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February / March 2022 Stylus Magazine
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2 Stylus Magazine February / March 2022
FEB/MAR 2022VOLNO.331
Production Team Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gil Carroll
editor@stylusmagazine.ca
Assistant Editor . . . Keeley Braunstein-Black
assistanteditor@stylusmagazine.ca
On the Cover ALLAN LORDE is a Winnipeg-based illustrator, admirer of squirrels, and graphic designer. If he’s not cursing himself out for neglecting to jot a drawing idea down right away, you can find him daydreaming about a magical portal from here to Shibuya. Ponder his scribblin’ at www.allanlorde.com
Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Campbell
design@stylusmagazine.ca
Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allan Lorde Advertising Contact . . . . . . . . Rob Schmidt
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Print by JRS Print Services . . . 204-232-3558
Contributors Olivier La Roche
Daniel Kussy
Ryan Haughey
Jesse Popeski
Myles Tiessen
Misha Falk
Michael Duboff
Margaret Banka
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
Table of Contents The Business of Music: Band Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blah Blah Blah: Live Music Happenings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CKUW Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CKUWho: Barking Dog with Juliana Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Local and Ulteriors: Album Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Features BADBADNOTGOOD Live Show Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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February / March 2022 Stylus Magazine
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The Business of Music: Band Agreements MICHAEL DUBOFF, entertainment lawyer at Edwards Creative Law Being a musician is a business. If you’re in a band, one of the most important elements of organizing your business is having an effective band agreement. Without an agreement among the members of your band, whether verbal, written on a napkin (is that still done?), texted, or with a formal drafted agreement (which is the form we would recommend it takes), key issues will need to be negotiated to prevent future problems between members and maximize profitably and efficacy of the band. In Manitoba, the law governing partnerships is the Partnership Act that states if your band isn’t incorporated, it will likely be deemed a partnership. Subject to some exceptions, the Act states that any partner can make binding obligations on behalf of the band, all partners are jointly and severally liable for the band’s obligations, and each partner is entitled to share equally in the capital and profits of the business. If these rules are not to your liking, an agreement among the band members will override these statutory provisions. Preferably, instead of relying on the rigid terms of the Partnership Act, the band will have a meaningful conversation about key issues early on that can be incorporated into a band agreement. For example, how difficult do you think it is to have a discussion about the ground rules of kicking a band member out when you’re not on speaking terms with that person? It’s better to have a process before the jilted
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former member uses their leverage to get more than they would have otherwise received under a reasonable band agreement. The following are some questions your band should consider discussing. General Structure: Is everyone a partner in the band partnership? Should anyone have more control or authority compared to the others? Member Responsibilities: What are each band member’s responsibilities? How much time is expected for rehearsal? Who’s responsible for applying to FACTOR or registering songs? Without a booking agent, who’s responsible to book gigs? What about managing social media accounts? Control / Decision Making: Are decisions relating to the band made by majority, unanimous agreement or otherwise? Does anyone have more votes than anyone else? These decisions may relate to hiring or removing persons (manager, booking agent, lawyer), binding the band in agreements or money and property decisions. Money: What is your structure for profits from different band activities; they don’t need to be distributed equally or the same way. Recording and performance funds may be an even split while publishing and merchandise might not be. Who
decides what expenses are incurred? If money is required for expenses, must everyone contribute equally? What expense-related decisions may the manager make? Band Assets: What property (such as instruments, sets, and equipment) is owned by individuals and what’s owned by the band? Band Name: You might not think it, but often, a band’s biggest asset is its name! Have you ensured no one else is using the name? Have you registered the name under the Business Names Registration Act? Have you registered for trademark protection? If a partnership carries on business under a name other than the names of the partners, there is a legal obligation in Manitoba to register the business name. If not, you could be fined, among other issues. Note: a business name registration does NOT grant exclusive rights to the business name! Does anyone have more control regarding the band name? May the band only use the name if everyone is still performing together? New and Former Members: Who has the authority to add members to the band? How much money, if any, is owed to a former band member? If there’s a one-time payment relating to the net asset value of the band at the departure time, how is that calculated and what’s the payment schedule? If there’s an ongoing commitment, what’s the formula regarding royalties and any other income from recordings made while the former member was a member? How many members does it take to kick someone out? Dissolution: What triggers the partnership’s dissolution? Upon dissolution, what happens to the songs, profits, property, name, and who’s responsible
for administering all of this? The potential of making a lot of money and/ or wanting to add someone or kick someone out may end up killing your band if the awkward conversations about money or membership didn’t happen proactively. Don’t become a band horror story. Instead, have the conversation, focus on the music, and enjoy a successful career. Plan for success, but also plan based on your needs, and draft a band member agreement to help take you to the next level. If you have questions or need help in the drafting, you may want to contact a local entertainment lawyer. Michael can be reached at michael.duboff@edwardslaw.ca
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Shows are sort of maybe kinda coming back***Hopefully these shows can happen***53rd Festival du Voyageur taking place from February 18 to 27 with some live music programming***Dan Mangan with Georgia Harmer at the Park Theatre on Feb 28***Five Alarm Funk at the Park Theatre
on March 5***Godspeed You! Black Emperor at the Park Theatre on March 17***Ron Sexsmith at the WECC on March 25***Celebrate 10 years of Real Love Winnipeg March 24-26 with some epic shows to be announced soon***Tops with Chastity and Veneer at the WECC on March 30***
Concert Review:
BADBADNOTGOOD at the Park Theatre, Dec. 10 2021 OLIVIER LA ROCHE
PHOTO: KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK
Not long after the release of their 6th studio album Talk Memory, Toronto jazz fusion outfit BADBADNOTGOOD embarked on their Talk Memory Audio Visual Tour, stopping at Winnipeg’s own Park Theatre. The newly renovated openconcept theatre proved to be a more than ideal venue for the show, allowing for a large enough crowd all while maintaining a close and personal connection with the audience. The theatre was well packed and bustling with excitement and anticipation when the first light projections hit the screen and the familiar distortion from the album Talk Memory’s opening track rose from the stage. Behind the audience was an older-style projector shooting old-school film onto a blank screen behind the band. This added a spectacular visual component that was much more personal and authentic than regular concert lights can be. As the song “Signal From the Noise” kicked off the show, its early distortion was met by increasingly quick drums and bass, eventually joined by keys and saxophone as the quartet began to fuse together sonically. During this frantic introduction, shots of the band, of trees and of mountains played behind them, creating a calming visual scene that contrasted with the hurried instrumentation. The song soon reached its gorgeous peak, as the audio and visual met in harmony and everything instantly made sense. The band followed their more than 10 minutelong opener with a ridiculously groovy cover of Larry Willis’ “Inner Crisis”, trading solos over a more solid-colour background which let the music take centre stage and gave it more room to breathe. Then came their song “City of Mirrors”, another from the recent record, with a more laidback energy over shots of a city at night. The keys were the engine that kept the tune running, with jaw-dropping runs that filled the role played by Arthur Verocai’s string arrangements on the studio version. Next were two more album tracks, as it became clear that Talk Memory’s songs were central to the show, but not in their exact album order. “Timid, Intimidating” and “Unfolding (Momentum 73)” brought a greater emphasis on the saxophone, with Leland Whitty’s horn soaring over the rest of the band, much to the pleasure of the audience. “Beside
April” then silenced a chatty crowd with its solid bass groove that drove the song towards a glorious build-up and drop that energized the crowd further. We were then treated to the unforgettable “Love Proceeding”, complete with its smooth, buttery sound reminiscent of New York in the 70s, accompanied by shots of kids on their bikes, grounding the tune in a nostalgic feeling. Suddenly the keyboard began adding string sounds to the ensemble, and Leland’s saxophone became a guitar, adding another rich layer that made the song a transcendent experience. Following the softest, most touching part of the show came the most exciting, with a cover of Bill Evans’ “Nardis” that morphed into a jazz rendition of Madvillain’s “Raid”. Fans of Madvillainy in the crowd instantly recognized “Nardis”, the song Madlib sampled to make the beat for one of the best known songs from his collaborative album with MF DOOM. It served as a fitting tribute to the late rapper, with the drummer Alex Sowinski shouting “Rest in peace MF DOOM!” mid-performance. “Lavender”, a fan-favourite from the album IV, came next and was followed by the last two tracks from Talk Memory as the closing segment. The very last song, “Talk Meaning”, was a memorable trading
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of solos, with shots of flames, helicopters and burning buildings making up the backdrop. As the song slowly descended into madness, the only thing keeping the music together was Chester Hansen’s steady, rhythmic bass line that acted as the safety net for all the insanity surrounding it. The song broke down into a magnificent Alex Sowinski drum solo before jumping back into the main groove and vanishing into darkness as it all ended. Of course, after such an engaging and breathtaking performance, the crowd demanded an encore. We were rewarded with the colourful “Na Boca Do Sol” and “The Chocolate Conquistadors”, a song featuring MF DOOM from 2020, making for another touching tribute as the supervillain’s iconic mask appeared on screen. As the last note was played and the members walked off thanking the audience, I, like many others, was in disbelief, stunned in admiration. BADBADNOTGOOD managed to take their wonderful, serene jazz record and turn it into an audio-visual experience as emotional as any drama film and with the raw energy and excitement of a rock concert. The guys are masters of their craft. 10/10.
February / March 2022 Stylus Magazine
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MYLES TIESSEN Meadows frontman Isiah Schellenberg and I are waiting on tenterhooks in front of a closed Good Will Social Club. Due to a lack of planning, we didn’t realize it would be shuttered that frigid midweek night in December. The two of us took to our phones and as Schellenberg contacted his bandmates to break the news, I searched Google to find other bars or cafes with the lights on. Once the rest of the band arrived and joined us in frozen solidarity, we discussed our options over the noisy cars speeding beside us on Portage Avenue. The decision was made to go to the Handsome Daughter, a few blocks away. Drummer Justin Byggdin offered everyone a ride and as we drove, the band joked about secret parking spots and bassist Mirella Villa talked at length about the music Byggdin had on the radio. The short drive offered a reprieve from the bitter weather and allowed for the first glimpse into the inner dynamics of a Winnipeg-based trio. Finally settled in a dark corner of the self-proclaimed dive bar, Meadows was quick to praise the band’s chemistry and their love for the music they are making. Although involved in similar music social circles, the three band members had never played together before joining forces to create Meadows. “It definitely clicked for the three of us after basically two minutes [of playing together],” says Byggdin. Among symbiotic jam sessions and a love for early period Coldplay (still up for debate about the level of sincerity in that comment), Meadows transformed from rough demos on Schellenberg’s iPhone to a group of like-minded friends testing their collaborative limits. “With Meadows, I feel one hundred percent free to express myself and try new things,” says Villa. “I feel like this is a healthy experience.” The indie band had a prolific 2021 with a number of singles that coalesced with the outstanding wild flower EP. Their slowcore tendencies offer the listener an effortless balance of accessibility and musical experimentation. “I always joke and call what we make ‘walking music,’” says Schellenberg, referencing those desired, essential moments of clarity and inner peace. “I wanted to make [the music] sound cold — I put it out in the summer, and I was thinking, ‘I want people to listen to this when it gets cold outside’.” Most of Meadows’ music features Schellenberg crooning through a thick blanket of vocal delay, sounding like a lost explorer in the heart of a deep cavern. There is an elusiveness to the uncluttered production; whether it be the hollow keyboard or the sparse drumming, Meadows allows for a haunting amount of space in their songs. It’s the kind of music that has a unique ability to tap deep into unacknowledged emotions at play in your psyche. Stylus: Let’s talk a bit about wild flower; that’s a collection of singles you released previously. Tell me about how that EP came to life. Isiah Schellenberg: I put out three songs before wild flower. I wanted to get into recording again because I hadn’t done that in a while. It was a weird summer [with COVID restrictions]. I thought I would just focus on that — I think that was the start where I was trying to focus on the melodies a little bit more [than my previous projects].
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MEADOWS
MEADOWS AT HOUSE OF WONDERS
Stylus: So then, were you the only one working on those songs, or was the rest of the band involved? IS: Ya. I would just go to the space at the Good Will, and then I started to record on my phone for the first two EPs. I was pretty stubborn and thought, “I’m not gonna use my laptop [to mix or record].” Then I realized how cool and easy it is to use and then with wild flower…. I’m sorry, what was the question? I got off track. Justin Byggdin: It was about recording alone or something. IS: Oh yeah, I was kind of ‘MIA’ during that [recording session]. Then Mirella came and sang on the song “turn,” then my friend Max played the keys on “evelyn.” Stylus: So you mentioned that you’ve been putting greater focus on melodies for Meadows music. How much effort then do you put in the lyrics or production? IS: I think the lyrics get the point across but are also vague enough where you don’t really know exactly [what they mean]. It’s not like I wrote a song that contains me and my friend’s entire conversation; it’s just little bits and pieces. Stylus: Yeah, they feel kind of broken up or sporadic. JB: Yeah, that’s what I love about Isiah’s lyrics — I think with regards to production, we have a pretty clear idea of not clouding up the songs or making
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MEADOWS
the songs sound like there is too much going on. After all, there are only three of us. We definitely enjoy adding in spare parts like synths or tape loops, but at the core, there is still a lot of room in the songs. IS: And we never really stray too far away from us jamming together. Mirella Villa: When it comes to singing or melodies, I would say even just this year, I’ve really started to sing more. It can be scary or vulnerable, but with Isiah, I feel like our voices match, and it can be very easy for me and safer to sing backup vocals. It can be a great pleasure because I’m always learning more and [trying to match] Isiah’s voice — I feel like that’s what I add to Meadows’ stuff. Just a new voice into the mix, which is cool, and I feel like it helps to elevate it a bit. So like with this band, I feel like not only do we have good chemistry together, but that support helps me feel comfortable to try new things. Stylus: I think all this comes through in the music. You can clearly hear when people are inspired and excited to play as a band. MV: Ya! You get to hear different parts of each other and different ideas. JB: I think we are a very ‘yes’ kind of crew — and that is a reassurance. At the end of the day, when you are having a creative jam or rehearsal, there is a reassurance there that you can feel safe in your sound as a band and confident about it. If you take the time to listen to our songs and go for a walk with headphones or a drive, you will hear that we are confident with what we are doing.
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February / March 2022 Stylus Magazine
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Thursdays 2:00 00-4: -4:00 00 PM Barking Dog with Juliana Young 2: MISHA FALK Misha: Last time you chatted with Stylus you talked about the importance of folk music history. Could you speak to what you find important about sharing this history on your show? Juliana: The thing that really gets me interested in old recordings is that so many of them are rural artists who didn’t record other than maybe four tracks for a certain recording company. Now we have these recordings digitized, but they still aren’t widely available or people don’t go looking for them. These rural artists didn’t really have opportunities for being recognized outside of their communities for the most part and were recorded by chance, so we have these small snippets of the wider tradition that existed. So often in mainstream music we don’t focus on the rural. It’s very much what’s happening in the cities and people who have access to the technology and the means to record their music and get it out there. M: How do you go about finding and researching different artists for your show? J: I find a lot of things through Folkways which was a really important record label that started in the 1940s by this guy named Moses Asch who was putting out field recordings by people who generally wouldn’t get the chance to record. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution and they continue to put out recordings and make their recordings available digitally. Probably the most important thing for my show is that they have most of the liner notes from all these recordings online that they make available. So, if I know that the person had been on a Folkways recording, I can find information about them that way. That is a really useful resource even for people who don’t have folk radio shows but are just interested in folk music. Also, my partner Dylan sends me about half the music a week and he also edits the show. Through that we get a lot of diversity as he has an interest in old gospel and old blues and then I bring a lot of the Canadian content and just other stuff that I’ve come across. We’ve become more diverse with him sending me music because he goes off on tangents and gets interested in African blues music from Mali especially. We were playing a lot of Japanese folk recently as well. M: How do your academic studies inform your CKUW show?
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JULIANA YOUNG OF BARKING DOG
J: Folk music got me interested in studying folklore as a degree. It also got me interested in doing radio. I’m in a stream for my MA called Public Folklore which means that I want to work at an institution that connects with the public and gets information about folklore out there for the public. I see Barking Dog as my first step into public folklore as I’m getting it out into the community and hopefully connecting people to traditions listeners otherwise wouldn’t know about. M: What do you like about radio as a specific medium for sharing folk music and history? J: I like community radio specifically because it has a long history with folk music. Some of the first recordings were broadcast over community radio and even some folklorists have had community radio stations. It’s the most accessible form of communication with large audiences. With TV you need a TV, you need cable or at least a digital transmitter or streaming services and there are too many options sometimes, but with the radio, you just need a radio or a phone and it’s very easy to access compared to all these other technologies. It’s also easier to get a radio show on the air and you’re just communicating with the local audience. I know people can listen online, but I feel like there’s more community focus with radio and specifically with CKUW. M: What initially got you interested in folk music?
week, but I’ve been playing more Stan Rogers on the show recently. Jake Xerxes Fussell has been my favourite contemporary artist for the past two years. He’s doing a really good job of taking old recordings and creating entirely new things out of them that still follow the same tradition but still makes sure to reference the same people he learned the songs from. I think his dad was friends with a bunch of folk musicians and the people he learned the songs from so he’s a very exciting musician. M: What are your future aspirations for Barking Dog?
J: I took a class in Grade 10 called English and the Contemporary Song Lyric and we did a whole unit on Bob Dylan and on the folk revival of the 1960s. From there, I started listening to Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie and all his other folk influences. From there, my interest expanded, and I came to realize most of my interests even outside of music are related to folklore.
J: The big thing now is that I just bought a personal website and there’s going to be a big Barking Dog section. I’m planning on putting old archives of the show on there. I also want to have resources on there like the notes I make for the show and maybe other things I learn about the artists or the music that I don’t have time to talk about on the show.
M: Is there a particular artist who you’ve been excited about lately?
And then when I have more time to work on the show itself, I’ll maybe do more themed episodes or episodes exploring specific artists more in depth.
J: My big obsession this past few months has been “Barrett’s Privateers” by Stan Rogers which I listen to every day. I know I can’t play that same song every
Barking Dog broadcasts every Thursday from 2:00pm – 4:00pm.
Local
OMBIIGIZI SEWN BACK TOGETHER Sewn Back Together is the first album released by OMBIIGIZI, a creative union between Adam Sturgeon (Status/Non-Status) and Daniel Monkman (Zoon). As a collaboration between two Anishinaabeg artists, the album lionizes stories that form their common threads of cultural identity, spirit, and expression. Meaning “it is noisy,” OMBIIGIZI indeed offers a sonic exploration in Sewn Back Together that elevates the traditional function of storytelling by glazing it with modern form. Sturgeon and Monkman forge a unique sound that harmonizes yet maintains their distinctive styles. Instrumentals are light, relying on simple drumlines, distorted guitar, and occasional keys, while vocals migrate between tracks from natural, reverberating, to distorted. While some songs lean into a more post-rock sound (“Spirit in Me”), “the dominating landscape of the album features the trailing tunes and spectral echoes of shoegaze (“Ogiin” and “Zaagitoon”); it is these moments where perhaps the influence of moccasin shoegaze aesthete Monkman can be most appreciated. This Indigenous influence is felt even in less dreamy-sounding tracks, such as the near-speech number “Birch Bark Paper Trails,” which is stamped by a subtle yet stirring aural backdrop of nature psychedelia, harkening back to a heritage that is tied both spiritually and culturally to ancestral lands. The theme of cultural homecoming is heavily embedded in the lyrics, where mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and family are hallowed, mourned, yearned for– figures tenderly invoked as a means to reforge cultural links. Grasps for connection are evident in the vocallingering “Ookwemin,” and “Ogiin,” yet it is ultimately the understanding of oneself as a link– essential to every story– acting as a channel of the past and future that pervades the spirit
of each track. There is beauty in the spacy and diffused lyrics of “Ogiin,” “Zaagitoon,” and “Ookwemin”; a poetic openness which says little but offers an abundance to our understanding of the story OMBIIGIZI is telling. In Sewn Back Together, we drift through the perspectives of past, present, and future heartbreak of Indigenous peoples, but all the while feeling the power of overcoming through healing and resilience. Margaret Banka
NO FUN CLUB RECORDS NO FUN CLUB: VOL. 1 World class recording studio, No Fun Club releases their first, and most fun, compilation album! With artists from Edmonton, Regina, Montreal, Winnipeg, and even down to Los Angeles, No Fun Club’s debut compilation showcases its versatility as a recording studio while building its brand as a record label. Each track contains an element of electronic experimentalism without overwhelming the artist’s vision for their music. Starting off the compilation with windy synth lines contrasted with natural vocals, Aesha Minor’s song, “Iron Hand”, is very tactfully composed. As the song flourishes, synthetic drum sequences amplify the acoustic guitar lines to accentuate each riff. Next on No Fun Club: Vol. 1, Edmonton’s Matthew Cardinal is featured with the track “Sunning”. This number is more organic, turning out acoustic cymbals that accent the ambient nature of the song. With so much going on in this track, it speaks to the audience-friendly mix that No Fun Club created. Almost an orchestra of ambiance is audible: vibraphones, harps, and maybe even a melodica (?) are just a few pieces to the puzzle – when you place the final piece, you hear a beautifully painted song, “Sunning.” Winona Forever (Montreal) and Castle Pasture (LA) are slightly more straightforward in terms of structure: guitar, vocal, drums, and bass.
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However, they are no less standouts than the rest on this compilation. “Body (Autosave)” by ygretz is an eclectic, electronic piece that contains screech and crash samples, but this track is no trainwreck. Weaving in and out of different grooves, the track features its artist’s verbed out, crystally falsetto vocals accompanied by Gameboy-esq synth lines. On the ~B-Side~ of the compilation, Jesse Dollimont introduces a more folk-acoustic aspect to No Fun Club: Vol.1. While we can still hear pulse wave synths, here they are an underbrush to the piano foliage that accents the vocal-guitar feature of the compilation. Dollimont’s Alberta country-twang shows the stylistic variety that No Fun Club works with. I could swear I’ve heard samples featured on Pregnant’s track “I’d Like To Walk Around In Your Mind” on many an arcade machine – but maybe I’ve just played too many video games. “How To Make Sense Of A Dream” by Jesse Northey is an ‘80s yacht rock classic portrayed through a lo-fi synth wave lens. No Fun Club: Vol. 1’s penultimate number by GENOVA PUNXX is a dance track complete with vocoded lyrical hooks. To cap off Vol. 1, local artist pure pulp’s song “Tall Summer” plucks bass chords beneath a smooth, tenor voice, singing nostalgic poetry that is marked with echoing bell chimes. Low, distorted tones accentuate the bassline and chord changes. No Fun Club: Vol. 1 is chock-full of 11 brand new certified bangers! (just like the cover art says). This first compilation (hopefully first of many) shows listeners the ropes of just how much fun there is to be had at No Fun Club. Ryan Haughey
HOTEL DOG ISOLATION INN
who had previously performed as “Charlie Baby,” with a set of music that had been patiently crafted and revised to establish a new direction and mindset for the music and it’s creators. Fast forward to almost 2 years later, an altered line up further affected by members moving out of province, and a lot of time to sit and write, Hotel Dog have emerged with the product of this period of time, Isolation Inn. Written and recorded nearly entirely in separate bedrooms, and later mixed by Lev Snowe, Isolation Inn is vulnerable in every aspect, from the therapeutic and confessional lyricism to the very minimalist instrumentation, coated with colourful melodies. A true showcase of buoyant bedroom pop with, in the band’s own words, “a citrus twist.” Tracks like “Forever My Heart” and “Telephone” have a simple energy in how they’re performed, as if performed by Fraser just by themself with a keyboard and a pre-made instrumental track. Such tracks emphasize the “bedroom” aspect of Bedroom Pop, making Isolation Inn stand out in a genre where such a label is used more often as indie-slang for music that’s written at home. “Wherever I Go” is more instrumentally inclusive, with a filling drum background and Sara Provencher’s melodic and fulfilling bass riffs. The album closer “Loop Song” encapsulates Fraser’s strength as a writer of catchy melodies and lyrics that are quick to remember and easier to sing along to, and is a satisfying finish to an album that brings warmth while we isolate once again this winter. Daniel Kussy For fans of: Girlpool, Frankie Cosmos, Men I Trust
DEVON GILLINGHAM MAPLEWOOD
One of the last live music experiences Musician Devon Gillingham is an I had before the world was instructed to stay home was in the presence of in-demand bassist on the Winnipeg Hotel Dog. Playing their first show, a jazz scene but has been releasing rebirth for bandleader Charlie Fraser music with an indie rock bent on the
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side, culminating in his debut fulllength album Maplewood (Dec. 1, 2021). Here Devon plays the role of songwriter, vocalist and multiinstrumentalist, creating music with angst and moody sophistication harking back to the early days of a guitar-driven Radiohead. Devon’s voice is a sweet tenor that hovers over the various backdrops of the songs. The opener, “Hurry Up, In A Second” exemplifies one mode, where his voice contrasts with dissonant, crunchy guitars in offkilter rhythms. “Everyone Here Is Just Like Me” is a different landscape, where keyboards and atmospheric effects suspend time and surreal lyrics somehow feel confessional: “dressed up like an animal/that cannot find its own way home.” Interspersed throughout the record are sparse acoustic guitar songs, with the closer “...and it’s our fault” leaving the album on a sombre but down to earth note, with the rub of guitar strings as Devon clears his throat after the take. The variety of styles throughout Maplewood is ambitious, telling a compelling story of personal highs and lows. I’ve seen Devon perform his music as a solo act, wrangling chordal clusters from the lower strings of his acoustic guitar while his voice flips into a vulnerable falsetto. I’m now eager to see the songs from Maplewood performed live by a full band; while some of the overdubs and electronic components may be reinterpreted for a live show, at the core of the record are confessional songs performed by an unpretentious and creative rock band. Maplewood will soon be available on streaming services, but for now check
it out at: devongillingham.bandcamp. which combines Quelch’s gripping com/album/maplewood. Jesse vocal harmonies with throbbing bass peaking before finishing at the final Popeski pulsing song “Shake” which wavers and trails off. Night Lust will definitely leave you quivering and wishing for more. Keeley Braunstein-Black
CRIME CELLAR NIGHT LUST Crime Cellar’s debut EP Night Lust has been making waves from the start. Night Lust was recorded at No Fun Club in Winnipeg and was released on January 7 2022. The enticing EP spans just four songs with a run time of approximately 20 minutes. Crimar Cellar consists of veterans of Winnipeg’s punk and metal scenes: Ian Church on bass and synth, MarcAndré Simard on guitar, Rachel Quelch on guitar and vocals with Ryley Devine on drums. Night Lust is described by Crime Cellar as combining the “aesthetics and atmosphere of dark wave with the brooding heaviness of doom.” In the opening song “Shiver” Church’s ambient experimentation with oscillating synthesized sounds will send tremors shuddering down the back of your neck. The second song “Flora and Fauna” lures you in and builds tension with trembling distortion until it meets “Night Lust”
Having released EP Село earlier in the year, you could say that Tired Cossack has been keeping busy recording their second album this year, Hocus Pocus. Ugh. Productive types– you wish you could be them and honestly they probably somehow siphon your wishes to fuel all their creative endeavours; it’s a theory. With their first LP, Tired Cossack, moniker for Steve Halas, builds on the playful pensiveness that was characteristic of Село while also formalizing earlier experimentations with their sound. Hocus Pocus is driven by an energy that is just barely contained under the surface and occasionally spills over, with stirring results (“Drink from the Don”). Halas is completely at ease delivering puckish
from 2001 to 2016. As is expected with such compilations of past material, the album lacks a certain cohesiveness between songs, which is understandable given the significant time gaps between each track. This album acts more as a grab-bag featuring a myriad of gems, all with unique sounds and influences. The record kicks off with “Far Out”, an appropriately-named instrumental track featuring distant, lo-fi synthetic strings that send the listener floating in outer space. As soon as the second song, “Do the 95”, kicks off, we are catapulted straight back to earth. It immediately punches through the speaker with its driving beat that becomes increasingly distorted as the song progresses. This is one of the earliest cuts on the album, being a B-side from 2001’s “Stars and
Sons” 7-inch. No less than a few minutes into this record, we become aware that this will not be a seamless, flowing project. Again, this is not to the detriment of the album, as the unpredictability of the songs keeps you on your toes during its entire hour-long runtime. Following the anthemic chaos of the second track, we are treated to “Curse Your Fail”, a much smoother piece of indie rock, with mellow lyrics made almost danceable by the fantastic drum groove that grounds the song and keeps the vocals and guitars from melting away. Through the rest of the album, we encounter more songs in this style, sweet or melancholic in tone and with an iconic late-2000s indie rock sound, reminiscent of Grizzly Bear or Arcade
Ulteriors
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE OLD DEAD YOUNG Old Dead Young is the latest release from Canadian indie rock legends Broken Social Scene. The project features B-sides and rarities spanning over two decades of the Toronto music collective’s illustrious career,
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TIRED COSSACK HOCUS POCUS
vocals à la David Byrne, which infinitely complement the new wave-inspired album that at times edges towards post punk (“P77”, “Hocus Pocus”). The only instrumental track “Love (Interlude)”, ambient and drumless, is an ambrosial reverberating piece of sound that glides into dreamy tenderness. Yet for the majority of Hocus Pocus, trusty upbeat drums ground distorted vocals and cascading synth from drifting too far from shore (“Machina”, “Wasted”), keeping Tired Cossack’s unmistakable commitment to the ‘80s poised and modern. Tired Cossack takes their LP as an opportunity to further explore ways of engaging their Ukrainian heritage in stylistic elements. Appearing sometimes as content in a track (“Lviv Vacation”, “Hocus Pocus”) and other times as lyrics sung in Ukrainian, these moments offer an element of otherworldliness and a soft kitsch reminiscent of a Gogol Bordello spectacle. Halas, however, keeps the extravaganza to a minimum, tethering the impish frolics in his lyrics with a sense of delicacy. Buried Ukrainian vocals throughout the tracks offer the significance of identity, a transcending presence between Tired Cossack and world, not unlike the manner in which a song transcends between singer and audience. Similarly, Hocus Pocus coalesces Halas’ essence of heart with the outside world, transposing the innate with familiar sounds of the ‘80s and creating a new experience that we can live by listening. Margaret Banka
Fire at times. The back-to-back 2009 songs “Golden Facelift” and “This House Is On Fire” best reflect this sonic palette. Towards the end of the record, we encounter a touching and personal acoustic ballad in the form of “All My Friends”, before being shaken once again with the heavy drums and poprock melodies of the closer “Old Dead Young.” This brings back the joyful chaos we heard at the beginning of the album, ending in a glorious burst of horns. This collection of tracks highlights a multitude of nostalgic indie rock sounds, very much emblematic of the band’s career and best moments. It is a can’t-miss record for fans of the group and of 2000s indie in general. Olivier La Roche
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