Archive for February, 2007
Damien Rice has announced their US/Canadian tour dates this spring, promoting his new album, 9 crimes. He will be stopping by in Toronto at Massey Hall on May 18, 2007.
Damien Rice emerged into the spotlight in 2002 with his critically acclaimed breakout album “O”. As a fresh singer/songwriter from Dublin, Rice blew away audiences with his intimate, mesmerizing and emotionally charged music and lyrics. Following the success of “Blower’s Daughter” and “Cold Water” on the movie Closer, Rice has since been played on TV’s Grey’s Anatomy with “9 Crimes”, as well as collaborations with artists such as Tori Amos and The Frames.
The combination of Rice and the piercing accompanying vocals of Lisa Hannagan creates explosive and emotionally intense show; one can’t help but feel raw and vulnerable after experiencing one of their sets. With the rise of digital photography and videos, note that Rice has been known to stop mid-song to ask the audience to simply watch the concert rather than record it. At a gig in Toronto in 2006, he changed the lyrics of his song, “I remember” from
“I remember it well, taxied out of a storm, to watch you perform, and my ships were sailing” to
“I remember it well, when we used to watch concerts, not through a camera, please turn, them off please”
Photobloggers beware!
February 26th, 2007
Low Level Flight
Diesel Playhouse – 02.11.07
6/10
As the lights dimmed, Diesel Playhouse house staff announced a special guest would be performing at their weekly comedy show entitled: "Sunday Night Live." What ensued was a close encounter with a “C-list” celebrity rising out from the woodwork with a revamped look and sound – and by “C” I mean "Canadian". Canadian Idol.
Ryan Malcolm was the first winner of Canadian Idol. Four years ago, he was known as the small-town heartthrob to underage girls and stay-at-home moms everywhere. But the gentleman who came out of the curtains that night was not the clean-cut pop idol we’ve come to know. Rather, Malcolm dropped his thick-framed ‘geek-chic’ image with West49 skater digs and a tattoo to match. Now fronting a pop-punk band called Low Level Flight, Malcolm closed the comedy night as special encore guests. I was willing to sit through his night-capping performance to see how much he has changed since his last Idol performance (and also get my money’s worth).
To make things short, his music matched his new look. Most songs consisted of open chords and sounds that rooted mostly in the generic pop-punk genre. As a winner of Idol, I was surprised Malcolm did not write songs that showcased his voice. “Hate You” for example, did not break away from typical teen angst music, currently saturating the market. “Change For Me” – the first single off LLF’s debut album – begins first with a cheesy, 4-note synth opener reminiscent to that of educational videos on Space Network. My heart sank, as it seemed as if Malcolm jumped from one stereotype to another.
To LLF’s defense, it is only their second live performance and the kinks of generating a tighter sound progressively improved. It is also harsh to pass judgment on a band without hearing their studio album first.
As a frontman, Malcolm was pleasantly personable. It was welcoming to see Malcolm’s passion for his songs as he took the time to explain each one, including a heartfelt song about his brother’s drug addiction. Despite delays in-between sets, he would make up for it in self-deprecating humor: “You can find our CD on sale at second hand stores soon” he jokes. Having seen the instability of the music industry these days, it is comforting to know that Malcolm can still acknowledge it.
The moniker of "ex-idol winner" will follow Malcolm around for the rest of his life, so it would only be wise for him to embrace it. Changed image or not, the music he played still sounded generic; it’s now simply in a different genre. My friend classified it best when she said: “this reminds me of a local high school talent show!”
I guess talent always has potential.
REVIEWED BY: PHILIP LEUNG
February 19th, 2007
CMW 2007 line-up has been announced
There are over 500 bands from around the globe performing at over 40 venues. CMW is a great festival to check out some new bands and some of your favourites perform at small venues. For a $35 wristband you can get access to the festival. There is also a conference (additional cost) where music gurus run workshops, panel discussions and performances for hungry musicians and their managers.
Artist highlights include: Apostle of Hustle, Baby Eagle, The Barmitzvah Brothers, Bedouin Sound Clash, The Besnard Lakes, Black Halos, Cadence Weapon, Cancer Bats, Carole Pope, DJ Champion, Glen Ballard, Gym Class, Hunter Valentine, Jacksoul, The Junction, Les Breastfeeders, Mute Math, Neverending White Lights, The Nymphets, Ohbijou, The Philosopher Kings, Rock Plaza Central, Royal Wood, Rubik, Stars of Track and Field, The Trews, Under Byen, Uncut, United Steel Workers of Montreal, We Say Party! You Say Die!, Wolfmother and Young Galaxy.
Click HERE for a complete list of bands performing.
Click HERE to get your wristband.
If you know of any new indie acts to check out, please let us know!
February 12th, 2007
This Friday night at This is London marks the triumphant return of our hometown disco-house boys, MSTRKRFT (pronounced ‘master craft’). As most of you know, prior to the incarnation of MSTRKRFT, there was a little indie-hardcore band called, Death From Above 1979 which featured two musicians – drummer/singer Sebastien Grainger and a bass/synth player, Jessie F. Keeler – whose sound equated to having an elephant in your living room blowing its nose. However, DFA’79 was short-lived as both members had seemingly bigger and better interests in other projects – Grainger, a surprisingly soft solo project, and Keeler his ongoing dance collaboration called MSTRKRFT. As a result, the two split ways and haven’t turned back.
Now, Keeler, who goes by JFK, has teamed up with DFA’79 producer AL-P to create a Daft-Punk loving alter-ego filled with robotic vocoders, heavy four-to-the-floor house beats and handclaps, and of course, a shit-load of cowbells. The result is splendid combination of rave beats that have caused the indie kids to lose their minds on the dance floor. FINALLY! All it took was two indie superstars to teach pretentious hipsters how to dance.
Although, MSTRKRFT has been around since before DFA’79, they have only recently been working full-time on this project. Their catalogue currently includes an LP on Last Gang Records titled ‘The Looks’, and three singles; the porn-electro ‘Easy Love’, the Daft Punk-esque ‘Work On You’ and the club banger ‘Street Justice’. They have also been busy remixing every possible rock and pop act you can think of including; Annie, Bloc Party, Wolfmother, All Saints, Metric, Buck 65, and even JFK’s deceased DFA’79. This stacked repertoire of dancy goodness has taken MSTRKRFT to international success with DJ tours all over the world, from Edmonton to Ibiza.
The great thing about these guys is that their not afraid to try and resuscitate the otherwise breathless electronica music scene, especially in North America. With back to back nights in Toronto and Montreal this weekend, and an extensive tour across the U.S. with house legend, John Digweed, you can be sure that our dance saviours from East York will not be back for sometime, or at least until it gets a bit warmer. So you best get your asses out into the cold winter air and come down to the swanky This Is London Nightclub, because it’s bound to be a great party.
February 8th, 2007
Matt Mays
The Mod Club – 01.20.07
Rating: 9.5/10
On a cold and wet Saturday night in Toronto, it takes a lot mustered up courage to go out and see a rock and roll show; especially if you have to stand in line at Toronto’s premiere live venue for 45 minutes before getting in. Saturday night marked Matt Mays’ triumphant return to Toronto after he had spent about a year writing and recording his latest release, ‘When the Angels Make Contact’; a complete diversion from his usual alt-country rock when playing alongside El Torpedo.
If you came to the sold-out Mod Club on Saturday to see a loud and rockin’ Matt Mays and El Torpedo, you were probably very surprised, but hopefully not disappointed. Mays put on nothing short of a theatrical masterpiece using the variety filled songs from ‘WTAMC’ as a sonic backdrop to a splendid performance. With giant screens behind and on either side’s of him projecting scenes from his movie debut, Mays played the entirety of his latest album from start to finish. From the moment the lights went down and the first note of ‘The Past’ was struck, Mays completely captivated the crowd. On this particular night, however, Mays was not accompanied by El Torpedo as his band; rather he was playing alongside a completely different 9 member line-up on guitar, synthesizer, two drum kits, and beautiful Macy Gray-looking Alanna Stuart as his back-up singer, and a DJ. Wait, what? A DJ? That’s right. Given the multi-genred nature of his latest work, Mays has shown that he can even dabble in a little bit of hippidy-hop; hence an itchin’ and scratchin’ DJ playing trippy sound effects and shearing vinyl scrathes.
As Matt Mays played through the entire album in his pseudo-70’s burgundy suede suit, he showed his versatility by not only singing his head off, but by also playing a wide array of instrumental tracks, dabbling in sounds of reggae, hip-hop and soul. Mays took the audience on a splendid journey through his newest material playing songs like the drum-driven ‘When the Angels Make Contact’ and the slick sexy seductive ‘Midnight is the Time’, proving that he could even take a bite from Barry White’s forbidden tastes – I think I even saw a few girls cry. Although only an hour and ten minutes long, Matt Mays left the crowd roaring for more. Unfortunately, Mays didn’t play the acoustic version of ‘Cocaine Cowgirl’ he delivered Londoner’s the night before – C’est la vie!
This particular Saturday night was proof that Mays could go down in history with the likes of other Canadian greats like Neil Young and Burton Cummings; but for now we won’t get ahead of ourselves. We’ll just wait for LP # 4 to arrive and see what happens.
REVIEWED BY: CRAIG HILL
February 7th, 2007
