On the Cover Editor . . . . . . . . Keeleyeditor@stylusmagazineBraunstein-Blackca Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . Myles assistanteditor@stylusmagazineTiessenca Art Director Kelly design@stylusmagazineCampbellca Cover Art . . . . . . . . . . . . Kiana Compton Advertising Contact Rob manager@ckuwSchmidtca Print by JRS Print Services . 204-232-3558 Olivier La Roche Michael Duboff Isabella AlexandraSoaresTholeJostlenMcLeanReishaHancoKaiteKolesar Ryan VanessaMylesMattGabrielJohnOsaniFunkBalkaranIversonFarsHarrisonTiessenHeins ProductionContributorsTeam Stylus is published bi–monthly by CKUW 95 9 FM, with a circula tion 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 informa tion 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 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 Festivale in Juin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 Zoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 Happy Folk Fest 08 Richard Inman 08 TEKE::TEKE 09 Cadence Weapon 10 Wild Rivers 11 Features VOL 2022AUG/SEPNO.334
You can find more of her work on Instagram @_kiana.
www.ckuw.ca/stylus August / September 2022 Stylus Magazine 01 Table of Contents The Business of Music: Music Booking Agency Considerations 02 Blah Blah Blah: Live Music Happenings 03 Space Jam: Toil & Trouble 07 CKUW Program Guide 12 CKUWho: Square Wave with Dustin Rodgers 13 Local Releases: Album Reviews 14 Ulteriors: Album Reviews 14
KIANA COMPTON is an emerging visual artist born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Compton is Indigenous, specifically Saulteaux and Cree. Compton’s has roots from Keeseekoose, Saskatchewan. Compton was raised in a family of artists and she also attended Art City Inc. programming almost daily as a kid. Compton’s family and Art City definitely shaped her into the artist she is today. As an adult, she has come full circle and works at Art City Inc. Now it’s her turn to provide meaningful art programming to the community. She mostly does paintings but also does beadwork and sewing. Her paintings are inspired by her culture, family, nature, graffiti and her community. She participated in the Lavender Menace exhibit (September 2020) at the Plaza Skatepark at the Forks. She also painted her first mural which was for Indigenous Peoples Day in the West End neighbourhood of Winnipeg (June 2021).
. Term Is there a probation period? How long is the term – a year or two? Does the agreement automatically renew, and, if so, for how long? What stops the agreement from automatically renewing?
6 Artist Obligations Should the artist agree to promptly refer all appearance opportunities to their agent? Is the artist prohibited from engaging other agents? Is this artist obligated to continue being an active artist during the term of the booking agent agreement?
What if new people join your band? Are the new members covered by the booking agent agreement? Alternatively, what if the band breaks up? Is everyone in the band committed to the agent for their solo career?
2 .
3 . New and Leaving Members
10 Music Booking Agency Agreement Considerations
4 Agent’s Duties
Scope Is the booking agent’s scope limited to music? Or is it broader, encompassing other entertainment activities? Is your agent your exclusive agent, or may you have multiple agents? If non-exclusive, are your agents separated by territory or other distinguishing factors? Are there any specific exclusions, such as existing ongoing performance agreements you have in place?
MICHAEL DUBOFF, entertainment lawyer at Edwards Creative Law – Canada’s Entertainment Law Boutique™
Does the agent need to be exclusive to you? May they publicly promote that they are your agent?
1
5 Agent’s Entitlements
A great booking agent can do great things for you as a musician, like, propel your career by getting you on tour with well-known artists, help you get the gigs you want, and earn you more money than you otherwise would have earned. But watch out: working with a booking agent that doesn’t prioritize you, or focus on the kind of opportunities that you think are most important, can be a very discouraging and frustrating experience. The first step to ensure you get great service from your booking agent is making sure you have a solid booking agency agreement. This will help you understand the key elements of your arrangement and help form a great working relationship.
What is the agent required to do? Must they seek opportunities? Negotiate deals? Promote the artist? Keep the artist updated on opportunities? Do they need to get the artist’s approval of fees, location and logistics, and availability of the artist’s side players before agreeing to gigs?
It takes a village to raise a … musician? Well, perhaps not, but finding and sustaining success in the music industry takes a lot of work from a lot of people. Some musicians have a manager, label, publisher, investor, publicist, social media coordinator, side artist(s), producer, co-writer(s), engineer, accountant, business manager and lawyer. Oh, and let’s not forget one more important roleplayer: a booking agent.
02 Stylus Magazine August / September 2022
8 . Sub-Agents If there are sub-agents, what is the division between the agent and sub-agent’s roles and obligations? How does that structure impact the overall
The Business of Music:
7 Agent’s Compensation What percentage of gross revenue from performances will the agent earn? Are funds first paid to the agent or to the artist? If the agent receives funds, how soon do they pay the artist? What if the artist receives the payment? Under what circumstances does the agent not get paid? What happens if the agency agreement ends but a gig happens shortly after that was arranged while the agreement was still active?
www.ckuw.ca/stylus August / September 2022 Stylus Magazine 03 Blah Blah Bla h *** Romi Mayes, The Sorels, The Hickies Aug 3 at Blue Note Park *** Walkie Talkie, Merin, Paige Drobot Aug 4 at Blue Note Park *** The Perpetrators and Brent Parkin Aug 5 at Blue Note Park *** Frannie Klein Aug 5 at the West End Patio *** 4th Quarter Records presents Weed Man Son Dill The Giant and Friends Aug 6 at Blue Note Park ***The Broken Song Band Aug 6 at the West End Patio *** Julie Doiron with Matt Foster Aug 7 at the Good Will *** Hot Goth Summer Fest: Holy void, Tired Cossack, Crime Cellar Aug 12 at at Blue Note Park *** Scout Gillett + Housepanther + Veneer Aug 12 at Kilter ***Paper Machetes Aug 12 at the West End Patio *** The Mariachi Ghost Aug 19 at Blue Note Park *** *** Fulfillment, Fox Lake and Plymouth Breeze Aug 14 at the Osborne Taphouse *** Big Dave McLean 70th Birthday Celebration Aug 23 at Blue Note Park *** Songs From The Secret Beach Album Release Aug 24 at Blue Note Park *** Lana Winterhalt with Cec Lopez Aug 26 at the West End Patio *** Fontine with Taylor Jackson Aug 27 at the West End Patio *** ***WECC Musical Notes & Lunch Totes series Thursdays Aug 4-18 at Saigon Park *** Harvest Sun Music Festival Aug 20-21 Winkler *** Rainbow Trout Music Festival Aug 19-21 at Oroseau Campground *** Gentle Fest Aug 26-28, Teulon *** Whoop & Hollar Folk Festival Aug 27-28 Portage la Prairie *** Booter Album Release with jamboree and Bedtime Sep 9 at the Good Will *** Georgia Harmer with Cassidy Mann Sep 15 at Times Change(d) *** Annaxis EP Release Sep 23 at Park Alleys *** Jaywood Slingshot Album Release Show with Mooki & Gabriela Ocejo *** Fleece Oct 29 at the Handsome Daughter *** Harvest Moon Festival Sept 16-18 Clearwater *** commission, if any, that the artist must pay to the agent and sub-agent? 9 . Signing Parties Are you signing an agreement with an agency or a specific agent? If it’s an agency, what happens if your direct agent leaves? 10 . A Written Formal Agreement While some booking agents have formal agreements, others do not. Should you request a formal agreement? If your potential agent suggests a handshake, rather than a written contract, it’s important to discuss your and your agent’s expectations, and to get whatever you can about your agreement in writing. We help artists review and negotiate arrangements and agreements with booking agents. We help booking agents in music as well as in other entertainment practices, such as acting. Whether it’s on the agency side – working with venues, festivals and talent purchaser – or on the side of the venues and festivals, we’re generally familiar with all sides of the booking formula. If you need assistance with agreements surrounding entertainment bookings, please let us know. KRISTEN MCKAY PERFORMING AT INDIGENOUS MUSIC AND MANITOBA MUSIC’S NISTUMEE NEEPINEE KEESIKOW (FIRST DAY OF SUMMER) CONCERT AT THE CUBE, JUNE 21 2022 PHOTO: KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK
04 Stylus Magazine August / September 2022 “There must be something in the air, in the air... Some kind of answer to my prayers, to my prayers...”
Festivale
JOSTLEN MCLEAN
The people are thirsty for live music, and Festivale stepped up with a raging start to the festival sea son with a one-off two-stage Friday night at their grounds in St. Boniface. Festivale du Voyageur cherry-picked the best weather day of the longest spring in recent history for their summer debut. Their February revue still took place at various venues across St. Boniface, but it was missing the warmth & camaraderie as sociated with the traditions of Festivale since they were bound by capacity restrictions in the throws of ThisOmicron.newevent felt like old times. Everyone here feels mildly familiar, even though this event is the first of its kind. It felt like the first full-scale event where you can bump into old friends or make new ones by chit-chatting with strangers in the donair line or around a campfire. Something that has only been possible during the warm summer months, if at Theall.roster was an eclectic mix, just like the patrons. It had some granola feel of other festivals up to the seasoned lawn-chair vets (Bobby Dove, Cassidy Mann), the Franco-Manitobain community who represented avec fierté (Jérémie & the Delicious Hounds, Fire & Smoke), plus the Friday-nightparty folks who embraced what turned out to be the biggest patio in downtown Winnipeg (Attica Riots).
PHOTOS: KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK AKIÑA
in Juin
-Sam Roberts
x JÉRÉMIE THE DELICIOUSHOUNDSFOWLER CASSIDYMANN FIRE & SMOKE
Jérémie & The Delicious Hounds are Festivale alumni. The familiar name on the roster should serve as a warning to festival-goers: it’s time to change into your dancing shoes. They’ve got a tight brass section that is a solid accentuation for their grooves. I admit my bias; I am a sucker for brass. Imagine how interesting music could be if one guitar in every band was switched out for a sax. The Hounds provided a super suave dose of funk at sunset to loosen up the dance floor for the upcoming acts on Voyageur stage. Somehow Sam Roberts is the perfect soundtrack to this year, regardless of which way it might go. The sun is out & the flowers are finally blooming. Now that we can leave the house without the threat of immediate disaster, no matter if things get worse or better, at least right now, we can take a breath & say: “We’re all in this together”
Fowler solidified the house party vibes at the second stage with beach balls for the crowd & even an inflatable whale –just to add to the fantasy that is our live music reunion. (Did the last two years happen, or was it all a dream?)
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Fowler felt like Blue Sky Addicts all grown up – they have dream-pop qualities but are still fixed in the pop-rock category.
The smaller 101 Noms stage felt like a house party, like an inside joke. Akiña laid out some very cool riffs. Their staggering crescendos drop into mellow grooves that threw me off-guard. They are each skilled musicians, and that strength creates depth in the melody. Their psych-rock sound worked well in the live atmosphere.
S: That’s surprising you wrote and recorded it all by yourself because overall, I think it sounds like you’re pushing yourself and venturing into new territory .
S: You come into these concepts with a fair bit of skepticism or anger, but your music still sounds so beautiful Is there something cathartic in all of this, or what way do you use music to process these emotions?
DM: Yeah, I’m the type of artist that makes art with what they have. Lately, I’ve bought a bunch of weird electronic instruments and stuff. “Oil pastel/Dope sick” has no guitar at all in the whole song. It’s just an omnichord, a Casio digital guitar, and drum beats that I made.
As the solo project for Anishinaabe artist Daniel Monkman, Zoon’s follow-up EP, Big Pharma, provides scaled-back and serene, yet similarly gorgeous, songs that float in the musical ether.
It’s hard to describe the type of music Zoon makes. Their discography exists beyond any traditional classification and remains acutely unique to them.
It’s no secret that I’ve had my struggles with relying on self-medicating. In my recovery, I finally woke up and saw the world differently. I started to exercise my treaty rights and decided to seek a doctor and various forms of support that were available for me. And in that search, I just started to uncover a lot of suspicious wording in The Indian Act. It’s like the government and the health industry have done a PR stunt on genocide, and we don’t think of genocide as something that is still ongoing in Canada. When I uncovered some truths about what was available to First Nations people through the treaty, it’s actually very harmful to us in the long run, and not a lot of people are speaking about that. And at the same time, when I wrote this EP, I had an emotional relapse, and I experimented with some drugs. But at the end of it, I was like, “Well, this really sucks, and I hate this,” so when I was detoxing, I started to write about all these things I’ve been thinking about.
S: So then how do you decide what turns into a complete project and what are just notes that are put on the side?
DM: I grew up beside the Red River in Selkirk, Manitoba my whole life, and there was a time I lived in Winnipeg for several years, so to me, the Red River represents Winnipeg. That’s how I see it. I really thought about that when I was thinking about home and how the pharmaceutical companies devastated my hometown with all the lies about how addictive their pills were. The lies of PR companies caused such devastation to communities, and no one was really held accountable. These pharmaceutical companies sometimes pay their fines, but because they are million-dollar companies, they get away with it.
On Big Pharma, Monkman draws attention to their family, friends, and hometown of Selkirk, Manitoba. With the breathtaking “Astum,” Monkman employs an approachable unhurried melody and unfiltered acoustic guitars to explore the idea of heritage through the lens of language and trauma. Featuring the astounding Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, the song fits delicately into Zoon’s catalog as one of their most open and honest reflections.
S: Speaking of your songwriting process, I want to talk about the amount of collaboration on this EP Based on how DIY Bleached Wavves felt, I was surprised when I saw every song on Big Pharma has a feature I’m wondering what sort of new role collaboration plays in your songwriting process?
DM: I can usually tell if the song makes me feel a certain way. I think, “Okay, this means something.” Where if I’m slowly chipping away at something, and it’s a tedious process, and I keep hitting roadblocks, then that means the song isn’t ready. Usually, if things aren’t moving, I’m not going to use it.
DM: Oh yeah, for sure. Even just writing music helps. A common thing that people will say to me is, “You must be so excited to be on the road playing music.” It’s true, I love playing music, but it’s still very hard for me, and I find writing and recording music is what’s really important to me. That process of when I start with a couple of chords, and by the end, I have a pocket-symphony sounding track; I find so much solitude and happiness. And when the song is done, I can carry that feeling for a little while.
Stylus: Let’s talk about this EP. How long was the process when putting these songs together? Have these songs been cooking for a while?
Daniel Monkman: No, I actually wrote them in like a month in my home when I moved in a few months ago. S: Are you always this prolific? Do you usually get home from a tour and write an album worth of music in a month?
As the EP’s title explains, the tracks in this collection scrutinize the problematic and often evil structures designed by the pharmaceutical industry. Particularly, Monkman exposes how these systems have targeted and manipulated Indigenous peoples and communities for generations.
The Toronto-based experimental artist cut their teeth with the shoegaze indebted Bleached Wavves, which used overlayed guitars and crashing drums that blended with a whole host of feedback to draw the listener into breathtaking transcendentalism.
In part, due to the collaborative nature of the EP, Monkman probes new and profoundly inspired sonic spaces. From the instrumental “Red River”— with its cellos, saxophone, and guitar melody assisted by Sunnsetter—to the hypnotic and dreamy “Oil pastel/ Dope sick” featuring Cadence Weapon, Big Pharma is a testament to the powers of collaboration against institutions designed to exploit and destroy. This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
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DM: That’s a good question because all the songs on the new EP I wrote and recorded myself and then approached vocalists. In the beginning, I really didn’t know what I was doing, but I heard Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) talk about how he loves doing EPs more than full-length albums because EPs give you space to try out new things. That’s what I was trying to do with this. I want to prepare people for the changes I’m going through as a songwriter. I don’t want it to be a shock when they hear different things in the future.
S: Damn, that’s cool Okay, let’s get into the themes of this album What was the catalyst for making an EP about the pharmaceutical DM:industry?
S: What about the song “Red River?” It’s a direct reference to Manitoba and is the only instrumental track on this EP, so you’re not able to vocalize your thoughts on that track; how does that fit into all of this?
Zoon MYLES TIESSEN PHOTO: VANESSA HEINS
DM: Yeah, it’s the thing that helps me with my anxiety. I’ve built a career off of my intellectual property, and now that I know it’s the way for me to pay the bills, as soon as I have some downtime, I start writing and recording. I also have a new studio in my home, so I try to take advantage of it when I can.
Matt and Jeremy lead the way to the basement, home to the Toil & Trouble jam space and Matt’s Butcher Shop Studio. We step through a curtained doorway and into the multipurpose space. On one side, the walls are lined with amps, instruments and various equipment. The other side of the basement is a raised platform containing a cozy productionlab-meets-lounge, complete with a sound-mixing station and multiple gaming systems. I asked the duo what made them decide on this space as a home base for the Toil & Trouble project.
“Eventually, we’ll record here too,” adds Jeremy. The bandmates also share that this was the shooting location of the video for their first single, “Zooplankton Zion,” which is out now on YouTube.
“It truly is in the middle of a shifting stage of jamming, to music videos, to recording,” says Matt.
The bandmates reminisce on some of the other Winnipeg bands that have used the space to jam and practice; Grand Master, Attilan, Moon Tan and The Uglies, just to name a few. Matt and Jeremy show off the Butcher Shop Studio sign hanging above the couch in the lounge space, and Matt shares the origin of the studio’s name. “It’s based on the first band I was in, Grand Master, because the first hit we had was “The Butcher.” So I always thought Butcher Shop Studio sounded pretty cool and I always thought to get like a wood sign made up with a meat cleaver and then having Butcher Shop on it, so it actually looked like, you know, an old school sign that would be hanging on the boardwalk in New York sort of thing. So I went to a friend who did some woodworking, he made up that sign and I was like, ‘yeah, it just works,’ so it’s just kind of been the name of the basement ever since that first single came out for Grand Master.”
WORDS & PHOTOS: REISHA HANCO
“Well, I definitely got this house because of the basement. It was a really good layout just for being able to fit all the instruments we need to fit. We have a whole wall of amps, a PA and normally drums, but we still have a whole bunch of space to be able to move around,” answers Matt. Referring to the upper platform he says, “This side is the back end, where we sit down, talk things out, do any video editing or listen to tracks or anything on the computer, so it’s almost like separated a little bit.”
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I wander into the corner of Elmwood that is home to Matt Kathler, drummer for newly-formed Winnipeg psychedelic prog rock duo Toil & Trouble. I knock on the door, and I’m greeted by Matt and Jeremy Simpson, the band’s triple-threat bassist, guitarist, and vocalist, in full costume of the Toil & Trouble characters—two goblin aliens from Gelson Prime, shunned by the musically-ignorant people of their home planet and forced to travel the galaxy learning the musical ways of other lifeforms.
I asked the band about the benefits of having a jam space in-home. “It’s amazing,” Jeremy says. “I lived here for almost a year a while back, and it was the most convenient thing ever because when I wasn’t working, I would just stay home, and then Matt would come home from work, and we would just come down and jam any day we wanted to.”
Check out the alien duo’s debut, The Pond Album and keep your eyes peeled for Toil & Trouble’s next live Earth appearance!
Space Jam: Toil & Trouble
Matt talks about this further, saying, “Just being a two-piece…the ability to be able to move around and be able to do all the things. Like the music video again, if we were in a bigger band, it would have been so much tighter and so much more difficult to be able to move around and be able to do something in this type of space, but for two people, it’s everything that we need and then some. It’s really good for everything that we want to do. It’s kind of like our mothership.”
WORDS & PHOTO: MYLES TIESSEN Richard Inman
Andrina Turenne. These and every other artist who took to the stage brought energy, strength and put on full display the power of music. Hosted by Mitch’s son, Leonard Podolak, ‘Mitch’s Sunday Feast’ was the finale to my time at Folk Fest. Each singer had their story of someone dear they had lost. More than their stories they had their songs. I felt the connection between these artists and the music they work so hard creating. Beyond that, I felt unified with all the others at this great Whatfestival.brings concert goers to Bird’s Hill each year is more than a weekend getaway and a good time. Folk Fest is more than that–It is a collection of good vibes and good intentions. It’s the love of mu sic brought to life through the beauty made by these poets, these weavers of story and sound.
On Saturday afternoon, nestled in the far back reaches of the Winnipeg Folk Festival grounds, Richard Inman performed a set as thoughtful and pensive as his reflective Thesongwriting.decision to open the set with “Cut Fences (Let God Sort Em Out),” one of his most dismal songs about a rancher saving his horses during a forest fire, instantly threw you into Inman’s world of cowpokes, trucks, sin, and ultimately, redemption.
It was early Friday when I crossed the road. “Happy Folk Fest’’ the crossguards said with beaming smiles as festival goers left the campsite headed for the stages. As we walked in the brief natural shade, a bit of gentle singing came through the trees from the first stage off the path, Shady Grove. Hidden by the stage’s canopy were some of Winnipeg’s fin est performers, some of whom were eager to play Folk Fest for the first time. At the end of a set of solo young performers, the group came together to perform “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young. One of the performers at Shady Grove that hot July morning was Lev Snowe. Seasoned performer in the Winnipeg music scene, Folk Fest was the first time they had performed since the beginning of the pandemic. Lev stood alone at the microphone with a two-tone coloured electric guitar. Their voice and their instrument were one on that stage. The heat of the day was nothing compared to what Lev left that crowd feeling. By--- the time Sunday came around it was evident who had been in the heat all weekend. Rosey cheeks and heavy eyes wandered every which way around the park. That afternoon at Spruce Hollow was ‘Mitch’s Sunday Feast.’ Held in the memory of Folk Fest founder Mitch Podolok–and other contribu tors lost over the years–Mitch’s Sunday Feast exhib ited prime Winnipeg talent performing together or Eachalone. performer brought stories of who they sang for, what made them choose their song, or what Folk Fest has brought to their life over these many years. Acts which stuck out to my ear were Scott Nolan, Allison De Groot and Francophone singer
Happy Folk Fest
MATT HARRISON
While his mournful vocals would have been enough on their own to hold the crowd’s attention through the entire hour-long set, Inman created space for Amber Nielsen of Sweet Alibi to join him for duets.
08 Stylus Magazine August / September 2022
“Good luck, godspeed to all you fine mounts/ Better than burn in here with me,” sang Inman to a mid-sized crowd already in tears. Inman’s performance was casual and meditative. Joined only by Ryan Funk on pedal steel, the small band led kindly to slower renditions of his higher tempo tracks. Without its full-throttle zip, “Red River Racer” displayed Inman’s eagle-eyed lyrics and unique vocal croon. The song’s affection still got some of the crowd on their feet, but instead for a raucous barn burner, it became a wistful couple’s slow dance. As the audience paid heed to Inman’s outlaw country songs, he, in turn, made humorous small talk and mostly provided insights into his lyrics and ad-libs on booze and gambling. Inman joked about slipping on the Indigenous Music Countdown chart and between songs, got audience members to check the live updates on the charts, and was surprised when he was still near the top.
“If there ain’t hotdogs in heaven/ Guess I’m just shit outta luck.”
“Falling in love is like going insane/ This must be the devil’s dream/ Standing out here in the pouring rain/It’s been a long time since I’ve been clean,” sang Inman and Nielsen before the crowd departed in profound, contemplative silence.
Together they cycled through some Inman originals and mixed in a few tracks from their collaborative project, Fortune Block. Their rendition of “Hotdogs (In Heaven)” off the 2022 album Might As Well Stay Home was an exquisite display of both songwriters’ capabilities. “I sure hope there’s hotdogs in heaven/ Ballpark franks and Kurt Cobain,” they sing in glorious harmony. The John Prine indebted songwriting showed the duo’s ability to mix the bitter experiences of life with a gleeful, playful tone.
The set came to an end with “Clean.” As someone who seems to have taken up residency at the fateful crossroads, Inman’s songs about addictions, broken love, and the consequences of a rambling life strike a sensitive chord in the soul of anyone searching and longing for something greater than themselves.
is vital for TEKE::TEKE.
TEKE::TEKE is composed of artists who used their diverse backgrounds in everything from acting to classical music and jazz to create their most recent critically renowned album Shirushi. Over a sprawling nine songs, the band collided traditional Japanese instruments like the shinobue and taisho koto with fuzzy guitars to create an opulent cinematic experience. TEKE::TEKE are masters of genre-bending, and Shirushi lands delicately in the middle of modern punk, experimental Japanese movie scores, and 1960s surf music.
“We are a band of humans, and the [audience] is very important to us,” says Yoneyama. “The connection with people made us who we are now.”
“We come together with ideas, and we cut and destroy [the songs],” says Yoneyama. “It’s positive Writingdestruction.”songs backward, cutting out verses and instrumental breaks, changing tempos, and adding uncommon instruments are all part of kintsugi’s destructive/constructive process that influenced the album’s name and concept. Yoneyama says his background as a classical musician and love for Japanese industrial noise music inspired him to reach into his toolbox and pull out a pair of pliers on stage when playing his guitar. Yoneyama says that the juxtaposition of beauty and ugliness informs TEKE::TEKE songs.
TEKE::TEKE tore through their set at an unrelenting pace, only stopping to tune or fix a few technical issues (except for the very end when band member Serge Nakauchi Pelletier sheepishly asked the crowd if he could take a photo of them).
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As the sun set on Yoneyama using his pliers onstage at Folk Fest, the mass of fans packed closely to the stage let out roaring praises and exclamations just as rampant and fiery as the audacious sneer of metal machinery on metal instruments. “We want [our performances] to be a little dirty and not too clean. That is the way we [express] the energy of TEKE::TEKE,” say Yoneyama.
The band relies heavily on the audience for the allowance to freely express their limitless creativity. Being onstage with a unified audience is, as guitarist Hidetaka Yoneyama states it, “nourishment to the Yoneyamabrain.”
says that symbiosis with the crowd means the Montreal-based Japanese seven-piece can unlock newfound artistry and explore their musical potential. Call it psychedelic, prog, motorik, whatever you want, TEKE::TEKE’s foray into the musical unknown is mind-boggling to witness in person. Being in the crowd that Friday night at Folk Fest was an experience unlike any other–a community of folks engulfed in the experimental tendencies of a band truly united with their audience. “It’s like a communication we are doing on stage. We are not just going up and making noise; it is very important to have the reaction from people.” Yoneyama humorously simplifies; “people were so positive, and there was a good vibe.”
Though the band emphasizes audience connection, TEKE::TEKE rarely took time for stage banter. Instead, they let their music do the talking. Barreling through songs from v, the astounding visual and audio spectacle put the crowd uniformly in a state of “Withoutecstasy. the audience, we don’t know where to throw our energies. I remember the first live show we did after the [COVID-19 pandemic]; it was as if we were exploding! We have always been linked to the audience, but it feels like we are more linked to them now.”
TEKE::TEKE took to the Big Bluestem stage after a long and hot day in Birds Hill Provincial Park at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Heat exhaustion and dehydration were taking hold of the crowd, and engagement was low. But, as the band launched into the first song of the buzzy and feedback-heavy set, a wave of jubilation washed over attendees and everyone was locked into the mesmerizing talent of AnTEKE::TEKE.attentivecrowd
WORDS & PHOTO: MYLES TIESSEN TEKE::TEKE
“It’s definitely like one of those quotes by Chuck D: “Hip hop is like the Black CNN.” I feel like that is still relevant, and I do my own spin on it. I was just noticing mainstream media talking about race, microaggressions, and structural racism for the first time ever. That really emboldened me to go all out in these subjects on the record. I didn’t want to hold anything back and the fact that it won a Polaris Music Prize is so gratifying.”
“I went through all my old emails and just kind of reminded myself of how things went down. It was really emotional at times to just remember these situations, but also really cathartic,” Weapon says. His latest album, Parallel Worlds, is his most political work yet. Inspired by the repercussions of George Floyd’s death, Weapon took it upon himself to translate the conversations being held all over the media to his music. The final product garnered the 2021 Polaris Music Prize.
hopping back on stage in Winnipeg, Weapon wanted to make his performance one to remember. Given his long-lasting partnership with Winnipeg’s own DJ CO-OP, he decided to invite his collab partner to join him for Folk Fest. The two were able to reignite the remixes they used to do a few years “Thereback. is something that I talk in the book [Bedroom Rapper] about DJ CO-OP. We used to have this way of performing, where it would be like a mega mix of my own music and other people’s tracks. I always wanted to go back to that and we haven’t been able to for a few years.”
Rapper, producer, poet, and now published author, writing has always been a part of Weapon’s trajectory. As a former journalism student and Pitchfork Media contributor, the artist always used his platform to enlighten audiences about the hip hop community. Bedroom Rapper has been an extension of that practice by including his personal story in the music scene, as well as an in-depth take on hip hop music for the last 20 years.
Eager to speak up through his art and collaborate with talents from all over the world, as seen in Parallel Worlds (Deluxe Edition), Weapon is here to ensure that music and current affairs are indeed intertwined.
Cadence Weapon
10 Stylus Magazine August / September 2022
It has been quite a year for Edmonton-born hip hop superstar Cadence Weapon. Following the deluxe edition release of his latest studio album, Parallel Worlds, he is not only heading back to live events, but also promoting his memoir, Bedroom Rapper Stylus Magazine had the chance to catch up with Weapon ahead of his performance at the Big Blue @ Night stage at the 2022 Winnipeg Folk Festival. Having grown up in the prairies, the artist was fond of concerts and festivals in Edmonton from an early age. When he progressed from being a festivalattendee to a performer at SXSW, Primavera Sound, and others, Weapon continued to look at the experience with an even greater level of “Iappreciation.thinkitis
the best way to enjoy music and share music with people. I really appreciate the communal spirit. There are certain things that you can do with a big festival crowd that you can’t do in other shows and I really like to engage with the audience. We haven’t had the chance to do a lot of festivals throughout the last two years, and I feel like this is the first summer that things are finally back,” he Beforesays.
ISABELLA SOARES PHOTOS: MYLES TIESSEN
“We had written most of it right before the pandemic, which was great. We moved into a house in L.A. together and wrote a lot of the songs there. It was our first time doing that whole thing of living together and setting up all our instruments in the living room. When it came time to record, it was March 2020. We started in Connecticut, and we were kind of finishing it throughout the year. Some of it was done remotely and finally we went back to Kingston, where the band actually started, to a beautiful studio named The Bathouse Studio and finished it there,” she says.
www.ckuw.ca/stylus August / September 2022 Stylus Magazine 11
Indie trio Wild Rivers might have started their career in 2016, but their music reached other parts of the world through streaming during the pandemic.
“We usually close with “Thinking ‘bout Love” now and that is one that everyone stands up and sings along to, which is really special. “Small Talk” is also fun and most of the time in venues we get people to go really low and get as small as they can. At a certain point, the song bursts open and we do a solo,” Oliver says.
Rivers WORDS & PHOTOS: ISABELLA SOARES
Now that touring and playing festivals are back on the table, Devan Glover (vocals), Khalid Yassein (vocals and guitar), and Andrew Oliver (guitar and bass) have been witnessing crowds singing along throughout Europe, the US, and Canada. After the band members left the Snowberry Field Stage at the 2022 Winnipeg Folk Festival, they talked to Stylus Magazine about their favourite songs to play live, the process behind their latest album Sidelines, and weighed-in on writing love and heartbreak songs.
Following Canada’s tour dates, Wild Rivers will take a couple weeks off before heading to their US run starting in September.
Kicking off the Western Canada leg of their tour, Wild Rivers came to Winnipeg after a few years only to notice that there was a jam-packed crowd ready to hear their songs live in the festival grounds.
“For me, and the rest of the band can attest, it’s easier to write songs when you are not so good. It’s kind of a therapeutic thing to help you come to terms with how you are feeling,” he continued. Now that they are back on the road, the band has gotten to play a few of their latest tracks as well as their earlier songs. “Thinking ‘bout Love” for instance, continues to cheer up the crowds in and out of shows. The single even received a GOLD Music Canada certification in June 2022, symbolizing its fan-stamp of approval.
“The last few times we performed were big shows, but not all were our fans. Today it was a big show and a ton of people were singing along, so it feels like we made some progress,” Oliver says.
The band released their sophomore album, Sidelines, in February 2022 and its soothing, happy/sad sound reached over 300 million collective streams. Despite it coming out recently, they started working on the record prior to the pandemic. To Glover, the extended time played in their favour.
In addition to Sidelines’ production process, the band also shared their interest in writing songs about love and heartbreak. Although there are equal shares of both throughout their discography, Yassein says that “the love songs happen first and the heartbreak ones tend to happen later.”
Wild
12 Stylus Magazine August / September 2022 6AM7AM8AM9AM10AM11AMNOON1PM2PM3PM4PM5PM6PM7PM8PM9PM10PM11PMMIDNIGHT1AM2AM3AM4AM5AM6AM SUNDAYSATURDAYTHURSDAYWEDNESDAYTUESDAYMONDAYFRIDAY MUSICWORDSPOKENLOCALWORDSPOKEN 13DEPARTMENTPOP/ROCKC�M�D�O�O�O�I�A�R�P�R�outSPOKEnReconciliationBeforeTruth Sentinel'sTheKaleidoscopeMarvellousWINGSSADDLE&BOOTSCOUNTR Y RadioCanadaWorldbeat RadioTravelFly fRidaYFanTasTicMusicIsland-World WWW.CKUW.CAOFFICE:204-786-9782204-:DESKNEWS786-9998AIR:ON204-774-6877FAX:204-783-7080EMAIL:CKUW@UWINNIPEG.CA VOYAGE(Jazz) GREENTHEMAJORITY RADIOALTERNATIVE Phil-InTheShow WorldMetaTheShowStoopaloop SoundIntoJourneyHistory)(Music ThoughtAfterDAILY!EARSHOTFUNHOUSEPINDER'SBINKYFANCYMYTICKLEBluesSTARROADJUNCTION CADETSPACEWORLDTHISOFOUTMUSIC,HOURAMATEURGoodIt’sBad,SoTRUSTTWANGDumbBig,Roots/Country/Roll‘n’RockRADIO*S.A.N.E.MusicExperimentalLocal ChunesLost WORLDTHEWorldTONICTHER&RSurf,andPunk,Garage,DESTINATIONMOONSock-Hop-A-Go-GoRADIONORTHBREAK FeatureAlbumCKUW BluesdayofBestHomeWayMyOnIndie)(LocalDAILY!EARSHOTSPARROWMONKEY HourArtRadioDAILY!EARSHOTcesPrinTwo KindergartenAdultSteppersCityDubONEPHASEElectronic RSUNNYOADsicMuRootsRESEARCHGLOBALHOURNEWSCACHECKFunkyQUADRAFUNKPartyDanceElectricS�ree�K�l�iazGenerat�onHop)Hip(Local SATURDAYTHEMORNINGSHOWMEDIUMDEADPUDDLEMUDRADIOtoo)(AdultsKidsForCHAIRELECTRICTHE REVIVALTENTTEMPLEIVORYTHETOWERMixEclecticResidentsEclecticTRIPTHEROCKPSYCHADELICBUILDWEHITSHip-HopBOXREDHip-HopHALLDANCEFEVERReggaeandDancehall VIBESISLANDCaribbean TINIESGASHLYCRUMBTHE ALTER-NATING WEEK C.A.R.P.THEProgramRadioAsinineCompletelyThe &BOOTSSADDLE VoiceActive SOUNDBEIGENEONEXCHANGE WheelMedicineMusicof OFSHADESCLASSICSAgeNewandClassical CKU-Speaks METALMONDAYRADIOAMPLIFIED NIGHTDANGERRADIOBACKBEAT WONDERFULTHEFRIGHTENING&OFWORLDPATRICKMICHALISHYN MANITOBAMOON HereShowYour CountryRainbow 126 8912 MORNINGBREATH MATTERSACCESSIBILITY SHOWSEANmusic)(LocalTODAYJAZZMODERN PLEASURESLISTENINGMotherlandTheuenceInfl ADDRESSFIXEDNOHOMELESSNESSOFEXPERIENCESLIVEDASURVIVETOHOWTORNADO GODFROMHIDECAN'TYOUGospelMUSICLIKESOUNDS OutWayisArenaWinnipegFireonis WorldMetaTheShowStoopaloop GAPTHEBRIDGING FILESEXILETHE FIREONISARENAWINNIPEG CANQUEER DOHOWTHEREVUEDOYOU GROOVIESOGIRLIE onareprogramsSomeairingand/orhiatusduecontentdifferentforclosureuniversitytoCOVID-19. NewstheBehindHenwoodDougwith PAGESVEGETABLES&ARTSYOUREATTAWNY,BRAVETHEPop/Rock ProgrammingTemporary DAILY!EARSHOT S�rH�r�e�ent�T�und�aLa R�C�R�V�L�T�O� FrAÑOL markedareshowsNew-starawithmarkedareshowsLive-boltlightningawith StuphTheFile SpoonsWooden GROUNDSWELLShockEcoRadio RadioRadicalTalkingRadiocityFreENOW!DEMOCRACYNOW!DEMOCRACYIndigenousMusicin ContactMakingThoughtAfter OutSpokenReconciliationBeforeTruth RadioGrooveOrangeBARKINGDOG ReportShortwaveCounterSpin RadioRootsFolkWAVESQUAREhistoryandmusicVideo THREESDEEPElectronic\Expository D�GB�R�I�GPresent'nPastRoots'nFolk
D: It’s my second year in this sort of style of show. It’s really good. I have friends that listen to it regularlythey are great supporters of the show. It’s improving, but I have never been happier with it. I am proud of the work I put in each week, I put in about 4,300 words and I do a ton of research. I spend hours and hours each week listening to music to cut it down to what I am going to play. It’s going great. I know it’s probably not everyones cup of tea. I try to make it palatable to people who aren’t video gamers. When I was younger I was into video games, these days I play one or two games that take up all my time. I am also not really into video game culture these days. I’m not a gamer. I try to take that approach to my show and if someone doesn’t know what these games are would they still find it interesting? That element is also super important to me. That is one thing that I continue to work on - if you can stand to listen to the video game music - personally I love it. I know not everyone likes the synths, MOD tracking, the vintage sounds of the accent sounds of the Thearcades.elements of the show are the music, tech and games in historical context. Each season I do deep dives into history. Last year I talked about Taito Corporation founded by a man named Michael “Misha” Kogan. He is Ukrainian who emigrated to Taiwan and later to Japan he was part of the Fugu Plan, a movement by the imperialist government to move jews out of Europe. I got to talk about that last year and that is the stuff that really motivates me to touch on those fascinating stories. This guy’s company many years later made a video game and that’s who we are listening to. S: Why did you choose the history of video game D:music?
Dustin: I knew we needed to fill this time slot and I was approached by the previous programmer and did a show called VGM (Video Game Music). Full in with the video game show - video game culture and music. I didn’t put in a ton of research. I came up with this new concept Square Wave. A documentary style show that would play music about half and half. Where I would talk about the people behind the music, the composers, the history of the music, the technology side and less so the games. The games began to take a bit of a backseat and the music came to the floor with the historical elements and the biographical elements about who was behind the music. That was the origins of Square Wave.
I was a gamer as a kid. I love video game music. I have to put in a lot of work to find out who these people are. I feel like that shouldn’t be that way. Most people don’t know anything about who composed these games. I feel there should be more attention brought to the composers and the music that was made. Some of the things that have come out of video games is the chiptune or demo scene - that use old technology, a lot of gameboy a lot of Nintendo sound chips, ancient technology, but they use them to make their music. You have some of this chiptune sound coming into mainstream music and it’s really distinct. What happened in the 90s with advancing technology and Red Book audio, prerecorded audio, once you have prerecorded audio it’s harder to make that distinct. An example a couple weeks ago I played a Bomberman show at the end I played the hero soundtrack. It’s a fantastic soundtrack, the composer Jun Chikuma wrote an incredible drum and bass track. It uses some jungle elements, it’s a really strong electronic score. When you play that, there is nothing to distinguish it from real drum and bass. I focus on stuff before the prerecorded audio, sound chips, MOD tracking, that sound is so much more distinct and iconic. A lot of the games I play are from the 80s before my time. Most of the games I‘ve never touched. I just hear the soundtrack and they are so great I want to play them or I know composer and research the composer.
S: What is your favourite part of having a radio D:show? In the off season I will listen to it. I love to bring attention to video game music. A lot of my friends love video games - but they hadn’t heard the music. Just like me it was before their time or just something they hadn’t heard of or played and to get to play the music and have people enjoy it that’s great. To receive those pieces of feedback, like that Scott gave me. He said the show was really good. To hear those notes about this content that I came up with it’s great. There is a lot of video game content out there in the world, but my show doesn’t talk about video game culture, it’s a bit more unique to the radio in Winnipeg. This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Stylus: How did you get started with CKUW?
S: Why do you like radio as a medium for sharing music?
www.ckuw.ca/stylus August / September 2022 Stylus Magazine 13
S: How do you go about choosing and researching the music for your show?
The distinctness of the 80s, and a swath of the 90s sound from video games is unique. I do play some of the pop stuff, like Bomberman - but my focus is always on that sound chip, synthesized sound. It’s Pure unique synth ancient stuff, not like what else is on the radio when you are scanning the airwaves. There are strict requirements when making this with old technology. A lot of them had kilobytes, if they were lucky, of space to make this music. Something like a Super Nintendo which uses MOD tracking, it’s basically sampling. If you wanted a violin you would sample it into the MOD tracker, the problem is the space is so small that you can only include one wave form, which is bytes of data for a sound. To turn bytes of data into something that sounds great that is something great about video game music that I feel like people don’t notice or think about. Using limited tools to make beautiful or exciting music. Those are some elements that drew me to why I wanted to do the show.
KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK
D: I certainly like the sound of my own voice. I have a certain comfort level from when I worked on the System Kidz stuff. I really love the station. I really love to create these programs. I am a big fan of other podcasts and other shows on the station; Journey to Sound on Mondays is really interesting - talks a lot about history and music, that is an interesting show to me. I feel like radio and CKUW has a responsibility to create great content that people want to listen to. I don’t take that responsibility lightly. Living up to the station’s mandate that attracts me.
cku Who? Square Wave with Dustin Rodgers
S: How is the show going so far?
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DUSTIN RODGERS
D: There is a sort of a following around certain soundtracks will rise to the top, in certain communities, I am aware of through online communities. Being connected to online communities open’s doors. I’ll start somewhere and then I’ll ask: “Who composed this? What was technology that they used? What was the circumstances or unique about this?” If there is a story there I will cover it. I’ll be aware of a composer and dig into their backstory and play their music.
TuesdaysSummerTemporaryProgramming5pmto6pm
POODLE PADDLE WHO YOU REALLY ARE
10k is an up and coming artist from Sudan currently residing in Winnipeg Manitoba. 10k has faced numerous life experiences from prison loss and racism. All these life experiences are present on the record Art of War. Art of War is a collaboration project from 10toolz and 10k, spanning 24 minutes this record is cohesive but not repetitive. The record starts with a short intro on a description of 10ks attack plan in life. Describing a warrior and how he moves swiftly. The intro song “Hellfire” is a recap on 10k’s life and how through the hills and valleys he will accomplish what he has set out to do. Everything that happened didn’t stop him and won’t stop him now. “Opps” is a song that inspires movement and bravado every time the chorus comes, he repeats the phrase “I’m sorry, but I had to.” “Sorry but I had to” holds the same weight as the common hip hop phrase “by any means,” meaning you’ll do what you have to do to get where you need to. “Open Doors” bring more of this high energy with the first line being taking every opportunity will open doors. This song, much like “Hellfire’’, is high energy and orchestral. The distorted drums and bass make this song gritty like an automobile shop with metal parts lying everywhere. All in all, this record is the perfect mix of grimy, introspective and fun.
With a soft peel into the bustling Winnipeg music scene, alt-folk project Well Sister has been releasing regularly since 2020 after her EP Sacred Sites came out in 2015. Katabasis is Jaymie Von Riesen’s first full-length album as her music project Well Sister.
10K ART OF WAR
“Cut The Grapevine” is a dreary, confounded cry for clarity on personal growth–and the things you have to do to achieve it. “If we cut the grapevine, will there be a fuller life? Will the death be worthwhile?” Musings of Riesen jump through the song and hold your attention hostage with the intentionally placed raw words, begging for personal translation.
The roots of Familiar Science’s sound, the saxophone and the persuasive rhythms, continue to shine on the calmer pieces as they do on the more abrasive ones. These key elements keep the record tied by a similar thread and allow it to remain unified even when it fluctuates in tone and mood. After a brief stop on the beach with the smoother cuts, the last two tracks
“Blissed For a Minute” stays near this softer level, offering an almost funky tropical combination of flute, saxophone, and wooden percussion. This dramatic shift in energy in the track list is not detrimental to the overall cohesion of the project, however.
FAMILIARJOYFULTALKSCIENCE
Riding Mountain National Park for a clear stream of thought, Riesen stayed with friends Eric Roberts and Natalie Bohrn (who make up the band Slow Spirit,) in a safe “cat-cuddling” and “pizza making” environment. Instruments like the saxophone, the harp, and a compelling upright bass appearance, Katabasis is everything and all of what you would expect from musical geniuses in the woods picking each other’s brains. This album encapsulates the descent and triumph of dark thoughts (even though recovery isn’t a linear thing.) In her track “Companions,” a euphonious track blend accompanies lyrics like, “Please don’t stop, even though all hope seems lost, these days will pass, and while we wait in liminal space.” A hard-hitting line for many people who have dealt with the rattling types of mental illnesses that try to shoot you down and try to halt your growth.
14 Stylus Magazine August / September 2022
Familiar Science is the fourth full-length project by Nova Scotian composer and multi-instrumentalist Jay Crocker, better known as JOYFULTALK. This most recent album sees Crocker channel more influence from free jazz than ever before, making it a work of “noise-tinged polychrome electronic Meanderingavant-jazz.” saxophones, dizzying synths, eccentric percussion, and gorgeous guitar segments define this record. Throughout its 40 minutes of runtime, Familiar Science sends the listener on a chaotic journey of experimentation while simultaneously keeping you grounded with its strong jazz roots and subtle melodies. From the very first track, “Body Stone,” we are greeted with hazy, distant vocals layered on a clunky industrial beat, eventually met with a saxophone and guitar that wander around the track frantically. The sound is alarming but somehow dreamlike, like the middle point from a pleasant dream and a Thenightmare.following song, “Take It To The Grave,” presents a more driven beat combined with more focused keys and some tasteful guitar passages that keep the song moving across its seven minutes. “Particle Riot” is a wild showcase of saxophonic dexterity over hurried drums that may have you questioning your sanity.
“I was in that war mentality when I made the record, I wrote to a lot of beats by 10toolz and I realized I had enough to make an ep. Even though is that war mentality I wanted it to be diverse and not a bunch of hype tracks,” says 10k. “Free my guys and the opps to/ I don’t wish jail upon no one not even my enemy’s/ Why would I want anyone treated like a dog.” - 10k Osani Balkaran
Riesen’s voice in this, though gentle, is all-encapsulating. From kind prose to jazzy saxophone, it is sinful to stop listening mid-album. Katabasis is a transformative view of mental illness, guaranteed a quizzical experienceand will leave everybody turning the volume up a little more. Alexandra Thole For fans of: Leonard Cohen, Royal Canoe, Mazzy Star.
“Ballad In 9” is a much calmer breath of fresh air in the middle of the record that almost acts as a resting spot amidst the frenzied instrumentation that defines the album. Here, the saxophone remains curious but feels more steady than before, perfectly complimenting the ethereal backing vocals with smooth, ponderous lines.
For those who enjoy genre-defying bands within the realm of grunge, indie, punk, and pure rock and roll, “Who You Really Are” is a must-listen, and Poodle Paddle is a band to watch as they continue playing shows and releasing music.
UlteriorsReleases
At long last, local band Poodle Paddle, comprised of duo Dani McDonald (guitar, vocals, harp) and Dawson Reynolds (drums), has released their debut single, “Who You Really Are.” The song, which was released on July 2, 2022, foreshadows the band’s plans to record and release more songs. “Who You Really Are” is a song that encapsulates everything the Poodle Paddle has thus far demonstrated in their high-energy live performances. There’s a mix between hard and soft in this single, pushing and pulling your
Zoë LeBrun WELLKATABASISSISTER
Local
Katabasis is a sober recollection of Riesen’s struggle with OCD and living to tell the story. Recorded near
emotions with each chorus and verse Withtransition.sections of racing guitar and drum beats, raw vocals, and rolling melodies, “Who You Really Are” does Poodle Paddle’s musical inspirations proud. Recalling the sounds of Hole and Siouxie and the Banshees, to name a few, the music maintains a unique softness and boisterous energy. It’s a song to dance to, sing to, and scream to all in one.
Olivier La Roche SHARONSAPPHIREFENDRICHOAK With Sapphire Oak, Sharon Fendrich has created another stunning album of musical artistry, a remarkable followup to her outstanding debut album Red Sky Prairie Sapphire Oak will take you on an ethereal cinematic journey into the realm of nature, oak groves, runes, and spirits, replete with lush orchestrations and stirring vocals. This is a true gem in the neoclassical oeuvre and this album could easily be the soundtrack to a magnificent fantasy movie. The character of the music and the cinematic soundscapes on this album remind me of movie score greats like John Barry and Howard Shore.
Released just in early June of 2022, Sentimentalist is Emma Worley’s powerful debut album. The album features several different musicians, including Ben Whiteley on bass and cello, Drew Jureka on viola and violin, Karen Ng on clarinet, Jasper Smith on electric guitar, Miles Breithaupt as well as Caitlin Comeau-Jarvis both doing backing vocals, and of course, not to forget, the one and the only Emma Worley, who did lead vocals, acoustic guitar, and vibraphone. These incredibly talented musicians and songwriters give absolute emotional depth to the album.
www.ckuw.ca/stylus August / September 2022 Stylus Magazine 15 plunge us back into chaotic free jazz in all its tangled-up glory to end the project with a proper bang. With Familiar Science, JOYFULTALK crafts a concise but explorative look into his creative mind through the boundarypushing languages of free jazz and electronics.
Sharon Fendrich has once again shown us her exceptional skills at composing, and she has also proven that she is equally adept at arranging and producing her music. Sharon not only performs the piano parts on this album but does all of the vocals as well, including a duet with her daughter Talia Valdez, on the touching song “Under Her Canopy.”
The performances by the orchestra and guest musicians on Sapphire Oak are exceptional. The beautiful lush sound of the orchestra, Symphonica Recording, is created under the skillful baton of Vladimir Martinka. As such, this orchestra provides the perfect backdrop to all of the outstanding music on the album. The guest musicians on Sapphire Oak include Lisa Rydberg on violin, Klara Kallstrom on cello, Stina Hellberg Agback on harp, and Ian Harper, who incidentally has also worked with Loreena McKennitt, on uilleann pipes and Irish whistle. These talented musicians, who must have been inspired by Sharon Fendrich, have immersed themselves into this breathtaking music, and the result is an album bursting with passion and emotion. All of the pieces on Sapphire Oak are outstanding, but I especially liked “Sea of Oaks,” “Leaves of Glory,” “The Oaken Door,” and “Carry the Oak.” Sharon Fendrich has injected her whole heart and soul into this recording, and the result is a breathtaking work of art, from the wonderful music right down to the enchanting album cover!
Emma Worly’s Sentimentalist manages to combine both, acoustic, and classical styles of instruments with timeless and relatable lyrics that sound just like a poem. The added violin and cello give the overall album a very lively and eloquent feel, making the softness of the music blend in well with the vocals and lyrical themes of the album. Through themes of change, moving on, tough relationships and bittersweet emotion, Emma Worley’s music feels like a close friend offering you a pat on the back. You can tell that she knows just how to connect with her audiences, leaving you with a whirlwind of emotions. I believe that this is especially highlighted in her debut single from the album, “Gemini.”
PHOTO: KEELEY BRAUNSTEIN-BLACK
With lyrics like “You were born that was so brave, did you come crashing in from outer space? Was it a push? A pull? A keeping-of-pace? A downhill slope or a trip in the maze? Are we clinging to time like clothes on a line? Hung out to dry but caught in a lightning storm. Can’t say I didn’t warn ya,” you can clearly see the thought and depth that she put into her lyrics, with metaphors relating to outer space, or being caught in a lightning storm, she makes the listener feel the loneliness, disorientation, and struggle that might come with losing relationships or sudden change. Similar in vocal and musical style to artists like Joni Mitchell or Neil Young, Emma Worley’s new album is the perfect listen for your sad girl summer.
Bravo Sharon! John Iverson
Gabriel Fars
ATTICA RIOTS AT FESTIVALE IN JUIN
EMMA SENTIMENTALISTWORLEY
I highly recommend this album for lovers of neo-classical, classical, and new age music, and I give it my highest possible rating!
16 Stylus Magazine August / September 2022 REAL LOVE SUMMER FEST, JULY 22-24, TEULON, MB PHOTOS: KAITE KOLESAR MOOKIWITNOE TOMMY LAGOON KANDEKT BBS STEVE
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