The Darcys & Arkells @ The Manhattan – January 31st, 2012

Posted on February 6, 2012

 

Timber Timbre: Mystère, vous avez dit mystère ?

Posted on May 15, 2011

De nos jours, rares sont les groupes susceptibles d’emporter l’auditeur dans un monde étrange et mystérieux ressemblant à un vieux film d’Hitchcock. Ambiante, subtile et mélodiquement sophistiquée, la musique de Timber Timbre voyage dans un univers unique, stimulant l’imaginaire et séduisant les oreilles. Peu de temps avant la sortie de son tout nouvel album Creep On Creepin’ On, Camuz a eu la chance de s’entretenir avec Simon Trottier, multi-instrumentiste de la formation.

Dans une entrevue précédente, vous dites préférer l’absence d’une présence visuelle des membres du groupe, question de préserver l’aspect mystérieux. Comment ceci évolue-t-il en conjonction avec votre popularité croissante?

On essaie toujours de préserver la facette mystérieuse de la musique. Par exemple, même si on joue dans de plus grandes salles, on demande à ne pas avoir d’éclairage directement sur nos visages. Parfois les gens sont un peu choqués de ne pas pouvoir voir les musiciens clairement, alors que d’autres trouvent qu’ils arrivent à mieux se concentrer sur la musique et y découvrent un autre type d’appréciation live. On apprécie beaucoup le fait que les gens sont de plus en plus nombreux à venir nous voir. On a fait des spectacles dans des bars, auparavant, où ca ne fonctionnait tout simplement pas parce que le niveau de popularité n’était pas assez grand pour amener un public qui soit vraiment à l’écoute de la musique. Comme quoi les audiences peuvent être plus grandes, mais le niveau d’écoute qu’on obtient de gens qui connaissent le projet est un aspect très positif de notre croissance en popularité. Le silence qui s’installe dans une salle avec ce genre d’auditoire participe aussi à l’élément de mystère que nous souhaitons créer. Moi, j’aime bien, en fait, parce que les gens ont tendance à ne pas me reconnaître, même après avoir assisté à un de nos concerts. Sinon, on travaille présentement à certaines vidéos qui paraîtront sous peu, mais les membres du groupe n’apparaissent pas dans celles-ci. On essaie d’être le plus discret possible en ce qui a trait à l’image physique des membres du groupe.

D’où vient cette fascination du mystère, de l’aspect très sombre qu’on retrouve dans Timber Timbre?

Je ne serais pas prêt à dire que nous sommes personnellement des gens sombres. C’est plutôt dans la nature de Taylor [Kirk] de créer des textes à partir de cet univers obscur tout en puisant dans sa propre expérience personnelle. Concernant la musique, je crois que c’est tout simplement sa façon d’écrire. Aussi, on aime beaucoup les vieux films d’horreur, donc on aime bien s’en inspirer pour instrumenter la musique de Taylor. Le rôle de Mika [Posen] et moi consiste surtout à rendre les compositions encore plus fortes. Je crois qu’on est doué pour le soutien au point de vue de l’atmosphère. Il est ici question de pousser à l’extrême ce que la musique représente déjà.

Les textes de Taylor Kirk (leader du groupe) ont tendance à laisser place à l’imagination de l’auditeur du fait qu’ils contiennent des trous narratifs fréquents. Croyez-vous que cette convoitise très forte de l’imaginaire du public par le mystère est volontaire de la part de Taylor?

Je crois effectivement que c’est un peu ce qu’on essaie de pousser avec notre musique. On espère que le public partira dans sa propre spirale imaginative avec notre musique. Un peu comme quand quelqu’un décrit un endroit où on n’est jamais allé, on a tendance à bâtir notre propre perception par rapport à ce qui est émis par l’autre. Il y a quelque chose de très intime qui se dissimule dans la musique, et je crois que Taylor souhaite laisser aux gens la liberté de l’interpréter comme ils le veulent. Mais je pense que oui, c’est intentionnel. Taylor a un background en cinéma, et je crois qu’il est conscient du fait qu’il camoufle des histoires dans ses textes tout en laissant libre cours à l’imaginaire de ceux qui écoutent.

Alors que le dernier album était très simple au point de vue des arrangements musicaux, votre nouvel opus offre quelque chose de bien rempli. Pouvez-vous me parler un peu de cet aspect?

Il y a effectivement beaucoup plus de moments où la voix laisse place à l’instrumentation. Je crois que cela s’explique par le fait que, depuis l’album éponyme, Mika et moi nous sommes joints d’une manière permanente au projet de Taylor. L’autre album a plus ou moins été travaillé en solo alors que pour Creep On Creepin’ On nous étions présents tout au long de la création et nous avons pu travailler des arrangements plus denses et plus complets pour ce dernier. Nous avons bien sûr aussi eu la chance de collaborer avec d’autres musiciens en studio, par exemple Colin Stetson, qui apparaît au saxophone à plusieurs reprises sur le disque, et crée des effets très denses.

Pour ceux qui n’ont pas encore eu la chance d’écouter votre nouvel album, pouvez-vous me parler un peu des influences qu’on y retrouve?

Bien sûr, on y retrouve une panoplie d’influences. Par exemple, il a un côté qui se rapproche du rock ‘n roll des années 50 dans Too Old to Die Young  par exemple. On y retrouve aussi des chansons plus upbeat. Le côté folk se transforme pour aller chercher des influences du do-wop, même dans Black Water, on retrouve un petit côté Motown. C’est déjà un peu plus rock dans ce sens. Au point de vue de la musique live, on y ajoutera de nouveaux instruments, on aura un peu plus de percussions. On augmentera aussi l’intensité. Il y aura des chansons un peu up-tempo alors que d’autres moments seront plus calmes. On essaiera de varier les atmosphères sans devenir un groupe rock pour autant.La musique demeure largement atmosphérique.

Article et photo par Sarah Brideau pour Camuz

Misteur Valaire et la Blogothèque vont au coiffeur

Posted on May 4, 2011

I’ve been fond of these guys since the first time I’ve heard then over by the Montreal Old Port a few years back, while they were still just beginning. The new music they’ve been creating since then just keeps getting better and better. Clearly, their talent hasn’t gone unnoticed since the notoriously and steadily awesome Blogothèque has recently posted this above video on Youtube.
Way to go Misteur Valaire. May your success keep rising.

The Kills @ L’Olympia de Montréal – Samedi, 30 avril 2011

Posted on May 1, 2011

For more photos, please visit my Flickr page.

Rendez-vous sur ma page Flickr pour plus de photos

Shad Across Canada Spring 2011!

Posted on April 29, 2011

Like many other great Canadian artists, I found out about Shad through CBC Radio 3. That was quite a while back. Back when the Old Prince still lived at home! A few things struck me straight up: his great and very expressive rapping voice, the humour and lightheartedness of his lyrics, quality of rhyme and of course, the music ties in together with great beats and melodies. In fact (I can say this because this is my own blog) but I’m not a big fan of hip-hop, generally speaking. But back in the day, there were some pretty great people who were doing it old school and they were groups that truly hooked me and that I’ll still love listening to every once in a while.

Well, Shad is one of the few up there on my tiny pedestal of truly great hip-hop artists. Anyway, word is he’s on a cross-Canada tour right now. Wherever you are, you might enjoy his music.

Cheers!

MP Show Preview: The Kills @ l’Olympia tomorrow night

Posted on April 29, 2011

It’s been a while since The Kills last swung by Montreal for a live show. Since their last concert here, they have kept busy preparing and releasing a new record, Blood Pressures, still just a few weeks old. The Kills will be at l’Olympia tomorrow night, Saturday April 30th.

It was difficult to say what to expect from the London-based duo as far as this new album is concerned. Still grungy, The Kills are apparently still very much attached to the sense of melodic minimalism that has come to define their style. Though Blood Pressures sometimes strays towards a slightly more Pop-ish sound from time to time, the duo never really allows itself to give in to anything candy-coated. Preferring to loom in the darkness of something raw and sensuous, The Kills produced a record suggesting something more Blues and a bit less Punk. This being said, the fans of the awesome “kick” should still find some satisfaction in the continuing musical efforts of The Kills. There are some truly great songs on Blood Pressures; “Future Starts Slow”, “Nail In My Coffin” and “DNA”, for instance, remain close to what I’ve personally always loved about this band. It should be interesting to see what kind of performance will come out of The Kills tomorrow night, at the very least. I, for one, expect and still hope for something really strong, dark, leather-smelling and intoxicating from this band.

Photo credit: Photographed by Marvin Scott Jarrett for NYLON, February 2008.

Tickets are $22 in advance and can be purchased at Admission.com, at the Olympia, on evenko.com, Cheap Thrills and L’Oblique.
According to Evenko, the show starts at 20:30
L’Olympia is located at 1004 Ste-Catherine E

Un nouvel album pour SoCalled

Posted on April 21, 2011

Le tout-fameux maestro rappeur klezmer/hip-hop montréalais vient tout juste de lancer son cinquième album intitullé “Sleepover” au label Dare to Care Records. D’après un communiqué de presse de Pop! Montréal:

“Une édition spéciale en pré-vente du quatrième album studio de SOCALLED, intitulé Sleepover, est maintenant disponible sur le site de Dare To Care Records. Les premiers arrivés recevront non seulement l’album, mais aussi une taie d’oreiller Socalled en édition limitée et un billet pour le lancement ! Le chef d’oeuvre Sleepover sera disponible partout au Canada le 3 mai 2011 sur Dare to Care Records. LANCEMENT D’ALBUM jeudi 12 mai, 2011. “.

Il faut admirer la détermination des compagnies de disques à vendre des albums malgré le fait que l’Internet peut parfois nuire aux ventes. De plus en plus on voit les albums offerts en vente avec du “swag”, ce qui, personnellement, m’incite toujours (un peu plus) à acheter. Quand c’est quelque chose d’inusité du genre “taie d’oreiler”, j’applaudit la maneuvre de marketing. Et puis, un billet pour le lancement de disque, ça vaut largement le prix de l’album, non? Alors si vous planifiez célébrer la sortie de cet album jusque dans votre lit, ne tardez pas à placer votre commande.

The Barr Brothers: Une entrevue avec Brad Barr

Posted on April 21, 2011

L’alliance fraternelle des frères Brad et Andrew Barr est l’épicentre mélodique et rythmique du quatuor incluant aussi Sarah Pagé à la harpe et Andres Vial à la basse et aux claviers. Les quatre musiciens s’inspirent d’une manière réciproque et apportent évidemment aussi leurs propres styles et influences au combo. S’inspirant de différents folklores à travers le monde (ouest africain, sud américain, blues, chanson irlandaise), des conteurs et de la musique classique, le groupe vise à créer une œuvre rythmée aux mélodies exaltantes, mais tout de même très intime. Barr explique que la tradition du folklore est axée sur quelque chose d’historique et que ce style met de l’avant des instruments acoustiques. Quoique la formule demeure essentiellement la même, on retrouve, au point de vue international, des contrastes étonnants.

Brad Barr a une certaine aisance à travailler avec son frère car leurs trajectoires leur ont permis d’arriver à très bien se connaître. Ils parviennent à être très honnêtes l’un envers l’autre, allégeant ainsi sans ressentiment certaines difficultés et apportant une certaine stabilité au groupe. « Ceci étant dit, travailler avec d’autres musiciens est une expérience riche et incomparable. J’aime aussi beaucoup la variété et parfois, avec quelque chose d’aussi stable on peut avoir un peu de difficulté à s’étonner ».
Il estime que The Slip et The Barr Brothers sont des formations très différentes. Parfois, le fait d’avoir une personne particulière sur scène peut complètement changer la personnalité du groupe. « Mark Friedman est un musicien exceptionnel : il joue de la basse, des pédales, des synthétiseurs qui se jouent avec les pieds, et c’est un humoriste incroyable qui amène une dynamique tout à fait singulière au groupe ». En fait, Barr perçoit un équilibre entre les trois formations dont il fait partie : « Ça peut être un peu difficile à gérer côté logistique, mais pour moi, au point de vue sentimental, c’est très libérateur parce qu’un groupe peut affranchir les contraintes de l’autre ».

The Barr Brothers, avec sa harpe, son pump organ, et sa contrebasse, a ses propres exigences dont la première est le volume. En même temps, les limites sont parfois ce qui rend le travail si intéressant. En choisissant Sarah Pagé pour se joindre à eux sur la harpe, ils n’ont pas choisi tant l’instrument que la musicienne avec laquelle ils ont une relation et une chimie créative tout à fait extraordinaires. « Elle arrive à traiter une variété musicale hors de l’ordinaire, en pratique et au point de vue créatif ». Elle s’intéresse à toute une panoplie de musique de l’Afrique de l’Ouest et ces influences ouvrent des avenues musicales fascinantes. Avec sa formation musicale classique, Pagé apporte aussi un savoir important au groupe. La chimie et la dynamique du travail avec une artiste comme Pagé s’avèrent être un magnifique déclencheur pour Barr. « C’est quelque chose de tout à fait formidable : la symbiose est très productive et enrichissante pour moi et pour elle aussi, je crois ».

Camuz attend impatiemment la sortie canadienne de l’album des Barr Brothers et vous invite à visiter le site web du groupe au www.thebarrbrothers.com pour d’avantage d’informations au sujet du groupe.

 

Article et photo par Sarah Brideau

Advance stream of The Kills’ “Blood Pressures”

Posted on March 29, 2011

Well didn’t I feel lucky to hear this morning about an advance stream of The Kills’ new album to be released next week, Blood Pressures! The stream is now open for your listening pleasures on the band’s website.

A little Sunday night musing…

Posted on March 27, 2011

From his latest full-length release “Nice, Nice, Very Nice” (which, indeed, it is), Dan Mangan will be in Montreal at Sala Rossa on April 5th, 2011. For more information or for more tour dates, see the artists’ website.

Une Entrevue avec Atomic 5 – Camuz

Posted on March 17, 2011

C’est lors d’un après-midi d’hiver ensoleillé mais froid que Camuz a rencontré les cinq jeunes musiciens d’Atomic 5 au Juliette et Chocolat de « la Main ». Autour de quelques tasses de chocolat, nous avons eu l’occasion de poser quelques questions aux heureux gagnants du Concours de la relève Jupiter-Vandoren du festival Jazz en rafale 2010. Le quintet lancera son premier album avec un spectacle, le samedi 26 mars 2011 à 19h00, en 1ère partie du Terri Lyne Carrington & Rafael Zaldivar Quartet à l’Astral.

Comment en êtes-vous venus à choisir le jazz en tant que style musical ?

Le groupe a commencé en tant que combo étudiant, en 2008, alors que nous étions à McGill pour le diplôme en Interprétation musicale. C’était plus ou moins un choix : lorsqu’on choisit d’étudier la musique, c’est soit le classique ou le jazz. On s’est tous retrouvé dans le même programme et celui de McGill nous offrait une formation en jazz. On voulait créer de la musique originale; on s’est donc dirigé vers un programme qui nous permettrait d’inclure l’aspect créatif à l’interprétation musicale.

Vous intéressez-vous à d’autres styles musicaux?

Bien sûr. Je crois que chaque membre du groupe a ses propres influences et que cela nous donne un style un peu éclectique. Je crois qu’aucun de nous n’était vraiment musicien jazz au départ. Kat a été formée dans un cadre classique plus ou moins formel alors que certains d’entre nous faisions partie de groupes pop ou rock.

Pourriez-vous me parler de vos influences individuelles et m’expliquer la manière dont ces influences se rejoignent ?

Je crois qu’en définissant nos fondements par rapport au style jazz, ça nous permet d’approcher la musique plus librement. Le jazz a toujours été un style qui se compose d’influences diverses et cela nous accorde la liberté nécessaire à l’exploration de divers styles musicaux sans nécessairement s’y perdre. À l’extérieur du groupe, nous faisons tous partie d’autres projets appartenant à une variété d’autres styles musicaux, et cela contribue à la variété de nos influences. Cela étant dit, le jazz agit en tant que plateforme mélodique et rythmique, nous permettant de fusionner nos propres influences.

Est-ce que vous visez un son particulier ?

Je ne crois pas que notre approche créative se limite vraiment à créer une musicalité particulièrement jazz. Je crois plutôt que notre formation nous permet d’appliquer certains de ses éléments et principes à notre musique, cependant le style est loin d’être une restriction majeure dans notre processus créatif.

Pouvez-vous me parler un peu de votre transition d’un groupe étudiant à un groupe professionnel ?

La formation du groupe faisait partie du programme scolaire, mais c’est nous qui avons choisi de prendre l’initiative de continuer au-delà de ce qui était requis par le programme. Je crois qu’à la sortie de l’université, on se retrouve tous à explorer les frontières auxquelles nous limitent l’encadrement académique. On apprend à les pousser à notre propre manière afin de développer quelque chose qui nous est unique et dans lequel nous pouvons nous épanouir naturellement. C’est un peu pourquoi à la base, nous avons choisi un parcours académique qui nous permettrait une certaine liberté créative.

Mis à part l’aspect technique de vos études en musique, quelle leçon avez vous apprise que vous trouvez particulièrement pertinente dans votre carrière musicale à ce jour ?

La ponctualité, les conséquences de ne pas l’être ainsi que tous les aspects préparatifs qui s’y rattachent. Il y a aussi l’importance d’être à la bonne place au bon moment qui se rattache à ce principe, par exemple, le fait de se concentrer sur l’instant présent et d’interagir avec ce qui se produit autour de nous d’une manière spontanée. Je crois aussi qu’on a beaucoup appris au cours des sessions de coaching avec les professeurs et que celles-ci nous permettaient un apprentissage plus personnalisé. Cela nous aidait quant à notre approche de la musique et de certains principes musicaux.

Quelles sont vos pensées à propos d’une carrière dans le monde de la musique, et particulièrement celui du jazz ?

Le choix de se forger une carrière musicale n’est pas nécessairement quelque chose qui repose uniquement sur la décision de le faire; on doit aussi se voir présenter l’occasion de le faire. Les perspectives sont assez rares et souvent difficiles dans ce domaine. Il y avait une époque où des musiciens étaient embauchés pour des semaines entières dans un même bar, ce qui permettait une certaine stabilité. Aujourd’hui, les conditions de l’industrie ne le permettent pas. C’est une industrie qui a vécu des changements importants, et qui continue d’évoluer. Il y a plus d’une manière de faire carrière en musique et nous sommes en période d’exploration.

Propos recueillis par Sarah Brideau pour Camuz

Une entrevue avec Jim Bryson and The Weakerthans

Posted on March 14, 2011

 

D’où vous est venu l’idée d’une collaboration pour l’enregistrement d’un album studio?

(W) : Nous étions de grands fans des compositions de Jim et nous l’avions temporairement adopté : il chantait les harmonies avec nous, et nous avions discuté un peu de cette idée d’enregistrer un album ensemble. (JB) : On a décidé d’entreprendre tout ça en septembre, et en janvier on était dans un chalet en train d’enregistrer. (W) : On a déniché ce superbe chalet dans un endroit isolé à Falcon Lake, à la frontière du Manitoba et de l’Ontario, et nous y sommes restés une semaine. C’était superbe : les nuits étaient claires et étoilées et les journées ensoleillées, le tout bien arrosé et avec plein de bonne bouffe.

 

Est-ce que vous avez trouvé le processus de composition bien différent dans le cadre d’une expérience conjointe?

(JB) : J’ai d’abord composé les chansons et ensuite nous avons travaillé ensemble les arrangements musicaux. De mon côté, sachant que le projet allait se produire, j’avais composé les chansons à cette fin précise. Mais je crois qu’une chanson n’est que paroles et accords; ce sont les arrangements musicaux et l’interprétation musicale qui donnent vie aux compositions.

 

L’album se nomme The Falcon Lake Incident (L’incident de Falcon Lake) : quel était l’incident?

(J&W) : Nous! Nous étions l’incident. (JB) : Non, sérieusement, dans les années 60, certaines personnes ont dit avoir vu des extraterrestres dans la région. À bien y penser, l’idée n’est pas si farfelu parce qu’on est arrivé un peu comme des extraterrestres avec un immense camion d’équipement dans un environnement très serein; on a fait du vacarme à toutes les heures de la journée, on a nettoyé, on a balayé et on est reparti sans laisser signe de notre présence. Sauf, peut-être pour le bois qu’on a brûlé… (W) : et le cerf! Il y avait un cerf qui nous regardait constamment par la fenêtre… (JB) : une mère et son petit. Ils se sont habitués à notre horaire et, même la nuit, ils étaient là tout curieux, comme des espions.

 

Qu’est-ce qui vous a amené à choisir cet endroit?

(W) : Nous voulions vivre une expérience différente, quelque chose que nous n’avions jamais encore vécu en tant que musiciens. Nous voulions aussi nous isoler afin de vraiment apprécier l’expérience d’être ensemble dans ce processus d’enregistrement. (JB) : C’était très relax comme atmosphère, tout en restant professionnel. Si quelqu’un voulait partir à l’aventure dans les bois, on changeait de place. Certains ont fait une pause pour aller voir la partie des finales de la coupe du monde junior de hockey pendant qu’on faisait des overdubs. Jason cuisinait beaucoup. Il y a même une partie que j’ai dû effacer parce qu’on entend le bruit des couteaux qui découpent à l’arrière! Parfois la porte du frigo qui ouvrait, ou des bouteilles se cognaient. C’était un espace super ouvert, mais c’était vraiment plaisant, interactif et naturel.

 

Je constate que vous avez d’autres musiciens invités sur cet album, au-delà de votre collaboration. Pourriez-vous m’en parler un peu?

(W) : Oui, il y a certaines parties qui ont été enregistrées en studio et qui ont été ajoutées en post-production. (JB) : Effectivement, j’ai apporté une chanson que j’avais enregistrée avec Jill Barber, et le groupe y a ajouté l’accompagnement musical. C’était un peu comme un groupe qui s’ajoute à un autre groupe. Jill et moi l’avions enregistré dans les studios de Tragically Hip, à la campagne. C’était l’été, les fenêtres étaient ouvertes et on y entend les grillons… (W) : et nous, par la suite, on a enregistré le reste dans un chalet au Manitoba en plein hiver… (JB) : On espère que les gens ne remarquent pas les grillons et ce petit bluff.

 

Propos recueillis par Sarah Brideau pour Camuz

An Interview with Buck 65: the integral (untranslated and unabridged) version

Posted on March 2, 2011

Your press release bio takes the shape of an essay presentation written by you. You draw out your musical trajectory up until this point and describe yourself as nerd and talk about the “losers and pariahs with an eye for beauty” who sparked your desire and inspiration for music writing. Could you tell me a bit more about what it is about what it is about those figures that inspire you and how you link your own experience to theirs?

For me, it all goes back to my own beginnings, not so much as a musician but as a person. Growing up in a really small town has something to do with it because you’re not really having the same experiences as a person from the city, and you’re relying so much on your own imagination; you’re not exposed to the same things. On top of that, for reasons that I’ve never been able to figure out, even within (not just my community and the place where I grew up) my own household, I was always very much to myself. I was always very much a black sheep in my family from the beginning, and I don’t really know why that is. Everyone else in my family is really close to each other, and from the time I was a kid I was always on the outside, not sharing the same relationships with my parents as my sisters had. God knows why that was the case, but I think that something that’s really important is that I discovered hip-hop music when I was still really young, and I was living in this small town, and it was really a private pursuit that was happening in my bedroom whereas the people who were making the music, the scene would’ve existed in NYC and some of these other big cities where the music was coming from, it was a very different experience, it was music from clubs, it was party music, it was a really social thing, but for me it wasn’t that at all. Another thing I think is pretty important is that, for whatever reason, it’s probably attached to the fact that I was really into sports, baseball in particular, when I was a kid and I was very serious about my health so I never started to smoke or drink or anything like that, which is more of a social thing. So that made my place in things always a bit different, in fact I think that’s a big reason why I became a DJ in the first place, because the only way I could find myself in a social situation or a party and actually be engaged would be if I was the guy playing the music, because I couldn’t really participate in anything else because I wasn’t drinking or doing drugs or anything like that. It was really awkward because I was really shy and came from the country and everything else anyway. It’s something that was always driven by introversion and I think that being the case I was always driven to other people who were like that, and just felt more safe towards people that I could relate to on that level.

 

In your new record, you got to collaborate with several other great musicians. You describe those people as “fellow-sub-normals”. Can you tell me what it is about those people that makes you feel as though you’re “sub-normals”, that is to say, what places you in a position of below normal?

I say it a little bit in jest, but there is some truth to the matter. To me, it’s a fascinating thing to look at a guy like Gord Downie, who is a big star in this country, if you get a chance to observe that guy up close, you start to become amazed that he and his band somehow, against all odds managed to become a huge thing in this country because there’s a lot about him, and his songs and his writing, that’s really unusual, it’s not the sort of thing that has the usual pop formula written all over it. Also, if you watch the guy performing on stage in particular, he’s a madman; he just goes into some sort of voodoo trance when he’s on stage. Clearly, if you spend any time with his lyrics, he’s a very deep and thoughtful sort of person: he’s not just writing all sorts of songs about fleeting puppy love or fast cars and stuff – there’s something much deeper and intriguing going on with him. When I look at a lot of the other people that I worked with on this album, for example John Southworth, in my view, he’s a genius, but I think that there’s probably a reason why he hasn’t become better known in this country or anywhere else. I think his outlook on things in general, even though I think that it’s very beautiful, is really not in line with the way the average person looks at things or thinks about them or even sees them. I could tell a similar story about just about anybody on the record. It’s important to know that they’re all friends of mine – they’re not people I went to as a fan, because I’ve never been too comfortable with that. If you spend any time with Jenn Grant, or listen to her speak between songs when she’s on stage, it’s clear that, for as unbelievably musically talented as she is, she’s a bit of a kooky type of person.

 

Your new album seems to reach for a look back over the last twenty years of your life as a musician. Can you tell me what this album has taught you about that period of your life?

I think I’ve pursued two themes in my life and in my music: One is that I’ve always been really intrigued with the idea of being uncomfortable. I think this goes back to one of the first things we were talking about, with how I always felt a bit socially awkward and never did any of the things that most people do to make themselves comfortable, like drinking in a social situation or to break the ice. I was always so, almost painfully, on the outside that I became super-aware of it from the time that I was a young kid, and it became something that I would study and examine and use as a means to understand myself. I thought that there’s strength to be found there: it requires strength, some sort of fortitude, to last in a situation where you’re feeling very uncomfortable. It takes more strength to do that than just the opposite: to give in and say “well, this is too uncomfortable for me, I’m going to do whatever it takes to become comfortable”. That’s easier than allowing yourself to stay uncomfortable. Allowing myself to stay uncomfortable is basically something I’ve chosen to do for my entire life, and I’ve even experimented with it musically: it’s been interesting to me to repeatedly take myself outside of my own comfort zone just to see what would happen. I’ve also had the opportunity to learn as I do that, what it does take, with my approach being a little different, for me to become comfortable. And so, I think this album is really a marriage of those two things because there’s still a lot of exploration, going outside of the usual comfort zone and what everybody would be expecting of a hip-hop artist or record. But I also surrounded myself with friends and people that would allow me to be comfortable to perform as best as I could and to express myself as freely and honestly as possible. For example, one thing that nobody could possibly know just by listening to the album is that I recorded my parts, my vocals, completely alone outside of the studio where everything else was recorded. It’s something I needed to be completely alone for, in a room with nobody else, because I’ve just learned over the last few years that it’s the only way that I can do it right, because the minute there’s any factor that’s outside of my complete control, I’m immediately uncomfortable. It’s like how can I play both at the same time; it’s like a nice balance between what’s uncomfortable and what’s completely comfortable at the same time.

 

Tell me what were the best parts of working with other musicians for this record?

Every song was a very different experience and I think I’ve learned something from all of them. It was very interesting to work with Gord Downey and to see how thoughtful and philosophical his approach was, much more than technical. Everything we talked about was abstract and it seemed as though every time we would be able to paint a very clear picture just by being philosophical, then the technical side happened automatically. It was a very interesting exercise for me. That contrasted with working with Jenn Grant, very much the opposite: for her everything is done without thinking it seems. She just closes her eyes and allows herself to be transported to another place and this miraculous thing just start to happen with her body where this amazingly beautiful stuff comes out of her throat.

 

And the worst (hardest)?

Well this wasn’t bad in terms of the studio or anything, but one thing that was really unfortunate is that I worked on a song with another Canadian musician, a signer named Gentleman Reg, and we did sort of a cover version of a song called Smalltown Boy by Bronsky Beat, which was a hit in the early eighties. Not exactly a cover, it was more like an adaptation: I wrote a couple new parts, some rap verses, and then everything else from the song was the same. Basically, we had to go through some legal channels to ensure that we would be able to release that song on the album. And so, when we began to go through the channels, we learned that we would not be allowed to do it. We learned that from the guy that originally did it, Jimmy Summerville, who said, “No, I’m not going to allow this to happen”. That was a very difficult and disappointing and heartbreaking thing on many levels because I thought that the song was a very important piece of the album. Plus, it was just a song that I really loved and I was proud of the performance that Reg gave on the album. Choosing him as a vocalist was like a stroke of genius because he was able to match the original feeling so well. To be honest with you, a big part of what motivated me to do this song is something I was thinking about for a long time before I made the album: I felt like I wanted to make some kind of gesture towards the homosexual community because it’s such a difficult place in the world of hip-hop. I hate to say it but it’s still so largely homophobic in so many ways. I thought that it’s not an area that’s really explored in hip-hop music at all, it’s very uncommon, and if it exists at all, it’s very underground. Sometimes you hear about a deep underground gay hip-hop scene, but outside of that community it’s not heard. I wanted to make some sort of gesture, some sort of comment, and as is always the case with me, I’m not a really heavy-handed person, and I knew that was something I was going to do in a subtle way. This song that I chose to adapt is, I think, an anthem in the gay community, and I thought that if I could pull them in that way, by making that gesture and making a reference to that song and everything that is stands for and what it means, I thought that’s a beautiful thing. I thought there was something really nice and I really hoped that it was something that Jimmy Summerville, as a gay man, would appreciate and be excited about, and would definitely want to support. So, it was very surprising to me when he said: “No, I don’t want this to happen”. The deadline for this album was so close, I had no choice, I just had to let it go, but I haven’t given up, I’m still hoping that I can fight for the song and have it released some day. But, it was just something that I so badly wanted to do, so to have that not work out was very disappointing.

 

On a personal level, do you see their presence as something that changed your music intensely?

I think so, yes. With these songs on this particular album, I’m sure, going into the future I will have taken something away from this experience that I maybe will keep with me when I’m writing new songs as I go forward. A lot of the material on this album would never have happened if I were working alone. In fact, my philosophy when it comes to collaborating, in most cases, I just really want it to be a true collaboration in that I don’t want to dictate the terms to the person I’m working with by saying “this is the song and this is what I want you to do”. I really want the people that I’m working with to be bringing their ideas to the table. That was definitely happening with most of these collaborations. It was absolutely a fifty/fifty effort, if not even more sometimes for the collaborator I was working with. A song like BCC, with John Southworth, I could never have conceived of something like that in a million years because it absolutely came out of his utterly unique mind. I was so happy that he was so generous in that way, instead of him saying that he would adapt to what I’m doing and trying to find a piece of Buck 65 that might exist in him somewhere. Quite the opposite, I wanted to enter his world and he opened that door to me. I really think that this is the theme of the album in a lot of ways: those doors being opened and finding a way into those other worlds that I would otherwise probably never found my way into.

How do you think the Buck 65 fans will feel about that?

It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens there. Of course, one of the hopes is that with some of these new ideas that were happening that it will create an opportunity for the audience to grow and maybe it will attract some people that have never really heard what I’ve done before. In terms of the core people who are always there, this is me challenging them. That’s always a dangerous thing to do, but something that I like to do. But the one thing that I did as a gesture towards them is that I made almost extra effort to build all of these songs, even if they were going to go into some strange new places, on a very solid hip-hop foundation. So, what you see on this album, maybe even more other turntable stuff I’ve done in the last 10 years is that it’s built on a foundation of break beats and very heavy drums, and there’s a lot of turntable on this album, maybe even more turntable stuff than I’ve done on any other album, it’s really heavy in that way. Of course, when it came to my own lyrics, I wanted to make sure that I was bringing my own distinct touch to it, and allowing room for my own imagination to work. I hope that even if it’s something new, that there’s still something familiar to people when they’re listening. I hope that even if it’s one of these collaborations that go into a completely new world that there’s still something unmistakably Buck 65 about it for people. I didn’t totally want to let go of control.

 

Are you planning to take this album on the road with a tour? If so, how do you plan to make this happen (with all the collabs)? Can your fans expect to see a few of those musicians take the stage with you in the next little while?

I am, yes. In fact, that’s really primarily where my thinking is going now and in these last couple weeks: preparing for that and trying to figure out how technically this is going to work because obviously, I can’t take all these people on tour with me. One day I was suddenly confronted with this question, because when I was making this album, I didn’t think about it. And then one day, I was getting ready to do some shows in Australia and in China and around Asia, and I realized “wait a minute, how are you going to perform all these new songs with all of those other signers on it”, because I can’t really sing them myself because I’m not that strong of a signer and it wouldn’t even really make sense in a lot of ways. So, I realized I was going to have to try and find a signer who was adaptable enough that they could, one minute play the role of Gordon Downey and Jenn Grant the next, and one who could maybe learn some French as well or hopefully someone who already spoke French. So, I need to find a very versatile signer. Basically, that’s what I’ve been working on: who can help me, and practicing with them. So, when I do, do shows, in the spring and summer, another vocalist will be with me on stage. It will be a whole new dynamic to the live aspect of what I do. I was thinking about all of the songs and all of the things being expressed, what does the signer need to be? The first thing I realized was that it had to be a woman because I could imagine a woman singing Gordon Downey’s lyrics, or John Southworth’s lyrics, or Nick Thornbun’s lyrics no problem, but I was having a difficult time imagining a man singing Jenn Grant’s lyrics – it just didn’t quite feel right. Not that it would be impossible, but to me it would almost in a way change the meaning of the song. I think I found someone who I think I’m going to be able to work well with and everyone will be introduced to her very soon.

Interview by Sarah Brideau

Buck 65: Le “fellow sub-normal” – Version Camuz

Posted on March 2, 2011

Buck 65 est un musicien de style hip-hop, rappeur et DJ originaire de la Nouvelle-Écosse, avec plus d’une vingtaine d’albums à son actif. Quoique ses fondements musicaux restent fidèles au hip-hop, au cours des dernières années, des influences blues, country, rock et folk définissent l’aspect avant-gardiste d’un style qui lui est propre. Buck 65 vient tout juste de lancer l’album « 20 Odd Years » sur l’étiquette Warner, le 1er février 2011.

 

Dans un texte autobiographique, tu parles de tes muses et tu les décris comme des « losers et parias qui ont une vision particulière de la beauté ». Pourquoi t’inspirent-ils et comment lies-tu ton expérience à la leur? 

 

Je viens d’un petit village qui n’a rien d’urbain et même au sein de ma propre famille, je me suis longtemps senti comme le petit mouton noir. J’avais beaucoup recours à mon imagination pour fuir l’isolation familiale et communautaire que je ressentais. C’est alors que j’ai découvert le hip-hop : musique d’un monde contraire au mien, centrifuge au réseau hypersocial de la réalité urbaine des boîtes de nuit de NYC (entre autres). C’est un univers qui m’a tout de suite absorbé, mais d’une manière inattendue : très intime dans l’espace privé de ma chambre. J’étais aussi très sportif et je me préoccupais beaucoup de ma santé physique : je me tenais donc loin des « aide-socialisateurs » tels que l’alcool et la cigarette. Devenir DJ, c’était pour moi une manière efficace de sortir de mon isolement. J’ai toujours été un type timide et socialement maladroit et mon désir de faire de la musique a toujours été motivé par une forte introversion.

 

Ce dernier album est composé de collaborations avec d’autres musiciens que tu décris en tant que « fellow sub-normals ». Pourquoi cette impression d’être en bas de la normale?

 

Je disais ça surtout pour rire, mais c’est tout de même un peu vrai. Ça me fascine de voir qu’un type comme Gord Downie, qui est un géant dans ce pays, jusqu’aux moindres retailles de sa personne, est tout sauf une star de la pop. Sa musique et ses paroles sont loin d’être ordinaires. C’est un homme d’une profondeur philosophique étonnante et cela transparaît dans sa musique. D’autres personnes avec qui j’ai travaillé sur cet album, dont John Southworth, ont un géni qui risque de passer inaperçu, pas parce qu’ils n’ont rien d’étonnant, mais parce qu’ils voient le monde d’une manière très différente.

 

Cet album jette un regard sur les 20 dernières années de ta carrière musicale. Qu’en as-tu appris?

 

J’ai toujours été fasciné par la notion d’inconfort. Comme je disais plus tôt, j’ai toujours été un type timide, mais sans jamais chercher à m’en évader. J’ai surtout tendance à essayer de comprendre cette facette de ma personnalité parce que je crois qu’il s’y cache aussi une grande force. Dans ma musique, je crois qu’il est aussi intéressant d’explorer des zones dans lesquelles je suis moins confortable ou qui me sont moins connues. Je me suis entouré d’amis afin d’être à mon meilleur et de m’exprimer aussi librement et sincèrement que possible. Par exemple, on ne devinerait pas en écoutant l’album que j’ai enregistré toutes mes parties lyriques totalement isolé des autres musiciens afin de ne pas être distrait par quoi que ce soit et de rester dans ma bulle. J’aime bien pouvoir jouer des deux côtés de la frontière du confort et de l’inconfort.

 

Peux-tu me parler un peu de l’expérience collaborative que tu as vécue? De ses bons côtés et des moins bons?

 

Chaque chanson était une expérience différente. Par exemple, avec Gord Downey, on commençait par éclaircir des approches profondes et philosophiques, et le côté technique allait de soi par la suite. Avec Jenn Grant, c’était un peu le contraire : elle ferme les yeux et se laisse emporter; son corps transi, le miracle sort de sa gorge, comme si de rien n’était.J’ai retravaillé une nouvelle version de Smalltown Boy (de Bronsky Beat) avec Gentleman Reg, mais nous ne sommes pas arrivés à avoir les droits pour l’album. C’était une grande déception; on avait réussi à conserver le sentiment original, et je voyais dans cette chanson un message important en ce qui a trait aux homosexuels et au hip-hop.

 

Comment l’expérience des collaborations a-t-elle changé ta musique?

 

Je crois que ça l’a beaucoup changé, en effet. Je souhaitais que mes collaborations soient faites d’une manière qui laisse l’autre libre dans sa propre inspiration, et cela a très bien fonctionné. Je voulais que la porte reste ouverte pour l’innovation et pour l’échange afin d’amener ma musique vers des avenues totalement nouvelles.

 

Comment t’y prendras-tu pour faire la tournée d’un album tel que celui-ci?

 

Je cherche à collaborer avec une chanteuse qui saura porter les différents chapeaux de mes collaborateurs et dégager toute l’émotion et les sentiments qui émanent de leurs créations. Le choix d’une femme me paraît plus approprié parce que je vois très bien une femme chanter Gord Downey ou Nick Thornburn, mais un peu moins un homme chanter les parties de Jenn Grant. Ça serait trop bizarre. Je crois avoir trouvé la bonne personne avec qui travailler et on annoncera son nom sous peu.

 

Propos recueillis par Sarah Brideau pour Camuz

 

Photo par Mike Burnell, Alex Ramon, Francesca Tallone et Rachel Watson

 

Publié le mardi 01 mars 2011.

Preview: Jenn Grant, David Martel and Laurent Bourque TONIGHT @ Divan Orange

Posted on February 24, 2011

It’s reading week, which means that all of you students out there should have slightly more time in your schedules to squeeze in a Thursday night show at Divan. It is your number one duty, after all, to fight cabin fever and to recharge before taking on the tail end of the school year. This show is one that will do just that – fill you up with music that’s good enough to make you forget that it’s cold outside and that Spring is still not taking Mother Nature’s calls.

Jenn Grant is said to embody “the naked melancholy of roots, and the shimmering effervescence of vintage AM pop”. I really love Jenn’s style and have been a fan of her graceful voice and her beautiful lyrics for several years. When I listen to her songs, she’s like my very own feel-good soundtrack. Here’s a sample of her music from a recent appearance on Jian Gomeshi’s “Q“:Appearing tonight alongside Miss Grant, will be David Martel and Laurent Bourque, who are no less worthy of seeing live. Altogether, it should be a warm an rather pleasant evening down at the Divan Orange; warm enough to cure you of your cabin fever symptoms.

Advance tickets are $8 or 4-for-$29 at www.indiemontreal.ca. $8 tickets (but not the group packs) are available at Cheap Thrills and Atom Heart record stores. Tickets will be $10 at the door (if not sold out).

Doors open at 8:30 pm and the music starts at 9:00 pm.

Jill Barber @ L’Astral – A Review

Posted on November 21, 2010

Last night, I was fortunate enough to attend Jill Barber‘s show at L’Astral. I must say that, as one who is most comfortable in bar-type venues, I felt slightly out of place at the classy cabaret venue among a totally different demographic than I’m used to, however, all that lifted and disappeared as soon as Jill Barber stepped up on the stage. Mrs. Barber is absolutely stunning in the most hypnotizing way: she is one of the prettiest songstress I’ve ever seen perform, not only in physical features, but also in the exceptionally feminine way she dresses and carries herself. Watching her on stage, I felt as enchanted as a little girl watching her favorite princess movie.

 

While Jill Barber’s first album mostly featured music neighboring a more folk-like style, judging from last night’s show, her latest record, Chances, ventures into a variety of different musical influences. Barber’s musical talents flows with ease from the likeness of 20s style to late-fifties early-sixties rock n’ roll ballads. Barber also proves to be quite versatile in her talents as she also composes songs that evoke the warmness of Blues or that harbor resemblances to some early vocal jazz tunes, while others can clearly fall into a more folk/country category. While it may seem like this could be a pretty wide stretch of styles to cover for a single artist, her delicate yet potent and passionate vocals demonstrate the extent of her musical experience. The feel of old-school romance is the common denominator to the above-mentioned styles, and I think this is one of the reasons that the blend works like a charm. The overall experience of seeing the lovely songstress perform live is absolutely delightful. Over the fact that her music is excellent, she also has the gift of performance and knows how to keep the show visually interesting for the audience. If it were up to me, she would get a smiley-face and a shiny star sticker on her report card.

Opening the show for Mrs. Barber was the very charismatic Michael Kaeshammer. While the songs he performed may not have all been originals, his way of presenting them was. I rather enjoyed his Jazz version of a Bob Marley song. If an opening act’s main “job” is to warm up the audience for the main attraction of the night, Kaeshammer was an exceptionally great decision on the planning part of things. The crowd was instantly warm in the gentleman’s presence, and judging from some of the sounds coming from the crowd, it even got a little hot in some places. Kaeshammer’s talent is evident, and so is his band’s. While I generally prefer some other, less vanilla, types of Jazz, I can’t honestly say that I disliked this first act at all. His energetic performance was quite entertaining and he was warmly welcomed and appreciated by the show-goers.

Photos by SarahBrideau.com

M pour MondieuqueçabougeàMontréal

Posted on November 18, 2010

Life in Montreal can be tough in November as we see the harsh winter days fast approaching. Fortunately, there’s a handful of people who keep planning fun events to remind us that the darkest days of the year are nothing more than a great opportunity to make your fun show-hopping evenings start earlier. Yesterday began the fifth edition of M for/pour Montréal, a festival designed to facilitate the encounter between our homegrown selection of musical artists and some of the most important players of comparable music industries worldwide.

 

For 4 days and 4 nights, M for Montreal showcases some of the most promising Indie acts around and ties on several most-interesting music-related conferences. Though it’s officially a festival, it’s more of an industry-gravy-boat than it is a public-oriented, musical-tourism oriented event. It is structured to offer a bunch of musical discoveries for the attendees: the sets are usually pretty short, but there’s a lot to listen to in a single evening’s attendance. The reason for this, I think, is that it’s meant to put forth the more underground artists of our local crops more so than the bigger names that our scene may harbor. The point is not to show off our Patrick Watsons and Arcade Fires, but rather to let other talents impress the handful of industry-players and delegates that were invited to attend. Now, don’t go thinking that this means that you’re less than welcome to attend, because after all, a music scene is nothing at all without it’s fans (that means YOU).

 

I think the festival’s program is excellent because it grabs your interest with some acts you might already know and gravies it up with a bunch of potential musical discoveries for the remainder of the evening. Most of the shows take place at the Just For Laughs building: while you’re watching one show in the Cabaret or the Studio, there’s another one getting set up in the next room. The result is about seven or eight consecutive shows in one evening. Here’s some of what I think will be some of the festival’s highlights:

Tonight, November 18th:
Elephant Stone – ever heard of hindi rock?
Marco Calliari – from thrash metal (Anonymus) to the Italian far-East
Jason Bajada – catchy songs of heartbreak and joy

Tomorrow afternoon @ Chapelle du Bon Pasteur, November 19th:
Courtney Wing – unpretentiously epic in a unique blend
Ensemble – captivating string-filled soundscapes
Leif Vollebekk – “quasi-narcotic art-folk”

Evening:
The Barr Brothers – supremely-talented brothers blow lid off descriptive categories
Metz – “angular, elbow-y garage-y grunge-punk”

Saturday, November 20th:
Priestess – balls-out rock n roll
Misteur Valaire – jazz horns meets electro-madness
Plastik Patrik – post-show-party-fun with ex-DJ of club Saphir

Check out M for Montreal’s website for more details

Tonight @ Cabaret Mile-End: Land of Talk, Braids, and Snailhouse

Posted on November 18, 2010

A great number of you have probably heard of the local band called Land of Talk. Speaking of “talk”, word is their lead singer has officially joined the great Canadian music collective, Broken Social Scene (whose new record is pretty great btw) as well. With such a great, sweet, touching and hypnotizing voice, I can imagine that Elizabeth Powell’s musical talents are in high demand these days. And yet, there’s still time to squeeze in a great show for the local fan base. Lucky for us, Land of Talk is playing tonight at the Cabaret Mile-End with Braids and Snailhouse.

 

Land of Talk’s excellent latest album (Cloak and Cipher) includes a number of impressive and pertinent collaborations: “Land of Talk worked with Eoin Olaoghaire on bass, Andrew Barr on drums, members of Stars, Wintersleep, Besnard Lakes, Arcade Fire, Esmerine and Patrick Watson”. Listening to some of it now on their Facebook page, I wonder how it’s possible that I don’t yet own this – I’ll see to fixing this sad situation over at the merch table tonight. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing how this band’s fantastic, heart-string-pulling AND rocking music translates to the stage.

 

Joining Land of Talk on the stage tonight is Braids, who will be performing songs from their much expected new release, Native Speaker. This group is quite a bit less rock-ish than Land of Talk, playing some rather spacey tunes. The signer’s voice isn’t so much a leading instrument as it is a floating ribbon of colour in Braid’s rhythms and sounds. In fact, I’m tempted to say that it’s the percussions that lead the quartet’s floaty melodic endeavors. At times, I can see some definite Bjork influences, and others, it sounds a bit more like good-old experimental-Canadian-Indie.

 

Also on tonight’s bill is the ever-lovely signer-songwriter, Snailhouse, or as I to describe him, master of solid song-writing. Throughout the years, I’ve seen him backed up by a variety of pan-Canadian talents, as well as a variety of arrangements. His shows are always interesting, whether he’s playing solo or trying something new with other musicians. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to catch one of his shows however, so I’m not quite sure what he has been up to in the last few months, but I am certain that he’ll bring something special to this fabulous lineup.

Doors open at 8:30pm, show starts an hour later. Tickets are $15.

Land of Talk photo grabbed from their Facebook page

The Morning Benders – So Hot, the Fire Department Crashed the Show

Posted on November 7, 2010

When I arrived at Cabaret Mile-End last night to check out The Morning Benders show, I was faced with quite a scene: the fans were on the sidewalk, there was yellow “caution” tape, about five fire-trucks, police cars, the whole shebang. It was a surreal scene really. The people surrounding the venue seemed to be in shock, and really cold. Many of them didn’t even have coats on, and it’s not because they didn’t want to look above the weather or because they didn’t want to pay for “coat check”.
Apparently, while Twin Sister were about to start their set, the Montreal Fire Department showed up and evacuated the Cabaret Mile-End because there was a fire. No time to grab your coats people – “There’s a fire. You need to get out, calmly, but right away”. According to my sources, there really was a fire, though not in the venue, but rather in a container behind the building.
When I arrived, super-pumped to see a show I had been aching to see, I found myself perplexed by the scene – and I wasn’t the only one. Promoters were trying to get some warm shelter for the fans, Cabaret manager and production staff were running all over the place to see if they could still make that show happen or at the very least get the patient fans their coats while the firemen were dealing with all the fire stuff. The fans on the opposite side of the street were confused, cold, and looking for some answers (albeit calmly so): was this show still going to happen?

One thing remained clear though, the fans were willing to wait to see the show, even if it meant freezing half to death on Parc avenue for a couple hours. Meanwhile the production people were working hard to make it happen for them. I was impressed by the professionalism with which this mini-drama was handled: even with contradicting instructions from the authorities’ about the possibility of securing the venue in time to let the show go on. I was about to leave once I got an apparently clear answer that the hopes of the show happening were gone with the wind. Fortunately for me, and for every other fan who were patient enough to stick around, turns out this wasn’t true. About two hours after the Cabaret Mile-End was originally evacuated, we were permitted to go back inside the venue and wait while the musicians were rounded up in order to continue the show.

The patient crowd was rewarded with a fantastic show and one round of drinks on Greenland Production’s tab. Considering the above-mentioned, there was still a decent audience in the comfortable and spacious venue. Twin Sister played for about an hour before the much anticipated Morning Benders took over the stage. Though they still look like four high-school boys, there’s nothing juvenile about their talents for writing and performing solid songs with excellent lyrics and ingenuous melodic arrangements. There’s clearly a very “old school” influence in both sound and style, but it still doesn’t quite sound like something straight out of the sixties. This is to say that there’s something modern about the themes and in the style of the songs that also reflect current musical trends. Though this live performance wasn’t quite as free as I feel it had the potential to be, the was nonetheless not much else I could point out in a reproachful way – besides, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The show ended with the lead singer, Chris leading the the fans to sing along to the wonderful hit, “Excuses” (pictured below). All is well that ended well.

Photos by SarahBrideau.com

The Morning Benders – Saturday, Nov 6th @ Cabaret Mile End

Posted on November 5, 2010

Earlier this year, I was struck by The Morning Benders‘ fantastic old school style harmonies and sounds when a friend of mine sent me the link to this video. Ever since I have been trying to bless my ears with as much of their music as possible. I’m still not over it, and lucky for me (and for all of us montrealers) we get the chance to see them play live tomorrow night, Saturday, November 6th, at Cabaret Mile-End.
I’ve done some research and according to my findings, their music should be even better live than it is on their excellent new record Big Echo. According to an interview with a band at KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, the title refers to the spacious sound that the band wished to preserve, both from the old school style music that inspired them and from the spaces that they have recorded and mastered the album. The title also refers to the echo of things past: memories, experiences, etc. Their sound represents just that: The Morning Benders’ music is dreamy, spacious, romantic, unpretentious and it has a really nice kick to it to top it all off.

Some of you might remember seeing this band this past summer at Osheaga, and for those of you who could only wish to hear more of their live sounds, this is your chance to catch them as a headlining act. Also on tomorrow’s bill, Oberhofer and Twin Sister. Doors open at 7 PM and Oberhofer is to kick off the evening at 8 PM, followed by Twin Sister (8:50) and then The Morning Benders are meant to begin their set at 10 PM.

Les détails en français:
samedi 6 novembre (Greenland & evenko présentent)
The Morning Benders
+ Twin Sister + Oberhofer
@ Le Cabaret Mile End – 5240 ave. du Parc
15$ + f.s. à l’avance et à la porte.
Billets en vente chez Cheap Thrills et sur le réseau Admission.

Venez en grand nombre!

Photo graciously provided by La Blogothèque (follow link to check out their superb video of The Morning Bender’s performance in Paris) photographer, when i was a bird

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