Awesome Rock n’ Roll Faces of The Sleepless Nights

Posted on January 24, 2008

Some wicked fuse action

Posted on January 20, 2008

A few months ago, I went out to see my favorite band, Do Make Say Think, play at Le National. I took my friend Alain out for his birthday. It was a last minute decision, and seriously, I don’t even know why I hesitated about going out for that show. It was late when I finally decided to get on the Metro and actually go to the show. I figured I might miss the opening act but that was no big deal. More often than not, the opening act isn’t all that great. Hesitation to go to this show here would’ve been a massive musical missing-out.

However, hesitation is usually how it goes these days when it comes to going out to shows in Montreal. First of all, ticket prices are often an investment for shows in this city. The stupid charges added to the often reasonably-priced  tickets, then added up to a few more dollars of taxes and bogus delivery charges (even when you choose to pick them up at the event) really add up to something around $30 more often than not. Yeah, it’s not that bad really. But if you’re a regular show-goer like myself, you might find yourself pretty broke at the end of a few months of sweet shows. So I guess you kind of have to pick and choose which shows you’ll actually go to. Even though my live experiences with Do Make Say Think have been pretty damn close to orgasmic, I came pretty close to choosing not to go to this one.

Yeah, yeah. I’m rambling. To get back to the opening acts, they’re often a shitty tease that makes you stand an extra 2 hours at a show. And shows here in Montreal, they sometimes start on time, sometimes not so much. I’ve seen myself traveling for like an hour to get to a show and get there just to find out that I had totally missed out on what I wanted to see. You think you can give yourself a half-hour’s loose time for the band you want to see, but really, you can’t. This means having to stick around and twirling your thumbs (se tourner les pouces) impatiently until the main act actually comes on.

My point with all this rambling is that this time around, the opening act was just as great as the show I was there to see. If this was the case with all shows, I’d be the happiest cat in Montreal. And really, I was lucky to even catch it since my decision to go was last-minute. Turns out the show was running late. Thank god for that.

The opening act was Sandro Perri. At first listen, it kind of sounded like a bit of Chad VanGaalen mixed with… some terribly awesomely talented Sandro. I was so impressed. There are several different ways to discover a new artist. As of late, it’s by listening to the CBC Radio 3 that I make most of my musical discoveries. Sometimes, a friend’s tip will get me turned on to something new. Never EVER had I experienced such a “love at first listen” at a live show. I’m a very picky girl, especially when it comes to music, and somehow, this man managed to break through the thick judgmental shell of mine and made me love him dearly right away (musically I mean).

Apparently, Mr. Perri is also known as Polmo Polpo and the disco king they call Continuous Dick. He also plays with a few other band including The Great Lake Swimmers. From looking at his website, this guy is definitely keeping himself busy with a whole bunch of musical projects. This constant busy-ness also speaks pretty loudly as how freakin’ talented the man really is.

So, a few weeks ago I started browsing around the sessions available on the CBC Radio 3 website and found some really interesting ones they call Fuse. This show, recorded in front of a live audience, is basically the blending (or fusion) of two different musical acts. There are some really interesting ones on there. I stumbled upon one with Patrick Watson and Torngat on the same stage. And today, I found this one with André Ethier and Sandro Perri. The sessions are pretty cool really. Of course, you have to put it into context of two artists who aren’t really used to playing with each other, and sometimes I find that the two bands don’t really come out to their full potential playing together. But it’s interesting to say the least. I really love the interviews and hearing how the bands interact with each other while being interviewed. These two guys though, I really enjoy how they share the different musical tasks on the show. It’s great. Have a listen. It’s fun!

It’s by listening to this session that I really got to hear and understand some of the brilliant lyrics that Sandro puts to his songs. More particularly, I’m talking about the song City of Museums in which I was struck by the words “When dreams are soup, we are two spoons”. I probably don’t listen to lyrics on albums as much as I should… especially being a writer and a literature aficionado. Sandro’s got some really pretty songs and absolutely dreamy and beautiful lyrics to them. He’s got a few shows coming up on Toronto, which you should totally attend if you happen to be in the area. I sure wish I was.

Music mends broken hearts

Posted on January 19, 2008

Winter Beautifulness

Posted on January 8, 2008

A little more Share please

Posted on January 7, 2008

A few weeks ago, my lovely and amazing friend Andrea sent me Share’s new CD through the mail. Friends are friends are friends. Alright. But Andrea… she’s really something. But this post isn’t really about her as much as it is about the band Share.

The band consists of the leading man Andrew Sisk accompanied by Nick Cobham and Kyle Cunjak. They’re a mainly acoustic act although they do use some little electronic instruments to spice things up a bit. Sisk also plays in the Halifax band The Sleepless Nights while Cobham and Cunjak both play in The Olympic Symphonium.

When I went to Fredericton in May 2006 to graduate from STU, my friend Janet wanted to take me to this show to see Share. You’re reading this, so you probably don’t make as strong of a connection with Cher as I did at the time, but with a name like that, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought that we were going to see Share. Needless to say I was pretty skeptical about this band. What can I say… the name just kinda turned me off.

Once they started playing, the chuckles in my head were replaced by amazement and enchantment. This is really something folks. Seriously. Nothing to do with “Do you believe in life after love”. A few mornings later, when I went into the studio with Kyle to get my grad pictures taken, he popped in Share’s CD Ukulele Tragic, which kicks off with a great little diddy called Bluebird. The ukulele is such an underrated instrument. Months later, Mr. Sisk explained to me that he wrote that album while in Jamaica and that his newer stuff was not so much about the ukulele as much as his first album.

I listened to the album a few dozen times before putting it back on the shelf. One gorgeous sunny day last summer, I decided to pop it in while sitting in the sun. Ukulele Tragic was basically the soundtrack to my summer. I listened to it so many times that I think I’ve burned it out. After buying the second album, Can Can Missile, I also started listening to it on a regular basis. The two albums are completely different, but both carry their own weight wonderfully. Can Can Missile officially marks Cobham’s and Cunjak’s collaboration into what was previously a mostly one-man-band. Electronic instruments such as pedals and a little keyboard are definitely more present but the compositions remain just as strong as the ones on the previous album.

Last October, I brought my friend Craig from CBC Radio 3 to their show. They were playing at The Barfly, which is a grungy little place on St-Laurent Boulevard. They played a wonderful set and managed to impress us both. In fact, they impressed Craig so much that he chose one of their songs as his Track of the Week.  If you’re a regular listener of the CBC Radio 3, you might have noticed that he plays their songs in his shows from time to time.

Their latest album is just as fantastic as the two previous ones. I simply can’t get enough of their music. The only complaint I would have is the fact that the albums are so short. They mainly run around 35 minutes. Do yourself a favor and check this band out. Seriously. You won’t regret it.