Check out J. Tillman (from the critically acclaimed Seattle band Fleet Foxes, self described as “Baroque harmonic pop jams”). He’s currently on tour promoting some of his solo folk work, performing at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern tomorrow.
I’ve yet to hear much of his work, but from what I’ve heard he has taken a very delicate, melodic and lyrical direction. Check out some of his work:
Since catching Woodhands at Hillside, I’ve been yearning to see them again. I was wondering how they would fare, opening for an 90s-inspired down-tempo synth pop duo. Although the Jr. Boys crowd weren’t actually prepared for their high octane brand of skat, intense beats and frequencies, they were going to get it full on.
I was in awe over drummer Paul Banwatt’s intense drumming style, relentlessly attacking the snare and cymbals with robotic precision. Rather than keeping up with the electro-funk beats and heavy bass drummed up by Dan Web (vocals/synths/key-tar), Banwatt drove the rhythm locomotive, thus showing that you DON’T need to replace the drummer with a cold beat box.
Dan Web was also fantastic in keeping the crowd pumped. His tourette skats fused with his key-tar were memorizing and showing the hesitant crowd that Vancouver nerds can rock. By the end of their set, when they performed ‘Dance” they just started to wake the crowd, leaving them wanting more. It was a perfect set up for the headliner. The duo are poised to release a new album in the new year, spending the winter to lock themselves up to finish it. It should be a killer album, based on the tracks they were testing in the crowd tonight.
Junior Boys returned to the stage from a long Euro-tour. “It’s been ages since we’ve been back home,” announced vocalist/keyboards/guitarist, Jeremy Greenspan. “It’s so nice to be back.” It was an eclectic crowd who had clearly been following the band for a number of years now – they seemed to know most of their music. The band quickly broke into their groove and tranced the crowd with their contagiously ambient electro-pop music.
It was a nice touch adding some visual interest through green lazers and an overzealous use of a smoke machine. They played a solid set of tunes stemming across many of their albums, including hits “In the Morning”, “Like a Child” and “So This is Goodbye”.
Many times through their set, it felt like the music simmered just before boiling point – it needed just one more ‘umph’ to push them over the proveribal stovetop. I take this as more akin to the late 80s/early 90s synth music they were pushing out, vs. their live performance… but compared to the explosive opening Woodhands set, the contrast was all the more poignant.
What didn’t help was their choice of a ballad to close their set, slowing it down to a close flatline. “So we’re gonna leave you with a slow one.. we’ll just wimper away.” Wimper? Not exactly the best way to leave the crowd, and some decided to call it a night though the song – But most of the crowd didn’t look like they seemed to mind. It still begs the question, why leave the crowd on such a downer?
Their one-song encore, however, did pick up the pace and resulted in a few people crowd even crowd surfing, making the song more upbeat than it honestly suggested. It was clear they were ready to finish off in a party, regardless of what the Boys put out (many walked straight upstairs to the Dance Cave to let out the rest of their pent up energy after the show). All in all it was still good show, playing in one of the best concert venues in the city.
Steeltown’s own electro-pop band Junior Boys are returning to Lee’s Palace tonight, supported by the high octane electronica dance duo Woodhands. Given the wide variance of sound between the bands, it’ll be interesting to see how the crowd will respond. Nonetheless, both bands are amazing – I was able to catch the mental set Woodhands put on at Hillside 2009 (see the clip below). Let’s hope they can rise up the crowd like they did in July.
Junior Boys w/Woodhands
Friday Nov 6
Lee’s Palace
Tickets $20 adv. (tm-Rt-Ss), $25 at door
Set times: JUNIOR BOYS @ 11:45p, WOODHANDS @ 10:30p
Ever since coming across Reid Jamieson about 5 years ago, floored from his acoustic EP “Noise in my Chest,” I’ve been meaning to see him live. Ever since he moved to Vancouver, it has been tougher and tougher to catch him. I was lucky enough to hear about his return to Toronto last Wednesday.
Walking into the Rivoli, I was taken aback by the revamp of it’s typically drab (yet intimate) backspace. The space was transformed into a classic 1940s-inspired jazz bar, complete with tables w/white table cloths and candle lights. Not bad for a quick turnaround; enough so you didn’t care much about the plastic patio chairs and sticky floors from the previous weekend’s shenanigans.
Guelph folk darling Jessie Bell Smith kicked off the night with a solo set of gutteral roosty songs about old age homes, dead mice and drunken jagermeister. Bell has a commanding raspy twang with the potential of great dames Etta James, Janis and Emma Lou Harris,powerful enough to fill the room without a mic. I wished she opened our eyes more as she was belted out those raw alto notes to strengthen her already powerful connection to the audience during her set. She has a ton of potential – look out for her as she grows and returns backed by full band.
Coming straight off the heels of a successful tour with CBC’s Vinyl Cafewith Stewart McLean, Reid Jamieson came onto the stage to a warm and comforting crowd of close friends and family, including a few folks the Skydiggers. His elation and emotion came through very strongly, as if he was putting on a special show in his own living room. Jamieson was very professional and polite in his demenour, playing songs from his albums The Unavoidable Truth, The Presley Sessions, and his new EP, Courting Juniper, coming out this month.
Jessie Bell Smith came onstage to sing Paperback Fantasy, one the highlights of the night. Unfortunately he did not play any of his evocative and intimately private songs from his Noise in My Chest release, but it had been over 5 years since its release.
Although he started polite and professional off the gates, Jamieson loosened up to become his alter-elvis ego for his set of Elvis songs, and closing with a fun cover of Natural Woman. Looking forward to hearing his next album of (presumably) knee-shaking heartbreak tunes and sweet love songs – something for which I can never seem to get enough.
GoodLife Fitness is celebrating it’s 30th Anniversary by rewarding its members though their “GoodLife 30Rocks” event.
It’s a private party at the Air Canada Centre this Thursday, Nov 5. The Tragically Hip will be headlining the event, and it looks like winners who’ve won tickets at the GoodLife fitness outlets are selling them on Craigslist. So if you’re a GoodLife Fitness member, try and snag a seat to see the Hip one more time before the year closes!
Note: We’ve also heard that Nickelback may be headlining or supporting the Hip, but let’s hope that’s just a nasty rumour to discourage tickets from being sold!
There’s always something special going on in Toronto… somewhere. And more often than not, for great music it’s a the Dakota Tavern (see clip below) near Ossington and Bloor. Yesterday was no exception, withGlen HansardfromSwell Season (from the movie “Once”) performing a secret show in prep for their performance November 2nd at Massey Hall.
Read the great cover article on this week’s Eye Weeklyfor more information. I was able to see them last year at the same venue, and was utterly blown away. They are promoting their new album, Strict Joyrelease this fall.
My favourite summer indie/folk festival of the year,Hillside Festival,have announced the performer list for their1-day winter event. Hillside Inside is celebrating its 3rd year, giving concert goers a winter music festival to boost them through the dark and gloomy winter months… and hold them over till the full 3-day festival in July.
This year’s event is held on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at the Sleeman Centre in Downtown Guelph. Tickets on sale Nov 7th, 2009.
Ani DiFranco has written hundreds of songs, played thousands of shows, captured the imaginations of legions of followers, and jammed with folkies, orchestras, rappers, rock and roll hall-of-famers, jazz musicians, poets, pop superstars, storytellers and a martial arts legend. She’s “fixed up a few old buildings” and minimized her carbon footprint before it was trendy – from installing a geothermal heating and cooling system in the renovated church that her label calls home to using organic inks on all the t-shirts she sells.
A musician of incredible velocity, Hawksley Workman is at the top of his game when he has the solitude and serenity to write and record his music in atomic bursts, focused into monastic postures, accessing grace and brilliance in fluid, sweeping motions. With his increasing rock triumphs, growing fan communities and formidable body mass, Workman has evolved from the slight, pin-striped oddball with a critically-acclaimed diamond voice, to the panoramic, guitar-punishing superstar with no performance limits.
Owen Pallett’s live violin-looping project was named Final Fantasy, in tribute to the melodramatic videogame series. His sophomore album He Poos Clouds, written and arranged for string quartet, is a satirical song cycle based on the eight schools of magic of Dungeons and Dragons. The Village Voice praised it as having “the best lyrics of the year”. Final Fantasy was awarded the inaugural Polaris Prize for best Canadian full length album.
A native of Syracuse, New York, Martin Sexton grew up in the 80′s, uninterested in the sounds of the day, and fuelled his dreams on the timeless sounds of classic rock and roll. Sexton eventually migrated to Boston, where he began to build his following singing on the streets of Harvard Square and gradually working his way through the scene. His 1992 collection of self-produced demo recordings, In The Journey, was recorded on an old 8-track in a friend’s attic. He managed to sell 20,000 copies out of his guitar case busking. John Mayer raves that Sexton is “The best live performer I have ever seen”.
Since the age of three, Basia has been sitting on piano stools and trying to hammer things out. It started with her piano-teacher mum, but along the way Basia’s picked up guitar, autoharp, banjo, ukulele, sax and flute. In high-school her instrument was the upright bass a lone girl among “eight-foot-tall guys, goofing off with the tubas”. There’s a sense of play that still suffuses her music, jostling under the songs of regret and love, want and joy. When her brother began in his teens to play drums with punk bands, Basia would be there with her Demerara voice, joining happily in the jam. When she left for university in London, Ontario, musicians began to drop by her downtown apartment. Many nights were spent with these classically-trained friends, laughing and singing, and together they made a glad, bright noise.
Afie Jurvanen, aka Bahamas, spent two weeks in the winter of 2008 making his debut album, Pink Strat. It is named after his childhood guitar, which he still plays. In addition, he plays bass, drums, piano, various percussion, organ, slide, acoustic, and nylon string guitars on the album, and is joined by his friends from zeus, The Great Lake Swimmers, and Feist on a few of the tracks.
Woodhands is dirty electronic music. “We are interested in emotional, sweaty dance floors. We want to make you cry while you’re having sex, and it’ll be the best damn sex of your life. And you’ll be dancing”.
Woodhands started in a basement in Montreal, moved to Europe, and is now making love to Toronto and its environs.
Vancouver-based Delhi 2 Dublin is a group of five musicians who mash up electronica and world music, keeping it heavy on the Bhangra, Celtic and Dub flavours. Fusing tabla, fiddle, dhol, Punjabi vocals, and electric sitar with scorching electronic beats – ranging from reggae to drum and base – the crew takes listeners on a wild ride through global sounds and synchronicities.
I had no idea what to expect as I walked into the Rivoli last Saturday night. What initially brought me into the bar was to see the return of an icelandic band, Sprengjuhollin (pronounced “spreeg-guuee-hollin”) who performed here at the same venue at March. How often do you get to see a band from Iceland?
Sprengjuhollin have been on a Canadian tour, playing in the East Coast and in Montreal before returning back to the big smoke. With their arty Norwegian look, they sprung onto stage with tons of energy and punch. Atli Bollason (piano/back up vocals) was charged as the lead frontman in getting the crowd into their music. Although no one had seen them a few months ago, or even heard of their existence before that night, the band was ready to party.
Sprengjuhollin put in a fun bouncy set of pop, egging the crowd to move up from hiding in the back bar to “get into it” with them. They did pause from their jumping, head banging and guitar raising to give a quick lesson in Icelandic pronunciation: teaching the crowd how to stay their name!
Their acoustic track, “Worry til spring”was a standout, showing us they had more to offer than a Saturday night drunken jump ‘n dance act. The lead singer had a sweet Sunday morning voice, and reminding me of Copenhagen’s darling, Teitur(planes and airplanes album). There were some issues with EQ levels through their set, to the point where it sounded like white noise on some of their faster and louder numbers. It never stopped these lads from having a great time and enjoying their time on stage. I’m looking forward to hearing more from this band as they grow from their icelandic roots and into the English pop music scene.
Winhara exploded onto the stage with a strong set of powerpop and synth (think a cross between Muse and The Killers), combined with an light show you wouldn’t expect from an indie band at the Rivoli. It was clear they had an eye for details, and kudos to them for that – they understood that experimenting alt-rock with electronic can mean layer disaster and gimmicky if you don’t watch yourself. All their songs had a strong musicality to them, and you could sense their progression from alternative to the electro-rock space.
There was some good energy in the crowd, despite a trio of drunk guys at the front of the stage who were a little over zealous in showing their love of the band. I understand that “friend-power” spark the beginnings of success, but sometimes this love can take away from the experience to others… especially when bashing into them or shouting like bandits on a cowboy manhunt. Is this better than a stone cold comatose crowd? Or the ambivalent yet noisy peanut gallery in the back bar during Dan Mangan’s intimate acoustic set?
All frat boys aside, I was impressed with one of their newer electronic songs, “Five Alarm”with an infectious electronic beat and power vocals.Their title track, “Hold Back Light Show”was full of OK GO fun, and something you could easily hear on the radio. Their encore cover ofDepeche Mode’s Precious (below)was also impressive and something I’m hoping they continue to explore their synth experimentation as they head back into the studio this winter.
Winhara put on a well crafted show and show lots of potential. They want it and you can feel it. I’ll be looking out to see them when they return in 2010.
Reid Jameson w/Jessy Bell Smith
Rivoli
10.28.09
Doors at 7pm (show at 8pm)
Tickets $7 at the door
Reid Jamieson, a talented Canadian singer/songwriter is returning to Toronto. Originally from Toronto and now based in Vancouver, I was wisked away by his achingly sweet songbird voice and heart break music on his “Noise in My Chest” acoustic EP. His follow up alt-country album, “The Unavoidable Truth” was supported by a full band and Canadian talent including Sarah Harmer and Bob Egan, garnering critical acclaim in the Canadian folk/country circuit. Reid also released “The Presley Sessions”, a set of Elvis covers (with a Reid Jamieson touch) in honour of the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ passing. He is currently on tour with CBC’s Vinyl Cafe and making a stop here in Toronto at the Rivoli on Wednesday Oct 28th.
It’s been a few years since i’ve had the chance to see Metric. I missed the2008 show at Sound Academy, mostly on account of their playing at worst concert venue in Toronto – below the Air Canada Centre. The last time I caught them was at the Phoenix to promote their sophomore release, “Let It Out”.
It was nice to find out that Metric had grown into to the historic Massey Hall, similar to her Broken Social Scene chanteuse counterpart Feist had performed in last year. It was an all-Canadian evening with Montreal’s seasoned indie rock veterans The Stills opening the night with a high intensity set. They did a great job at firing up the crowd and building the excitement for the headliner. Lead singer Tim Fletcher encouraged those on the floors to get off their seats and come up to the stage, thereby opening the floodgates and indirectly giving permission for fans to charge forward once Metric hit the stage. They put on a solid set, playings songs from all three of their albums and putting on a show of their own.
Once the lights dimmed for Metric, the crowd followed suit from the opening act by charging the stage. It was great to see everyone on the floors as well as a good 2/3 of the second and third level on their feet for most of their 1.5 hr set. Emily bounced her way onto the stage wearing gold from head to toe, ala indie lady gaga outfit with attitude.
From their beginnings of high energy synth-rock of their first album, the angst ridden feminism from their second album, and positive message in their latest release, you could feel a sense of maturity and pure music professionalism in their music. Now hitting nearly 6 years since they broke into the scene with their first official release “Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?” in 2003, they’ve become season veterans in putting on a solid rock show.
Whether it be Emily’s robotic cheerleader dance moves (some definitely self-choreographed) and raw impassioned expressions, or post-modern Apple nation set design, Metric were in their element and captivated the audience from beginning to end. Emily was able to vitalize the typically comatose Toronto crowd into belting out her signature “oo huh uh uhs” and “bam chicka bams” and clapping along… and also using the classic “You can beat yesterday’s show can’t you?” tactic to further get a rise out of them.
The band played a nice blend of new and old tunes, with highlights that include Empty (see below), Glass Ceiling, Poster of a Girl, Dead Disco, Help I’m Alive, Sick Muse and Twilight Galaxy. They also performed one of my favourite ambient ballads from the new album, Collect Call,which silenced the crowd in reflective awe. Thanks to the fantastic Massey Hall acoustics and EQ levels you could hear every guitar note, rolling beat, ambient sound and synth frequency that showcased the range of this homegrown band’s ability.
Metric finished off their encore with a nice acoustic rendition of Combat Baby. It become more of a singalong and celebration of their 2-night stay at Massey Hall. At the end of the song you could feel the emotion and memory that will not only have a lasting impression for the fans, but for Emily and the band as well.
