Stylus Magazine Feb/Mar 2024

Production Team

Editor

Assistant

ca

Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Campbell design@stylusmagazine ca

Cover Art Tamiko Chase Kavanagh

Advertising Contact . . . . . . . Rob Schmidt manager@ckuw ca

Print by JRS Print Services 204-232-3558

Contributors

Mykhailo Vil’yamson

Steph Kolodka

Michael Duboff

Stiff Wiggle

maggie astrid clark

Daniel Kussy

Paige Drobot

Nischal Karki

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

Bulman

ca

Blah Blah Blah

*** Neighbour Andy, the Haileys on Feb . 14 at the Handsome Daughter *** Love you to Death Feb . 14 at the Park Theatre *** Warming on Mar . 16 at the Handsome Daughter *** The Land League on Feb . 17 at Times Change(d) *** Sean Burns and the Lost Country on Feb . 22 at Times Change(d) *** Howtoboilwater,

Guilty Sleep, Leon’s Getting Larger on Feb . 24 at the Handsome Daughter *** Songwriters Circle Featuring JD Edwards, Mark Reeves, Jamie Buckboro on Feb . 28 at the Park Theatre *** Slow Leaves on Mar . 1 at the WECC *** Bad Thursday with the Perptrators on March 28 at the Park Theatre

Five New Year’s Resolutions From Your Local Entertainment Lawyers

BY MICHAEL DUBOFF, AN ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER AT EDWARDS CREATIVE LAW –CANADA’S ENTERTAINMENT LAW BOUTIQUE™

Happy new year to all! As we ease into 2024 (yes, I know it’s already late January…) we have come up with a few potential New Year’s resolutions for our creatives out there! These fundamental considerations are for creatives of all types to keep in mind when working with others – whether it is a longtime partner, a new collaborator, or someone engaging you for a job.

Number 1: Don’t Rush

Starting a new project is always an exciting time. However, it is important to take time to make sure that the project, and individuals you will be working with, are the right fit. It’s easy to rush into things when excitement abounds. However, putting the time in upfront can avoid trouble down the road. It may be much more difficult (and expensive) to resolve a dispute that arises 10 months into a project – after everyone has already put in a bunch of time, effort, and money – than if that issue had been identified and dealt with at the outset because the parties had taken more time to consider their agreement. It may be a red flag if a prospective partner is putting pressure on you to sign agreements before you have had the opportunity to thoroughly review them.

Number 2: Know Your Partners

As part of your due diligence before making any commitments, you should spend time getting to know your partners. Have conversations with them. Discuss each of your expectations of the project and of each other. Complete independent research. Look up the individuals or organizations online to see if they have credits or a virtual footprint. For example, if the partner is selling themself based on prior work and successes, this can often be found online. In addition, speak to mutual acquaintances for their thoughts. You never know how long you may be tied to a partner, and therefore, you want to make sure they are the right fit.

Number 3: Discuss Key Terms

Once you are confident in who you are working with, make sure to have conversations with them about the project. Key terms and expectations should be discussed at an early stage. What are the obligations or services that each party needs to perform? Are there deliverables, and if so, what are the details? Is anyone contributing finances? Who is entitled to receive compensation and/or revenue from the project? What does ownership of the project look like?

Number 4: Agree on Terms

A direct follow-up to the previous point is to make sure there is agreement on the key (essential) terms

*** Close Talker on May 1 at the Handsome Daughter ***

*** Festival du Voyageur Feb . 1625, 2024 *** Blues Winter Fest Feb . 23-24 at Times Changed ***

Have a show you want to see in this section? Email editor@ stylusmagazine .ca

of the relationship. Some key terms are identified in the previous paragraph. Recording the agreed terms in some form is important. While a long-form agreement is not required, a recording that sets out the agreed-upon terms as well as both parties’ agreement of those terms is important in creating an enforceable contract. The parties’ agreement can be shown through signature or a clear communication (such as, an email) wherein each party writes that they agree to the terms.

Number 5: Work with an Entertainment Lawyer

If you have any questions, issues or need assistance with the topics discussed in this blog (or other entertainment legal topics), know that there are entertainment lawyers to whom you can always turn. Our job is to advocate for you in legal matters relating to the entertainment industry. This may be to discuss legal considerations relating to your work, draft, and review agreements, evaluate legal risks and discuss how to minimize or avoid them, and many other types of legal services.

Conclusion

This blog identifies a few fundamental legal considerations for creatives to keep in mind as we enter the new year. Remember to take your time, make sure the opportunity is the right one for you, and make sure that the key terms to the relationship are discussed and agreed upon. If at any time you have questions and are uncertain how to proceed, we encourage you to reach out to an entertainment lawyer for assistance.

Top Albums of 2023

January 1 - December 31, 2023

Artist Album

Boy Golden For Jimmy

Begonia Powder Blue

Slow Leaves Meantime

Paige Drobot The Psychics Album

Tunic Wrong Dream

Zoon Bekka Ma’lingan

Field Guide Field Guide

The Thrashers The Thrashers

Tinge Big Deep Sigh EP

Vivat Virtute June First

Mahogany Frog Faust

The Bros. Landreth Come Morning

William Prince Stand in the Joy

Bloc Parents Bloc Parents EP

Mulligrub Tragical

Scott Nolan The Suburb Beautiful

Apollo Suns Departures

Sean Burns & Lost Country Lost Country

Fontine Yarrow Lover

JohNNy SiZZle I Cannot Forgive You

The Famous Sandhogs The Song Poem Store Vol 24

Campfire Sigh Mother Brown & Other Assorted Chestnuts

Death Cassette Get Rid of It

Aaron Shorr Omand’s Creek

Kris Ulrich Big in the USA

S�r�e�K�l�i�z G�n�r�t�o� Local Hip Hop

QUADRAFUNK Electric Dance Party

Hip Hop

Hip Hop 50

Hip-Hop RED BOX

WE BUILD HITS

Star Road Junction Progressive Rock

Eclectic Residents

GLOBAL RESEARCH NEWS HOUR

THE IVORY TOWER Eclectic Mix

THE ELECTRIC CHAIR TEMPLE TENT REVIVAL

Roots Mu sic

SUNNY R OAD

MUD PUDDLE RADIO For Kids (Adults too)

Green Planet Monitor

THE SATURDAY MORNING SHOW

The Best of 2023

Stylus Contributors name their best of 2023!

Mykhailo Vil’yamson

As for favourite tunes, I’ve chosen one track from each of my reviews this past year.

“Helm” - The Famous Sandhogs

“Armed to the Teeth” - Tinge

“Fall to Pieces” - Cookie Delicious

“Care” - Zoon

“Spiff” - Mulligrub

“Guillotine Dreams” - Super Duty Tough Work

“Zubov” - Tired Cossack

“Solstice” - Death Cassette

“Alright” - Paige Drobot

maggie

As for my favourite songs of 2023, I would submit the following:

“Bull Believer” - Wednesday

“Halloween Store” - Andy Shauf

“I KNOW HIS BLOOD CAN MAKE ME WHOLE” - Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter

“Mosquito” - Model/Actriz

“Babylon by Bus” - billy woods & Kenny Segal

“Peach Fuzz” - Mandy, Indiana

“Grammy Season” - Ingrid Laubrock

“Purified by the Fire” - Yves Tumor

“I Cannot” - KEN mode

“Punishment Enough” - Tunic

“Stony Mountain Unit 6” - Vivat Virtute

“Royal Bank of Canada” - Vivat Virtute

As you can tell, I have a hard time narrowing these things down!

Daniel Kussy

Albums

1. Boygenius - the record

2. Nabihah Iqbal - DREAMER

3. Shame - Food For Worms

4. Sister Ray - Teeth EP

5. Black Country, New Road - Live @ Bush Hall

6. Water From Your Eyes - Everyone’s Crushed

7. Rozi Plain - Prize

8. Fucked Up - One Day

9. Wednesday - Rat Saw God

10. Home Front - Games of Power

11. Leith Ross - To Learn

12. Dizzy - S/T

13. KEN mode - VOID

14. Temple of Angels - Endless Pursuit

15. Cat Clyde - Down Rounder

16. Jesus Piece - …So Unknown

17. Tunic - Wrong Dream

18. Model/Actriz - Dogsbody

19. Single Mothers - Roy

20. Products - Some Sudden Weather Songs

1.“No SZNS” - Jean Dawson ft SZA

2.“Mountain Road” - Boy Golden

3.“Live That Way Forever” - Richard Reed Parry

4.“We’re in Love” - Boygenius

5.“Pressing Down” - Sister Ray

6.“Empty Husk” - Tunic

7.“Lost” - Linkin Park

8.“I think I Might Be Weird” - Fucked Up

9.“This World Couldn’t See Us” - Iqbal Nabihah

10.“Barley” - Water From Your Eyes

Paige Drobot

Some of my favourite local tunes of 2023 were:

1.“Fall Time” - Campfire Sigh

2.“Mood Swings” - Super Duty Tough Work

3.“See You Never” - MOSA Myles Tiessen

Top five albums:

1. Zoon - Bekka Ma’iingan

2. Wednesday - Rat Saw God

3. Spider Bite - The Rainbow and the Dove

4. Amos the Kid - Enough As It Was

5. Jess Williamson - Time Ain’t Accidental

WORDS & PHOTOS BY STEPH KOLODKA

Disclaimer: For transparency’s sake – I know and love members of the band in the below-mentioned show at the Good Will on Dec 16/2023. All opinions expressed in this article are my own and contain potential bias.

On a mild mid-December day at the iconic Good Will Social Club, the local Winnipeg band Veneer played their tape release show for their album Drifting. Veneer is a female-led band that formed in 2017. It is led by Talula Schlegel on guitar and vocals, Sam Sarty on bass and vocals, and Claire Boning on drums and vocals. It was a late-to-start show, with Synthetic Friend opening for Veneer at 9:30 p.m. The energy at the venue that night at a seemingly sold-out show was palpable. Perhaps the knowledge of the impending closure of the Good Will elevated the mood for the night, but regardless of reason, the club was jampacked, and the vibe was brimming with positivity and excitement.

This was one of the last shows before the Good Will Social Club shuttered

its doors in early 2024 – a truly iconic venue that hosted many a show in Winnipeg’s flourishing music scene. They played their album release almost entirely from front to back, with Mira Kolodka playing supplemental guitar for songs “My Best,” “Small,” “Look,” “Back of Your Head,” and “Ingredients.” The album was released in the form of a tape, with colourful artwork done by Cato Cormier embellishing the front.

The venue was hopping – the crowd vocal and nostalgic for the venue that so many had attended for so many years. Under the flashing and colourful light show that bathed Veneer for the duration of their set, the crowd’s excitement and energy could be physically observed.

Veneer highlighted the B-side of their tape with tracks by their alter ego “Cavity.” It is a very fitting and clever name for their more grungy tracks that differ from the upbeat indie tunes that are on the A-side of their tape. The variation between the two sides of the tape was obvious and added an extra

flair to the set.

Veneer overall played a wonderful and energetic set that engaged the whole audience, which was obvious by the smiles and cheers all around. It was, for me at least, a show at the end of the Good Will’s career and an album release that I will personally never forget, and I can imagine others in the crowd that night felt the same.

Show Review: Veneer

December

16, 2023

Pictured above from left to right: Mira Kolodka on supplemental guitar, Talula Schlegel on guitar, Claire Boning on percussion, and Sam Sarty on bass.

Neighbour Andy / Big Loser / DJ Hayden Mekai at the Good Will, Dec 26

WORDS & PHOTO: STIFF WIGGLE

Any Christmas cheer I conjured this year had long since dissipated by Boxing Day. However, as I found myself standing shoulder to shoulder with a sold-out crowd at the Good Will, eager to enjoy an eggnoggy evening of rootsy rock with Neighbour Andy, there was no room for holiday humbugging.

When I chanced upon it earlier this autumn, I was walloped by the puppydog guilelessness of their debut fulllength, Wild One

Within half a verse, I found myself dazzled by Drake Lesperance’s tuneful bray. Lesperance has that type of voice that could elevate merely competent material to something transcendent.

Fortunately, Neighbour Andy are better than merely competent. Their formula is a winner: Euphonious, chiming indie rock, shot through with a volley of familiar heartland riffage and greased with a slickness that lends a fresh feel to their traditional songcraft.

The band strode out in Santa garb that must have been stifling under the stage lights and kicked off with a competent cover of Chuck Berry’s classic “Run Rudolph Run,” immediately establishing a holiday mood. Among a mix of tracks from their EP and album, an unlikely cover of Her’s “What Once Was” showcased their stylistic gamut.

where nothing is quite as it seems” can feel hollow. However, watching dozens of fans sing along with these stock choruses, I gained a peculiar appreciation of the way these easy words can lodge in the mind. Ironically, everyone seemed to remember the words but Lesperance himself. There’s lots to like about this warm and inviting band already, but truly, this is going to be an exciting group to follow

with precise three-part harmonies laced with tasteful inflections of synth.

People were moving early thanks to DJ Hayden Mekai’s accessible mix of disco-flavoured bops, and then again between the two bands, this time with a more idiosyncratic blend. The occasional loose transition only served to highlight that there are still DJs out there proudly doing things the old-fashioned way, matching beats by

We critics love to lament the use of cliché. On paper, lyrics such as “pinch me, baby, ‘cause I’m lost in a dream

will surely leave them with something soul-stirring and sincere to sing.

Before Neighbor Andy took the stage, Big Loser got the crowd hungry for inspired, melodic rock. At their best, they recalled the sweeter sounds of ‘80s and ‘90s college and indie rock, glazed with a winning freshness that belied their deprecating moniker. They immediately charmed the audience

might be the last show I get to see at the Good Will. While it will be dearly missed by many (and plangently eulogized, no doubt), Winnipeg has enough caring, creative people for the Good Will’s demise to have a fateful impact on our city’s scene.

BACKGROUND

ILLUSTRATIONS

BY TAMIKO CHASE KAVANAGH

THE DORK REPORT: dr. rift

PAIGE DROBOT

Stylus Magazine interviewed Kyle Halldorson, the artist and producer behind Winnipeg’s Dr. Rift, about the instruments and inspiration he uses to create music.

Stylus: I hope everyone is ready for a nerdy conversation between guitarists . Let’s get right into it! What was your first guitar, and when did you start playing? What were you listening to then?

Kyle: A Squire (by Fender) Strat was my first guitar, gifted by my parents. It must have been in grade … 7 that I received that.

I actually started playing around with my Dad’s guitar at age 11.

What did I listen to?? Hmmm … a mish-mash of Finger Eleven, Pearl Jam, I Mother Earth, Soundgarden, Chumbawumba, Big Shiny, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Nine Inch Nails, Big Shiny Tunes 1 & 2. That “Now” compilation … can’t remember what volume. The one with Bitch by Meredith Brooks hah.

S: I also did the years of playing around on Dad’s guitar before getting my own!

Ooo, the soundtrack of our time . What a time to grow up, eh? Seeing the last rock bands on TV . Singing incomprehensibly like we came full circle back to “Papa Oom Mow Mow .”

I know you have a very sentimental guitar in your collection; can you

tell me more about that?

K: Well, the fact that I still have that first Squire is pretty sentimental. But at this point, a black Fender Strat, which was my father’s, is the most sentimental.

He passed on February 7th, 2022. Since he was also the reason I started playing guitar, playing it feels very becoming. That, and it plays beautifully.

S: If my first guitar had been a Squier Strat, I probably wouldn’t sell . … . My Dad had a thing for Washburn (!?), so my first guitars are essentially worthless Your Dad wins the Cool Dad award today I’m so glad for you that you can play his guitar and feel some connection to him whenever you want!

What about amps? Do you prefer a tube amp or a solid state? What are you using now?

K: I’m just barely coming into knowing what gear I prefer or what works best. I was rolling with a Traynor tube head/stack forever until recently when I also inherited my Dad’s vintage Music Man solid state. Upon a quick search, it also has power tubes.

I’ve been using that for recording my albums and playing live (for both dr.rift and Dizzy Mystics), and for me, it’s the best tone and clarity I’ve played with.

S: OOO, those are both nice Those old Music Man amps

get the Fender cleans! Traynor stack is a beast .

dr .rift has been recording an album?! I know that this is music that you did extensive pre-production for, with really detailed demos, with you on most of the parts . How has the transition from the collaborative writing of Dizzy Mystics to the “I’m in charge era” been going so far?

K: Well, the first Dizzy Mystics album started out the same way. I was alone or “in charge” before I knew who would be in the band. Now that Dizzy Mystics is working on album two as a collaborative unit, it’s nice to have the start of dr.rift acts as my outlet to let my own ideas layer up naturally without worrying about writing parts for other people. My friend Edward Oakes (who drums on the dr.rift album) also wrote some beats without songs attached, in

song out of me.

Not to say dr.rift will forever be just me writing absolutely everything in the future. It would be nice to write the primary core of the song and have others write their respective instruments if I’m stuck on writing for such instruments. Collaboration is beautiful.

S: Oh! I didn’t know that! I thought you had always been a unit!

Oh, definitely . It is so good to have an outlet to let loose . That is interesting, to be honest; so many other kinds of music are written with drum beats outwards, so why not? That is one of those “the best ideas are right in front of your nose . I’m inspired by that .

The riff that I will include in this issue is the lead that comes in after the beautiful finger-picked intro of your song “From My Hands .” This is such a familiar and time-tested structure for progressive rock, right out of the Yes bible .

When did you write that song?

When did you write your FIRST song ever?

K: I’d love to dig into what you mean by this further! Since my head was so in the moment of creating this, I couldn’t really tell what type of structures I was working with or if they were familiar. I love hearing unbiased and musically knowledgeable thoughts on what I write! I do know that there is an approachable and “semi-standard” feel to From My Hands/Fleeting. Also, I adore early Yes (the Yes Album through to Going for the One especially). Major, major inspiration.

I wrote that song in 2021 and perfected parts later in 2022. It all came to me very quickly.

My first song(s) ever, more just sections of songs, came as early as grade school in childhood. The first song I wrote and was proud enough to share was probably in grade 10ish.

S: I don’t mean like, “I’m calling

you out for ripping off early, YES !” I mean, YES… . The acoustic guitar goes all intricate and soft for a minute (or ten), and then boom, the bass comes in with a massive riff . Those ’60s and ’70s prog bands were being really dorky about things, though, borrowing from European “classical” compositional practices … if you want to get into it … crickets …

Do you utilize non-standard tuning? There are moments in your acoustic guitar playing reminiscent of Joni Mitchell’s freaky tunings . Whenever I hear people doing that, I imagine all the time spent sitting , messing around and living that tuning . When my instrument is tuned differently, it feels like a different instrument, one that I don’t have an intimate relationship with yet .

K: Actually … I’ve really just been writing and playing in E standard and drop D. Other than that, just random capo placements, which does bring new writing inspiration.

Dizzy Mystics covering Soundgarden many times brought in many wacky tunings to play with, but from that, I really only wrote something in E standard with the low E dropped to B (Rusty Cage tuning).

I look forward to dabbling in much more unorthodox tunings, especially in reading how Joni Mitchell continually finds inspiring new ideas. I get those same feelings from playing around and writing on my Mandolin.

S: If you had unlimited money and power, and there was peace on earth, what gear would you buy? Absolute dream rig?

K: I would spend all day, stress-free, playing different guitars through different amps/pedals to be able to answer that, and then I would splurge. I used to want an Orange amp only because it seemed to be trendy with my interests. The Mars Volta, The Fall of Troy, and High On Fire use them, so they seem to push clarity through clean and heavy tones. If there are colourful leads and weird chords ringing through loud and clear, then that’s where I’m looking gear-wise.

S: Follow your heart, eh? Very rational answer!

I think the trick to pushing through with anything is just leaving some headroom and not being afraid to crank it when it’s your turn to get on top of the mix. I also find the size of the band is proportionate to the amount you need to crank it.

CKU Who? CIRCLE ONE Sundays 8-9 PM

KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK

Circle One is Punk Radio that broadcasts on CKUW 95.9FM on Sunday Nights from 8 - 9 p.m.

Stylus: How did the radio show start?

Olivia: I was hosting, or I had been hosting The Tonic with Melody Titus, Mike Furnish and Sam Doucette for a few years, and then obviously, with COVID and lockdowns, I took a break from that. Spencer was hosting a show called Brain Drainer Radio with Alex Parrott for about five years or so. We just wanted to try something and get back into the radio shows. It’s a good way to find new music and hang out with your buddies, right? So, I asked Mike, and then we asked Spencer to join.

S: How did you decide on the theme for the show?

O: I don’t know if there’s a theme, it’s just punky music. Sometimes, we have themes for sets or themes for episodes, but it’s mostly just punk stuff. We try to do lots of new stuff. We try to do local stuff, but it’s pretty broad.

Mike: And sometimes some classics. We try to have a bit of stuff for people who are super actively involved and also entry-level stuff for new people getting into it.

S: If I were in a band, I would think it would be really cool to hear myself next to somebody else that everyone knows.

O: My cohosts are involved with many bands, so we try to. I feel like they have some connections. I don’t know, but they’re involved in the scene and know a lot. Aren’t you? Maybe not in bands, but adjacent.

M: Yeah, we all kind of do shows and stuff.

S: How do you balance the show? Is it X percentage this person, or does everyone just kind of like . . . ?

M: It’s chaos. We’re always arguing about who’s playing too long. I think we try to have some kind of balance, but we never talk about what each of us is playing. Sometimes we’re even fighting over things like: “but I’m playing this. You can’t play this,” if something new that’s cool came out.

O: That’s why it brings a fun, chaotic energy to the air.

M: I’ve tried in our group chat many times to ask, like, what are you guys trying to make? I think I’m the one that’s trying to make a theme sometimes, but everyone else is just like they have Spotify. They can just make playlists.

O: Hey! It’s still curating!

S: That’s okay; you’re not the only DJ host that has admitted to using Spotify .

M: We’re always seeking out different

stuff to play, but it’s easier to make a playlist than scour YouTube.

S: Yeah, yeah . Or like both . Yeah, I try to do that .

M: We try to do records whenever we’re in the studio, and Olivia does too. We’re bringing records, but Spencer has lots of records. I don’t know why he never plays records.

O: He’s shy.

M: He’s a loudmouth for this show.

S: Interesting . Okay, so what are some of your favourite records to play on the show?

M: I try to always play different stuff. I like playing new stuff, and I like playing local stuff, especially if there’s a show coming up. We usually do play all the bands that are playing shows.

I don’t really have a favourite. I like trying to play more obscure, weird stuff, but so do they.

O: I usually lean towards more classic music. I like power pop a lot, so I really

like that stuff. It’s kind of cutesier, or wimpy.

S: What’s your favourite part about having a radio show?

O: I kind of quit hobbies and quit life for a little while, so it is nice to have something like a reoccurring sort of thing that isn’t about performing or about making money.

M: It’s also nice for us to get together without just being drunk in a bar or something. You know, without either being at a show or whatever. We actually get to hang out. Sometimes we’ll watch movies after, so it’s a little...

Local Releases

PRAIRIE JOGGERS GOING NOWHERE

What is better than immersing yourself in raw, indie, and emotive vocals?

Yes, the Prairie Joggers bring a fresh vibe to the music scene. Their new EP, Going Nowhere, released on June 9, 2023, is different from what I usually hear. Each of the songs on this album feels like a journey through moods and emotions.

“Move Along,” the album’s first track, introduces you to alternative rock and indie folk. An acoustic guitar riff creates the tone for contemplation and motivates the listener to keep going. With a hint of irony and comedy, the lyrics are inspirational and upbeat. Likewise, “Sweet Tooth”

O: It’s very wholesome. Yeah.

M: The most wholesome part of my life.

O: It’s just a good way to find music that I wouldn’t know about, just because Mike and Spence bring so much to the show.

M: And even just to push ourselves to expand. It’s also nice to have a way to support cool stuff that’s going on and also hopefully get people into cool stuff and play their bands.

Hopefully someone is listening. It is nice too that we have some people who tell us all the time.

S: Some regular listeners?

ventures into the realm of indie-pop genres. With its sing-along chorus and guitar tune, it is really catchy. There are many metaphors in the lyrics that are funny and creative. It’s a perfect jam for hanging out with friends.

Yet, the album takes a surprising turn when you listen to “In the Wake.” The vocalist Cody Goertzen carries a significant weight of emotion. The lyrics explore themes of heartbreak and introspection, creating a sombre atmosphere that contrasts with the previous tracks. The raw vulnerability in Goertzen’s voice adds depth to the song, making it a powerful and emotional listening experience. With this playing in the background, you could picture yourself having deep thoughts.

The Prairie Joggers have created a compilation of songs that not only speak to the listener but also invite them to think about their own personal journey. Each track on Going Nowhere demonstrates the band’s

O: I think CKUW is such a special kind of familiar place, I like being there. It’s like a punk clubhouse. I like it.

ability to capture and transmit honest emotions, leaving an indelible impression on those who listen. So, sit back, close your eyes, and let the music transport you to a world where contemplation and grief coexist. Nischal Karki

VIVAT VIRTUTE HOLD MUSIC and JUNE FIRST

Unless you’re really dialed into the local music scene (although, given that you are currently reading Stylus Magazine, this might be a fair assumption!), it would have been easy to miss a pair of records released last year by Vivat Virtute. You might not know the name, but you definitely know its members – Winnipeg indie rock

mainstays Christine Fellows and J.S. Fellows.

“Hang on,” you might be inclined to interject, “J.S. Fellows? Who’s that?”

I’ll give you a hint: the “J.S.” stands for “John Samson.” The former Weakerthans singer has been conspicuously absent from the music industry for a few years now: their last solo album, Winter Wheat, was released in 2016 and they resurfaced briefly with the 2020 singles “Millennium for All” and “Fantasy Baseball at the End of the World” –the latter of which, I submit, should replace the dreadful, insipid “O Canada” as the song played at the start of every Goldeyes game. According to the author bio of his September 2023 article on prison abolition for Rupert’s Land News, he now teaches creative writing at the Stony Mountain Institution.

John’s apparent retreat from the music biz is hardly surprising. As Keegan Bradford wrote last year for Stereogum, he “famously does

not enjoy touring or press.”

Given my unfamiliarity with John-the-person, I can’t state with any certainty what they do or don’t “enjoy,” but I won’t deny that this tracks with my impression of Johnthe-writer-and-performer. It would certainly explain why the Vivat Virtute records were released only on Bandcamp and received no publicity or press coverage – at least until I decided to scupper that by writing about them for this very magazine!

Hold Music (released February 22, 2023) is a first in the discography of either Christine or John – an album consisting almost entirely of ambient instrumentals. The album is admirably varied in sound and scope. “Rockwood Pickleball League,” for example, is a piece best described as “K.K. Slider cowboy music,” while piano-led compositions like “Dugout Phone” and “Stony Mountain Unit 6” evoke comparisons to Érik Satie or Ryuichi Sakamoto in their plaintive beauty. (Those were the first two pianists I could think of – how’d I do?) Christine Fellows, ever the polymath, is no stranger to the art of the wordless tune: she included several on her studio albums Paper Anniversary and Nevertheless. Her performance at last year’s Cluster Festival – her first since the beginning of the pandemic – was a highlight of my 2023 and was accompanied by a mesmerising collage of her stop-motion animations. You really had to be there and I’m sorry if you weren’t. Boasting aside, Christine’s return to the genre is a treat for the ears.

The second record, June First (released – well, I’ll let

you guess), is a three-song EP performed by John and engineered by Christine. The opener is “Royal Bank of Canada,” a song that I cannot hear without freezing up and crying. Featuring a sparse guitar line and set to the tune of “Eventide” (the usual accompaniment of the Christian hymn “Abide with Me”), it frames RBC’s fossil fuel investments in apocalyptic terms. The Banking on Climate Chaos coalition has recognized RBC as “the worst financier of fossil fuels,” with the bank having issued $41 billion in financing to resource extraction companies in 2022 alone. This reckless pursuit of profit has terrifying consequences for us all. The song reckons with a future in which the company’s headquarters are “emptied by the heat / Fear and starvation rising with the seas / Seeds of disaster sown by RBC.” It is, of course, easy (and fun!) to blame bankers, but the more unsettling implication here is that, as residents of the imperial core, many of us benefit financially from wanton environmental destruction. After all, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a Crown corporation, owns over 2 million shares in RBC. The standard of living that many of us are accustomed to in Canada is paid for, in large part, by the proceeds from such investments. When John sings “Too soon that final audit will begin / Each piece of pipeline multiplies thy sin,” I interpret this as an appeal to every Canadian: this is our responsibility too. Our only hope is to divest from fossil fuels and pray that God forgives us for what we have done to each other and to this earth.

The subject of the next song, “Budget Delegations,” is familiar terrain for John and Christine, a companion piece of sorts to “Millennium for All.” In it, John condemns the priorities of Winnipeg’s municipal government, lamenting that most of our city’s budget is spent on “roads and police, and police and roads.” As a result, we are left with “no room for research, no food or drink, no thinking something new / No time for anyone trying to show us what love can do.” At the time of writing, my thoughts turn to the December 31 shooting death of Afolabi Stephen Opaso, a 19-year-old Nigerian international student studying at the University of Manitoba, by Winnipeg police. (Of course, the phrase used above – “shooting death” – embodies what John identifies in the song as the “press-release framing” preferred by our city’s pigs and their stenographers at the local papers. Perhaps “murder” would be more apt.) Fadi Ennab wrote that, according to Opaso’s friends, “he struggled under the pressure of being far from home and with finding affordable housing, and was working two jobs.” This brutal precarity is hardly a unique story among our country’s international students and temporary foreign workers. Neither is the police violence deployed against the most marginalized people in our communities. The story is a tragic reminder of the human cost of our ruling class’s crusade to defund lifesustaining social supports in favour of yet more policing and yet more money for the road construction lobby.

I wanted to dive into June First’s final track, “All My

Ex-Boyfriends Are You”

– a piece that is simultaneously charming and upsetting, heartbreaking and funny – but I think the listener is best served to go in blind. Despite the heavy subject matter of the EP’s songs, it is something of a relief, in our highly depoliticized climate, to know that the tradition of polemical folk ballads is alive and well. But I wish to close by returning to the final song of Hold Music, and the only one to contain lyrics, “Do Not Worry.” (If you’re wondering why I’m telling the story out of order here, let me assure you that this is on purpose. I wanted this piece to have a more satisfying narrative arc.)

Although the production is a touch too reedy for my taste, the song is a gorgeous meditation on the inevitability of death, the joys of life, and the persistence of the human spirit. I tried fashioning its central lyric (“Today’s trouble is enough for today”) into a selfaffirming mantra during a period of severe depression back in September. A few days later, I was referred to the Crisis Stabilization Unit in the vain hope that spending a few days in the loony bin would cure me of my persistent suicide ideation. (It did not.) The mantra didn’t really work. But I’m still here, so maybe, on some level, it did. I haven’t given into my despair just yet. The reason why can be found in another J.S. Fellows song I mentioned earlier, “Fantasy Baseball at the End of the World”:

“I’m going outside / I’m gonna help organize / Something better, something beautiful.” I invite you all to do the same. maggie astrid clark

Under the Needle

GHOSTWOMAN HINDSIGHT IS 50/50

If it were possible to audio-capture the coldest brooding glare, the album Hindsight is 50/50 is what it would sound like. Thick with weighty bass notes, menacingly minor overtones, and steeped in echoey resonance, this is the third full-length project by Albertan musician Evan Uschenko in less than two years. However, the latest manifestation of Ghost Woman is no longer a solo undertaking, as Belgian drummer Ille van Dessel has joined him. As shared at the end of last year via Dine Alone Records, Uschenko conveyed that this project “finally captures the true nature of the band” – and its tracks. Whereas the past few releases sound like a foray into 1970s reminiscence, Hindsight is 50/50 forges ahead into new sonic territory. At first – when hitting play on “Bonehead” –one may be reminded of something by Death From Above; yet, it quickly becomes clear that something much more sinister is afoot. Whatever was concocted by Uschenko, van Dessel and producer Christophe Chavanon at KRWX – i.e. Kerwax Analog Recording Studio in France, not some American radio

station – could best be described as entrancingly morose. To hear this, one need only listen to the title track (which accurately encapsulates the gloomy soul of Ghost Woman). But don’t skip ahead to the end too quickly because you’ll miss “Alright Alright” (with its opening rhythmic displacement, repetitive spookiness, layered allure and slowing tempo), “Highly Unlikely” (with its tense and uncertain volatility), and “Ottessa” (with van Dessel at the helm of vocals). As for “Along Pt.2,” it’s definitely a call-back to track four from

Ghost Woman’s 2022 selftitled album, but only in name (as this new incarnation is positively cheerless). Then there’s “Yoko” (the most upbeat song on the album that goes completely off-the-railsand-back-again), “Wormfeast” (a captivating instrumental detour), and “Juan” (which really highlights Uschenko’s 12-string electric and the live

dynamic of the band). And it all concludes with “Buik” (a.k.a. belly or stomach), which is seemingly the least sombre song on the album –until one considers the lyrics (that are clearest to hear on this song as compared with all the others).

Hindsight is 50/50 is brilliantly dark, atmospherically addictive, and if these ten songs are any indication of what’s to come next, it’s highly likely that Ghost Woman will visit us again soon with even more content to transfix us. Until then, check out the videos for “Alright Alright,” “Yoko,” and “Juan” (which are all viewable on their Bandcamp site). Mykhailo Vil’yamson

CONCERT SERIES HEAR ALL YEAR

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BURTON CUMMINGS THEATRE

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MARCH 22, 2024

THE PARK THEATRE