmonies are months or more just untangling my sparingly used but noticeable when mind/ Rolling like a river and hearing present. The guitar playing (The
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highlight of which is the powerful solo on “Timmy”) is prominent in the mix in almost every track, with the exception of “Don’t Give Yourself Away’’ which features floating synth lines and falsetto reminiscent of Beach House. Experimentation with sampling and glitch sounds are used sparingly throughout the album, which add to the experience the album builds. Most prominently on the track “A Very Pure Town”, a gentle interlude that breaks up the track list and “Halloween Snowman”, with a crescendo of screaming “I’m not haunted!” are supplemented by screaming guitars and vocal samples in the background. “The Dust” is an intimate closer with bouncing acoustic guitars that harken back to the opening track, siren sounds, french telephone, a harmonica solo, and other ambient sounds. The passion for music, excellent guitar playing, and tight production show a maturity in the band that makes me excited for future releases. Paul Carruthers
SLOW LEAVES SHELF LIFE Shelf Life, Grant Davidson’s third album under the moniker Slow Leaves, is exactly the album Winnipeg needs under lockdown. Teaming up with a roster of Winnipeg staples like Rusty Matyas, Rejean Ricard, and Damon Mitchell, Davidson has released the perfect album for the solitary mood of newfound home life. The opening track, “Looking Out My Window” (an all too familiar activity under lockdown), begins themes of reflection that continue throughout the rest of the album. The comforting warble of Grant’s voice has an almost natural echo, and a warmth that perfectly complements the sentiment across the rest of the tracks. Each of the songs, in turn, present thoughts, feelings, and situations that invite the listener to identify. Davidson asks difficult questions that require introspection and self-awareness, while also discussing the intricacies of daily living. Statements such as “I need some peace of mind” and “yesterday I found myself thinking of you”, become as meaningful as they are universal, especially when we are given time to
reflect. Sonically, the album has a very dreamy feel, and Davidson highlights this by introducing motifs of dream and memory, and the intersection of these two familiar states. In a time when much of life has changed, Slow Leaves has produced an album that provides comfort while also asking us to reflect on the past, on ourselves, and possibilities for the future. Shelf Life provides a uniquely powerful compliment for the uncertainty of the present. Mark Teague
HELLE HELLE “Recorded on an Iphone 7 in a bedroom in Southern Winnipeg”, helle delivers a brief, and beautiful offering to the local indie rock scene. The mysterious helle accomplishes something beautiful with very little. The vocal performance and tone of song writing on each track is reminiscent of acts like Jessica Pratt and Lana Del Rey. The emotion conveyed in her lyrics and performance are melancholic, and when helle reaches into her upper register, the power of her voice resonates in my chest and stirs emotion in me. The only instrument used in the recording is guitar, and is used simply to highlight and provide a landscape for helle to perform over. Highlights of the 6 track project include “Kaleidoscope,” and “Idiot.” Paul Carruthers
Ulteriors LITTLE KID TRANSFIGURATION HIGHWAY Toronto’s Little Kid is back with Transfiguration Highway after releasing Might As Well With My Soul back in 2018. This is the band’s fourth album and first release on Brooklyn’s Solitaire Recordings. On Transfiguration Highway, the instrumentation is simple but very thoughtful and in detail. There is nothing sparse from the hushed vocal harmonies to the full band arrangements. Everything on this album comes together and compliments itself. A perfect example of this is “Thief of the Cross” which happens to be the first single released from the album. The song starts with an almost drone like chord progression, but it’s backed together with a shimmery plucked banjo that carries throughout the song. Then the chorus comes howling in with everything happening at once which makes a catchy hook. Even the quieter moments on the album still have a big impact like on ‘’Candles out”. The song is just vocals and piano, and it is the shortest song. The piano has a blissful tone and a peaceful melody. In the background of the song you can hear flickering notes that make their way in through the quiet ending. The lyrics on the album are a mix of religious references and real-life situations.“It really is amazing I don’t know how you do it, never much for playing but you always had a way with losing”. This is from the song “Losing” — it shows the frustration of loss even knowing that it could happen. Throughout the eleven tracks, this album describes the feeling of going down a road that starts with a feeling of loss and uncertainty to seeing growth and understanding changes. This album has a way of portraying those feelings well. Isiah Schellenberg EAR NOSE AND THROAT 6 FEET Synopsis: “Fucking Unbelievable!” I saw them at the Broken Toilet House on March 9th. They don’t play much because they destroy or play their instruments to death each time. They do this since their van gets broken into all the time anyways. Makes for every song may be their last ethos of playing. I bought a CD for $ 6.00. It came with a McDonalds coffee sticker. The note on the back stated that 1 out of 4 copies is intentionally a blank CD. Explains the bargain price. I was lucky, my copy had a recording. The
shiver me timbers of ASMR response when that organ and drum duet hit. A kick drum played like a kettle drum? My favorite band/recording. David Tymoshchuk
strong emotions and song writing that encourage the listener to emphasize and relate. A must listen for fans of the synth pop and chamber pop genres. Paul Carruthers
hopefully, self-acceptance). Niemi reveals that this doesn’t just happen once, but it’s a choice we keep making: to be “breakable but strong like glass.” Zoe McCrea REALiTY GROUP MUSIC FOR FOOLS VOL. 1
Half Waif The Caretaker Half Waif ’s synth pop/chamber pop fusion album The Caretaker has some hits and some misses, but is a vulnerable and touching listen. Nandi Rose portrays the character of a caretaker who struggles to take care of even herself. The album’s themes of isolation and meditations on the self are relevant especially to today’s listener. The entire album was written from Rose’s home, and in some tracks you can hear bugs chirping in the background or sounds of a train. Sonically, the album consists of a limited array of sounds; most songs consist of only piano, drums, and a synthesizer. Although these sounds are well used and well performed throughout the album, the lack of variation can make the album drag on, even though it runs less than 40 minutes. Highlights of the track list include “Siren”, which features powerful lyrics describing falling in love with someone as “taking on the burn”, taking on someone else’s pain and bearing. The most powerful track “ordinary talk”, begins with a cry for self isolation and independence “Baby don’t worry about me/I don’t worry about you.” Backed by a relentless drum beat, Rose is confident. But half-way through, the drums cut out and we’re revealed that this strength is but a fantasy, in reality she’s crying in her coffee and sitting in the dark. As the song builds up once again, drums work back in and the vocals layer into a sonic temple which she builds to secure her solitude. This is Half Waif at her best. Songs like “Brace” and “Generation” seem lackluster and could be classified as filler compared to some of the stronger tracks. Although somewhat inconsistent and limited, The Caretaker reflects
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Eliza Niemi Glass The contrast of Eliza Niemi’s gentle voice in Mauno always intrigued me. Niemi brought a soothing relief to the unexpected, sometimes chaotic nature of their songs. It’s not an overstatement to say I was slightly heartbroken when Mauno ended, so I was excited to discover I could hear more from her. The EP Glass brought me the same scattered yet intentional feeling of Mauno’s songs, but this time with a bit of subtlety. Right from the beginning you find yourself invested in Niemi’s self-reflective journey. It starts slow with the first track “R1” but each song builds from the last. The instrumentation is soft, almost secondary, but it sticks out when it counts. From the bubbly pop guitar strums to the perfect timing of the weighty cello, every dip and pause brings the lines of Niemi’s writing to life. Reflecting on a relationship, Niemi explores how that intimacy has shaped her, but also how she shaped it. This theme carries through the whole EP; the feeling of sorting yourself out, connecting the dots of your identity to a place or a person or a time. Niemi comes to realizations about herself and then contradicts them just as quickly. The final line of the last song “Big Fun Party” articulates that feeling perfectly: “The worst part of it all is how I thought you taught me beauty or how I’m pretending I don’t still think you did it truly Because I’m just like you, in a way I need to say to stay same: you broke your brain, but I broke my heart just the same.” Right away these songs felt so familiar. With every listen a new line stuck out, or a different modest pop melody lingered in my head. The quick 10 minutes of Glass present a snapshot of how it feels to stumble down the path of self-discovery (and
After years of demos and high energy performances, REALiTY GROUP now releases into the wild a pure animalistic album, Music For Fools Vol. 1. Containing a certain level of abrasiveness that will bring your blood to a boil and enough animation to demand attention. This album will bring you into a familiar, yet contemporary form of punk. Sonically bringing the listener back to the late ‘80s with strong punk and new wave styles, REALiTY Group effortlessly builds an effigy to the mischievous classics, Butthole Surfers, all the while sounding uniquely themselves. REALiTY GROUP steps through genres and blends aspects of psychedelic, metal, and even the odd classic rock riff to tear down traditional interpretation, leaving it hard to place in the conventional punk arena. The spectral nature of Music For Fools Vol. 1 creates for some of the most freeing music in recent memory. The production of the album goes into helping elevate the record, whether it be bright cymbal crashes from the drums or a compelling pitch shift for the vocals, the creativity found on Music For Fools Vol. 1 is seemingly inexhaustible. The riffs on tracks like “AEG MAHA” (which display the Surfers’ influence; see “Sweet Loaf ”) will leave welcomed earworms and the goofy nature of “WHEELS” keeps the album from getting bogged down in an austere manner or grandeur selfimportance often found in the genre. On the album’s finale, “BEE TRACK”, the group utilizes a drum machine, minimalist bass lines and skin searing guitars to create a framework on which to insert a robotic voice that educates the listener on the disastrous fall of the bee population, upon which neo-liberal corporations market beedrones to take the place of the living insects. In times when quarantine ushers society indoors and frustration becomes a daily part of life, Music For Fools Vol. 1 steers away from the nihilism so often felt these days and brings a level of effervescence that is so desperately needed. Here’s to more on Volume 2. Miles Tiessen
June / July 2020 Stylus Magazine
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